Side Story 2
This story happened after Rennel completed the Monstrous Wolf Quest.
After Rennel defeated the monstrous wolf Black, she and her teacher, Chaos went to the Mazes of Trees to find the Black and her pup a new home. That said, they first have to ask the permission of the guardian of that region – the mysterious being called Moragg.
Chaos summoned the Guardian Moragg by releasing a tiny portion of his aura, and received the guardian’s permission – allowing Black and her newly born pup to reside in the forest.
Moreover, to ensure the safety of the monster wolf and her child; Chaos asked Moragg to allow the two to live near the tree spirit, Yggdra.
Sensing that Chaos has a purpose for asking it this favor, Moragg readily agrees to the mysterious creature’s request. And so from that day forward, the monstrous wolf, Black, and her little pup, Bristle became a denizen of the Mazes of Trees.
Having been allowed to stay in such a mana-rich environment, the exhausted Black quickly regained her strength that she lost due to giving birth to her pup, Bristle. Not only that, the environment also allowed Bristle to grow and develop very quickly.
She and pup, Bristle, also managed to befriend the mysterious tree spirit, Yggdra – a tree that manages to gain sentient through mysterious circumstances. What’s more… the tree spirit was no ordinary spirit. It was a spirit that also received the blessing or the seed from the mysterious and all-powerful Chaos just like Bristle, and Rennel.
Speaking of Bristle, the pup suddenly received his seed after reaching a certain maturity. That is to say, the pup was blessed by a seed months after meeting Chaos and Rennel. Even Rennel was unaware of this fact. It was as if Chaos held back the blessing until his body and soul had matured enough.
However, unlike the immature Bristle’s blessing, the tree spirit’s blessing was more mature. One of the reasons for that was because the tree spirit received her blessing a lot earlier in comparison to Bristle. Another reason would be that Yggdra’s blessing worked differently to that of Bristle and Rennel.
If Bristle and Rennel needed to discover the necessary methods to undergo awakening; Yggdra’s blessing would naturally go awakening as the tree spirit ages. Meaning, Yggdra has to reach a certain age to awaken her seed.
At a glance, it seemed like Yggdra was destined to greatness, and that might as well be case but considering that she only need to wait to fully awaken the potential of her seed unlike the other two who have to work very hard for theirs.
But there’s also a drawback to her awakening.
Unlike Bristle and Rennel, the tree spirit needed a very long time to reach maturity which means she might need thousands of years to fully awaken the potential of her seed. Bristle and Rennel on the other hand could potentially awaken a lot faster as long as the method of awakening was found.
In a way this Chaos being fair to the ones that he gave his blessings to. Although he seemed to value Rennel more compared to the other two, he didn’t give her more advantages at all. That said, this could also be Chaos revealing his playful nature. Since he wanted to experience and see interesting things, he wanted to observe how the three bearers of the seeds reach maturity.
So… back to the topic…
Yggdra who usually only has the guardian to talk to was very accepting of the two monsters. This was especially true for Bristle who had also received a seed from Chaos. And since Bristle was only a pup; Yggdra often acted as his big sister – teaching and protecting him.
Black didn’t mind this and was actually very thankful for the tree spirit’s help. Since Yggdra was keeping her pup busy and entertain; Black could give her all to fully regaining the power that she instinctively pass to her pup when she was giving birth.
Although she and her pup should be safe inside the Mazes of Trees, her encounter with the girl, Rennel reminded her that she could only live in peace if she has the power to protect herself and her pup. If the adventurer that took the subjugation quest was not Rennel but instead someone else, she might have been killed by the adventurer – even her pup might have been taken if not killed.
****
“Yggdra! Yggdra!”
The pup, Bristle, yelped excitedly as he run around the tree spirit’s main body.
“What’s up, little Bristle? Why are you so excited today?”
Yggdra’s spirit body appeared in front of the excited pup with a confuse look on her face. Bristle stared at the spirit tree and tilted his head.
“Hey! Hey! Yggdra… you seem kind of different today?” Bristle asked Yggdra a question instead of answering her.
“That’s a matter of course! Yggdra is now a lady after all!”
Yggdra’s usual form was that of little girl of about eight. But her current appearance was that of twelve year old. Why? That’s because Yggdra had had her second awakening not too long ago. Basically, it happened last night while she was “sleeping.”
The word “sleeping” here should not be taken literary as a spirit doesn’t actually need to sleep. Yggdra was simply mimicking the concept of sleeping. Instead of sleeping, the word meditating was more apt to describe what she was doing.
Anyways…
“Oh~ that’s amazing Yggdra!” Hearing her boastful words, the monster pup involuntarily let out a sound of awe. “But what’s a lady?” the pup asked.
“What’s a lady, you ask? A lady is a lady! There’s no need for further explanation!”
Yggdra was feeling slightly flustered. Although she said that she had become a lady, the tree spirit didn’t actually know what that means as well. She’s basically, just blustering around to hide the fact that she didn’t know the answer to Bristle’s question.
Fortunately for, Bristle didn’t linger for too long on the question.
“Hehehehe! I still don’t get it but it sounded really nice!”
“Of, of course it is!”
Yggdra wiped the imaginary sweet on her forehead and then look at Bristle, “So why were you excited looking earlier?” she asked.
“Right! I almost forgot about that.” Bristle opened his puppy eyes wide after being reminded by his friend. “I’ve learned a really great skill from my inherited memory!”
Inherited memory – an inherent or bloodline ability that all monster king possessed. It’s an ability that allows monster kings to recall skill-related memory from their ancestor.
“Oh? Is that true?” Yggdra asked in surprise.
“Yup!”
Bristle was very happy to see the tree spirit’s surprise expression and answered in a voice full of pride.
“Show it to me later…” Yggdra said with a serious expression. “But for now I need to take care of some unwanted guests?”
“Guests?” Bristle gave the tree spirit a confuse look when he heard the word guest.
Yggdra smiled at the monster pup and spoke, “Yeah… some unwelcome guests. Or maybe bad people should be more appropriate?”
“Grrr! Bad people! I hate bad people!” Bristle responded while growling.
“I know right? I don’t like them too. That’s why I always try to chase them away but they just keep on returning.”
The center of the Mazes of Trees’ the area where Yggdra, and monstrous wolf mother and child live is like a natural maze. If one didn’t know the place one would quickly find themselves helplessly lost.
It’s a maze created by Yggdra to protect itself from unwanted intruders. If the person who entered the maze did so without knowing, or without ill-intent; Yggdra would be merciful and would lead the hapless intruder to the nearest exit.
If it was someone with the intent to harm, then Yggdra would be more merciless and would let the poor sod helplessly lost for several days before being let out. It’s a cruel thing to do but necessary to keep intruders, especially those with ill-intent, out.
The unwanted guests that Yggdra wanted to drive aways were a group of repeat offenders who keep on coming back despite being harshly punished. It was as if these people were seeking something and were willing to do everything even put themselves in harm’s way to reach their goal.
Actually, this group of people is exactly that. They entered the Mazes of Trees because they wanted something that could only be found in the deepest core of the forest – Yggdra herself!
Yes, these people wanted Yggdra, or to be more precise, the mysterious tree that was Yggdra’s main body. These people were unaware that the tree they’re looking for had already developed sentience and even a spirit.
Despite not knowing this fact, they were aware that located in the deepest reaches of the Mazes of Trees, stood a mysterious and powerful tree. The trees body possessed great amount of mana and was south after by everyone who practices magic.
Just a branch alone from the mysterious tree is very valuable. It was rumored that the branch of this tree could be used to create powerful artifacts and magic items such as a magic staff. The only downside being was the difficulty in acquiring even a single branch.
Yggdra was fully aware of the value of her main body. And as such, would rarely give away even a single branch. In her long life as a magical tree, Yggdra had only given one of her branches a few times. The amount was so few that it could be counted with one’s hands.
****
“What’s going on? Why do we keep ending up in the same place again and again? Wasn’t this artifact supposed to lead us to the core of the maze?” a man wearing a purple magician asked in agitation.
“I don’t know… It’s should be working. Or at least it was working earlier…” a woman wearing glasses and thick fur coat answered with a confuse voice.
“Yes…. It was indeed working earlier but for some reason it suddenly malfunctioned.” a stern looking man wearing a black fur jacket look at his surrounding with a wary expression.
These three people, two man and a woman was the uninvited guests that Yggdra was referring to earlier. When the tree entered the maze-like forest, they were carrying a strange device that points them to the direction of Yggdra’s main body.
When Yggdra saw that these intruders were not affected by the fog of confusion and the maze like formation of the trees and greeneries, she was terrified and sad. She felt terrified because if things continue as they are, the intruders would eventually locate her. She was saddened because she could tell that the strange device that the intruders were using to locate her was made out of her own branch.
This mean only one thing – one of the few branches she gave to some people a long time ago was now being used against her. Fortunately, Yggdra had her second awakening not too long ago which increases her control over the forest. Moreover, with the help of Bristle, and his newly learned skill, they were able to confuse even the device which leads to the current situation.
“What are we going to do now, big sister? They’re totally lost… should we trap them here for a few days or send them out now?” Bristle ask as he observe the intruders using the small pond that could follow every of their every movement.
“I want to send them out quickly but before that… I need to get that device made with my branch. If not, they might just return with a more powerful device.” Yggdra answered while frowning.
Bristle nodded his big wolf head enthusiastically indicating that he understood. “Then should I snatch it for you? I could use the newly learned skill. its functionality is not just limited to creating illusion!”
Yes, one of the reasons why the device malfunctioned was due to the Bristle’s new ability to create illusion that could fool all senses. The device itself has no problem but the three people are only seeing what Bristle wanted them to see. Couple with Yggdra’s strengthened ability to control the outline of the entire forest; the three intruders found themselves hopelessly lost.
That said, unless they get the device that could pinpoint the location of Yggdra’s main body, the danger would still remain.
“Let’s do it together. You can do the snatching while I observe nearby. That way if something goes wrong, I could act quickly to help you.”
Yggdra agreed to Bristle’s proposition to snatch the device from the intruder’s hands. But since it’s a very dangerous venture, Yggdra would never allow Bristle to face danger alone.
And with that, the two made their moves.
The first thing they did was ensure that the three intruders would not see them. This is where Bristle’s new ability came into play. Using an Illusion, Bristle quickly approached the woman holding the strange device, and snatched the device off of her hands!
“Ah! Someone took the Locator!” The woman wearing glasses yelled in alarm.
“What did you say?!”
Hearing the woman’s shout, the man wearing purple robe quickly casted a powerful lightning spell that engulf their surroundings.
Yelp!
“What was that!” hearing the yelp of pain, the man wearing black fur coat jacket took out his sword for a follow up attack to whatever creature was hit by his companion’s magic attack. But no matter how he looks he found nothing.
“Did we lost the – “
Before the woman with glasses could finish her words, she felt her word spinning, and before she knows it she found herself on the outskirt of the forest along with the other two. Shock, the woman look at her companion, and saw the confuse look on their faces. The purple robed man was in an even terrible expression with blood flowing out of his lips.
The woman wanted to ask what had happened but before she could open her mouth she heard the angry and chilling voice of a young girl.
“I’ll let you all off with just this but the next time your group entered the forest, don’t even think of getting out alive.”
****
To be continued…
Previous Chapters: https://read.cash/@beastion
