Chapter 252: The Bear Cleans Up the Sacred Tree

Chapter 252:
The Bear Cleans Up the Sacred Tree

 

AFTER OUR CONVERSATION, we headed to the sacred tree. We wanted to double check whether I could enter into the barrier and do a little cleaning up while we were at it.

Mumulute, Sanya, and Arutul were supposed to be the only three who could enter the barrier, but Arutul was busy checking for monsters around the woods. If I could get in, they wanted me to help.

 

We headed over to the base of the craggy mountain where the sacred tree stood. Mumulute and Sanya touched the stone in front of the cave. It glowed, and they headed into the cave leading to the tree—I headed in after them.

Mumulute and Sanya watched me enter once again without me doing a thing. They looked at me quizzically.

“Very curious,” said Mumulute. “It seems you are still able to enter, girl.” As always, I could thank the bear gear for that.

Once we left the cave, a beautiful scene unfurled in front of us.

“It’s so pretty…” said Sanya. The leaves on the giant tree were sprouting and green. Light shone down from above, which made it seem as though the tree was sparkling. “We have this now because you defeated the parasite, Yuna.”

“Okay, okay,” I said. “But what are we doing here?”

“We’re picking up the leaves of the sacred tree. We can use its leaves for tea.”

Sacred tree tea? What a name. That kind of concoction absolutely had to be good for you.

“Sanya, do these leaves have any special effects?” I asked, picking up some tree leaves near my feet with my bear puppets.

“Hmm…well, if you drink the tea, it can replenish your mana a little. It also makes you less tired.” So it was kinda like a replenishing potion in a game? “If you drink it after a tiring night,” she added, “you’ll wake up refreshed the next morning.”

Ah, okay. So it wasn’t quick-acting, but it could help after a tiring day. But how did it taste? If it was good, I definitely wanted some. If it tasted bad, though, I wouldn’t want to drink it no matter how good it was for me.

“By the by, how’s it taste?” I asked.

“I think…like normal tea?”

Well, that didn’t help.

“I thought it’d taste good because it’s sacred and all.”

“Everyone has their own preferences. Why don’t you try some once we get back to the village?”

“Are you sure?”

“You saved the village. You don’t need to be so polite,” said Sanya. “Plus, we can make as much as we want whenever we want.” Sanya looked down at all the fallen leaves.

She had a point. If this were the fall, we could’ve made a ton of roasted yams. That sounded like a nice activity to do later with Fina and the others. “Could I ask for some of the tea leaves, Sanya?”

“Sure thing,” said Sanya. “Grandfather! Yuna said she’d like some of the sacred tree’s leaves!”

“In that case, we shall give her leaves that have already been processed.”

“Thank you!”

“We have a ton of leaves,” Sanya explained, “but it takes quite a while to make them suitable for tea.”

Still, I bet it’d sell great if it could help with fatigue. Maybe it could even be advertised as the “Sacred Tree’s Revitalizing Tea!” Not that the elves would sell anything like that, let alone advertise the existence of the sacred tree. They were probably the only ones who got to drink the stuff.

“Let’s help clean up these leaves.”

Sanya and the others used wind magic to gather the sacred tree’s leaves from the ground. Watching the village head and his family member gather fallen leaves sure was something. I guess they were the only ones who ever got to do this kind of thing.

I stopped just watching and got to work helping. I created a small whirlwind and funneled the leaves into it like a vacuum cleaner. Then, once the whirlwind was full of leaves, I nulled it and created a pile of leaves. After a few more whirlwinds, we were making quick work of the leaves.

“You’re so good at this, Yuna,” said Sanya. “Maybe I’ll copy you.” She created her own small whirlwind. “Oh, you’re right! This makes collecting the leaves really easy!”

Soon enough, Mumulute copied us too. Gotta hand it to Elvish-kind: they’re quick learners. They’re experts at wind magic, so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.

Soon enough, we had a fair number of leaves—enough for a load of tea. I picked up a branch. Looked like the thin branches had snapped right off. Hopefully, they’d forgive me for the damage, considering I’d protected the sacred tree and all. I’d even given it some of my mana, so I doubted the tree would be mad at me. I patted the tree’s trunk gently.

“Yuna, what’s gotten into you?”

If I told her I was apologizing to the tree for breaking its branches, she’d probably laugh at me. “Uh...it’s nothing, don’t worry about it.”

“Since you’re gathering the branches, can you use them for something?” These were the sacred tree’s branches, after all. They were probably really sturdy or fire resistant or something, right? “We’ll use them to make amulets. The sacred tree has protected us for years, so it’s said that amulets made from it have blessings.”

“Blessings?” Like one of those things in the game? What, would they increase your luck or something?

“We think so. We elves believe that amulets of the sacred tree protect us.”

So it was more like a religion for the elves. To them, it didn’t matter whether it worked or not.

“Could I take some of the branches?” I asked.

“You want them?”

“After hearing all that, I kinda want some.”

“All right, but I can’t guarantee that they’ll do anything.”

C’mon, this was the sacred tree we were talking about! The branches of a tree with enough mana that it could create a barrier around the elven woods. It had to be useful for something. Any game worth its salt had an item like this.

It didn’t seem like my bear storage had an upper limit, so it wasn’t like carrying them was a burden. Once I got permission from Mumulute, I (kinda presumptuously) started stuffing my storage full of branches big and small.

 

After that, we got rid of the vines from the parasite and checked every nook and cranny to make absolutely certain that the thing was completely gone. I doubted it’d regenerate, but we had to be sure.

 

Once we were done, we headed back to the village. They made some sacred tree tea for me to drink, just as promised.

“How does it taste?”

The liquid was brown. It didn’t look like green tea. I breathed it in to get a sense of its fragrance. It didn’t smell funny. I took a sip. Yeah, seemed a little bitter, but not too bad.

I couldn’t tell at all whether it had rejuvenating properties. But then again, it wasn’t like I was tired.

Whether or not the tea worked, I took some anyway. If it did have rejuvenating qualities, it might be something nice to bring back for my shop workers.