Tania and her mom started dumbfounded. They saw as Alice created massive roots, almost as big as Tania's and created beautiful stairs downwards with them.
"So what do you think ? Still not good enough for you ?" Alice was surprised herself but she didn't want to show it. She could feel her core spinning rapidly as the mana consumption was far too great for her. She created a smaller temporary mana bank next to her core to make the problem a bit smaller. But this still wasn't enough as both of her rends deactivated because she ran out of mana. The stairs collapsed and withered away. She sat on the floor panting.
"That was amazing !!" Tania praised Alice's skills "Even though it was your first time you did so well"
"I have to say that it was quite a sight for a begginer." The chieftain said.
After letting Alice rest she went to figure out how to solve the problem again, ofcourse she was still being followed by Tania. This time more closely though as she was curious about my abilities. They got to the heart of the forest again. Alice used her dryad rend to feel any disturbances in the mana. She could feel a sudden stop in the mana coming from one direction.
"Tania i think you should stop following me now. Not because I dislike it but because i don't want you getting hurt" Alice said with a worried face.
The dryad pouted "But i want to go with you..."
"Sorry, when i get back and solve it we can go whenever you want. I promise" The dryad seemd satisfied with Alice's offer, she decided to go back to her village.
"I will tell my mom if you lied to me !" after that Alice was on her way to the source of the sudden mana stop.
...
When she got to the source she could hear strange sounds coming from a cave. She decided to check what those are. She moved swiftly and made as little noise as possible. The deeper into the cave she got the harder it was to breath. The walls were wet and humid, roars of a beast could be heard at the end of it. Alice started second guessing herself. But she knew that she had to do it.
When she finally reached the end she saw that there was no massive beast, but a weird crack in the wall. She chipped off a part of the crack. She put her eye against it and saw a factory of sorts behind it. There were heavy machines and a ton of mana beasts. She destroyed the wall and got inside. While looking around she was ambushed by a stranger.
"What are you doing here ??" He had a lab coat on. Alice figured that it was his laboratory. She pushed him away and encased in rock. She looked around his lab. It was full of mana beast chimeras, cages and books.
"It seems the one behind the mana beasts attacking cities was you after all. Not the dryads. Did someone order you to do it ?" Alice asked as she lit a fire under him.
"Why would I tell you ?" He scoffed.
Alice increased the ferocity of the fire. But the scientist wouldn't budge.
"Fine we can do it the hard way" She sighed. After that she burned the laboratory down and took the madman on her back. She took a quick jog to the closest guild hall from the forest and put him there.
"Please let misstress know that the matter of the ents has been dealt with. And please tell her that her student won't be coming back until the day before academy starts" The clerks nodded. Already familiar with Alice and the way she works. She then ran back to the forest to meet the chieftain again.
The whole thing took her around a day.
"I would like to report that the problem of mana beast has been taken care off. There was an illegal laboratory creating those beasts and making them violent in the cave system close to the heart of the forest." Alice reported to Tania's mom.
"I thought it would take way longer. My little Tania even started to get used to you being around here" She said. Tania pouted and hit her mom on the back over and over again.
"Oh I forgot to mention. I will stay as long as possible. I want to learn how to use the dryad powers and i guessed you are the best at this" Alice face palmed that she somehow forgot to say that.
Tania's face instantly lifted up and a smile appeard on her face "I will show you everything then !! come with me. She pressed her body against Alices back and pushed her around. Alice tried ot ignore her chest pressing against her back as Tania showed her the whole village. From far away it looked like an ordinary village but in reality it also worked as a fort. The bridges connecting tree houses meant that enemies couldn't attack from different sides. Ofcourse Tania didn't say anything along those lines. Instead she showed Alice her favorite spots, gave her a share of her favorite food and even let her sleep in her room during Alice's training in the forest.
"And then and then" Tania wanted to keep going.
"Can we take a break for today ? We have been walking all day and im a bit tired. I don't think i can even make it back to the village" Alice sat down. The exhaustion of so many things happening catching up to her. Tania picked Alice like a princess. "What are you doing ??"
"I'm helping you get to bed !" Tania was either way too innocent or way too forward for Alice, but she didn't mean anything bad. She still had a month before the exams started and she wanted to spend it training her 2nd rend.... and also playing with Tania.
"Okay thank you" And just like that Alice's time in the dryad village began.