Chapter 6 Centaur Warnings and Rune Work

(2 Months Ago)

"Elder Braylock, it has been three nights now, and Elder Meliora has yet to return from her meditation walk. I'm growing concerned," Theilor said, his voice edged with worry.

"As am I, Theilor," replied Elder Braylock, his dark eyes mirroring the young centaur's anxiety. 

"Gather a hunting party and some Elders and search the area where she was last seen. Look for any trace of her, and be mindful of unusual animal behavior. The unicorns have been skittish, and a tribe of Orcs has vanished without a trace."

"Yes, Elder. We'll begin the search at once," the young warrior said.

(5 Nights Later)

"ELDER'S, NO!!!!" 

We had finally found traces of Elder Meliora. A faint shimmering magical disturbance hovered near the place where the Essence Cave had once stood, a sacred ground where only the Elders could enter to seek insight and renew their wisdom. As our scouting party neared the flickering sheen of magic, a dark magical force lashed out, reducing them to a crimson mist before any of us could react. Terrified, we rushed back to camp to report what we had witnessed to the other Elders, carrying only the horror of what we had seen.

(Present Time)

"Godric, Helga, the centaur tribes have agreed to remain in this forest while you and your kin build a school for your younglings," the large red-haired centaur began, his voice solemn. "However, I must warn you, something deadly has recently taken root here. Two moons ago, four of our Elders were slaughtered by an unknown force that now resides in one of our most sacred areas. Since then, it has killed a unicorn and countless other creatures, and even the insects have fallen silent. The entire forest feels... off."

He handed them a weathered map, a heavily inked circle marking a large spot deep in the forest.

"The Elders of all 13 tribes have declared that no centaur should venture near this place, and we have warned the various other tribes and colonies of other species to stay away as well. We understand that you and Salazar sometimes hunt or gather herbs in the forest, but we urge you, stay away from this area. The younglings have begun calling it the Death Circle, and we're inclined to agree."

With a respectful nod, he continued, "May you have a safe and restful night. I wish fortune upon you and yours." He turned, gesturing to his two bodyguards as they disappeared back into the shadows of the forest.

(Back to Valentine)

Turning back towards the cave I began to ponder how to make a home. The only problem is that the only homes I've built were in creative Minecraft or hovels in survival Minecraft. 

"Sigh... I guess that's what I'll do, then. Carry on the long and proud tradition of turning a hovel into a home," I muttered to myself, glancing around the cave. 

"At least I've got the 'cave' part covered. Now I just need a place to store food, fresh water, and somewhere to go to the bathroom, although I guess I could just do that as a Nundu and take care of 'business' in the forest." As I was thinking about that, another puzzling thought entered my brain. 

"Hey, System, how did I manage to survive two whole months without food or water while building my Mind Palace?"

|Notice: Your connection to a Class 5 Ley Line allows you to draw in pure, unfiltered magic, which sustains your life force entirely. This potent energy not only maintains your vitality but, in theory, could keep you alive for centuries without food or water if needed.|

…

…

"That's good to know, I guess, but I think I'll stick to real food, and my stomach agrees," I said as it gave a loud, grumbling protest to the idea of not eating for centuries.

 "Besides, hunting down food gives me a reason to explore more of the forest. I'll be able to gather everything I need to build myself a 'luxury' hovel." I smirked, picturing the so-called luxury hovels I had pieced together in Minecraft, with dirt floors and walls made out of crafting tables and furnaces, as I walked toward the border of my illusion ward.

Seamlessly I turned into my Nudu form and headed deeper into the forest looking for some magical trees that I could use for my hovel, this was the forbidden forest, and was saturated with magic; I'm sure I'll find something that I can use as a floor. With some of the household runes, I know it won't be too hard to turn it into a floor either. 

After a few hours of running through the forest, I had finally found what I was looking for, as well as a few other interesting things that had caught my eye while using my new skill: Runesight. 

|Notice: You have found a grove of Pheonixplume Trees. Information: Pheonixplume Trees are trees that were bathed in phoenix blood centuries ago and now contain its essence. These trees are tall and look similar to the Oaks of your previous world. They not only produce light heat but their bark, unlike most trees, is made up of feather-like material; their leaves are a golden brown. This tree also produces Blazefruit, a rare and magical fruit that resembles a glowing ember in the shape of a plum. It takes, on average, a decade or more for a Blazefruit to reach full maturity.|

'Damn, this is an awesome find. I should probably ward off this area as well so no one steals any of the fruits.' I thought as I looked at the small grove of Peonixplume Trees. There were only about 30 of them in total, and from what I could see, at max each tree only had about three fully matured Blazefruits on them. 

Transforming back into my succubi form I walked into the middle of the fiery-like tree grove, running my hand against the bark-like material that was on one of the trees as I did. It really did feel like soft down from a bird, although it produced a warm feeling that you might feel from a heater or small fire. As I neared the center of the grove I looked up at the central tree and spotted a large Blazefruit a few feet away from me. It only took a light jump to grab it and pull it off the branch.

|Notice: You have gained a fully matured Blazefruit.|

I didn't even glance at the system notification as I bit into the plum-like fruit that was glowing like a hot ember. 

"Squelch" 

It was fucking delicious, I ravished the fruit down, a liquid-like fiery substance coating my lips as I scarfed it down. 

|Notice: You have eaten an eight-decade-old Blazefruit. For being the first being in three in a half centuries to eat a Blazefruit you have gained: +400 Xp, 1 Platnum Lottery Ticket, and 5 Bars of Red Gold: Information: Red Gold, similar to Goblin Silver, is a magical metal renowned for its unique properties, such as its ability to absorb and amplify magical energy, making it highly sought after for crafting enchanted items, weapons, and artifacts. Even goblins covet Red Gold and are known to offer obscene amounts of wealth or rare materials for just an ounce of it.|

Glancing at the rest of the matured plum-like fruits I made the difficult decision to not eat another one. 

"Sigh…"

Gathering my thoughts I went back to work, first I had to pick a tree or two to cut down and bring back to my hovelesqe home in the making, then I would ward this area as well.

Looking around I found the two medium-sized trees, they were about 90…ish feet tall, I think, and the trunk was in diameter about 7 or 8 feet around. As for the canopy, it was fucking enormous and blocked out any sign of there even being a sky. I did feel kinda bad about cutting this stuff down. However, I made peace while I was building my Mind Palace, that I was going to be alive for a long ass time and would be doing lots of things that I probably wasn't going to like. So cutting down a tree is just the first step in the new life that I have.

I summoned my Hellfire staff from my inventory and started to go through all of the runes I knew that would help me in cutting down these two trees and, either process them right here or help me move them to Homebase. My inventory is big, but it's not big enough to hold two trees worth of materials.

After a few minutes, I nodded to myself and started to trace different runes in the air, just using my core magic this time, I did not need Hellfire or Ley Line magic to cut down some trees. 

(A few minutes later)

Five silver runes floated before me, and with a light tap of my finger on the one resembling a circle with jagged teeth, it expanded and began spinning at an almost blinding speed. As it reached its peak velocity, the rune launched itself through the air, slicing off branches with ruthless precision. While the Carnage Saw rune did its work, I was already activating the next rune. 

Technically, it wasn't just one, it was a small cluster of runes: Follow, Gather, Transfer. This simple instruction set was typically used for golems or enchanted cleaning tools, like magical cleaning brooms or mops. But, with how much magical power I had at my disposal, I tweaked it to follow the saw, using light gravity manipulation to gather the falling branches and twigs. The materials were neatly deposited just outside the grove, ready for transport.

Blushing slightly, I activated a second rune cluster to assist with the task, ensuring none of the Blazefruit, featherbark, or even the smallest twig or leaf, was left behind. In hindsight, I probably didn't need to use an Army Killing Rune just to chop down two trees, but it was the first one that came to mind. I couldn't help but grin sheepishly as the Carnage Saw continued its gleeful rampage.