CH811 Mora and the Dryads

Mora could tell that Thera was worried even as she dropped him off, she’d done a terrible job of hiding it but both she and Ben promised they’d be back as fast as they could once they’d finished up what they needed to do, leaving him alone with one person he knew and one he didn’t, with Delair’s mother trying to be friendly while Delair herself was trying and failing to grab his arm, the spirit keeping it intangible for the time being to spare himself whatever she was going to try and drag him to.

“Is there anything I can get you while you’re with us, Mora?” The older woman asked him. “I pulled a lot from the garden yesterday, I could put together a nice salad if you’d like or even if you’re just looking for a little snack we have plenty of different fruit, I’m sure we’ll find one that suits your taste.”

“My kind don’t need to eat, thank you,” He told her, looking at Fontesh curiously. It was one of many things that set him apart from everyone he’d met since Vividus had left him but he did feel just a hint of interest about it. A biological impulse the majority of people in the world were slaves to but one they all seemed to relish in despite the inconveniences of it. Thera and Sonya both only seemed to come alive in the morning after eating Ben’s cooking, sleep being yet another chore that proper mortals seemed to love, but the memory of the two of them enjoying the meals he’d helped Ben make did leave a warm feeling that made their own inconvenience a benefit to him, all the more so after Thera had told him just how good it had been.

“And since he doesn’t need to eat that means I can show him around already!” Delair said, filled to the brim with excitement. “Now come on already Mora, let me grab you!”

“...Fine.”

In the same way as Thera, Ben, and Sonya, he could tell that Delair was also trying to grow closer to him which left its own sort of warmth, even if she was far more heavy-handed about it than the other three but he was trying to learn to reciprocate no matter how unnatural it felt. He didn’t dislike her company after all and they’d already spent days together learning from Ben while Thera was taking her breaks from healing so he knew well what she was like by that point as he made himself tangible, feeling as she finally grabbed hold of his arm instead of passing through it and instantly yanked him through the door of her house, her mother following along with a smile on her face while he examined the village he was being pulled through.

Small but full of life, he could sense the souls that filled the land all around him and the bodies holding each one, finding so many to be both strong and in good health to an almost surprising extent. Plants especially were everywhere and they were thriving, no doubt from the magic he could see that every member of the community held and he couldn’t help but like it. It felt natural, it felt right, and it suited everything that he was.

What suited him less were some of the looks he was getting from the passing villagers but they were nothing new, he was exposed to such things any time he went out. Confusion, uncertainty, discomfort, the mortals of the world simply didn’t understand what he was and that separated him from them, a fact Fontesh seemed to pick up on as she moved to his other side and took his hand.

“We aren’t used to strangers here so everyone might be a little shy at first,” She told him, a small laugh on her lips as she remembered something. “When Ben first came, he had to work himself to the bone to get everyone here to like him but I don’t think you’ll have that much trouble, don’t worry.”

“I’m not worried.”

“No? Good then. In that case, Delair, what do you say we show him our grove?”

“Can we?”

“Sure, grandmother and a few others should be there right now anyway so this is a good chance for him to meet a few more members of the village while he’s here.”

Everyone there had their work after all and it didn’t take long for them to leave the outskirts of their home to the trees further within, a dozen dryads immediately visible and hard at work spending their magic on the trees surrounding them, Mora watching them as they strained the skill bound to their souls, pushing to improve and only stopping as Fontesh called out around them.

“Everyone, we’ve come to join for a bit and Delair’s brought a friend so make sure to be nice.”

Again, more looks and uncertainty with the oldest among them looking away from her work too, briefly frowning before ultimately shaking her head.

“Well, I suppose if it’s Ben and Thera’s child I can allow it,” She muttered, leaving Fontesh to chuckle at how the village elder herself had softened while the rest of the dryads there instantly lost whatever feelings had been holding them back, taking on much brighter looks as they came over to greet him and introduce themselves, even if Mora was going to make a correction he was sure would ruin it.

“I’m not their child, I don’t even have blood to share.”

If anything, he knew he was technically the child of the great life and death spirits but he already knew what that was supposed to mean. It meant facing expectations he didn’t want to live up to and being deemed useless to them for it. It meant being something that could be abandoned and if that was what it was then he didn’t want to be anyone’s, even if the older dryad waved his comment off.

“If they’re raising you then it’s close enough, don’t make things more complicated than they have to be. Now, are you all here to help or just came to visit?”

“Hmm, I wouldn’t want to bore Mora while we’re looking after him so maybe another time.”

“I don’t mind,” He told them. “Staying for a bit is fine.”

Whatever they might have thought about his connection to the other two, he couldn’t deny the fact that Thera and Ben were acting as his caregivers for the time and seemed to be trying their best at it and if that fact was enough to have the dryads warm up to him then he would gladly accept it, already enjoying the change he was seeing in how they viewed him as Delair dragged him along to the older woman’s side as she joined in her own magic.

“This forest is the life of the dryads,” Delair told him, wanting to take on the role of teacher now that she’d gotten the chance but sounding like she was just repeating things she’d been told in the past without considering what they meant. “Without it then we wouldn’t survive as a species so it's our most precious place and we do all we can to protect it in return.”

He understood what she was trying to say, even though his face crinkled at the explanation. He was bound to the system, same as any other living thing but he was also the great soul spirit and it fell under his domain as a result, leaving him to subtly ask it questions based on what he was already seeing through his own senses and getting different answers than what Delair had provided.

“You’re all capable of a standard form of sexual reproduction though, why would you die out without it?”

Hentath snorted beside them while Delair just looked confused. “Sexual what?”

“Ahem, it’s how the other races in the world reproduce, little flower,” Her grandmother explained. “And well, Mora,  how old are you?”

“About four months.”

The answer brought surprise to her eyes, with Hentath turning to Fontesh who could only shrug, not sure if he was being honest about it or not before she went on.

“Well, to be honest, some of our kind will go for such things. You’ve met my granddaughter Sachel and she’s only half dryad and we’ve been on this world for a while, there’s plenty who’ve bred into the larger population and reached a point where their descendants might not even know they have any dryad blood in their veins but for us, well, it’s not something I’m going to go into details with a four-month-old about but we’re one of the species that don’t necessarily have the nicest history on this world, it’s left us more comfortable being by ourselves and keeping to our old ways.”

Young he might have been but his mind was developed enough to be curious, leaving him to consult the system again and feeling surprise and disgust as he got his answer.

“You were hunted?”

“Ah, heard a bit about our history already then, have you? Still, it’s in the past now. More and more I think it might be time to try and get more involved with the broader world, but… Well, let’s just see how the next year or two goes first.”

It was a comment that got a small giggle from Fontesh, looking at her grandmother in surprise.

“I never thought I’d hear you say something like that of all things, grandmother.”

“Hush you, I’m not so old yet that I can’t try to be a bit more flexible with things, and well, it’s something that has to happen eventually.”

The two adults chatted while Delair went back to trying to explain the importance of their forest to him but while that was all happening, Mora was lost in thought. Even if the dryads around him had only done it because of Ben and Thera, they’d opened up to him and just as importantly, he both sympathized with their history and liked the way they used their magic. No matter how they’d been wronged, their power was being used to build up the world around them which made the choice easy to use his own, letting out his mana to fill the space and strengthen their souls for whatever benefits they would get from it, passing the day while the dryads he was with and the village as a whole were left hearing the ring of each notification they’d gained.

---

Delair had his hand as they walked back for the night, swinging their arms almost as wide as the grin on her face for the level she’d finally gotten in her own plant magic, and with it a nice little boost to her job experience as well, with the secret part he’d played in helping her get both and making her so happy feeling nice, just as it had for everyone else who’d gained levels that day.

Helping people like that always felt good though, far more than the way his mother had wanted him to live as the thought instantly put a damper on his mood that, despite how subtle his emotions tended to be presented, was picked up by Fontesh as they finally got back to her home.

“Are you alright Mora? I hope that wasn’t all too dull for you, spending your first day here out in the woods must not have been the most exciting.”

“No, it was fine,” He said, lightly shaking his head before thinking better of what he said and going a bit further with it. “It was nice.”

“Was it? I’m glad you think so,” Fontesh told him with a happy smile. “But it looks like my daughter needs to go to bed soon, are you feeling tired at all?”

He was about to tell her that he didn’t sleep but thought better of it. Leaving him to himself for a few hours already worried Ben and Thera enough that it had interfered with their sleep patterns, it wouldn’t be good to make the same mistake twice.

“I could use some rest.”

“Alright then, in that case, your room is just over there but if you need anything then don’t be afraid to wake me in the night, alright?”

“Okay.”

“Good, then sleep well.”

“Night, Mora,” Delair yawned out, her own bit of exhaustion catching up with her as the two went their ways, leaving him to his room to lie down with his thoughts and with no need for sleep was stuck with one question occupying his mind as the night wore on despite an overall pleasant day, a small nugget of concern that was as surprising as it was inescapable now that he was left alone with the thought while the rest of the village rested.

I wonder if Thera and Ben will really come back for me?

Author’s note

Oh god so much happened this arc where do I even begin?

Let’s see, highlights! Ben finished world killer in the last arc and went to claim the benefits, only to be screwed over by the gods. They worked it out in the end after Ben seriously contemplated abandoning the world. Ben took in an apprentice and Thera kind of adopted a child who happens to be a new type of spirit. Ben decided to take on the non-affinitied tower (with plans to do craftsman tower soon too). Heart destroyed, soul modified, body modified, and here we are, cablamo! Honestly, it feels like too much happened to really sum everything up nicely but this arc had just a bunch of things I’d been meaning to get to and now it's done, bringing us all one step closer to me finishing this story and whatever horrifying reality exists beyond!

But enough about whatever is going to happen in a length of time I already know I can’t properly predict, as always I’m here to list what I’m happy with and what I’m not, starting with happy and the answer is honestly just so much. I hit on a lot of plot points I’d been planning for a while, resolving a couple things that were hinted at earlier such a Mora’s existence and laid the groundwork for some still future arcs and good god does it feel nice.

As for improvements though, two real points. Pacing issues which is always something that I feel like can be improved on a bit and I tried to write a couple chapters from Amy and Jake’s perspective since they’re recurring characters and I thought it could be both fun and a good experience but it was a bit of a struggle and I’m honestly not sure I’m thrilled with the end products. Still, if I don’t try occasionally then I’ll never grow at this whole writing thing so I thank you all for bearing with me as I do my best to make you an entertaining story.

And with that we end this note here, hope you look forward to the next chapter and hope you guys have an excellent one!