After Lifre and the others left the wood, Estyle went back to the entrance of the branch, moving to the transfer wall. His energy resonated with the wall, opening a gate that led deep into the heart wood.
I need to report this to the Heart Father. He thought to himself urgently as he stepped through the gate. On the other side, the wooden walls of the city were golden, with numerous Woodborn walking about with a festive atmosphere. From what he could tell, news of the recent activities from the branches had not reached the heartwood.
Estyle kept his hands on the relics that Lifre and Lena had given to him, unwilling to part with them for even a brief moment until he reached the Heart Father. He made his way into a reception hall, where a woman was sitting behind the counter with a polite smile. This was someone that Estyle knew well, as she was the main receptionist in charge of receiving people from his branch district.
“Ah, Estyle!” She greeted him warmly. “Are you finally back from investigating the strangers?”
Estyle nodded his head. Trishe was the one that had asked him to head out in the first place when the guards at the outer bark made the report. “That’s right. Please, pass a message to the Heart Father for me. I have an urgent need to speak with him.”
Trishe blinked in confusion at this request. “Erm… Estyle, you know that it’s not easy to arrange a meeting with the Heart Father. I can’t just take care of it like that… I can try to pass a message to his secretary, but I can’t promise that he will come.”
Estyle swallowed thickly, nodding his head. “Please, let him know that the strangers were all foreign awakened. And that, with their help, we have removed roughly ninety percent of the hives from the canopy in one day.”
Trishe froze when she heard that, staring at Estyle for a moment, as if sure that she had misheard him. However, seeing his serious, even nervous demeanor, she nodded her head. “I… i don’t know what to say. I’ll pass the message along. Please, don’t let this be a joke, Estyle. You know that the Heart Father hates to be deceived.”
“I understand, Trishe. I am willing to stake my life on this claim. Not only were these foreigners awakened, but they were more powerful than anything I had ever seen, and said that more of their kind may visit in the future. With a single move, one of them could destroy an entire hive in seconds, and… they left artifacts.” He gestured towards the items in his hands.
“Artifacts? That book, jar, and… ball?” Trishe tilted her head in confusion, already reaching for a communication stone. These stones were modified versions of the transfer walls, designed to only send messages between different stones that the user knew the wavelength for.
“T-That’s right.” Estyle said, not entirely sure how to explain their effects. “The… the book is a device capable of initiating a combat trial among the branches, where you can get rewarded for killing hive beasts with no threat to yourself or the canopy. The jar has one hundred pills, each capable of making someone an awakened. And the ball… the crystal contains the foreigner’s advanced knowledge about the powers of the awakened.”
Trishe’s eyes widened even further as she listened to these descriptions, actually dropping the rock that had been in her hand. She scrambled to pick it up, staring at Estyle. “Did you use one of those pills yourself to test?” She asked, but Estyle frantically shook his head.
“O-Of course not. I can’t covet something like this for myself. That’s why I wish to speak to the Heart Father, to inform him of what has happened. Only he can decide what to do with these items.”
Trishe nodded her head seriously, setting the stone down. “I’ve sent the message. With the situation being what it is, he will probably be here soon. Do you mind waiting for a while?”
Estyle shook his head, moving over to sit on one of the benches. He had expected to wait when he made the decision to come here, after all.
Thankfully, the wait wasn’t long, and a woman soon appeared at the door of the reception area. She had a stoic demeanor, draped in a dress of autumn leaves. “The Heart Father has requested your presence.” She said, looking at Estyle, and then at Trishe. “Both of you.”
Trishe was surprised when she heard this. “Myself, as well?” She asked, but didn’t argue. She stepped out from behind the counter and joined Estyle as they left. The trio journeyed to a transfer wall, and their guide placed their hand on it. The energy that they used on the wall was subtle, impossible to discern its exact frequency, but soon a gate had opened.
Without needing to be told, Trishe and Estyle stepped through the gate, finding themselves in a lavish mansion at the heart of the city. Standing before them was an iconic figure, his skin golden and eyes glowing. Immediately, Trishe and Estyle dropped to their knees. “We greet the Esteemed Heart Father.” They said in unison.
The Heart Father smiled, nodding his head. “Yes. Estyle, is it? I’ve been told that you have made a great contribution to the defense of the wood. Not only did you secure the cooperation of foreign awakened, but you even received various relics from them to empower the community. Is that right?”
“Yes, Esteemed Heart Father.” Estyle said, holding his hands out to present the three items to him. “These are the items, and they are as I explained to Trishe. I swear that I have not uttered a word of falsehood.”
The Heart Father arched his brow, gesturing for the woman to collect the items to bring to him. When she did, he looked at the crystal sphere. “According to your report, this is meant to be a repository of knowledge? How does one receive knowledge from an amber ball?”
“The ball is not made of amber, but the power of the awakened. The foreigners called it divinity. I have tested it myself, and can ensure that it is safe to use. You need only inject a small amount of mana into the sphere, and the knowledge will enter your mind.”
The Heart Father blinked slowly, doing just that. His eyes soon widened as a surge of advanced knowledge flooded into his mind, filling him with excitement. Estyle could understand his expression. Compared to those foreigners, the community was truly primitive when it came to the usage of divine power.
Once he was done absorbing the knowledge, the Heart Father cleared his throat. “Yes, this is quite amazing. In fact, I would like to host a celebration in honor of your achievements. Would it be possible to invite these awakened to participate?”
Estyle shook his head at that. “No, Esteemed Heart Father. I have no method of contacting them, and they left shortly after fighting the hives. I believe that they only left the hives that they did in order to allow us to grow our own power through the book that they left.”
“I see… in that case, the celebration must be done with just those who met the foreigners directly. I hear that there were two guards of the outer bark that greeted them on their arrival. Did any others meet with them that we need invite?”
Estyle thought back, but shook his head. “There may have been some among the branches that saw them from a distance, but there were none that directly spoke with them to my knowledge.”
The Heart Father nodded his head at that. “I see. That is unfortunate. Such a celebration should properly glorify those responsible. Were there truly no others?”
After Estyle shook his head again, the Heart Father smiled. “In that case, I believe that this will be quite easy. Silencing four people is naturally easier than purging an entire branch.”
Estyle shot his head up to look at the Heart Father in confusion, only to hear a gasping noise from next to him. Looking over, Trishe’s body had gone pale, roots growing out from the floor and piercing into her skin. “You should be proud to become nourishment for the great wood.” The Heart Father spoke. “I must truly thank you for bringing these artifacts to me. With them, my prestige will grow, as will my strength. I do not need more awakened to share my power with, after all.”
“But… Esteemed Heart Father, why would you do this?” Estyle asked, his body shaking as he recalled Lena’s words. “Why would you betray the wood?”
The Heart Father simply laughed at that. “I am the wood! That is all that anyone must know. To have those who would usurp this power… do not worry. I will put this knowledge to use. By the time more foreigners arrive, I will be far stronger. The wood itself will become an extension of my body.”
As he spoke, numerous roots rose up from the floor around Estyle, grabbing his ankles to hold him in place. The Heart Father’s secretary made no move to protest, instead looking at them as if they were already dead.
However, Estyle’s body suddenly released a golden glow, startling the Heart Father. Before he could react, the glow materialized as a translucent figure, one that perfectly matched himself. The figure offered a mocking smile, stretching his hands out. Suddenly, the roots binding Estyle dissolved.
Instead, golden roots appeared in the air around the Heart Father, piercing into his skin. He tried to struggle, to use his power to remove those roots, but found that they wouldn’t budge. He summoned roots of his own to pull them away, but they withered as soon as they touched the golden roots. “What is this!?”
“This is the power that you could have had.” The translucent figure spoke in a condescending tone. It snapped its fingers, and more roots appeared around the secretary, who had started to make her way to the transfer wall. “Now, as you said, the two of you can become nourishment.”
The Heart Father quickly realized that his power was being stripped away, devoured by the golden roots. His eyes widened in panic, and he tried to release his energy as an explosive force to call for guards. However, the energy was absorbed the moment it left his body.
Estyle watched in shock, looking at the translucent figure. Lena had said that she left a single attack from her in the orb… so why was it the Heart Father himself that emerged? And why was he so much stronger than the true Heart Father?
As if sensing the gaze, the translucent figure turned to face Estyle, a gentle smile on his face. “That’s right, Estyle. I am the safety mechanism left by Esteemed Lena. This strike that she left was designed to create a copy of your attacker, and imbue them with advanced knowledge on various abilities. Once your attacker has been destroyed, I am to take their place.”
“Take their place…?” Estyle asked in confusion. “How could you…?”
“It is quite simple, really.” The figure said, its body growing more and more solid. “My personality was modified by Esteemed Lena to include a simple template, one that would prioritize the true well-being of the community over individual gains. Aside from this, I have all of the knowledge and skills of the Heart Father.”
As he said this, he looked at Trishe, frowning slightly. “I am sorry that I was unable to save Trishe, truly. However, the safety mechanism would only activate when you yourself were in danger. In order to maintain peace within the community, I ask that you not share word of what has happened here.”
While this was going on, the original Heart Father’s body had shriveled up, creaking as the last of his energy was being drained by the roots. “You… won’t… get away… with this… I am… the wood.” He spoke in a raspy breath, before his body seemed to dissolve into golden light, which flowed into the roots.
The new Heart Father shook his head at that. “No… you were only a God of Wood. Just a small god unaware of how to use his power.”
