“A tree?” Raven frowned, her sharp eyes narrowing as she stared at the tree before her.
“It looks like a normal one… but why does it feel so strange?” Thalia muttered, her tone carrying a hint of unease as her fingers gently traced the rough bark of the tree’s trunk.
“You said this appeared everywhere, right?” Emberlyn asked, her brows furrowing as she crossed her arms.
Drakhairs nodded, “Yes, these trees have sprouted all over the funnels we built around the Empire.”
A tense silence followed as everyone gazed at the massive tree that had suddenly emerged within the funnel—an intricate structure designed to collect flames that once strengthened the Emperor, their saviour!
But now, it wasn’t just a single funnel affected. Multiple funnels across the Empire had mysteriously given rise to these bizarre, unfamiliar trees.
/Are you watching this, husband?/ Raven telepathically asked.
A small spider-like robot perched on her shoulder, transmitting the live feed directly to Aether.
Back in the palace, Aether sat on his throne, his ice-blue eyes darkening as he studied the footage… His fingers tapped rhythmically against the armrest, his face unreadable.
Aether stared blankly at the tree as if recalling something distant, something he had seen before.
‘Isn’t that… the same tree I saw back then?’ He muttered inwardly…. A fragmented memory surfaced—an image, no, a painting etched onto the walls of that old haunted mansion.
The very place where he, Helena, and Ashara had been trapped.
“That’s… eerily similar,” Aether murmured, his gaze sharpening.
The tree’s structure, the pattern of its leaves—every detail matched the image in his mind. His fingers clenched slightly. ‘Log, do you know anything about this?’ he asked inwardly, seeking answers.
…
His Log didn’t respond.
Aether’s lips curled into a grimace. ‘So, that means it’s something important, and I have to figure it out on my own, huh?’ He sighed, rubbing his temple.
!~Ding~!
[Affirmative! You’re really starting to understand me! 😅]
Aether exhaled sharply, unamused. ‘Why trees? What’s the meaning behind this?’ He scoured his memory for any clue, any mention of such a phenomenon. But aside from that old wall painting, he had never encountered or even heard of trees like these before.
He telepathically reached out to Raven.
/Ask Drakhairs if he has ever seen anything like this before./
Raven turned to Drakhairs, “Have you ever seen these kinds of trees in your life?”
Drakhairs frowned, shaking his head. “No. Never. This is the first time I’ve laid eyes on something like this.”
Raven clicked her tongue in frustration. “Tch.” She telepathically relayed his response to Aether. /Even Drakhairs has no clue. Could these trees be a threat?/
Aether’s response was swift. /I have no idea./
“If you guys are so scared over a tree, why don’t we just cut it down and see what happens?” Thalia suddenly suggested, rolling her shoulders. Her voice was nonchalant, almost playful, as she unsheathed her sharp claws.
“Thalia, wait—!”
Too late.
With a single powerful swing, her claws slashed clean through the trunk.
Thud!
The massive tree toppled over, crashing onto the ground.
“What the hell?! Are you an idiot?!” Emberlyn shouted. Without hesitation, she grabbed Thalia’s ear and pinched it hard.
“O-Ouch! Wait, Mom! I was just trying to help—ow, ow!”
“Help?” Emberlyn’s grip tightened, “What if cutting it down triggered something dangerous?! Did you even think about that?!” Her tone was sharp enough to make even Drakhairs glance away.
Thalia gave an awkward laugh, rubbing her ear. “Y-Yeah… I guess that was a possibility…” She turned back toward the fallen tree—only to freeze.
The tree was withering.
Before their very eyes, the once-thriving tree shrivelled up, its leaves turning brittle, its trunk collapsing inward as if it were ageing centuries in mere seconds.
Everyone tensed.
Drakhairs instantly erected a barrier around the tree, his body poised for any incoming threat.
Seconds passed.
Nothing happened.
The tree had simply… withered away.
Thalia let out a long breath, wiping imaginary sweat off her forehead. “Phew… almost had a heart attack there.”
Emberlyn’s lips twitched… Oh, she was definitely disciplining her daughter later.
“Hmm… Where’s the Emperor?” Lyirrs, who had been silently observing, finally spoke up. Her tone was curious rather than worried. “Didn’t he come?”
They didn’t need Aether for everything, of course. But with something this unusual happening right after the two Empires had united, it would have been better if he had seen it firsthand.
Thalia and Raven both exchanged glances before awkwardly looking at their mother. Their faces turned red with embarrassment.
Emberlyn, avoiding their gazes, quickly crossed her arms. “There’s no need to trouble the Emperor with every little thing,” she said, clearing her throat. “W-We need to prove ourselves. We can’t keep depending on him for everything!”
Lyirrs immediately nodded in agreement, “Exactly! He already saved the Empire and upheld our pride. We can’t keep running to him for help. We need to show that we’re capable on our own!” Her eyes sparkled with determination.
Emberlyn’s blush deepened as she averted her gaze. “Y-Yeah…”
She felt a pang of guilt. Because the real reason Aether wasn’t here… was because she had burned his mask.
And now he couldn’t come out in public.
Drakhairs cleared his throat before speaking, “Anyway, if it can be cut down, I might as well order the soldiers to—”
But before he could finish his sentence—
TrrrrRRrrrEEerrrrRR!
A strange, stretching sound echoed through the air. It wasn’t deafening, but it was loud enough for those standing near the fallen tree to hear clearly, sending a shiver down their spines.
Everyone instinctively turned toward the source.
The severed base of the tree pulsed, almost as if it was alive.
Then, without warning, roots began twisting and shifting, moving unnaturally in a way no ordinary tree should… The mass of roots convulsed, reforming and intertwining at an unnatural speed before—
A new tree emerged right before their eyes.
It sprouted from the same spot, growing rapidly, thickening, and stretching upward in mere seconds. When it finally stopped, it stood tall, identical to the one that had just been cut down, as if nothing had ever happened.
The sight left everyone momentarily frozen.
Aether, watching from the palace through the transmitted feed, felt his frown deepen.
Thalia’s playful expression had long vanished. Her claws twitched as she took a step forward, her voice serious, “Maybe we should burn this thing… I don’t have a good feeling about it. Something about it feels unnatural.” Experience new tales on My Virtual Library Empire
Raven, however, immediately shook her head. “No. We shouldn’t touch it again. Not until we understand what we’re dealing with.”
Her voice was firm, brooking no argument.
Everyone exchanged glances before reluctantly nodding in agreement.
The new tree was slightly larger than the first, yet its structure and leaves remained the same. That eerie similarity only made it feel more unnatural as if something was watching them through it.
“Hmmm… Maybe we should make sure no one gets close to this thing,” Emberlyn muttered, her brows furrowing in concern. “We don’t know if it spreads or worse—if it reacts to something.”
No one disagreed.
It was decided… They would leave for now. Drakhairs would ensure that the citizens were warned to keep their distance, and no one would dare approach it.
But unknown to them—
Deep beneath the Empire’s foundation… something else was stirring.
At the Empire’s base, the enormous, dark roots that held the entire floating Empire in place suddenly shifted.
Not the large, thick roots themselves—
But from within them, something began to grow.
Thin roots…. Hundreds of them!!
To be honest, these roots were far from tiny when compared to the massive, thick roots that stretched nearly 1 kilometre each in thickness.
Of course, such a quantity of roots was necessary to hold the entire Empire in place, given the sheer size and weight of the structure. But in comparison to those gargantuan roots, these newer ones appeared small and delicate, almost insignificant.
Yet, these tiny roots swiftly penetrated the Empire’s base… especially the hole that Aether and his group created…. moving through them with unnerving speed.
The hole in the foundation provided the perfect path for them to spread, each root twisting and worming its way through the hundreds of meticulously constructed tunnels that seemed to have been created by someone….
They moved as if they had a will of their own, like worms travelling through their tunnels, searching for something… And then, just as quickly as they had started, the roots reached the surface of the Empire. They gathered together, transforming into a single, full tree in a manner that felt almost… magical.
Those were the trees that Raven and others investigated but they didn’t see other thing.
Those newly formed tree’s roots seemed to act with purpose, spreading and twisting deeper into the ground.
Crack
A slight fracture appeared in the surface, so delicate that it could easily be overlooked. From that tiny crack, a small bud emerged. Unlike the parent tree, this bud didn’t grow into anything large. Instead, it was a small, fragile sprout with only two tiny leaves, swaying gently in the air.
The sight was eerie—
Every single tree in the vicinity seemed to be dancing, their leaves fluttering in the breeze as though they were alive.
…
…..
After giving a few instructions to Raven, Thalia, Emberlyn, and Drakhairs, Aether made his exit from the Empire.
He teleported back to the Naiadae Empire—straight to his room.
“Sigh…” Aether exhaled deeply as he entered the room, his mind still swirling with thoughts of the strange trees… He immediately activated his Nightfire Illusion magic before stepping out of his room.
And just as he opened the door—
“Y-You?”
Aether flinched, startled by the unexpected voice.
Standing in front of him was Xara…. her face weary and dishevelled, a stark contrast to her usual composed demeanour.
She looked… dangerous, her red eyes blazing with something far more intense than mere fatigue.
Aether blinked in surprise, ‘What happened to her?’ he wondered but before he could say a word, Xara reached out and—
Smack!
She knocked him on the head.
‘What the hell…?’