Tree of Aeons (an Isekai Story)

289. Greenfields VI

Magisar, The Fifth Peripheral World

Metteria Hudrot, Gorfort Tower Mage

Metteria Hudrot watched as the magical shields were battered by the attacks from the demons. The fists and arms of the rock demons were strong, but she was a Level 42 Stone Mage, and her shields would hold. This generation of demons had been a good matchup for her, and she gained many, many levels in the numerous skirmishes since then. 

“Metteria! Duck!” Metteria pulled back, her movement was propelled by manipulating the stones embedded within her robe and a fireball barely grazed her hair and slammed into what appeared to be a rock golem.

But at that moment, she thought she saw a man, with short white hair and wearing some kind of greenish robe. The fireball exploded, and Metteria panicked. “Wait! I saw someone!”

“Saw what?” The rock demons came for them, but then, there was not a trace of the man that she saw. 

Was she hallucinating? 

“Pay attention!” Metteria’s captain screamed as another fireball slammed into the rock demons, this destroyed the rock demon entirely. “Metteria! Defense!”

“Got it, got it!” Metteria shook her head briefly and her stone shields reappeared. She once again repositioned herself using the stones within her robe. Her [Stone Levitation] allowed her to drag her entire body along as she moved to help her teammates. A few more fireballs, and a few stone bullets and slowly, Metteria and her ten teammates brought down the small squadron of rock demons.  

“Good job, good job.” The Captain said, relieved that none of this team died. Metteria looked back at the battlefield, and she swore that she saw that old man. 

She walked into the location where she thought the man was, but found nothing. There was absolutely no trace of the man, as if he was never there. 

“Something on your mind, Metteria?” The captain asked. 

“I thought I saw a man during the battle. But he vanished just as quickly.”

The Captain walked closer to her, and then grabbed her hand. “That sounds like mana exhaustion. But no sign of mana exhaustion.” 

“Was I the only one that saw the man?” Metteria glanced around. No one else did. The only reason she saw it was it was exactly in front of her, but he vanished just as quickly. Where did he come from? 

No one answered her. The Captain frowned. “Metteria, report back to the infirmary and have yourself subjected to tests by the life mage.”

She wanted to protest, but then she knew how this all looked like. “Yes, sir.” 

***

Lumoof 

Lumoof landed on the fifth world and immediately had a fireball slam into his shield. It wasn’t intentional, because the fireball hit the edges of the shield. There were demons everywhere, and there were strange mages fighting against them. The demons around Lumoof were gigantic rocky creatures made of a kind of sandstone rock.

The demonic golems of brimstone and fire attempted to punch something in Lumoof’s direction, but he vanished before they got him. 

“Stella, can you avoid live battlefields when opening portals?” Lumoof complained through their linked messaging system once he got out of his short-distance teleportation and landed a good distance away in what seemed to be a large valley filled with demons, and a group of mages defending against them. The defenders were humans, but they all seemed pale. Lumoof briefly wondered if they were malnourished, but his senses soon realized this was their natural state.

The humans, for once, were not exactly helpless. They all seemed like a decently experienced group of combatants and they hurled magic freely. Magical fireballs and blasts of energy slammed into the demonic golems, and the explosions ripped the golem demons apart. The group of skinny humans huddled together.

Lumoof watched as they shredded the last of the golem demons, and then checked their surroundings for more enemies. 

Lumoof’s presence was shrouded in enough protective items and illusions that he was fairly certain they didn’t see him. 

Kafa popped out of the portal a few minutes later. “Sorry I’m late- Did I miss something?”

Thankfully, he was also protected by his protections that most likely would not have noticed him.

***

Lumoof and Kafa continued to follow the group of mages back that eventually led to a steep mountain. At the peak of that mountain was a magical structure that floated above the skies, a magical creation. 

The mountain wasn’t totally bare. It was filled with some small trees and vegetation, though Lumoof immediately noticed the encroaching presence of demonic hybrids in small patches all over the place. 

He would have to investigate that later, and get a better read on the world’s state. But for now, he directed his attention towards the floating structure, a city suspended midair by magic.

“That is quite impressive.” Lumoof said. He activated his spiritual sight and immediately noticed the presence of magical energies from the ground below. There was a faint taste of the hero’s presence in the magical structures beneath the floating castle, and multiple magical protections. “Seems like they used ley lines to power a levitation formation, and kept their city protected from the demons.” 

Ley lines that were fading. 

The group of magicians regrouped somewhere near the bottom of the castle, and then Lumoof heard them curse.

“What’s taking them so long to activate the teleportation formation?” One of the humans that appeared to be the leader of the group began to talk. 

One of the other mages then teased. “Probably one of the mages sleeping on the job.”

“Really? I’ll give that guy a good sounding once I get back-”

Lumoof looked at Kafa, and then back at the flying castle. “Think we can get in?” 

Kafa shrugged, but knew it was a rhetorical question. The real question wasn’t whether they could, but which method would serve their interest best. So, Kafa responded with a silly question of his own. “Do you want to jump in, or do you want me to throw you in?” 

Lumoof laughed, and then pointed. “Let’s just watch. They are not the only group.” Lumoof said as he felt the presence of more people through the plants and trees around them. “I sense more people coming here.” 

Kafa turned around and tried to focus his own senses “That plant-sense of yours is overpowered as hell.” 

“You can be a tree man if you want.” Lumoof smiled. “It’s surprisingly nice to have Aeon right next to me all the time.”

Kafa shook his head in horror. “I’ll take that back.”

“Well, let’s see what these guys are up to.”

There were six other small groups, all mages just like the first group. They felt like mages, because of how their mana poured out of their spirit, and the spiritual lines that facilitated magic use were most pronounced. A common feature when mana use was high, and something Lumoof seen often in their own mages and wizards. 

“Still waiting for the teleport?” The other groups arrived and quickly asked. They were all slender looking mages, and all wore some kind uniform, made of knitted leather and wool.

“Yeah. It’s taking a damn while.” 

“Are the charge crystals malfunctioning again?” One of the other mages from the 3rd party asked.

“How’d I know? But that would explain why we’re stuck here.”

“Glad to see you guys all in one piece.” The mage-leader from the very first party smiled. 

“Eh. Just usual rock demons, we’d live.”

A fourth party returned, and Lumoof noticed this party carrying far more things. He continued to observe their interactions. “What happened?”

“Our usual forage run is interrupted by rock demons, and one of my guys is an idiot.” The 4th party leader explained. There was a corpse. “He’s dead, but we hauled his body back for his family.”

The rest sighed. “Young ones should know better than to charge into a party of demons.”

Lumoof watched and he felt it. The thread of magic in the air was something he could sense innately, and so, he activated his invisibility, and walked closer to the group. 

The teleportation formation activated, and the group all vanished, pulled into the floating fortress above the mountain. 

***

Metteria

“You’re fine. Eyes appear normal, and there’s no unusual mana presence along your mind or your spirit.” The healer said. Healer, Life mage. The distinction hardly existed in the Gorfort Tower. 

The rest of her team was already in the barracks dropping off their harvest for the day. 

“I am?” Metteria muttered, but a second later she realized how ridiculous it all sounded. “Of course. Of course I am fine.”

The healer and life mage promptly discharged her, and Metteria decided it was time to go visit her own master. Her master’s tower wasn’t far from the place, so she stepped out of the infirmary and into the streets of Gorfort Tower’s 4th floor. 

She glanced around, her feet sensed the vibrations of the stone used around Gorfort Tower, and noticed-

“Am I being followed?” 

It can’t be. She looked again and there’s nothing there. Her stone sense was a strange skill, but it saved her life a few times. But why? Who would follow her? 

She walked anyway and went into her master’s research tower. It was a small, cramped space. Space was very expensive in all the safe havens of Magisar. 

“Did you manage to find what I asked?” An older voice said once Metteria stepped into the third floor of the tiny tower. It belonged to a small, petite woman with not much muscles. Her appearance was tired, wrinkles were all over her body.

“-yes. I did.” Metteria checked her pouch and took out a piece of rock with stripes. “The vein remains untouched for now.”

The older woman frowned as she also picked up the same rock, and then she began to  examine it with a strange copper-colored contraption. “This is no good.“

“No good? It looks fine to me.” Metteria didn’t want to believe it.

“Stupid disciple. Come closer. Look at the stripes. It’s starting to show dark-reddish spots.”

Metteria’s face was one of horror once she too noticed the presence of the tiny spots in the stripes, made visible through the copper contraption. “The demons’ magic is seeping into our usual mineral veins. The Tower Masters must-”

“They know.”

Metteria was about to protest but then she stopped. “What? They know?”

“They know, disciple. They’re just trying to figure out how bad it is and what can be done. They are not fools, despite all the arrogance they portray around the rest of you.”

The younger mage frowned. “-how much time do we have?”

“That’s why I sent you.” The older woman pulled down a paper map suspended off a ceiling. The map was one of the wider surroundings, with the tower in the center. Around the tower were marked locations, each with a date. 

She snapped a finger and a wooden five stepped ladder came over, and she climbed up to the map. She began to write dates, and then, with a wooden abacus, began to calculate. It was a relatively simple mathematical extrapolation based on the distance and dates of corruption based on the last corrupted vein and the newest corruption vein, and the extrapolated to their current location. 

“Think we have somewhere around seventeen to twenty five years before the ley lines underneath Gorfort experience the demonic taint.” 

“That’s not a lot of time.” Metteria countered. 

“Not much, but not little either.” The old woman sat down, and then took out another copper bowl. She placed the rock into the copper bowl and then set it down. “Well, let’s go see Ol’ Junker and see whether he’s got a different data set.”

Metteria stared at the old woman. “He’s also looking into this?”

“Of course he is. You think he spends his time flirting with his two beautiful disciples? No! He works them like hell!”

Metteria chuckled lightly. “Do you need me to go with you, master?”

“Come. Magister Junker would spill a lot more secrets if you are around. He’s not interested in old hags like me anymore.”

The younger disciple watched as her master climbed down the stairs. It still made her marvel every time she saw her move about as if she was still a spry young woman. 

The two of them moved down, but then Metteria paused and looked back. She thought she saw one of the books on the floor move. The vibrations on the rock and wooden floor seemed strange, as if there was someone else in the room with them. 

Invisibility was impossible. Metteria was not aware of such magic. She looked around, tried to feel for the presence of magic, but the entire place was filled with so many little magical trinkets that it was hard to be sure. 

She turned back, and followed her master out of the door.

The alleys and streets of Gorfort were all tiny. Space was expensive in a ‘safe haven’ like Gorfort, and every inch mattered. It was someone’s home. An extra few bits of space could fit a shelf, or a cabinet, or even a tiny bed for their skinny bodies. They were not fat. Not at all. 

***

Lumoof

Lumoof and Kafa looked around and immediately felt it was hard to move about. The entire place was so tiny that they were bound to bump into things. The humans of this world were skinny, thin. Not a single one of them had bulky muscles, and instead, they all seemed more attuned to magic. 

The entire structure was a series of floors, built on top of one another. Each layer was largely self sufficient, and movement between the layers were regulated by the guards and mages that controlled the tower. It wasn’t hard for Lumoof to notice that those located in the middle were all the unwanted, lower class people, while those who had some skills and talents were located along the sides of the floating castle, where there’s sunlight and some fresh air. 

They followed the two mages through the small streets, trying their best to dodge where they could, and eventually, they passed through what was an actual, really crowded market. There were not actually that many people, they passed through the tiny stalls, packed with all the goods they tried to sell.

Kafa looked at the stalls. It was separated into segments, and labeled with signs. Equipment. Tools. And Food.

“They use a lot of wood, gems and copper for tools.” Kafa spoke telepathically as they observed the crowd. The two mages were still walking up ahead. 

“Do they not have mines?” Lumoof wondered as they then passed the tools and equipment section. It was so cramped that it was just a few steps away, and they reached the food section. There were only three stalls, one with vegetables, another with baked breads, and another with fruits. 

“There’s nothing for me to eat here.” Kafa said as a joke. “Seems like a good place for the non-meat eaters though.”

Lumoof felt like a candle lit up in his mind. “Is their skinny build due to a lack of meat?” 

Kafa shrugged. “Sounds like it’s worth exploring. Let’s follow these two. They seem to be talking about important stuff.” 

***

Metteria

“Ol Junker!” Her master shouted as she pushed the wooden door open and stepped into a small workshop on one of the corners of Gorfort Tower’s many, many floors. The old man inside was tinkering with some contraption while his two female assistants were also trying to replicate his contraption.

Her voice shocked all three of them, and the old man immediately looked up. “What brings the grumpy old Kerifa to my workshop? Can’t you see I’m trying to teach these two girls how to tune a magical seeker’s compass?”

“That’s a stupid thing to learn in this time and age! I got my latest data on the taint. I want to compare notes.” Her master, Kerifa Gundhert shouted. Metteria wasn’t sure when her master wrote the scroll in her hands, but somehow she did.

“First, no magic is stupid.” Junker Quartz, one of the leading bronzemages, immediately glared at Kerifa hatefully. “Second, if you are here to depress me, I’ll kick you out.”

“It’s depressing all right.” Kerifa said. “Do you want to know or not? Or should I take it to the older farts upstairs?”

“Fine. Disciples. Let’s head upstairs and see what this ol woman has for us.” The two girls bowed 

***

Above the workshop was a relatively airy room, with a view of the skies. The corner units of the Gorfort Tower were highly prized, and it was only with Junker Quartz’s stellar record as a master bronzemage that he won the right to use them. 

On one set of walls were three empty boards. Kerifa tapped her scroll and the scroll’s contents were transferred to one of the magical boards. 

Junker stared at it, and looked at his two disciples. “Bring our set of reports.” One of the girls nodded, ran down and back up again in a minute and he tapped the scroll. 

Kerifa frowned. “Looks like yours is more optimistic.”

“Our samples were collected-” One of the girls ran to the board and pointed. “There.”

“We don’t know which of the taint would reach us first.”

“Our usual copper mines would be under threat and farms would be under threat.”

“The Tower Masters should be calling for a culling of the demonic vegetation.” Kerifa said. 

Junker shook his head. “I don’t think that would work. Ninefort tried that with their surroundings, and their ley lines were still corrupted.” 

Kerifa frowned. “Is that supposed to be a secret?”

“Yes. But I’m telling you anyway. Are you going to report me?”

“No. So it won’t. What’s our solution?”

Junker looked at the map, took a deep breath, and then said. “Energy filtration. We need to purify the demonic taint so that we can continue to use the energy. Our entire existence depends on it.” 

This made both Metteria and Kerifa glare at the old man suspiciously. “Use of demonic mana from harvested demonic trees has caused mutations. Do you have a workaround?”

“-no.” 

***

Lumoof and Kafa listened in the room, and the rest of the conversation shifted to politics. At that point, the two retreated to a quiet area, and looked at each other. 

“Our goal is to fully survey all fifteen worlds before we decide how to and what to deploy.” Kafa repeated. “But I cannot help but feel we should help all of them. All of these worlds are in trouble in one way or form.”

The very reason Hawa asked for assistance was simply because these worlds were in trouble. 

“Fifteen worlds. Even if one of us is in each of these peripheral worlds, and Aeon leaves a clone on the rest, that still leaves us four short.” Lumoof said. “And Aeon will not risk all the clones.”

“We have node trees.” 

“Or if we select one of the options you are given.” Kafa said. 

“That should help. But look beyond their immediate troubles, and think beyond it. Aeon’s goal is to bring these worlds into our wider campaign. Which of these worlds will contribute the most to our war effort? Which of these worlds will be strategically useful, and contribute to our war.”

Kafa looked away and sighed. “I wish we could just help them all.”

“We will help them all. But there is a choice for us to make, beyond the immediate assistance. A question of permanence. A question of adding strength to our whole. Which of these worlds is worth an investment? Which of these worlds can be made into a Core world?”

“Landas has it easy. They have a node.”

“A node doesn’t mean we will invest our resources there. The Valthorn’s ability to invest on a planetary scale is limited. Even now we can only fully occupy one world at a time.”

Just the mere act of controlling the human kingdoms on Threeworlds took a significant amount of Valthorn personnel. Rebuilding Tropicsworld still continued to require a significant amount of imported resources. 

“The choice we make adds to our overall resources.” Lumoof said, as he recalled how Aeon once described the problem as an optimisation issue. Clones were limited, but clones bestowed benefits on their host worlds.

The various auras of Aeon enhanced their citizens’ health, development, productivity and even made them level up faster. Each of these worlds would benefit from Aeon’s aura, but which one would benefit the most? 

Lumoof looked back at the Gorfort Tower. They’ve visited five worlds. There were ten more to go.