Elder Breeze led them through an archway and into what Danny could only describe as an indoor garden. Water ran out of one wall and through a small stream into a pool. Danny realized there was soil here, as grass was growing wherever there wasn't water.
Elder Breeze explained, “We keep this training room simple so those learning nature magic can show off their creative abilities to their fullest without having to leave the wing. Before I leave, Danny, I was hoping I could see your Nature Aspect. We have only heard stories passed down from those who survived.”
Danny nodded, “Sure, but I am afraid I am a little low on mana.”
Princess Willow admitted sheepishly, “I might have begged him to take me flying for far too long.”
The three elders chuckled at this.
Elder Frost gestured Danny over to one of the walls, “Danny, put your hand on the tree here and reach out and merge your mana with the tree’s.”
Danny hadn't tried this as it had never occurred to him that it would do anything. Any attempts he made in the past to affect someone else's mana resulted in nothing happening. But this time, when his mana came in contact with the tree’s, he was surprised to find the tree’s mana flowing back into his body. The rate was about three times his normal regeneration rate.
Danny couldn't help but exclaim, “Wow, this is amazing! You do this all the time?”
Elder Frost nodded, “Yes, and you have been approved to use all the mana you need for this project.”
“Though please keep all recreational uses to your own personally regenerated amounts,” Elder Breeze added.
Danny nodded while keeping his hand on the tree.
*Cranny, do we have enough to try Nature Aspect?*
*Yeah, this time I want to try starting with a lower amount of mana and adding as needed.*
*Sure, but you are in charge of that. I don't want to break anymore of the queen’s furniture.*
*Oh, Danny. I didn’t get to tell you what I found. Anything we scan with Nature Affinity we can mimic with our Nature Aspect. So we have a Sacred Tree Aspect along with an Elf Aspect!*
*Wait, we can scan with Nature Affinity? Since when did you start doing that?*
*I tried it on the tree last night while we were experimenting and then while you were holding the princess…*
*Why on earth did you think to do that to the princess? We could have insulted her if she had noticed!*
*Don’t worry! I did it while we were eating, and she totally missed it.*
*Alright, so let’s use the Sacred Tree Nature Aspect then.*
*Starting with only a small fraction of mana and then adding more from there.*
*Wait! I almost forgot.*
Danny turned to the three elves, “I don't know how best to say this. Since I do not want a repeat of what happened when I used Flame Aspect, I am going to remove everything but my boxers. I say this because I don't know how your culture feels about nudity.”
Danny didn't know what they called them on earth in the past, but here they were a loose fitting shorts made of linen. They came in the fun colors of white, beige, and white.
The elders all looked at each other before Elder Breeze shrugged, saying, “We have no problem with nudity if you would rather remove all your clothing. We don't want you to harm yourself for our sakes.”
“Boy, it isn’t like you got something I haven't seen yet,” Elder Frost chuckled.
Elder Cardinal looked at Elder Frost in reproach.
Danny turned to see Princess Willow staring at him with a polite and expectant smile on her face, though Danny could swear he saw silent laughter behind her eyes.
Danny turned around, “Alright, then. But I am keeping my boxers on.”
Heading into the other room where he left his bag, Danny stripped to his boxers. When he walked back in, he couldn't help looking for Willow’s reaction. She looked a little shocked, but not in the good way.
“Danny, why are you so skinny!”
Danny looked down at his exposed ribs, “Oh, when I healed myself after the battle with the goblins, I had to use a lot of internal resources. I had a pretty good-sized hole through my shoulder.”
Elder Frost made a tisking sound, “We will make sure the palace staff knows to give you extra during meals times.”
Danny smiled at her grandmotherly words, unsure how best to respond.
*Alright Cranny, do it.*
Danny felt a small amount of mana move through his body. He could now describe it best like when one emotion suddenly turns into another. For example, when you get scared because you are falling from a great height, and then embarrassed when you break a table. Nature magic, specifically, gave him a sudden feeling of wanderlust. Like his other aspects, nothing happened at first.
Danny felt the first changes begin at his feet. Looking down, he watched as his flesh became scaled as bark formed on his skin. He started worrying as he began losing the sense of touch wherever the bark spread. His feet seemed to elongate and dig into the soil. He could feel a pull begin at his feet and spread upward as his body changed. He was relieved when his boxers stayed on as the bark spread up his waist. By the time it had reached his arms and then hands, it had already covered his head.
Similar to Fire Affinity, his Nature Affinity was now a level higher at seven, and the bark skin was a little more pronounced on his upper chest, shoulders, and neck. Why those were always the last to change, Danny couldn't guess.
He could move his body fairly easily from the knees up. Though, his feet were apparently rooted to the ground, which was a tad nerve-racking.
Danny asked, *Did my feet actually stretch?*
*No, your body stays the same size and shape. We apparently can grow external roots in this form. I suspect we can do much more,* Cranny explained.
Elder Breeze stared at Danny in fascination, “Amazing! How does it feel?”
Danny looked down at himself, “A bit like I am wearing a thick full body suit, but on the places that look like bark.”
Danny felt pressure on his arm and turned to see Princess Willow rubbing the skin there.
She looked up at him, curiously, “Did you feel that?”
Danny nodded, “I felt a pressure but not the detailed sensations I am used to.”
The elders all walked up to touch the skin on his arms and hands.
Elder Frost looked like a kid on Christmas morning, “Your bark is exactly like the sacred trees!”
“Yes, anything I observe with my Nature Affinity, I can mimic.” Danny hoped he hadn’t just lied, with the two tree aspects he had, so he added, “I am sure there are exceptions, but I haven't found one yet.”
Elder Frost clapped her hands together once and laughed happily.
*Danny, I am going to try some things. You keep up the public relations.*
*…Sure…*
Danny address the group, “So do we have any clue how to propagate a sacred tree? I spent last night trying a few things in my room and the courtyard below.”
Elder Breeze nodded, “Yes, the guards informed me of your actions, worried you might be hurting the tree. I told them to come get me if you somehow injured yourself, or the tree…”
Elder Breeze stopped talking to look up at Danny’s head.
Concerned, Danny nervously ran his hands over his head and was surprised to find thousands of thin pliable twigs growing out of his head. Each twig had something growing out of it at regular intervals. Danny, unthinkingly, plucked one and was surprised when it didn't hurt. Bringing it in front of his face, he saw a small leaves like the ones on the sacred tree.
Cranny guessed, *I think that is your hair. I don't know why it's doing this on its own. I was messing with your roots. Though, I don't know how permanent this ‘hair’ is.*
Danny was going to reply when he felt a new sensation; mana and something else had started to flood his body from his feet upwards.
*Oh, wow! I was just aiming to get water and nutrients from the soils, but I had our roots sprea
d out and accidentally merged with the sacred tree below. It's giving us mana, and we are directly tapped into its nutrient flow. Your mana regeneration is now up to seven times the normal rate!*
Danny was shocked and got lost in the powerful sensations now coursing through his body.
“Danny!” Someone was pushing on his chest, but Danny was too lost in the sensation of his body filling with mana and nutrients. It felt like his was lying in a warm river that was racing not only past but his body but coursing through it.
Someone pushed his face hard and Danny instinctively reached out to them, annoyed, “Stop that!”
Danny opened his eyes to find Willow trapped in a cage of branches seemingly suspended in the air in front of him. It looked as if his hand had increased in size to capture the princess. The bark-like skin of his left side and arm had grown thicker and had swelled, apparently in order to support the weight of the new branches and Willow. The princess looked at him with wide eyes through the branches, scared and in shock.
Once again, Danny found himself surrounded by the palace guards, who were always present, but hiding in the background.
One guard in particular stood between Danny and the princess, weapon pointed at him, “Ascendant, please release the princess.”
Danny couldn't see the guard’s face through the helmet he wore. When the guard spoke, the voice might have sounded feminine; Danny wasn’t sure.
Danny took a deep breath and focused on lowering the princess and retracting the branches he had created. He was able to lower and release the princess by growing the branches further, but the branches wouldn't retract after that.
Realizing what he should have done from the beginning, Danny released the new growth from his body. He thought his hand had stretched to create the cage which surrounded Willow, but instead, branches had grown and extended outward from his hand. The hand-like shape which the cage had taken on must have been an unconscious interpretation from his mind. The dead plant matter fell to the ground, and his familiar sized hand and arm was all that was left. He was lucky he hadn’t accidentally attacked her.
Willow stood up as the branches surrounding her collapsed and turned to look at Danny warily.
Danny bowed as low as his aspect would allow him, “I am sorry I did that Willow. I was lost in all the new sensations and reacted improperly when I wasn't allowed to continue enjoying them. Can you forgive me?”
Willow crossed her arms, protectively, and nodded silently. A couple of guards checked over the princess’s physical condition before fading into the background.
Elder Frost and Breeze stood next to each other talking as Frost frantically wrote notes in a journal.
Elder Cardinal had his hand against the wall. “Still, no change in the rate he is siphoning mana, though it is the largest draw I have ever observed.”
Elder Frost stopped writing, “Danny, it is not uncommon for elves to become lost in the power one feels when first drawing on the sacred tree’s mana. I was surprised that it hadn’t occur earlier before you changed.”
Elder Breeze walked over to also check on the princess before turning to address the room, “I will be leaving you now. Please let me know of any resource you all might need, and let's not directly interact with Danny while he is focused, unless it is absolutely necessary.” Turning to Danny, he added, “Danny, thank you for taking on this task for us. Just let someone know what you need, and we will do what we can to acquire it.”
Danny bowed respectfully to the elder as he left.
Turning to the room, Danny smiled and asked, “So, my esteemed colleagues, what do we know about growing a new sacred tree?”
Danny looked between the two elders. Elder Frost seemed suddenly consumed by her notes while Elder Cardinal gave Danny an uncomfortable look. In a last ditch effort, Danny looked to Willow to only watch her shrug apologetically.
Elder Frost cleared her throat and looked up from her notes, “Due to this being the ultimate secret of our race, it was passed down verbally from Ascendant to Ascendant. Since they were numerous and rarely died--well except for in battle or in an accident--no one thought to write it down. Even when the cataclysm started, they were too focused on our defenses. Our attempts at normal propagation have failed, and we can only assume it is truly something only an Ascendant can accomplish.”
Danny looked around concerned, before saying incredulously, “Seriously! So, we have nothing to go on?”
CHAPTER 13
A number of elven tomes rested on the petals of a large flower growing out of the ground, like a small table under the shade of a small tree. The flower was white with a translucence that shimmered when light shown through its petals. It also gave off a sweet fragrance that filled the large room it was growing in. Next to the flower, a small tree started to shake before turning to reveal the face of a teenage boy.
Danny shook his head slowly. The leaves which were growing out of his thin branch like hair moved back and forth and tickled down his back.
“Still no luck, Danny?” Princess Willow sat down on the petals of the large flower, which surprisingly supported her weight.
Danny carefully rubbed his hands through his hair, “I knew sacred trees were different, but squirrels probably have more in common with other trees than a sacred tree does.”
Danny looked over his shoulder to see that the princess had been rubbing his back sympathetically. He hadn't even felt her doing this, but he still smiled appreciatively.
Looking down at all the dead twigs sticking out of the ground, Danny reviewed all his failed attempts at growing cuttings from different parts of the tree. The cuttings seemed to grow, but quickly died when mana wasn't supplied to them. The sacred tree generated mana from its connection to the source, which was located where the trunk started and the roots ended. These cuttings didn't create their own connection to the source, and Danny was oblivious to how that would even begin to happen. He had nervously grown excess cells inside the source and tried to use those, but the cells might have well come from the furthest branches of the tree for all the good it did.
Danny looked over to Elder Cardinal, “These are all the books with reference to the sacred trees. What about books about Ascendants? Maybe I can glean some insight from those.”
Elder Cardinal looked up from the book he was studying, “Of course, though most are just village histories and family records.”
Danny turned to Elder Frost, who was inspecting some of his dead cuttings. “Seeds are the only thing that I think would work. I was excited when I got this flower to grow out of the tree, but there are none of the sex characteristics I expected to find which would have led to the production of a seed. You told me the fruit it produces are seedless, right?”
Elder Frost stood up and wiped her hands on her robes, “Yes, after a while, a flower grows into a fruit, but there are no seeds in the fruits. Those fruits are the main staple of our diet and are in most of the foods we prepare. If there was a seed in one, someone surely would have noticed it.”
Danny reached up and, through his connection with the tree, had a branch rise up from under the flower, between two of its petals, and curl a meter above the top of the flower. A second flower emerged from the curled end of the new branch, then closed before swelling into a large pink fruit. It swelled to the size of a watermelon before stopping. Danny frowned while studying its internal structure with his Nature Affinity.
The princess spoke up next to him, “Danny, it’s supper time. You can work on this some more tomorrow.”
Danny, deep in thought, turned to look at her for a few seconds before her words seemed to register, “Oh, is it that late already?”
Looking at the ceiling, Danny realized the room had a dozen of those “bulbs” that emitted light evenly across the ceiling. Danny remembered those bulbs were also on his to-learn list.
Danny turned to the elders, “My apologies for keeping you both here so late.”
The two elders embarrassingly conceded that they
had both lost track of the time as well. Excited to try and solve the dilemma.
Elder Frost smiled, “It has been so long since I had a good challenge. I am just glad I can be of some help.”
Danny nodded, “Yes, your insights and Elder Cardinal’s knowledge of the records have been very helpful. Eliminating failed theories can only lead us to pick the correct path.”
They bade their goodbyes, and Danny used the last of his mana to grow four bouquets made from smaller versions of the flowers and leaves. As he changed back into his natural form, he pulled the shirt he had brought over his head. Leaves fell from his head and littered the ground below him. Danny sighed at his destroyed boxers that had torn when he grew extra bark around his waist at different times throughout the afternoon. Yet another aspect that could cause sudden uncontrollable nudity.
“Danny, your hair stayed!” Princess Willow said excitedly while leaning in to inspect his new locks.
Reaching up, Danny and felt the new hair that now covered his previously bald head. The hair felt different, smoother.
Smiling he turned to the princess, only realizing she had just watched him get dress. Danny couldn't help but feel mortified, what with his emaciated condition.
Trying to act like it didn't bother him, Danny blushed while asking her, “So, how do I look with hair?”
Willow smiled, “Much better! Especially now that you have eyebrows. I have to say you are very attractive…for a human.” A playful smirk crossed her beautiful lips.
Danny rolled his eyes, “Sorry I couldn't be born with a perfect features like you elves.”
The princess stopped Danny from moving toward the door. “Danny, we look this way because we have such high intelligence. Before the sorcerers created the sanctuaries, we were only slightly better looking than your kind.”
Danny had not heard this before, and with great interest, he honestly exclaimed, “Wow, then either you already had a predisposition to be beautiful before, or your intelligence attribute is ridiculously higher than the other elves’.”
The princess started walking ahead of Danny toward the door, and sounding annoyed, said, “Danny, please do not feel like you have to flatter me, unnecessarily.”
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