Laying the bed that had been prepared, Shiro gritted her teeth from the pain. Curling up into a foetal position, she clutched the area near her heart as it felt like it was about to burst.
With her abnormal condition, Dimos had quickly called for a medic but they had reported that her condition was strange even to him.
Dismissing the medic, Dimos waited in the room anxiously as Shiro’s condition continued to deteriorate.
Time passed as the sun eventually set.
Thankfully, Shiro’s breathing started to stabilise as her body relaxed slightly. Her face was still pale but she was no longer in pain.
“What happened?” Shiro asked.
Slowly opening her eyes, she could see Dimos’ worried gaze.
“Don’t move, your body is still weak.” He reminded.
“Mn.” Nodding her head, Shiro sighed and enjoyed the feeling of being able to breath once more.
‘The hell was that?’ She thought to herself as she had never suffered something like that before.
“So do you know what happened or is this new to you as well?” Dimos asked.
“Well if I knew I was going to almost die the moment I got close to the tree I wouldn’t have walked up to it now would I?” Shiro chuckled while sitting up.
“Mn, do you think that it’s something to do with your constitution? You have a bunch of spirits circling around you all the time when night falls after all. And speaking of which, I don’t see any spirits around here.” Dimos said while glancing out of the window.
Normally, spirits would be abundant in the Section of Life, especially since the forest is just outside of this crater town. However, not a single spec could be seen.
Thinking about it for a moment, Shiro wondered if it was because her body was technically that of a spirit’s. Humans could walk up to the tree while she couldn’t due to the fact that she was a spirit.
‘There must be something at the tree which drains the land and acts like poison to spirits. Otherwise it wouldn’t explain why there is a lack of spirits around this town.’ Shiro thought with a frown.
“Maybe. But unless I find a solution for this, I don’t think it’s wise for me to approach the tree.” Shiro sighed.
“Mn, thankfully, this place is close to the top so it shouldn’t affect you too much. But if it does, tell me ok?”
“I will don’t worry. I’ll go out of the town for some fresh air if that’s ok.” Shiro said while standing up.
“Can you handle it?” Dimos asked as he was still worried about her current state.
“Don’t worry, I’ll be right back. I’m just going out for some fresh air.” Shiro smiled and left the building.
Making her way out of the town, she saw on the edge of the crater and took a deep breath before sighing.
Narrowing her eyes at the tree, she wondered what else she didn’t know about her current body.
So far, she knew that most of her powers were sealed away and she couldn’t use them. However, her passive influence over spirits were still active so that means she was still physically a spirit.
Therefore, whatever is harmful to a spirit is harmful to her.
Glancing back at the forest, she spotted a few stray motes of light.
Noticing that they seemed to want to come closer to her but hesitated, Shiro wondered if it was because of the tree in the crater.
Standing up, she walked closer to the spirits.
“Are you afraid of the tree in the crater?” Shiro asked with a soft smile.
Seemingly unable to answer her question, the mote on danced around her before floating into the forest.
Raising her eyebrow, Shiro shrugged her shoulder and was about to go back when the spirit appeared once more.
Guessing that it wanted her to follow it, Shiro debated for a moment before following the spirit.
Drawing her sword she kept herself on guard in case anything appeared that may harm her.
Venturing deeper into the forest, more and more spirits started to appear as Shiro felt rather invigorated. This was a completely different feeling she had when compared to the tree in the crater.
Looking down, she pulled her skirt up and could see her thigh wound healing very slowly but it was already much faster than what it should be.
‘Strange…’ Shiro thought to herself and continued to follow the spirits. It was unknown how long she had walked for but her thigh wound had already healed by 20%.
At this point, spirits were now an abundance. Dancing around her like cheerful children, they seemed to urge her to follow them faster.
Climbing over a few large tree roots, Shiro noticed that the trees and plants around their current location were much bigger than what had been seen in the forest before. Making her way past some trees, she found herself in a small clearing of sorts. There was a single tree that had a small pond next to it.
The large roots of the tree formed a cage of sorts and one of the larger roots acted like a small bridge. On the bridge sat a woman who seemed to have a dress made from the tree roots and vines. She had long blond hair which was brown on the edges and green eyes.
Smiling at Shiro, the woman crossed her legs and smiled.
“I’ve never seen a young spirit already taking a human form.” She said while gesturing to the small motes of light.
“And I’ve never personally seen a dryad before.” Shiro chuckled since the woman in front of her matches the description of dryad in her mind.
“You know of my kind? Interesting. I am indeed a dryad and you’re a young spirit who has attained a human form without any source of divinity. Perhaps that is why these younglings are attracted by you.” The dryad smiled and tapped one of the motes of light.
“Why have they brought me here?” Shiro asked.
“Because you were tainted and almost died.”
“Tainted?”
“The tree in the bottom of the crater has been tampered with. I had wanted the spirits to call you here sooner but it’s rather hard for them to appear before you in the day so they had to wait. Thankfully, you left the town which gave them a chance to call out for you. If not, you would have continued to stay near the corrosion without any kind of protection which would have resulted in your death. I would have given it two days before you died. Unlike you, the younger spirits are much more susceptible to the corrosion so the moment they enter the town, their life would have been extinguished.” The dryad shook her head.
“So why did you want to call me over here.” Shiro asked as there was no way a dryad would call her here for nothing.
“I just wanted to call you here and warn you about the town. You should stay near me for a while so that my divinity can heal you and then you can leave. The town is lost.”
Surprised at the fact that the dryad didn’t call her here for anything other than a warning, Shiro raised her eyebrow.
“The town is lost? Is there no way to fix it?” Shiro asked.
“Nope. The one who caused this had brought a dread sapling from the null area and planted it inside the tree. The dread sapling will continue to drain the land of its nutrients until the area becomes the same as the null area.” The dryad shook her head.
“What do you mean by null area and dread sapling?”
Both of these terms were unfamiliar to Shiro and they meant nothing to her right now.
“The null area is the area outside of the Sections. It is completely devoid of life and nothing can survive there. As for the dread sapling, it’s something that has been in the null area for a long time. While it may not be harmful to humans, it’s extremely dangerous to nature, spirits and monsters as it drains your vitality. When I said that you were tainted, it was because you had inhaled the air that was produced by the dread sapling. It will eat away at you from the inside until you die. I’m sure you felt it but your heart should have felt like it was going to burst right? That’s the effects of this air that you breathed.” The dryad narrowed her eyes as Shiro couldn’t help but frown at the thought.
“There has to be a way to solve this right?” Shiro asked with furrowed brows.
“There might be but I don’t know the solution. Just leave this place, the longer you stay the more dangerous it becomes for you. After a certain point, not even I can heal you with my divinity.” The dryad shook her head.
Waving her hand, roots wrapped around her and she disappeared from the area.
Staying silent for a moment, Shiro started to walk back to the town.
