Looking at the eerie, giant human face carved into the tree, Aldric felt a wave of physiological discomfort and couldn't help cursing, "Holy shit, what is this thing?"
"It's a Weirwood Heart Tree, symbol of the Old Gods," Benjen's weak voice came from behind. He propped himself up on the horse with one hand. "Aldric, help me down."
Aldric untied him and helped him sit against the Heart Tree.
Leaning his head against the tree's face, pale Benjen said wearily, "Aldric, I can't hold on... leave me here."
Due to the facial wound pulling, Benjen's speech was slurred, but he struggled to speak. "Guarded the Wall half my life, dying beyond it in the end... maybe this is a ranger's fate... Whitfoot, my horse, will take you back. Give my sword to the Old Bear, tell him..."
Benjen turned his head with effort, only to see Aldric gently stroking the Heart Tree. He frowned, "Are you listening?"
Aldric asked back, "Benjen, this is a Heart Tree?"
Benjen was helpless. "Yes... but can you sit and listen to me finish?"
Aldric didn't want to be his messenger, continuing to pick at the bark. "Save those words for the Old Bear. I don't know him."
Benjen closed his eyes in disappointment, giving up on Aldric, muttering, "I'm dying, I know. Many brothers died before me. I know what death looks like. I'm tired... my watch ends here... Eddard... Lyanna, Father..."
Aldric looked at him and said firmly, "No. I say if you can make it back, you definitely can."
He then drew his dagger, stabbed hard into the trunk, pried off a thick piece of bark, and quietly felt the magical energy flowing from it, rejoicing that he guessed right.
Yes, from the moment he saw the Heart Tree, Aldric knew this giant tree was full of powerful magic.
Just like seeing the Ice Spider he killed in the Wolfswood, when a mana source appeared, the instinctive craving in his body told him if it could replenish his mana.
And now, instinct told him this piece of bark was one such source.
So Aldric stuffed the bark into his mouth and chewed.
Savoring the sensation, Aldric found the bark tasted terrible—dry, hard, and intensely stimulating.
There was some mana, but not much. Eating this finger-sized piece recovered only about 3.3% of his mana.
Honestly, if the price of full recovery was eating a basket of bark, Aldric couldn't accept it.
He climbed the trunk, trying to find fruit or flowers—parts humans used most—but found only deep red leaves shaped like fish scales. Their taste and effect weren't much better than bark.
Returning to the ground, just as Aldric wanted to dig to see if the roots were useful, a mana-rich fragrance wafted from the trunk.
Following the scent, he found the source: thick green sap oozing from where he pried the bark.
He dipped a finger, rubbed it, licked it. A spicy, bitter taste rushed to his brain, followed by a cool sensation infiltrating his heart and spleen, covering his whole body.
This is it. Perfect, natural, pollution-free, free mana potion. A Sunwalker's best casting partner, essential for home and travel.
Feeling the surging mana, Aldric cut a few more slits. As green sap oozed out, he scraped it into his mouth.
When his mana was full, he went to Benjen, removed the bandages, and washed the pus and filth from the wound with strong wine again, making Benjen hiss in pain.
Then, hovering his hands over the wound, he whispered, "Benjen, don't be surprised or struggle, no matter what happens."
Tortured by Aldric's cleaning, Benjen was in pain but too weak to resist. "What are you doing... Ah!"
As blinding golden light burst from Aldric's hands, intense pain and itching erupted from the wound, making Benjen stiffen, consciousness fading in the agony.
In a brief trance, he seemed to see the red, swollen skin covered by dark red blood under the golden light, scabbing, swelling subsiding, scabs falling off.
A dozen breaths later, Benjen was sweating all over. The unbearable wound was restored to new.
Shocked, he touched his face and body. "Aldric, what is this? What did you do to me?"
Aldric looked into his eyes. "I healed your wound."
Benjen nervously gripped his hilt, then slowly released. "I want a reasonable explanation."
"Sure, but wait."
Aldric stood up, returned to the Heart Tree, and scraped the oozing sap into every container he had: soup pot, wineskin, wine bottle, and the empty apothecary vial from Azeroth, testing if he could take it away.
Done, he returned to Benjen, sat down, and said, "Benjen, I told you I'm a mercenary from Seres. But I didn't tell you that back home, I was a follower of the Sun God An'she—a Sunwalker."
"For some reason, I was expelled from Seres, forbidden to return until I achieve great deeds."
"Before leaving, a prophet told me the distant continent of Westeros faces a crisis of destruction. That is where I will achieve my deeds. So I came here, seeking the chance to go home."
Hearing this, Benjen didn't know what to say. After a long silence, he forced a smile. "Aldric, ridiculous. Impossible. Crisis of destruction? Absurd..."
But thinking of dead comrades, unkillable enemies, and his rapidly healed wound, his voice lowered.
Calming down, Benjen put on the mask of First Ranger again. "So the Wildlings we met last night were Wights?"
Aldric nodded. "No fear, no speech, immune to normal weapons. Aside from Wights, I can't think of anything else."
Benjen smiled bitterly. "didn't expect Old Nan's ghost stories to become reality before my eyes... Aldric, you said you want to achieve deeds. What's your plan?"
"Me? Saving Westeros is too heavy for me. But I'm willing to help. This is the land of Westerosi; ultimately, Westerosi must save themselves."
"So, you killed all those Wights alone?"
Aldric nodded. "Yes. An'she's power can save the living and banish the undead. But since coming here, I haven't felt magic until just now."
Benjen touched his healed face, still dazed. "Magic is dead... Since the last dragon died, no one could use magic..."
But facts were facts. He asked, "Can you teach this to the Night's Watch? We are ordinary men; we can't kill monsters easily like you."
Aldric held the sap to Benjen. "Taste it."
Benjen licked a bit, making a bitter face.
"What do you feel?"
"Bitter, astringent, numbing. Disgusting."
Aldric shook his head. "You can't even sense mana... Like Kevin, you don't have the conditions to master Sun Power. I can't help."
Seeing Benjen disappointed, Aldric added, "But I believe the Wall standing for 8,000 years must have power to block Wights. And fighting Others and Wights for so long, the Watch must have ways for ordinary men to fight them. Check the archives with Maester Aemon back at the Wall."
"True..." Benjen pondered. "Long ago, I heard Brandon the Builder wove ancient spells into the Wall with the Children of the Forest to strengthen it and prevent mysterious beings like Others from crossing... As long as the Horn of Winter isn't blown, the Wall blocks them forever."
Aldric's heart jumped. "What is the Horn of Winter?"
Benjen drew a curved horn shape on the ground. "Horn of Winter, or Joramun's Horn. A legendary magic item. In myths a thousand years ago, King-Beyond-the-Wall Joramun blew it and woke giants from the earth. It's said to bring down the Wall."
Aldric shook his head with a bitter smile. "Doomed. The Wall might not hold. When you get back, confirm what the Horn is and where it is. Don't let Free Folk or White Walkers find it..."
Looking down, Aldric saw the sap in the wineskin had congealed into resin-like crystals in the wind.
Chewing it, the taste remained, but the mana was gone.
Checking containers, only the sap in the apothecary vial remained liquid without mana loss. So Aldric stopped chatting and scraped every drop into the vial.
Since crossing over, this round-bellied, flat-bottomed crystal vial had been his favorite drinking vessel. Unbreakable, easy to clean, heatable, with a cork.
He vaguely remembered it was a Super Mana Potion bottle from an Azeroth dungeon, kept for emergencies.
Unexpectedly, across worlds, it still preserved mana. He felt a rare kindness from Azeroth.
Filling it took three hours. Aldric corked it carefully.
Rough estimate: this bottle held enough for seven full mana refills.
Using Holy Light for full healing, he could save 14 people. Using Flash of Light to stabilize, even more.
Heart Trees weren't rare in the North. If the next one provided sap too, his Light power wouldn't run dry. He could build a strong organization, a true Silver Hand.
Stowing the vial in Lightning's saddlebag, covered with sundries, Aldric asked, "Can you walk?"
Rested for hours, Benjen stood up. "I can."
Aldric mounted. "Let's hurry back. Bring news of Wights to your brothers so they can prepare."
He added, "Benjen, until you find effective ways to kill Wights, avoid ranging far from the Wall."
Benjen mounted. "Right. Let's go."
They sped toward the Wall.
With comrades dead, the two survivors took all supplies and four horses each. With a clear-headed Benjen guiding, the return was fast.
Seeing familiar scenery, Aldric warned, "Benjen, won't returning the same way get us ambushed?"
Benjen sneered. "You think dragging eight horses through the woods hid your tracks well? We traveled a day but didn't go far. If they wanted to ambush or chase, we'd be dead already."
Aldric agreed and followed at full speed.
Changing horses but not stopping, they soon reached the first village they passed. In nearby woods, two fur-clad Wildlings lay dead, dismembered, alongside a giant bear corpse.
Dismounting, Benjen kicked a body. No blood from the severed limbs.
"These two were Wights too..."
Aldric looked at Benjen. "I suspect they were here to ambush us."
Benjen waved it off. "Who knows? Maybe rangers among Wights patrolled here and met this unlucky bear."
Aldric shrugged, walked to the bear, and found it familiar.
Recalling, it seemed to be the mother bear he faced the first night.
Where are the cubs?
Searching nearby, he found them in a bush.
One was dead, an axe wound in its head.
The other was breathing but dying from two cuts, blood loss, and cold.
Aldric squatted, patting the survivor's head. "Little thing, you're lucky to meet me. For your mom's sake, and since she killed two Wights, I'll save you. Follow me from now on."
A few Flashes of Light later, the cub's wounds healed.
Aldric cast Cleanse to prevent infection, ignored its weak struggle, grabbed its scruff, and tossed it into Lightning's saddlebag.
Benjen warned, "Why bring the bear? Animals killed by Wights aren't edible."
Aldric denied, "Not eating it. It's alive. A pet. It can keep watch at night."
Seeing the slightly open-mouthed head in Benjen's hand, Aldric asked back, "And you? What are you doing with that?"
Benjen raised the head. "Bringing it back for the Old Bear and Maester Aemon. Seeing is believing."