Chapter 16
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Chapter 16: Forest Convention
Full Moon: You can briefly have wolf-like sharp teeth and claws, like a Worgen transformation, but it only lasts for three seconds and will overload and break down your body. What else do you want? Your covenanter is just a mixed-blood with diluted lineage.
The skills Tasha gained after the contract with Marion.
Graveyard: Bury bones with integrity over 50% inside it, by consuming mana to produce Skeleton Soldiers of varying quality over a unit of time, the higher the integrity of the bones, the higher the conversion success rate.
Tasha unlocked the building type when the corpses entered the dungeon with the refugees.
These two new features were used for the first time in this battle, and both had satisfactory effects. The watchtower live-streamed the one-sided battle, while the Skeleton Soldier continued to rampage, causing fear among the soldiers who dared not trouble them further. As for those who fled, Marion took care of them. Just as she extinguished the flames on the oak tree, without Tasha needing to emphasize, the fierce Worgen girl wouldn’t let anyone escape.
"Excellent, more corpses," Victor said cheerfully. "Don’t you need live captives? Don’t tell me you have a psychological barrier against devouring enemies."
"Humans are too weak," Tasha casually remarked.
She was actually surprised that when she tore open the human military officer with her own hands, she didn’t feel any more discomfort than seeing Marion kill. Was it because she had adapted to a new identity unrestrained by human laws and morals, standing on the opposite side from her past kindred in a survival-of-the-fittest situation, or because her new body simply lacked the capacity for too much sentimentality? Tasha realized the change and accepted it.
But Tasha still had some principles.
She didn’t mind using underhanded methods or killing, but she wouldn’t devour human souls, even if they were enemies now. Soldiers from both sides killing each other was one thing, but consuming past kindred was another. Tasha didn’t intend to be a sheep or become a Great Devil.
To be honest, she didn’t plan to devour any intelligent beings with souls. There was a new path through contracts that could replace it, so why take the old path of pleasing the Abyssal Will? Tasha didn’t want to provoke the so-called Abyssal Will prematurely while she was still growing her wings; she had seen the consequences of seeking help from unknown powerful beings. She liked her own will and didn’t want to hinge life and death on someone else’s will. Perhaps the Abyssal Will was like a mainframe, and Tasha approaching as a pirate asking for an upgrade service directly from the main server might lead to being detected as an anomaly and eradicated.
"That’s true," Victor said. "But now you see the benefits of the Skeleton Soldier, right? They are loyal and fearless, indestructible to ordinary people. Simply re-burying the bone fragments will turn them back into reliable soldiers. Maybe you should raid a few more villages; I once knew a Necromancer skilled in the Undead Sea, who single-handedly caused a scourge of the undead. Despite the cemetery’s transformation ability…"
"What happened next?" Tasha interrupted him, "What about that Necromancer now?"
Victor’s long boasting was interrupted, and he replied grumpily, "Everyone dies eventually."
The loud Great Devil who killed people and created armies all over the world, it would be strange if everyone didn’t unite to eliminate it.
When there are many Skeleton Soldiers, they are indeed useful, they have an intimidating effect when facing ordinary people. However, they are not fast enough, can easily be destroyed by ordinary people, they cannot immediately regenerate after being crushed, they can only be cannon fodder. In comparison, Tasha thinks Marion’s skills are more effective.
The explanation of the skill is quite mediocre, it is just a suicidal attack no matter who uses it. Coincidentally, Tasha is a weirdo who can easily switch bodies, she doesn’t need to worry about her life every time she uses it, she just needs to expend magic to create a ghost. More importantly, this skill shows her a glimpse of getting a normal body.
The description of "Full Moon" is quite intriguing, "having wolf-like fangs and claws," it sounds like it only enhances combat power, but what would happen if the creature using this skill doesn’t have teeth and claws, and has no attack power at all? The result of the experiment pleased Tasha, it can create fangs and claws, giving the ghost, which cannot touch living things, killing power – in other words, having the ability to affect the material world.
The entity of the dungeon is a building, the ghost projection is like a ghost that can only observe and not touch, Tasha once doubted that she would only live in a space of a different dimension from this world in the future, as a spectator. But now she no longer worries, if she can mimic some of the covenanters’ traits, by continuously signing contracts with the beings of the Primary Material Plane, one day she will be able to create a body that can both perceive and act, and enjoy all past sensations.
Of course, now is not the time to think about that.
A new ghost appeared in the hall, looking exactly like the previous one. Tasha floated up, passed through the floor, and went to link to the other end. Marion was calling her, her tone urgent and mournful.
Tasha appeared on a battlefield covered in bodies. All the soldiers had turned into corpses, and the refugees who had scattered before were now gathered by the oak tree, watching nervously as its blackened branches. "Miss!" Marion stood by the oak tree, afraid to touch the charred trunk, and pleaded, "Please save Grandpa Oak!"
"I can only save those who have made a pact with me," Tasha replied.
Marion drooped her ears, clearly aware of Oak Elder’s attitude towards the dungeon. Tasha examined the oak tree with a human face, pondering what she could gain from the tree after its death.
The oak tree suddenly opened its eyes.
It had no whites in its eyes, they were filled entirely with a green light. The oak tree’s charred branches were bare, but those eyes evoked the image of green leaves under the summer sun, reminding one of a vast forest. Suddenly, everything around dimmed, as if a giant cloak had been cast over the sky, leaving only Tasha and the tree within. Marion and the refugees had disappeared, leaving Tasha face to face with a huge, lush oak tree.
"Telepathy, a world without lies, the old trick of the tree sprite," Victor sneered. "Don’t worry, crush that tree, and you’ll be able to come out."
The oak tree gazed at Tasha for a while and said, "I don’t sense the scent of the abyss on you."
"What?" Victor laughed in Tasha’s mind, "Aren’t creations from the dungeon supposed to have the scent of the abyss? Is the tree sprite getting confused too?"
Tasha was baffled as well, unable to respond, waiting for an explanation.
"I know you can hear me, owner of the dungeon," said Oak Elder slowly, "I thought Marion was spared because of your cleverness, that you hadn’t tainted her soul just to gain more. But these bones and this ghost do not carry the scent of the abyss, why?"
Tasha thought for a moment and said, "I don’t know."
Oak Elder raised his eyebrows slowly, showing a puzzled expression.
"My first memory in this world appeared in the ruins underground. I didn’t know what happened, who I was, or what I was supposed to do," Tasha said, "Only some fragmented information taught me how to survive, and that’s all."
"Ruins…" Oak Elder repeated.
He remained silent for a long time, with his eyes closed. Tasha almost thought he had fallen asleep. Minutes later, he opened his eyes again and asked, "So, what do you want?"
"Calling ‘ruling the world’ as ‘building a better world’ won’t be seen through," urged Victor, "In fact, destroying the world is also an option, as long as you truly believe that a destroyed world is better. It’s the art of language, do you understand what I mean?"
Tasha said, "I’m not sure, I still don’t understand this world."
Victor clicked his tongue, muttering under his breath that she’d better stick to the clichés.
"Do you know about the Abyss?" asked the tree.
"I don’t think I know more about this world than anyone else," Tasha said. "I feel like the information I have might be outdated."
"But you don’t desire the Abyss," the oak tree said.
"Why would I want something I don’t understand?" Tasha asked back.
The oak tree chuckled, his laughter sounding like a wave of trees rustling. It ended with a sigh, and the Oak Elder said, "Let’s make a pact."
"What? What?" Victor exclaimed. "Well, it seems like the tree sprite really is getting forgetful in his old age. What are we waiting for? Let’s see it!"
The pact appeared in the space between them, shining with vibrant green. Before Tasha could react, the pact came from the oak tree in front of her.
"The Great Druid gave me some gifts before he left, back when I was just a young tree," Oak Elder said with a nostalgic tone. "The Forest Convention needs no gods or demons as witnesses, nature is the witness, as long as there is a tree standing, the convention cannot be destroyed."
The pact was a leaf, the pen was a twig, and they emitted the scent of plants, smelling like forests, grasslands, and sunlight. The oak tree tapped the leaves with its branches, revealing the contents. It was strange, not in any known language, more like a cheerful bird song or the streaks of moss on a rock. Tasha didn’t know what it was, but she understood the meaning.
"It’s a fragment of a precious treasure, with words that are understood by all wise races." As if sensing her confusion, Oak Elder said, "There is no ambiguity in the words, it is the most appropriate and can bridge barriers… It was used to write the Aryan Declaration when all races united for the survival of the plane."
His words were filled with complex emotions, unsure if pride or bitterness was more dominant. After explaining this, Oak Elder’s voice became serious.
"Are you willing to swear never to betray the beings of the Primary Material Plane to the Abyss?" he said. "Are you willing to swear never to destroy the Aryan continent, not to exterminate the races on the land as your sustenance, not to open pathways to the Abyss or Heavenly Realm?"
"What does opening pathways mean?" Victor mumbled, then quickly retorted loudly, "Dream on! Who would sign such a contract? Can’t we make our own contracts, huh?"
"…If you swear," Oak Elder continued, "I will become your follower, and after I die – within this year or the next – you will receive the Heart of Nature."
The Oak tree directly transmitted the information of the Heart of Nature into Tasha’s mind. Victor suddenly became incredibly quiet, and Tasha could hear his wordless astonishment. Before the noisy book could organize its words, the ghost picked up a pen and floated over to the contract.
Tasha said, "I accept."