"Don't kill him; it's all good," Adam said. He used frost storm to freeze the arrows while he stood next to Lina.
Shooing the forest elves away, Lina kneeled in front of Adam. "Master, I'm not sure why this happened. Maybe we should just get rid of him to avoid problems later," she said, bowing her head.
She really meant it, and kept her head down, especially because Adam was there.
The devil chimed in sneakily, "Master, why not listen to her? Offing her dad could spice things up."
Ignoring the devil, Adam looked at Lina, grinning. He softly patted her back with his wing. "Don't sweat it. This is bloodline transference; it's not about whether you want to save him or not."
Lina felt a huge sense of relief. "Master, thanks for believing in me."
Adam walked over to the Ice Spikes. He got rid of the icy energy that was fighting the plant energy. The Ice Spikes started to morph. Tiny tubes went right into most of the chief's blood vessels. The super cold froze them, so they didn't burst. Blood rushed even quicker through these tubes as plant energy kept the chief alive.
"Look, he's way more useful now," Adam said, pleased with himself.
Satisfied, Adam tapped his claw, and more ice tubes grew from the Ice Spikes. "Tell your family to come to the lab, one at a time. I'll improve their lineage," he said to Lina before walking away.
Lina looked up, shocked. Realizing she was being rude, she said, "Master, won't this be a lot of work for you?"
Adam just laughed, "Don't stress; you're still the boss of them. Even if someone tries to challenge you, you've got this."
Once Adam left, Lina stood up, her face changing. Adam's last words didn't feel comforting; they felt more like a warning.
The forest elves nearby heard them talking. They didn't get all of it, but the part about bloodline got them pumped. One elf yelled, "He can make us stronger? Lina, you became the Nature Controller because of him, right?"
Lina whipped around and flicked a seed at the elf who spoke. The seed grew super fast, pulling nutrients out of him. He screamed. Not phased, Lina only spoke after the vine had sucked him dry and came back to her. "You should call me, MASTER."
...
The odds for the forest elves' bloodline upgrades turned out way worse than expected. On average, only one in fifteen could make it through the awful process.
But the elves who didn't make it weren't useless. Their blood had useful stuff in it now. Adam carefully kept them alive, hanging them upside down in the bigger lab. They were hooked up with ice tubes to a simple blood circulation system. This sped up the bloodline upgrade for the other elves.
Now, the lab was even scarier than before. Some elves got freaked out before they even started.
Lina was super hands-on. She personally brought her people into the lab each time and watched everything from start to end. Officially, she was helping Adam make the process smoother; but really, she was worried someone might get stronger than her.
Adam didn't call her out. He just reminded her to keep doing her patrols, and let her hang out in the lab as much as she wanted.
Twenty days later, Lina brought in the last unchanged slave. "The slaves who haven't leveled up are useless now," Adam said.
"Why? Their blood is still good," Lina quickly shot back, still hoping for another upgrade for herself.
"To keep leveling up, you need better bloodlines, like more Natural Controllers. This elf blood is too weak. Just having a lot won't be enough for a second upgrade," Adam said, crushing her hopes.
Lina left the lab, feeling kind of down.
Almost a month had gone by. The once lively tribe was now super quiet. Overgrown plants filled the empty treehouses, and a slight smell of blood scared off even wild animals.
Of the more than six hundred forest elves who had sworn loyalty to Lina, most were now like empty shells. The ones who got upgraded were sent on missions. Now, only she and Adam were still active in the whole tribe.
Alone, she went to the icicle cluster.
Life energy isn't endless for any creature, even these elves with plant powers.
The first batch of elves had all lost their life force; no more blood dripped from the icicles. Only the old chief was still 'alive'.
Wanting more was like planting a seed, and power made it grow super fast. It grew quicker than Adam had thought. When Adam said these blood donors were useless, Lina stood in front of her dad's sad body, feeling surprisingly calm.
After a long moment of silence, light footsteps sounded from behind. Without turning around, Lina walked up to her father. She took a deep breath and sprouted a cluster of sharp thorns from her hand. As she exhaled, she slowly pierced them into her father's skull.
Then she severed the thorns, letting them take root and sprout within her father's body before resolutely turning away.
By the time she met a slave, her face showed no signs of what had just transpired.
"Didn't I say you're not to return to the tribe unless it's urgent?" Lina's flower-woven clothes were now wilting, losing their vibrant colors to leave only dark purple blossoms in full bloom.
Dropping to one knee, the slave respectfully said, "I found a stranger entering the Macaron Mountains alone. After staying at the base of the main peak for a day, he's headed toward the tribe. He seems to know the way well, bypassing some tribes and entering others."
"Is it the Dragon Slayer Guild?"
"I'm not sure. The old chief never allowed us to interact with mysterious individuals, but it seems likely."
Lina paused, then commanded, "Follow him. I want all the information you can gather on him, and don't get caught. You know what will happen if you do."
The slave shuddered and retreated from the tribe. The consequences Lina spoke of were worse than death. He had personally witnessed Lina draining the blood from two of her kinsmen who had dared to resist her."
