Chapter 35：Runes-tree (2/2)
It was then that Arthur realized what this was. It was his evolutionary tree of runes. Because the Force-I has evolved to Force-II, they were on the same branch. What Arthur didn't understand was the function of this tree. What can he do with it?
For experimenting with it, Arthur used his Strength-I rune while watching the tree. There wasn't a lot of change, so Arthur did it again. After several tries, Arthur realized that Strength-I on the tree was getting brighter. He then looked at Force-II, and he realized it was brighter than the rest.
”They're evolving!” Arthur shouted as he realized such a basic concept. This tree didn't only show him the runes he had, but it also allowed him to grow stronger through them. Strength-I only gave 5 points right now, but these points were proving less useful as he got stronger. Now, however, he could evolve them into other runes… Strength-II… Strength-III… maybe even Strength-IV? He had no idea.
Another aspect of the tree was that some branches were empty, others were intertwined, some were bulkier than the other, and every group of branches had a different color. Arthur had no idea what each one of them meant, but he would discover what they were as he gets stronger. As he looked at this giant tree that only he can see, Arthur realized how strong he could become for the first time.
***
”Why are you brooding?” A hand tapping her on the shoulder pulled Hazel from her thoughts. It was a friend she made recently, Rachel.
”Nothing, when are we getting there?” She tried to change the topic while remembering what happened.
For almost ten days, her guilt kept growing by the second. She still remembered that average-looking guy with golden eyes that had saved her life after she almost lost it. Yet when he needed her, she didn't go with him. Even if he was the one who refused her help, she still felt relieved that she didn't go since she was scared. However, that relief was the reason she felt so guilty and ugly.
The last night they met, Hazel was sure he leaned forward before deciding against it and going away. Her heart skipped a beat when she thought about it. Ever since she was young, she focused on training to help her family. Being a minor family under the main one, they needed to raise summoners of the appropriate caliber. They were restrained by the creatures they could summon being ethereal for the most part, making it all the more impossible to gain power.
Their ability's bloodline had a fatal weakness of inflicting no physical damage, and that was something they could do nothing about. The only hope they have is the Holy Crown trials. They didn't hope of winning it, that was out of their league or even dreams. They were after the artifacts they could bring back from the second trial onward.
That's why she had no thoughts of things a normal girl should have. Although it was a common thing at their age to have relationships between boys and girls… She never thought she would experience such a thing.
Since she was young, many boys fawned over her. All they did was sweet-talking her because of her above-average looks. Maybe none of them was truly devoted to her, and that's why all they did was talk. This time with Arthur was different as he had saved her life, shared his food with her, and spent days with her without trying to do anything weird.
It was only when they were bidding their farewells that he did something. However, even that was a mere impulse before he pulled himself away. It wasn't like she loved him or anything, that was far from it. It was simply that she felt guilty about leaving him and that led her to think about him a lot. That was it.
”Are you sure?” Rachel saw her new friend fall back into thoughts as soon as she half-heartedly answered her. Seeing no response from Hazel, Rachel started answering her question while moving away from a tree branch.
”The leader said it would take another hour of walking. I wish this was the outside world where we had our mounts, my feet are all blistered…” Rachel pouted as she kept nagging about her feet and how tiring it was to walk this much.
They were traveling as a group toward one of the locations their scouts have uncovered. It was a swamp where a man-eating tree lived. Erin had asked them to hunt this monster as its mana core was of a low-mid-tier rank. Furthermore, their scouts have said that this monster was protecting a rare plant called The Mana Bloomer.
This plant was, as its name implied, filled with mana-condensing agents. It could be consumed to increase mana or to create a powerful artifact. The swamp the monster inhabited was a distance away so they had to walk there through the forest and deeper into the trial grounds.