175 – Under the Tree.

We stopped at the edge of the shadow cast by the gargantuan tree. The section of the forest directly beneath it grew meters apart from each other, ranging from ten to fifteen meters between trees. Bushes were scarcer, but grass was abundant. The amount of visible animals diminished considerably, as well, with mostly just insects and bugs moving around.

“What kind of tree is that?” I asked, looking up at the thing a little over five hundred meters ahead.

The surrounding trees were similar to beeches covered in thick moss, making the singular gigatree an outstanding oddity considering the extremely wide canopy.

Lapia took the massive tree in for a few seconds. “Probably a Great Oblis,” she replied, a little unsure. “But the size is a bit out of the norm. They're not from around here, too, so maybe an odd variation of the local trees.”

I turned to her and raised my eyebrows. “A bit out of the norm?” I repeated in disbelief. “That's proper abnormal, Lapia!”

The Elf slowly turned to me, looking me dead in the eye, then uttered, “Well, yes.”

“Mhm,” I hummed with a nod, letting the subject go. Tapping Sonya's neck, we resumed the trip.

A few seconds after crossing into the darker world of the shadow the tree cast upon the world, the smell of damp and unattended vegetation made itself apparent sharply and violently. With it, the smell of still water sneaked around without warning.

The ground was moist and covered in dark vegetation, giving the area a very downtrodden atmosphere.

Flies and mosquitoes of disconcertingly disproportionate sizes swarmed around us, bringing with them the high pitched buzz of annoying insects. Each was the size of a golf ball, and looked outright nefarious.

I immediately equipped my protective gear.

A fire ball formed above Lapia's head, growing in size and temperature until around thirty centimeters wide.

The insects either took distance or rushed to it. I was okay with both outcomes.

“A swamp,” the Elf scoffed with disgust. “Unlucky, I guess. Elena would love it here, though.”

I clicked my tongue and swatted a fat fly, making it burst in my gauntlet. “Fuck her,” I muttered and quickly swung my hand to get rid of the filth.

The ground grew wetter, making the mounts' feet squelch loudly as we advanced.

“What?” Lapia chuckled in a teasing tone. “You don't like the fact she doesn't outright worship you, and you can't really do anything about it because she's Yulianna's partner?”

I noticed a slug the size of a Pug dog and my face twisted in absolute disgust. The affront to the natural course of life was climbing a malnourished-looking tree and leaving a very viscous trail that reflected my glow and the fire.

“No,” I denied her claim, doing my best to hold back from gagging at the sight. “She's just a complete cunt. There's no need to be rude, is there?”

“She's in a great deal of stress, Natasha,” the Elf pointed out with a sigh.

I shrugged. “And I don't give a fat fuck, Lapia. Her trauma is not my responsibility to deal with in any way, shape, or form. She didn't even thank me for getting her out of the neck-deep shit swamp she was in. I will not solve people's personal problems.”

My girlfriend gave me a look that said she didn't buy it.

I rolled my eyes. “I will support people, sure. Help them recover their autonomy, maybe provide shelter, food, and means to protect themselves, but I can't solve their issues.”

Lapia let out a gentle laugh. “Sometimes that's all it takes to save someone,” she told me with a smile.

My eyebrows joined and I let out a conflicted sigh. “That's not what I mean. Fuck this language,” I grumbled and switched. “Joder,” I continued in Earthen Tongue since Lapia knew that as well. “Giving someone the tools to get out of a bad place is not the same as solving their issues. They have to want to do it by themselves, otherwise it's a waste of time.”

A heavy and wet plop from my right caught my attention. A fat frog with moss on its back was slapping the ground.

“Your definition of saving someone is what makes you think like that,” Lapia pointed out. “Your concept of saving someone is more about the mental process of acceptance and then improvement from within. I agree with that one hundred percent.” She sighed. “Still, you got Elena out of that bad spot, killed Nerissa who was tormenting King Gordon, and saved me from certain death. These are undeniable facts that most will see as saving people regardless of how you feel about it.”

I sighed while shaking my head. “That's a problem, Lapia. If the bare minimum becomes a good thing, then society's values are rotting. The very concept concerns me and makes me question about what is next. Are we going to congratulate a mother that doesn't abandon her children? Hail her as a hero for not being a disgusting creature? Or, conversely, is the expectation on people going to grow increasingly demanding to the point that, what once was impossible to achieve without extreme sacrifice becomes the norm?” I inquired, looking at her.

Lapia's emerald green eyes looked into my own. Her lips slowly curled into a smile and her eyes squinted in glee. “If you believe the outstanding is the bare minimum, Natasha, you are an excellent individual.” Her smile widened. “Maybe that's why Galeia chose you as a Halve... if that's how she does things.”

I deflated a little, sighing in defeat. “If so, then that's a symptom of the state of the world. I am by no means an exemplary person, Lapia. In terms of morality, I am average at best.”

Lapia chuckled. “Someone who thinks saving people is a natural thing to do is not average at all, sunshine.”

“Mhm,” I hummed and shook my head. “Maybe it's a Halve thing.”

“Maybe,” she repeated with a nod.

I turned my head forward.

Vegetation was slowly replaced by fungi, growing in place of bushes and plants. The amount of trees was the same as before but thinner and weaker. Light had dimmed considerably, becoming a perpetual cloudy dusk beneath the shade of the massive tree.

My glow illuminated the immediate surroundings, coming only from my hair which I had wrapped around my neck like a scarf to both avoid insects clinging to it or getting tangled in one of the many stray branches.

“You say it's a natural thing to do and yet get angry when Elena isn't grateful?” Lapia loudly asked with disbelief, like she just noticed something out of place.

I arched an eyebrow and faced her. “Not at all,” I denied her claim once again, then explained, “All I want is for her to not be a cunt. She doesn't need to say thanks or bow, just behave. Like, she was mind controlled so I don't blame her for trying to kill me. Similarly, I could have killed her, but that doesn't mean she should be subservient to me. Just... not how she is, stress or not. You get me, right?”

“A bit,” she replied with a shrug. “I understand her a bit more, though. I was in a similar situation not too long ago.”

I bit my lower lip and nodded.

We reached the edge of a pond of sorts that was covered in large lily pads that looked like Sonya could stand on which had dark blue flowers in the middle. There were also some that had no flowers, floating around nearby.

A dragonfly the size of my arm flew over the surface and landed on a pad next to a flower, maybe to feed from it considering it had a long, curled tube in its mouth like a butterfly's.

“We should be alert,” Lapia told me in a quiet voice.

The lily pad suddenly closed shut, trapping the massive dragonfly and disturbing the waters.

My eyebrows went up a little. “Maybe we should,” I agreed.