7 Cutting a deal

„Great tree spirit, how can you be this cold and uncaring? I and my people just lost our village and had to flee to this far away place, hoping to find a new place to live. We have been traveling for so long. I don't even remember when I last slept with a full stomach."

She looked towards me hoping for some apples to fall or any sign of goodwill but alas she was disappointed.

„Fine then, how about we give you something in return."

No apples fell. I wouldn't waste apples on such a vague deal.

„Not gonna make this easy are you. How about we make you our village deity. You get prayers and we get apples, once we see better times we might even make some animal sacrifices?"

'What the hell does she mean I'll get prayers, I can't eat prayers, can I?'

<Host is indeed correct, prayers can't be eaten, but they are beneficial to host's growth and a great number will be needed for later evolution. Also, blood from sacrificed animals would also be beneficial to growth and the corps could be absorbed for magic structure. The system suggests taking the deal.>

Nerida was still watching me with anticipation and for the life of me, I couldn't help but want to tease her. Two apples dropped, Nerida seemed close to tears until another dropped. Her consternation what three apples meant soon turned into joy as all the other apples dropped, except for a few pretty ones I kept. All in all, there were roughly two hundred apples lying on the ground now. The crowd stared from beyond the first circle with great hunger but didn't make to grab them. Apparently, only magi were allowed to step close to a spirit tree.

Soon though Narvi the elder and a dozen young men and women entered into the circle. Each and every one of them greeted me and introduced themselves. They were all apprentice magi and honestly they were so weak I could hardly tell them apart from ordinary humans.

There were around 150 people so I thought everyone would get at least one apple and the 50 that were left would be split according to priority. But so wrong I was. The magi and scouts joined by the few warriors, numbering 30 altogether each took 3 apples! The remaining 110 were then given one to each of the 100 adults and a half each to the 20 or so children.

My Goddesses, what hadn't these people understood about taking care of children. Honestly, at that point, I was so close to just firing some leaf blades to thin out those warriors and magi. But seeing Nerida changed my mind, she had only taken one apple, no more.

After having wolfed down all my wonderful apples they dispersed and began building a camp. Is what I want to say but that would be a lie. They had erected one shabby tent and made a few fireplaces with furs on the ground to sleep on. After those preparations were done, they came together again before me, right outside the tree circles. Narvi once again entered and came before me. They kneeled in unison and Narvi began a prayer.

„O great spirit tree, we kneel here before you. You gave us life at our darkest moment and we are thankful."

At that moment I felt it. An invisible power converging towards me. A power so pure, so light it felt like entering a hot bath. Ensconced in this divine warmth I felt like I could do anything. My magic control was also increasing without me doing anything.

<Title, [One who receives prayers] obtained. Host's connection to his devotees increased.>

That sounded fabulous. Found a way to speed up growth and obtained a new title. I felt like I should give those people a little something in return. A sign of sorts.

I formed a simple light rune on my leaves, letting them glow with shiny resplendence. The crowd gasped in shock and prayed even harder. Sadly, they stopped after half an hour and dispersed once again.

Night slowly crept up and swallowed the sun, only leaving a lingering afterglow. The humans went to sleep and again the desire for murder came up in me. Everyone gathered around the fireplaces, every adult had their own fur to sleep on and children would sleep with their parents. But more than half of them didn't seem to have parents here. And what happened to them? They were just left to sleep in the cold! I mean yes Nerida was there and tried to keep them warm but frankly, she was just one more human freezing in the cold night.

'Children, come to the base of the tree.'

I attempted to project my mental voice to the group of children. Nothing happened and I assumed I'd failed but while I was searching for other methods of establishing contact without alarming the undeserving adults, a little girl came toddling over. She had soft golden hair, though darkened by dirt and a cute little face, filled with an innocence that could only be found in a child. Following closely after her was Nerida who had noticed the little one leave and tried to stop her. Of course, she couldn't reach her in time to stop her from entering the outermost circle.

At this point, and I really do mean it, I'd like to mention that I haven't made any threats or promises of potentially fatal consequences upon entering the circles without being a magi. But it seemed there were some awful rumors around.

The very second the little lass passed into the range of my magic perception and was thus inside the outermost tree circle, Nerida jumped forward with inhuman speed pushed the little one down and threw herself over her in a protective manner. Nothing happened. Nerida got up and looked around cautiously like she feared something might still happen.

'I mean what did you expect to happen? That I'd try to kill an innocent child just for getting close?'

„You can speak?"