Chapter 60 - Lord of the Tree of In-Between

Rynold stood still, mouth wide open.

He couldn't believe what he had just heard and the person who was kneeling in front of him. It was obvious that he was overwhelmed and what's more, is that a person with such power is kneeling before his feet.

With a swift shake of his head, Rynold tried to respond in the most flustered way possible. After all, he was caught off-guard by the sudden announcement.

"Uh...," Rynold stuttered, "Margareth, could you stand up please?"

Without even catching Rynold's gaze, Margareth stood up and continued to look down.

"Uhm... Alrighty then," Rynold was squirming to catch his thoughts, "First things first, can you uh- send everyone to an infirmary of sorts? I'd like to talk to you alone for a minute."

He was still trying to understand the situation as he unintentionally made his first-ever command as the owner of the Tree of In-Between. Unexpected as it may be, Rynold was doing what naturally came to him.

"Yes, my lord," Margareth responded as she purposefully and politely bowed to Rynold. For him, though, it was awkward as all hell.

With a wave of her hand, Tree Guardians suddenly spawned from the ground that they were standing on and, on the right side of the room, a door opened. Then, the Tree Guardians carried the ones who were unconscious and guided the others to the infirmary. Wherever that place is.

Rynold waited for them to leave before looking back at Margareth who was still avoiding his gaze.

He struggled to even open his mouth and whenever it did, sounds that only cavemen would make came out. Realizing he was making a fool of himself, he paused and took a deep breath. Rynold had to recover whatever left's of his sanity and ask actual questions instead of making googly eyes.

After a long pause in the awkward atmosphere, Rynold finally got his thoughts straight and asked his first question.

"Are you sure you want to pledge allegiance to me?"

He didn't ask what the hell was going on or whatever deal that Margareth had made with the gods but he asked for her wellbeing first. It didn't take a fully licensed psychiatrist to realize that even she, with all her power, was reluctant to recognize a human as her "lord."

The woman's eyes widened at the ridiculous question. Who was he to ask what her thoughts on the situation were? This was a command that the god had placed and whatever the gods asked for, she had to do. No questions asked. Her feelings of the matter didn't matter in any way whatsoever.

Margareth instinctively gritted her teeth and kneeled. Unwilling to let Rynold notice the doubts that had clouded her mind, she answered, "Yes, my lord."

Rynold sighed.

He always considered himself as someone who was always going to be at the bottom of the barrel. Not necessarily amounting to anything in terms of personal accomplishments but rather supporting others with whatever he can bring to the table.

Having someone kneel and treat him this way was certainly something that was never going to be an option. Sure, it'll be fun for Rynold to act like however he felt like. It wouldn't feel right at all if that's how he did things. After all, responsibility was always first for him.

Giving up trying to make Margareth look him in the eye, Rynold promptly sat down beside the kneeling elf. There was no way he could bring her to his eye level so doing the opposite should do.

Releasing a deep breath, Rynold changed his approach.

"Can you tell me what this 'scripture' you mentioned is?"

Despite his unwillingness to let Margareth continuously treat him like this, Rynold decided that changing the subject might be the way to go. Who knows, she might even lower her guard in the process.

"Yes, my lord," Margareth said before standing straight once more. She raised her hand and the once dark chamber suddenly illuminated. After a few moments, the entire room seemed to change in its entirety.

From the darker floors and overall gloomy ambiance, the room reverted to its original appearance. White pristine floors and bright orb of lights scattered and moved around aimlessly as if they had minds of their own.

Rynold took in the sights before moving his attention back to Margareth who seemed a lot more elegant. It was as if the entire room elevated her beauty to another level.

'Focus, Rynold. Focus.'

He tried to remember why he was here in the first place and really tried to focus on the task at hand. It was hard to realign himself because his attention was captured by Margareth's pure beauty.

Rynold's sheer will was being overwhelmed, badly too. Not that he didn't mind the eye candy, he knew that this was wrong as he continuously stared daggers into the woman who was way out of his league. What was weirder for him was that it seemed like Mana was dancing around her too.

It was as if the very Mana of the room was celebrating her beauty as well.

Now growing desperate to snap out of it before Margareth notices, Rynold tried to break his trance with every ounce of his body that he could control.

On instinct, Rynold willed his Mana to extend his drill. He couldn't even move his hands but the Mana within him managed to respond to his commands. The drill extended and the tip managed to stab his foot.

Pain shot up from his own infliction and it overwhelmed the trance that he was in. Despite his loss of control of his own body, Rynold managed to control his own Mana still.

That was when he finally realized what was going on.

"Margareth, whatever it is you're doing... Stop it before I make you stop," Rynold threatened.

A sense of fear suddenly enshrouded Margareth but she managed to recover since he was still weaker than her. She turned around with a smile on her face that would make any man kneel.

"You finally noticed, did you?" she asked and then giggled, "I was merely testing if you were indeed worthy of the information that I had control over."

"Heh," Rynold scoffed back, "Test's over. Now, the scripture. Tell me what it is."

"Yes, my lord," she said in an overly unprofessional tone, her fondness of Rynold was slowly growing.

Margareth presented a small parchment that was scrolled up like it was an ancient document. Considering the age and overall anciency of the document, it was safe to say that this was a relic.

"This is the parchment that has been sent out over decades ago. Within this document are the instructions that the gods have given out to several places all over the known world," Margareth said with a look that scholars have when they study.

"I cannot say for sure that the other documents contain the same instructions, however, what I can confirm is the instructions of the one given to me," she continued while descending down the platform where she was standing, "the rules that were written out were simple and binding."

She approached Rynold and handed the scripture to him. With a smile, she said, "I pledge my allegiance to thee, Lord of the Tree of In-Between."

"Would you please stop calling me that," Rynold said with a disapproving look on his face. "Call me Rynold instead."

He inspected the parchment and decided to place the document into his inventory for now. Since he was "lord" now, Rynold felt the need to start planning for a future. However, there was something that was still bothering him up until now.

"Where's the little girl that came with me?" Rynold asked Margareth who was looking at his gauntlets curiously. Despite her overly mature and exuberantly sexual nature, she was still indeed a gigantic nerd.

Meanwhile, Oliver was recovering in the infirmary.

There wasn't really any sort of advanced medical equipment in the area but there was magic that helped recuperate his wounded self. Jack was in the same room as him along with many others.

Oliver was looking out of a windowsill and looked to the clouds. They were high up in the tree and the moon was shining bright in the sky.

Jack was mingling with the other people who had managed to stumble to this place and bragging about his adventures so far. Well, those about Rynold and Oliver anyway.

Oliver, on the other hand, just preferred to be alone. He was looking out to the skies, just thinking, remembering memories about Skye. Even though the trials had messed him up, nothing would beat the pain that he felt when he had lost her.

Silent and unmoving, Oliver continued to let his mind wander. He had nothing better to do at this point in time, after all. Strider came up to Oliver's side to be a good companion.

As the day ended, Oliver knew deep down that it was going to be a rough few months moving forward.