Green Wind Forest.
The Green Wind Forest is the largest forest on the Cross Continent. It took up the majority of the northern region, leaving only a small strip of plains where the northern region met the central region. The Green Wind Forest slowly transitioned from a common forest to a primordial forest the deeper you went. The Green Wind Forest was split into four regions. The southern strip that stretched from coast to coast was called the 'Shallow Forest.' To enter the Green Wind Forest, you had to pass through the shallow forest. To the north-west was a large chunk of forest called 'The Deep Green'. This was the largest region in the forest, taking up about half the total landmass. It was an environment where there was more nature than man. To the east was a small region called the 'Dark Forest.' This was a small stretch of forest where the canopy was so thick that very little light could reach the forest floor. The last region was the small corner in the north-east. This was known as the 'Green Abyss.' Little was known about the Green Abyss, only that those who entered would never come out.
Evergreen Town was located at the intersection of the shallow forest, the deep green, and the dark forest.
The name 'Green Wind Forest' stemmed from the annual storm that swept across the northern continent at the end of each year. This storm was called the 'Green Tide' and lasted between one to three months.
Walking through the forest was a little girl.
She carried a large backpack and wore tattered cloth clothes. Her little feet were bare, and her dark green hair was knotted and clumped. On her left shoulder was a little spider, and on her right shoulder was a little caterpillar.
She walked along the crude dirt path, occasionally passing adventurers who were late to the treasure hunt. She hummed a song as she walked lightly through the mud.
Pausing briefly, she looked up.
The wind was slightly strange, giving off a more mystical feel.
Counting the days, the Green Tide was scheduled for this week.
Continuing her steps, the little girl thought about her destination.
It had been three days since she left Evergreen Town. She slept in the trees at night and walked deeper into the forest during the day.
Instead of leaving the forest, Petra wanted to go deeper.
Each day's journey brought her closer to the heart of the forest. The trees became taller, and the light was slowly cut off by the increasingly thick canopy above.
One day, Petra stopped by a swamp. That day, she woke up with an extra tail. A little black and green frog hopped behind her, seemingly wanting to follow her.
Another day, Petra woke up with a black and red ant sleeping on her nose. The little guy diligently followed her, seemingly convinced of something, despite being constantly targeted by the frog.
Today, Petra woke up in a frenzy. Something was slithering around in her clothes. After a futile struggle, she discovered to her dismay that it was not a snake, but a massive centipede that was attracted to something on her body. The blue and black body was like a winding river, wrapping tightly around her chest.
Eventually, Petra realised that her body seemed to have a ridiculously high affinity with poisonous insects. She had previously suspected something, but after a short few days, she had attracted too many tails!
It must be said that the spider, caterpillar, frog, ant, and centipede were not normal bugs. Each of them was a king-level species in their respective category. A single 'sting' from any of the five was no different from certain death.
Unfortunately, Elena never realised that the spider that little Petra had been playing with all day long was a terrifyingly poisonous Insect. If she knew, it was unknown what might have happened.
Petra continued her journey through the increasingly hostile forest.
Today, the winds had picked up, and the forest had begun to become hazy. A green fog slowly seeped out of the forest floor, making the surroundings more difficult to see.
The Green Tide had come.
Petra stopped for a full day to slowly study the properties of this mysterious weather.
She discovered that the wind had a certain hypnotic effect. Those in contact for too long would often lose their way. After an extended period, one would find oneself sleepy and easily losing consciousness whenever their focus wanes. As for the green fog that seeped out of the forest floor, Petra couldn't understand it at all.
Many of the forest's inhabitants were forced into hibernation during this period, making Petra's journey slightly more lonely, but a lot easier.
As the wind became stronger, the surrounding adventurers became increasingly scarce.
Aside from Petra and her five little friends, there were few other forms of life in the surrounding forest.
Days passed.
The surrounding forest had started to become more primordial. It was not inaccurate to call it a jungle. The path had long disappeared, and the thick upper canopy completely cut off the sky light.
Petra had gone east, entering the Dark Forest.
Small luminous plants started to appear, creating a way forward.
The five poisonous beasts were capable of finding their own food, leaving Petra as the only one with a problem.
With fewer animals, there was less food for Petra.
Another day passed, and the winds had begun to turn into a violent storm.
The thick trees blocked most of the wind's ferocity, but oftentimes, a strong blade of wind would split through the green curtain and strike the unsuspecting little girl.
Today, Petra found an abandoned cave to spend the night.
After pulling over a large bush to cover the cave's entrance, Petra started a fire to warm the cave.
She threw down the large bag and let out a long sigh.
Exploring this forest, no, it was better to call it a jungle, was very difficult for such a little body.
The green tide was like a violent storm. If it wasn't for the protection of the forest, Petra doubted whether she would be capable of continuing at all.
She didn't underestimate the environment, she underestimated her body.
Although she had a strong physique, she was still just a little girl.
She retrieved a large chunk of meat from her bag. There was a large leaf wrapping the meat. She cut it up with one of the knives she had bought back in town and roasted it over the fire, adding a little honey sauce, while thinking about where she would stop.
In her mind, she wanted to find a place to stay for a long time. A little fortress that should be safe and far away from human habitation.
Her eyes rolled, and she found herself lost in thought.
Although she was a little tired, she was far from a desperate situation.
Her little mind couldn't help but think about what her big sister was doing.
Lost in thought, Petra slowly fell asleep.
* * *
In another direction, a large group of people were gathering around an ancient ruin.
Temporary housing and factional tents were erected around the ruins.
Elena sat atop a tree.
The current her was slightly more cleaned up. Unlike the village clothes that she had been wearing, Elena decided to finally get a new set of clothes. She wore a rogue's attire, with a pair of tight pants, a leather corset, and puffy sleeves. It was a compact and maneuverable outfit.
The violent winds were blocked by a blue barrier that surrounded her body.
Elena walked the path of Immortal Cultivation.
She looked up at the stars and wondered how that little girl was doing. Was she OK? Was she eating well? Was she keeping up to date with her studies?
Countless thoughts flowed through Elena's mind.
She lowered her gaze, looking towards the ruins in the distance.
There were ancient high elven ruins here.
She knew it, but none of the other people knew it.
In her past life, she had never heard about elven ruins being discovered here, but it was impossible for history to change too much.
Elena was sure that this exploration was going to end in disaster.
Most of the faces here were unrecognisable to her, but there was one man who she knew very well.
She looked towards a man in large black armour. His red eyes pierced through the night as he yelled at one of his subordinates. This man was one of the leaders of the mercenary alliance. She had met him before. He had a reputation for being violent and murderous, but the man she had met was a broken shell of his reputation. He lost an eye and an arm in an expedition when he was young. 'When he was young' was relative to Elena's future.
Elena didn't know much about it, but she was sure that these ruins were 'that expedition' where this violent man would be broken.
She tossed away the idea of interfering with this event in her mind. On one hand, there was probably something really good under these ruins, but on the other hand, these people were all supposed to die. If she stopped it, who knows how it would change the future.
After the appearance of Petra, she understood something had changed. Fortunately, her instincts told her this 'change' didn't extend outside of the town. At least, not now. If she changed too much too early, it could mess up the future that she knew.
In the end, she decided not to interfere.
In her past life, Evergreen Town was safe and sound.
If she changed something, this might be different.
Taking one last look, she turned her head and disappeared into the night. This disaster was destined, and she didn't want to change it.
Following her departure, two pairs of identical blue eyes watched the girl on the tree disappear. If Petra were here, she would recognize them as the twins from the market.
Unfortunately, she wasn't…
The night deepened.
* * *
The next morning, Petra woke up to a cozy and warm cave.
She snuffed out the fire and packed her bedding. After a morning stretch, she continued her journey with her five little friends.
Today, rain accompanied the wind.
Ethereal blue droplets of water fell from the sky and danced in the wind.
Protected by the forest, Petra walked leisurely. After so much time to observe, she realised that weaker poisonous insects didn't dare to approach her, but stronger poisonous insects loved her. This made sleeping in the forest extremely easy.
The dark path ahead was illuminated by dense luminous plants, strange firefly-like insects, and the occasional phosphorescent glow of the strange rain that leaked through the trees.
Over the long journey, Petra had collected a large number of interesting things. Many poisonous plant seeds and interesting stones were added to her backpack. The small and tattered notebook had been replaced by a fresh notebook, albeit in just as bad of a condition. Petra had the habit of recording the new things she had seen.
She walked without shoes, not because she didn't have any, instead it was a waste of perfectly good footwear. She didn't have to worry about stepping on any poisonous insects or venomous plants, so there was really no point in wearing them. As for cutting up her little feet, well, there wasn't much that could actually penetrate her skin as long as she was careful.
On top of all that, little Petra also liked to splash around with her bare feet. She liked to wash her pearl-like toes in the small stream, she liked the feeling of tree bark as she climbed to get a vantage point, and she liked the feeling of sinking deep down into the mud.
The feeling of exploring the forest was so great!
She had been walking for almost a month, and today, Petra finally discovered something truly interesting.
Just ahead in the forest was a large clearing.
The thick forest canopy that normally intertwined tightly was repelled, and the earth was fully exposed to the sky, leaving a wide expanse of grassy plain.
From above, this area was a perfect circle, cut out from the forest. Anything within a radius of one kilometre from the center seemed to exist within some sort of 'domain'.
In the center of this phenomenon was a massive tree.
The base of the tree was very thick, and the trunk of the tree curved and bent like a complex and artistic bonsai. Upon closer inspection, one would find that the trunk of this tree seemed to resemble many smaller trees intertwining to create one massive tree trunk. Its leaves hung down like the branches of a wisteria. Its color was a mixture of blue and green, transitioning from green at the top to blue at the bottom. Countless glowing lanterns danced beneath its crown, circling the tree like will-o'-whisps. The crown of the tree was a vibrant green. Even the ongoing storm seemed to be unable to restrict this tree's liveliness and vitality.
As Petra approached, she found herself fascinated.
Her footsteps stopped at the line where the forest ended and the grassy plain began.
She hesitated to enter this 'domain'.
She stood in the darkness, her little eyes peering through the storm and looking closely at the mysterious and beautiful tree.
The five little bugs all paused there playing.
A strange silence seemed to cut through the rain as the little girl's eyes stared unblinkingly at the large tree. This silence could either be real or an illusion, it was unknown.
A moment later, the world seemed to return to normal.
The rain fell, the wind blew.
The forest cracked and swayed.
Petra's eyes looked away.
She turned her attention to the invisible 'wall' that seemed to define the territory around this tree.
It was clear that this tree was abnormal, but Petra didn't know just how abnormal it really was.
This was called the Emerald Ghost Tree, a legendary tree that was said to only appear in the peaks of the green tide. In truth, even during the peaks of the green tide, this tree was impossible to find. It surrounded itself with a series of barriers that utilized physical barriers, illusions, emotions, fate, karma, and space.
Finding this tree could be considered a miracle in itself.
Under normal circumstances, it was impossible to find.
This girl, Petra P Poppy, an outsider whose fate was chaotic and whose karma was near none, walked through the illusory rain and the disorienting winds to find this small and secluded spot by mere accident. It was a miracle so rare that one would initially believe it to be predetermined. Just finding it was not enough though, because to approach and reach where Petra had, one would also need to not only be a mortal, but also possess an unusually high level of dimensional sense, something that should have been impossible for normal mortals.
Petra didn't know about any of this.
When she looked at this tree, her instincts as the legendary level salted fish began to scream at her. This was the place, this was her home. If she lived here, she could live out her life as an otaku, unperturbed by the outside world.
Petra knew there and then that this was her future home.
Her little legs took a step in.
As she passed through the final barrier, she felt as if something had been cut. An unseen thread that had tied her to an unknown duty. The fate that had been forced upon her became cloudy.
At the same time, a roar of thunder blasted through the storm.
Looking up, one would feel that 'Something' was trying to peer through the barrier that was formed by the 'Green Tide'.
Something had changed.
Something went wrong!
'Something' was enraged.
But this... no longer had anything to do with Petra.
Once again, Petra didn't know about any of this.
The five little fellows followed her into the grassy plains.
The luminous blue rain soaked her clothes. The ethereal green winds nearly knocked her off her feet.
The distance from the forest's edge to the tree's center was about a kilometer.
The storm violently clawed at the little girl.
The five poisonous beasts all huddled together tightly, clinging to Petra's body.
As she walked, time passed. It took her almost 20 minutes to reach the tree in this storm. When she finally arrived, the storm seemed to settle down. It seemed to be repelled by the tree.
Petra shook off the rain as she approached the tree trunk with caution. Her eyes locked onto the floating wisps that danced around the tree's trunk.
Upon closer inspection, their lights were caused by a mutated butterfly. They were much bigger than the average butterfly, and their light was much brighter as well.
After determining that these little guys were of no threat, Petra approached the trunk of the tree.
The trunk of the tree was so massive that it would take around 100 people to wrap around it. It was around 175m in diameter.
She slid her small and delicate hand gently across the bark.
It was unlike the normal bark of a tree, although it was still rigid and full of cavities, it had a certain repelling feeling, almost like it was made of rubber. Petra speculated that this tree could move with explosive speeds if threatened.
She took a step back and looked up.
She pondered for a while, then eventually came to a conclusion.
She couldn't dig into the tree, instead, she had to build a mansion around it.
Looking up, this tree was a bit fat, but its height was not to be underestimated.
After inspecting it for a while, she tossed down her backpack and began setting up a tent at the foot of the tree. With protection from the rain and wind, this was as good a place as any to make a shelter.
Just as she was about to pull out the tent, the frog jumped in front of her and made a weird gesture.
Petra understood this as 'look over there'.
Pausing for a moment, Petra decided to follow this little guy who had been with her for over a week now.
She followed the frog around the side of the tree and discovered a small neon-blue pond at the base of the tree.