Sea of Treants

{True.}

Although Sherlock on responded with a curt, one word answer, Grant had the feeling that their was more too it than that.

Something about the slight fluctuation in the way Sherlock had said it was enough for Grant to know that he had just maybe had an effect on his lifelong partner in crime.

Sherlock's voice had never fluctuated up until that point; no matter what situation the two of them found themselves in.

But since Sherlock didn't speak again even after a few minutes, Grant decided to push the guide to the back of his mind and continued his way through the town and towards the exit of the dungeon.

When Grant arrived at the dungeon, his progress was slowed by the procession of trees moving slowly towards their designated living space. He was being generous when he said slowly, because they were moving slower than molasses in the dead of winter.

Grant made sure to give a friendly greeting to the Treants he had met before as he passed by them.

He was caught off guard though by the scene outside the dungeon.

For nearly half a mile in 180 degree area in front of him were trees.

And they weren't sparsely packed either, they were basically hugging each other.

Grant saw Springtree standing off to the side of the entrance and decided to ask him what was going on. From what he remembered, Springtree had said that they only had at most 50 Treants that would be joining the dungeon.

The number of Treants in front of him outstripped that number by a large degree.

While the sight was overwhelming, it was also awe inspiring in its own right so while Grant moved towards Springtree he observed the sea of Trees.

Unlike Treants that he had read about in books, they didn't all appear to originate from the same type of tree. He saw Palm Trees, Desert Ironwood, Arizona Cypress and many more. He even saw a few Cacti moving around. He wasn't sure that they qualified as "Treants" but the other Treants didn't seem to discriminate against them so he didn't think on it too much.

When Grant finally reached Springtree, "Hey Spruce, what the heck is going on here? I thought you said that you only had 50 Treants that were going to join the dungeon?"

"Ohh hello my human friend, I must say, I was not expecting such a turn out myself. When we sent word through our communal space, the idea of relocating to the dungeon was enticing to some but seemed much too arduous a journey for most.

However, the increasingly unstable mana and odd behavior of the monsters has triggered many of my people to change their minds.

The result is what you see before you.

I must apologize for the inconvenience this will cause you.

But in return for your generosity in providing us with enough space for all these trees, I will give you two gifts.

The first, is this."

Springtree suddenly reached one of his branches up into the canopy of leaves and after rummaging around for a few seconds, he pulled out a massive 'bag' that looked like it was about to burst.

The 'bag' was made of giant palm tree leaves that had inexplicable been tied together to create the 'bag'.

When Grant opened the 'bag' he was overwhelmed for what felt like the 10th time that day.

It was filled to the brim with Mana Stones.

After basking in the radiance of the Mana Stones for a few seconds, Grant began to thank Springtree profusely.

The Treant simply waved off the thanks and said it was payback for what Grant was doing for them and ensured him that the Treants had no use for such things.

Apparently, the Treants had been killing any and all monsters that had strayed into their territory and eventually their stash of Mana Stones had grown to what Grant was now holding in his hands.

Since the Treants had control over most, if not all, nature in their surroundings they had been capable of killing Enlightened Tier monsters far longer than even Grant.

Grant couldn't help but have his expectation towards the upcoming second gift grow exponentially since the first was already so grand.

He didn't have to wait long though.

"The second gift is not necessarily anything that can help you now. But will become a powerful ally in the future.

If you would indulge me for a moment, it will soon arrive."

And with that, Springtree's leaves vibrated and created a sort of whistling sound. Grant wasn't sure how he had accomplished it, but he figured it was most likely a skill of some sort.

After a few seconds, Grant saw a small shadow running swiftly between the sea of trees.

As the shadow rapidly approached, Grant did his best to try and make out what it was but no matter what, he just couldn't get a clear picture of what it was.

That was, until it came to a stop directly in front of him.

Grant was expecting some grand animal or something overwhelmingly glorious but was swiftly disappointed.

The creature standing in front of him, was a Roadrunner.

And aside from the fact that it was nearly as tall as he was, it looked just like a normal Roadrunner.

As if sensing Grant's disappointment, Springtree began to introduce the creature.

"This creature you see before you is a mutated Roadrunner, as you can probably tell. But I must say, this little fellow is quite special.

I discovered him in our forest a few weeks ago and at the time he was still the size of a normal Roadrunner.

His growth however, is not the most fascinating thing about him."

Grant had continued to examine the Roadrunner ever since it had come to a stop. Funnily enough, the Roadrunner seemed to examining him as well.

While the two stared at each other, Springtree had been talking. But what Springtree said next made Grant finally look away.

"Since he had trespassed into our forest, we did everything in our power to eliminate him because of the threat he could cause to the forest.

However, me and all of my fellow Treants working together were unable to catch this guy even a single time.

No matter what traps we set or tactics we used, he either sniffed them out and avoided them all together or found ways to defeat our schemes.

He is exceptionally smart for a mutated animal.

After awhile, we eventually gave up on trying to catch the little guy because he never once caused any harm to our forest other than the small footprints he left behind.

On multiple occasions, he even fought monsters much stronger than he was and ultimately came out victorious using his intelligence and speed.

Thus, we began to feed the little guy and after awhile, him and I formed a bond.

Since I am capable of taming animals and monsters due to my natural affinity with life, I offered a partnership to the young guy.

He happily agreed and we have been together ever since.

However, when I mentioned that we were moving into a dungeon and that their wouldn't be much to do aside from simply living, he grew indignant.

When I told him that the leader of the camp was a strong warrior, the little guy asked if I trusted you.

Of course, my answer was yes.

I explained to him how you and I became acquainted and the brief history we share.

After listening to what I had to say, he asked if I would be willing to pass our bond onto you so that he could follow you out to fight.

Apparently he enjoys the thrills of battle. Quite the odd little guy if you ask me but since I do not wish to restrict his life, I said I would happily pass the bond on too you if you agreed.

So, with that all said, what say you?"