"Wait, all trees are connected with the Tree of Beginnings?" I wondered in surprise, the words that Florie said were very surprising! I never realized it but perhaps each tree is already connected with the tree of beginnings? Then the entire forest is like a single entity… I guess that's why it is so important to protect it.
"Yes, they are!" Said Florie while smiling. "But make sure to not cut too many, okay?"
"Sorry, we won't." Said Sporegon.
"I can always make wood out of my body, it costs HP, but I guess we'll have to begin doing that instead of cutting down the trees from here." I said while crossing my arms.
"D-Dryads can do that?!" Florie asked in shock.
"Yes, my entire body can shapeshift into many types of plant species combined together. By merely thinking it, I can grow hard bark around my arms and create wood by detaching my body parts, they can regrow naturally as well!" I said.
"T-That's insane!"
"Amazing!"
"N-Not even our Queen can do this…"
"Her ability to grow wood is very limited because that wood that grows instantly often dries out and falls apart due to lack of life force…"
"But Lady Dryad, you can merely create wood that is good?" Asked Florie as the other fairies were just as surprised.
"Yeah I can…" I said. "Is that very surprising? All Dryad and Ent Players should be able to do it."
"But they're very rare!" Said Florie. "Your amazing ability could help us craft a lot of things we usually cant make due to fearing in cutting the trees…"
"Well, if you want to I can help as long as you provide with enough HP Potions!" I said with a happy smile, as the fairies got excited. Nonetheless, I wanted them to continue telling me more about the disease.
"Ah right, the disease…" Said Florie. "As we said previously, Queen Titania said it was something like a curse. It mysterious emerged in here some time ago, it was contagious but we only realized quite late… Our queen said she had never seen a contagious curse before. The sad part is that the old hunter that brought it with him died before we could ask him anything…"
"Now we are left with the question if someone really infected him or someone cursed him! We always kept ourselves away from the monsters."
"It is a bit worrying how this happened."
"And things are getting worse…"
"Do you have some sort of recipe to heal a curse, lady dryad?" Asked Florie.
"Hm, I will have to check them first." I sighed. "The Squirrel-kin didn't had a curse but they got sick through infection of the toxic miasma, we made some potions that destroyed it, so it was resolved by hunting down more miasmic monsters and getting specific gathering materials… If I had Acorn with me, things would be way easier, I miss him…"
"It is certainly similar, perhaps…" Sighed Florie, as she seemed concerned about the whole subject. "The part about the miasma infection seems similar as well, but this disease would be even more persistent but less lethal, I suppose… which makes it even harder to heal. It is slowly trying to kill us all. It feels like not something that would be made through infection of miasma, it feels like a special curse inflicted upon us… to make us suffer."
"Someone wants to get rid of us fairies…"
"The snakes… they might be a suspect!"
"I remember that Lady Queen Titania said that there was a big bad snake living in the forest, that was once slain by an old hero, but somehow revived from within a dungeon…"
"A dungeon again?!" I wondered in surprise. "C-Could this dungeon have revived the three bosses?"
"Three bosses?" Asked Florie.
"Yes, the Mushroom King, the Shadow Crow King, and the Ravenous Giant Snake Queen… Right, Sporegon?" I asked, as the mushroom knight nodded.
"Precisely. I also suspect the same thing. If the damned Demon King had somehow managed to revive, it is completely possible for his goons to have also revived. They were specifically targeting this forest in the past due to its immense size and quantity of life. It was said to be the core of the Verdant Continent where a large quantity of Mana and Spiritual Essence flowed freely. If he were to destroy this place, he would be able to pour his miasma everywhere more easily, infecting everything and making this entire continent his domain."
"Even if the forest has become so small compared to back then, it still harbors an immense quantity of magic and spiritual essence. This is the birthing place of many spirits that roam the world and enhance the life and elements of the world, becoming its pillars." Said Magius. "The elements of the world are maintained by said spirits, and are very important. they're small, almost microscopic, so we can't see them, but they're everywhere, becoming the building bricks of all elements."
"The Demon King's plan… he wants to infect everything with miasma, and probably disrupt the natural order of the elements, turning this world into a chaotic realm of his liking, where he can live comfortably, grow stronger, and probably move to other worlds." Sighed Hunter.
"T-There are otherworld's?!" I wondered.
"Naturally, through the Cosmic Staircase, we once accessed the world of beasts and the world of spirits, special realms connected to our world!" Said Sporegon.
"Wh-Whaaa?! You're telling me there's at least two other whole world maps?!" I asked in shock. This game was way too big!
"Yes, perhaps. Well, it is not as if the entire fate of the World depends in this single forest, but it is one of the special forests that births spirits, there are a few others, which I hope to have yet to be taken down… the neighboring forest of the Ents where Titan came from has grown very small compared to this one, but it still hanging on." Sighed Sporegon.
"That damn Demon King… I wonder where Sir Titan could be when we need him." Sighed Magius.
"I wonder that as well… And Acorn too! Maybe Achlys, I guess?" I wondered.
"Please calm down for now, we can discuss these heavy stuff for later, that's the entrance to our village!" Florie pointed out with her tiny hand at a beautiful waterfall surrounded by colorful flowers.
