The projections we saw of that overly creepy guy really got us good. We were all rather surprised, and we even stopped eating as a result! However, we swiftly went back to normal as we discussed things pragmatically.
"An apprentice from the Luminous Kingdom's Greatest Magician?" The Gnome Chief wondered.
"And apparently, he's also some sort of Warlock that has formed a contract with the Demon King of Miasma. He's doing as he was told, to destroy this forest…" Said Titania.
"He was formidable but he still ran away, he's pretty pathetic." Said Titan. "But maybe there's a reason behind why he didn't prioritized attacking Lily and getting into the village…"
"Maybe he's looking for something else?" I wondered. "After all if he wanted to destroy this forest, why not go for the surface? He simply continued moving underground…"
"Hmmm…" Titania began to think, as if she might had figured out something.
Titania began to think about something until she finally spoke about it, revealing her mind to us.
"It seems that this man is really a warlock of the Demon King. They were not that rare back then…" She sighed. "When the Hero was still alive and all. After the rehashing, I never thought they would form a Cult around him, but it seems that I was wrong.
Players are a big threat for the Demon King, but it seems that even now with a System and the Gods, he still has managed to seep his evil influence into the Kingdom."
"So an apprentice of this kingdom's greatest magician or something? Who's that?" Asked Titan.
"Hmm… I've heard things, our village has kept some contact with a few villages of humans." Said the chief of the village. "I've heard of him, they call him Merlinus, he is a Sage, an old human born almost a hundred years ago. He grew powerful and protected the Kingdom from the monsters. He taught magic, skills, and leveling stuff to the people as well, and he's praised as a savior or hero, even."
"Oh?" Titania wondered.
"It is also said that the old bastard made several schools of magic, where he taught magic to many people, and took many apprentices. That lanky lad might had been all smug about it but it is nothing special to be that old man's apprentice when he took hundreds." Sighed the chief.
"Nonetheless, he's dangerous if he's capable of conjuring Miasma out of his magic, this might be a power he gained by making a contract with the Demon King of Miasma, of course."
"A foe that controls Miasma…" Acorn said.
"And he can use it to directly tame monsters and brainwash them, from what I saw." Said Lily.
"Drakons are very strong underworld monsters so he's surely powerful enough to take control of them leisurely…" Titania said. "He's not someone we can easily fight…"
"Though he still ran away from Lily… He's cowardly by nature." Achlys said.
"If he's not aiming at the surface and going underground, the only thing I can guess is that he's targeting the Roots of the Forest." Said Titania.
"The Roots?" Asked Acorn.
"Yes… The Forest of Beginnings is more important than many make it up to be. This continent was once covered by an enormous Forest, that's the Forest of Beginnings. Now what remains is its very core, the true name of the Forest of Beginnings is… Verdant's Core. It is an incredibly important place to the entire continent- no, the entire world as a whole!" Said Titania.
"In this forest is where over eighty percent of all the spirits of the world are born, every tiny spirit you see, every little light floating aimlessly, they're part of the greater world surrounding us. When they die off… when the forest dies off, without the spirits to maintain the entire world's elements, not even the gods will be able to stop a Second Fragmentation."
"F-Fragmentation?" I asked.
"And this forest is THAT important?!" Titan asked.
"Why do you think the Demon King is constantly targeting us?" Sighed the chief. "If we were some novice level forest why he would bother so much?"
"Verdant's Core…" I sighed. "So this forest is even more vital to the world than I imagined?" I wondered.
"Much more…" Sighed Titania, we have been mostly fine for a while, but he's tightening his grip now. If he's asking the help of Cultists, we might begin to get swarmed by them soon enough. And if he got his hands over that Kingdom, he might even brainwash royalty and make that entire place our enemy." Said Titania.
"That bastard…" The chief sighed.
"But he's targeting the roots?" Acorn reiterated.
"Yes, the roots of this forest are very important, it is the combined roots of all the trees in here, which are interconnected into a beautiful thread of life and spiritual essence. It is of extreme importance to not damage it. If he sent a cultist here targeting that place… Then I am very sorry, but could it be possible to hurry and go there?" Titania wondered, feeling suddenly nervous.
"Wait, now!?" Achlys asked. "I've got go cook dinner for my children…"
"I am… I guess I can stay some more." Titan said.
"I also have to go make food for my family…" I sighed. "But if this is a threat, then give me forty minutes and I'll be back."
"Thank you Planta. Everyone, the fate of the forest depends in all of your hands." Said Titania.
It seems that if we don't end up stopping that guy from getting into the Roots of the Forest, there'll be only demise awaiting this place, and if the forest ends up drying out and dying, then the entire continent- no, the world could be slightly… a bit doomed.
But what is in the roots that he wants to do there? Merely infecting it with Miasma won't work, right? The Tree of Beginnings is very powerful… Unless there's something special down there he wants to reach? Some sort of weakness… or something even worse than that?