Chapter 8: Helping Hand
Ever since Weodrothis created the fruit-folk, it often found itself dozing off in the center of its domain. Aside from the rare instances when its input was required or an order needed to be delivered, it behaved no differently from a regular tree—albeit a peculiar-looking one.
But that was no fault of its own. Its lack of mobility left it with little else to do.
In the midst of its stupor, Weodrothis felt a burst of anxiety flow into it. Though its leaves ruffled slightly, it remained perfectly still.
The fruit-folk had already mentioned the presence of vicious beasts roaming the forest and how they had been chased by them before. Given the size of the current expedition, Weodrothis knew the chances of another confrontation were high.
Yet, if they had survived fifty years ago, it had no doubt they could do it again. So, Weodrothis remained content returning to its daze.
As expected, the feeling of anxiety soon dispersed. Instead, it now sensed a trace of pride and jubilation being channeled through the link. No doubt its creations had achieved a splendid victory.
It had expected as much. Having created the fruit-folk from its very leaves, their potential was limitless!
Or at least it believed so. But then again, who was going to question it?
However, the feelings of accomplishment abruptly stopped.
Have they always been so quick to calm?
Something didn't feel right. It had been with the two fruit-folk the longest and was well aware of their personalities. While they kept a reserved demeanor around it, the duo was almost the opposite in private. Any victory should have kept them cheerful for hours.
Unfortunately, its worries had just begun.
An intense surge of paranoia and dread coursed through it. The unexpected assault left it momentarily stunned.
Weodrothis hurriedly suppressed the emotions hurling themselves across the link. Its previous hesitation vanished. There was definitely something wrong.
A suffocating pressure descended on the surrounding fruit-folk as Weodrothis's eyes snapped open.
The individuals with tempered bodies could still push themselves to stand, but the untrained were directly forced onto all fours. Not wanting to irk their creator, the fruit-folk who were still standing also dropped to their knees. As for the regular folk, they continued holding themselves by their limbs.
Recalling the group that had just recently left the fog, it wasn't hard to make connections. Cold sweat began forming on the remaining inhabitants as they thought of the worst-case scenario.
"Your grace, has something occurred?" an apple person closest to Weodrothis nervously asked.
There was a brief silence before Weodrothis responded, "It seems like the group encountered some difficulty."
Weodrothis promptly removed the unconscious pressure emanating from its body. It had understated the severity of the issue to its followers. From what it could grasp through the connection, Bluog and Auopi were clearly in peril. There was a very real probability that the group was about to be exterminated.
Weodrothis returned its attention to the individual who had asked the question.
"Gather four others and head in the same direction as the earlier expedition. Don't come back until you make contact with either the group or what's left of it," its voice tore through the silent forest.
Before the fruit-folk could respond, it continued, "If you encounter danger, then only the leading apple needs to return. Everyone else is to stake their lives to defend it."
"Ah... of course! As you command!" the living apple stuttered out a response before hastily assembling a squad.
Weodrothis didn't hold much hope for the five-man team. It only wished for them to investigate the source behind these feelings of despair. Remaining ignorant risked causing further casualties in the future.
Curse this immobile body!
Despite its vast power reserve, Weodrothis could only helplessly dispatch fragile fruit to resolve its issues. Other than knowing the rough status of its prized duo, it could only be patient and wait.
Time slowly ticked by, and a little over an hour passed.
Weodrothis had experienced a wide variety of emotions from the duo. There were moments of optimism, anger, despair, and a slew of others.
When it sensed the first injury reverberate across the connection, it had nearly lost control of itself. The soil was overturned as it wildly flailed its roots in the air. Any tree within a 100-meter radius was riddled with cracks and tears.
Luckily, it had reigned itself in before someone was injured.
Weodrothis could feel the connection between it and the two fruit-folk slowly weakening. Their chances of survival looked bleak.
Its inability to provide assistance only served to fuel its anger. Every inch of its crimson bark was craving violence.
While restraining itself from further outbursts, Weodrothis felt a sudden tug on its consciousness. The odd sensation caused it to momentarily freeze before it redirected its full attention inward.
There, it saw a purple thread materializing from its core. A familiar aura radiated from the string.
This is... Bluog?
It could feel something urging it from the end of the line.
Without a moment's hesitation, Weodrothis channeled its consciousness through the line. There was only a flash of darkness before it found itself in an unfamiliar space.
The ground was a flat plain riddled with grass, and behind it stood one of the largest pieces of rock it had ever seen. Encircling it on all sides was an unparalleled swarm of ravenous beasts, with their glistening teeth and hungry eyes openly displayed.
But most pressing of all, its prized followers were stationed directly below it.
Seeing their mutilated bodies in person, a rage like no other consumed Weodrothis. Gazing at the tide of monsters, it wanted nothing more than to rip each one apart.
Yet, even in this elusive state, it couldn't exert any influence. Only a subtle glow seemed to radiate from its new leafy body. Its helplessness only continued to gnaw at it.
"I invoke the name of the great Weodrothis, cast your eyes upon this humble servant and release thy eternal fog on the damned!" a weak mutter escaped Bluog.
Weodrothis watched as a stream of purple mist escaped the wooden sword it had gifted the blueberry. The energy flew into the air and infused into its new body.
From the base of the golden leaf, a small crimson twig began to grow. Soon, the twig became a branch. That branch inevitably turned into a trunk, and from the trunk sprouted a magnificent crown adorned with an array of golden leaves.
A five-meter-tall crimson tree appeared above the duo. Their prayers had been answered.
Weodrothis felt the connection with its original body deepen. Any previous limitations on its power were immediately overcome.
Gazing at the surrounding horde, a perverse glint shone in its eyes.
Dense fog quickly swept through the horde and enshrouded every canine within its misty interior.
Satisfied with the coverage, Weodrothis truly utilized its innate ability for the first time.
Inside the fog, one could see a red hue slowly overtake the once brown canines. As the hue deepened, a viscous red liquid began permeating their bodies. Organic muscles sprouted from the originally earthen dogs, and their inanimate bodies were given life.
The dogs remained motionless within the fog as their biology rapidly altered. After only a couple of minutes, the transformation was complete.
Leathery skin now covered the canines. Their metal teeth were replaced with bone, and the mystical powers that kept them alive were now replaced with regular bone and sinew. By every definition, they could be considered "alive."
Weodrothis stared at its work with satisfaction. In this new state, these vile creatures could experience their torment in full.
The fog began to violently churn.
Green spots appeared on the recently transformed beasts, and the sound of painful wails and collapsing bodies followed shortly after.
Wherever the green spread, the creatures suffered.
Weodrothis controlled its powers to carefully decay their flesh. Unsightly gashes littered their bodies, and rancid pus dripped from the open wounds. It would ensure that death came slowly, and that it came as a mercy.
A full six hours passed.
Only when it sensed the energy supporting it about to fade did Weodrothis decide to finish off the swarm. Vast quantities of decay infected their cores, spreading to crucial organs and finally killing them.
Satisfied with its revenge, it cast one last glance at the healed duo before severing the connection.
Spatial Boundary
Daozi had been closely monitoring the situation ever since Bluog activated the dormant faith power.
Interesting, so faith energy can be used to borrow the power of someone else.
But the cost was quite steep. It could only be used on the brink of death, and it had the possibility to fail if the lender didn't heed the borrower's summon.
Nonetheless, the ability was definitely powerful.
Had he been intent on killing the duo, then the sudden appearance of a miniature Weodrothis would have saved their lives.
Though looking down at the macabre killings, he could only sigh at the loss of so many minions. He had pulled a total of 350 for the mission, and now they were all dead.
Being subjected to Weodrothis's fog was clearly an unpleasant experience. Were he still a human, just glimpsing a couple minutes of the brutal scene would have likely afflicted him with at least some level of PTSD.
While Weodrothis conjured the fog, he had also noticed the change in power consumption.
When the big tree controlled the fog with its main body, the spiritual energy required was incredibly small. In the miniature form, however, the consumption was tens of times higher. While not a big deal when using an innate ability against low-level opponents, it was evidently another weakness of this method.
I've managed to learn quite a bit with this round of experimentation
He was no longer clueless about the capabilities of this new power. It had some unique traits and was a miracle for breakthroughs, but as of now it didn't pose a serious danger to him.
With the current need for experimentation finished, he could finally dedicate more time to furthering this realms development.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
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