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    I was prepared for the deluge of information that hit me when I activated Murmur.. With Callie as a backup just in case, especially using Piece of Mind, I was more than up to the challenge of handling the avalanche of stimuli.


    One of the adjustments I’d made when creating this particular pseudo Domain was making it an ACTUAL domain, as in, an area under my control directly. By compressing Dantalion’s influence to a smaller area, I’d been able to achieve a deeper level of control and inspection with which to utilize Bael.


    Around us, for about a hundred feet, my Perception was packed (tripled as it was by Bael) into a dome about a hundred feet across. Within that dome, all the traces of our passage, be they sight, sound, or even the ineffable traces of the fate sense, were within my control, being erased flawlessly as we walked. Even inside, I could see traces of the process, with the entire world becoming a dull grey as my neutralization of our visible selves scrubbed the color from the air as a side effect.


    “Wow,” said Daysia in amazement. “This is so cool! You’re saying this is keeping us from being spotted as we enter the Gloamwood?”


    I nodded distractedly. “Yes, but I’ll need you to keep an eye out for compatible trees. My Perception is all packed into this dome, so unless we literally trip over one I won’t be able to tell what works for either of us.” That was the one downside to this domain. It made Dantalion functionally useless for other things while I was running it. I’d planned to use Rhythm of the Wild to scan each tree to find the most suitable, but with Murmur going, I’d have to rely on Daysia until we got close.


    Archie, perched on her shoulder, trilled sarcastically, and I glared at him. “I’m not stupid, you glorified feather duster. I’m BUSY. Some of us are useful for things outside of just healing small cuts and screeching at people.”


    Daysia giggled at our back and forth. “You two make fun of each other, but I can tell how much you rely on one another.”


    I shrugged. “Oh, Archie is the best, he’s just got a huge ego. I think it’s a bird thing. Have to let some of the air out of his giant head or he’ll be unbearable.” I lowered my voice in a stage whisper. “Don’t tell him, but his healing is actually almost useful.”


    The chirping this time sounded more like laughter than anything else, and I felt a warmth through our bond.


    My smile, though, died in the next second as we stepped across an invisible barrier and the entire vibe of the forest changed. I came to a halt, looking around sharply. I felt…watched. Had something broken through my stealth? It didn’t feel like that though. More like the entire area around us was under observation. We’d stepped into a surveilled space, but hadn’t been noticed yet.


    Daysia’s face become solemn. “This…I think we’re in the heart of the Gloamwood. Well, heart is misleading. This area is the Dark Moon Weasel King’s personal territory, but it isn’t a circular area in the center, more like a strip of land that bisects the forest. We must have entered the heart directly from the edge of the wood. I’ll begin my search here.”


    Her eyes, which had been pale gold with no iris up to this point, flashed a darker bronze color. I felt a pulse of power run through my domain, and I had to scramble to erase the traces of it as it left the hundred foot circle.


    I was only nominally successful. I was sure that whatever was watching this wood could see that energy, but not the origin of it. If we were lucky and they weren’t watching too carefully they might miss the signs, but even if they were right here with us, I was confident Murmur had stopped it from being too obvious where we were.


    Daysia hummed. “I don’t think any of these are what you’re looking for, and I know they aren’t what I need. Gloamwood has a lot of dark aligned trees, but it’s also right along the Vardenswift River. Combined with a relatively high elevation, there are a great many moon and water aligned trees as well. The overlapping of these various forces can create strange and useful mutations as well. Seeds are how a tree grows, but the various planted trees, over a long enough time, can also cross pollinate and create unique hybrids depending on the environment.”


    That was…interesting. And confusing. I wasn’t sure what tree the Primordial Tree Spirit had sent me after, but I was sure it was something unique. I just didn’t know how the moon, darkness, or water would fit into that. Was I going to be getting a staff that amplified Sammael’s dark energy? That might be useful, and it certainly fit with my foundation requirement, but it didn’t seem…right.


    Then again, who knew what kind of weird conceptual bullshit you would get mixing all those environmental factors. Considering what I’d achieved with a video game Skill, I wouldn’t be at all surprised that one of these trees had mutated into some kind of time freezing tree or something.


    Even the thought was enough to make me laugh. Since when had my luck been THAT good? More likely it was some kind of dark based empowerment for my base form like I’d considered. Regardless, I decided to stop wondering, if only to prevent myself from getting my hopes up only to have them crash and burn.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.


    Daysia, meanwhile, was filling me in on the trees basic characteristics. The wave of power had been some sort of base level tree speaking that Tree Singers could do universally. It reminded me a bit of Rhythm of the Wild, but it only worked on trees instead of all plants. Since these trees weren’t awakened, it could only tell her basic information, but that was enough for our purposes.


    We made good time, traveling along the line of the heart of the Gloamwood, scanning trees, and checking to see which ones would be most suitable. Nothing went wrong for about an hour, my domain keeping us safe through multiple weasel tribes as we passed through the territories of powerful D-rank beasts we spotted racing across the treetops. About a hundred miles into the heart though, we were suddenly assaulted by a massive pressure and the ground beneath our feet started to shake. I manifested Mornax, taking up a defensive stance as I scanned the area trying to figure out what was happening.


    Daysia, cursed, the normally upbeat girl clearly disturbed as she stared up at the trees, pointing out a pair of speeding forms. “It’s the Weasel King!”


    I glanced up sharply, following the line of her finger to lock onto the form of a relatively sleek looking silver and black weasel, perched on a branch with a shining silver crescent blade clenched between its teeth. Across from it, I spotted another form, and it didn’t take much to identify him as a C-ranked lemur.


    “Heaven Cutting Lemur Lord,” Daysia said in an awed voice. “The lemurs must be staging an incursion into weasel territory. Why would they…” her eyes widened. “Is the Nine Lives Reincarnation Tree flowering? It’s supposed to purify the soul to make forming a Chronicle easier. The lemur lord might be trying to break through to B-rank.”


    One of the reasons that I’d agreed to partner with Daysia was that the girl had spent YEARS studying for this ceremony. She knew all the most powerful notable trees, the various factions, and the environmental characteristics of the various forests. The well known trees were mostly too powerful for young Dryads to lifebond with, but due to cross pollination the areas around them tended to have the most powerful varieties of new and undiscovered trees.


    “What is the Nine Lives Reincarnation Tree?” I asked her, slowly backing away from the fight. Taking on a C-ranker was possible if it was a weak one, taking on TWO C-rankers, at least one of whom was aiming to rank up? I might as well lay my head on a stump and expose my neck for beheading. We needed to GO.


    On the upside, this meant the weasel king was distracted, and that meant we had a chance to go deeper into the forest heart. I suspected the existence of the king was the test that the Primordial Tree Spirit had intended for me. With a siege going on (and there WAS a siege, I could hear fights breaking out as lemurs clashed with weasels) this was my best chance to avoid it.


    Speaking lemurs…they were terrifying. Firstly, they were primates, which meant they had fucking HANDS, which meant they could use weapons. The Dark Moon Weasel King was damned effective with his mouth blade, but the Heaven Cutting Lemur Lord was using fucking TECHNIQUES. Sword techniques. The small, sleek lemur had snow white fur and black mask like features around its eyes, and it was using its tail to maneuver as both arms wielded a pair of short, straight blades. Sparks flew as the weasel king soared through the air blade clashing against the swords as it tried to cut the lemur lord down.


    I was genuinely in awe of the power. Past D-rank beasts would start to develop enough consciousness to be considered sentient, though not all beasts chose to focus on that kind of thing. They could also take human form, but most of them didn’t bother, their lifestyles and bloodlines being optimized for the animals they started out as. These two had clearly retained their animal forms but definitely awakened their sentience, because their combat skills were dizzying.


    I’d have loved to stay and watch, but ultimately I was here for a reason, and it wasn’t to see a couple rodents throw down. I decisively turned my back on them, heading deeper into the heart, though I had Daysia stop her pulses of speech, waiting until the trees entered my domain to inspect them. It was slower, but with a pair of high C-rankers around, the chances of us being noticed was too high.


    We passed a few skirmishes, weasel vs lemur, but no other C-rankers appeared, and my domain was more than up to even the closest inspection from a D-ranker. We passed within inches of a few of them, but they never noticed.


    After about an hour, we came to a dark based tree that I was sure would be perfect for Sammael. Based on what the Primordial Tree Spirit had said, there were a few here that would be suitable for me in the short term, but that would have less potential in the long run. I was sure this was one of those.


    My instincts told me to wait, so I decisively passed it up, and did the same to the next tree I found, which seemed to be some sort of devilized yew tree. It would have been a great synergy with the Ten Demons Tome, but it wasn’t what I was looking for.


    Finally, we came to the very center of the heart. In the middle of a clearing, surrounded by dead weasels and lemurs, we found the nine life reincarnation tree. It was smaller than I expected. Just a sapling, made of dark grey wood, with some sparse branches of hunter green on top. Perched above them, gleaming in the low light, was a single purple fruit.


    It felt…heavy. I knew what it did, based on what Daysia said. It was like the soul rebirth I’d undergone, cleansing deeper trauma to the soul. It was good for more than just forming a Chronicle, those hidden injuries would be a big obstacle for condensing a Saga too.


    I didn’t need it, but I knew it could be useful to one of my friends. And since I was here for the tree…well, I was planning to take it for myself. Or at least, I would if I could get it. Because before I could even approach the tree, I’d need to beat the calm looking lemur with the pair of curved knives crouched in front of it, somehow staring right at me. D-rank or not, my Danger Sense was going off like a storm siren. This wasn’t going to be an easy fight.