“Welcome to your new home!” Plantus calls out. Eden stands there stunned at the beauty of the house. Sure he was prepared for a nice home, but seeing something once is more impactful than hearing about it a hundred times. This is hardly a surprise for Eden, whose standards for a good home are a shack in the middle of the woods.

  “Th-this is far nicer than I thought it was going to be.” Eden mutters far louder than intended. He slowly walks forward into the large room almost out of instinct. Plantus floats ahead of Eden and begins to act like a tour guide.

  “Oh so we are starting on the ground floor then? Well this would be the kitchen. On your left there is the door for a bathroom and basement, and on your right there is the living and dining room.” Plantus tells Eden, who is still a little starstruct. Suddenly however, Eden smacks himself in the face.

  Snap out of it you fool! Focus on what is important! Eden screams in his mind. But this does not stop him from glancing around the rather large kitchen. There is a clean white fridge on the far left wall, which lies to the right of a door Eden assumes is the bathroom. On the right of the fridge, and wrapping around the rest of the right wall and about 1/3rd of the back wall is a counter space with a good amount of finely carved wooden drawers above and below it. There are also two sinks next to each other, with a bottle of soap and a few other bits of cleaning supplies. On the far end of the counter is a microwave, cutting board, and toaster. A bit more inwards from the counters is a marble center island with two ovens, each with a 4 burner stove on top. Finally on the left there is a table made out of dark brown wood, covered in a blue tablecloth embellished with bits of gold and silver. There are also six slightly oversized chairs made from the same wood as the table. Lastly, on the wall behind the table, there is a window revealing the far reaching plant life below, along with an old fashioned golden clock in roman numerals with silver hands.

  “What do you think so far?” Plantus asks Eden as they enter the kitchen. Eden scans the room for any sigils or otherwise glowing materials, but nothing besides the white lights from the lanterns above fit either of those criteria. Eden steps a bit more inside the room and notices a door on the close right of the entrance, which is likely the way to the basement.

  No signs of this place being bugged yet. I should still do a more in depth search once Plantus leaves. Eden concludes as his eyes dart to the clock.

  “Say, Plantus, I have had this question for a while and would like to know why clocks seem to alternate between a 24 hour system and an am to pm system?” Eden asks Plantus with a light grin.

  Notice! Skill trickster has been activated!

  “Oh, well the wood spirit kingdom uses a 24 hour system officially, however most other nations use the am to pm system, so wood spirit dominated products are in 24 hour, but more mixed products are am to pm.” Plantus explains to Eden.

  “Is there any reason as to why the kingdom uses a 24 hour system?” Eden immediately asks, almost as if he had prepared to question ahead of time.

  “It is useful in times of war mostly. The less confusion the better on the battlefield you know.” Plantus responds with, as he floats further inside. He turns to the dining room, in which Eden follows.

  “A lot of things in this kingdom seem to be done for military purposes.” Eden comments. Plantus turns around with a hint of worry in his eyes.

  “What do you mean by that?” Plantus asks Eden in a mildly shaky tone.

  “Just an observation, Plantus. I mean, are you saying I am wrong on that assumption?" Eden asks with a slight glare, not one of anger, but of questioning.

  “Well, I mean, the kingdom is not that war focused. This nation does have a higher an average investment on the military, in fact I believe it just got raised a good-*ahem* Regardless, the nation does need a big military to defend the creatures above in the outskirts of the kingdom. Though I wish I did not have to pay such high taxes." Plantus answers. Little faith is present in the defence of the kingdom's high military budget from Plantus, and the only fully honest words in Eden’s opinion were the last sentence, though that is not to say everything else was a complete lie. They said the best lies have hints of truth in them afterall.

  “I guess that is a responsible choice given the circumstances. Anyhow, may you return to the whole tour guide style you had going and show me around some more, Plantus?” Eden asks, shifting the subject entirely. Plantus follows the plan as they fully enter the dining room. It is a good bit smaller than the kitchen, though it is by no means a small room. A massive dark brown table 80 in (2.03 m) long and 35 in (0.89 m) wide sits in the middle of the room. It has a fancy looking red tablecloth over it, which has the same style of gold and silver mixed within. There are 10 chairs total, each very similar to the ones in the kitchen, pardon the fluffy red cushion adding on, along with just a general feel of higher quality craftsmanship to Eden, as a craftsman himself. There is also a golden chandelier hanging above, held up with a dazzling silver chain, with dim reddish lights on top of the protrusions that calms the soul. Hints of silver lining can be seen throughout the chandelier, especially on the curves. Last but not least is a board, likely a whiteboard, at the far wall in front of Eden. There are a few markers and erasers on the indented tray attached to it.

  Eden scans the room much like he did the others, looking for any sort of tracking/listening device. Nothing. Though I cannot say I am surprised. If there were to be anything, it would be likely either behind the whiteboard or in the chandelier. Eden thinks.

  “Say, Plantus, I could not help but notice the oddities in the chandelier up there. Would you happen to know how the thing works? It does not seem to have any candles, nor a standard power source, so would it be some kind of magic?” Eden asks. Plantus seems a little confused at the question, so he does not respond till a few seconds later.

  “Sorry Eden, but I do not know much about it, not my profession you see. It is powered by magic, likely some kind of light magic mixed with a hint of fire magic to give it the red glow.” Plantus answers.

  “Do I have to change anything out? Do I have a ladder to say climb up and fix it if something happens?” Eden questions right after.

  “No, it should be fine. I doubt this house as a ladder, much less one you could freely move around, but I have some of these and I have not touched them in a good few decades and they are still in great condition. Magic lasts longer than you think.” Plantus informs Eden, who seems satisfied with this answer.

  “Well I assume you have seen all you want to in the dining room, Eden, so next is the living room!” Plantus calls out. Eden nods in agreement as Plantus starts to float over. Eden follows back into the kitchen and past the table there. There is a wall with a decently big hole, about 1.5 times Eden’s height and length, which leads to the living room.

  The first thing to catch Eden’s eye is the soft red rug that covers almost the entire room, pardon only the outskirts of the room. There are also two dark gray couches, one facing away from the entrance and the other on the right facing left, that take up a good amount of space. There are a few finely made small fluffy pillows, lacking the extravagant feel of the rest of the house so far. Though they certainly look comfortable to rest on. In the middle of the room is a nice dark brown wooden table that also has a foot rest attached to the bottom. There is also a coffee table with a drawer in between the two couches that looks like the table. There is also a door on the left, along with some windows, revealing a porch or balcony of sorts. The only other thing of note in this room is the brick fireplace burning. The flames give off just the right amount of heat, and no smoke sneaks through the room, making it a little hard to tell if that is real fire.

  This is rather nice! Reminds me of-what does it remind me of again? No matter, there is not much need to stick around in this room. Not much to comment on here, and there are no good places I can check right now where a listening sigil could be placed. Eden believes.

  *Beep! Beep!*

  An alarm is heard. The source is from Plantus, or more accurately his transmitter. Plantus hastily pulls out his transmitter and looks at it. Once Plantus does so, a voice is heard from it.

  “Plantus, you are summoned to go to the Elder Tree in 1 hour! Do not be late! Attendance is mandatory!” A voice screams out, almost deafening Eden. Plantus however seems used to it, and so makes no reaction to the sound. The message as a whole however left him with a shocked expression, along with some tensing in the green mist that surrounds him. Plantus then goes to face Eden.

  If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  “I am so sorry Eden! But I am going to have to speedrun through the rest of this!” Plantus frantically states as he puts away his transmitter. It seems he got an audio message rather than a call from it.

  Damn. I was hoping to get a little more information, but I suppose I got even more confirmation on the whole army thing. Though what has Plantus all that panicked? Eden ponders on, but before coming to anything he nods to Plantus. Plantus in response starts to guide Eden, much faster than he was before.

  “So this was the main stuff on the first floor. There is a bathroom over there, (points to the door next to the fridge) but it is nothing special. All you need to know is that is where laundry stuff is. The other door is the basement, however it is quite literally empty right now. It was meant to be a work space of sorts I believe. Anyhow, let's get to the second and final floor!” Plantus calls out. He floats forward and up the stairs, with Eden quick to follow along.

  “Do you know why you are called to the Elder Tree, right?” Eden asks Plantus, unsure of what the Elder Tree is, but he can make a good guess; the capital/royal palace.

  “The kingdom has been in a bit of a panic right now. Nothing for you to worry about, but you know, politics and external problems and all that! Things have been going on outside the kingdom.” Plantus informs Eden.

  External problems? What are they dealing with? I can only assume it is war based, but based upon what Plantus is implying, it does not seem like they are going to direct war. Though who knows if Plantus himself has faulty intelligence or is being lied to by someone: propaganda is likely to be rampant. Eden wonders as he scales the rather long stairs.

  When the two reach the top of the stairs they see a hallway with three doors; one in front of them, one on the left, and one on the right. Other than the doors, there is a simple looking red carpet on the ground, though it certainly feels nice, and a small lamp on both sides of the entrance of the second floor. Other than that however, the floor lacks a good bit of the fancy design the first floor had, though the quality of material certainly has not fallen. The walls seem a good bit studier, but in exchange it lacks any fancy design or paintings. Furthermore, each door has a mat that goes between the front and back of it.

  Soundproofing? Odd, especially if this place was for listening in on me. The fanciness is gone too. Eden notices as he instinctively snatches his chin. Plantus glances over to Eden and seems to notice this.

  “What are you thinking about?” Plantus asks, breaking Eden’s focus in thought.

  “Oh, I was wondering about the lack of extravagant designs on this floor compared to the last?” Eden answers back. A lightbulb turns on in Plantus’s mind as he hears that.

  “Oh right! Sometimes I forget cultural differences between races. Such topics are not taught you see. Anyhow, wood spirit customs are to have your first floor, the one open to guests, look as nice as possible as the guests are not to leave that floor. Once the guest knows you well enough, then they are allowed into a more honest look of your life, which would be the less fancy second floor.” Plantus explains to Eden. He nods in understanding and stands in silence for Plantus to continue.

  “Now the left room is your bedroom, middle is the bathroom, and the right is an office(?) I believe.” Plantus informs Eden, seeming to be implying that Eden chooses where to start with. Eden naturally picks up on that.

  “I suppose we should check out the room you seem unsure of first then.” Eden says as he steps closer to the right door. Plantus quickly floats ahead and opens the door, allowing Eden through. The doorknob was the only one that has been different, as it was a little dusty, unlike every other doorknob in this house. A mild cracking sound echoes throughout the floor upon opening the door. They both walk in and see a rather intriguing room, accompanied by a thick scent of dust. The room is very small, by far the smallest in the house, and it only has 2 pieces of furniture; a large wooden table and a swivel office chair, both of which are black. The table has a large quantity of drawers, along with a small light on it. The floor has no carpeting, and is only composed of wood. Other than that, the only other thing in the room is a large window covered by thick black curtains. Light hardly penetrates the room, making the walls rather obscured with shadows. There could be countless cobwebs in the room and one would not bat an eye at such knowledge. The two spend little time here, and say nothing as they both quickly walk out of the room and carefully close the door behind them.

  Boy am I glad that door was not left for last! Plantus thinks as he unconsciously floats towards the middle room.

  “So the bathroom next I suppose.” Eden comments, prompting Plantus to stop and turn around.

  “Oh no, I was moving without thinking. But the bathroom should not take too long.” Plantus responds with. Eden nods in agreement as he follows Plantus on this short walk. The door, much cleaner than the office door, opens without struggle. True to Plantus’s words, there was not much in the bathroom to mention, as it was the most stereotypical bathroom Eden had ever seen. However to someone who has been dealing with century old bathrooms it was a god send. The bright white appliances and clean blue and white tiles are a sight to the eyes. The shower curtain was also very nice, being a thick white material and designs reminiscent of the first floor made from a silver silk. There were a few magic sigils in this room, however all of them were either deep red, dark blue, or cyan.

  “Are those magic sigils there?” Eden asks.

  “Ah yes. Most bathrooms tend to be the place with the most magically enhanced stuff, mainly from using minor amounts of fire and ice magic to heat and cool things, along with the obviously needed water magic. The colours are how you tell what magic is being used, or at least that is how our sigils work. Not sure about other races or societies.” Plantus explains to Eden. He quickly however looks back at his transmitter and a panicked expression appears on his face.

  “Damn! 20 minutes have already passed!? Sorry Eden, but I am going to have to get going. I cannot be late for this.” Plantus tells Eden, doing a mild bow before rushing out. Seconds later, Eden can hear the door open and wind gusting through from the force. A loud thud is heard right after Plantus closes the door.

  I got a lot out of that. Though I hope things go well with Plantus. It did not seem like he was being called in for good news with the messenger’s tone, but what do I know? Regardless, I should probably scan around the home, see if there are any other magic sigils, along with anything of note in the draws or rooms I did not yet see. Eden decides as he walks out of the bathroom. He spends the rest of the day looking around his house, taking note of everything and anything there.

  What could I be getting called to the Elder Tree for? If I had to guess, it was Cosmos who called me, after all no one else there has any respect for me anymore. I truly have a sad life if the king who seems to hardly tolerate me is the one who holds me the “highest”. Plantus mocks to himself as he stands in front of the Elder Tree. He walks in rather easily, as it seems the two guards were told ahead of time of Plantus’s arrival. He walks through the camouflaged doors at the bottom of the massive tree.

  “You are to report to his majesty’s private quarters!” One of the guards barks out. Plantus nods in understanding as the three of them float up to the highest branch of the Elder Tree. They are met with the extravagant wooden door outlined with high quality gold, a sight Plantus saw just a good few days ago. Nothing has changed with the design of the Elder Tree itself, however Plantus certainly picked up on the mass amount of wood spirits floating around, along with a few members of the royal advisors going into their meeting room, which was only a few branches down from where they were at.

  I am guessing Cosmos must have told the officials about the discovery then. Boy the kingdom is going to be in haywire for a good few weeks at the least. Glad it is no longer my problem! Plantus cheers in his mind. Plantus’s face gives off a strong feeling of relief, however the guards take no notice of it, as they are going to the golden handles of the massive door and opening them.

  “First class citizen, Plantus, has arrived!” The two guards call out in unison, the exact same way as the last time Plantus showed up in fact.

  Must be skilled guards if they can match the energy of an entrance so consistently. Plantus concludes as he floats inside. Plantus has seen this room many times before, so he gives no reaction to the exotic plants and priceless wood cravings. He focuses his gaze upon the man sitting upon a throne; Cosmos. His presence intimidates all who face him, or so it would to any other wood spirit. Plantus simply gives a respectful bow as he hears the heavy doors clang shut.

  “Five minutes early, Plantus. And here I thought you did not care for me.” Cosmos mocks with a proud voice, somehow both quiet and booming.

  “I am not one to waste the king’s time.” Plantus sarcastically remarks back. But to the unsuspecting eye one who finds these words full of admiration. Cosmos however has nothing but suspicion for Plantus however.

  “Oh I am glad you feel that way, Plantus! How you have been talking recently had me thinking to the contrary, but you must have been putting on a bit of a show for Eden then, I suppose.” Cosmos remarks loudly as he stares down Plantus. A minor amount of bloodlust could be felt emanating from Cosmos, but it is not nearly enough to cause true fear in Plantus’s heart.

  So he placed a tracker on me after all. It seems me dancing around the information I wanted to tell Eden; hoping for him to not try to fight against Cosmos anytime soon, was not wasted. Even if you caught on Cosmos, you lack proof, and now is certainly not the time to kill a high ranking wood spirit with how high tension is right now. Especially me. Plantus thinks about it, leaving him with a slight grin, only allowed due to Plantus facing downwards just enough of Cosmos to not see it. He wipes it off his face as he goes to respond.

  “What ever could you mean? I will not claim I did not talk to Eden, but I certainly did not give him any special secrets he could not find out from any old wood spirit!” Plantus responds to Cosmos. Cosmos lets out a chuckle after hearing this.

  He knows I have nothing on him. Nothing that I can do anything with. It seems you have not lost your edge. I suppose I should prepare my offer then. Now how shall I convince him? Cosmos ponders once he finishes his laugh. He fake coughs and faces Plantus dead in the eye.

  “I suppose you are correct. That is not why I called upon you anyways, so I shall not linger on it. Surely someone as informed as yourself is quite knowledgeable on the kingdom’s current status, correct?” Cosmos asks, though it feels more like a rhetorical question to Plantus. He nods regardless, and Cosmos continues.

  “I assumed so. I told the officials about “A Legacy’s Myth” yesterday, and every single one of them has been working non-stop ever since. The old ones, no I suppose they only look old, have been fighting in the royal courtroom for hours now. You know better than I do how long it takes them to make any decision when left alone.” Cosmos informs Plantus, who for once seems to be fully on board with Cosmos’s assessment.

  Those bastards! I do not know what Cosmos is getting at quite yet, but if I had to guess he wants me to do some work for him. Asking me to work after being dishonorably discharged, though I can hardly blame him. Besides him himself, I was the only one to truly “climb the Tower”. If only those old men did the same as I did, they would look so much younger and be vastly more powerful if they took that risk, though I guess it is far too late for that choice. They could never regain their power, even with the system’s accelerated growth and delayed aging features. Plantus ponders, reminiscing on the olden days, a much more simple yet frustrating time. But the past is not worth the present, so Plantus snaps back to reality.

  “I concur, though I am not quite sure what you want me to do about it.” Plantus tells Cosmos.

  “Well, my fine individual, allow me to explain: it was what, 10 years ago since the incident with the other human? Even though you have shown a repeat of these events, I believe that this time that course of action was the correct move, even if you do not know why. I am a believer that time washes all sins, so I would like to offer you your old post, that of the head of the royal advisors.”