Chapter 18 : Shadows of the Past

At the top of an ancient tree standing 3000 feet high, which stretched 500,000 meters, we find Nevata and Oric in an abandoned ancient civilization's tree house.

In distress, Nevata quickly rushed to Oric, who had succumbed to his fatigue, coupled with his wounds, causing his blood to ooze continuously.

Oric tried to fight back, but it was no use; his vision blurred as he saw Nevata try her best to help.

"Oric, please wake up, Master!" she cried in sorrow, realizing that his critical wounds, especially the one at his neck, weren't healing. The scene painted with Oric's blood blended with the background cries of haunt hounds searching for their next meal to sustain their spectral forms.

"You promised to take care of me. Why does everyone want to leave me?" she contemplated, crying at the fact that had hit her once and was about to reoccur.

When all hope was lost, she checked his heartbeat one last time and unexpectedly realized that he was still fighting against dying. Oric then whispered with a weak voice, "G...get me a...m...mana core," he mused with a weak tone deep within his sleep.

Quickly, she got up and shapeshifted into her fairy form, ready to descend the tree. Suddenly, she started to feel dizzy, followed by coughing a lot of blood. "Blood?" she said in shock, recalling the amount of mana she had expended during their escape. She realized that she had expended a lot of her mana but still tried to squeeze the little she had left. Then, she unexpectedly fainted, calling out her master's name and cursing herself for being so weak.

As the two lay there lifeless, the ancient tree made a "hum sound," its vines grew out and rushed to the two, wrapping them in a cocoon-like form.

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Suddenly, Oric started to have short flashes of broken pieces of memories of an ancient civilization's great war.

The more flashes he had, the more painful it got, to the point of him forcefully breaking out of the vines, breathing relentlessly.

He quickly surveyed the area and saw another cocoon-like vine. Quickly noticing that it was Nevata trapped in there, he got on his feet and rushed to it. He started to rip the vine apart and freed Nevata, who also rushed out in fear, panting.

As she saw Oric, she quickly hugged him. "Master, you're okay, and your wounds are gone?"

"Gone?" he voiced in a puzzled manner as he checked his body, especially his neck. "How?" Oric still couldn't believe it; he still remembered the picture vividly and couldn't grasp his current situation.

He quickly turned to check to screen the area, and that was when his eyes fell on the vines that grew out from the tree. "Yes, the vines. The tree gave us its mana which acted as a catalyst for my healing factor," he mused.

"Yeah, I think my mana has been restored," she said while briefly summoning flames within her grasp and continued, "but did you see any broken pieces of memories that aren't ours, memories of the people that used to live here, on this tree."

"Yeah, I saw it. Let's search this place for any clues regarding our situation," he said without batting an eye.

"Okay," she answered.

Nevata and Oric began searching the broken tree house for any clues or useful stuff left behind by this ancient species. When they go in, the whole place was a mess. Oric started to search the living room for clues.

Suddenly, "Master, I've found something!" she said, alerting Oric.

"I'm coming," Oric responded, as he went to one of the bedrooms that looked like a master bedroom and saw a burnt picture hanging at the top of a wall all dusty. This room had all sorts of intricate patterns everywhere.

He slowly sat on the worn-out bed, which brought about dust into the air. Oric used his eyes to investigate the ancient room and looked at the picture. It was a picture of the ancient species that once lived here, but the picture was half burnt and worn out, making it hard to decipher what was happening within it.

"Oric, there are four bedrooms and bathrooms in total, a terrace, and a forge," she voiced what she had investigated and continued, "all this. I came across an ancient grimoire that was hard to understand, but with time, I'm sure I'll understand the runes within it. Also, I found this map of the Forest of Forgotten Myths," she said while handing both the map and the book to Oric to inspect.

Oric gazed onto the cover of the book with his sea-blue eyes, which deciphered only a few runes. He quickly gave it back to stop the strain his eyes were going through while deciphering it. A spell had been etched into his head. "I'll check it later," he said and went onto the map.

As Oric opened the map, he noticed a huge secret; his eyes widened in shock. The map looked quite huge and old but well-kept. He saw that the whole of the Forest of Forgotten Myths was actually a part of a ginormous tree itself, a living thing that grew into the skies above the clouds. That's all the map told Oric, which ignited his curiosity. "What is that thing?" he thought, "and how are the ancient species related to it, maybe elves?" He quickly closed the map. "Let's check the forge," he requested.

They reached the forge, which left Oric astounded. Even though old, dusty, and broken, it still made the cake. He observed everything, as he was lost in the view. He unexpectedly heard his stomach grumbling, which made Nevata giggle. "We are going hunting. Let's take whatever is useful and leave immediately before the terrain changes again," he said. After a few minutes, they finished packing and started to walk out of the place in preparation to descend the tree to go hunting with Nevata.

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When they came out of the treehouse, they were greeted by a breathtaking view. They could see some of the whole of the Forest of Forgotten Myths. They saw the ginormous stem of the tree that connected to the forest and grew into the skies above the clouds that they saw within the map, and finally, they saw the sun. Oric felt a little happy because he could finally gaze at the sun for the first time. He felt bad for leaving, even though he had to.

Looking at the entire place, they were at the top of a huge tree that had a platform made of its vines with the treehouse on the platform. The entire treehouse looked ancient and was supported by a huge rock. The tree's huge root vines had impaled the rock from all angles, giving it a firm grip against the rock that was at the center of the area. The area was a rocky, green place that was surrounded by trees, letting some sunlight hit the area, giving the area a beautiful scenery. Below the rock was a waterfall and a cave.

Oric walked down to the rock's platform, in other words apex and saw the tree's roots still going down.

He walked to the gnarled tree's roots, its roots weaving into the ground like ancient runes. Oric sensed a peculiar energy emanating from the tree's roots, a connection to the mystical nature of the forest.

As they prepared to leave the clearing, a faint vibration emanated from the ancient tree followed by its orange coloured leaves falling. Oric sensed that the tree was dying but couldnt understand why so he approached, placing his hand on its roots.

Quickly, Visions flashed before his eyes—images of a time long past, of beings intertwined with the essence of the forest.

Quickly, in a panic, Oric retracted his hand from the tree's roots.

"Nevata," Oric called, his voice tinged with confusion. "This tree... it's like a living memory of the forest. I saw glimpses of its ancient people."

Nevata joined him, her eyes widening at the spectral display. "Oh now I get it! The Forest of Forgotten Myths remembers its past and stores them in the roots of specific trees. We might find clues about our journey if we can tap into this ancient tree's memories."

As they delved deeper into the Tree's memories, Oric and Nevata realized that the tree was trying to tell Oric something.

Amidst the exploration of ancient memories, as they delved deeper, the tree had formed a connection with them and asked them to help free its master. In return, it would help them.

That was when Oric realized that the tree's master was the alpha haunt hound, and the haunt hounds were the restless dead souls of the forgotten civilization.

Oric asked the tree, "I can't help you because I'm not strong enough." Suddenly, the tree's vines rose and tapped Oric and Nevata's heads.

In that moment, Oric felt an unexpected surge of energy coursing through him. The symbiotic relationship between the forest and its civilization extended beyond mere stories; it held the potential to augment their abilities. quickly a rune appeared on Orics chest. That was when Oric sensed a newfound connection, as if the forest itself acknowledged him as one of its own.

Nevata also experienced a similar rune appear on her chest as well, attuned to the magical currents, noticed the change in Oric's aura and how the forest had stopped playing tricks on them. "We've become attuned to the forest's magic. This might give us an advantage against the Haunt Hounds and creatures that reside within the forest."

"Looks like we'll have to take care of that so called monster that the tree calls its master" said Oric with a hint of dread in his tone.