Free Web NovelChapter 90: Waking Up
When Ren awoke, he was shocked to discover he’d been sleeping for several hours. His eyes opened groggily and he took a moment to figure out where he was. It felt like he was back in his past, a worry-free kid who was always quick to smile, before he’d faced real challenges or been wounded by life.
Rubbing his eyes, Ren spotted Kestrel seated in front of him, her chin resting on her hand as she gazed out the window. She glanced his way, then turned back to the video playing on the opticomputer on her wrist.
"Something isn’t right," Kestrel murmured, her eyes not leaving the screen.
"Huh... what’s the matter?" Ren mumbled, still feeling somewhat disoriented. That was when he started remembering. He’d gone through a psychic grooming process and had fallen asleep before it had finished.
He recalled Kestrel’s reassuring words, "Don’t worry, I’ll keep you safe." Comforted by this, he’d been able to completely relax and fell into a deep sleep beside her.
It had been ages since Ren had slept so peacefully. His nights were usually haunted by nightmares of blood and death. Yet, in this dangerous setting, he’d managed to sleep soundly for a long time, under the watchful eye of a powerful beta. freewёbn૦νeɭ.com
Ren got up and stretched, feeling lighter than ever. All the mental pain and burdens he’d been carrying seemed to have transformed into a clump of lightweight feathers, all blown away by a breeze. At that moment, each ripple in his mental ocean was cheerfully humming a tune. The underwater corals seemed brighter, pearls sparkled, fish and crabs swam around joyously. The sand was golden, the seawater was bright blue and clear. An orca was frolicking in the blue ocean, its size larger than before, periodically jumping high and then diving back into the water. At times, it would raise its black and white head and gaze at the moon in the sky.
This was the outcome of Kestrel’s psychic grooming—he was totally hooked on this sensation.
"It’s the tree that’s off," Kestrel pointed out.
At Kestrel’s words, Ren snapped back to reality and asked, "What’s wrong with the tree?"
The previous night, they’d shared their findings. Kestrel had informed him about the figures seen at night. Ren had shown her some videos he’d taken. Their wrists brushed together as they used the short-range transfer function of their opticomputer to exchange their data.
When "night" came, a golden tree would sprout from a crevice in the ground, covering the sky. Then, before "day" arrived, the enormous golden tree would wither, shatter, and dissipate like ashes—a tree that lived from dusk to dawn.
In Ren’s footage, furious golden branches kept erupting from a crimson pit, shrieking and growling. They had a powerful psychic assault capacity, and even the relentless white phosphorus flames couldn’t completely burn them away.
As the battle raged on into the late night, the writhing, howling golden branches suddenly became quieter. Their aggressive psychic assaults weakened, and the golden beast, that had been showing its fangs and claws, seemed to lose its interest in fighting, starting to act bored, lazily swatting its branches at the attackers.
Ren had explored the entire area, tried to cut down countless branches and leaves, and even ventured deep into the crevice to try to chop down a tree root. He’d even split an entire trunk, but he couldn’t find a way to escape. The chopped branches quickly lost their golden color, turned into dust, and became ash. Surrounded by thick flames and strong winds, they vanished into the night, leaving no trace behind.
"Something’s not right." Kestrel stared at the virtual screens on her wrist, her eyes vacant. The image of the Erdtree — its branches golden, frantic, and twisted, constantly bursting from the blood-soaked pit — this holographic scene rotated slowly above her wrist. It looked similar, yet different from the tree she’d seen before.
"The tree is wrong, emotionally wrong," Kestrel stated. She didn’t bother to explain further and stayed silent.
Ren realized that Kestrel, in reality, was a girl of few words. However, in his psychic ocean, she was almost a different person — lively, curious, and playful, despite her emotionless face. In that psychic palace, she explored, touched gently, innocent yet strong, beautiful yet reserved.
Last night, she had explored Ren’s world in the same way. "Maybe I should have resisted," Ren thought. "That feeling, once experienced, becomes something you crave."
Humans can sometimes be greedy. For instance, during the last time in the Polluted Zone, Ren just wanted a simple conversation with her. Now, he wanted more.
...
Taking advantage of the relatively safe "daytime", the two gathered themselves and snuck back into the Rosarium. Those who looked human, those who could speak, laugh, and express emotions, had all vanished. The large camp was deserted. The streets, stairways, and rows of houses on either side were silent and empty, occasionally filled by a passing breeze, no longer filled with music, laughter, and fine wine. The girl who had sung for Kestrel was also gone.
Along the way, they occasionally ran into alphas who had also discovered this place and snuck in. Most kept their distance upon spotting Ren.
Those who had survived the dangerous monsters to find this Rosarium, who had come for the bounty, were mostly experienced alphas. Ren’s solo fight with the massive tree the previous night had left them awed.
At the time, they had watched from a distance. Most couldn’t tolerate the eerie screams emitted by the golden tree. That piercing noise buzzed in their heads, giving anyone who approached a severe headache, as if they were going mad. It was challenging to even stay on their feet, let alone fight.
But this lone wolf from the North, Ren, braved the intense fire again and again to rush forward. His sword was red, his body was covered in blood, fighting like a possessed warrior — only such a formidable and ferocious person could single-handedly face such strange mutant creatures.
But in the end, even Ren couldn’t find the key to unlock the door.
"Where is the key? What is it that the Queen wants?" This was the question in the hearts of everyone who had reached this area at this moment.
Ren took Kestrel to the spot where the Erdtree appeared at night.
At this moment, the golden tree was gone. Only a vast crevice remained on the ground, like a gigantic beast gaping its mouth wide open, baring its teeth and snarling at the sky.
"This is the spot." Ren squatted down and touched the ground with his gloved fingers.
After enduring a night of white phosphorus bombs, the ground here still retained residual heat. The soil and bricks were warm to the touch, echoing the harsh and real battle from last night. But the giant tree was gone, hardly leaving any ashes or remnants. It appeared at night and vanished before dawn.
Peering over the edge of the deep pit, the dark red crack was bottomless. The mud on the inner wall squirmed like blood vessels, and deeper inside was a dark red abyss. The humming wind blew up from the earth’s depths, sounding like countless people weeping.
Ash particles rose from the depths of the crevice, scattered like foam on the edges and corners, and danced on the barren streets.
