Lucas stopped again. This time, there was no trembling from the ground. In front of him stood a tree unlike any other around it. The bark was brownish, with patches of green scattered here and there. Its lush green leaves seemed to have regrown after winter.
’It’s naturally camouflaging with the environment... Impressive. I should play along.’ Lucas thought.
His perceptive eyes already revealed which tree was actually the creature pestering them.
He started walking closer, showing no sign that he knew which tree it was.
"So many good herbs around it. It’s like this treant is either hoarding all these herbs or somehow helping them evolve. The mana around here is dense too," he mused.
There were many things amiss in the spot where the tree stood.
"Usually, treants are peaceful beings. They don’t attack unless provoked. Who pissed this one off?" Lucas pondered, roaming around the treant, which was trying its best to hide.
As Lucas investigated, he peered inside the treant using his perceptive eyes. It was a young one, unlike the ancient treants that lived for hundreds or even thousands of years.
After looking around, Lucas found that every herb here was above the grade of uncommon—far better than what he found in his usual area.
"Can you understand me?" Lucas called out, looking at the wrong tree while his back was facing the real treant.
He didn’t inspect it further, knowing treants had strong intuition. Risking it could lead to bad choices.
Lucas gazed at the trees surrounding the treant until his eyes finally rested on it.
"If you wanted to attack, you had plenty of chances by now," Lucas said, resting his hand on the hilt of the sword by his right side. "Don’t worry, I’m not here to harm you."
He took a few steps forward, but before he could move further, the ground behind him split open, and a vine shot toward his neck.
Lucas glanced at the treant for a split second before dodging the vine by moving his neck to the left. The vine disappeared back into the ground.
Before things could calm down, more vines erupted from the earth, all aiming for Lucas.
He dodged each one swiftly, as if playing a dangerous game of tag where a single touch could mean being poisoned—slowly but surely.
The treant showed no intention of stopping. After a minute of dodging, Lucas spoke seriously,
"Three more strikes... if I get attacked more than that, you’re dead."
He let a bit of killing intent seep into the air to strengthen his negotiating position—if there was still a chance.
The first strike came, aiming for his thigh. Lucas leaped and landed on his left hand.
The second strike aimed for his neck, which was close to the ground. He jumped again and landed on his feet.
The third strike was more aggressive. For the first time, the treant tried to pierce Lucas’s chest.
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Lucas smiled and parried the attack with his mana-coated hand.
The vine retreated back into the earth, and for a few seconds, there was an unusual pause.
"So, you do understand me. That means you weren’t born just a few days ago, as I thought," Lucas said.
—"GOOOOOOO AWAAAAYYYYY!!!!"— a hoarse voice bellowed from a crack in the treant’s bark. The voice was disturbing, as if someone had screamed so much their vocal cords had burst.
"I won’t, as long as you stop attacking. I just want to talk." Lucas finally inspected the creature.
====
Lesser Treant
Level: 18
Origin: Plains of Amaeron
====
"You’re a lesser treant?" Lucas asked in surprise. "I guess I can still be wrong sometimes. I’ve only ever used your kind as ingredients before, so pardon me."
The treant seemed unable to fully understand him. Lucas was sure another vine would lash out, but it didn’t.
"It’s not as intelligent as I thought," Lucas smiled, slowly walking toward the tree until he touched the bark.
Sensing that no other monster or animal was nearby, Lucas closed his eyes, and his hand against the bark began to glow.
When he opened his eyes again, he found himself in a dark space. Lucas looked down at himself—he was glowing white.
"This is a technique I modified while working at the research facility in town. It comes in handy when communicating with creatures like you."
He moved his hands and feet, enjoying the weightless feeling of floating.
Soon, a light began to form in the darkness, and a massive tree, the same size as the treant, appeared before Lucas.
—"You... are dangerous!"— the treant said. This time, it sounded like the entire space spoke the words.
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"I won’t be dangerous if you listen to me and answer a few questions. I know you’re capable of that."
—"KUUGHHH,"— the treant grunted, the sound rough and strained.
"I’ll take that as a yes. So tell me, when did you gain your sentience?"
The treant was silent for a few moments, but Lucas waited patiently. Lesser treants weren’t known for being good at communication, and he knew he was pushing it by asking such questions. But he needed to know the level of sentience it had gained.
—"Four summers ago!"— the treant finally shouted.
"Four summers ago? But... it’s always summer here."
—"NOOOO!! Winter coming soon, everybody die!!"— the treant responded quickly.
"So, it’s 4 years old? But there hasn’t been any winter in all the years I’ve been here… Does this mean the seasons aren’t the same as on Earth or Lilypud? If winter is coming soon, then..." Lucas’s expression grew grave.
He had been naive to assume the weather would behave the same as on Earth, but he was wrong. If winter was truly approaching, his territory was in great danger.
"Next, are you protecting your folk around here?" Lucas asked.
There was another silence for a while and Lucas kept waiting and making a plan to progress things in the territory quicker than he hoped.
There was a significant wait this time but Lucas was confident that it would speak and he was right.