My world-tree system-Chapter 55 - 54: Preparations

The days passed, marking a strange transition for the elves of the World Tree. Vollua, once rocked by pain and survival, was now filled with a new energy.

It was no longer simply resilience or contained fear. No. Something deeper had taken root in their hearts.

A hope that was fragile, but burning with intensity.

The full moon was approaching, and with it the promise of a unique event in the history of their people.

The elves had become a hive of activity. Each individual had found a role, a task, a duty.

Some groups took care of the upkeep of the dwellings still standing, while others prepared feasts worthy of a sacred ceremony. The children of the World Tree were about to be reborn, and although no one knew exactly what that meant, everyone was preparing to welcome this miracle.

At the centre of it all, Köflik, usually so cold and analytical, had become a veritable architect of the event since Foster had put him in charge of the preparations.

- ’Arrange the ritual stones exactly along these lines!’ he ordered, pointing to a diagram drawn on the floor.

Around him, several elves specialising in magic were applying complex tracings to the clay around the Mother Tree.

- ’This will serve as a catalyst for us to strengthen the link between Foster and the World Tree.’

Giovanni, with his arms folded, watched in silence. He was no magician, but he understood the need to be precise.

- Do you think all this will be enough?’ he finally asked.

Köflik stopped his indications and stared at his friend with gravity.

- ’Do you have a better idea?’

Giovanni sighed.

- No. But I don’t like uncertainty. And right now, we’re talking about bringing our people back to life.’

Köflik ran a hand through his hair.

- ’I know. But it’s our only option.’

A heavy silence fell between them. None of them knew what to expect, but none of them had the luxury of doubt.

Foster facing the unknown

For his part, Foster stood slightly back, observing his people with a mixture of wonder and apprehension.

The tension he sensed was not fear, but feverish anticipation. A shiver of excitement ran through the elves, and he could feel it resonating within himself.

He had always carried the responsibility for his fellow creatures on his shoulders, but this time it was different.

It wasn’t about surviving, or even winning a battle.

It was about creating life.

He looked up at the huge fruit perched at the top of the Mother Tree.

Still there. Still incomprehensible.

Part of him hoped to see some sign of Lïanna, but the immense sphere of light remained silent.

He closed his eyes for a moment.

- Are you ready?’

Lorie had just joined him. Her slim, trim figure stood out in the twilight.

Foster huffed, shrugging slightly.

- I don’t know. Can you really be ready for something like that?’

She stared at him for a moment, her gaze as deep as the forest itself.

- Maybe not. But that doesn’t change anything. You have to go through with it.’

He nodded slowly.

The wind rose, blowing gently between the branches of the Mother Tree.

The days passed with frightening speed.

And soon, the full moon would rise in the sky.

Night stretched over Vollua, suffocating the city under a veil of shadow and silence. Only the subdued glow of the Mother Tree’s luminescent vines lit up the deserted streets, casting shifting patterns on the walls of wood and stone.

In his shelter, Foster was sleeping.

At least... he was trying to.

His body felt heavy, as if the events of the last few days were weighing on every muscle. His thoughts went round and round. The Obscurus attack, Kassandra’s transformation, the discovery of the rebirth ritual... It all seemed unreal. And yet, the full moon was approaching.

A diffuse pressure was growing inside him, rooted deep in his flesh.

And as he slowly drifted into a restless sleep... they came to him.

A shiver ran down his spine.

The air changed.

All sound disappeared.

He opened his eyes...

... and he was no longer in his room.

Before him stretched a horizonless space. A sea of bark and woven roots, beating to the rhythm of an invisible pulse. The sky, if it existed at all, was drowned in shifting hues, oscillating between deep gold and ethereal green.

He knew this place.

He knew them.

Silhouettes loomed in the shifting mist, formed of luminescent sap and undulating shadows. They had no definite faces or features, but their mere presence filled the space with an overwhelming power.

The ancients.

The spirits of past holders of the World Tree Seed.

They had called him once before. Always mysterious, always elusive.

But tonight, something was different.

Foster felt a new urgency in their presence.

One of the shadows stepped forward.

- There you are at last.

His voice was a breath in the ether, a whisper vibrating with ancient resonances.

Foster didn’t respond immediately. He scanned the scene, picking up details he’d never seen before.

Roots hung in the air, like intertwined threads of destiny.

The bark floor throbbed beneath his feet, alive.

Then he felt something new inside him.

A vibration.

His own Seed.

The juvenile tree inside him reacted to this presence, as if it were finally acknowledging its heritage.

- Why did you call me this time?’ he murmured, his voice echoing in this unreal space.

A silence.

Then a multiple murmur, like a wind in the foliage.

- ’Because the moment is approaching.’

- ’Because you must know.’

- ’Because the future of your people depends on what is to come.’

The shadows receded slightly and began to move.

Slowly at first.

Then faster.

There was nothing random about their movements.

They followed an invisible rhythm, a deep cadence, rooted in something older than the very memory of the elves.

Foster didn’t blink.

It was a dance.

A dance with strange steps, combining fluidity and anchoring, oscillating between momentum and restraint.

And as the elders turned, he understood.

The dance of renewal

A chorus of voices rang out in unison.

- This dance is the key.

- It opens the door between flesh and soul.

- It binds the child to earth and sky.

Images exploded in Foster’s mind.

A circle of elves under a bright full moon.

The rustling of the branches as they walked.

The living ritual.

Every movement was a silent prayer, an appeal to the primordial forces of the World Tree.

The essence of creation.

The nearest shadow raised a diaphanous hand and placed it against her forehead.

- Observe.

And then Foster saw everything.

His body reacted before he could even think about it.

His legs moved instinctively.

His arms followed suit.

His breath became a pulse, resonating with the Seed inside him.

He twirled, bowed, raised his arms towards an invisible sky, working the energies of the ground and the air in a dance he had never learned... and yet always known.

He was no longer just Foster.

He was an extension of the World Tree.

An heir to the eternal forest.

The elders accompanied him for a while, then stopped.

Alone, Foster continued.

His silhouette drew in space a promise engraved in the wind.

When he finally stopped, he was out of breath.

He looked up, meeting the blurred gazes of the spirits.

- Now... you know.

He wanted to speak, to ask questions, to ask why he had this responsibility.

But a blinding light suddenly appeared behind them.

The elders were beginning to disappear.

- Transmit.’

Their voices overlapped in a final injunction.

- Teach.

- ’Create.’

- And lead our people on their path

Everything dissipated.

Foster suddenly opened his eyes.

His chest heaved with an erratic breath. His forehead was covered in sweat.

Dawn was breaking.

He sat up slowly, glancing down at his hands.

They were still trembling from the impact of the spiritual journey.

But he remembered.

He knew.

And when the full moon rose, he and his people would have to dance.

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Sincerely yours, your favourite author!

Title: Starting out as a slave to dragons.

Synopsis: When Isaac opens his eyes, it’s not death that awaits him, but a new life... in a world identical to his own, with one exception: portals leading to monster-infested dungeons are appearing across the globe. If their boss isn’t defeated in three days, the creatures escape and wreak havoc.

In this world, awakened hunters are the only line of defence against these horrors. Graded from F to SS according to their magical power, they rule in a society dominated by force. Isaac wakes up in the body of a young boy of rank F, an orphan with no future.

But his destiny changes when he discovers a unique gift: every night, his mind is projected into another world, a nightmare where dragons have enslaved humanity. In this hell, he is just another slave... but he soon realises that this cursed world holds the answers to the future of his own.

To survive and prevent history repeating itself, Isaac must move forward. His only hope? A mysterious system that allows him to absorb the strength of monsters. Armed with a katana, he embarks on a race against time to unlock the secrets of these two worlds and prevent the inevitable.

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