Chapter 248: The Bear Heads to the Sacred Tree

Chapter 248:
The Bear Heads to the Sacred Tree

 

WE HEADED FOR THE SACRED TREE. Mumulute and Sanya’s horses were quick, but I could keep up with them atop Kumakyu.

Before long, we arrived. But…where were we? The horses stopped at the foot of a rocky mountain. Where was the sacred tree? I looked around, but I couldn’t see anything that looked like one.

“Where’s the sacred tree?”

“You followed us, Yuna?” Sanya asked. Somehow, they hadn’t noticed that I was behind them.

“I thought you’d stop me if I told you I was coming.”

Sanya sighed. “Yuna...”

“Either way, it’s not like I can go inside the barrier around the sacred tree.”

Although I knew I couldn’t get in, I figured I could at least get a glimpse. But none of the trees looked particularly sacred.

“We cannot change that she followed us,” Mumulute said. “She would do well helping us by guarding the entrance.”

“Yeah, I can do that.” Though I didn’t really get what he meant by that.

Mumulute and Sanya dismounted from their horses and started to head out. After a while, we reached a cave that led into the mountain. Was this the entrance to the sacred tree?

“There don’t seem to be any monsters nearby,” Sanya noted, sounding relieved.

“Yes but stay focused. We mustn’t be caught off-guard. According to Lavaka, monsters have penetrated the sacred tree’s barrier. There may be others.”

Kumakyu looked over at the cave in the mountain. “Cwoom…”

What’s that, Kumakyu? I used my detection skill and, sure enough, I detected monsters on the other side of the mountain.

“Is that what I think it is, Yuna?” Sanya asked.

“Yeah, it looks like there are monsters deeper in the mountain.” Some wolves, some volkrows, and —just as we’d heard— the parasite.

Mumulute looked at the cave. “It’s just as Lavaka said, then.”

“But they shouldn’t be able to get in,” Sanya said.

“There are already tears in the barrier. It is not so strange that monsters have entered.”

We approached the cave. There were three stones in front of it. So, this was the entrance? I guess I wasn’t allowed to go inside, no matter how badly I wanted to. I tried peeking into the cave, but it was pitch black. Couldn’t see a thing.

“Sanya, we shall go inside. Girl, I apologize for asking this of you, but we shall leave any approaching monsters to you.”

“Yuna, I’m sorry,” said Sanya. “All we’ve been doing is giving you trouble.”

With both of them asking, I couldn’t refuse. “Sure, leave the entrance to Kumakyu and me. We won’t let any monsters in.” Even if I still wanted to go inside with them…

I looked up. The mountain was pretty high up, but I could scale it with my bear gear. I might’ve even been able to see the sacred tree if Kumayuru and Kumakyu could fly, but they didn’t have that ability. Bears can’t fly, after all. That was when Kumakyu gave me a sad “Cwoom,” almost like an apology. Wait, was my bear reading my mind?

“Sorry, Kumakyu. I didn’t mean it like that. Don’t sound so sad.”

I hugged Kumakyu’s neck as an apology and threw in some head pats too. Even if Kumayuru and Kumakyu couldn’t fly, they did their absolute best for me. They let me ride them when we traveled, and they kept running, even when I was napping. They even kept watch for me when we camped so I could sleep in peace and woke me up in the morning. I was very grateful to them, with no complaints. Just having them with me was enough to make me happy.

With those thoughts in mind, I pet Kumakyu’s head. Kumakyu perked up, as if understanding me. I was glad that fixed things up.

“How could this happen?!” Mumulute shouted as I was petting Kumakyu’s head.

I looked over at Mumulute, wondering what exactly had happened. He was touching one of the stones near the cave.

“Why will it not respond?!” Mumulute pressed his hand against it several times.

“Grandfather?”

“Sanya. Please, try using your mana.”

Sanya traded places with Mumulute, placed her hand on the monument, and routed mana into it.

“…No reaction,” Sanya said. “But it worked yesterday...!”

Sanya tried several more times—no dice. Mumulute started walking toward the cave like he was trying to go inside, but he was stopped mid-step as if an invisible barrier was stopping him. Sanya stretched her hand out to the cave entrance, but that was blocked as well. It looked like they were putting on a weird pantomime.

“Why is this happening…?” Mumulute said. “Sanya, try once more.”

They both once again placed their hands on the stones and routed their mana into them, but nothing happened.

“We could enter just yesterday,” said Sanya. “Why is this happening now of all times?”

“Perhaps the parasite has completely taken over,” replied Mumulute. “It may no longer have the ability to recognize our mana.”

“You must be joking…” Sanya said.

They looked panicked. I got a sense of what was happening, but still asked Sanya. “What’s wrong?”

“If we rout mana into these stones, they shine, and while they are shining, we can enter the barrier,” she told me. “Or rather… that’s what should happen.”

“For all the mana we pour mana into them, they will not shine,” said Mumulute. “They do not react in the slightest.”

Even though it’d been fine a day before, now they couldn’t enter the barrier. No wonder they were panicking. They kept routing mana into the stones to no reaction. I wondered what would happen if we destroyed the stones? But that’d be its own problem if it broke the barrier…

“Sanya, check on the sacred tree.”

On Mumulute’s order, Sanya summoned her bird and sent it off into the sky. Maybe the tree was visible from above? The summoned bird disappeared over the mountain. How far did that barrier reach? Or could animals get through it no problem? If the summoned bird could get into the barrier, maybe Kumayuru and Kumakyu could too?

Sanya had her eyes closed. I guess she was looking through the eyes of her summoned bird. It was a convenient ability, but it also left her defenseless.

“It’s much worse than before,” said Sanya.

“Of course…” said Mumulute.

“Grandfather, what should we do?”

Mumulute thought it over silently.

“I’ve got an idea,” I said. “Should we wait for Arutul and then undo the barrier? That way, anyone could go in.” And I’d be able to get in and help.

“We cannot do that,” Mumulute replied.

“Huh? But isn’t that why you called for Sanya?” I thought they said that they could undo the seal as long as Mumulute, Sanya, and Arutul were present.

Sanya opened her eyes. “Revoking and creating seals must all be done from within the barrier. If we can’t get inside, we can’t undo the seal.”

I was curious about the barrier and what it felt like, so I headed closer to the cave. The invisible wall should’ve been right around there. I slowly stretched out my hand. Huh…? I thought it’d be right there, but I couldn’t feel anything with my bear puppet and I just kept heading forward. Since I’d expected an invisible wall, I lost my balance and pitched forward.

“Ah!!!” It didn’t hurt thanks to my bear onesie, but I was still embarrassed they’d seen me trip over nothing.

“Yuna?!” Sanya looked over at me. “Are you all right?” she tried rushing over to me but was stopped by the invisible wall. “How did you get inside of it?!”

I looked around. It seemed I was inside the cave.

“Girl...” Mumulute also stared at me in bafflement.

I left the mountain cave.

“Girl, how did you enter it?” Mumulute asked.

I had no idea. “Uh, I just went in.”

I went inside the cave again to demonstrate. The barrier wasn’t preventing me from going inside. Mumulute also tried to follow after me, but the invisible wall stopped him from reaching me.

“What in the world is going on?” said Mumulute, taking the words right out of my mouth.

It was probably my god-given bear onesie, right? That was the only thing I could think of, anyway. But I couldn’t just tell them about the bear onesie.

“I have no idea,” I lied. “Um…want me to go slay the monsters inside?”

I was the only one who could get in. There were monsters and there was the sacred tree to worry about. Now was my chance to get inside the barrier. There was no way I wouldn’t go.

Mumulute hesitated. Stood in thought for a moment. Finally…

“I am sorry to impose upon you again, girl,” said Mumulute.

That was permission. Now I’d be able to see the sacred tree!

“Please be careful, Yuna.”

They both saw me off as I headed into the cave. Then, just like I had, Kumakyu followed right along into the barrier. Mumulute looked shocked as he watched. To be honest, I probably could have just summoned my bears from inside if Kumakyu hadn’t followed along, but this worked too.

The inside of the cave was dark, so I made a bear light (shaped like a bear’s head) and lit up the place.

I headed down a path with a couple twists and turns until I saw a light up ahead. I guess that was the exit? I jogged over and out of the cave, stepping into a huge clearing surrounded by the mountains. It was sorta like a baseball stadium or maybe an arena, surrounded by craggy mountains. Sun streamed down from above.

And at the center of it all, was a huge tree.

A huge sacred tree.

The trunk was so big that multiple people would’ve needed to hold hands to form a chain around it. It was absolutely covered with lush leaves. Everything about the tree positively screamed legendariness.

Although it didn’t look particularly mystical, what with all the parasitic vines covering it. The vines wriggled super nastily. The vines were also coiling around some wolves and volkrows. Every once in a while, the vines moved, as though they were reacting to me even though I was still some ways away. Maybe it was lying in wait, like a predator for its prey…

I tried slicing at the vines with wind magic as a test. They were easy to cut but immediately regenerated. It looked like it was absorbing the sacred tree’s mana and sapping strength right from the monsters, just like I’d expected. It would be trouble if it was left to grow.

For now, I decided to slay the wolves and volkrows that had gotten in. Easy-peasy compared to the cockatrice.