"Life listens when the heart speaks."
The grove had changed.
Where once his roots reached only a few dozen paces, now they stretched far — through earth, rock, and stream — touching life across nearly a kilometer in every direction. Every pulse of Mana he released seeped deeper, merging with the soil, blending with the very rhythm of the land.
What had been a small sanctuary was now a living domain.
The air within it felt different — calmer, softer, richer with energy. Grass grew thicker, leaves shone greener, and even the beasts that wandered too close seemed hesitant to leave.
To the beastmen, it felt like a blessing.
To the tree, it felt like… coming alive.
---
He had begun to see their emotions like faint ripples of color across his awareness.
Rhaegor's quiet determination glowed like tempered iron.
Thorn's guarded instincts shimmered in sharp bursts of orange.
Maera's healing presence flowed like pale blue light whenever she mended the injured.
And Liri — Liri was golden. Bright. Untainted.
Through his new Resonance Field, he didn't just sense these things.
He could influence them.
It started small: calming a child's nightmare, steadying a hunter's heartbeat, softening arguments before they began. He never imposed his will — he simply listened, and the grove responded.
"So this… is harmony."
When his emotions stilled, the forest did too.
When he focused, leaves fluttered in rhythm with his pulse.
He was no longer just a tree that grew — he was the center of a living system.
---
Over the following moons, the beastmen grew to depend on the grove.
They built sturdier shelters of wood and bone.
Kara scouted the borders, marking safe paths with stones.
Maera taught the young to use herbs found near the great roots — herbs that only grew where his Mana pooled thickest.
And when someone was ill or lost, they prayed.
At first, it was not to him.
They prayed to the nameless forest spirit — an echo of what they once believed.
But the whispers soon changed.
"The Great Tree watches."
"The Great Tree heals."
"The Great Tree shelters us."
Their faith was quiet, but faith nonetheless.
Each word carried a subtle warmth through his trunk — a strange, uplifting force that wasn't Mana. It was different… lighter, purer. He didn't yet know its name, but it resonated deeply with him.
"So belief… too, is energy."
---
One evening, as twilight painted the grove gold, Rhaegor stood before him.
The wolf-man chief placed his hand against the bark, his rough palm scarred from battles past.
"We owe you more than we can give," he murmured, voice low and full of weariness. "Whatever spirit guards this tree, may it keep my children safe."
The tree listened — and for the first time, responded consciously.
A gentle breeze stirred from nowhere. The leaves swayed softly, catching the sunset's glow in a cascade of amber light. The air shimmered faintly with Mana.
Rhaegor's eyes widened.
He fell silent, then knelt, head bowed.
From that moment, the grove was no longer just a refuge.
It was a temple.
---
Within, the tree's awareness deepened once again.
His connection to every heartbeat, every drop of dew, every whisper of the wind grew sharper. The boundary between self and world began to blur.
[Domain Expansion: 1km radius established.]
[Passive Effect: Mana Density +12%.]
[Faith Energy Detected.]
Faith.
The word glowed faintly in his perception, new yet familiar — as if an ancient part of him had just awakened from slumber.
And deep in his core, a voice like flowing water whispered:
"Growth is not only of roots and branches… but of hearts."
The leaves rustled softly in answer.
He had begun as a seed that sought to understand life.
Now, life itself sought to understand him.