Choose Your Tree Titans (Patreon)

Year 125 (continued)

All three heroes died in their fight. They’ve managed to kill the demon king, but they fell with it. Harris’s broken empire immediately devolved into war. War was declared the day the news arrived in their cities. He must be sad if he knew that the truce he brokered didn’t even last a day after his death. 

It’s a common thing, and has happened throughout history. After the heroes die, whatever they built tends to fall apart. 

“If I die, the Freshlands will collapse too.” I realised in a way, this ‘empire’ I have right now is almost the same. 

“Certainly.” Jura said. “As it is, the safety of the entire valley is backed by your prowess. Without you, nothing much else holds the valley together, other than a shared area. And we’ve seen them, happy to slay each other.”

“Conflict is eternal.” Yvon said as she trained a new bunch of children. “But so is progress. Train, and we get better.”

Progress in level terms, or progress in a society?

Speaking of which... I can create Titans now. That meant I can choose to power up that dormant walker I have. But those were not the only choices I had. For the titan souls, the system gave a few options. 

[Giant Tree Serpent, Nydus - A massive serpent. Able to use earth and wood magic. Starts at level 70. Gains powers to summon all sorts of serpents and poisons. Master of poisons and has the ability to brew multiple types of potent poisons and cures. Able to grant poison immunity.]

[Giant Storm Bird  - A massive bird with powers of wind, water and thunder. Gains power to summon eagles and hawks. Eagles and hawks can carry goods and people. Has power to grant [Wind Mage] and [Flight] ability to those worthy. Can control the local weather and improve irrigation. Starts at level 70.]

[Fusion with Jura’s Bamboo to form a Titan-class summon. Starts at level 80. Takes the form of a massive wall of thorns. As a summon, it has high burst type output. Transferable, and also significantly improves it’s host’s strength and base stats. Host of the Titan Summon will not age]

[Fusion with Horns. Starts at level 80. Transforms Horns into a Goliath Kingbeetle that’s able to use earth magic and various other protective and offensive abilities. Goliath Kingbeetle can create Royal Warbeetles. Also produces very high quality beetle-silk. Royal Warbeetles can improve crop output in the area]

[Fusion with a Giant attendant tree - Creates a Warmaster Treant. Starts at level 70. High toughness and use of wood magic. Warmaster Treant is able to create lesser treants to assist in combat and other duties. Also produces high quality teas and fruits.]

[Fusion with Grand Mind-Tree - Creates the Tree-Over-Mind. Starts at level 75. Massive psychic magical abilities. Expands secured telepathic communication to the entire continent. Unlocks Mind Reading Ability for anyone within the local valley, which allows limited mind-reading of any targeted person in the local area. Also unlocks psychic/mental attacks and the power to send nightmares and dreams to anyone in the local valley. Psychic attacks do not work on demons.]

And lastly, activate the walker.

[Fusion with Walker Corpse. Creates the Walking-Tree-City. Starts at level 75. Has the ability to produce wood-warriors and also simultaneously control them. Limited to 5,000 wood-warriors at any point, and wood-warriors cannot travel far from Walking-Tree-City. Has ability to use long range projectile attacks. Also carries a mobile healing spring and accommodation on it’s body able to accommodate and feed up to 1,000 people. Produces fruits and vegetables on it’s back too.]

I was quite struck by analysis paralysis, and I had no real urgency to select one, since, well, I have 3 of them and I can keep them until I noticed what I really, really wanted. I mean, I have 3 titan souls, and I can support 2 of them!

In truth, I wanted all of them. And from my experience with this system, it’s likely that I unlock even more choices as I go along, or just become ‘aware’ of them. So, there may be merit to choose the next option later, when I have more choices. 

I mean, all of the titan choices were good, one way or another! 

> What do you think, Lilies? < 

I shared the news of the Titan Souls to Lilies. I wasn’t sure why I did it, but I wanted to tell someone, so I told Lilies and Jura. Jura was too stunned and didn’t quite know what to advise me. To him, this was the realm of gods, and he wouldn’t be able to choose. Which was strange, but maybe he just couldn’t bear with the weight of the choice.

< Any choice is a good choice >

> No preferences? <

< No. Choose and live with it >

Hah! No! I’m not going to do that. Or maybe I should? I didn’t know. I wonder what kind of choices Lilies would have gotten, if they were in my place? Maybe something over death, or something like a city? Since that’s what they have power over?

> Lilies, if you made an item for the heroes, what would you make? <

It didn’t reply to me. I mean, I asked that question because the heroes were making items for the few next generations, and I wondered what’s a good item I would give?

I mean, could we cheat this system in some way? A sword that accumulates power as it passes through the hands of each and every hero, eventually reaching the point that it can kill the demon king outright? I mean, that’s like an anime-plot, but magically and system wise, that’s possible, right?

A weapon that kept gaining levels. A weapon to slay all the demons. I had that idea a while ago to fuse an artificial soul into a sword or spear, but that doesn’t really make a weapon that much stronger. A weapon made by the hero, formed from star mana is still stronger. Partly because artificial souls on their own aren’t that strong.

But if I could make a Titan-Soul version of a living, growing weapon, wouldn’t it eventually reach a point where it can slay the demon king?

-

“The heroes are dead.” Yvon said, as she announced to the group a few days after it happened. The Valthorns were mostly quiet. For them, these young ones, they’ve lived their entire lives with Harris, Mirei and Gerrard as the surviving heroes.

To some extent, this was Pax Harrisan. A period of relative ‘peace’ thanks to the quick destruction of the demon king by the heroes. This era has finally ended. 

“What now, Principal?” They asked. 

“Nothing. It was just an announcement, that all of you should know. For us, we go on as usual. We prepare for the next demon king, and the next.”

Edna looked at Faris. “Well. Our worries were for nothing.”

“What, you wanted to face the demon king? Did power get to your head?” Faris rolled his eyes. Since their last battle with the demon champions they’ve been constantly gaining levels, and now Edna and Faris are both in the early Level 70s. 

“Ah, no.”

“Another 10 years of relative peace.”

“8. Data collected suggests that the 2 years before the demon king arrives is filled with demonic attacks.”

“Minor attacks. Nothing we can’t handle. Especially now that there’s 3 of us [Grand Knights].” Edna said. “I hear from Master Jura that he may be considering a second [Great Druid] too. With all this strength, I think we can handle a demon champion or two.”

“Really?” Faris seemed worried. “Who?”

“Who do you think?” Edna smiled back.

“Ah come on. Don’t play coy with me. You know the answer.” 

“I don’t. I swear.” Edna just walked. 

“Hey, you two seemed happy.” The [spearmaster], Lovis poked in. “Are we having a gathering of the upgraded classes soon?”

“Ish.” Edna frowned. 

From what I can see, all of them are still somehow around 70-80% of Lausanne’s full strength. Lausanne had the special familiar, the [possession of the devoted], and that alone made her stronger, even if she had just regular classes. But the possession of the devoted has strange unwritten conditions, and I have not been able to award them to anyone yet.

As the young batch of upgraded-class Valthorns talked, Jura and Yvon just looked at each other. “What do you think of this batch?”

“They’re good.” Yvon said. “At their level, stronger than me.” 

“Well, you used to be stronger than me.” Jura smiled. 

“Used to be. Not anymore. On that topic, tell me, how did Aeon break through your cap?”

“Well, something that won’t help anyone. I think only he can do it. It’s something soul-related.”

Yvon shrugged. The Valtrian Order’s staff strength has increased to about 15,000, with 12,000 in Freshka itself, and the remaining 3,000 in the various city-states. They act as our representatives, recruiters and caretakers. 

The Valtrian Order’s two main wings, the military wing, and the social wing are meant to be mutually reinforcing. The Social and Health wing, in addition to it’s social support services, is also a means of funnelling young children with nothing much to lose to the Valtrian Order’s ways. It works well, and the local rulers recognise it, so they often set up competing institutions in order to divert talent away from me.

The Social Wing, in addition to regular orphanages, also includes funeral parlors, hospitals, childcare facilities, some schools and some food stores. 

Then the Valtrian Order started getting notified of it.

I could feel them. They were scattered throughout Freshka, at first, 10, then 20. Then a hundred. It’s like I instinctively knew where they are. 

“My class... it changed when I woke up. It’s now [Aeonic Ranger].” A ranger said to his colleagues on the walls of Freshka. He was not the first, but many others started getting similar notifications. 

“What does it do?” Not everyone got it. Some did. 

“I... don’t know?” The ranger said. He was still coming to terms with his changed class. Those who’s class changed generally are a bit more spiritual, and they tend to either pray to some kind of tablet, or regularly visit the temples and other social sites that I have. Some are familiar faces, I’ve seen them at my [tree of prayers]. 

They would be healthier, and as long as they are near-to-me and my network of trees, they will be stronger. Their defensive moves were upgraded too, and they would gain some advantages when fighting demons. 

A few priests, who regularly perform rituals, funerals and births gained [Priest of Aeon]. As a priest, they gained the power to grant [Protection of the Valley], a temporary ‘blessing’ that grants them energy from the valley. 

Faris, too, woke up one day and he was [Aeonic Great Druid]. “You didn’t get an upgrade, Edna?”

“...no. I suddenly feel inadequate about it.” Edna frowned. 

Indeed, Jasmine and my artificial minds were quick to theorise that all those who got the [aeonic] classes were, to some extent, believers. Perhaps not to the degree of a god, but as a local deity. And now that ‘belief’ has manifested itself as a class.

There was a small uproar too, among the priests. 

“Aeon has ascended and has gained power to grant unique classes. This is proof of divinity!” They shouted and claimed. I cringed. Sure, now I can grant special classes. But divine? There’s a massive spectrum to the gods, surely. 

< Congratulations are in order. >  Lilies spoke suddenly, abruptly.

> Huh? <

< We lived for centuries, and even we are not yet lesser deities. > 

> What... level are you? < 

It didn’t answer. Maybe asking their levels is like asking a woman’s age. It’s probably offensive. 

> Sorry. <

< We feel your energy stretching throughout the fabric of the world. > 

> What? < 

< Beware of the Others. They now know you exist. > 

I didn’t know what they meant for a moment. But then I soon got a rather quick notification from my network of informants.

“The Church of Neira has declared Aeon as a heretic and a demon. Accordingly, the Valtrian Order and the Freshlands are monsters that must be exterminated.”

“The Temple of Gaya has formally cut all ties with the Freshlands.” Woot. “We do not recognise and will not do business with anyone who professes to be a believer of Aeon.”

“The Church of Aiva has declared Aeon, of the Freshlands as an enemy of the religion.” 

“The Church of Hawa has declared Aeon, of Freshka and the Freshlands, as a heretic and enemy of the faith.”

Ah. It came suddenly, but four churches suddenly declaring me as a heretic? And I just as quickly, I had an uprising in my own realm. All this while there have been believers of all these other faiths co-existing with us, but now these temples and religious organisations pretty much declared outright war on me. 

I felt a sense of anger. And fear.

What can they throw at me? Did their gods suddenly realised that I’ve stepped closer to the realm of the gods and now considered me an enemy? If this is going to be a conventional war like with the other lesser kingdoms, I will crush them.

“Aeon.” Jura said, a large council present. “The 4 temples have declared you a heretic. Many of our own have decided to emigrate. There will be a slaughter, and there will be war. The temples have vast armies that they can summon. Resources that they can put together.”

“And yet they still depend on heroes to defend them from the demons.” In our broken continent, the hold of the temples are weak. There’s little faith in these temples when they’ve seen so much damage. But the faith of the believers are stronger where the temple institutions are strong. So, if there are enemies, they will likely come from the other continents. “How many?”

My artificial minds got to work quickly. “Across the entire freshlands... not that bad. 10% of our population may leave.”

Not that bad at all. 10% is small. Perhaps the issue of faith means little when their safety is constantly threatened. 

“Among the nobles and leaders though, it’s about 30%.”

I had to do something. I can’t fight a war without leaders. So I turned to Jura and the representatives. 

“After the fall of the demons, my power has grown. My most recent powers involved the introduction of Aeonic-variant classes into the world.” 

A silence among those present. 

“Even among some of you, I can sense the presence of an Aeonic class.” One of the present representatives was an [Aeonic Warrior]. “And so, this provoked the temples in retaliation.”

“They fear your rise, Aeon.” One of the representatives said. “This is a mark of a jealous god.” 

“Not uncommon. The crusades of the Northern Frost was one such war.” The representatives discussed the matter among themselves. 

“A tree’s roots will break through rock and stone, if it must. If they dare to step foot in my valley, I shall break them.” I declared. I am high level, surely I can hold my lands against some templars. 

The representatives nodded, and they all went out. The Freshlands Federal Authority will prepare for war. I had things to think about.

From the declaration, and the consistent timing, I concluded that this must be a divine message. Else, why did 4 temples act in unison to denounce me? The gods, or whatever they are, are in limited contact with the temples, and at the same time, their ability to ‘see’ or ‘perceive’ the world is probably limited. Somehow, when my [domain] ability added new classes to the world, that made them aware of my presence. 

So, would the temples summon heroes to counter me? That would be a very interesting data point, or are the gods tied in that they are unable to summon heroes?

I think they can’t. If they could summon heroes to destroy me directly, they would have done so. There was no need for the temples to publicly declare war on me. So, the declaration of war must mean the gods have limited tools when dealing with non-demonic matters. At best, they would request the heroes to attack me, when the next demon king arrives in the future, but that’s still some time away.

In short, I can expect the forces these temples will muster will be conventional in nature. Nothing extraordinary. 

-

About a month after the declaration, I’ve heard of various ‘crusading’ forces preparing for an invasion. It takes time for them to form a coalition, after all, the temples’ own standing armies are generally small, and they call on a network of ‘believer’ states to donate forces for their cause. 

Per our network, we’re looking at about 1-2million soldiers in total across the 4 temple’s armies, but in actual fact it’ll be less, simply because not all kingdoms will give the full amount requested by the temples. At this point, it’s a good thing to ask, “So, where was this same army when the demon king was rampaging throughout the world?”

“Defending their home cities.” 

Stupid. Politics is stupid. At this point a part of me wants to smack some sense into them, like, hey, I’ve been protecting the world from demons, and this is what I get? 

“Aeon, we detected a spy approaching. He’s moving quickly.” One of my [Aeonic Rangers] commented. He must have believed that he would not be found. 

“Intercept him.” 

My Aeonic rangers attacked, and he dodged. “Wait!” He shouted. “I want to speak to Aeon. I bring an important message from the church of Aiva.”

“If it is war, you have war.”

The spy shook his head. “It’s more complicated than that.”

-

The spy was led to an area with a large [tree of prayer]. “Speak.” I telepathically said. Edna, and a few knights were there. Just in case. 

“May I have some privacy?” The spy said. “The things I say must be only for Aeon.”

“No.” I said. 

The spy sighed, but then he took out a small pendant. Instantly I felt a kind of ‘holy’ energy, and Edna’s sword moved in. “What are you doing?”

“This is the Aiva’s Pendant of Truth. One of the 5 sacred treasures of the Church of Aiva, and proof, that I speak for Aiva.”

Edna’s sword closed in. The spy’s finger gently touched the tip, pushing it aside slightly. 

“Aiva has no intention of going to war with Aeon. But the other 3 temples have received divine messages to some degree. Aiva, our patron god, has decreed that a war is declared as a formality, but no hostilities will break out.”

“Breaking of trade routes do not count for hostilities?” One of the rangers shouted. 

“Some concessions must be made to keep up to charade.” The spy said. “But we will not send anyone of significant skill or power for this endeavour. This war is a silly thing, with demons at the border.”

“What do the temples want?” I asked.

“I do not know. But Aiva was clear. This is a fake war. An act.” Well, an ‘act’ of war, then. 

“But there will be real wars with the other 3.” I felt sad. Especially with the temple of Gaya. I recall being housed in a temple of Gaya. It must’ve been destroyed by the Rottedlands. It didn’t have to be a war, no?

Is this the part of my life where I’m going to play tower defense against a wave of attackers from across the sea? 

-

[AUTHOR NOTES : THERE WILL BE A POLL. TOP TWO WILL BE CHOSEN. POLLS will be closed in a week. ]

Thanks for all the comments. It's so much fun to read comments and reviews, and I have to resist spoiling future points by replying. XD I honestly wish I had more time, sometimes, to write. But then again I should be thankful that I have a job in this kind of economic environment.