[center][img]https://i.gyazo.com/5f31dd59d26c08531fc7e3dc9239ce33.png[/img] [h3][color=9e0b0f]Ana Einnashe[/color][/h3] [i]The Youthful, Ganymedean and Odd Heir of the Lonely Forest Family[/i] [i]The White Forest > Lucus[/i] [/center] [i]"[color=9e0b0f]There is room for improvement,[/color]"[/i] the Guest intoned. Ana groaned, throwing his head back, legs dangling off of the branch of one of the new, fractal-appearing porcelain coloured trees, still close to his milestone. [i]"[color=9e0b0f]Development is ongoing, but we believe that with further study, this territory could reach the heights of True Divinity.[/color]"[/i] Ana shrugged. "[color=9e0b0f]That's not really something I want, to be honest.[/color]" He gestured loosely with a hand, crimson eyes looking off to the side. With every moment that passed, his connection with the Elemental Lifeform and its surrounding flora deepened in breadth and width. It felt as if the fundamental basis of his body had been improved by his creation of the Elemental Lifeform, elevating him a level higher in most respects. Yet, even still, he remained a strange thing. The Guest balked. [i]"[color=9e0b0f]Excuse me? Even with this, you do not wish to invest yourself?[/color]"[/i] "[color=9e0b0f]Not particularly. It's my tree, sure, but I'm not going to force it to become anything more than what it is. When it stops growing, then it's perfect. I'll make a new seed and improve on that, but I won't torture its voice like that.[/color]" The shattered image of a person, seeming to have some weight behind its once-immaterial existence now, reeled back, face contorting into several versions of disgust and shock. [i]"[color=9e0b0f]You utter child. It's within reach, do you not see?[/color]"[/i] umpteenth voices echoed out, [i]"[color=9e0b0f]While not only purifying our dynasty, you stand on the verge of a supreme magecraft. With a little application of your talents, you would stand in a class among Magicians![/color]"[/i] It was pleading at such a point point. Despite the many voices which made up the Guest, one remained strangely silent. [i]"[color=9e0b0f]The Root is but a step away![/color]" [/i] Ana looked up at the canopy one more, spreading out further and further, blanketing the night sky with a second cosmos of life. A fire burst to life at the base of the tree. An ineffective fire, consumed for its magical energy to fuel the Prime Elemental’s growth further, a delicious meal to further boost its rapid growth. Three days in Fuyuki had been fun, but... only fun. Watching Berserker do the things he could never do, to see her consume life in all its facets to vividly, in ways that had been sealed off due to his upbringing and programming. It was a gift, yet there was another granted to him. The creation of the Prime Elemental was a blessing. Not for the reasons of power, but rather for a sense of inherent, platonic beauty he saw in it, resonating with the principle which the rest of his being was built around. He did not wish to use the tree to attain power, but to simply see it prosper. The role of a humble hobbyist gardener, and a tree surgeon. But, to that end, it was indeed powerful. Beyond anything he could have created in isolation. Such a thing would only be a target for destruction and theft. Ana grinned in a pure manner. "[color=9e0b0f]Ah, thanks. You reminded me![/color]" He did not even acknowledge the Guest's point. Instead, Ana tapped into his connection with the forest and its central point. His mental circuit, and the conditioned self-hypnosis, activated. His eyes shut, and behind the lids he pictured the still-growing territory from the perspective of an architect, blue lines drawing the layout of his newfound realm. His hands moved down to grasp the branch he was sat on, fingers digging into the resilient, otherworldly bark. The connection deepened. The voices became clear, fast and coherent. They spoke in an only vaguely familiar language. "[color=9e0b0f]O Arawn Gwyn ap Nudd. Four interlinked paths. One true route. Realms of the fair, roads of the whimsical, become madness of man. Come, Cŵn Annwn. Companions of the Head. The hunters realm extends halfway. Water-blood feeds the roots and the pack. Silverless land. Tarnished by worldly ambition. Value is value, and reason is absent -- circuit complete.[/color]" Ana's eyes opened. The forest began to shift as if it were alive. Roots dragged their host bodies into position to fit the image of the relatively mundane act of magecraft its owner had conducted. Indeed, the act of warping the layout of a Workshop into something labyrinthine and challenging was one of the more basic skills under Ana's belt. Yet, in this context, it took on new complexity. While it would be inaccurate to call the shift in the forest's layout 'fae-like', it may draw that parallel to the uninformed. The trees themselves formed earthy roads, winding and confusing in their pathing. Going over them was an option, but obvious. Trying to go between the paths leads to its own complications. One could try and attack it head on with a sufficient amount of magical energy, possibly. A maze-like arboreal fortress, filled with mystery laden pitfalls and 'dead-ends', fit to trap even a hero. The shifting demesne of white. But, yet, as Ana turned the forest into something of a deathtrap for would-be invaders, another path was opened. The construction of a deadly forest awakened the awareness of another. The blind hunger of a roaming beast stared into the curious soul of a 'descendent', all too aware of the food to be had. And so too was Ana made aware of his 'ancestor'. His eyes widened. "[color=9e0b0f]Oh. Oh no. Oh no, no no.[/color]" [i]"[color=9e0b0f]And with that which you reject, you could sever our fate, intertwined with that thing,[/color]"[/i] the Guest said, looming beside Ana like a constant reminder.[i] "[color=9e0b0f]You felt it, did you not? The thief of lineage.[/color]" [/i] [i]"[color=9e0b0f]The Disembowelling Forest.[/color]"[/i] "[color=9e0b0f]Einnashe.[/color]" The realization made Ana look at the tree in a whole different light. For a moment, it acted as a beacon. Even with its destruction, a thought that briefly flashed across Ana’s mind, it was too late. Ana hopped off the tree branch and moved past the milestone, back to the original forest he called his lair. The White Forest was indeed part of his territory. He didn’t need to go to the Prime Lifeform itself to do what he needed to do to it, or to take what he needed to prepare for himself. Both his own stores of magical energy and the stores of his trees restored, the mind of a distracted magus sharpened to a point.