24 Trees

Finally able to just relax, Foo bathed in the calmness of the forest. No annoying noise, just some forest sounds that only added to the charm. No annoying system that keeps showering him in insults.

He spread his senses to take in the serenity of the forest, to feel its refreshing aura. It brought back his thoughts on how impressive the nature was. All parts of the ecosystem working together in harmony. Just thinking on the complexity of nature, and he could distract himself from any depressing thoughts. Although he did not need sleep, this moment of calmness was helping him recharge mentally for the day to come. This peaceful time without the irritating system was what made him able to remain sane...

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Congratulations!

Despite that you used to be a shut-in, your deep understanding of nature is impressive!

Your apprehension of the tranquility of the forest is out of this world!

Title [One with the nature] gained!

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[One with the nature]

One in tune with the nature.

Able to interact with nature.

Loved by the nature.

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Unsuccessfully trying to ignore the annoying system, Foo finally erupted: ``Who are you calling shut-in!? I should inform you that I actually went out plenty of times! For example... There was that time... I often played video games where you where outdoors!``

Trying really hard to calm down and reach his former serene state, Foo then noticed a problem. Voices. Voices were coming from the forest! Well, it was not really voices, more like emotions or feelings. There was no such thing as language behind it, but in his mind he could interpret what they were saying. Lots off different voices was thus endlessly resounding in his head.

~Hey, that woodpecker just wont stop pecking at me! I really doubt that my insects are any more delicious that anyone else's, so how come it is not pecking on you?!~

~Not this again... You pretend to to be annoyed, but you are actually bragging that you are more attractive, right? If you really wanted it gone, why have you not asked it?~

~Right! Stop complaining about nothing! Hey, did you know, today a spiritual wolf peed at my roots! It was really nourishing!~

~Lucky you!~

~Why does stuff like that never happen to me?~

~I finally got my roots in that lake that the local animals use as a toilet, the water quality is beyond anything that you can dream of!~

~Well, I am indeed jealous, but I think that the matter with the spirit beast tops that!~

~Both of you, stop bragging. Think of us that are not as fortunate!~

~That's right!~

~Yeah!~

He looked for the source of the voices, but it seemed to come from everywhere in the forest. After a closer inspection, it felt like the trees around him was like mindless puppets, striving to become sentient, and to that end, they were just repeating the voices that they heard. As such, the voices were rippling through the forest.

Luckily, the trees only repeated each thing once, else there would be quite the mess. Looking further in the distance, through some holes in the forest, he could see some massive trees. The massive trees had probably gained sentience after many years of growing, and were now happily chattering about the deep and profound matters of life...

After yet another hour of the constant raucous, which now seemed to be a bragging contest of how many bird-poops they had gotten during the latest few millenniums, Foo finally had enough. This was his chance to rest, in order to be able to keep his sanity for another day, but now suddenly it was filled with pee this and poop that!

Even Buddha would have felt an extreme need to chop some firewood, as the wind was a bit chilly... Using a similar technique to when he conversed with the self-proclaimed God, he bellowed out at the trees: ~SHUT UP!~

All the trees in the surroundings rustled, and spread the message further into the forest. There was a huge commotion as the animals that was hidden at the forest floor was suddenly escaping, and all the birds in the forest took off.

Foo was a bit startled at the response to his yell. But as the quiet was now returning, only occasionally interrupted by some escaping animals lagging behind, he could not care less about anything else. Finally he had some serenity.

But to his annoyance, the short peace was broken by some worried hushed voices. A quick glance at the other camp showed that the warrior apprentices that were on watch was now quite panicked.

"What happened to upset the whole forest?" One apprentice asked worriedly.

"Something really huge! I never seen anything like this before!" One answered, clearly shearing the same worries.

"As if you have seen enough to be saying that!" Another chipped in, trying to distract himself from showing his nervousness.

Even the proper warrior that had lazed about during the whole camping experience was now out in the camp, gathering all the apprentices to prepare to escape.

After instructing the men to pack up, the leader approached Foo and Abner.

"We are leaving at once! Pack your things and head out!" He said, his worry now overshadowing any unfriendliness. Truly a true teacher, someone that you can trust on in times of need. Unless he just wanted some bait behind him when he escaped... But who would do that!

Abner had never seen the leader this anxious before, thus he worriedly asked: "What happened?"

"I do not know for sure. But it seems that there is a monstrous beast near our location that are scaring away all the animals. As they all are fleeing away from the spot we are at, it must mean that the threat is really near. Thus we have no time to dally!"

After glancing around the camp, the leader then turned to Abner, and said: "You... join them and help them out if you encounter trouble. Then follow us as we clear the way for you."

The reason why the leader was not using his name was totally to save time. There was absolutely not any other reason why he did not use his name... This act of saving time was really important, as would be shown in the future...

And he was also taking the dangerous job of making a safe path for the trio and Abner, there were much to be grateful for. Without a single word, Abner quickly picked up a few of their things that was laying around on the ground, and then jumped up on the driver seat of the wagon.

Foo quickly jumped up in the wagon, considering if he should wake the siblings. They were still sleeping soundly, so he decided to not bother. There was probably no monster here anyway, as the raucous was caused by him.

As they were setting off on the road, Foo suddenly had a realization: ``Hey! Did that warrior just call me a monstrous beast?!`` On the verge of crying, not wanting to deal with all these bothersome stuff, Foo decided to sleep.