Chapter 189 – Cold atmosphere
Once Noah sat down for a more private talk with the Queen of Dryad he needed to explain what kind of help he needed from her without her tearing his head off on the spot. And Ugy’s reassurance in the phrase “Trust me it’s gonna be fine”, did not really help him to feel reassured.
He previously showed her that he was open and honest with her, so he decided to tell her a partial truth without mentioning the details to not give away all his secrets.
As the cat was out of the box he could not hide the Treant created by Doonpine, so he truthfully explained what kind of being it was and how he got it. A being of her powers could feel lies so after opening up to her on this matter he gained enough trust to lower her suspicions and not inquire too deeply into details.
As for why he needed her help and how she could help he weaved a story of half-truths and lots of missing details. She already knew about his ability to travel through dreams, so that was a base on which he weaved the half-truth hiding the true possibilities of what he could do.
“So what does this dream entity thing have to do with this…branch? And what was that feeling I got from touching it?” Asked Dryad Queen after listening to Noah's explanation about his strange encounters with beings from the dream realm.
“I am getting to it, Your Majesty. Just a bit of patience.”
“Oh, please, young Noah, just call me by my name when we are alone. That officiality, you humans love so much, bore me.” Said Dryad Queen.
“As you wish, Lady Marva.” Said Noah.
“Just Marva is fine.” Smiled Dryad Queen.
“So…khem you see, Marva,” said Noah feeling uncomfortable calling the entity of her degree and status by the name. “When I gave my system command to take care of it, it misunderstood my intention. After analyzing the abilities of that Parasite Tree entity it found a solution to revitalizing this young Treant although in quite an unconventional way.”
“I see. So it’s not that you don’t know how to care for it, but this unconventional way needs my help. And what does it need from me?”
“Well as I said we have concluded that this branch needs a nutritious soil highly imbued with spiritual energy.” Said Noah.
“Which you would not find here.” Said Dryad Queen. “This world is my dream. Made with the help of magic and glamor. This is not a material world.”
“Yes. We have reached this conclusion in our study of how to save it. However, that was the situation before my mistake of giving unclear orders to my system. Now the situation has changed.” Said Noah sighing.
“These dream entities possess different levels of sentience and although they are just products of imagination so to say, they may very well become material entities if they have the chance to possess a body.”
“Possess a body? Like ghosts?” Asked, Dryad Queen surprised.
“In a sense, yes. But it is more like taking over the host's mind. There are several conditions of course. The first is that the body should be suitable. Plant to a plant, human or monster body for a sapient entity and corps for an undead.”
“The second condition is that the host's mind must be weaker than theirs. Then the will of that entity would be able to overpower the will of the host body and take over the mind. The mind may be fully assimilated or have partial possession.”
“With partial possession, the main will of the dream entity would stay inside my mind realm and hold the mind of the host body under its control. Like a puppeteer. The body would be an avatar of this entity.”
With full possession the entire entity would escape my mind realm and fully possess the host body, making it its own. Stealing it completely.”
“Interesting how you found out about this ability of these entities.” Said Dryad Queen raising an eyebrow.
Noah lowered his head feeling guilty for what happened when he released the nightmares for the first time.
“To tell you the truth, there are currently two entities that escaped. And with two more I have a truce with several agreements.”
“Fascinating.” Said Dryad Queen. “You never stop to impress, Noah. You truly like an onion. Every new layer hides another. Makes me want to strip you more and more.” She said with an innocent smile.
“Khem…Anyways,” said Noah, making another uncomfortable cough. “When a dream entity gets a body it can’t reproduce itself. That body doesn't belong to it after all. Even if it mates, it will only birth the offspring of that host body. But an entity can unleash its special abilities and skills while possessing a body. Even with the partial possession when the body is only an avatar, they still can transfer their powers to that body, giving it unnatural powers.” Continued to explain, Noah.
“That’s what conclusion my system came to. If it could give this branch the abilities of the Parasite Tree it could overcome the problem with the source of nutrients needed for the branch. The branch and Parasite Tree dream entity are both plant types so possession was possible. As the branch was merely a sapling with barely any sentience, it was easy for this entity to overpower young Treant in the battle of wills and capture its mind.”
“I see.” Said Queen squinting her eyes. “And how is it going to replace the source for nutrients?”
“It can be now nourished the same way as you supplement with special nutrients the Palace Tree.” Said Noah gazing at the Dryad Queen while making a loud gulp.
“The same as… Oh.” Said Dryad Queen, her eyes going wide. “Oh my. That is…indeed an interesting solution your system came up with.” Said Dryad Queen losing her composure for a few seconds, her cheeks heating with a blush.
“Khem…B…But what’s in it for me?” She coughed into a fist as if covering that short slip of her composed face. “If you know about the way the Palace Tree is nourished, you know its function and what it means to deprive it of its nourishment.”
“The amount is negligible in comparison. With its size right now, it would need barely an hour's worth of your ‘care’ every month, Marva.” Said Noah feeling how his own cheeks burned with a blush. Offering something of the sort to a Lady was not something he could feel comfortable with.
“As for the benefits to you….” Said Noah scratching his cheek bashfully before saying the words that made Dryad's Queen instantly go cold. Her eyes went livid with fury as the air in the room plunged into freezing cold.