Tree Heart

In the Orphans' Village in Crookback Bog, a mass of black mist gathered out of thin air.

When it dispersed, three hunched, deformed, filthy witches stood outside the thatched house.

Even ugly, hideous Drowners would have looked graceful and beautiful beside them.

They grunted and muttered as they barged into the house. Anna immediately trembled and prostrated herself:

"Great Ladies!"

Brewess, as fat as an old sow, reached out a lizardlike hand with only three disgusting fingers and stroked an orphan curled up on a little bed:

"What a naughty child. Why are you sleeping in broad daylight?"

She ripped away the blanket, imagining the child's sweet screams.

But the terrified little fatty, his face covered in a rash with several spots scratched open, screamed and delivered a mouthful of foul-smelling vomit straight onto Brewess's face.

"Bastard!" The Crones overturned the other little beds one after another, and the children huddled together in terror.

For a moment, the room reeked to high heaven.

Not a single child was healthy!

"You damned bitch! How have you been raising these little things?"

Weavess, who wore a pointed hat and looked the most like a classic Western witch, flew into a rage. She seized Anna by the throat and demanded:

"You don't even have to worry about their food or clothes, and you still manage to do such a terrible job?

Useless! You've betrayed our trust!"

The curse mark on Anna's arm began to glow. The Crones seemed intent on ending her life for good.

"I wouldn't recommend that."

The surrounding elements suddenly stirred. Fringilla walked into the thatched house, holding an orb of light that radiated danger:

"My companions are carrying out your commission. Do you intend to break our agreement?"

Whispering Hillock, the cave beneath the roots.

Countless roots sprawled through the cave, sustaining an utterly bizarre, rust-colored plant bulb covered in spikes at its center.

The source of all the whispers was this thing that could be called the "Heart of the Tree."

"Someone hired me to end you, but I'd like to hear your explanation." The White Wolf generally did not kill rational beings, even monsters.

"I have nothing to explain. Those three witches are the real heretics!" Seeing the White Wolf's astonishment, Tree Heart spoke with a voice full of hatred:

"Did you think you were the first people they sent to try to kill me?

I know everything that happens on this land!

I am the true Lady of the Wood! The Learned One! The All-Knowing Lady of the Wood!

They are nothing but despicable rebels!

They are hurting the orphans and your companion. Free me! Resurrect me!

I can save them!

There is still time..."

The White Wolf wavered. Tree Heart was indeed rational and had demonstrated the ability to know things before they happened.

But freeing Tree Heart would go against Chen Xu's plan...

"You don't actually believe it, do you?" Chen Xu urged the White Wolf to act.

He had used [Detection]. This Tree Heart appeared to be a powerful being who had fallen from the [Mortal Transcendence] tier to the [Qi Sense] tier!

Missing out on points that fell into his lap like this would shave years off his life.

"Then who should I believe?" Geralt had lost his ability to judge:

"You?"

He suddenly realized that Chen Xu had been directing him for far too long, leading him around by the nose. His ninety years of life experience gave him a vague sense that something was seriously wrong with Chen Xu!

A young blacksmith from White Orchard, who had been chased around by Drowners when they first met.

By their next meeting, he had become an expert who nearly defeated him?

He clearly had no magic, yet he could use [Whirl] and [Burst] exactly like his own!

And he clearly understood witches, witchers, alchemy, forging... practically everything! Yet during their first meeting, he had actually thought of making a move on a witcher's daughter?

Poisoning children without hesitation... there were far too many things that made no sense, including the unusual hostility he was showing Tree Heart now.

Looking at the doubt in the White Wolf's eyes, Chen Xu narrowed his own.

[You used skill points ×2. Your [Deception] increased to Lv.3.

You attempted to comprehend the skill [Art of Deception]...

Your will could not bear the strain. Comprehension failed!]

Fuck!

"You don't have to trust me, but you should trust Fringilla." Chen Xu endured the swelling pain in his head and activated his max-level [Deception]:

"She trusts us, and she's still protecting the Orphans' Village. If we're going to change the plan, she has a right to know!

Otherwise, we'd be putting her in danger!

Have you forgotten the people in Downwarren who died horribly in their dreams? And you're pitying a monster like this?

We never had a choice."

Chen Xu drew his sword and charged at Tree Heart. Geralt's expression shifted uncertainly.

The eerie Tree Heart immediately turned hostile, summoning a great swarm of crab-spider-like Endrega Workers from the cracks in the cave to protect itself.

The White Wolf could not stand by and watch Chen Xu get killed. He could only move to meet them.

The larger of these insectlike creatures exceeded Domoc Giant Lizards in size, while even the smaller ones were nearly as big as calves.

Their shells were extremely hard and were also one of the raw materials used to make draconid leather.

Inlaying their chitinous scales into the Wyvern hide in Chen Xu's storage space would give it physical protection almost equivalent to genuine dragon hide.

Agitated and in no mood for a prolonged fight, Geralt maneuvered several times to gather the swarm of monsters together.

He took out his treasured magical alchemical bomb, [Dragon's Dream], and hurled it!

A small explosion dispersed the combustible gas inside, immediately followed by an Igni Sign!

BOOM!!!

Both the White Wolf and Chen Xu were flung away by the blast, while Endregas large and small suffered countless casualties!

This was a witcher getting serious.

The oxygen in the cave was rapidly consumed, and wind rushed in through the entrance. Even the ceiling was scorched black.

That reckless brute!

Chen Xu's vision went black, his head rang, and he felt as though all his internal organs had shifted.

When he finally recovered his senses and opened his eyes, he saw Geralt holding his silver sword upright, ready to strike Tree Heart!

He was going to steal the kill!

Although Geralt had dealt most of the damage, Chen Xu still hurriedly called out to stop him:

"Wait!"

"Why? Isn't this what you wanted?" Geralt did not lower his sword.

Was this the result of his weakened luck, or divine interference with his abuse of the plot?

Chen Xu wondered whether some unknown being had noticed his abnormal progress and was deliberately making things difficult for him.

He needed a suitable reason.

[Deception] activated:

"This is our bargaining chip. Go back to the Orphans' Village first. Leave this to me."

He took out the receiver for the magical listening device. "Once the Crones keep their promise and lift Anna's curse, we'll get rid of Tree Heart.

Otherwise, we'll free it... and give it a chance, too."

Failing to turn [Deception] into a technique was actually a good thing. If he used [Art of Deception] to influence Geralt's will, Geralt, whose attributes were all higher than his, would most likely notice, causing a complete falling-out.

The White Wolf stared at him for a few moments before finally riding away. Chen Xu began clearing the battlefield.

Two [Green Mutagens], a pile of chitinous shells, and several bottles of Endrega venom that even witchers could not withstand.

Tree Heart was still roaring defiantly. He plugged his left ear and pressed the listening device's receiver to his right:

While he was gathering the spoils, Geralt had already reached the Orphans' Village.

"White-haired one! Have you betrayed us as well?"

The Crones were confronting the sorceress. Seeing the White Wolf return without sensing Tree Heart's will fade, they demanded harshly.

"It's a rational being. I didn't want to act."

Geralt did not entirely trust the Downwarren villagers' hostility toward Tree Heart; they were all followers of the Crones, who could manipulate them however they pleased.

"But you're very lucky. My companion seems very eager to kill it."

The White Wolf showed them a spike cut from Tree Heart and threatened:

"Now, lift Anna's curse, and we'll finish it off for good."

The Crones' faces were shrouded in shadow, leaving only their voices to convey their thoughts and feelings.

Now their voices were trembling with rage:

"Such audacity... in all these years, you're the only ones who've dared play games and bargain with us!

Very well! Such courage deserves a reward!"

Whispess, the oldest and most senior among them, seized Anna's arm with a claw like a werewolf's.

A spell as grating as nails scraping glass sounded from behind her mask, and a wisp of corrosive-looking smoke rose from Anna's arm.

The white-haired old woman screamed and struggled in agony, but Whispess's claw tightened further!

When the claw released her, the curse mark had vanished!

"Do it." Geralt glanced at Anna's arm and gave the order through the listening device.

At Whispering Hillock, Moonblade plunged all the way in!

[You killed the Qi Sense Middle Stage (Mortal Transcendence Lower Stage) [Learned Crone]. Experience +400!

You obtained [Heart of Nature] ×1 and [Soul Juice] 487 L!]

Chen Xu tightly gripped an indescribable crystal, neither wood nor something else, filled with an allure of life.

[Heart of Nature] (Blue) Rare-grade equipment × potion ingredient

A being as ancient as life itself, a wisdom that knew everything that happened on this land.

Equippable at Mortal Tier Peak: Spirit +2, intermediate natural element affinity, ancient druidic wisdom

Can be brewed into a Qi Sense potion: [Spirit of the Land], Spirit +4, advanced natural element affinity

Can be brewed into a Mortal Transcendence potion: [Force of Nature], Spirit +6, advanced natural element affinity

Sale price: 1,850 points

Even the killer could still receive nature's blessing. Such was nature's magnanimity.