Surprisingly, the human group didn't really pester them with questions. Not that Wilhelm would have minded, but it felt like they were clearly holding themselves back, at least for now.
Context clues were easier to decipher. They had probably been infiltrated or tricked before if they were, as they claimed, centuries old and lived here for that period. Living in this kind of place, I couldn't imagine what it was like and how it hardened them to anyone even remotely different from them.
Their skepticism and weariness was completely understandable.
That being said, the distribution of the ships was rather easy. I guessed it came as no surprise that ships were a sought-after commodity for them as well. Frankly, we just split them down the middle and each took half.
Though, it did look kind of funny how my ship was towing a handful of other ships behind it rather awkwardly.
We weren't going back to our 'own base' either. We followed the human groups as they had agreed to take us back to their base, and somehow, when there they would 'verify' us that we weren't Fae.
They weren't even that far away. If we hadn't run into them by accident, we probably would have eventually discovered their home just from exploring.
Maybe an hour or so away from where the battle took place? The human group we fought alongside was apparently on their own sort of mini expedition to find resources and such when they came across the Fae Ships.
After talking to them for a bit, it was clear that the Winter Court used this place as a sort of training ground, which explained why they hadn't run over the Humans yet.
They didn't see Humans as a threat to the Court, so why not use them to train up their younger members.
The only thing was that the 'ride' was a bit slower due to, well, dragging so many ships along with us.
Still, I had a connection with the Ocean, so I found myself always enjoying the calm sailing. I also helped with ushering the winds to change direction towards where we were going.
An hour later, maybe closer to two, the human ships made a bit more noise, a glance in their direction had them looking at us and pointing towards the horizon.
Vaguely, even with my Reinforced eyesight, I could just make it out.
Of course they made their home on an island, I wasn't expecting anything different. However, what I was not expecting was a gigantic tree with a canopy that spread far beyond the island's land.
"That isn't shifty whatsoever." Nurarihyon commented as we got closer.
Right, my skepticism meter was off the charts atm.
It didn't help that the coloring of the leaves of the massive tree were blood red.
"If it helps, I didn't notice them being parasitized at least." I pointed it out because that was going to be something I thought about in my nightmares after seeing in person.
"Well, we already cut down one giant plant already." The Old Youkai stroked his chin. "I 'ppose a second one wouldn't hurt if it comes to it."
As we got closer, we could get a much better view of the island.
Immediately, I could tell that the island itself was built upon the roots of the tree.
Wonderful.
I mentally considered which of my fire spells would be best when things inevitably turned sideways.
But ignoring the rather domineering and honestly powerful tree – I could feel its presence – we were greeted with a well created wooden dock.
I looked at Nurarihyon. "Separate a few of the Yokai onto the ships we gained. We're dropping anchor and leaving them out here while we go inside."
Nurarihyon nodded. "You heard him, boys. I want at least two on each ship, more if ya don't want to come to land. Drop them anchors and stay out here until we turn back." He barked orders. Despite being basically Yakuza, they were rather well organized in their disorganization. "Don't drop the anchors before you cut the towing lines, you morons!" He shouted with a burst of anger.
Well, somewhat.
What did Yasaka say about Nurarihyon's people? They were a special breed of stupid that somehow reached around into competence when it mattered.
The port on the island was large enough for them to fit all their manned ships, but they left all their newly acquired ones far enough out in the water like we had. There was also an open spot that we were ushered into with my own ship.
There were….a lot of humans here.
It was the first thing I noted when stepping onto the pier and off the ship.
They said a few thousand, but seeing it in person was a whole different story. Of course that was in the context of living in the Fae realms.
One might question how so many humans made it here all at once, but seeing children running around….well, it was obvious how the population increased.
Centuries old, how many children did they have over that time period?
We became the immediate center of attention.
The Humans that returned were welcomed back with open arms, but hushed whispers and gestures caused the others to hesitantly step back, making room for us.
Unnulf was all smiles as he walked over, putting an arm over my shoulders. "Come on lad, I'll show you all around."
I noticed the hint of tension in his movements as it seemed like everyone was staring at us intently as we stepped off the dock and onto the island.
There was a faint breeze, the leaves of the massive tree rustled and it was as if time came to a stop as a collective relief washed over everyone.
Unnulf himself immediately let out a sigh of relief. "Welcome to our home, lad." His new smile felt a bit more genuine.
"The Tree, right? That was the supposed test?" I looked at him, traffic picked up and the curiosity of our group only increased among the native population.
"Aye, Mother would have dealt with anyone sneaking in." He nodded. "Not the first time we had a few of those try to sneak into our home."
"The Tree is your mother?" Nurarihyon raised an eyebrow, not even phased by the supposed 'test'.
"What else should a man call the woman who nurtures and heals him" Unnulf chuckled. "Though not everyone calls her mother. The stuffy ones with the red crosses, they call her the Tree of Life. Some of my kin call her Yggdrasil." He added with a shrug.
You know, that doesn't make things less sketchy.
But so far, I couldn't pinpoint anything that immediately stood out, as weird as that sounded.
"Hey Unnulf, do you guys have any Magic Users here?" I asked him, intent on probing.
"Magic Users? Yeah, we got a few dozen. They're too precious to send out though, so they usually stay here unless something bad happens." He nodded.
Well, guess I was wrong there.
The fact that there are Magic Users around made it even stranger because they'd be more keen in sniffing out oddities with this…..whole Tree.
I glanced at Nurarihyon who seemingly just shrugged and gestured for me to carry on as he disappeared in a haze.
"How about a tour?" I asked.
Unnulf smiled. "Haha, alright. I did promise that, now that we know you're not one of those bastards, let me show you around." He put his arm around me good-naturedly again. "All the wood you see comes from Mother or things we salvage." He gestured with his hand as we walked further inland and rows of houses appeared.
"Lots of different architectural styles." I noted.
"The later ones that came along, they're a bit more knowledgeable on how to build things. We used to be content with a hut to shield us from the sun and rain. But look at this now, it's better than the Jarl used to live in back home, but it's used to house a few peasants."
"Hmm, it looks European." I noted. "Were you tasked with keeping me distracted?"
"Ah…well." He scratched his head. "They wanted some time to report back to their leaders. Don't mind them, it's always an important event when newcomers join us."
I wasn't upset, I just asked to see his response.
The fact that he was so forthcoming was…it made me confused honestly about this whole thing. I kept trying to find the proverbial smoking gun to indicate that something is amiss, but I was just not seeing anything wrong.
"What's that over there?" I pointed off to the distance it looked..well, rather Greek in make.
"That's the Acropolis." Unnulf said.
I admit I was taken aback by the word coming out of his mouth. "I'm sorry, I wasn't expecting that answer. Especially hearing it from a viking, it just surprised me."
Unnulf let out a laugh. "Learned a thing or two over the years son. It's where all our leaders gather to talk about important stuff. They should be there right about now." He stroked his beard.
Acropolis literally meant 'highest point', as it was the government building in Ancient Greek – Athens I think.
Right, keep forgetting how old they were here.
"So many different people and cultures, I'm astonished that you all get along like you do." I looked at him.
"It wasn't easy. I remember when everyone met for the first time, swords were swung, fists were thrown. Even in the early days when we agreed to stop fighting, it was hard to trust one another."
"What changed?"
"Hmm, that's hard to answer. Aye, probably when the first child came out naturally from this cursed place. Them talking about their God and Hell. The ones talking about their Gods on their great Mountain. Even the stoic ones from your homeland held firm in their own beliefs. And of course, we all sought wisdom from Odin's grace. They all were there for the first birth and it changed things, made all us old folk realize we were here for the long run."
"And you all lived happily ever after." I snorted with a bit of a chuckle.
"Ha, as if! Nay boy, we still fight, mostly with our fists! But….it's never passed a line. The Greeks were the ones who came up with the idea, each of us has a leader, and the leaders all come together when something important happens. Aint perfect, but what is?"
"If you don't mind me asking…..how do you all support yourselves? Food….water is a bit more obvious. But you're far older than you should be, Unnulf."
Unnulf smiled good-naturedly, gesturing for me to follow. "Mother watches out for us." I followed him past the residential area as the land opened up a bit more. "We do got some crops growing, took awhile to set roots down, but we've got a supply for 'bout 70 years now. But that's not what really sustains us."
Was that corn? And I saw another field with wheat growing. I wasn't an expert in agriculture, but did they grow at the same time and with the same methods?
Strange.
Past the fields we walked, earning a few looks, and hundreds of trees came into view.
They were smaller, but they were like miniature versions of the Big Tree overhead.
The same red leaves that reminded me of the Forever Fall forest back on Remnant. However, there was one big difference here. It was the fact that each of these smaller trees, almost reminiscent of Apple Trees, bore a strange red fruit.
Like a mix between an orange and a dragon fruit in appearance.
"What are those, Unnulf?" Because I could feel them from here and they were very unnatural.
"We don't really have a name, we've just called them life fruits. Mother gave them to us ever since we settled down here. They keep us young, if you eat one every few decades it'll be enough." Unnulf replied.
Sounded like a watered down version of Idunn's Apples, but those were very much not divine.
Surprisingly, they aren't…..evil either. I didn't feel anything malevolent about them, but they also were very much not natural to my senses.
"Would it be possible for me to acquire one?" I asked.
Unnulf frowned. "They're precious lad, especially with how many of us there are now, we have to account for every one of them."
"What about a trade?"
He paused. "It depends."
"Food, supplies, weapons." I listed off, but he didn't show much emotion. "….alcohol." Before I could utter another word, he plucked one and held it up for me to take. "I didn't even say how much…"
"Lad, I haven't had a proper drink in decades." Unnulf looked at me with full seriousness. "They won't let us make mead with the crops."
"….you won't get in trouble for this, will you?" I hesitantly took it in my hand.
"Don't worry, I'm entitled to a certain amount every few years as one of our strongest warriors." He patted his chest proudly. "Now, ya shouldn't stand before a man and his drink, lad."
I dropped several barrels of alcohol onto the ground for him and I swear, I think I saw tears falling from his eyes.
While he was distracted, I looked at the fruit in my hand, running every diagnostic Magic I knew off the top of my head.
This thing was….far beyond what I envisioned.
I was genuinely shocked at what I was holding.
Without hesitation, I bit into it, letting the juicy fruit flow down my throat and I quickly consumed the entire thing. I felt the power within it fill me, reaching every corner of my body.
It was small, but I was strengthened.
Much less than the extent that I got passively from slaying Hanuman. Honestly, it might even be an overestimate to call it small, miniscule would be a better word. However, to even get a permanent boost in my physical capabilities from simply eating a fruit at my level…that was no small feat.
It made a lot more sense now. Why these humans were so much stronger than they realistically should have been. Why they had such long lifespans, retaining their youth.
These fruits were made of pure energy. Touki, Aura, Qi, Chi, it had many names, but simply, it was Life Energy. And these fruits were solidified Life Energy, concentrated in its purest form.
If I were a normal human, my lifespan would have extended decades, like Unnulf said, it did however do that, but compared to my natural lifespan, it wasn't worth mentioning, barely a drop compared to what I gave up stopping Loki.
This alone made the trip to this island worth it. I resisted the urge to start plucking fruits, even if I could hide myself. They were treating me like a guest, and my own pride wouldn't let me trample on that so easily.
But now, I was left with many questions that I didn't have answers to.
This place was turning into an even greater mystery than I originally thought.
"Unnulf." I looked at the Viking who was trying his darndest to not spill a drop of mead as he tilted the barrel forward while awkwardly squatting under it.
"Mmm?" He answered back with a mouthful.
"Would it be possible to….meet this Mother Tree of yours?" The way they spoke about it, it was clear it wasn't simply a silent piece of foliage. And it was time to get to the bottom of things.
@***@
A/N
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