Under her and, the Antari diligently transported all the equipment they had created within the alcove, moving everything through the underground tuhat led to the city. As for Kirara, who remained unscious in the infirmary, Kaede had decided to teleport her directly to the city herself.
Once everything had been cleared out, the alcove stood empty at st.
Kaede and Ari now stood outside, gazing up at the massive tree that towered above their former refuge.
Kaede turned her attention to Ari, quietly admiring how her daughter's appearance had ged over time. Ari had begun to develop human-like features, her once fully chitinous form now adorned with patches of soft, pale skin on her ned shoulders. Long, ptinum hair cascaded down her back, swayily in the breeze.
Acc to Artificia, as Ari tio grow in both power and age, she would eventually resemble a humairely. Thanks to her title as the [Monarch of the Antar, all Antari under her rule would gradually follow the same evolutionary path.
The wind whispered through Ari’s ptinum locks before sweeping through Kaede’s own dark hair as they stood in quiet refle, gazing at the aree before them.
"This tree was so much smaller when I first left you here," Kaede mused, a soft smile f on her lips. "A small, hidden space, easy to defend and perfect for keeping you safe."
Ari nodded in agreement. "Yes, Mother. I still remember it like it was yesterday. Your loving words as Elder Sister tucked me into bed."
Kaede chuckled. "It wasn't a long stay, but this tree was our home. And now, after all this time, it’s bee the rgest tree in the area."
Suddenly, Artificia's voice echoed in Kaede’s mind.
Kaede sweatdropped. "No kidding." She tilted her head upward, gazing at the t opy. "I guess I ractically leaking magicules with all the naming I was doing back then. And this tree absorbed it all."
She pced a gentle hand oree’s bark. "I'm going to miss this pce. I'm going to miss you, tree."
Ari took a step forward, nodding toward the tree. "Why don't you name her, Mother?"
Kaede raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about? I 't just ree," she said, amused by the suggestion.
Ari remained uerred. "Like you said, Mother, this tree was our home. It became part of our family. Even if we're leaving, this tree will remain here, standing as a mark of our presen a fn nd."
Kaede shook her head. "No, no, I don’t think you uand. I 't ree. It's not a person or even a living..." She paused, her gaze drifting back up the tree’s immerunk.
Ari's smile softened. "It doesn't have to do anything, Mother. As long as it means something to us... to you."
Kaede hesitated, then pressed her hand against the bark once more. She could feel the steady pulse of magicules flowing within, rhythmid soothing, almost like a heartbeat.
"You provided a home for my daughter," Kaede whispered. "And, in time, you became a home for me as well."
She leaned forward, resting her forehead gently against the bark. "Thank you... For everything..." A strong breeze swept through the clearing, rustling the leaves in a symphony of whispers as she spoke. "Hanae."
Instantly, the air stilled, and the tree was surrounded by a golden light. Kaede stepped back as the tree began to grow. Its already massive trunk expanded, being thicker. Its branches and leaves stretched out, growing rger. The tree itself soared higher, surpassing the opy of trees around it.
Wheransformation was plete, Kaede gazed at the tree. "Beautiful," she whispered. It stood majestically, t over the forest, with some of its leaves shimmering in a golden hue.
However, "Nothing happened," Kaede noted in a disappoione. If she was being ho, she had expected the tree to evolve into some kind of being that would call her “Mother” as its first words or something simir.
But the tree remained just that, a tree.
Kaede turo her daughter. "Well, Ari, wanna leave now?"
"Of course, Mother," Ari replied, grabbing Kaede's forearm with a smile.
Kaede raised an eyebrow. "'t you use [Spatial Pt] to teleport to the city?"
Ari only g thter, her smile unwavering.
Kaede swallowed nervously. Scary. "Never mind. Alright, let's go."
In a fsh of light, they vanished.
The forest fell silent once more, and a heavy breeze swept through the trees.
Moments ter, the air began to vibrate as the massive tree shimmered with a golde its base, a blinding light erupted.
As the glow faded, a figure stepped forward. She had vibrant green hair and wore a flowing green dress, bound together by golden vines. Her golden eyes blinked as she took in her surroundings, where pnts were slowly sprouting around her, creating a se of pure magid beauty.
The wind whispered softly as she spoke.
"Mother."
---
A short distance away from Kaede's city, a group of monsters hid among the dense shrubs. They were tall, with the heads of horses, but unlike ordinary animals, their sharp teeth gleamed menagly in the dim light. These creatures were known as Mezus, or Equinoids.
"Alright, boss. What’s the pn?" a blue-skinned Equinoid asked, kneeling alongside the others, his tone ced with tension.
The leader of the Equinoids let out a low grunt before responding. "First, one of you head bad warn the big boss. If those ants are on the rise again, the damn Bovoids will be the least of our worries."
The gathered Equinoids exged uneasy g their leader’s words. The mention of the ants brought a noticeable shift in the air, an underlying tension that not even their hardened nature could suppress.
One of them, a lean Equinoid with dark red fur, stepped forward hesitantly. "Boss, you really think the ants are all that? I mean... didn't they get wiped st time?" His voice carried a false bravado, but the flick of his ears betrayed his ay.
The leader, a t figure with a jagged scar running down his muzzle, snorted in frustration. "Fool. If they were regur monsters, we wouldn't be having this versation." His sharp eyes sed the city in the distas silhouette barely visible through the trees. "These ones are smarter. Faster. Stronger. And if what we’ve been seeing is true, they’ve got someone leading them now."
A murmur rippled through the group.
"But boss," the blue Equinoid from before interjected, "those Bovoids aily pushovers either. We've been fighting them for years. If the ants move in, we might be looking at a three-way war."
The leader's teeth bared in a grin that was anything but reassuring. "Exactly. That’s why we o act first." He jabbed a cwed hand toward the city. "We find out just how strong they are. If they're weak, we crush them before they spread. If they're already strong... the the Bovoids deal with them first."
He turo the dark red Equinoid. "You, get moving. Tell the big boss what we’ve seen."
The Equinoid nodded hurriedly and sprinted off into the dense forest, his hoof-like feet barely making a sound against the underbrush.
The leader turned back to the others, his expression hard. "The rest of you, we scout the perimeter. Stay low, stay quiet. And if you see one of those ants... you don't fight. You run. Got it?"
Shock rippled through the group, and one of the Equinoids bristled. "You want us to run and hide like cowards?" he snarled, his muscles tensing with defiance.
The leader’s sharp gaze so the defiant Equinoid, his expression darkening. "Cowards?" he echoed, his voice low and menag. "You think running from death makes you a coward?" He took a slow, deliberate step forward, and the air grew heavy with tension. "Let me tell you something, boy, normal ants don’t fight fair. They don’t get tired. They don’t stop. And if you think your bravado means anything to them, you’ll end up nothing more than food for their queen."
The Equinoid who had spoken looked away, his ears flig in agitation, but he said nothing more.
"Good," the leader tinued, his voiow a steady growl. "We do this smart, or we die. Uand?"
A chorus of relut nods followed, the herd falling into uneasy silehe rustling of leaves overhead masked their presence as they crouched lower, their eyes fixed on the distant lights of Kaede's city.
For a while, nothing happehe leader's gaze sed the surroundings, his nostrils fring slightly as he picked up the fairaces of something uling on the wind, blood.
The quiet night was suddenly shattered by the distant etal and the guttural roars of battle.
"Boss, over there!" one of the Equinoids whispered sharply, pointing through the foliage.
Beyond the trees, in a small clearing bathed in the silver light of the moon, a skirmish was unfolding. Four Antari, their sleek bs moving in perfect coordination, were locked in bat against a group of t figures. The Bovoids -massive, muscur beings with bull-like heads and thick hides- were pressing in from all sides.
The Equinoid leader narrowed his eyes, his sharp pupils fog ily on the se before them. The Bovoids charged with reckless force, their heavy hooves pounding the earth like war drums. Despite their raw strength, the Antari met them with unnerving precision.
One of the Antari, a tall, lithe figure wielding twin short swords, danced between the Bovoids' lumbering swings. Her movements were swift, almost fluid, as if she were anticipating their every attack. With each graceful step, her bdes fshed in the moonlight, carving deep, calcuted gashes into the thick hides of her foes. The Bovoids roared in frustration, their brute strength useless against such speed.
Another Antari, bulkier in frame, stood firm against the oning force. a sleek, chitinous armor that gleamed faintly, he wielded a rge halberd with ease. With a single sweeping strike, he sent one of the charging Bovoids crashing to the ground, the beast's armor-like skin splittih the sheer force. The Antari's movements were meical yet effit—no wasted effort, ation.
A sudden burst of fire illumihe battlefield as a third Antari raised her hand, fmes swirling around her fiips before erupting in a trated stream. The Bovoids bellowed in agony, their fur igniting in an instant. The fire-wielding Antari’s expression remained impassive as she directed the bze f the remaining enemies into retreat.
The fourth Antari, smaller thahers, moved with a more primal ferocity. She wielded no on other than her cws, which gleamed like obsidian uhe moonlight. She weaved between the Bovoids, her strikes lightning-fast and ruthless, severing tendons and gouging eyes before her foes could react. The air was thick with the st of blood and burned fur.
The Equinoids watched in stunned silehe leader felt a chill creep up his spine.
The st Bovoid standi out a deafening roar, its muscles bulging as it charged the halberd-wielding Antari with reckless desperation. But before it could reach him, a sharp whistle cut through the air. The twin-bde user appeared behind it in an instant, her swords slig into the creature’s exposed neck. The Bovoid's headless body staggered, its massive frame colpsing to the forest floor with a final, thud.
The battlefield fell silent. The Antari stood among the fallen, their expressions cold and devoid of emotion. One of them, the fire-user, flicked her hand dismissively, extinguishing the lingering fmes as if they were nothing more than an afterthought.
The Equinoid leader ched his fists, his earlier bravado dissolving into something closer to fear.
"...Boss?" the blue-skinned Equinoid whispered hesitantly.
The leader's jaw tightened. "And that's why you don't attack them. We leave. Now," he growled, turning away from the se.
Without another word, the Equinoids melted into the shadows of the forest, their hooves carrying them swiftly away from the massacre they had just witnessed.
Ba the battlefield, the halberd-wielding Antari k beside one of the fallen Bovoids, his hand pressed against the creature's still-warm body. "Should we go after the ones watg us?" He turo the tall Antari wielding twin bdes.
Athra sheathed her twin swords, her gaze shifting to Kyra and Melira as they argued over who had sin the most Gozus. "Don't worry about it, Vek," she said calmly. "Callen, Ryder, and Torren are already trag them."
She watched as the fallen corpses vanished one by o Vek’s touch. This was the effect of their species-specific skill, [Collective Hoard], which grahem access to a shared iory of immense capacity.
"I’ve received a message from Lady Crimara," Athra tinued. "We’ll maintain our patrol for now."