Chapter 61

In case something happened, Xiao Ming put the bird's feather neatly in his pocket. He then looked around, but it was futile to find any more promising clues among the burnt remains. He decided to bury the carriage in the ground. Mesquite slightly stomped her foot to loosen the soil, and Elder used a branch to pull the carriage into the ground, as a landslide could occur if too much force was applied.

After that, he deliberately made a fuss on the way to draw the attention of the fire. The fires that sprang out upon noticing them were quickly extinguished by Daisy's swift movements. Without the battle consuming time, they managed to cross the mountain by the afternoon. They had planned to cross before nightfall, and they had also reduced the number of fire entities in the mountain.

Finally, he could see the dandelion colony in the distance. Although it had only been a few days since he last visited, it felt like a long time. He had many things to talk about with Dandelion, such as how his Panacea saved their team and how the staff fragment containing the divine revelation was used. He also wanted to introduce the young Bagot, who joined the team this way.

As they crossed the boundary of the colony, small yellow petals flew in the wind. The first time they met, the colony sent white seeds as a warning, thinking they were enemies. Dandelion said that if they knew his identity, they would have sent welcoming yellow petals, but fortunately, they recognized him.

Two particularly active dandelion children were seen. They broke away from the group, ran out, and mingled with the yellow petals to welcome them. It was surprising how much they had to say.

"Let me stay one more day!"

Although it was still far from night, it was better than facing it on the road. The two particularly active dandelion children clung to Daisy and chattered away as soon as they reached the center of the colony. What could they have so much to say about?

"Rest well. The visit of a Druid is something we welcome. Especially for those children."

Dandelion pointed to the two children, who were indeed the ones.

"I can feel a stable energy. The dry air is now moist, and the rampant fires have calmed down. Thanks to this, the unstable Forest has regained its vitality. Do you know the reason, Druid?"

Xiao Ming told the story of what happened in the 28th Terrarium, only the events that could be publicly disclosed.

"You have done a great deed. This is not limited to the 28th Terrarium but a great achievement that all 20s Terrariums and their surrounding areas should be grateful for."

Dandelion placed her hand on her chest, holding the staff, and bowed. The nearby dandelion saplings followed her and bowed. Feeling embarrassed by their respectful attitude, he quickly waved his hand. "Ah, we just help each other!"

Bagot, who had blushed and looked amazed when seeing the small dandelion dryads, now made a sad face and hid behind him when facing Dandelion. The small children were fine, but her presence as the queen of the Forest was intimidating enough to make Bagot scared.

"Ah, do you remember the staff fragment I gave you? It's stuck in his head."

He grabbed the child's shoulders from behind and pulled him forward. He wasn't sure if the staff fragment was originally meant to be placed on the crown, but it ended up looking like a costume. As everyone's gaze fell on him, the child bowed his head, and the white fluff on his head also drooped like reeds.

"What kind of reaction did it have? How did the divine revelation manifest?"

"It seems to be an item that can awaken another characteristic of a dryad. Currently, he is a healer, but if I remove the staff fragment, he becomes an attacker."

It's a completely overpowered item. If he hadn't accepted Dandelion's side quest, he wouldn't have obtained it. It's a rare item that can only be obtained once from the staff of the queen of the Dandelion Forest. If he sold it, it would have fetched a high price. It might even have been an item that could only be bought with cash. Of course, he had no intention of selling it.

"Indeed, it is a mysterious item. I'm glad it was used appropriately. Then, what kind of plant is the mother plant of this sapling dryad?"

"Um... It's a bit complicated, but it's similar to a monkshood."

Dandelion's expression changed dramatically at this. As she fell silent, the children who had gathered around Bagot slowly moved closer to Dandelion. Did she send them a telepathic message to stay away?

"Then, it might not be a good idea to remove it here."

Of course, he also thought that an attacking Bagot was uncontrollable, so he had no intention of removing the staff fragment.

"It might not affect the dryads connected to your soul, but it's different for me and my children. The mother plant is a powerful poisonous herb. It could be dangerous for my very young children. Even the existence of this dryad could be a threat."

He immediately thought of Belladonna, the leader of the sapling team. She said that her existence was dangerous to everyone in the field except her allies. Indeed, she was just a young, timid child, but her power as an attacker was formidable.

However, it seemed to be a different case from Belladonna. When Daisy approached to insert the staff fragment, no special events occurred due to the proximity.

However, he couldn't immediately dispel Dandelion's misunderstanding. To prove that it was a different case from Belladonna, he would have to remove the staff fragment and show it, but he couldn't control the sudden situation the child might create.

If he could build enough intimacy with Bagot to control him, he could dispel the misunderstanding then.

"Well... It's safe now. He's a healer. He's weaker than Elder but can still heal. I don't know all of his skills, but since he can apply debuffs, he might also have a skill to remove them... However, due to some complicated circumstances, this child doesn't know much about himself. His healing characteristic was forcibly awakened using the staff fragment..."

"Perhaps this sapling child is a healer with a similar characteristic to us. Our power is different from that of the Elder Flower Dryad."

Dandelion relaxed her guard and approached Bagot, listening to his defense. It might be a bit disappointing for Bagot, but she was the protector of the dandelion children, and her attitude was understandable.

Dandelion talked about plants that could be poisonous or medicinal, using the knowledge passed down to her as the queen of the Forest. The dual nature of these plants was information he had seen in the information window when recruiting Bagot.

If her knowledge was correct, Bagot, like the dandelion dryads, would be more specialized in repelling bad energy than in restoring good energy.

The probability that he was a debuff remover, as he had expected, was very high. Additionally, if he grew more, he might be able to create a Panacea like she did. Of course, in the distant... very distant future...

It was fine that his healing power was not great. They already had Elder, an excellent healer. Most importantly, he knew the danger of debuffs from experience, so the ability to remove them was crucial.

Bagot was a talent they desperately needed, whether as an attacker or a healer. He just hadn't found his place yet... Anyway, he would try to raise him well!

Thinking about it, if they had faced the saplings before getting Bagot, it would have been very dangerous due to Belladonna's existence alone.

Bagot's sloppy attacks were less of a concern than the intelligent attacks from the experienced Belladonna. Although their team lacked a healer, in a prolonged battle, they would have been at a significant disadvantage.

Fortunately, she was just a bit rude in her words, not in her attitude. It was a relief not to have met her as an enemy.

"By the way, the atmosphere of the dandelion children seems different. The last time I saw them, they were just innocently laughing and running around."

Dandelion looked a bit tired at his words.

"They were stimulated."

"Stimulated?"

She pointed to Daisy. It seemed that some of the dandelion children were stimulated by Daisy's adventure stories.

"Even trying to teach them their limits was useless. The children want to leave the colony."

"Did I give them false hope...? I feel a bit guilty..."

"Perhaps this is their destiny. The fundamental purpose of dryads is to protect the World Tree. However, they cannot go out alone, even if the area has become much safer."

Indeed, even if they cleaned up the area, they couldn't guarantee when fires would appear again. Moreover, the children were healers, not attackers, and were particularly good at removing debuffs, which was not a favorable characteristic for dealing with fires.

"Moreover, the Druid probably doesn't want to form a soul connection with these children. There are more efficient dryads to fill the soul limit, and the children are very weak. Additionally, the dandelion dryads have not yet awakened any skills."

This was the gap between dreams and reality. The two children clinging to Daisy were still dreamers who hadn't tasted reality. Daisy had the opportunity to meet him, but the two dandelion children were quite pitiful.

However, it was awkward. Even if he wanted to help, his top priority was raising Daisy and Bagot. Two children were already a handful. He couldn't afford to spread his attention further.

As they chatted, night fell.

He took out the Terrarium artifact and talked to Daisy2 in the 28th Terrarium. "Are you doing well? You're not crying because your mother isn't here, are you?"

"Such things happened."

"There is a dandelion colony on the way to the 26th Terrarium. Dandelions. Wild children from seeds are not particularly helpful to Druids, especially in combat."

That's blunt. I like that.

"They want to experience a wider world outside the colony. But I'm already overwhelmed with just Bagot and Daisy. I'm afraid my attention will be divided. Dandelion said she would make the children give up..."

Bagot even needs attention for building intimacy. I have a mountain of tasks.

"Then, how about sending them to the 28th Terrarium?"

"Huh?"

"If there is room in your soul limit, you can connect them and put them in the artifact. They can gain experience from outside even inside, and they don't only grow through battles. If there is a mature dryad to serve as a role model, they can also be taught. If you send them to the 28th Terrarium, I can teach them. Dryads connected to a Druid's soul grow faster than in the wild."