More than half an hour had passed since the Royale began, and in as much as a lot of action had brewed, lots of exchanges occurring already, and with a few already having died among the contenders, a decent number of people had not met so much as an obstacle since starting towards the GOAL from a distance the Game Master had claimed was sort of equal from the mountain for all contenders.
One such individual, was a beautiful woman with cherry coloured hair, adorned in a silky, purple cloak that looked much like a fancy net. Beneath it, wrapping firmly around her body, was what seemed like a simple, long, light green shirt marked with tens of traditional symbols in a silvery white hue. Below her torso, she wore a pair of dark, leathery pants, and matching boots with a light green heel.
Darwel truly wished she had something that could send an image of her current getup to her parents. They were very strict on tradition and culture, most of the time preferring to see their daughter donning the culturally heavy costumes they often wore in annual ceremonies and such.
The Sif Princess would not have it though.
As she took unhurried steps towards the partly obscured mountain in the far distance – like everyone else who had discovered the hindrance posed by the close set clouds – she smiled while thinking back to the happier moments she shared with her parents.
She considered herself fortunate to have both her biological guardians alive. El Sif, while adored by the other Sif, usually had higher responsibilities, and it wasn't uncommon for them to die while serving the nation.
Because of this, Darwel's parents who were at a very high position that demanded great attention – the whole continent, which wasn't divided into separate nations like Feinheath – tended to be stiff when it came to parenting.
The young El Sif didn't have too many problems with this while growing up, as she quickly understood the importance of duty, but she did try to lighten the mood when she was with her mother and father.
Of course, her folks didn't always appreciate the humour which usually had a heart-attack factor attached. Darwel would find herself having to ease the tension afterwards with a "Alright, alright. Keep your wig on" or a "I heard, alright? Once a year then, for health reasons."
Being so far from them without having the pleasure of being chased about once in while, was taking its toll on her heart, it seemed. It was her choice to delay going home so she couldn't blame anyone, but still...
Carrying on with her thoughts, she kept up her slow journey while also looking around for the special items that Guissepo mentioned, and also the reason for the sudden surges of lightning coming from the far distances.
A quarter of an hour later, Darwel had stopped, facing a different direction that held something she was interested in.
Her eyes sparkled.
She was sure this had nothing to do with the added items in the Royale grounds, and found leaving it where it was to be a phenomenal waste.
Who knew? Maybe this was a steering by Direction.
At the centre of what seemed like a shallow, but wide lake of blackish, pungent waters, an enormous tree grew, several of its thick roots peeking from the swaying surface of the water.
It looked like how swallowing an apple whole would feel. So thick, bloated, and overwhelming, a significant portion of its bulk sinking into the near clouds. Its greenish-brown bark made it look both young and old, and Darwel wasn't quite sure what kind of tree it was given where it was growing.
Still, she wanted it.
Caution was not lost to her though.
The first thing she had noticed, with the ambient mana all around singing sweetly to her ear, was the eager, swollen eyes of thousands of small fish swimming in the lake.
They looked like palm sized swordfish with black scales, their still bodies blending in with the dirty waters.
Darwel looked at them with a bit of uncertainty.
Those bulbous eyes that did not blink, looking at her from one side of the fishes' face, clearly urging her to get closer...
'Are these things causing the lightning?' Darwel thought.
No. Probably not.
The mana in the air carried hints of variety.
There were different types of creatures in this place, clearly.
And these fish, despite looking so small, were not weak. Each was at least Tier 6.
But Darwel did not want to leave that tree alone.
The ambient mana told her it wasn't a sentient existence. Like any other specie of fauna, it drew on the pure mana in the air, unlike most sentient living beings.
"Solution?" Darwel asked herself.
Seconds later, the El Sif was crouching down near a small patch of pale, tufted grass growing around the lake. A soft verdant glow flowed from her fingers, and engulfed them.
No sooner had she begun to supply this affection to the grasses, did they quiver excitedly and immediately explode to the size of small trees, a massive, seemingly infinite amount of mana raging from their thin bodies.
An unnatural grassland had suddenly spawned, much to Darwel's delight.
Her Class, as her teacher back in Opungale had taught her, was Natural Tamer, an Advanced Class. Personally, Darwel favoured its other, more nuanced, and frankly less confusing name.
Flora's Keeper.
With this Class, she could tame any type of plant, plant-type monsters included. Not only that, she could also awaken them, which made them grow stronger, and be capable of exhibiting an outrageous amount of pure mana for limited periods. The more unique a plant was, the stronger it would become. Size also played a role.
This is why she had set her eyes on the tree in the middle of lake of disgusting waters.
Soon, Darwel was riding one length of grasses that she had woven together, commanding it to lean towards the lake. She had it extend as far as it could while keeping a safe distance from the fishes which had begun to move, praying that she could get a bit closer.
Or were they just waiting to see what she was going to do?
Darwel remained cautious as she rode.
When she was close enough, she leapt towards the giant tree, and hung from one of its branches.
With a sigh of relief, she looked down at the fishes, and saw that all of them, thousands in total, were now surrounding the tree.
'Do they think I'm stranded now?' she thought.
To confirm her thoughts, it seemed the fish really had assumed so, because at that moment, the lake started to change. Each of the fishes began to emit a yellow glow that transformed the waters around it... into lava.
The reddish orange and black oozed out, with toxic fumes rising messily to surround the tree. Meanwhile, the fish causing the scorching catastrophe grew in size, as if the lava – not the pungent waters – was their more favoured territory.
Darwel gave a subdued exclamation, held her breath and placed her hand on the tree, which at its roots was beginning to burn ferociously.
'Don't worry big man! I'll save you!' she thought as she calmed her heart, and injected a large portion of her mana through the trunk.
The mana riding in the air suddenly turned stiff as a magnificent verdant glow bloomed from the great tree which shook, and howled, as if something beastial was buried within it, roaring intensely!
The green glow from Darwel's hand was replaced by a voracious golden glare that bellowed from tree, expounding a staggering wave of pure mana so strong and vast that it pushed away the lava and the fish within it in a wave, leaving the clear, dry land at its roots!
The fumes were cleared as well, and the air turned pure.
Darwel donned a brilliant smile, and urged the tree on with encouraging words.
"Now stand up! Let's get away from here! This is your chance to set yourself free!"
The tree seemed to be in agreement, and so it raised its roots – those which remained. The top of it that had been hidden in the clouds arched down to show itself, maroon leaves and all, before it began taking a different shape.
The bark and thick under it grew even more taut and twisted and wrapped around itself to form a simple, humanoid shape without any complex, defining features. A bulbous head, and a pair of arms and legs extended from a simple torso, all with a height of around five meters.
An incredible amount of pure mana, not as much as the tree had expelled before, now rested within its body, and it turned to the surging waves of lava that were beginning to return after the temporary banishment.
Darwel rushed to sit on the tree's shoulder before pointing in a certain direction.
"Jump!" she screamed.
The tree hunkered down, and followed the command, its dive into the air and across whatever was beyond being such a fantastical sight because of its height and weight!
It soared for over 50 meters across the lands before landing in a different spot, a distance from the danger.
Darwel had braced for the landing, and when the two reached the ground, she gave a thrilled laugh.
"That was kind of fun," she said as she patted the tree's bark.
This was a really good experience.
It was hard for Darwel, as an El Sif, to enjoy herself with her racial and Class abilities, if she kept herself within civilisation populated by humans. Not only was there less ambient mana to communicate with, there was also little in the way of natural plant life to exercise her gifts – like in Genhuis City for instance.
This was a nice change.
"Can you get any smaller? We'll attract a lot of attention this way," she said to the tree which immediately began to shrink, becoming no taller than three meters.
Darwel had hopped off it.
She looked around and babbled with her lips.
"I wonder if I'll find him. This place is bigger than I thought," she said to herself.
"For now, let's just head to the GOAL."
The source of this c𝐨ntent is freewe(b)nov𝒆l