When Donald arrived, the Tree of Life, already rooted and transformed into a massive tree, sent him a mental message.
"Master... I have taken root. Everything within the Nature Barrier is my domain..."
The Tree of Life's branches and leaves spread like a canopy, shading about an acre of sky around it. In Donald's eyes, a faint natural radiance emanated from the tree, covering an area with a one-kilometer radius and nearly enclosing the entire small estate.
After speaking with the Tree of Life, Donald learned that it had formed the Nature Barrier by wielding the energy of nature. His own units living within it would gain a boost from the forces of nature, while enemies would be weakened to some extent. It would also immediately detect and sound an alarm about any hostile presence entering the barrier.
Another advantage was that farmland created within the Nature Barrier would yield crops that grew faster and more vigorously than those outside it. For an estate whose primary industry was farming, this was nothing short of a divine tool!
"This is much more powerful than the Tree of Life in the game! Tree of Life, can you still create Wisps? And can they exist permanently?"
The Tree of Life gently swayed its crown, as if nodding, and sent its answer through their mental connection.
"Yes... As long as you give me... a Soul Fragment... and energy, I can also... absorb energy from the surrounding environment... But... that is too slow..."
Donald was delighted. Didn't this mean he could keep summoning permanent units from now on?
But before his excitement could get the better of him, a message from the Book of Truth shattered his dream!
It turned out that for a living being in the Book of Truth to exist permanently, the appropriate amount of soul power had to be paid. The less intelligent the being, the less soul power it required. Ordinary, small Soul Fragments contained incomplete soul imprints. Even if summoned, their internal energy would drain away over time, like water leaking from a basket. No matter how much water one poured in, it would all seep out. Without an outside source, they would eventually disappear. Only when dozens or even hundreds of Soul Fragments gathered together to form a complete soul with a fully functioning energy cycle and structure could it escape this rule.
However, units like the Tree of Life, which were half living being and half building, were a special case. As a plant life-form, it could absorb nutrients and energy from the earth, sunlight, and air for its own use, so the Book of Truth made an exception for it.
As for the lowest-tier population unit in the game, the Elemental Wisp, it was a life-form made of energy, so the Tree of Life could also give birth to one using a Magic Core. Because these beings were energy life-forms created by the Force of Nature, they could gather around an Ancient and survive for a long time by absorbing the faint energy it gave off. However, their lifespans were limited, so they did not count as permanent summons.
Higher-tier, more intelligent population units and troops could not survive through the Tree of Life. The energy needed to sustain them was astronomical compared to what the lowly Elemental Wisps required. Even the Tree of Life could not bear that burden.
Donald had thought that once he summoned buildings from Warcraft, he could use resources like golden timber to produce population units and buildings himself, just like in the game. Who would have guessed that the Book of Truth would leave him no loophole to exploit?
"Truly worthy of being an artifact! Its rules are airtight!" Donald grumbled, disappointed.
Even after summoning buildings from various races, he still had to exchange soul power and Magic Beast Cores or energy crystals through the Book of Truth to create troops, research upgrades, or buy items. If his soul power fell short of the requirement, those troops would also be temporary summons, unable to remain once their energy ran out.
The one benefit was that if he could provide local candidates who met the requirements of the building's race, they could be trained through that building into Warcraft troops, gaining the talents and skills of those units. All Donald had to pay was some energy, rather than Magic Beast Cores. In effect, this would give him quite a few more permanently available units.
Of course, troops trained this way would never be as utterly loyal as permanent summons, ready to die for their master without hesitation. Donald would have to choose his candidates carefully and strictly—or control them by other means.
Given the situation, Donald wasn't in a hurry to build the Ancient of War, the Ancient of Lore, or other buildings that produced troops.
"Master... Shall I begin building... the Moon Well?"
As Donald pondered, the Tree of Life asked him a question.
"The Moon Well? Does it work the same way as it does in the game?"
Donald came back to himself and asked the Tree of Life. He learned about the Moon Well's purpose and importance.
As a population building for the Night Elf race, the Book of Truth had adapted it to this world's laws and made it a companion structure to the Tree of Life. Not only could it help the Tree of Life convert moonlight into nourishment, but it also increased its absorption of free-floating energy in the air. The Moon Well was essentially an energy absorption and conversion device for the Tree of Life, greatly increasing the rate at which it gathered energy and promoting its evolution. The Tree of Life was therefore eager to have one.
The Moon Well had more uses than that. Its greatest benefit to Donald was that it could produce the same wondrous Moon Essence found in the game—in other words, the water in the well.
Moon Essence was a gentle, life-giving energy liquid that most living things could drink directly. It could restore vitality and mana, and had the miraculous ability to stimulate the growth of all kinds of natural plants. Although real Moon Essence could not be produced in the same quantities or restore as quickly as it did in the game, as long as there was moonlight, the well was like an endless spring of alchemical potions.
With so many benefits to building a Moon Well, Donald had no reason to refuse. He immediately ordered the Book of Truth to begin construction.
A beautiful stone well, three meters by three meters and resembling a swimming pool, appeared in the center of the tree's crown, wrapped in trailing vines.
Donald asked the Tree of Life to lower him to the Moon Well on one of its branches. He had wanted to see how it worked and taste the Moon Essence that restored vitality and mana in the game. But it wasn't night yet, so the well couldn't gather moonlight to produce Moon Essence. It was empty.
Just then, the sound of hoofbeats came from afar. Donald ordered the Tree of Life to conceal the Moon Well, then lower him to the ground.
The visitor soon reached the Tree of Life. It was Code, the loyal butler of House Merlinar.
Slightly out of breath, the butler said, "Young master, Sir Jesse from the Noble Council Administration Office in Giant Stone City just arrived. I've asked him to wait a while at the estate!"
Donald was taken aback. "Jesse's here? Did he say why?"
"Yes, young master. Sir Jesse came to ask what you'd like to name the estate!"
Donald knew that private estates usually had permanent names passed down through the generations. The two estates he had purchased had no names, because their previous owners had both met with misfortune and left in haste. When the royal family put them up for sale, they had only been given provisional names based on the original owners' territories.
Now both estates belonged to Donald, and there had been no word of trouble for many days. So Sir Jesse had come to ask their owner what he wanted to call them and record the names in the official registry, formally confirming them.
Of course, the knight had come in person to show the estate's owner great respect. It was also a chance to get closer to Donald, the renowned noble mage of North Shire, and strengthen their friendship. Otherwise, he could have simply sent a messenger to ask.
"Now that the Tree of Life has been built, the estate will mainly be founded on Night Elf structures. So why not call it Nightfall?"
Donald settled on the estate's name after a moment's thought.
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