She could hear me, couldn't she? Nerida just reacted to what I had mentally said!
'You can understand me? Well, I guess hear would be more appropriate to say. On another note, in what language do you perceive my thoughts or are you only conveyed their meaning on a plane that surpasses words. Also, can you hear the system and why could you only hear me once you entered the circle yet the little lass could evidently hear me even outside?'
„Stop talking so much, I can't understand half of what you said!"
Nerida, visibly bewildered by the overwhelming amount of words spoken by the tree she had thought of no more intelligent than some newborn child, which, to be fair, most spirit trees were. The system, on the other hand, answered with its usual calm attitude, caring naught about the bewildering circumstances nor the flood of words.
'Is that so, anyway, it matters not. Nerida, get all the children to my base. And if possible without waking the ones at the fires.'
Nerida, though still bewildered, did as I asked and soon all the children were assembled.
„Why did you have me bring them here? This place is as good as any other."
'Patience Nerida, patience.'
It took me a while, as I was slightly rusty but soon a couple of heat runes were giving off a comfortable warmth that permeated everything around my base. The children, awoken from their frosty slumber quickly settled down and sank back into dreamland. The only to souls not sleeping now were me and Nerida.
„Why do this? Why care? I can see nothing for you to gain in return."
'If your plan is for 1 year, plant rice. If your plan is for 10 years, plant trees. If your plan is for 100 years, educate children. It is a saying I heard a long time ago, the author was... Guan Zhong if I remember correctly. And in my opinion, letting half the children freeze in the cold night does not count as education but more as predestination for a bad character.'
Nerida seemed to be thinking about it but soon fell victim to the comfortable warmth and her own fatigue.
The rest of the night passed without any uncommon occurrences and soon dawn announced itself with the first few rays of light, shining over the forest, awakening all life in its wake. So too did the camp begin to get lively and the adults began to roam around. It didn't take them long to notice the absence of the children from the place they had been abandoned yesterday nor where they were now lying below me. Soon one of them ran to the tent of the magi and informed them.
Big surprise those pricks didn't agree with someone else entering their sacred tree's vicinity and one of them came stomping over. At this point, Nerida had already begun walking towards him casually addressing me.
„I'll take care of this one, no troubles."
They met at the border of my second tree circle.
„Eric, please calm down. It's not what it looks like and there's a reason for this-"
She didn't get to say the rest as she had intended because at that moment a palm connected to her left cheek and slapped her out of the way. Now do remember that Eric, the prick that just hit Nerida, is an apprentice magus while she is a maga which is clearly above the former. Out of that, one can see how unforeseen this was.
Having cleared the way in such an unsightly manner, Eric, who's soon gonna die if he keeps this up, kept walking towards the children while snarling like an animal.
„You brats better be ready for-"
A few leaf blades flew by, giving him a new haircut. He froze. All leaves around him had turned, pointing directly at him, showing a slight glint in the morning sun.
'One step further, I'll cut you, one more word, I'll dissect you. Leave now or face the consequences.'
He seemed to understand and quickly retreated, though resentment still lay in his eyes. Narvi, having heard the commotion outside, stepped out of the tent at last and made to diffuse the situation.
„What might all this racket be about?"
Since he wasn't in radius for me to speak to him I could do little more but remain silent but the offenders were, of course, quick to tell their story.
„The children slept under the tree spirit and now he is wrathful of us and won't allow us to approach. They must be punished for approaching the tree spirit without qualification!"
„Then how is it I'm standing here without being attacked. Clearly, you pricks pissed the great tree spirit off and are now facing your punishment. Grandpa, the tree spirit talked to me, he told me that he likes children and wishes for them to be treated better. He called them to him."
Nerida saved the day and my intentions were clearly conveyed. For good measures, I shot a few more leaf blades at Eric and sent him running back into the tent.
'Let's make a new rule shall we. Nerida, please tell them that from now on only you, Narvi and the children currently with me may approach and collect the apples. Others... will be turned into fertilizer for me.'
Nerida faithfully repeated what I had told her out loud and after Narvi, himself had approached and heard me tell him personally, the rule was acknowledged.
The next few days were rather uneventful. The humans spent their time building a few wooden houses, living off my apples, which I provided 200 every three days and the game that they managed to hunt.
After some time I even received the new title [one who gives life] which allows me to regrow all my apples within a couple of minutes.
I decided against regrowing them at that speed though, lest the humans got greedy.