The First Legacies Of Zion: Omaye

An Encounter

NATHANIEL

And then he understood. This tree was the oldest in the forest, but it was not the birth tree of the forest either. It was a protector. The birth tree of any forest, is always located at the center and holds myriad mysterious powers, but this tree existed long before the birth tree of this forest, and it started out as nothing but a weed. A weed that thrived on the nutrients of both the soil and other plants that had the misfortune of growing next to it. But eventually over the numerous years and through many life changing experiences, it became the protector of the forest, its vines stretched and covered ever square mile of this forest, offering different degrees of protection to both the plants and animals that lived within the forest.

It grew on the supplements of nature, of the energy that comes from the animals, their blood, their magic, their corpses, and like other plants it drew strength from the sun, from water, and occasionally it leeched energy from the numerous trees and plants wrapped by its vines. It took from them, and it gave it back in return.

There was a message to be learnt here, but Nathaniel had no idea what it was, but one thing he could be sure of though, was that this tree embodied three elements of wind, life, and death. This was no tree; this aberration was a f*****g druid.

Nathaniel had his eyes wide open from that revelation, a tree that was a druid. “Fascinating” Nathaniel was able to get a sign of confirmation from the tree after his discovery. Such an act really showed how sophisticated of a world Zion really was. But the lessons were not over it seems.

After that the tree showed Nathaniel a vision of its vines, of how they stretched across the forest, how they winded and twisted between foliage, fruit trees and herb trees. And into and beside the dens of beasts and past the numerous ruins that filled the forest. And then in his vision the tree showed Nathaniel a bird’s eye view of the entire forest, and from that view all he could see was the numerous vines, and how they all came together to form a massive dome sized shield over the entire forest.

Nathaniel had his entire jaw unhinged with surprise, this was amazing, and it was the most beautiful thing he had ever experienced in his almost two decades of living. Nathaniel was about to ask more questions, but he heard the sound of Faith’s voice as she called out to him softly. The glow from the tree receded so fast that it was as if it was never there in the first place.

Nathaniel did not truly understand what he just saw, but an inkling of an idea, and understanding was born in his mind. There was more to a druid than just being a protector of life, there were actually quite a complicated bunch. And as of this moment, Nathaniel believed he had just stepped onto the path, of truly understanding what it meant to be a druid.

He bent down. To pick up his bundle of firewood and made his way towards their camp. His mind was filled with complex philosophical questions and beliefs. There was a lesson to be learnt, that much Nathaniel already realized. But it seemed to be eluding him at the moment. However, he had gained something from the druid tree, it might not have been what the tree was trying to impart, but it was knowledge non the less.

SYSTEM ALERT: STAT

[Due To Your Encounter With The Druid Tree, You Have Glimpsed The True Meaning Of The Druid Path. Intelligence +10, Wisdom +10, Strength +5, Dexterity +5, Vitality +5]

Nathaniel almost stumble to his feet as he felt a rush of energy and power all over his body. In Zion stat points were allocated once every five levels, and the previous stat points he had from when he leveled up to one was still untouched. But now his stats had increased exponentially giving him a sense of clarity and power he never had before. It was then that Nathaniel truly understood how the stats worked.

You would only experience an exponential increase in strength and power when all your stats have multiplied by two with ten as the dividing line. Which meant since his strength has gone past the ten mark, he would not experience any growth there until his strength got to twenty. The same thing applied for all of his other stats.

This made Zion unlike any other virtual reality Nathaniel has ever had the pleasure of experiencing, this meant that as far as strength is concerned, no body can ever be truly more power than the other as long as you could get into the next stage. The way Nathaniel saw it was that each junction of ten was the beginning of a stage, and all the stats gained would not increase a player’s strength until they got past the next junction. And it seemed every junction multiplied the user’s strength. Nathaniel was not sure if that was the case, but this option only applied to stats. And at this point it meant that levels did not really mean anything, and even if they did. It had little to offer in terms of strength. Nathaniel had no idea how many people might have discovered this secret, but it was best if he could make proper use of it.

But that also left one huge problem. Gaining stats was not as easy as just killing a few monsters, you had to have luck, or do things that would prompt the system to reward you with those stat points. As for how to do that, Nathaniel had no idea, so it was something he had to worry about in the future. But for now however he had to go back and face his sisters and injured father. And to be honest he did not relish it one bit.

Her life was drawing to a close, the pain that wracked her huge body was so intense that she couldn’t think clearly most of the time. It was hard to believe she had been here for more than four hundred years, slowly dying as her blood blessed the earth and gave power to the valley she was now lying in. To be honest she was not really worried about her self, she was worried about her home, about her teacher, and about her nemesis.

He might think she was dead, but of course she knew better. She was dying, not dead, and until the day when she took her last breath, she was going to make sure that he never hurts anybody or anything again. But then her worst fears came to be.

In the years that have passed, there have been humans who have gotten injured in the forest. She always made sure they died really fast so as not to attract his attention, but today something went horribly wrong, so very wrong and she had no idea how. She felt her huge heart thump faster, and a wound that has not bled in three hundred years let out a fountain of blood that threw all the elements of wind into disarray. She tried to bring herself up to an upright position, using her weakened limbs and powerful tail as leverage to stand up.

But she came crashing right back to the ground, aggravating her wounds even more. She was so frustrated, so angry, so scared and hurt that she could not help but open her powerful jaws and….

“ROOOAAARRRREEEEEDDDD!!!!!!”

It shook the entire forest, and she was sure her nemesis would have heard it. He would have known the pain she felt, and mocked her for it. She could not do anything; all she could do was cry.

Then she saw a vine slowly creeping towards her, for the first time in a long time there was light in her eyes. It has been over 70 years since they spoke last, and all her teacher had told her was that he was going to find a successor to the forest, and a way to free her. When the vine touched the razor sharp claws on her right limb, she saw him, she saw his heart, and his mind.

He was less than she expected, weaker, but surprisingly quite intelligent. The only downside to that intelligence was that he thought with his heart, and hardly with his head. But he was also devious enough, everyone around him might think he was stupid, but this kid could think ten steps ahead if he wanted to, especially when faced with an enemy.

As she looked at his brown skin, and white hair, entranced by the glow of his violet eyes, she felt hope. And with that hope a deep fear.

“Master do you think it is wise sending him after Antoine. That vampire can still kill him even though he is very much weakened.”

The vine glowed in different rhythms and tempos as it expressed its intentions to her. Her masters plan was not a plan. No sane person would make such a plan. She saw it for what it was, it was a ploy and a trial. A trial that if he succeeds in passing will see him changed forever.

She could not sway her master’s decision, because she also needed him. She needed him to free her from this curse, from this pain. She needed him to kill her. But for him to do that, he has to grow a bit, to become stronger. She would wait for him, there was no question there, and she would watch him too. It would not be hard to do, as it will keep her busy. Because if there were two things a dragon knew how to do best, it was to wait and watch.

“See you soon Nathaniel Omaye of the Druids.”