Buoyed by the will of the deep sea, even the silent grove dreams of change.
Though the Azure Dragon Nemorensis had returned to nature, the forest of the Silva Empire continued to grow steadily.
Its relationship with the Aqua Empire remained without issue, and even their Black Dragon Marinus came to the forest, scattered water like rain, and returned.
The Metallum Empire, which could have posed the greatest threat to Silva, had been greatly weakened by its war with the Ignis Empire, so there was likewise no reason to fear it for the time being.
Now was the perfect opportunity to accelerate the forest’s growth.
Empress Drian ordered the researchers to produce Slime Cores.
Since they had already grown to the final stage with Life Cores, they now wished to grow in another direction.
With the growth of the citadel accelerating the production of Life Cores, Silva could provide sufficient resources for the Slime Cores as well.
And at last.
From Driandel, the heart of Silva, a wave announcing a new change spread outward.
Drian stepped out of the citadel and said,
“We have finished all preparations for another stage of growth. We will advance one step further.”
Behind her followed Tarban and Bramir.
It was still too early to resummon Nemorensis, but Drian had chosen another path.
Her retainers arrived before their Slime Barracks.
“Our slime will now grow to the next stage.”
Drian gently placed both hands on the wall of the Slime Barracks.
A moment later, the entire barracks slowly began to respond.
From its center, teal slime matter began to tremble and spread, and soon the whole structure reshaped itself anew.
Hard, massive pillars resembling tree trunks rose up, and between them, slime clung and linked together as though alive.
Even atop the roof covered in leaves, slime had hardened thickly.
The slime, viscous yet without a fixed form, tangled this way and that among the trees, forming a stable shape of its own.
“Ooh……”
Tarban’s mouth fell open.
“To think even the barracks for a dual-attribute core has now grown to stage four. Then slime, too, is only one step away from the final stage.”
“That is so.”
Drian answered.
“Not only we ourselves, but our children as well are growing quickly. Aqua’s support has played a great role all this time. Not only us—Aqua must grow together with us.”
“Yes, of course.”
Bramir said, looking up at the barracks before him.
He turned to Tarban.
“Then shall we try producing the new troop type now?”
“Very well.”
They had already consumed a large number of Slime Cores for the growth of the Slime Barracks, but producing a high-ranking slime troop would naturally require a considerable number of cores as well.
While Drian and Bramir watched, Tarban slowly inserted Slime Cores into the barracks one by one.
Originally, single-attribute stage-four troops are not citizens trained into soldiers, but are born from the core itself.
By contrast, all troops of dual-attribute cores are created from the cores that are inserted.
Wondering what would reveal itself this time, not only the retainers but also the forest warriors nearby watched the barracks.
Sssssss……
A moment later, some form emerged from within the barracks.
It was far removed from a human shape.
A single enormous mass of slime wriggled forward until it stood before Drian and her retainers.
“Wh-what is this……?”
Neither Bramir nor Tarban had expected the identity of what would be born.
Tarban slowly and carefully glanced at Drian.
Drian maintained an expressionless face as she stared at the slime mass before her.
The slime mass contracted and expanded its body as it moved little by little.
Its movement was not as fast as that of a Flexible Warrior.
However, its size and appearance created a sense of intimidation.
Sssss, sssk……
With no way to tell which side was the front, it began wandering over the nearby ground.
Soon it flattened itself against the earth, then after a moment raised its body and moved on.
“W-wait? What is that thing doing?”
Bramir cried.
The soil where that lump had just been attached had dried and withered.
The other areas were still moist from the spray of Aqua’s Marinus, but the soil where it had passed had turned white.
Drian opened her mouth.
“This one shall be named the Biological Absorber.”
The Biological Absorber was certainly a threat to earth energy.
It absorbed nutrients from the soil and devastated it.
The Biological Absorber was undoubtedly an extraordinary troop type, but Bramir showed a flustered reaction.
“Truly, it is a being that cannot even be compared to the Flexible Warrior. But is it all right to reveal such a being to the world? Its appearance alone is no different from a monster’s, and it is far too strong against earth energy. Must we really go this far……”
For a brief while, silence fell.
The soldiers around them, who had been watching the Biological Absorber, were also at a loss for words.
Drian answered calmly.
“We have the right to keep our forest safe. And we also have the freedom to grow. If anyone tries to stop our growth, we must fight them.”
Tarban turned his head and gave an order to the Biological Absorber.
“Listen. You belong to us. You are Silva, and at the same time, Aqua. You were born between the two.”
The Biological Absorber slowly halted its massive body before Tarban.
It seemed to be concentrating on Tarban’s voice.
Tarban continued.
“As Her Majesty said, your name is Biological Absorber. And you must obey our orders. The consequences of sudden actions will return to all of us. Do not leave this forest recklessly without our command.”
The Biological Absorber said nothing.
But as though it had understood Tarban’s words, it calmed its wriggling body.
Drian quietly watched the bizarre being that had just been born, then turned and made her way back to the citadel.
Tarban and Bramir headed toward the northwestern border of the forest.
It was the border that met the coastline of the Aqua Empire, where the Fusion Facility jointly producing Slime Cores with Aqua was located.
“How are things on this side?”
Bramir asked the researchers as he entered the Fusion Facility.
The new researcher Selenne answered confidently.
“There are no problems with Slime Core production. After producing hundreds of them so far, I think we’ve become quite skilled.”
Tarban nodded.
“Thanks to you, we just completed a major growth. The Slime Barracks has become stage four now.”
“Ah……”
The researchers inside the Fusion Facility focused on their words.
Across the way, Aqua’s researchers, Birellen and Miriel, turned their heads toward them.
Tarban spoke to them.
“Ah, thank you for your hard work. It seems your side will now be able to grow your Slime Barracks by one stage as well.”
Birellen asked him,
“You said stage four, correct? What is stage four for the Slime Core?”
“We call that troop type the Biological Absorber. It takes the form of a large slime.”
Bramir picked up where Tarban left off.
“As expected of a new troop type, it is terrifying. It could lightly break apart solid earth.”
Earth energy is stronger than water energy.
However, water can join forces with wood energy to overcome earth.
But Birellen and Miriel’s reactions did not seem very pleased.
Birellen said,
“We would have to see it for ourselves to know, but might it not be somewhat excessive?”
“Ah, hmm……”
Tarban and Bramir were in fact thinking the same thing.
For a being meant to protect the forest, its appearance was bizarre, and it seemed dangerous in and of itself.
Tarban tried to smooth it over.
“Since it is, after all, the stage-four troop type of a dual-attribute core, it seems we ended up creating a being beyond our imagination. But it is not uncontrollable, so as long as it is not neglected, it should be fine.”
Miriel looked at Birellen and asked,
“Stage five is the last, right? Then what will stage five be? A dragon?”
At her question, Birellen looked around at the other researchers.
Elona, a researcher from Silva, said,
“As far as I know, dragons can be summoned with single-attribute cores…… but even if a dragon appears, what form would that dragon take?”
Tarban recalled the beings he had witnessed: Nemorensis and Marinus.
Marinus, the mysterious being whose whole body was covered in black crystals of water.
And Nemorensis, the being that symbolized the forest itself, clad in blue leaves, vines, and moss.
But the Slime Core had given birth to an unfamiliar form as its stage-four troop type.
Could that core truly create a relatively ordinary being at its final stage?
Bramir spoke evasively.
“Ah, that is something we had best think about when the time comes. We understand your concerns as well. We are fully aware of them ourselves. For now, Her Majesty Drian says it is for the growth of the forest. As I said earlier, if handled carefully, it should be fine.”
Birellen looked at Miriel and said,
“We should try making at least one too, shouldn’t we?”
“I don’t know. In any case, as long as it’s on our side, it should be fine.”
Tarban spoke again.
“And so, we came to tell you about this. Then we’ll leave the rest to you……”
“Ah, Officer in charge of detection. A word, please……”
When Elona called Bramir, Tarban and Bramir stopped together.
She began to speak.
“We honestly shared information about what cores each of us possesses. Slime Cores aside, we have also fused Amber Cores, and we received some Ember Cores from Ignis as well. But Aqua says that, other than slime, they only have Mud Cores. Even those Mud Cores are the result of fusion with Terra’s cores, which hold a superior countering position against them, so they say they are difficult to use.”
The researchers’ gazes turned toward them.
Tarban asked Elona,
“It seems the only core we can jointly handle is the Slime Core. What do you want us to help with?”
“Well, since we have been producing only Slime Cores all this time, we wondered if we might be able to turn our eyes to other cores now……”
Like Birellen and Miriel on Aqua’s side, Elona and Selenne of Silva thought the same.
They, too, occasionally wanted to research and produce other dual-attribute cores.
Bramir looked at Birellen and Miriel and asked,
“What do you think?”
Miriel glanced around cautiously and answered,
“To be honest, I wanted to research Metallum’s cores. But I understand those cores are not good for Silva, so I decided to give up on that. Then what about Ignis’s cores……? Could we research those as well?”
Silva had exchanged a few words with Ignis before, but it did not possess their Flame Cores.
The only cores they had were the few Ember Cores Ignis had handed over.
Tarban answered,
“Unfortunately, it is not something to think of simply. To obtain Ignis’s cores, we would have to meet with Ignis, and we would also have to persuade them as to why we want those cores. In any case, we will take your request. It will be difficult for now, but if we obtain them someday, we will pass them on.”
Like Aqua, Silva had now begun to take an interest in the cores of other empires.