26 Elizabeth's Forest Observation Log

Day 1

"After waking up in the morning I went along with Taurion to see Lester out of the forest."

"After Lester left, Taurion and I began a more in-depth investigation on the various changes within the Sea of Trees."

"But there is a limit to what just two of us can do. After discussing it with Taurion, we decided that the best course of action would be to speak with the various monsters. Yesterday we were only able to visit a few places and speak with a small handful of the monsters. Today we are going to try to speak with as many of the monsters that live in the outer edges of the forest."

"At first, we wanted to speak with the Terror Hawk we met at the shrine the other day, but after an hour of searching, we weren't able to find it. We did manage to speak with the Forest Leopards from the previous day though. From our conversation, they came here, to the shrine where Astur's house used to be for the purpose of praying for victory. The leader claimed that meeting me that day was a sign of good fortune, but I couldn't figure out which one was the leader after they left since all the leopards look the same in eyes."

"As we discovered yesterday that there are various tribes all vying for hegemony over the forest with a few outliers who aren't participating. We found out that the Terror Hawk is one of these singular roaming monsters. Today we found out the reasons why they're all fighting against each other."

"From what we heard from the leopards as well as the other monsters living in the periphery of the forest, the reason behind the fighting is because the monsters want to establish a nation but they couldn't decide on who would be the leader. As such they chose to make the decision via combat, the chief of whichever tribe can control the entire forest will be declared the ruler of the forest. There also seems to be two areas in which the monsters declared a neutral zone, the area around the shrine where Astur and I used to live, as well as the island we currently live on."

"Their method of selecting a leader is a bit barbaric, but considering they worship Astur as their Goddess, I'm not too surprised. I tried asking what kind of nation they want to build, but none of the monsters seemed to completely understand the question. Taurion said that it's impressive that their intelligence has come as far as it has in such as short time, but they still have a ways to go."

"Speaking of Taurion, this whole day he's been, how to put it, nervous, or maybe fidgety. I tried asking if he was alright and he said he was fine, but this persisted throughout the entire day. At the end of the day, he seemed to be alright, but I'm not entirely sure what the problem was."

Day 2

"Today we went around the forest depths. This area is between where the shrine is and the reservoir. Walking around this area was a bit annoying. Thick roots and vines were constantly getting in our way."

"It wasn't too noticeable in the beginning, but as we made our way around, we had the feeling something was off. We found that the roots of the trees were in completely different places compared to where they were in our memories when we walking through earlier."

"Had we not been paying close attention, we probably wouldn't have noticed the difference of the trees. We went around to ask some of the monsters that live in this area and we ran into the two Armourdillos that Astur fed her potions to, at least I think it was them, though they looked larger than when I previously saw them. Those two Armourdillos are the two chieftains of the Armour tribe, the only tribe to have leaders, but I can't really tell them apart. In their own words, 'the forest is alive.' Well, trees are considered alive, but not in the way I would think of being alive."

"It wasn't until a couple of hours later that we realised what the Armourdillos meant. It was then that Taurion and I saw the trees move. They all looked like the standard evergreens I've gotten used to seeing, large with thick trunks and many branches that are full of leaves. Unlike the monsters, the tree wasn't able to talk, this should have been obvious but when I see a herd of trees roaming around I shouldn't question the impossible. Especially when Astur is involved. We tried following the trees around for a bit and they led us to another, much larger, tree."

"This tree, we dubbed, the Great Tree, was significantly different from the other moving trees. On top of being much larger, its brown bark appeared to be thicker and the edges of its leaves appeared as if they were sharpened blades. But the most significant difference about the Great Tree compared to the others is that it could talk. We tried walking around it, but we couldn't seem to find out where the sound of its hoarse voice came from."

"After talking with the Great Tree, it seemed to like the name we gave it and decided to keep it for itself. The Great Tree didn't know where or how it's able to speak, it just knows it can, the Great Tree compared it to how people instinctively know how to breathe."

"Since it was getting late we decided to call it in for the day. Taurion still seemed a little fidgety, but it was far less notable than yesterday. I wonder what was bothering him?"

Day 3

"Today we are surveying the innermost parts of the forest. This includes the reservoir and its immediate surroundings. Considering the size of the search area for today is smaller than the last two days, we should be able to wrap this up with some time to spare."

"Our primary objective for the day is searching for the other solitary monsters that aren't a part of a tribe. The easiest to find is the big bear that likes to swim in the reservoir. According to Taurion, this bear is called Gigas Ursus but is more commonly referred to as the Giant Forest Bear."

"It didn't take us long before we found the bear floating in the water. Like the Armourdillos, the already large bear is bigger than the one in my memories. The bear also remembered me from when Astur first gave it her special potion. Just thinking about how it's made kinda creeps me out."

"Like all the other monster, the bear also referred to Astur as a Goddess and me as a Saint. I can't say I hate being called a Saint though. From what we learned during our conversation with the big bear, there are five solitary monsters that aren't participating in the war for the forest. The Giant Forest Bear, the White Stag, the Terror Hawk, the Great Tree, and a beaver which I haven't seen before."

"When we asked for the bear's thoughts on the whole tribal war taking place within the forest, he said it was silly. The bear thinks the best fit to rule the forest is the Goddess who granted them knowledge and power, Astur. According to the bear, the other solitary monsters are of similar thought. Apparently, they haven't brought it up to the tribal monsters yet though. In the bear's case, he said he didn't feel like telling the other monsters about his opinion and that if they kill each other off then there's free food."

"It is yet to be confirmed but I think that the ones who drank the potion made from Astur heart are much more intelligent compared to the ones who haven't had them. This conclusion held more truth to it when the bear could accurately describe the way he envisioned the forest should be governed. Placing Astur at the top as the leader, the five solitary monsters directly beneath her, then tribal leaders beneath them followed by their tribes. When I asked about what my position would be, the bear said it should either be at the same level as him and the other solitary monsters or between them and Astur. Taurion also asked, but the bear said he was just a visiting emissary and not a resident of the forest so he has no place in its governance."

"Unfortunately, we weren't able to find the other solitary monsters, but we do think we at least saw the Terror Hawk flying in the sky."

"Taurion wanted to stick around for a while longer, but he ultimately decided to return since he knew he shouldn't leave his responsibilities to Lester for too long, fearing he may mess with something."

"This concludes my observation journal of the Sea of Trees, documenting the various changes that have taken place since Astur began her so-called, 'make the forest stronger plan.' Honestly, I don't think Astur would make a very good leader. She's too irresponsible and I don't think she would take her responsibilities seriously."

"Weird, I felt a strange chill down my spine as I was writing that. I hope I'm not coming down with anything."