Chapter 68
Chapter 68
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 68
Chapter Title: World Tree (2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
World Tree.
Oliver now understood why Forest hadn't answered right away, and why the bookstore owner had said it was hard to explain.
It simply wasn't something that could be described in a few words or a short time.
The World Tree was more vast than anything Oliver had ever seen, its concept vague and utterly unknown territory.
And that was still very much a work in progress.
Proper books on it had only emerged about thirty years ago, and research was ongoing.
Honestly, even Oliver had no idea how to explain it.
Ah, well... The bookstore owner's description wasn't bad, all things considered.
A massive encyclopedia and the world's largest tree.
Oliver fully agreed with that.
To start with the World Tree: it was indeed the largest tree known to date, but it couldn't be confirmed with the naked eye.
The reason was that the World Tree wasn't above ground.
Where was it, then? Right below ground.
Beneath the very earth we walk on.
Its true body was the roots underground, with countless trees sprouting worldwide like branches from those roots.
In other words, it was more accurate to see the World Tree not as a single massive tree, but as a collective of many trees centered around enormous roots.
How such a lifeform came to be remained unknown, but there were two hypotheses with some credibility.
One was that a gigantic body (roots) at the earth's core extended outward worldwide for sunlight and nutrients, becoming the World Tree.
The other was that roots from countless trees tangled together naturally, merging into the World Tree.
Both had strong academic support, and scholars fiercely debated which was correct, so no firm conclusion on its origins existed.
But that wasn't important. The real fascination came next.
If it were just trees connected by roots, it would merely be curious, but the World Tree was far more than that.
It was wondrous, awe-inspiring, useful, and immensely powerful.
Because vast natural mana flowed through it, observing and recording events around the trees and storing them in the abyssal world called the "Root Net."
Anyone who could use the Root Net could know what happened across oceans or on the opposite side of the world.
In short, the World Tree was the eye that saw the world.
But that wasn't all.
Mages and druids had developed magic and rituals to artificially enter the "Root Net," store, manage, and retrieve information. The technical term was "Root Net Sailing," or simply "Net Sailing."
This Net Sailing stored and managed tens of millions of volumes of infinite information in the World Tree, retrievable as needed.
It was nothing short of miraculous.
No paper needed to store so much data. Finding specific info required little effort.
Just enter the Root Net and recall what you needed—it was incredibly convenient and efficient.
Beyond that, communication, administration—nothing in the world was unrelated to the World Tree.
As such, movements were emerging in this country and a few other "blessed nations" to actively incorporate the World Tree into national administration and politics.
At that point, Oliver naturally learned about the World Tree's dangers and drawbacks.
Where there's light, there's shadow.
Still new in development, it was convenient but equally crude and hazardous.
For instance, it was vulnerable to intrusions by specialized groups like the Heimdall that Forest mentioned.
Net Sailing, which allowed Root Net access, was notoriously difficult to master—a serious issue.
"Difficult" meant beyond mere effort; it demanded talent too.
It required substantial practical magic skills and the mental fortitude to maintain consciousness in the Root Net's sea of information.
Mishandling it could overwhelm the user's mind in that sea, causing severe damage, the books warned.
In essence, powerful and convenient, but hard to use—only a few mage orders and druid sects could wield it.
To verify the books, Oliver went far from his lodging.
To the edge of the workers' district U-zone and the start of the slums V-zone. After wandering the sparsely populated border, he found a World Tree.
"This is a World Tree...?"
Oliver muttered at the lone tree standing there.
It looked utterly ordinary, but the iron fence and plaque marked it as one.
Oliver read the plaque on the fence, then looked back at the tree.
Still ordinary.
A common tree on Landa's streets.
Some had fences like this, and Oliver couldn't understand why he hadn't noticed World Trees sooner.
Probably his narrow field of vision, ignoring anything uninteresting.
"Gotta fix that."
Recognizing his flaw anew, Oliver focused his eyes.
Ordinary human vision blurred away, replaced by the black mage's sight piercing emotions, life force, even mana.
Now he could faintly see mana flowing through the World Tree.
"This...?"
Oliver tilted his head at the sight.
Through black mage sight, it looked less like a tree and more like a pipe, multicolored mana surging through its center at incredible speeds.
Blue, yellow, red, purple, and more.
So fast and complex, it naturally piqued his interest.
Oliver touched his face.
He'd put on a leather mask he hadn't used before, just in case.
Good, it was on properly. Even if exposed once, no issue.
Confirming safety, Oliver shifted his gaze downward.
Toward the roots beneath the World Tree.
"Hm..."
He groaned in frustration.
He could see below, but it faded without end.
Like a puppet show a hundred paces away—something happening, but too vague to discern, frustrating.
As the books said, roots delved deepest underground. His eyes ached for nothing gained.
"Haa..."
He sighed unwittingly.
He'd come this far on half curiosity from the book, but wanted to learn as much as possible.
Seeing mana flows and grasping its functions and status was plenty, but still insufficient.
No, more honestly.
Oliver wanted to try using the World Tree himself.
Access the unknown Root Net world linked by neural roots and taste what lay within.
Of course, highly dangerous—foolish, even.
No gains, just needless risk.
Yet Oliver wanted to try.
Because he did.
Snapping to, he found himself over the fence, pressed against the World Tree.
Not stopping, he extracted emotion into his hand.
Come to think of it, he wondered.
Mana or communion with nature allowed Root Net entry—why not black magic?
Thinking to test it, he extended his emotion-laden hand to the tree.
No book coverage meant pointless, but worth a shot experimentally.
No way it'd work—
"—it did?"
Oliver muttered in slight surprise.
How to describe it?
Similar to entering the sausage factory or Glip's secret space.
Touching with emotion felt like key fitting lock.
Not opening instantly like Glip's odd design, but no issue for Oliver.
A few sweeps with emotion gave him the knack. Same here.
Slightly different texture, awkward, but he ignored resistance and forced the emotion-fit.
Then, a whooshing filled his mind, followed by a click.
A strange scene unfolded.
Black like night sky, no heaven or earth—an empty void.
Only multicolored mana streaking like meteors.
Instinctively, Oliver knew: this was the Root Net.
The World Tree's neural root world, sea of knowledge.
Oddly, no panic—just calm observation and understanding.
As mentioned, surroundings pitch-black like night.
He instinctively looked at his hand: white lines, virtual body unlike flesh in this abyssal simulation.
Otherwise, noisy info voices buzzing his ears?
Rejecting the intruder, voices pressured him, but he shut them out and observed.
Now what? Leave? Problem: he didn't know how.
Luck got him in, but exit unknown.
Books had overviews, no usage details.
Certainly no exit. Unforeseen.
Drift in info sea till brain fries, as books warned?
"Well, if so... can't be helped."
Calmer than expected. Terrifying if true, but nothing he could do...
Instead of pondering the unsolvable, he experimented.
Proper Root Net use should yield info by thought—test that.
What info first?
Demons? Black magic? Beautiful emotions? Tempting, but lightly for starters.
Something harmless for practice.
"Forest."
Slight glitch, then some streaking mana burst before him like fireworks.
Unknown characters arrayed in air—all new script.
"What is... Huh?"
Oliver exclaimed in surprise. Staring, he grasped the content.
Not reading—feeling the info. Faintly, slowly perceiving.
Just familiarizing when intense gaze hit from somewhere.
"Huh?"
He saw it: an eye of countless mana strands.
Oliver observed the silent eye. Someone there, maybe—then it shouted again.
As Oliver opened his mouth to reply, vision went black.
Blinking, he was back in reality, emotion in his hand depleted.
Apparently bounced out when emotion ran dry.
"Whoa..."
Brief fascination with the new fact aside.
Recalling the guardian-like eye, he realized he needed to leave quickly.
Lest he get entangled in trouble.
Crafting Black Suit from life force and emotion, he fled at full speed.
Curiosity sated enough; time to play safe today.
Still much unknown, skills lacking.
A week passed.
Oliver didn't return straight to lodging but stayed near the first access site, observing surroundings for the week.
The reason: that eye mid-access. Unknown exactly what, but observed— so he lingered to see developments.
If caught by nuisances, he'd abandon identity and relocate if needed.
Thankfully, unfounded worry.
No pursuit in a week, not even an ant approached the World Tree.
Deeming minor hiccup, Oliver left the zone, returned to lodging, then visited Forest's restaurant—forgotten amid chores.
About ten days since last mission; worried they'd forget him.
Cant said freedom was a rare perk, but newbie Oliver felt awkward skipping.
Pushing open the creaky door, a red-skinned egg greeted him.
Seeing Oliver, it smiled warmly.
"Mr. Dave, thank you for coming. Here for the boss?"
"Yes."
"Good. Boss has been waiting. Follow me, I'll guide you."