Tree of Aeons 7: An Isekai LitRPG Adventure, page 21
Ebon nodded. “Huh. The Landas elves seemed fairly normal. I wonder whether there is other stuff we’d have to look out for on the other worlds. Maybe the Caprans and the Dragonlings will have some unique quirks.”
Lausanne agreed as she recalled what happened during the first few days. “We only realized it after a few of them got sick. The water is fine now, but that was a rather careless blunder on our end. A proper biological study through one of Aeon’s biolabs should help.”
“True.” Ebon walked about and noticed the homes built everywhere. There were magical shields constructed. They passed by a large farm, where the druids were in discussion with some locals over the plants.
“Food’s a pain at first, but we’re getting better. We can’t use the food from our world because of their diet, so we’d have to restrict it to native plants. But their local plants all have low yields, because they are mostly a nation of harvesters and hunters, where their cities exist as areas to protect themselves from the demons, so their local plants were not selectively bred for yields. It’ll take a generation or two to change it,” Lausanne narrated. “Even if I see these Magisarian mages as useful, I wonder whether the Order would eventually be overwhelmed with all the custom supply choices for each of these world’s recruits. Standard rations that are not standard will lead to a large surge in logistic overheads.”
“That does limit their external deployment options, isn’t it?” Ebon thought about it; he rubbed his chin as he thought about the difficulties of keeping a Magisarian force fully supplied in remote locations. “Unless they could use familiars.”
“That’s something we’d like to try,” Lausanne elaborated. “We’ve not had a Magisarian with Aeon’s familiars, so we don’t know whether those familiars can produce Magisarian-compatible foods when they are operating out of the other worlds.”
Food. Water. Accommodations from Magisarians were simple, though they were initially unused to all the space they now possessed. On a spiritual level, the Treeology priests provided a sort of calming effect on the populace using a mix of their various abilities.
It was not an entirely new situation. Valthorns faced some difficulties a few decades ago when the Order started including Lizardfolk and Treefolk field agents, but over time, the logistics system absorbed their culture, and it became second nature to cater for their unique needs. That said, lizardfolk were generally able to consume and tolerate a vast amount of foods, so they were not hard to integrate. In time, it may be the Magisarians that would change, or the Order as a whole figured out how to better support them.
Lausanne eventually led them to the walls. There were three layers of walls, and though it was quite unnecessary given the Order’s strength, it was the locals that needed convincing.
For an added sense of security, there were large magical barriers erected to give the newly settled natives a perception of security. It was partly performative, since the shields were only strong enough to protect against enemies of the demon champions’ level.
Ultimately, their real defense force was the deployed Valtrian Order and the local militia.
“Are there native monsters?” Ebon looked about and across the horizon. “I’ve only seen demons since we’ve arrived.”
“Yes,” Lausanne said. “But they are rare for now. They should start spawning once the druids get to work and push back the corruption. Also, since you guys are here, wanna help me get some fresh air?”
“Oh?”
Lausanne grinned and stretched. They went on a demon-hunting spree.
Delvegard
It was a quiet time in the dwarven towns of Delvegard. The appeal of small towns was always its relative obscurity, and that was what drew the dwarves to live in such places. Peace. Free from the usual tussles for Sunsteel and the mines. Free from the rough, chaotic warfare that are the machine wars.
So the recent changes were met with mixed reactions. Not everyone wanted the attention, because it affected their peace. Yet the Valtrian presence brought much-needed food security.
It was a tradeoff that the dwarves begrudgingly accepted, because food was a pain. Security was something that could be fixed.
The strange dwarves from beyond brought a tree that magically grew within their town, and the locals now had to produce equipment to trade for food.
It was at a very good rate, so that was highly appealing to the local dwarves, but it was a strange, unusual practice to trade with a “tree.” The central equipment purchasing hall was located right next to the [Node Tree], a dark-brown colored tree that was six stories tall with a trunk the size of two houses across.
There was a cavity in the center, the place where everything appeared and vanished.
Even people. The ruling [Lord] Sundus found it amusing that the rumors were so crazy. It was a rumor. A curiosity. It was often whispered that people could be eaten by the tree, though they would then see those people reappear sometime later. For now, it seemed as if it was a magical tree that traded food for crafts.
If only they could see where they led to or the links that tree represented. He tried explaining to the local craftsmen that it led to other worlds, but all the local dwarves did was stare at him like he was mad.
He’d love to see their reactions when he’d send them away for the first time. It would be something he’d carve to his memories. For now, to the locals, it was a tree that traded food for crafts. Crafts and goods went in, and food came out the other side.
Of course, the locals didn’t trade with the tree directly. They traded with Sundus’s men, but the locals were curious, and they saw how his people moved the goods to that cavity, and then it just vanished.
So it was known to the locals as a “Magical Trading Tree.”
A few locals even tried sneaking in, perhaps the result of being a little too intoxicated at the local tavern, and tried trading with the tree directly.
One of them claimed to have heard a voice in his head. The rest of them just laughed it off as drunken hallucinations.
Aeon would speak to them one day. Then they would know the truth. For now, they waited. Sundus knew the plan for Delvegard mainly hinged on Alka’s return. The return of the alchemist of bombs would then shift their plans on Delvegard forward.
For now, the lord focused on shoring up their position and setting the field.
News, especially amusing news like the Magical Trading Tree, spread quickly. It attracted the presence of neighbors and faraway travelers. Sundus could see them, many of them were obviously not traders, but these so-called traders pretended to visit the local market. But they tried the “Magic Trading Tree” anyway, and his men were willing to trade.
Maybe it was paranoia. Maybe it was curiosity.
Dwarves were proud, but they were not stupid. Curiosities could mutate into a bigger problem. The Dwarven Lords from the nearby nations were curious; they’d all heard of the alliance of dwarven towns—the so-called “Small Group,” backed by strange, tall folks and their unusual equipment.
Sometimes, Sundus wondered what they discovered. But so far, Valthorns’ presence remained fairly small and spread across all the smaller towns, and they were all shrouded in a fairly thick layer of disguises to throw off most onlookers.
After watching these spies try the trading tree and furiously write notes, Sundus decided to go and chat. They were clearly not very good spies, and their disdain leaked through their words. They were curious, but from what Sundus could tell, they were mostly not worried.
For now, they were unusual, but nothing to be worried about.
None of the large dwarven groups had set their sights on them. They held no large Sunsteel or Sunmetal veins. They were not aware of the Valthorns’ secret mines nearby. They didn’t have any of the Colossus war machines.
Why should they be worried?
Nothing they’d seen so far threatened to upset the status quo.
Would they react differently once they met someone like Alka?
Sundus tried his best not to grin. He liked this feeling.
He thoroughly enjoyed it when people looked down on them, only to be proven wrong. He totally couldn’t wait for the day for the domain holder to visit Delvegard.
Landas
Lumoof stood at the entrance to the pit, as all the domain holders gathered to purge the first visited peripheral world of its demon king. The demon king was down there, and he could feel its presence.
It wasn’t digging. It was still digging a few weeks ago. But not anymore. It stopped once it sensed the heroes all reappearing nearby. It had some intelligence to know the heroes came for it.
The hero, Samuel, stood nearby, along with the rest of the heroes. Wira and Rajah, surprisingly, decided to join them.
“It’s down there,” Samuel, or as the locals called him Samahiro, said, pointing to the pit. “I hear it calling.”
He was stronger, but somehow, it didn’t matter. The fear was real. The impact of the demonic curse was so strong that it messed with some of the [hero] class’s usual mental protections. Lumoof nodded anyway.
“Have no fear, Samuel,” Colette said. “You are not alone this time.”
Somehow, those words made Samuel tear up a little. His eyes seemed a little reddish, and he rubbed it away. It was not the time to show weakness, as he tried his best to show an expression of determination.
“Shall we lure it out, or does it want us to go down there to it?” Colette then looked at Lumoof.
He shrugged. “Edna?”
“I think let’s lure it out. We’ll have better escape options fighting out here.”
“Sounds good.” Lumoof nodded as he walked over the edge and fell into the pit. “All right, then. You guys wait here.”
The heroes looked at each other, and Samuel looked worried. He didn’t need to be. The demon king wasn’t that strong, and in avatar mode, fighting underground where a tree’s roots could grow and gain control of the environment was thoroughly advantageous to Lumoof, so the demon king, predictably, chose to escape from the depths.
The demon king came out to meet its death.
It was fast.
It was undramatic.
It was just a flurry of colors and lights, as so many heroes and domain holders worked together to destroy a single demon king.
It died so quickly that the battle lasted no more than an hour.
For that hour, the world momentarily shook as a huge surge of magic crushed the demon king, and Landas became another peripheral world freed of its demon king.
Just like Rajah and Wira, a strange sensation vanished from Samuel’s heart.
Everyone still had places to go. The domain holders had tasks to do.
With Landas freed, the demonic riftgates collapsed, and the demonic invasion ended.
Reconstruction could now go full throttle.
White Shore
The White Capital city of the White Statue was, in many ways, an aspiration for the entire empire. Edna watched as the wagon that carried her crested the hill, and the city came into full view.
The main city, commonly referred to as the White Capital, but formally called Claritas of the White Statue, was eye catching and beautiful. It comprised a central conical hill, and at its peak stood a large white temple, the largest temple of any Edna’d seen in any of the cities so far.
But the city itself wasn’t massive. Instead, Edna thought it looked fairly compact for a capital city. It was what appeared to be a planned, properly organized structure where not a single piece was out of place.
In some ways, it reminded her of the angels.
It was as if an array of marble structures was built to decorate a single hill. Every building was made out of a kind of white, shiny marble that never seemed to accumulate dust or wear. It was apparently an ability of many stonemasons, though it originated from the White Statue itself.
There were white statues all over the city. Edna was alone this time, and she felt it the moment she walked through the city and entered the city guard’s checkpoint.
[Domain has blocked an ability.]
“Well. What is this?” Edna mused to herself, and just about instantly, a siren blew.
At that point, the guards had an unusual reaction. Then the guards at the gates immediately stopped her. “Milady, please come with us.”
Edna smiled at the four guards, all clad in full-body armor. Their weapons of choice was a double-sided shortsword and a set of spears. They were all of a decent level, maybe Level 50 or so. They were tense as hell and prepared to fight. In their eyes, she could see their readiness to die at the moment.
Was this her turn to go through what Lumoof did back when he first visited the Crystal King? Would this White Statue be friendly or hostile? But she saw enough of the White Statue’s impact and realized that it was probably worth talking to this entity. “Sure.”
They were relieved when she did not resist, and at least they did not chain her. They seemed to understand how different their powers were.
The four began to lead her through the path. Those along the road looked, and she could hear them whisper. But the guards paid them no mind, and none of the busy citizens blocked their path.
“So where are you taking me?”
“To the hill, the White Statue,” the guard answered.
Edna could feel the throbbing presence of another domain holder. It was as if the air itself was layered with a kind of invisible white dust.
She was escorted through the city, so she took the chance to see the lives of those living here. Streets were clean and beautiful. Each and everyone looked healthy, and they were doing business with each other. Everyone, as weird as it sounded, looked good. Men were tall, muscular, and healthy; the old people looked wise and still fit with none of the patchy features common in older people.
“Are there poor people in this city?” Edna asked.
“No,” the guards answered. “No one who comes to Claritas will be poor. The White Statue guides, and the citizens follow. Their poverty is but their starting point.”
Her eyes squinted, and she tried to sense it in the presence of the four guards around her. She blinked. “He touched all your minds.”
“The Virtues of the White Statue are imprinted in our souls, milady. No one who obeys the Virtues will be a poor citizen. The State will ensure a role appropriate to you is created and a fair remuneration is paid.”
“What of the sick?”
“The White Statue heals those it can, and those who can’t be healed are sacrificed at the altar.”
Edna paused, but her feet kept walking. It was a centrally planned economy, but to an extent stronger than even that of Freshka. A city controlled by a god, where everyone did what it told them to do.
She blinked. This was not far from an ant colony.
Yet she looked at how everyone looked happy. Everyone had a purpose. A task from God itself. It mattered, because their god told it to their soul. She blinked again when she realized Aeon could do this, too, and wondered briefly whether it should happen. Everyone seemed to take their work seriously.
“Virtue,” she repeated. “It’s a fascinating thing.”
The guards naturally agreed. “It is.”
“What’s yours?”
The guards looked at each other and didn’t say a word.
“It is not for us to say,” the guards answered. “Only the White Statue has the right to reveal what is one’s virtue.”
Edna nodded as they passed even more buildings. There were administrators here. People who collated reports. This was the heart of the empire, and she felt the touch of the domain holder in every single one.
It was like a magical familiar, but more pervasive. The knight refocused her attention on the four guards around her. They were calm. Prepared. She wondered how strong this domain holder had to be. Perhaps in the same tier as the Osroids.
“Do they still summon heroes?” Edna asked. When she asked about heroes back in the other cities, they’d gotten nothing. Instead, all they’d gotten were blank stares. When she probed about the demons, strangely, all she’d gotten was also just blank stares before one of them said they would be handled by the White Statue’s elite forces.
The guards looked at her, and three of them said nothing. But one of them turned and walked close to her. He whispered, “Those who claim to be representatives of the Pagan Gods? The visitors from the stained well. That is something only the White Guards know. If you wish to know more, you must ask the question to the White Statue yourself.”
Edna paused and felt strangely unnerved. This was the first time they mentioned the term “Pagan Gods.” Much of what happens in the regional towns of the White Shore was so normal, so perfectly manicured, that Edna kept wondering whether there were unusual things. There must be secret things only the special people knew. The touch of this domain holder kept most things secret, as the pieces began to come together.
It wasn’t that they didn’t know; it was that they were not allowed to know.
There was a vast, white building filled with windows. in it were men in white tunics all walking about. They looked busy, going over papers and reports.
Edna’s long glance was answered by one of the guards.
“That’s the main office of the Philosopher King and the Council of Elders. All matters of the empire travel through that office.”
Edna nodded and wondered how much of it was for show. Though the Philosopher King supposedly ruled the nation, it was truly the White Statue that held the puppet strings. In some ways, Edna thought that was similar to Aeon, though each domain holder and society found their own stable position in the spectrum between “control” and “freedom.”
