The room fell silent, I could still feel the strange pressure left by the old woman's touch, or now Rana's. Kael stared at her sharply.
"What do you mean?"
Rana didn't answer immediately, but slowly walked back to her chair. Her steps were calm, too calm for someone who had just said something like, "He's starting to wake up." I remained standing with my hand on the hilt of my sword, my instincts still intact. Rana glanced at me briefly.
“You’re too tense,” he said casually.
“I live in a city full of corrupt people and root experiments,” I replied.
“It's normal to be nervous.”
The corners of Rana's lips rose slightly, almost smiling, but her eyes remained serious.
“Sit down. You look like you’ve been through hell,” he said.
"We just came from the east route," Mira replied.
Rana immediately nodded in understanding.
“Oh. Worse than hell, I mean,” he said shortly.
Sure enough, I finally sat down on a wooden chair near the table. Kael remained standing, clearly too agitated to calm down. Rana poured tea into several cups without asking, the herbal aroma filling the room.
Strangely, for the first time since entering Varosk, I didn't smell blood or foul mana. Somewhat reassuringly, Rana pushed a cup toward me.
“Did you hear that voice too?” he asked suddenly.
I froze for a split second.
“A woman's voice?”
Rana nodded slowly, Kael immediately turned quickly towards me.
“Wait. You didn’t say that,” he said.
I shrugged a little.
“A lot happened today.”
Kael looked like he wanted to protest but eventually gave in. Rana propped her chin on her hand, her gaze scanning us each and every one.
“Your resonance is deeper than I thought,” he murmured.
I frowned.
“You know about resonance?”
Rana chuckled.
“Young man, I have lived long enough to see fragment hosts kill each other before you were born,” he said.
...
Okay. Interesting grandma, Mira folded her arms.
“Who are you really?”
Rana drank her tea leisurely.
“Only old women are not dead.”
The most unhelpful answer of the day, Kael sighed softly.
“He's a former researcher,” he said.
I immediately turned around. Researcher? Bad word. Rana took a deep breath.
“I hate that term.”
“I’m starting to have a trauma with researchers,” I said honestly.
"That's natural, most of them are idiots," Rana replied.
Kael almost smiled a little at that. Rana put down her cup and her expression turned more serious.
“You guys saw the World Tree, right?”
It was quiet, Kael and I looked at each other, and Mira immediately focused. I finally nodded slowly.
“In resonance.”
Rana stared at me for quite a while.
“And the sky that broke?”
My heart beat a little harder.
“Yes.”
Rana closed her eyes for a moment, her expression looked tired, very tired.
“That means time is really running out.”
I'm starting to dislike every sentence that comes out of this woman's mouth, Kael stepped forward.
“Rana. Tell me everything.” Her voice was sharper now.
Rana opened her eyes slowly, her gaze moving towards the window outside the city of Varosk which was shrouded in red mist.
“The red roots you see in this city… are not ordinary corruption,” he said quietly,
I immediately focused.
Rana continued,
“It's a fragment of a root from the World Tree.”
Mira froze.
"What?"
“The World Tree is dying and as it dies… the roots are starting to find a way to survive,” Rana continued.
I felt a chill run down my spine, Kael gripped the chair nearby.
“So fragment”
“It is part of the core of the last seed tree,” Rana interrupted.
Silently, I stared at the table for a few seconds, trying to piece it all together. Fragments. Corruption. Resonance, and now the World Tree seed. Rana stared at me.
“Hosts like you are chosen because they are compatible.”
“Chosen for what?” I asked quietly.
Rana was silent for a moment then answered in a voice that was too calm.
“To be the next vessel.”
...
No, I didn't like that at all. Mira even looked pale, Kael let out a small, empty laugh.
“I know. Of course there’s a price,” he muttered.
I stared at Rana sharply.
“And what did you mean by ‘he’s starting to wake up’?”
For the first time Rana's expression turned completely serious, no small jokes, no faint smiles, just wariness.
“The Heart of the World Tree, the final core of the World Tree,” he said softly.
The room felt colder. Rana stood up slowly and walked to an old shelf in the corner. She took out a thick black book covered in red root symbols and placed it on the table, dust flying around.
“In the past... the World Tree maintained the balance of the entire world,” he said,
He opened an old page full of pictures, there was an illustration of a giant tree with roots spreading across the continent.
“But after the great war... the core of the tree was damaged.”
I looked at the picture and one thing immediately caught my attention. In the center of the illustration was a cracked black circle, Rana pointed to it.
"The Heart of the Tree. If the core rises in a damaged state..." he said.
He stopped, Mira swallowed.
"...what happened?"
Rana looked at us one by one and said quietly,
“The World Tree will try to grow back.”
I let out a small sigh.
“That doesn't sound too bad.”
Rana looked at me blankly.
“By absorbing all life around it.”
...
Okay, that's the biological apocalypse, Kael closed his eyes tightly.
“Veyron knows about this?”
Rana nodded.
“And that idiot believes he can control the Heart of the Tree.”
I immediately stood up.
“We have to stop him before he finds it.”
“It’s too late,” Rana answered quickly.
Silently, I stared at her. Rana slowly turned her head down toward the wooden floor of the house and when she spoke again, her voice was barely a whisper.
“Because the Heart of the Tree is beneath Varosk.”
The room instantly froze completely and at the same time the entire city suddenly shook violently.
BOOOOOOM!
The glass on the table broke, the walls of the house shook, a harsh siren sounded from outside and then a red notification filled my vision.
Emergency Event Triggered
The Heart Root has awakened
Area Status:
Catastrophe Zone
I slowly looked towards the window and far away in the middle of Varosk city giant red roots started to emerge from underground.
[END CHAPTER 48]