Buller
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Chapter 84: The Fruit was a Lie
🕑 Added 2021-11-24 21:03:18 +0000 UTCThe next thirty minutes were spent precariously trying to balance out a variety of Energies at the same time. Each minute spent showed the Entity another way to think of Mana, another way to harness it, and another way to be annoyed by it. It was through sheer will and mental capacity that it had been able to balance such amounts around and even more to make sure that none of the Mana reacted negatively with each other.
Because that was something that happened. When two opposing types of Colored Mana, they fought a bit for dominance with the strongest devouring the other. Simple stuff. The Core redirected the Mana so the energies never touched and that problem was solved before it ever became one. Yet… who exactly would guess that Physical Arcane had a bad relationship with [Basal] when the latter was being filled up with [Red Mana]? The Core certainly couldn’t be just as surprised as anybody when it had exploded, scattering the grass everywhere. Luckily, no trees had been harmed during that, their immense health bars stopping any serious risks. It was incredible how they could survive so many things, even if they were susceptible to so much as well.
Not that this fact distracted the Entity. Then, too much had started to become important to keep in control that the Core had been unable to think of much else, the mental availability required for such a thing not being there. Instead, it had been something of an adjustment, the Entity somewhat forced to use the last remaining bits to listen in on the Queen’s orders.
‘Go do that,’ ‘Twist it around more,’ ‘Don’t think about it or that will cascade into an explosion,’ and on and on it went, the Core never hearing the end of anything. The Queen, for all her wisdom, knew how to make the Entity hate being granted information. Which was quite the feat, seeing as it had enjoyed every previous second of it. It was almost as if the constant force of information into one’s mind would be seen as unpleasant no matter how much one had enjoyed the experience originally.
But that was hardly important. The important part was that the Core had done it all perfect, and was able to see the results because of it. The Queen had shown off the information that years of experience had given her, granting it to the Core in the form of tips, tricks, and a few badly-placed orders. Yet the format mattered little, the results the most important thing of all.
And… seeing it before the Core’s sight, there was something beautiful about it. Even though the forced experience of bloating its one stomach, the Core couldn’t help but be happy about the new addition to the Dungeon. A quick try with [Appraisal] made it clear that it wasn’t alive, yet that mattered little, the increased rarity being more than enough to satisfy the Core. Even the Queen looked happy.
Flowering Oak Tree
Rare plant found in the wild
The [Flowering] part was partly right. At first, just when it reached the height of a sapling, it certainly hadn't shown itself to be anything more than a tree with flowers. At the ends of branches, a few small ones would bloom, their fronts looking towards the moon in the sky. It was quite a beautiful sight, the Core having been more than happy with them at that point. Yet, it had gotten so much better through the next increases.
The flowers grew in numbers, grew in ferocity, and they grew in size. Most importantly, however, was the fact that some changed from their flowering name, becoming small fruits instead. The Queen mentioned them having the form of [Apples], yet the Core had no real idea what that meant. They were decently round, hanging onto the tree by a smaller branch in the middle. Inside it was seeds that could be used to plant more, which the Entity certainly did, yet anything more was out of the Entity’s reach. It was a pretty sight, yes, but not one that could give the best results.
‘It is amazing, you know,’ the Queen told the Core, positivity clear in her voice. ‘I have seen a lot of these in my years yet they’ve always been looked at as quite the worthwhile treasure. There are a few times where I have been able to get this close to one of them. The nobles of the east used to show them off as a sign of wealth yet they were always so touchy about it when one requested a bite of the fruits. They never wanted those pricey objects to be eaten by any monster which I suppose was fair. If I had owned such an [Enhancer], I wouldn’t have allowed the enemy access to it either.’
The Queen walked forwards, stepping closer and closer to the tree, right until her head was a mere meter away from the bark. While not able to look up too much, and [Mana-Sonar] of a quite high intensity came out of the Ant, desire clear in its message. She wanted a better look and it was supplied without question. Yet such an instinctive desire made the Core wonder just what was going on.
‘You realise that this is not a tree that’s alive? It had no life, no mind, nothing that sets it apart from the base creature,’ the Core stated, not sure what the Queen saw in it. The bark did look more durable with all the [Brown Mana] on the outside, that being the gift of [Basalt] helping the durability, but was there really that much else.
‘It has fruits, little rock. That's what set it apart,’ the Queen responded. ‘And it is not fruits made of nature but fruits made of Mana. They have inside them forms of Energy more potent than most will ever witness. A single bite could bring you to your optimal level, to a point where you can only gasp and twitch at the sensations. It is pleasure and pain mixed to a point where you won’t be able to recognize either.’
‘So it grants you an addiction of sorts?’ the Core asked. The Queen had tried to previously explain such a phenomenon to it, much to its frustration. How could a being decide to have an extreme intake of something to the point where it destabilized its entire Life? If the tree before it had such power, perhaps it would be best to destroy it and try again… Yet the term of the fruits being [Enhancers] was quite the peculiar thing to hear. From what the Entity remembered, that was meant to be a class. A piece of organic tissue without a mind did not seem like a worthy candidate for such a thing.
‘You could think of it in such a way,’ the Queen said. ‘After your first bite, few have any desire to stop. The benefits of those fruits are addictive in their way entirely. They bring bonuses you can’t live without once you have them, figuratively speaking. Nothing is stopping you from just having a taste and stopping there yet so few ever prove to have a desire for it.’
‘Are these bonuses the reason they are called [Enhancers]?’ the Core asked, thinking it had found the answer.
‘Oh, most definitely. While the bonuses themselves vary with the individual trees, I do believe that the tree itself has gifts in the same region,’ the Queen said. ‘Some give strength, some give life, and I even remember one that increases your height for a few minutes. It was more a novelty one than anything else since the people who used it had a hard time balancing, yet the long-term benefits were much better.’
‘Was it because they could adjust over time to it?’ the Core asked.
‘No it was because they stopped reverting to their original sizes after some time,’ the Queen answered. The Core’s lack of response from that, due to the larger shock attached, made her continue without any requests for it. ‘The greatest thing from these plants is the fact that repeated exposure brings with it permanent bonuses. It takes a long time, months or even years, yet those small increments that stay behind become cumulative with time. Everything reaches new heights. The crippled become strongmen and the weakest can take a thousand spears. In theory, at least. I don’t think anybody has reached such a level without additional help from other sources. There is some form of a limit of how much those bonuses can give yet they are still easily worth ten full levels of bonuses and whatnot. They even the playing field for low-level Enlightened and allow them to fight against those normally stronger. Now, I think it's easy to understand why these trees are in such high demand. Don't you think so as well, little rock?’
The words continued but the Core had trouble listening. Here it was. Here was something that it had looked upon for so long. The path to power was long and drawn yet this… broke too many rules.
‘This is the easy path to power,’ the Entity said. ‘It’s the wrong path to power.’
‘Quite right you are, little one,’ the Queen said, happier than ever. ‘Short-term effects mean nothing but long-term ones have shown time and time again that the user has a harder time levelling up. It seems like the [System] doesn’t appreciate the stronger user while they are in the lower levels. That usually means that the ones wanting the fruits are either at what they assume to be their peak or they only care about the short-term instead. Thinking about the reasons why they ignore the risks is stupid. The only fact you need to think about is the fact that many would love to get their hands on these fruits.’
High demand and low supply. The prices must have been higher than anything the Core could dream of. Yet that also meant one thing.
‘Wouldn’t it be bad to create a lot of these, then?’ the Core asked. At first, it seemed like the opposite. A lot of valuable items would lead more people to desire the location. Yet that would also put the Core at a higher value, meaning that it would have to fend off Enlightened that was stronger than it would be able to handle. The idea of weaker miners getting ore while being defended by slightly stronger fighters was alright but trained warriors? That wasn’t something the Entity wanted to quarrel with.
‘It would be quite the ordeal, yes. If the churches aligned with the [Dark Mana] were to hear about a large amount of these trees, they would be over the entire area within the month. One or two of these, however? They will hardly visit us within the year, though we should expect somebody to take a look,’ the Queen explained. ‘It would be in our best interest to limit the amount of those trees, at the very least. Instead, we could perhaps start filling out the rest of the area with those [Entangling Oak Trees]. It would be good to show off some amount of force. But remember to add in some standard [Oak Trees] as well, just to confuse them.’
‘Wouldn’t that agitate them?’ the Core questioned.
‘Of course, it would,’ the Queen agreed. ‘Now get it done. I would prefer it if we are finished with this soon so that you can finally take a look at those [Otters]. They have been rotting up the inside for much too long now.’
Oh, the Core had forgotten about those. Getting to work, it started to daydream about just what the future would bring. A new form of trees and a new form of creatures. What else would it soon find?
