Chapter Forty-Nine: Hello and Goodbye (End of Prologue)

Kaltyr awoke to find herself in a bed of flowers, leaves, and vines atop a suspiciously rough surface, very high up in the sky yet still beneath a humongous canopy.

"Oh," the sleepy warrior muttered as she rubbed her face, "this."

[Indeed. This is reality. You are very near the end of your tutorial.]

Those words, like a splash of cold water, brought Kaltyr to her feet in a second.

"'Tutorial', you said. So you are part of all this."

Though Kaltyr didn't mean for it to happen, there was an edge to her voice. She simply didn't know how to feel about her transportation to Manic, Sir Quiggly-Do the Fifth, and her "mission". While she could easily muster resentment towards whoever dumped her here without memories, it wasn't as though she was having a bad time. In fact, if her basic impressions of the world she left behind were to be believed, then the opportunities Manic provided were well worth everything she had gone through. Magic, after all!

[Not in the way you think. I am just a being that happened to be in the right place to serve as the end goal for you. There is another in the opposite direction from where you started, which you could have chosen to head towards.]

"Is… Is that so…" So that's what The System had meant.

[It is.]

Kaltyr considered questioning the tree…questioning Mother further about her mysterious circumstances, but figured that she'd only get vague or simply negative responses in return, like what The System had done. Instead, she brought up something a little more directly relevant.

"Okay, Mother," the warrior began, Decardifying her spear and beginning some shadow spars right there on the giant tree branch. She knew a long conversation was coming and didn't feel like sitting still for its entirety. "Thank you for allowing me to rest safely, but I really want to be among my fellow humans. Though I'm sure you'd make a great conversational partner, I have a mission to complete. If you could point me in the right direction, that'd be great."

Kaltyr had not spoken any lies. She honestly wouldn't mind staying for a while longer to get to know Mother and her place in this forest. However, Mother's own words—telling her she was near the tutorial's end—fueled the flame within the warrior which motivated her to get things done. She both wanted to walk the path of power and get to the bottom of the mystery that was her presence on Manic. She probably couldn't do that if she remained idle. Plus, nothing stopped her from returning every once in a while to say hello.

[Yes, I know you have places to be. And though it is a shame to have only spoken with you for a little while, I will not keep you.]

"Thank you, again," Kaltyr said, both for Mother's response and how Mother had begun dropping leaves around her while she practiced her spear arts, giving her targets to stab. "So, which way to the humans? Also, if you could tell me if Manic has cardinal directions, that'd be great."

[I will do more than just point you toward your goal, and the direction which the sky's color recedes every few hours is north. To the left of north is west, to the right of north is east, and the opposite direction to north is south.]

Kaltyr smiled as she impaled three leaves with only a single spear thrust.

"Cool. So, what do you mean by doing more than just pointing?"

[I will bring you there.]

That statement caused the warrior to briefly pause and blink in confusion. When she continued shadow sparring, she decided to voice her thoughts rather than keep silent.

"Will you have one of your, uh, children guide me? Or use magic to transport me? I doubt your massive form will grow legs—or maybe just use the roots as legs—to walk me there." After a few moments, she added, "Oh! Do you have a smaller, more mobile form?"

Mother transmitted a soft laugh, very unlike the explosion that came with frightening the bears, and said, [Only a little bit of magic, I'm afraid. I've yet to successfully create a form separate from my True Body, much less a mobile one.]

"Ah, okay." Kaltyr waited for Mother to continue, but when she didn't add anything, the warrior asked, "Do you know what the humans in the settlement you'll take me to are like?"

[Yes. Though my domain is rather small, the settlement is within my sphere of influence in another way, so I can see quite a lot of what happens there.]

Kaltyr assumed Mother meant the space within which her aura pervaded was her "domain", but had no clue how she had influence outside of that. Her roots, maybe? A tree at her size must have quite the expansive roots system. But could her roots see and hear? Interesting.

[As far as I am aware, most humans are quite like you are with only minimal changes. Colors, height, and width are where most of the variables lay. Not much diversity.]

"You sure? Because…" she immediately asked, but then soon trailed off. Though she had the feeling that there was quite a wide range of what humans looked like, her gut also contradictorily said that Mother was correct. Perhaps it was just a difference in perspective. To Kaltyr, color, height, and width was a lot, but to a sapient plant… Well, no group had quite the amount of variability as plants, right? When two flowers native to the same place could be so different from each other, the differences in humans must have seemed like nothing. "Nevermind. Please continue."

[Though I haven't seen very many, there are a few species of people who are obviously not human. I doubt you'll meet many because they are native to regions far from this one and are generally few in number. Outcompeted by humans, I imagine.]

"That's cool. Would I mistake them for monsters? Beasts?" Kaltyr recalled what Sir Quiggly-Do the Fifth had said about the same subject.

[Doubtful. Unless you somehow ignore how they wear clothing and also use weapons.]

"Hah, yeah, good point. Anything else I should know about where you're taking me?"

[I will drop you off about a day's walk away from a small farming village. There are many such farming villages which sell to the town of the area. That town and its surrounding farms are the only human settlements within my influence. I implore you to come up with a simple fake background so as to not appear suspicious.]

"Gotcha."

[Any other questions? I will answer everything to the best of my knowledge and am prepared to send you whenever you are ready.]

"Thank you. The next subject, I guess, would be…"

Kaltyr had not once used her mana during her exercising to extend her stamina, causing her to sweat and for her muscles to burn. She set the spear down so that its bone blade pointed to the sky and leaned on it, gathering her breath.

What else did she want to know? There were just so many things of great importance to her that nothing stuck out. She supposed she could continue asking about the town, but what about it? Her memories were locked away, so all she imagined when she pictured a "town" was a group of houses. The complexities of civilization eluded her, so she turned her attention to herself. What did her life center around? Power.

"What can you tell me about magic and stuff? About being an Internalizer or Externalizer? The basics of what humans are taught? Effective stat point distributions? Common skills, spells, and techniques?"

Kaltyr was satisfied with the questions she came up with, only to be disappointed so soon.

[Nothing, really. Even if I were an expert in that field—which I'm not, because plant beasts like me are very different from humans and even normal beasts—that's one of the areas I may not cover.]

The warrior tiredly leaning on her spear stomped one foot in frustration, cursing the rules, before realizing that she just stomped Mother.

[It's fine,] Mother said before the girl could even apologize.

Kaltyr returned to her shadow sparring in frustration, irritated at how she had to learn just about everything from scratch, and completely blank on what she should ask next…until she remembered that she was practicing her spear arts.

"That's right! Mother, how much can you tell me about beasts?!" she implored excitedly, stopping her training in order to cross her pointer and middle fingers on both hands…then wondering why she was doing that.

[Very good, Kaltyr. I was afraid you were never going to ask, despite fighting beasts likely being all you've been doing until now.] Another soft laugh. [Any specific questions, or should I get on to the general overview?]

"Umm…" Kaltyr scratched her head, considering what she'd discussed with Sir Quiggly-Do the Fifth, but remembering little. "I only recall stuff about how beasts increase in Life Level just like me and wield mana in the same way, but that what techniques they have access to is random. Plus, they gain 5 points in each field, unlike me who only gets 5 to distribute each level. Beasts can use both Body Mana Reinforcement and Crude Mana Bolt, and they need to train, too… That's about it."

[And that's about all you need to know to continue as you have, but I assume you want some extra information.]

Kaltyr nodded and got down onto her belly, carefully scuttling to the edge of the branch to peer down at a few of Mother's children who loitered around her trunk. Pangs of terror inflicted her, but she didn't like being afraid and knew it was best to work on suppressing that fear. Who knows? She might, in the future, be forced to fight somewhere high above the ground, like on a cliff.

[Beasts originally formed from ambient magical essence, and they still do, but they can still procreate to produce offspring. Not very important information, but in case you were curious, there you go. More relevantly, beasts do not gain XP as you do, simply by killing other creatures.]

Still looking at the ground faaaar below, Kaltyr raised an eyebrow at that last sentence.

[They have to eat their enemies, as the flesh of all creatures also contains some power. Once in their stomachs, flesh will dissolve into XP, so they can eat as much as they choose. It is advantageous in how a beast does not necessarily have to kill anything to gain XP, as they can steal carcasses from others. However, it takes times to eat, so unlike you, beasts cannot gain XP while on the run.]

"Do you know why there's that difference? Sounds a bit unfair for beasts."

[It it how it is. However, that isn't even the most striking difference, and many argue that beasts get a better deal than humans. That is because beasts are immortal and cannot starve.]

This time Kaltyr did more than just raise an eyebrow. She turned around to face Mother's trunk, her mouth hanging open in shock. She gaped at the tree for a moment before Mother continue.

[It's not too surprising, given how beasts are magical entities. Additionally, they kill each other all the time in the wilderness in order to strengthen themselves. Few live long enough to reach 10 Life Levels higher than they were at birth, and even if a beast were to hide away for a thousand years, if it does not eat, it does not grow stronger.]

"Oh," Kaltyr finally said, her jaw closing, "that makes sense."

[Indeed. Now… That is about all I can tell you about beasts. Next subject?]

...

Kaltyr found herself drawn into conversation with Mother for a while longer, not necessarily about things that would assist her in her mission, but just to pass the time. The warrior, eager as she was to continue slaying beasts and eventually meet other humans, gave herself at least that much of a break.

When all her hunger for answers was sated to her satisfaction and it was time to go, Mother still had a little something in store for Kaltyr.

After lowering the warrior to the ground, a second vine appeared, clutching items.

"Are those…"

Kaltyr reached toward the vine and plucked the Cards which it held. When her eyes laid on the images the Cards displayed, the girl suddenly lost her breath, understanding how useful the gifts bestowed upon her were.

"Thank you thank you thank you!" she shouted, clutching the Cards to her chest.

[Just a little something I threw together during your stay to increase your odds of survival. I would appreciate if you dropped by to say hello at some point whenever you're not busy. Though, don't even try before Life level 30 unless you specialize in illusions. There is an active barrier keeping me secret from the denizens of the country I grew within.]

Kaltyr's excitement was rather greatly dampened by that revelation, causing her bright smile to fade.

"Oh… So, I won't get to see you for quite a while."

[Years, likely. Many more than just a few if you do not keep up the pace you've maintained so far.]

"That sucks."

[Well, the barrier is up for my protection and I cannot grant access to individuals. To allow you through I have to drop the entire thing. That could allow someone to unwittingly see me. I do have quite the stature.]

"Right, right. To most of the world, you are just a resource to be harvested…" One of the matters the two had discussed earlier was how Kaltyr needed never speak of Mother to anyone, lest risk revealing her existence to those who would exploit her. Mother had little ability to defend herself until she reached a certain age, which wasn't coming any time soon. Keeping Mother a secret was fine and all, but she hadn't mentioned that the girl would need to be Life Level 30 to visit!

[Now, forget about all that and indulge in my gifts.]

Kaltyr nodded, though still not nearly as excited as before. She slipped some mana through her fingers into the Cards, causing them to flash with light before expanding into the objects they pictured. On the ground in front of her sat an entire set of brand-new level 10 armor.

Every piece was clearly sewn from parts of Mother, with the joints and flexible parts made from shiny leaves while the solid bits from bark. Kaltyr had to wonder how normal a thing that was to do, but Mother was a sapient tree. She followed different rules.

The warrior first put on the boots, which were a majority bark, then the skirt, which was long enough to defend everything above her ankles to her waist. Words for armor that went around the legs like "kilt" and "grieves" came to mind, but she wasn't sure exactly what those were or what she had would count as, so labeled the gift as a battle skirt. The battle skirt had many overlapping, horizontal layers of bark which seemed great for warding off slashes.

The shirt…chestplate… The tunic she received had large plates covering sections of her chest, belly, back, shoulders, and arms. It looked difficult to move in, but once put on, allowed for a surprising amount of flexibility. Sure, she wouldn't be performing gym…gymnastics in the thing, but it was suitable for combat, if a bit heavy to wear without full-body reinforcement.

The pair of gloves were mostly flexible leaves with small, overlapping plates of bark covering the backs of her hands and fingers. These, too, allowed for a good amount of dexterity.

"Lastly…"

Kaltyr held the last piece of armor—the helmet—at arm's length, staring at it. It was a fine piece of equipment, like the rest of the suit, but…

"This isn't glass, is it?" Kaltyr asked, opening and closing the mostly-clear, golden visor which covered the face of the helmet.

[It is a kind of resin. It was the most tedious part to assemble.]

She grunted in acknowledgement, but the assembly method of the resin visor was not what bothered the girl. The helmet-with-a-visor caused many memories to surface which were previously suppressed by those who put her in Manic. Images of long, dark roads which she traveled very swiftly atop, accompanied by a constant, deafening roar.

"M…Mo…"

Kaltyr pursed her lips, squinted her eyes, and furrowed her brows. It was on the tip of her tongue. When she finally fitted the strange helmet onto her head and closed the visor…

"Motorcycle," she mumbled, her confusion not at all assuaged. Whatever it was her special helmet reminded her of, she apparently wasn't allowed to know, because along with the fuzzy memories came a splitting headache, forcing her to take her mind off the subject.

[I was informed that your memories were locked away, and it seems my gift stimulated them, bringing you pain. My apologies. If you'd like, I can change the design. It will take a while longer, however.]

"No…" Kaltyr managed to let out through her wincing, "this is fine, t-thank you. I'll be fine. The design is great for protecting my eyes in battle."

Mother repeated her offer a few more times, but the warrior's answer remained the same. Though she may sometimes bear an awful headache if she wasn't careful, she'd rather possess partial access to her past life than none at all.

When the pain faded, Kaltyr Decardified her weapon and posed for Mother. One arm behind her ramrod-straight back, the other gripping the spear planted in the earth pointing toward the sky, covered in her new armor with the visor lowered, the warrior channeled her mana at full strength and released her aura.

[A stunning little combatant!] A soft laugh. [I will commit this scene to memory. Now, you are prepared to leave?]

Kaltyr gave a small smile from behind her visor. "I am." Emotions roiled around inside her, both negative and positive. She was glad to have achieved all she had, frustrated for being left in the dark by The System, sad to have to depart from Mother for what was likely to be years, and excited at the prospect of further growth. She still wasn't completely sure what her ultimate dreams and goals should be, as returning to her home world and past life was apparently impossible, but didn't dwell on it in this moment. For now, she would look forward to a future full of blood, battle, and power, as that was what made her happy through however long she'd spent in this forest.

She closed her eyes, mentally preparing herself for whatever magic was to take hold on her for the transportation…

[Hah hah, well, I still have something for you, so you're not leaving just yet.]

An awkward moment passed as Kaltyr stood motionless, not even breathing, unaware of how to properly respond. Eventually, she decided that "honestly" was the best way.

"UUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Kaltyr collapsed, groaning, and lay sprawled on the grass.

"I MADE IT ALL SO DRAMATIC!" she cried. "THEN YOU WENT AND RUINED IT!"

Mother's only reply was more soft laughter for a minute, until Kaltyr got sick of it.

"C'mon, get on with it. My time is precious, and I'm sure you have more…photosynthesizing to do."

[Heh, I will be sad to see you go.]

"And maybe I won't. Hurry up."

Mother continued chortling as a pair of familiar beasts trotted toward Kaltyr. The girl's first instinct at the sight of two bears approaching was to prepare for battle, but she soon crushed it. These beasts were good.

The green bears sat next to Kaltyr, the littler one being close enough to lick at her armored hand, which it did.

"Eeww," she almost said, but managed to hold in. Licking might have been a sign of affection, so that would have been rude. Instead of backing away in disgust of the bear saliva, Kaltyr raised her hand to pet the beast. Suddenly…

--------------------------------

Will you form a Bond of Companionship with this beast?

[NOTE: Bonds of Companionship may only be formed by the Beast Tamer Class and its Subclasses or when those involved share a significant emotional connection. The Ancient Tree, "Mother", is offering you this option through its power, so the aforementioned requirements will be waived.]

--------------------------------

"I…" Kaltyr was speechless.

[Not so annoyed now, right? Hah.]

The girl's jaw hung open as she stared at the bear cub(?), her mind racing a kilometer a second. A Bond of Companionship? She could travel and fight together with this beast? Share power with it, perhaps? The beast that could heal?! No amount of exaggeration could express how glad she was to not have killed the bea—

[Yes, yes, you're happy, I get it, but hurry on and accept. The longer you wait the more energy I—]

Before the tree finished speaking Kaltyr accepted the offer, making the prompt disappear and causing a new sensation to pervade her mind as a connection was built between her and the bear.

"T-thank you…so m-much," she managed to say even while her head spun in every direction while foreign energy did its work in her brain.

[It's not much,] Mother replied, [and this little one wants it just as much as you. His mind isn't all that sophisticated, but he understands that he can travel if he stays with you. This is something I can know and do thanks to my unique abilities, which allow me to form my own bonds with willing beasts.]

Yes, Mother had mentioned being able to provide a safe space for beasts willing to protect her domain from more vicious beasts, like the aggressive fire chicken. But to think her power also came with the option to transfer the bond!

The bonding process completed soon after, at which point Kaltyr fell to her knees next to the bear and wrapped her arms around him. His fur held some plant matter and dirt, but she didn't mind. In fact, she removed her helmet in order to plunge her face into the fur. She'd wanted to cuddle with cute animals since she saw and killed her first beast opponents, but had since needed to force down every instinct to be kind in order to survive. Now, however, she had a fluffy buddy.

[You can discuss with him what his name will be later. For now, there are a couple more things you should be made aware of before you depart.]

"Mhm," she mumbled through her Companion's fur.

[Firstly, regarding what your bond means: your new friend here will gain a share of XP from kills he partakes in, and you'll gain a share of XP from the flesh he eats of creatures you have a part in killing. Additionally, you can both transmit simple ideas to each other for basic communication over any distance.]

Though Kaltyr did not unbury her face from her bear's fur, she took a moment to consider how valuable those new abilities could be. Depending on just how simple the thoughts that they could pass were, scouting would be easier, and she wouldn't need to guess at what needs her new friend had. He'd just tell her.

[Secondly…] Mother gave a dramatic pause, [I forgot to mention this before, but your Body Mana Reinforcement could use some work.]

That statement caused a frown to form.

"What?" Kaltyr asked with a deliberate edge. If she was proud of anything, it was her combative skills. How could she possibly have been reinforcing her body incorrectly? Her resentment was only playful, but still…

[Not that your use of the skill was incorrect, but inefficient. Not that any reasonable person would expect you, in your peculiar circumstances, to know this. Simply put, you don't need to reinforce your entire body for every use of extra brawn.]

The warrior dawned an unamused expression, remembering how her instincts warned her that she'd harm herself if she didn't do exactly that. "Go on."

[Once you integrate yourself into human society you should find a teacher of anatomy. It's not that inefficient, but by reinforcing your entire body equally for simple movements you are wasting a little bit of mana. Though it won't affect you much in the present, in battles between experts, that much mana can mean the difference between life and death.]

"Oh, it's just that." Kaltyr returned to drowning in fur, and through it mumbled, "I figured that out on my own during my travels to here, just that I didn't want to risk injuring myself so didn't bother trying to save that little bit of mana I waste."

[Fair enough. Just something to keep in mind.]

Mother went silent then, leaving Kaltyr to mentally prepare herself to leave. After all, she now had a bear to think about.

Then a deep grumbling shook the air beside her.

"Oh, that's right, I'll be taking your kid from you," Kaltyr looked up from her bear Companion to comment. The mother(?) bear sat right next to her, apparently unhappy, but resigned to giving its child the freedom he wanted.

"Sorry 'bout that, but when we reach level 30 we'll come see you."

Kaltyr considered giving a goodbye hug to the big bear for a moment, weighing the pros and cons. On one hand, the bear might react aggressively to such a weird thing—hugs were probably only a human thing, right?—but on the other…more cuddling. Her rational side lost the fight and she embraced the large creature, indulging in its fluffiness as well. Without retaliation, thankfully.

"I'm ready to go," she finally said, letting go of the large bear and putting on her helmet, "assuming you don't have any more surprises?"

[You assume correctly. Hang on to this vine.]

A new vine, much larger than the past ones, lowered beside Kaltyr, and she followed Mother's directions. She briefly wondered about what the vine had to do with her transportation and how it would be impacted now that she a little bear along for the ride, but before she could ask any questions, the vine speedily wrapped around her and the cub.

"Uhhh," Kaltyr absentmindedly whined as the vine began to move horizontally insanely quickly, the loud rush of air overwhelming her ears as her vision became nothing but a blur.

[Reinforce yourself or you won't survive.]

The warrior hurriedly did as told, immediately alleviating her of the rapidly increasing G-forces weighing on her body. Through her Magic Sense she saw that the bear cub had done the same in response to their vine cradle being spun around like a…

'Ooooooooh shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii—'

Before Kaltyr could question if treating her and the bear cub as the projectiles of a primitive sling weapon was a good idea, everything changed. No longer were they spinning at impossible velocities around the impossibly large oak tree. The end of their vine cradle which connected to the tree had been disconnected, and they were now sailing through the air into lands unknown.

}——END OF PROLOGUE——{

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