Chapter 295: Living in Trees

“So our goal is to find all the shards of this blade you want to get? Is it that powerful, and here I thought the one you already had was powerful.” Lucien said, interested in the blade Aether was talking about. Wanting to learn more about it from him.

The problem, of course, was that neither did Aether know a lot about it, just that it was the blade of the past Rapier Master, so it couldn’t be weak.

Though Lucien wasn’t wrong to think Voidpiercer was strong, with how things have been going, the blade they are trying to rebuild might not even be a relic; they still had to get the whole thing, but not even the shards were relics. Which he would have thought they would be if the blade were that powerful.

Well, it wasn’t like he was going to have to decide between the Voidpiercer and another blade any time soon, after all, the blade was Kael’s, so even if it was stronger, he couldn’t use it… Well, neither could Kael because of his hands, but you get the point.

He wasn’t the owner of the blade; with Kael still alive, he was the Master of the Rapier, only when he died would he inherit the blade, as the only disciple left of the Rapier.

And that old man looks to still be able to go for a while.

Plus, it wasn’t like he wanted to say goodbye to Voidpiecer; it was just an amazing weapon, with so many qualities, the only way he would use another blade would be if he somehow got a bearer blade, anything less didn’t matter to him. Since even if it was another Seeker class, Voidpiercers’ sheer amount of abilities beat it, no matter that most only worked on gods, and one was against him.

Aether glanced at the magician with the side of his eye. “Before it got shattered, it was a blade that fought against the Masters of the Will. I’m sure you can estimate its strength from that.”

Lucien nodded, even more interested in the subject, but he knew by Aether’s dismissive tone that he wasn’t going to get any more information. It was ironic, since before, this guy had one of the shards that they needed. And only now did he learn the truth about it.

“Alright then…” He paused. “What resources do we have?”

Both Aether and Kade stopped in their track for a second, turning back to the magician with their faces flushed red.

…

“Water.”

The magician tilted his head, confused by their reaction. After all, in their situation, where he was a new member in this new exploration journey, it was normal for him to know what they had in hand.

“That… is good, of course. Water is needed. What else?”

Aether looked at Kade, and the boy looked back at him.

“And a bit of meat… but mostly water…”

Lucien blinked twice before letting out a deep breath, understanding what had happened.

“Let me guess, you spent most of your money on water so you can survive the desert, and now you don’t have any moment left, or if you do, you have little to none.”

None of the two responded, instead they tried not to make eye contact, it was emberessing really, before they told him this was going to be dangerous, and if he didn’t come, they were going to go on their own, while they didn’t have any money, and mostly water, which was also running short because of the damn heat.

“Alright then… There is absolutely no point in going for the… third? Right now, we will just run out of resources…” He grabbed his chin. “We need to make some money, but there aren’t really any good cities nearby, sure, a village we could find, but they aren’t worth it, they sell for a lot less?”

’They do?!’ Aether was shocked. In all this time, while he had been selling to little villages, he was getting scammed. How dare they? Didn’t they know scamming was a bad thing?

…”This is the most hypocritical thing I have ever seen in all my life.” The Abyss said, covering his face with one of his hands.

’Not the time, get out of here.’ Aether said to the Abyss, gritting his teeth.

…

Alright. Maybe he had scammed some people in his life, but when he did it… It was ok since he stole from the… rich…

“More like the poor.”

’I said to leave!’

Lucien walked a bit close to Aether.

“There is something we can do… but it’s a bit risky… outside of the one in the desert, there aren’t any main human civilizations nearby in Stormfell… however… There is a beast human civilization nearby… we could try to go to it, just that I doubt they would be so welcoming… we’re going to have to find a way to get on their good side, then we can take jobs and make money so we can leave as fast as possible. But as I said, it’s dangerous.”

…Beast human? Did such things exist in this world? That was pretty cool… by what he read about them in books when he was a child, they were humans with animal characteristics like tails and ears… he really wanted to meet one when he was younger.

So it should be a definite yes…

’If I were still a child. Lucien bluntly said it was dangerous, and that they aren’t welcoming, I doubt they are anything as I have read about.’

They could just sell for less, but by what Lucien’s tone says, there is a good difference, and plus, he really didn’t like getting scammed, maybe because it used its own medicine on him.

…

Aether sighed, looking at the sky, before finally making his decision.

“We will go, I did say this journey was going to be dangerous… lead the way.”

The magician nodded, his eyes burning with a deep conviction.

…

…

…

Stormfell was a beautiful place outside the monsters and the environment; it really was. The scenery, how you can go from a desert to a cold forest, to a mountain zone that is extremely cold, was beautiful.

It was also structured so that you never get bored, most of the places you found were villages, places where some people came together and made, they protect themselves. Some are bigger than others, like the city of bones, which probably became so big because it was one of the closest to the Harbor.

Which leads to the next part of Stormfell.

Civilizations.

They were the big cities of Stormfell, or rather small countries, as they had their own rules, their own armies, and used their own flags. They were the place to visit if you wanted to be safe, which was also why you paid a daily living fee, because for once, you actually had security. Trained security.

But even the civilizations vary, some are less populous, while other trive, just like the Harbor, which, while on the smaller size compared to some others, is one of the best when it comes to economy and military.

…

And yet, after all his time in Stormfell, visiting the places he did, and seeing many beautiful sights. Nothing came close to this.

“Holy…”

The trees didn’t just hold the city.

They were the city.

Each trunk rose like a pillar, impossibly wide, its bark carved and shaped where structures had been built into it. Platforms circled them at different heights, not clean or even, but layered, some larger, some narrow, all connected by ropes and wooden bridges that stretched from one tree to another. The bridges sagged slightly in the middle, held by thick cords tied around the trunks, forming a web that spread through the entire forest.

’Beast human civilizations really are different…’

Houses clung to the sides of the trees.

Some were wrapped around the trunks, their walls curved to match the bark, with sloped roofs made of wooden planks and layered leaves. Others rested on platforms, raised on stilts, their bases uneven to match the natural shape beneath them. Railings lined the edges, thin but present, with ropes woven between posts.

Higher up, smaller structures were packed closer together, almost stacked, connected by ladders and narrow walkways. Lower down, the spacing opened, with larger platforms and buildings that stretched outward, some supported by beams driven directly into the wood.

Vines hung everywhere.

They wrapped around the trunks, draped over railings, and even crossed some of the bridges, blending the structures into the forest instead of separating them. Leaves spilled over rooftops, softening edges, making it hard to tell where nature ended and construction began.

’It is as if this was how the trees had naturally grown.’

And it didn’t stop above.

At the base, houses stood between roots, built into the gaps where the massive trees met the ground, forming the lowest layer that held everything rising above it.

…

The city was gigantic, extending to a point his eyes couldn’t reach…

And it was all so beautiful that he could easily get lost.

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