Chapter 558
Chapter 558: The King Skipped His Duty to Watch
What to do with this tree? This is the only weird object we found that is most closely related to the Aura users of the past. Something that has been standing for a thousand years old at least.
Sonia has confirmed that it is the exact same tree that has been there since she was a child. As she played around with other students of the dojo near this tree. And I believe her.
There’s no reason for her to lie. Since Sonia is alive in this world, as a monster, and if a ghost can be called as living, and since the cult will destroy the world, Sonia will disappear as well. That’s why she won’t lie.
“Well, I guess we need to check this tree out first. Maybe the tree itself is some sort of artifact? Let’s try pouring mana into the tree,” I said as I touched the trunk of the tree with my hand.
I pour my mana into the tree like how I pour mana into Reizpear to repair the broken spear. But nothing happened.
“Nothing happened. Maybe it’s not even an artifact. Just some decoration,” Victoria said.
“You think just a mere decoration can stand for a thousand years without changing? There must be some sort of secret about this tree. Victoria, Sonia, can you recall what your master said about this tree? And Spot, if you somehow know about this tree, please tell me about it.”
.....
I asked the three monsters if they know anything about the tree. And while they were thinking, Ian said that he will ask Albert if the king himself knows anything about the tree. I guess that’s a good idea.
This is the capital of Tatrama. And the royalties of the kingdom has been here ever since the kingdom was first created. Maybe Albert know something about it.
Ian transformed into his falcon form and fly toward the royal palace. Since Sonia is still busy thinking, it’s best for someone else to be the messenger.
“Shirley, what about you? Did you know anything about a tree? A magic tree? Whatever tree they taught you as a royalty?” I asked Shirley.
“There’s nothing I know about it. But I don’t know about my brother. He was taught to be a king. Maybe there’s a secret that he knows about,” Shirley said.
I guess I can’t really rely on Albert here. Well, now what?
“Sonia, you said that you were playing around near this tree, right?” I asked Sonia.
“Yes. What about it?” Sonia asked back.
“Well, you were a child. Learning swordsmanship and Aura. And you must have at least hit this tree once with your sword, right?”
“Now that you mention it, other than Victoria who has always been a weird one, we hit the tree to see if we can slash it. Our master didn’t say anything about it, so I guess it’s fine,” Sonia said.
“If you hit the tree, even if you use a wooden sword, there should be a mark. But there’s no hitting mark at all on the tree. Let’s try slashing it with a sword.”
I transformed Victoria into a sword, and slashed it at the tree. Just a normal slash without using Aura at all. And my attack was stopped. But there’s an obvious slashing mark on the tree. But it’s not deep. As if I just hit its skin. It’s a tree, so its bark I guess.
Although I didn’t use Aura, it was still too shallow for someone as strong as I am. And it hurts my confidence.
“This G.o.dd.a.m.n tree!” I shouted as I keep slashing my sword at the tree. And the result is always the same.
“...You didn’t use any Aura at all, but this is surprising. Even a lumberjack can cut down a tree by hitting it with an axe over and over again. But you’re much stronger than ordinary lumberjack, and unable to cut it down. This is a special tree indeed,” Victoria who is still a sword said that to me.
And then, I see a huge falcon in the sky with a human riding it on its back. Ian has returned. With the king on his back.
“The king is skipping his duty!” I shouted.
“I’m not!” Albert shouted back.
Albert jumped from Ian’s back to land, and then Ian transformed back to his human form.
“So, do you know anything?” I asked Albert.
“I don’t. I’m here because it seems interesting,” Albert replied.
“The king is skipping his duty!” I shouted again.
The only reason he would be here is to skip his work. I don’t know any other reason.
“What to do now? Hitting the tree doesn’t work,” Shirley asked.
“That’s just a normal slash. This time, I’ll try using Aura. Wait, the tree somehow recovered its bark? I guess the tree has its own secret.”
As I said, after I tried slashing it with a normal slash, my attacks left some marks. But now, the tree bark has recovered as if there’s no damage at all.
As expected, this tree is weird. Even children who played around by hitting the tree should leave some marks. Even if they were young, it should at least leave some marks. But there’s nothing at all. No damage remained after a thousand years. That’s why I think this tree is weird.
This tree was in front of the dojo of an Aura user. Which mean, I need to do something with my Aura on this tree.
Under the watch of the bored king who skipped his work, I touched the tree again and this time, I connected my Aura to the tree instead of mana. And this time, there’s a reaction.
“Hmm? I can’t remove my hand from the tree! And the tree is sucking my Aura!” I said.
My hand is stuck to the tree and I’m unable to remove it. As if there’s a glue connecting my hand to the tree. And the tree is sucking my Aura from the tree.
Aura is similar to mana. But it’s use are different.
Mana is related to magic, while Aura is closely related to body. Like making my body stronger, sticking my feet to the ceiling, or many other things. And there’s also a limit of how much one can use Aura per day just like mana. Though I never had any worry about that since I trained so I can use Aura for a whole day without getting tired thanks to Victoria and Sonia’s training.
But that huge amount of Aura is getting sucked into the tree. It’s a weird feeling that I felt once a long time ago. Aura exhaustion. Back before I got returned to the past when I keep fighting every day, I got exhausted and unable to use Aura until I rested enough. Though this time, I carefully never used Aura too much. But somehow, this tree sucked all my Aura and only then I can let go of my hand.
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“f.u.c.k! I can’t use Aura anymore today just because of a f.u.c.king tree!”
“Wait, Roy! There something is coming!” Sonia warned me.
As soon as she said that, I jumped back in case there’s a danger. I’m out of Aura, so I can’t use anything to protect myself. Luckily, Shirley is here. And she quickly stand in front of me and the others to build an Ice Wall.
I can’t see anything through the wall. I’m out of Aura, and my Divine Vision is not working. This is scary. Too scary.
“Roy, there’s some words appear in front of the tree!” Victoria said.
She’s not behind the wall, so she can see everything. And since it seems like there’s no danger at all, Shirley removed the Ice Wall so I can read what it is.
[Cut this tree down if you are worthy.]
“These words are written by Aura. Such a powerful control of Aura. I don’t think it was from the tree itself. But it’s most likely from the Aura user who created this tree. And it needs someone’s Aura to give us this information. Seems like you have to cut it down, Roy,” Victoria said.
...That’s it? It sucked all my Aura to write a few words?
“G.o.dd.a.m.nit! Who the h.e.l.l use someone else’s Aura to write down a few words!?” I shouted.
“It has been a thousand years. There’s no more trace of Aura in this tree, but it’s still standing. And now it has received Aura, it has returned its strength. I don’t know what it will do, but you need to try and cut it down,” Sonia said.
So, I need to cut it down to know more. But I can’t use Aura anymore today. I need to rest.
And I promise that I will loot every single thing that this tree can give without anything remains. Just like how it absorbed all my Aura.
“I’ll go to sleep now. I’ll do it after my Aura recovered,” I said.
And so, we returned back to the mansion.
“...And why are you still here?” I asked Albert.
“I want to see what will come out. And don’t you need to keep everything here secret? I’ll get the agents to make sure that no one will come near,” Albert said.
Whatever. I’m tired. Let’s just sleep. Let’s ignore the king who skipped his duty.