Agatha The Legendary Guild Master

"Oh yeah, tell this to my mom. Next year I will complete two hundred years and she still thinks I'm a kid."

I didn't know what to say to him anymore. Two hundred and was considered a kid! What about me then? Barely twenty and they should consider me a toddler!

"Anyway, do you have a name?"

"It's Treefor."

Ok, at least his name made quite sense to me. "Listen Treefor, I just want to observe the valley, take a short glimpse of it so I can know how to force those creatures living inside to move out."

"Like what you did to these two?" he pointed out using one of his long and dangerous branches towards my two dumb looking demons. "Sure, like these two," I lied, yet I felt no guilt to lie to a child with two hundred years old!

"Hmm… what guarantee then you don't aim for the tree?"

"What tree?" I asked, hardly controlling myself. Dealing with kids wasn't my strongest turf.

"The golden tree, I just told you about!"

"Oh, that tree… no, I'm here for the creatures only."

"Promise?"

Sigh, why were promises always coherent with kids! "Promise," I lied as I intended to see what was in this tree. If he was right, and my hunch was right, then this tree was a treasure.

Finally something worth fighting for!

"Alright, I like you. What's your name?"

"It's Agatha."

"Oh, like the name of the girl I like."

I noticed that he wavered; his trunk, leaves, branches, and even the central high stalk and flower. "You have a girl here?" I asked, while moving my eyes abroad the sides, glancing over the trees lying silently there.

It was hard to imagine all of them were like Treefor. "Sure, but she isn't a treesaint like me, she is a butterfly," he said, and he wavered again.

"How sweet," I said, "you two will make a perfect couple," I lied, as I couldn't believe a talking tree like him eyeing a small innocent butterfly.

"Sigh, she is way out of my league."

"What?!!"

"It's a long story."

I knew all about the kids' tendency to make a small talk turn into a whole bed story. "Make it short then while I take a peek at that valley," I said, as I didn't want to waste more time with him.

He was nice, but not that useful to me. in fact he was standing in my way!

"She has a butterfly origin, yet had a good fortunate encounter and evolved. She is now half way to becoming a complete saint, and I'm barely at the beginning of the road to be one. Sigh, I told you she is out of my league."

He moved slightly creating a gap for me to pass, and I said while moving there, "So how did you two meet?" then I added, "and what does this road of sanity even means?"

"She woke up in a place full of flowers, and I was with my family guarding that place. I saw her that moment and I knew it, deep inside my roots that she is the one."

"Why didn't you go and ask her then to stay with you?"

"I told you, she is halfway to saint, not a loser like me."

I didn't know what to say as I was first busy trying to take a closer and more detailed view of the valley down there, and second I didn't know what he was even talking about. "Tell me what this road of sanity means."

"It's the road of saint, and it's the evolutionary path for us to be humans like you," he said, and his words made my train of thoughts choke and stop abruptly for a moment there before turning to glance at him.

He, and all of his tribe can be humans? Wow, that's new stuff for me.

"She is half way to be a saint, meaning she can turn to humans for half a day and then return to be a butterfly at the other half. While me, sigh… I'm just pathetic."

Now I could fully understand him. "Tell me, what is needed for you and your kin to have a boost in this evolution path?" I asked, as suddenly my mind started linking the missing dots here.

"Mom told me it's something pure with much energy. She spoke about it without seeing it, I know because I know here when she lies."

I smiled warmly as the next moment I took out one of my pearls, held it in my hand while the wisps of energy started to dissipate from it as I asked:

"Is this it?"

"Rumble!"

"Rumble!"

"Rumble!"

The next moment I heard these loud rumbles coming from everywhere. It was like a million elephants were running heading towards me! I held my place while taking out my spear, with the intention of giving the orders to my demons to act if this was meant to be a threat to me.

On both sides, towering trees started to shake, move, and gather around me and Treefor. Despite their huge bodies, they were moving smoothly and it didn't take minutes for all of the tribe to be presented in front of me.

At this moment I realized facing them alone would be foolish. And the next moment I hid my pearl away, held my spear firm as I aggressively asked:

"What is the meaning of this, Treefor?"

"Oh, they are awake, strange," he muttered before shouting to everyone, "Hey, this is my friend. Don't touch her."

"Is this your girl son?" a female crisp voice came from the forest that converged suddenly in front of me. I was preparing myself to jump off this cliff and take my chances in the valley a long way down below instead of facing this scary tribe.

"She isn't my girl, she is my friend. A human kid, just like me."

"But you aren't human!" the voice came again and this time she added, "and she had something precious to us. Ask her about it."

At this moment, and while I was weighing the fall and its impact on me, I heard her words which made me pause. I turned to face them as I took my pearl again. "Do you mean this? Is this useful to you?" I asked, while deliberately speaking in a slow tone, letting the wisps of energy spread out between them.

"Yes, yes, this is the pure energy seed we were looking for, everyone is looking for actually. Child, you are a friend of my son, and I'm the chieftain of this tribe. Don't you want to give it to me as a present? Do you share how you got it with me? with all of us?"

Bingo! So this was the reason why my system seemed quite troubled by giving me the pearls. It turned out to possess extraordinary energy, none of equal to anything here.

I smiled as I warmly replied, "I have a much better proposition for you. Why not move your entire tribe and live under my rule?"

I threw my question and offer and then waited. I knew they wouldn't instantly agree, but as long as I held control of this treasure of mine, I could monopolize the market and control anyone to be my servant and pet.

And for those foolish enough to hurt me, well… if I couldn't deal with them at the moment then I could retreat, bid my time and return when I got stronger.