Chapter 7
Chapter 7
As I stepped into the flower field, I immediately noticed the materials standing out among the blossoms.
They were all things I had used endlessly in the game.
None of them were particularly expensive, but as the saying goes, small gains accumulate into a mountain. Saving on material costs here was essential for building momentum.
“How much is all this worth?”
With a delighted expression, I began gathering materials.
Seeing that, Clovis looked around with a doubtful gaze.
“Is this another dimension? The spatial flow inside and outside is distorted.”
With his sharp warrior instincts, he immediately noticed the strangeness in space and swallowed a low groan.
In the Wasteland, you couldn’t trust what you saw.
Because of warped space, a single misstep could teleport you somewhere completely unknown, and there were also independent subspaces that couldn’t be observed from the outside.
While I was busy collecting materials and the others were getting curious about this place, I explained.
“This area is a bit special. It’s not naturally formed. It was artificially created.”
“Artificially created? This flower field?”
“Oh, the flower field itself was formed by leyline energy. It’s the result of the Dragon Tree pulling in leyline energy through its roots.”
“Leylines… wait. Dragon Tree?”
Clovis, who had been murmuring with curiosity, suddenly widened his eyes.
Judging by his reaction, he clearly knew what it was.
Both of my companions turned their gaze toward the massive tree at the center.
“Teo. You said Dragon Tree earlier… is it that one I’m thinking of?”
“Yes!”
“…It really is that one?”
Cecilia looked stunned at my cheerful answer, while Clovis also made a sour expression.
“Then this so-called artificial dimension… it’s the space created by that Dragon Tree?”
“Correct! This entire space is its domain.”
“…Hah.”
A sigh escaped Clovis.
Because what looked like a simple tree was actually a disaster-class entity comparable to a dragon rampage if provoked.
“Don’t worry! As long as you don’t provoke it, it’s a very calm friend!”
“You saying that casually like you’re talking about a pet is kind of unsettling when it’s something I and Cecilia together still couldn’t beat.”
“It’s basically the same handling method.”
“What part of that is the same?”
He looked at me with a flat, tired gaze.
The Dragon Tree was, after all, a tree that was also a dragon subspecies.
Not a diluted lineage like wyverns or drakes, but a being that could match dragons purely through overwhelming scale.
It was even nicknamed the Forest Dragon.
“That also explains why this flower field exists.”
“It’s a landscape shaped by its presence. A single root system can create an entire ecosystem.”
If it takes root in one place, a forest forms. Over time, that becomes a full ecosystem.
Normally it just stays rooted and dormant.
But if something threatens the ecosystem, it transforms and takes the form of a Forest Dragon.
Cecilia, aware of this, looked at the tree with a complicated expression.
“There are old records that say a single Dragon Tree killed one of the Four Heavenly Kings of the Demon Army.”
“…?”
“It seems the reason was that the Heavenly King stepped on its flowers.”
“…???”
That was news even I didn’t know.
A Demon Army Four Heavenly King, and it died over flowers?
Clovis also looked just as shocked as I did.
“That just shows how strong the Dragon Tree is.”
“At that point, do you even need a hero?”
“In fairy tales, the hero was always said to save the world.”
“Turns out hiring a hero was just cost-effective.”
“…Ah.”
We all fell silent.
A cruel realization about hero legends had just shattered our childhood innocence.
Cecilia sighed.
“Why are you so attached to the past?”
“Sometimes even trivial things matter to a man.”
“I liked hero stories too.”
We sighed in disappointment together.
Then I refocused on the field.
Among normal flowers, there were occasional oversized blossoms larger than a person.
“Alright, enough playing around. It looks like we’ve been noticed.”
At my words, the others looked around.
The giant flowers slowly turned toward us.
Creeeak.
The stems twisted.
And then humanoid monsters made of vines rose from underground.
Their flower heads split open, revealing mouths dripping with saliva as they locked onto us.
I glanced at them calmly.
“Antepagi. Monsters that mutate in high-mana areas. They’re actually flower-eaters.”
“Those things look like carnivorous plants but they’re herbivores?!”
“Their digestive system is too small to eat humans.”
Think of them like whales.
Except whales don’t chew you into pieces with sharp teeth and drink your blood.
Clovis smirked.
“Either way, we just kill them, right?”
“Yeah. Try to collect the large seed inside their hearts if you can.”
“Leave it to me.”
He drew his dual blades.
Clovis rushed forward.
The monsters screamed and charged as well.
Cecilia sighed and began casting magic.
“Honestly, this idiot…”
Despite her words, she perfectly coordinated with him, freezing enemies mid-movement.
I ignored the chaos and continued collecting materials.
Screams echoed in the background.
I filled my bag completely, then swapped to another bag carried by a golem.
After a while, I stretched my stiff body.
“Everyone okay?”
“I feel like I’m going to die from how gross this is.”
“I’m fine.”
Clovis was covered in monster fluids, while Cecilia looked mostly fine except for mana exhaustion.
Still, both looked satisfied.
I patted my now-heavy bag.
“Let’s head back.”
“That sounds good. I was getting tired anyway.”
Clovis pointed.
“Seeds are over here.”
There were over a hundred piled like a mountain.
Satisfied, I equipped a transmutation glove.
Cecilia asked.
“What are you planning to do with them?”
“Grind them all into nutritional supplements.”
“All of them? No other use?”
“They can be eaten, technically.”
But the taste was mediocre.
There wasn’t much else to do with them.
So why make them?
To leave a good impression on the owner of this land.
I crushed the seeds, mixed them with Antepagi fluids, and approached the Dragon Tree.
“This is rare, you know.”
Antepagi were rare creatures born from mana mutations.
They ate thousands of flowers per meal, but rarely survived in normal environments.
Here, however, the Dragon Tree’s excess leyline energy created an endless flower field.
For them, this place was paradise.
Their population grew, and normally the ecosystem would collapse.
But the Dragon Tree intervened whenever things got out of balance, keeping everything stable.
“In a way, this is its ecosystem.”
“It only moves when the ecosystem collapses. It doesn’t particularly like Antepagi either.”
Which meant we weren’t safe either.
To the Dragon Tree, we were no different from them.
Players eventually discovered a way to avoid any risk.
“This is Dragon Tree-specific nutrient solution.”
“A bribe?”
“High-concentration nutrient, so yeah.”
We placed the offering at its base and slowly stepped back.
Then we left through the portal.
After some time—
Rustle.
Roots emerged from the ground, absorbed the nutrient-soaked petals, and vanished.