The nearest tree shivered, its trunk unfolding like muscle. Sap dripped down in slow rivulets, and the outline of a face—smooth, eyeless, and slightly human, was etched on the centre. When I saw it, the image of one of the Heart Trees from A Song of Fire and Ice came to mind.Now that I think about it, didn't Nephis possess some Targaryan traits?
Silver hair, last of her bloodline, obsession with fire, is a terrible person, friends with a Dragon and has connections to grand prophecy that surrounds the end of the world. Well I'll be damned.
Bitch might just be Azor Ahai.
"Adam, snap out of whatever bullshit you're daydreaming about, we're moving."
"Huh? Oh, yeah, alright let's do this."
After raising the UnshadowedCrucifix, I gave us our standard blessings and Notarizations. Then, I conjured the Quill of Alzuhod and wrote a "prophecy" that we will get the Memory on our first kill. Then we locked onto the creature that seemed slighlty more spread apart from the rest and snuck towards it.
Only, it was the one to take the initative.
The Sap-Spirit lurched toward us, roots tearing free from the ground with a wet snap. It was tall but not fast. Sasrir darted left, his shadows trailing behind him like a tattered cloak. He sliced through one of its arm-roots, and the sap sprayed in shimmering arcs. The Spirit hissed but didn't cry out — it didn't feel like a creature of pain, more like one of slow, inevitable hunger.
I lifted the Unshadowed Crucifix. It glowed faintly in my hand, the holy light already prickling at the edges of my skin. "Blessed fire," I murmured. "May you burn responsibly."
A line of white-gold flame lanced out, catching the Spirit square in the chest. The fire burned cleanly, and the scent that followed was sweet — burnt sugar and cedar. The Spirit convulsed once and fell still, its form collapsing inward until it was just a melted husk.
[You have slain an Awakened Monster-Degenerate Dryad]
The other three stirred, but only slightly. One began to drag itself toward us, but the effort seemed half-hearted, its movements sluggish.
Sasrir flicked sap from his blade. "These things are strong, but not very bright."
"Like politicians," I said.
He tutted. "Now now, don't get all political on me."
Our banter was cut short when three new roots burst out of the ground and swiped at us. Sasrir turned into a shadow to harmlessly glide over his one, but I had to tuck and roll the two aiming for me. Lurching back to my feet, I sent a barrage of holy fireballs at the approaching monster, causing it to light up in light, heat and a sickly sugar smell.
[You have slain an Awakened Monster-Degenerated Dryad.]
In the meantime, Sasrir had flown over to third Dryad and stabbed it a dozen times in the dark, making it shudder and then wilt over, dead on the spot. Soul damage was a nasty thing, followed only by Mental Damage, which was why Sin of Solace was so badass.
'Yeah, I definitely want to get that jade sword in the future. I can treat my own madness in the future after all.'
"No Memory?" Sasrir asked, coming back towards me.
"No such luck it seems. We'll have to go deeper, maybe fight some stronger variants. The ones I heard about were Devils, since they could use pyshic attacks from afar-there is a reason why the Hunters call them Sap Spirits."
"Alright then, let's go while there's still good light left in the day."
We moved deeper into the grove, following the faint trail of sticky footprints and the smell of burnt caramel. The air grew warmer, thicker — not chokingly so, just dense enough that every breath felt like inhaling syrup. The soft golden light filtering through the branches had shifted to a deeper hue, closer to amber.
"I don't like how pretty this is," Sasrir said. "The City never looks nice unless it's planning something."
"Maybe it's a peace offering," I proposed, "Maybe the Dryads know we're coming and decided to submit?."
"Or it's just a trap" he grunted back.
We passed what must have been a nest — half a dozen smaller Dryads slumped over in various states of decay, roots coiled protectively around shards of amber. Whatever the Devil-class version was, it had clearly been feeding on its lesser kin.
At the grove's heart, the path widened into a hollow shaped like a bowl. Sap pooled at the bottom, reflecting the warped canopy above. In the reflection, the trees didn't move quite right — they shifted just a bit too slow, as if the image was thinking about catching up.
Sasrir suddenly froze beside me, the shadowscovering his face shifitng gently, like water being pushed. "Listener is acting up" he warned me, summoning a shadow blade in one hand and a Steel Memento in another.
"Guess we're here." The air vibrated faintly, like standing near a church bell that had just been struck. " These things have a psychic field, don't listen to whatever you hear."
The Crucifix pulsed at my side, its light dimming and brightening as if to steady my mind. I made a small warding sign out of habit. The whispering started almost immediately after.
—You could rest here—
"Not today," I said aloud.
—Warmth, safety, roots, peace—
Sasrir tilted his head. "They always sound so nice before trying to murder us."
"Customer service is important."
The sap at the bottom of the hollow rippled, and something began to rise — slow and deliberate. At first it looked like a statue made of amber, but as it moved, long cords of root and resin stretched between its limbs. Its face was smoother than the others, and it smiled.
"Well," Sasrir said, gripping his blades tighter. "Time for another prophecy?"
I held up the Quill of Alzuhod and quickly scribbled a new line in the air: We will win, and receive our Memory. The words glowed briefly, then vanished into the air.
The Sap Spirit raised its hands, and the world tilted. Not physically — just perceptually. For a moment I wasn't standing on earth but sinking in warm sap up to my knees, hearing echoes of a thousand other voices whispering about growth and merging.
Sasrir's shout cut through the illusion. "Snap out of it!"
I blinked, raised the Crucifix, and fired. The beam lanced across the hollow, burning through the haze and into the creature's chest. The psychic field warped and cracked, breaking like glass.
The Spirit retaliated with a screech that wasn't sound so much as pressure. The ground rippled, and roots lashed toward us — faster than before, sharper. Sasrir's shadows danced, slicing and deflecting the strikes while I conjured a circle of fire around us.
"Adam," he called, "this thing isprodding at my head, keep yourself self, I can't divert much attention."
"Got it!"
Note to self: don't let Sasrir hold the Sin of Solace in the future.
True to being two whole Classes above the previous Dryads, this one was much faster and stronger, and had double the roots. The oneSasrir had sliced was halfway through stitching itself back tgether, ochre sap serving as an adhesive, so I made sure to burn that one first.
The Degenerated Dryad screeched again, making my ears pop and nose start bleeding, but I pressed on regardless. If the Unshadowed Crucifix's blood tax was good for one thing, it increased my pain tolerance and dizzyness resistance.
Sasrir trembled at the screech before snarling and ferociously lunging forward, blades cleaving downwards with no regard for defence. He managed to get within two feet of the Dryad before a deceptively fast root slammed into his chest, knocking him back with an ugly crack, but I repaid the favour with by summoning Holy Fire right in it's face. Swaying wildly, the monster once again tried to lull my mind with an illusion, but even after my surroundings blurred I kept spamming the thaumaturgic spells blindly.
After the sound of two impacts and explosions, the illusion shattered to reveal Sasrir back on his feet and closer to the Dryad than ever. He dashed forward, shadows rippling under his feet, and drove both blades into the Spirit's torso. It howled — now audibly — and tried to wrench free, but I joined in, channeling another blast of holy flame into the wound.
The explosion was bright, hot, and sticky.
When the smoke cleared, the Devil-class Sap Spirit was gone.
[You have slain an Awakened Devil-Degenerated Dryad]
[You have received a Memory: Regenerative Bloom]
Sasrir wiped sap off his cheek, gently holding his ribs with the other hand. "Well that was a mess. How was the result?"
"The Quill worked like a charm-got the Memory."
He wiped a small dribble of blood off his mouth. "Hand it over to me then, this hurts like a bitch."
I summoned the Memory and an amber crystal appeared in my hand, with a small sprout seemingly crystalized inside it. After admiring it against the light for a second, I tossed it over to Sasrir.
Catching it, he sighed warmly as his channeled Essence charged the Memory, and a soft golden glow was cast on him. After around a minute, he opened his eyes and passed it back to me. "That's pretty good."
Memory Rank: Awakened.
Memory Tier: IV.
Memory Type: Tool.
Memory Description: [From the Forest of the Heart God came many miraculous gifts, and the Deity shared them all generously. But when the end times came, even the most pure and pacifistic bounties were tainted and turned towards war.]
Memory Enchantments: [Soothing Ichor], [Verdant]
[Soothing Ichor Description: The sap produces by this amber heals the body and soothes the soul and mind, but the sap is slow to regenerate after use.]
[Verdant Description: Imbued with the power of Life, this amber can passively boost the recovery of its' wielder in body and Essence even while not in use (does not work while stored inside the Soul Sea)]
***********************************************
If you're enjoying the novels I post, please consider supporting me on Patreon 🙏
Your support helps me bring more webnovels that aren't available on this platform, along with more chapters every day and better translations in the future.
Even a few supporters would mean a lot and keep things going.
[email protected]/Innercircle03