Alnea unfurled his Spirit, but kept his senses limited to himself, concentrating it all in his hand. It was only when he felt the familiar fluctuations of Yuri’s Roots, and his senses being linked to hers, that he finally stopped holding back, and pushed his senses into the tree that he was leaning against. In vain.

  It looked like the trees had still not gotten over their last fiasco of almost revealing something that they should not. They refused to talk to him, to even listen to his pleas. Not that they had ever listened to him. Still, at least they used to respond to his calls before. All that had stopped, and it seemed that it would remain so for quite some time to come. That was until he reached out to the trees with his Heart, with the Concept that he held.

  Protect, Alnea said. He was a man who lived to Protect. That was his core, his Serenity, and quite possibly, would become his Clarity, Impenetrability, and even his Infinity. Or at least a part of it. Regardless, he was, and would always remain a Protector. A Guardian. And if the trees so wished, he could become their Guardian too. But only if the trees responded. Only if they reached out to him, and talked once again. And so, the trees responded once again. This time, with much more enthusiasm.

  One, two, three… For the first time since he had first heard the voices of the trees, Alnea felt not just one, but a whole set of fluctuations surging out of the tree. It was as is his words, coupled with the Concept he represented, awakened something primal within the trees. An emotion, perhaps, or a desire to service. Maybe even a whole Concept in itself.

  In any case, his trick worked. Just as he had wished, the trees responded to his calls, sending waves after waves of fluctuations into his body, traveling all the way to his head, and into his Spirit World, before wrapping around his Spirit, inviting him to a different world altogether. A world that lay not in the physical realm, but within the collective consciousness of the trees, of the forest.

  Still, it was a different world, nonetheless. A world of endless greenery, and infinite vitality. A world where the only thing that could exist, were the trees themselves. And the guardian they had invited. Protect, he said, did he not? To become their Guardian? Then they would give him what he wished for. They would make him their Guardian. They would grant him the key to the forest. To the seal what lay hidden underneath them.

  But first, he had to pass their test. He had to prove that he was worthy of being their Guardian. Of holding on to the key, and protecting them from the harm that others of his kind were causing. Of…

  While the trees were going on a rant of their own, Alnea glanced around the strange world in a daze, wondering what had happened. Why did the trees not kick him out of the world of their consciousness? Why were they acting as if nothing had happened? They had just revealed one of their greatest secrets, and were even willing to share more with him… What had become of the shy trees that used to run away at just a mere mention of the seal?

  Oblivious to his thoughts—or maybe the trees were not so oblivious. They did share a connection with his consciousness and Spirit. Though even if they knew what he was thinking, the trees did not care. To them, all that mattered was the prosperity of their kind, of the forest that they comprised. And the decline of their enemies, of all those who dared to lay wanton destruction in their territory.

  He wished to be a Guardian, did he not? Then he must Protect them from the beasts of his kind. From the ignorant who were disturbing the balance of the forest, and were about to unleash that what lay underneath. He must protect the seal. And he must hurry. They did not have much time left. The seal was already showing signs of being corroded. If he did not stop them in time, then…

  Withdrawing his senses to himself, Alnea opened his eyes, and exhaled a heavy breath, before glancing at his teammates. Except for Yuri, who was better at controlling her emotions, and had already heard the voice of the trees once before, everyone else was staring at him with wide eyes. But that did not mean that she was not as surprised as the rest of the Star Seekers.

  “…I think I know the reason why the trees talk only to the Captain,” Karl said, with the rest nodding along with him.

  “The Concept of Protect…”

  “Becoming the Guardian of the forest…”

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  “What a strange request…”

  “Maybe the trees deliberately approached the Captain because they felt the breath of his Concepts in our battles.”

  “…These stupid trees. Obviously, I am the one most suited to be their Guardian. Why did they not approach me?”

  “…Maybe because they could see how unreliable you are?”

  “I remember that you broke the trunk of a tree yesterday. How about I help them exact their revenge, and gain their confidence?”

  “…I never thought that I would see a bunch of grown men discussing how to gain the confidence of trees one day,” Vestia said, not bothering to suppress her laughter. “What is next? Are you going to play with flowers?”

  “That does not sound like a bad idea,” Alnea said, joining Vestia in her laughs, while glancing at Yuri from the corner of his eyes. It looked like most of their worries had been for nought. Let alone failing to overcome their fears, the Star Seekers did not even panic in the first place. Was he underestimating his own teammates?

  “Maybe it would really earn their confidence.”

  “…How can you all be in the mood to joke around?” Ralph said, glancing at the trees around them with wary eyes. “Do you not think that we should be more worried about the fact that these trees are conscious. What if they are watching us right now?”

  “Why not try asking them?” Norren said, patting Ralph’s back with a laugh, prompting the latter to glare back at him.

  “I am serious. What if the trees have been watching us since we entered the Final World?”

  “And?” Norren said, shrugging his shoulders. “What difference would that make?”

  “These trees are conscious!”

  “So? They are still just trees.”

  “…You are impossibly stubborn,” Ralph said, before turning towards the rest of the Star Seekers. “What are we going to do about them?”

  “About what?”

  “About the trees!”

  “…Leave them be for now,” Yuri said, rolling her eyes at Alnea, as if to tell him that he had become happy a bit too early, before glancing at the trees. “As long as they do not cause any harm, there should not be anything to be worried about.”

  “As long as we do not cause any harm to them,” Cecilia said with a proud face, happy to correct Yuri’s mistake for once, before turning towards Alnea with a smug smile. “No wonder you have been asking us to restrain ourselves.”

  “…Though he probably heard their voices only recently, or he would not have been just warning us to be careful,” Vestia said, giggling at how Cecilia’s smile turned stiff, before glancing towards Alnea with an even wider smile. “Am I right, Captain?”

  “…Two days, to be exact,” Alnea said. “I have been hearing the voices of the trees for the past two days, and it is only today that I confirmed them not to be just a figment of my imagination.”

  “…Are you really going to become their Guardian?”

  “…I am not sure,” Alnea said, glancing at the trees, with a hint of hesitation in his voice. “I approached them with Concepts just now only to make everyone understand the gravity of the situation, and that we should not take the forest lightly. I never thought that they would give me such a test…”

  Alnea paused, and turned back towards his teammates before continuing.

  “Becoming the Guardian of the forest may sound like a good deal, especially with all the secrets that the trees are willing to reveal, but do not forget that we have a Trial to complete. Do you think we can spare time to run around and clear out the Wanderers causing wanton destruction in the forest?

  “Besides, have you forgotten how many trees you have destroyed along the way? How much destruction have we caused, even if involuntarily? Do you think that I will be able to pass their test without swinging a sword at myself? More importantly, learning the secrets of the forest may not entirely be a good thing. After all, we still have no clues as to why only I can hear their whispers…”

  “…It should be your Concepts—

  “That is just a guess, and a very bad one at that,” Alnea said, glancing towards the depth of the forest. “Be it the trees, the land, the rivers, the lakes, the swamps, and even the fog, all of them are a part of the forest, each with their own unique purpose. If one of them can form their own collected consciousness, the rest can do it too. And if one can reach out to the Wanderers invading their territory, so can the others.

  “If it really is as you said, that the trees reached out to me because of my Concepts, then why did none of you hear the other voices of the forest? Is it because your Concepts do not match? Or because you have not honed your Concepts enough? Regardless, of the thousands of Wanderers who challenged us, there are bound to be some who fulfil all the conditions. Consequently, there are bound to be some who will get their hands on the secrets of the forest… Do you understand what I am trying to say?”

  “…Then how should we deal with them?”

  “For now, let us continue with our previous plan. Just pay attention to not harm any trees, even when fighting. As for becoming a Guardian of the forest… that will have to depend on my Fate and Fortune.”