<h4>Chapter 186 The Tree of Blood! Part-5.</h4>


    "I call this thing... the tree of blood..." (Aaron)


    Hearing that name everyone felt confused and were lost for words, except for Kai.


    "W-wait! I just remembered this tree looks awfully simr to the ''that'' one... D-don''t tell me you!?" (Kai)


    Aaron nodded his head at Kai''s question.


    "Indeed it is ''that'' tree... or to be specific this is my replica of the now extinct ''tree of affinity''..." (Aaron)


    ...


    (Info dumps ahead...)


    There are three major trees that have been revered by the Elven race since ancient times. Each of the three trees is unique to a different species of the Elven race.


    During the thousand-year Extinction war, the Dark Elves were wiped out by the demon race, and along with them the tree that they revered ''The Tree of Wisdom'' dried up and went extinct.


    The Tree of Wisdom was said to be able to give blessings to its chosen ones, its blessing was supposed to be able to enhance an individual''s wisdom exponentially. (Simply speaking it could give extra ''int'' points with its blessing...)


    Dark Elves had a rule that the queen of the Dark Elf must get the blessing of the Tree of Wisdom before ascending to the throne.


    But as fate may have it, the tree of wisdom was affected by some mysterious phenomena and died out before thest queen even took the throne.


    These facts are recorded in the history books urately.


    Simrly, the elves that live in the elf kingdom, revere the ''World Tree'', which is said to be the tree of life and birth.


    Those elegant and beautiful-looking elves protect the ''World Tree'' with the utmost care, even today.


    Lastly, in some myths and legends, there is a mention of the third type of tree, it is said that there existed a ''Tree of Affinities'', which was revered by the third type of Elves, the ''Elemental Elves''.


    These elves were said to have excellent elemental affinity since birth and they were master at elemental magic. (Rio doesn''t know it, but his Elemental sword art is actually a relic that was left behind by those Elemental Elves...)


    This Elven species is said to have existed for a short period of time right after the first time appearance of ''Mana'' in this world.


    There are no records of how they went extinct and what happened to the Tree of Affinities.


    One Legend states that if a person is blessed by all of these three trees he would have a better chance to ascend beyond the limits.


    ...


    (Back to the current time...)


    "Well I have been trying to recreate an actual tree of affinity, but until now, I am far away from sess, for now I am researching with blood..." (Aaron)


    "The original ''tree of affinity'' could grant any type of elemental affinity to its chosen ones, but this tree that I have replicated, can''t even grant a blessing yet... sigh~" (Aaron)


    "It took me so many years to barely even replicate a mere part of the actual thing... I feel like I would need another two thousand years before I can finally end my research..." (Aaron)


    Although Aaron knew that it was a daunting task that seemed to have no real end in sight, he wanted to see it till the end. He wanted to one day create a tree of affinities with his own hands.


    "This is my goal in life... or from a human perspective, you could say it is my ambition to aplish this feat..." (Aaron)


    Seeing the focused look on Aaron''s face, Kai smiled and replied in a nostalgic tone.


    "haha, you have grown a lot, Aaron,st time I saw you, you were a brat with a loud mouth, but now you have grown up to be a fine man... I am sure your mother would be proud of you!" (Kai)


    "Hehe, you praise me too much, general... I also want to surprise Mother with my progress, I wonder when she will return..." (Aaron)


    The young Aaron used to be a mischievous kid, he always used to go berserk and cause chaos everywhere he went, but now he has grown up to be such a calm and collected individual.


    ...


    While Kai and Aaron continued to talk with each other about the old days, the others looked at each other withplicated looks.


    Zach nced at Rio and whispered in a low voice.


    "What are we even doing here? Our existence seems to have been forgotten altogether..." (Zach)


    Rio shook his head and replied.


    "Don''t worry, I am used to it... I get forgotten most of the time..." (Rio)


    Hearing Rio''s reply, Zach rolled his eyes.


    ''Bro you look like ast-stage depression patient! Why would people even want to talk to you!?'' (Zach)


    "Ahem, well sometimes it''s good to stay silent and take as much information as you can..." (Link)


    ''Father would p me if I talked back while he was still exining something... ugh... those dark memories...'' (Link)


    Link nced at the tree and noticed that there were several small fruits hanging on the tree.


    "Link, can I eat those fruits!" (Riya)


    Link shook his head with a solemn expression on his face. It''s not that he was blocking Riya or something. It''s just that he didn''t feel that it was safe.


    "This tree is giving me really strange vibes, its leaves are red and its fruits are dark red too... it''s as if this whole tree is drenched in blood... I have never seen such an eerie tree before... better not try anything funny with it..." (Link)


    "Indeed... I have a feeling that even if I cut it with ''Sword Intent'' this tree won''t be affected much..." (Rio)


    "You too? Yeah, I feel like my ''Dao Rhythm'' is telling me to stay away from this thing at all costs... uh, this is a very weird feeling..." (Link)


    Link shrugged his shoulders and dragged Riya away from the tree in case she tried to sneak up and do something to the tree.


    Rio stared at the tree with his usual expressionless face as he thought to himself:


    ''There was no such mention of the character Named ''Aaron'' in the novel and this is the first time I am hearing about this ''Tree of blood''...'' (Rio)


    ''It seems I have been encountering more and more weird things recently...'' (Rio)


    ''I better work harder, or I might not be able to keep up with this changing plot…'' (Rio)


    Seeing that Rio was staring at the tree, Lia grabbed Rio''s hand and dragged him away.


    "Look there are some ancient murals on the walls here, wanna see them together..." (Lia)


    "Oh… okay.." (Rio)


    ''You shouldn''t make such a concerned face, let me help you relieve your stress…'' (Lia)


    As Lia had spent a long time observing Rio, she had already learned how to see through his expressionless face.


    She immediately noticed Rio''s concerned look, and immediately dragged him away so as to distract him from thinking too much about unwanted things.


    (Let''s go bois! Lia has reached the level where she can understand Rio without even seeing his emotions… wohoo!!)


    …


    While everyone was distracted by their own thing, only Zach and Riko stood beside the tree.


    "I can sense tremendous life force, coursing through this tree… it has unbelievable vitality…" (Zach)


    As Zach is an archer, his perception is extremely strong.


    "It''s as if this tree has been nourished with endless vitality…" (Zach)


    [Haha, you are right kiddo… I am actually astonished you even noticed…] (???)


    "What!? Who are you!?" (Zach)


    Hearing that sudden unfamiliar voice in his head, Zach panicked a bit.


    He hurriedly looked around himself and found that he was standing in arge white room.


    Everything around him was white and there seemed to be no end to this room in any direction.


    [This is my ne of consciousness… no need to think too much of it… I just dragged you here for a little chat… that''s all…] (???)


    "Who are you? Show yourself!" (Zach)


    [What are you talking about kiddo, you have been looking at me for a while now… you already forgot about me?] (???)


    [Well, let me formally introduce myself then, I am the consciousness of the ''Tree of Blood'' that you were staring at…]


    "What!?" (Zach)


    [Well, I don''t have much time to exin, so let''s get to the main point directly…]


    [I noticed that you have an excellent talent…]


    [Would you like to have a blessing from me?]


    "What are you talking about!?" (Zach)


    [Forget it, I will just give it to you, I don''t have the time to exin about it…]


    All of a sudden, Zach was pushed out of the ne of consciousness and he returned back to his senses.


    Before he could say anything, the tree of blood started to glow brightly and one of its fruits started to ripe at an extremely fast speed.


    The tree moved on its own and extended its branch towards Zach. It ced that ripe red-colored fruit right in front of Zach.


    The fruit suddenly turned into bright photons of light and entered Zach''s body in an instant.


    Not even Kai and Aaron were able to react to that sudden turn of events.


    Before anyone could understand what was going on, Zach immediately fainted.


    Fortunately, Riko caught him from falling to the ground.


    [Ding! You have been blessed by the ''tree of Blood''…]


    [Ding! You have received an ''Unknown Fragment''…]


    …


    …


    Author''s notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! The ''fragment'' has made its appearance again after such a long time! The mystery intensifies!


    Question of the day.


    Do you think Aaron knew about all this beforehand?


    1.No (He didn''t know…)


    2. Nope (He has yet to properlyplete his research so he is unaware of it…)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.