What was a divine tree?
It went by many names, from Transcendent Sapling, World Tree, or most importantly the key to ascension.
"I had been told that every world that contains mana has at least one Divine Tree."
….
Memories flashed in Ren's mind, it was of a man who despite having gray hair looked in his mid 20s, the man holding a wooden sword had just beaten Ren up during their spar after he missed a spell,
[The World Tree is the basis of life for a world and it's the origin of mana keeping the world in an equilibrium, with that damn sky the balance is disrupted. So you need to get stronger brat or we're done for!]
The young boy, though holding a metal sword, was groaning on the ground but was intrigued by the man's story.
[Origin of mana in the world? Gramps, didn't you say the world was formed by mana at the 1st rupture and the tree descended at the 3rd. How is it possible that it came after?]
[First of all it's master to you]
The man Ren's master whacked his head with the wooden sword causing him to let out a painful "Ack!" before continuing
[You're mistaken about that brat, it's not that it descended and more that it revealed itself.]
[Revealed itself? So it was hiding the entire time?]
[That's right, after the 2nd rupture and that bastard appeared disrupting the world's balance, my comrades and I fought them off, that's when the Tree revealed itself to lend us its aid.]
[HAHA Those were the days when the sky was still clear and I could have Four Season Sunlit Wine whenever I wanted!]
[Those days were truly great! Even the most beautiful woman in the world took a fancy to me especially in be-]
As his master continued to prattle about his "glorious" achievements, Ren's memories faded back to the present.
'Yea, let's stop there…'
"Since Witch's Wandering has mana it must have had a World tree too right?"
"Yes it did,", Aria nodded at his question
'Though the one in Solaris got destroyed when I absorbed it.', leaving that information out she continued.
"Divine Trees exist in all worlds with life and are meant to ward off threatening outer existences to balance the world."
"Outer Existences… it might try to attack us."
At Ren's words Aria slowly shook her head looking up at the towering tree,
"No, although we aren't from this world our bodies are from it and well….we are far from 'threatening'."
"Ah.. I guess you're right."
Agreeing Ren fell into thought pondering about their existence
'She's right but we don't have memories of these bodies even if the bodies are from this world our existence is similar to soul magic where our souls are transferred and mixed with the soul of a different body, hell we don't even know if these bodies had souls in the first place, and soul magic has its own problems'
The Soul was both delicate and strong when casting soul magic to move the soul to a new body it takes time to get acclimated with the new body though eventually it would, Ren himself had interacted with the tree after spending years in the abyss and it still found out his secret about being a transmigrator. But as Aria said since they weren't threatening it should be fine.
'And the thing that can attack us isn't brainless so it should be fine… right?'
Deep in his doubts Ren shook his head,
'We don't have any other options in the first place, we don't know anything about the nature or plants that grow here and seeing as the two creatures we had experienced were at that level… Our best bet is the tree'
Remembering the level 120 and the level 240 Dragon Hatchling and Roc, Ren frowned bitterly realizing how weak he had gotten,
" So the Divine tree is meant to help the world prosper so it should be safe to approach and.. Are you listening?"
Ren eyes widened realizing he had been ignoring her he apologized,
"Ah sorry I was just in thought, umm" Ren frowned then sighed as he opened his mouth he explained his thoughts to her how their existence may truly not be from this world and how it might cause problems later.
"Hmm, you think since we don't know enough about our body's we might be put in unnecessary risk?"
"Yes that's right"
"But, you've been to the divine tree of your past world, the Abyss, haven't you? You should know what or specifically who is there."
"Right I do know but.."
Ren remembered a woman with an ethereal beauty and their first meeting, specifically the part where he had almost died because of her.
"I didn't have a good first meeting with that person"
"Hmm?" Aria turned, narrowing her eyes at the pale boy.
"You managed to offend one of those people?"
Aria was surprised someone like Ren managed to offend someone to the point even he looked distressed by it.
"I-It wasn't my fault! She mistook me for someone else, that's all."
Aria's eyes turned suspicious but realizing dragging this on was too tiring she stopped.
'And here I thought we built some trust. To think she would look at me with those eyes….', Ren inwardly felt irritation by her suspicion before shaking his head dejectedly.
"Well there isn't anything else we can do just act right this time."
"Yea yea I'm not stupid, anyways there was something I wanted to ask"
"What?"
"Do you think there was a Divine Tree on Earth?"
"A Divine Tree on Earth… I believe there was."
"You do?"
"Yes, just because Earth didn't have mana doesn't mean it can't have a Tree. An event must have happened that caused the tree to either go into hiding or perish, afterwards the Mana on Earth disappeared."
"During that time life probably nearly went extinct…"
"Life near went extinct huh? Are you talking about…"
"Yes I am, it probably happened near or during the time dinosaurs went extinct on earth, though it could have also been during the ice age or the Great Dying."
"Then do you think it can allow us to return to Earth?"
Aria's eyes glowed looking at Ren with curiosity
"You want to return to Earth?"
Ren smiled lightly shaking his head,
"No not really.. I don't have any family anyways but.. I do have old friends, I was just curious about what happened after I was gone. Afterall I was in the Abyss for a while"
Aria noticing Ren's eyes sadden stared silently nodding slightly with a blank expression,
"I'm… also curious"
"Alright then! We might find answers about our situation at the tree. Let's go!", Ren smiled pointing at the tree,
"Yes", Aria stared slightly smiling
Finding out about the situation was the main reason they sought out the World tree. During the walk Aria had told Ren about her thoughts about the Atlas and the highly advanced magic that made it up.
"So the Atlas is made of high level magic… I can't sense mana so I didn't feel anything when it activated…well there wouldn't be any other explanation but magic anyways."
"I don't think we should trust the Atlas." Aria said plainly
"Why do you think that? Hasn't it been helpful?"
"We still don't know its true purpose although it told us it was a guide who knows what it really wants, it can be trying to make us do its bidding."
Hearing her theory Ren let out a laugh causing Aria to frown staring at him.
"It's bidding? Do you think it's a situation where they fatten us with power before taking our bodies? That would be tragic, then let me ask you this Aria then why us specifically why not another person?"
"Because we were strong in our previous life."
"Sure we were but judging from the plants and unknowns we saw other than mana we aren't from this world in the first place judging from the fact that creatures like Wrenia exist there should be humans of similar strength right? Also, what makes the people who made the Atlas think we will help?"
Aria's eyes narrowed, she had been focused on survival but if there came a time where she found safety Atlas be damned she would enjoy the rest she believed she deserved.
"They… they know us and know a lot." Aria's eyes glowed.
"That's right with all the familiar terms from Witch's Wandering and Chronicles of Terra, the creator or even creators of the Atlas must be deeply intertwined with us even if they are a watcher from far away they know things about us especially about our mental state."
"Mental state…" Aria frowned looking at Ren who smiled.
"You saw it didn't you? Under the |Lasting| tab of our |Condition|. Did you get a window to reveal the secret condition?"
Aria remained silent merely looking at Ren with an expressionless face. He chuckled briefly, shaking his head.
"You could at least try to pretend you didn't see it, of course I won't pry into what you saw, you'd do the same for me right?"
Aria thought back to the status nodding slightly.
|Lasting Condition|*
'Foolishly Selfless… why did the Atlas show me that condition.. Did it want me to do something about it, on what grounds did it believe I would help someone?'
'Or maybe I will solve it..hm me teaching someone how to care for themselves? How odd… if I look at it objectively.. my past self probably would.'
"We can't do anything anyways", Ren brought her out of her thoughts
"Firstly as you said it's a high level magic, it might even be listening to this conversation right now for all we know."
"And secondly it gave us another chance."
"Another chance?"
"That's right, I don't know about you but I died before being sent here, sure I also don't fully trust the Atlas but getting another chance like this I might be able to move on from the things that happened in the past."
Ren smiled at Aria, he had said those words with a slight intention, probing her reaction Aria took a inquisitive action nodding,
'I don't know what this girl has gone through, It might have to do with loss considering she feels grief and if it really is part of her |Depression| then I'll do whatever I can to help. To get over loss a person has to move on. I hope she understands..'
"I see", Aria nodded as they continued their walk
…
During that time they started talking about the World Tree itself.
"Although it's what pumps mana into the atmosphere it actually isn't the direct source of the world's mana.", Aria's voice plainly spoke to Ren by her side.
"Yea, isn't it similar to a faucet that pumps out water but instead its mana? The source of this mana is the world's center right?"
"That's right,"
As they ventured further into the forest they passed through many differing types of trees and eventually Aria moved down to one knee grabbing a handful of the dirt, her eyes saw deeper specifically the mana in the dirt.
"It jumped in mana density.."
"That means we are about to enter its domain right?"
"Yes we are, and when that happens…",
"They will sense us and our lives will be in their hands."
Aria nodded silently looking up at the setting sun,
"The mana in the air is very dense and the presence of the tree should deter other creatures from approaching unless they want to, so we should set up camp there."
Aria pointed at a nearby cave opening.
"On it."
They moved into the dark cave checking around before deciding it was a good enough shelter to stay the night.
Ren moved slowly due to his injuries especially the one to his left arm as well as Aria still affected by her fever, but despite this they moved with quick efficiency both having traveled a majority of their past lives.
"You're quite fast Aria, Witch's Wandering is also an adventure game right? You must have done this stuff thousands of times."
Aria turned to Ren who was building the campfire, despite his left arm being fashioned into a makeshift cast using vines and wood he moved fast and a sizable campfire was already made, its flames burning brightly.
They both sat across each other, the cave was narrow so they felt the full warmth of the fire but the floor was still quite cold to the touch.
"I… learned from my teacher", Aria nodded and answered, her eyes held emotions of nostalgia.
"Ah.. Then since I told you about my master yesterday, why don't you tell me about yours?"
Ren asked smiling causing Aria to look up her eyes held a slight chill but she shook her head returning to an expressionless face,
"My teacher… she was…"
Memories of a woman with blonde haired and red eyes that flickered like fire appeared, she wore a recognizable large witch hat, her surprised expression eating her first dessert, the tears she shed when listening to Orchestras perform, her apologetic smile when trying to bake me a birthday cake and burning it.
"Naive"
"Your teacher was naive?"
"Not in the general sense it was more like she didn't interact with society much"
"Ah could she have been an introvert?"
"Introvert? Far from it she talked a lot and enjoyed the company of others"
Aria smiled softly looking at the fire causing Ren's eyes to widen as he had never seen her express so much emotion before, this caused him to smile.
'I had thought she didn't have a good relationship with her teacher but it seems like quite the opposite'
Seeing Aria's emotion when her teacher was mentioned Ren thought it had been a sensitive topic to her. If Aria didn't want to talk about it though Ren had no way or desire to force her to do so.
"Less than a teacher she was more like an Older Sister."
"Older sister? Isn't it usually the younger sister that's more naive"
Aria let out a chuckle, her eyes glowing with slight pride.
"Despite all her nativity she was the most wise and kind person I ever met on Solaris, her magical knowledge is greater than even my own."
Aria's memories moved closer to the present as memories appeared, her one of her teacher's red eyes took on the hue of purple, the hue of corruption.
[Scarlet! Don't do this , don't go!]
She ignored her pleas to stay and left her, selfishly, turning her back to Aria.
Her mind returned to the present her eyes turned expressionless and slightly cold, noticing this Ren quickly spoke
"Oh? My master only knew how to torture me! One time he dropped me from the top of a mountain, or that time he made me cut down a tree with a knife! Agh!"
"Also all those times he made me cook and do the laundry! Wait! Haven't I been his unknowing servant all along?! Damn it! Having a kind master is so lucky. "
From across the fire, Ren put on an angered and bitter expression shaking his head, causing Aria's cold eyes to recede, her eyes glowed realizing why Ren was suddenly talking about his master. She let out a small smile,
'He's trying to cheer me up, how cute.'
"Yes, I was very lucky."
Ren smiled back and continued to chatter and whine about his master, about the abuse he received and the many times his life was threatened from training and about how much he learned from his master. They ate some jerky and drank from the pouch and soon the campfire was nearly out.
'Does he or does he not like his master?'
The thoughts occurred to Aria as despite talking about the abuse he received with an angered expression, he talked a lot and the way he spoke seemed like a grandson talking about how amazing his grandfather was.
As Ren put out the fire he voice softly resounded in the narrow cave,
"Goodnight Aria."
Despite no longer having sight in the cave Aria felt that she saw his smile listening to the voice. She nodded even though he wouldn't see.
"Goodnight Ren"
The cold stone floor didn't seem as cold as before.
…
The two looked up at the clouds under the blue sky, sunlight shone through its cracks as they walked forward back to where they stopped the day before. The wind's breeze softly brushed against their clothing, Ren with his cast shifted his equipment into a comfortable position, Aria straightened her cloak looking inside her pack.
"You ready?" Ren asking her smiled lightly.
"Yes, let's go" Aria nodded without expression and moved
They started to walk, the colorful trees that the forest was filled with started to lose their various colors and soon only regular but vibrant trees with green leaves were around them.
"We're in the domain now, the trees are taking aspects willed to them by the Divine tree"
"Do you feel anything Aria?",
Ren unable to feel mana had to rely on Aria's magic sense to guide them, though with their low level it wouldn't be much but it was better than nothing.
"I don't ye-"
The fresh smell of spring surrounded them, the tree's green leaves waved from a slight breeze seemingly in jubilation.
The two looked up a floating woman entered their sight, she was beautiful and seemed to be in her mid 20s, wearing a beautiful green dress with a flower crown, Green hair fluttered in the wind as her bright green eyes gave of a feeling of innocence that contrasted the maturity of her atmosphere, she had a warm smile, looking at the two her accessory on her head held a feather of a familiar color,
The feather was brown, shimmering in various colors, it seemed like it was turned smaller than the creature it came from. The lady's mouth opened a soft melodious voice was heard,
"Wrenia informed me, so you've finally arrived heroes, Wielder of the Atlas, Their last hope."
|Lady In Green|*
"Oh… and I shouldn't forget... Transmigrators from Another World"