Percy gasped upon listening to Kassorith’s question.

As a matter of fact, he had heard of the World Tree during one of Mrs. Lia’s classes on Felmara. It was one of the examples she had given her students while teaching them about Elemental Sources, since it was one of the most famous.

It was a special case even among the others of its kind, as it manifested as a living being rather than an inanimate object. Perhaps that was only to be expected, considering that it was the Elemental Source of the life affinity. Scholars speculated that some of the other undiscovered Sources might work like that – including the one for the beast affinity that Sixiang was rumoured to own, or the missing Source of the soul affinity.

Well… having personally been to the Mirror Lake, Percy hadn’t detected any signs of life or sentience. Still, he hadn’t expected to find another Elemental Source so soon. Was the World Tree actually owned by Thess’kala?!

‘Wait, no… that can’t be the case…’ he thought, mentally shaking his head.

Based on what he had seen on Melodia, Elemental Sources tended to strongly influence the population living on their planet, giving sapients the corresponding affinity from birth – something that clearly didn’t apply here. In theory, it was possible that Kassorith’s people owned multiple planets, and that they imported their leaves from a different one, thus explaining why the residents of Thess’kala didn’t all have the life affinity. Or maybe, they had found a way to block the Source’s influence. But there was another reason Percy was convinced that wasn’t the case.

He knew that the World Tree no longer existed.

According to Mrs. Lia, it had been lost eons ago, after multiple powerful factions had fought desperately over it. At the end of the war, the World Tree had been destroyed, along with the very planet it had taken root on. In theory, Elemental Sources could reappear elsewhere if they got destroyed, but that didn’t seem to have happened with the World Tree, for reasons a lower spring like Felmara wasn’t privy to. None of the greater springs had made any moves to search for it after its destruction.

‘I’ll take that as a yes,’ Kassorith said, clearly sensing his inner turmoil. ‘You may have heard about the original tree’s destruction, though I suppose the rest isn’t common knowledge yet. Long story short, the factions fighting over it managed to salvage many of its pieces, planting them on their own worlds. Most of them died, but a few of the largest ones took root, eventually growing into giant saplings. Thirteen of them in total.’

‘That many? Is that why a new World Tree hasn’t appeared?’ Percy asked.

‘Probably. This is all speculation – mind you – since this is the only documented case of an Elemental Source surviving in a fragmented state like this. The consensus among the wisest titans in the universe is that a new World Tree will only emerge after at least twelve of the thirteen saplings have died. Either they get destroyed and give the rest room to grow, or they consume one another to speed up the process. The last sapling should grow into the complete tree. If it gets destroyed too, a new tree will probably appear elsewhere from scratch.’

‘Is Thess’kala one of those factions then?’

Kassorith shook his head.

‘I wish. We aren’t ranked nearly that high among the greater springs. We do have a sapling on our planet, but it’s not one of the original thirteen. And we’ve only obtained it thanks to our allies.’

Percy remained silent, prompting his host to continue.

‘To understand our situation, you first have to understand the dynamics at play during the war. There were two sides fighting for the World Tree: The Moirai, and the Void Hand – a grand alliance formed for the sole purpose of opposing them. Thess’kala is merely one of the weaker members of the Hand.’

The revelation caused Percy’s borrowed eyes to widen. He’d always known that the Moirai stood at the very top of the entire universe, but he’d never realized just how wide the gap between them and the other factions was.

Their enemies had been forced to band together to compete with them!

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And Thess’kala – this bustling world that put Remior to shame at every turn – clearly wasn’t even qualified to enter the inner circle of the Void Hand! Just how many members – how many greater springs – were part of this alliance?

‘What about Sixiang?’ he asked, suddenly remembering that the divine beasts were supposedly on par with the Moirai.

‘They’re powerful enough to rival our alliance and the Moirai, but they didn’t participate in the war. At least, not initially. Though you can rest assured that they didn’t miss out. Those gluttonous bastards swooped in after the fact, grabbing four saplings. Nobody was happy about that, but neither the Moirai nor our alliance was in any position to pick a new fight at the time.’

‘How did the other nine saplings get distributed then?’

Kassorith shrugged. ‘The Moirai got four as well, while we took the rest. Only five of the allied members were greater springs back then, so they each kept one. Though only four have survived to this day – the fifth of our founding members got wiped out at some point. Their sapling exchanged many hands, before eventually ending up on a neutral world that nobody can steal from.’

There was a lot of information there. Percy was quite curious about this fourth party that neither the Moirai, the divine beasts, nor this massive alliance could easily invade. However, he focused on something more relevant to his current situation.

‘So, you’re saying that Thess’kala wasn’t a greater spring yet?’

‘It wasn’t. Back then, there weren’t as many in the universe – only about a hundred or so. Sadly, our greedy allies refused – and still do – to share their original method of accelerating their advancements with us. We only managed to become a greater spring later, thanks to the leaves.’

Percy fought to suppress a smile. He wouldn’t be surprised if at least some of those allies had earned their status due to the cyan powder. Kassorith’s people had probably spent eons begging them to share their secret – they would lose their minds if they knew Percy could reveal it with a few words. But he kept those thoughts to himself.

‘Where exactly did your tree come from? You said it’s not one of the original thirteen.’

‘It’s not. Not long after the World Tree’s destruction, we discovered that the first-generation saplings could produce more seeds and saplings of their own. There is no limit to their number, so our allies could have easily given us more than one.’

‘But they didn’t,’ Percy guessed.

‘They didn’t,’ Kassorith confirmed with a sigh. ‘Our alliance is based on mutual interests – not love or friendship. The founding members want to bolster our strength so that we’re more useful against the Moirai, but not enough that we challenge their authority. They’re extremely mindful of what they give us.’

Percy felt the urge to swear. Not because he cared about the shitty dynamics of this alliance, but because he realized something else.

‘Your leaves… Don’t tell me that they’re less effective than those of the first-generation saplings?!’

Kassorith smiled wryly.

‘Ours only double your remaining lifespan. The originals triple it.’

Percy wasn’t happy to hear that at all, but he still took some time to calculate what this meant for him.

Estimating one’s remaining lifespan wasn’t easy, because it varied slightly from one person to another. People on Remior operated under the assumption that the average Red-born would live about eighty years if they never advanced. However, some might die of old age at seventy, while others could easily make it to ninety.

Higher grades eliminated some of the discrepancy, because they made one more resilient against disease or other external factors. That said, the timing of their promotions added another variable into the equation. Some people were more prudent with their cleansing sessions, always drinking their elixirs without wasting a single moment. Others would occasionally miss a day for one reason or another.

Percy tried to fall into the former category as much as possible, but calculating his own lifespan was even messier than most – due to all the extra things he had to consider.

He had missed a lot of time as a child, because he’d only had access to the diluted elixirs, and hadn’t obtained his second core until his mid-teens. Even worse, every wasted year as a Red with a single core had been worth eighteen of his years now that he was a double Yellow. On top of that, he’d missed a year of cleansing his first core due to his injuries after Huehue, and wasted a lot more time before he earned enough money to upgrade first to the regular elixirs, and later to the cyan paste or the Aurora Dew.

‘When all’s said and done, I should have about eleven hundred years left – give or take a couple decades,’ he concluded after taking everything into account.

Of course, that was without considering his advancements. At his current pace, he should reach Green with both cores in about a hundred and sixty-six years, and Blue in sixteen hundred and sixty-six. He would get to live a little over five thousand years in total – assuming his enemies didn’t kill him sooner. That should take him less than a quarter of the way to Violet.

All of that was before eating the leaf.

If he managed to bring it home, he might live to fifteen thousand. The treasure would only double his current remaining lifespan, but it would effectivelytriple his eventual lifespan, because it would allow him to consume less of it before his next promotions, which would matter a lot more later.

It wasn’t bad – not at all. Percy would be able to accomplish so much more with an extra ten thousand years.

‘But it still won’t get me to Violet,’ he grimaced.

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