Chapter 994 Race to the Tree
All of us went aboard the mansion immediately. It seems Mother and Zena, alongside the two elven siblings, Atlas and the spirits, are helping Almira with something as they are busy carrying different stuff. Most of them looked heavy and big and seemed to be part of the Mansion's legs but I don't think I have seen those parts during the installation so maybe they are new? Although Zena is doing well at carrying some of them, Mother and the siblings are having a hard time so when we saw them, we immediately helped.
"What's all of these?" Father asked Mother.
"Almira-san has decided to use this chance to install something she has been making during her free time. She couldn't find time to install it since most of us are always busy, but this time, she finally got to ask us to help her with the installation project. And since no one else but us is here, she has no choice but to ask us. But since all of you are here, the burden of us carrying all of these can be lessened for a bit."
All of us agreed to help. Those of us who can easily carry heavy ones carried the bigger stuff. All of them are being put outside the yard. I didn't expect the basement to have all of these without being released outside for long.
After a few hours of carrying all of them, Almira came outside and has been carrying her tools.
"Looks like everything is good. Now, help me with the installation. It won't take long but the faster we set these up to the legs, then the faster we can race up on the tree."
"Race?" I frowned.
"Yes. I will explain later but first, just move away from your fatigue and carry these out. We can't afford to be late to the race or we won't get there immediately. Now, go, go! Double time everyone!"
We quickly began carrying all of the stuff below and Almira went to work. She is doing all of the work in installing it and we all just carried the parts to where they are going to be placed per the instructions of Almira. She briskly installed one after the other and as soon as she was done, she moved to another once all of the installation parts were already in place.
The more the legs are being installed with stuff, the more it looks like its legs are suitable for all-terrain, both water and land. Not only that but it looks like thrusters are being installed as well and although I am not sure if that is really thrusters, they do look like they will be helping with the movement of the mansion.
Despite these questions lingering in my mind, we continued to do it until all of the parts that Almira wanted to install in the legs of the mansion were installed. Still, magic sure is convenient. With it, we are able to do all of the stuff that should have the needed big pieces of machinery to finish and yet after all of this, we managed to finish all of it without them in just a few hours.
"Alright. With all the upgrades done, let's go back to the mansion. Time is of the essence. I will explain later on once we start moving. We needed to move faster than ever before."
We returned to the mansion and finally got to rest. Mother and the spirits put down snacks for us to eat after grueling work done back to back. On the other hand, the speaker that Almira always uses to speak to us whenever she is in the control room, flares up to life.
"Now, while we are going to participate in this race towards the tree, I will start explaining things."
We listened to Almira as we continued to chew our food. The mansion moves but this time, it is running. And it is faster than before. Maybe this is the result of the upgrades she put on the mansion?
"Remember the time when we met the treant that became my master in blacksmithing and other stuff? Well, he contacted me using one of his abilities that he stuck into the yard as a way to contact us. He then explained that something happened to the Tree of Life and now it is appearing much earlier than expected. I thought it was a joke until I saw the Tree materializing in the distance.
And because it was a very sudden appearance, all of those who were anticipating the tree would need to race and gather to the farthest root of the tree. And compared to the other times when it only revealed itself to those it invited or those qualified to see it, this time, everyone can see it."
I wasn't expecting that to be the case. No wonder the Tree of Life suddenly appeared and the branch that King Arthur owned before is glowing. And the fact that the tree has appeared before us, it is clear that something else just happened.
But what is it?
Did a player trigger something that caused the tree to appear? Or the calculations of its reappearance was wrong and that is the main reason? I can't say either reason is impossible.
But if a player triggered it, then that only means we lost in the race with Nobuhiko to locate the tree itself. However, it seems not all hope is lost.
"So the reason you installed those parts is to participate in this race?" Pandora munches one of the cookies to clarify the intention of Almira.
"Indeed. I am already developing them in my free time and during the times when you guys would be busy with the grind back in the Dark Sea or during the missions last time. I had plenty of time to finish things which allowed me to create them. At first, those are intentionally created so that this mansion can fly into the sky and reach the Luminous Continent if necessary without the need to use the teleporter."
"You mean, those thrusters?" Riko frowned.
"Is that what they were called? Yeah, probably is. Anyways, those were intentional for the sake of using them to send the mansion into the air fly straight into the clouds, and fly to the flying continent. But now, we will be using that to get a good headstart later once we get to the group where we are going to race with the others. Anyways, you guys should rest. I don't know what happened back there in the ruins but you guys should rest, it will be going to be a huge trouble incoming for us."
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After we all had eaten, most of us went to look at the tree while the others decided to go to sleep. Izmir doesn't care about the tree and decides to go to sleep. Lucia and Lina also wanted to have some rest as well. Since they knew they would see the tree again, they wanted to have a good rest and recharge all of their energy again to ensure that they would have full energy once I needed their help or service.
As for me, I went to look at the tree in the distance. Queen Tanya is sitting on the bench while looking at the towering golden tree that seems to be much bigger the more we get closer.
"Looks like your journey is about to end," Queen Tanya glanced at me as she returned her eyes to the tree again.
"I am not sure just yet. Maybe this will be the beginning of something though I don't really know. However, we will face this head-on and finish all of this sh*t and bring back the balance of both worlds."
Queen Tanya then frowned. "If that is the case, then why do you look so down?
I sighed and looked at the giant tree, still observing the brilliance it was giving even in this dark sky like a giant Christmas tree lit up for Christmas Eve.
"Will that tree be the key to everything and end all of this chaos? Will it be the only way to fix everything and return everything to what it was once before?"
Queen Tanya leaned to the bench and closed her eyes while sighing deeply. "I doubt it. All I can say this is not yet the last thing that you and your group will be doing. Everything is just a prelude and you are just going to begin for real.
I bitterly smiled. Perhaps she is indeed correct.
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The next morning, we were awakened by Almira's voice when we got out, we realized why she had awakened us. We are still inside the mansion and yet several noises can be heard all around us.
"Almira-san? What is going on? Why is it so noisy outside?" Riko frowned.
"We have entered officially to the race. Look outside and see the view. The one who is ready to head to the tree is now moving towards the root to gather. And the reason I woke you all up is to ensure that you lot are all buckled up. So you guys who are now in the living room or those people and spirits who can hear me, grab something. Although I am not sure if it will be a chaotic one, we will be heading there immediately. Hold tight, things will get messy."
Almira started counting down from 5 down to 1. The rest of us grabbed on the places we grabbed before and before we knew it, the whole mansion was sent flying up into the sky. The walking mansion is now flying in the air.
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