NOVEL WEB Chapter 11: Tree Appreciation
Parting from Vahn and his girls, Gil finished his descent and checked out the tree. It was made of a translucent green material that might look like wood in some lights, and when he looked closely there seemed to be a warm glow filtering out through the bark. A middle aged redhead woman sat on the park bench nearby, knitting in the shadow of the strange tree.
"What a beautiful tree." Gil said loudly. He was starting to suspect this world was based on an RPG, likely a JRPG. There was only one person standing next to this big obvious landmark, and they behaved exactly as he expected.
"Isn't it?" The woman said, looking up from her project, "this is such a beautiful, peaceful place. I can almost forget all we have lost when I'm with the Genesis Tree."
"Do you know where the glow comes from?" Gil asked. He got a shrug in return.
"It's believed that the trees are meant to serve as guardians of humanity, blessed by the god Tieg. This tree has stood here for longer than the kingdom of Drake has existed." She said softly, "I don't have any proof, but I like to think that it watches over us. In these dark times, I want to believe something is."
That was good enough for Gil. He palmed the stamp and pressed it against the bark. An immortal, intelligent tree would be at least Tier 4 for the agelessness alone; if it had enough control over fate or the weather to have any hand in this town's survival, it might be as high as Tier 6 or 7.
Unfortunately, if the tree indeed had any such powers they weren't particularly relevant to Gil at the moment. The stamp came away, leaving no mark. That meant one of a few things.
One, the tree was just a cool tree with some weird mythology around it. Less common than one might think in a multiverse derived from various fictional universes, but it happened sometimes. Cut content, set dressing, etc.
Two, the tree had powers but was not intelligent, even at an animal level. Honestly pretty likely. It could be a control console, a container, a fully automated system, or dozens of other possible explanations. There was no harm in trying to stamp an inanimate object, it just didn't do anything.
In another life, Gil had amassed a rather impressive collection of pet mimics by using a minor telekinesis ability to stamp any suspicious treasure chests he saw. An elven archmagi he'd known at the time was painfully gullible when it came to potential treasure. She'd been a living nuke with a busty apprentice, so Gil had been more than happy to cover for her few blind spots. Ah, good times.
Anyway, the third option was that the basic stamp had been nerfed without telling him. Gil hoped that wasn't the case; simplicity of use had always been the Stamp Binding's greatest asset. Adding caveats about target power level or paywalling basic functions behind the Stamp Shop would be straight up bullshit deserving of an explanation, at least. The Company could do whatever they liked, but as a tester Gil could speak with the authority of a customer on many issues.
Gil knew that he'd be pulling an all nighter. He'd been walking more than this body was used to, and while he wasn't exhausted he was a bit tired. Gil checked the cut on his side and found that it had mostly healed. There was a faint line left, but no pain. It really had just been a scratch. Gil told the knitting woman about the breach, balled up his cape, and took a nap at the foot of the Genesis Tree. Random small town superstitions were a reliable source of information in his experience, and this tree was supposedly a place of safety. He'd take what he could get.
••••••••••
Gil slept longer than he expected, his body not used to the extra demands of healing tea. He had been eating light for a week, and his body quite understandably wanted to replace all that blood. Everything together left him drained.
Nobody thought anything of leaving him there. The Genesis Tree was nearly indestructible, and they all had work to do. They assumed that he'd been traveling a long time, and didn't really know what use one additional man would be. If he was that tired, better that he get his rest now.
"Gilbert, was it?" A firm female voice whispered into his ear. "Please, listen."
Gil woke up, and found himself in an endless dark void. He sincerely hoped this was a dream.
"I apologize for intruding upon your dreams." The voice said; she didn't sound very sorry, more that she was conscious of the fact that she should be. "There is something you must do."
"Hold up." Gil said, scrambling to his feet and looking around. "Who is this?"
"My name is Meta." She answered, "I am the Ra-Seru who lives within this tree."
"And you watch over this town?" Gil guessed, looking around the void. He had no clue what a ra-seru was, but he figured that politeness would be best.
A warm glow appeared behind Gil, and he turned to see a surprisingly unimpressive sight. A scaly red cylinder with a single staring green eye floated in the air before him. Vaguely draconic, perhaps.
"In a manner of speaking." She answered, her voice continuing to emanate from nowhere. "My task reaches far beyond the borders of one town, and I need aid to do even that much."
"Okaaay," Gil said, feeling around inside of his pouch for his stamp. This was some weird shit, specifically weird magic shit. When strange magical women were involved, disembodied or otherwise, attempted capture seemed like the right move. "What kind of help?"
"You must bring me someone fit of body, strong of will, and pure of heart." Meta explained. "He shall be my bearer. His name is Vahn, and I sense you have met him already."
"Hey, I could be your bearer." Gil said with an abundance of optimism. "I'm pretty sure I meet your qualifications."
"You're fishing in your pocket for an item that you intend to use to bind me to your will right now." Meta answered dryly. "I am in your dreams, and I can see your heart. It is hardly the worst I've seen but I don't intend to put my faith in one such as you beyond where it is mutually beneficial."
"Fair, fair." Gil said, accepting the L and moving on. "I'll go get him first thing when I wake up, assuming he will listen to me. It's not like I know the guy."
He very studiously did not think about the kind of hard, professional woman he would associate with Meta's voice, or the tendency for magical tree spirits to be total smoke shows. He did not consider his chances of capturing her later by some other method, or the transformation magic that The Company often made available. Such thoughts could wait until he did not have a mind reader of unknown skill knocking around in his head.
"Do what you can." Meta commanded, her voice fading as the dream dissolved. "Only with his help may I drive away the mist."