“There’s nothing you can say that would change my plans, sorry,” I said, considering that giving up on the Quest meant I’d likely die. There were only two ways I could think of solving the issue with my soul. Either I Ascended and, through such, repaired the connection to my body by evolving my Species, or the item I received from completing could potentially fix my problem.

  I’d probably have killed Autumn for something that did that when offered, so technically it fit the reward, which was listed as ‘something you would kill your little spriggan friend to obtain.’ Nothing against Autumn, it was just that I valued not being tortured forever very highly.

  Given I seemed to be stuck on the boundary right before Ascending, I doubted that would happen anytime soon. Which meant completing the Quest was the safest route for me to take if I wanted to avoid being thrown into the pits of hell in five days.

  The little plant guy deflated at my proclamation, his aura withdrew back into himself.

  “Why is it such a problem that I found her?” I asked, half-curious and half-going over what I'd need to prepare for the trip through the forest. If it had mostly plant-based creatures inhabiting it, then I’d be fine because of [Friend of the Forest], but I had a feeling there would be more troubles than that.

  “She… it would be best for her not to be found,” he said, his voice shaky.

  “That’s fair, Kaelzar is pissed she’s here,” I replied, having no reason to lie to the little plant.

  His face went blank, and he stood up. “You are welcome to stay here as long as you need, kin. Let me know when you are about to depart. I have something to give you.” With that, he walked away towards the defenders at the fence.

  The meaning behind his words betrayed nothing. Was he angry at me? That’s how Autumn interpreted the sudden removal of emotional context from the meaning of words when speaking in Nature. But this might be a different culture with different linguistic interpretations.

  If they wanted to stop me by force, they absolutely could. The fact that they weren’t doing that indicated something was at play here. I couldn’t figure out what that was with the information at my disposal, so I didn’t bother trying.

  I checked Hazel’s channel to see if she was alive. All I received in feedback was a droning noise that sounded like the death incarnate. It was like someone had created a noise specifically to make me feel impending doom. So I closed that connection and put it aside for now. I hoped she was okay, but I couldn’t do anything to help her through whatever the fuck she got herself into.

  In my hands, I started growing a new hammer, weaving through it a [Living Ritual] that produced several effects, including allowing me to use the hammer as a staff.

  Inside, I wired functions for quickly altering my personal environment into defensive fortifications.

  Alongside my primary weapon, I grew a dozen scouting drones with cameras linked to my [Distributive Astral Core Network]. The drones themselves were entirely independent, operating through rituals powered by environmental Mana. It was only the tiny cameras I attached to them that actually used a portion of my Biomass.

  I had no interest in creating more artificial cores without Novi to operate them. The Communication Mana in our Core was completely isolated in her mind, even after my repeated attempts to force it open.

  Instead, I used Artifice Mana, which was just Nature Mana inverted for their control mechanism. Suddenly, understanding the new language felt remarkably similar to learning Nature. It was as if I had always known how to speak in Artifice; I just needed to remember it. As if it was sitting in some locked part of my mind until my past self completed the levels on the Eryx's Puzzle Ring and unlocked it.

  Which was likely exactly how that worked. I was a golem after all, it would be weird for me to not understand golemoid. I’m sure it was somewhere sitting in my System just blocked because of how fucked up my internal circuits were.

  Next was the ritually powered armour. I had no idea how to improve it in a single day, so I merely copied my old design and dumped it into my Inventory alongside my hammer. The drone swarm crawled along the ground around me as I stood and walked through the village.

  Each artifact I made felt different somehow. As if they were more compliant to my whim, the drones shouldn’t have been this easy to get working properly, but it was almost like they had little souls driving their rituals.

  If I still had the bookshelf, I’d try summoning something to actually fill the artifacts with, but unfortunately, that had been lost at some point. Or at least it wasn’t in my Inventory anymore.

  Looking up at the sky, it was still mid-morning. The sun was just rising when I fell from the flying snake, which meant I only spent an hour at most fiddling with these designs.

  Having all this Wit was so helpful, I absolutely thought it had been all day based on what I got done.

  The ground in the village was filled with loose Nature Mana as the buildings all appeared to be grown into trees. The roots of the trees formed walkways. It was very nicely detailed Nature Mana manipulation. Walking along the wooden pathways, I soaked the atmosphere in, enjoying the feeling of near absolute control over my surroundings due to [Nature Herald’s Kind]. I could probably learn something from these people if I stayed here for a bit.

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  But I had to go. The Quest was my highest priority at the moment.

  Maybe I could stop back here after I finish the Quest.

  I arrived at the wall next to the forest and looked into it. The trees were so dense that it looked like I’d be stepping into the abyss itself on my journey. There was a reason it was called the Sylvan Maw.

  Through the fence, I saw a little plant dude stumble out of the forest and walk out into the steppes. The creature was similar to the ones in Autumn’s story, a flower head walking on two little vine legs.

  From the steppes like a bolt of lightning, an oversized rabbit-like creature dashed and snatched it, tearing it into pieces and devouring the scraps. It was as if the herbivores in the steppes had been designed to be carnivores for plants. Why didn’t they just eat—

  From the forest, a dozen thorns exploded on the spot the rabbit had just been before it darted off. A toxic-looking fog enveloped the area the thorns hit.

  That’s why they don’t eat the plants from the forest, gotcha.

  Luckily, I would be safe from that sort of attack.

  I let out a sigh, the village leader looking guy wanted to talk to me before I left to give me something. Did I really want to deal with that? I could just head off into the forest on my own now; nobody would stop me.

  I glanced at the nearest guards standing by the fence; they paid me absolutely no attention and stood completely still, not even breathing. They must be photosynthesizing.

  Turning around, I walked towards where I felt the leader had gone, his Mana signature sitting in my mind and [Soul Perception] allowing me to feel his distinct… soul signature? I wasn't sure what I was actually seeing with that Skill. It was like looking at a lump of coloured energy. That energy was shaped into their very being in a way that did not align with any visual sensations at all.

  With the Skill it felt like I had been blind until this moment and had finally discovered what colour looked like. Weird shit, but likely useful, I was glad past me picked up the Skill.

  Climbing a tree with a single hop, I walked into what appeared to be a living room. The little plant dude was fiddling with a ritual design carved on a piece of bark. The moment I entered the room, his aura completely suffused me, in a far gentler manner than it had been during our earlier talk.

  “You had something to give me?” I asked as I stepped into the room.

  “You know, there is a door you could have knocked on instead of coming through the window,” he muttered, not looking up from his ritual design.

  I glanced at what he was working on and realized I couldn't process it at all. It was definitely written in some kind of Nature-based symbols, but their meaning felt completely random, internally contradictory, while remaining whole at the same time.

  “You'll have to excuse me. I seem to have realized that manners were completely meaningless at some point after I died. Whatcha workin’ on?” I asked, flopping down next to him on the thick, foamy plant that sort of looked like a couch.

  “I doubt you'd understand. One as aligned with Winter as you are would not be able to understand the coming of Spring,” he replied, then let out a call, his voice like a whistle through a blade of grass.

  From downstairs came another pointy-eared plant person, this one with a flower as her head accessory instead of a leaf like the majority of the people in this village. She made a motion that meant something similar to a curtsy towards someone important to her in particular.

  “Phlaeris, this is the Player…” he trailed off glancing towards me meaningfully. The fact that he called me a Player indicated he knew the whole situation and the fact that we were in hell.

  If I weren't in a hurry to complete a task with a higher priority, I might have taken the time to pick his mind on what he knew. For some reason, completing the Quest felt far more urgent than anything else at the moment. I was having difficulty standing here, not heading off to complete it, only the insistence that this might be important in helping me with the Quest kept me from running off.

  “Winter's breath, or Ellie, whatever you prefer,” I replied, switching from the courtesy name I used in Nature to regular speech as they were capable of both.

  “It is nice to meet you, Player Ellie,” she said with a bow, indicating deference and apology at the same time with her hand motions.

  They really know my situation, huh.

  “My daughter will be going with you to meet the Lady of the Forest,” he announced, and my train of thought slammed into a solid wall.

  SHE WHAT?

  “Is there a problem with her joining you?” the village head asked, and I belatedly realized I had spoken that aloud. His expression had turned dark, and the aura filling the room felt less safe than it had a minute ago.

  “Uhh, no. I would be happy for her to come with me,” I stuttered out in Nature, adding complete joy with this situation to the meaning of my words.

  He relaxed, and the pressure in the room dropped. “Good, I’m glad. She’ll be of use guiding you safely through the forest. While you may not have the issues that a being of flesh would have, the forest holds dangers beyond what the mind can comprehend.”

  I just nodded along while trying to figure out how I could ditch her. Glancing at the flower-bearing girl, she smiled at me, and her green-tinted cheeks turned rosy.

  Her soul looked terrifying. Comparing it to my own was like comparing a rat to a panther. If she wanted to, she could crush my Core in an instant. I wouldn’t be able to resist in any capacity, as she was just so far past me Eidetically that she was basically a natural disaster made flesh.

  That could either kill me while out in the wild, which I suppose was unlikely, since they could just do it now if they really wanted to. Most of the guardsmen and important people in this village felt like they were multiple Ascensions ahead of me. There was so much Eidos packed in this small village that I could sense this place was once somewhere of immense importance.

  Kaelzar knew this place existed, right? He had only sent me to find the Young Miss with antlers. Not a village full of…

  “What are your people called?” I asked.

  “We are Sylphaen. If you speak with the Lady of the Forest, she will know of us,” he replied.

  I signalled acceptance and lowered my head.

  “Okay, well, I appreciate the hospitality of the Sylphaen people. I’m heading out now, and would be happy for you to joi—” I started, only for Phlaeris to glomp me hard enough that we both flew out the window.

  My last sight of the village head was an expression of immense disappointment.

  Check out the Discord!