The Ash Tree

The Kingdom of Tarddiad. A rich and bountiful land that was sadly ravaged by the flames of war until just a few years ago. The war spanned for millennia, among the many races that occupied in this vast world. The races partaking in the war divided into two factions: humans, who lacked in many areas, most notably their unrefined control over the most abundant aspect of the world – mana, and mythics, which comprised of many different species all sharing one thing in common, their complete mastery over mana as if controlling their own bodies. Humans and mythics were at odds with each other for generations, before a single man – the Dragon King, one bearing the blood of both sides, ended the war and united the world as one.

Years later, the once wise and brave king had gone mad, and along with him came a tyrannical rule over the world he once wished for peace. Humans and mythics alike were all exploited to no end, either for their compatibility with mana or just for manual labor, and yet no one ever knew what exactly those exploits were for. The people grew more and more discontent, and the flames of war, once thought to be extinguished, was in the process of being reignited.

One woman stood to stop that process – the Phoenix Queen, the Dragon King’s faithful companion. Having to witness her loved one losing himself pained the queen a great deal, and so she struggled to find a solution. Her words couldn’t reach him anymore, and so she had no choice but to resort to violence. The only problem was that he was the one who united the world, and therefore he had the strongest combat prowess in all the lands, matched by none, even those that stuck with him throughout his journey. But when all things seemed to be lost, another chance opened for the land.

In a sudden discovery, the queen figured out the ability to connect between worlds. And thus, she started to experiment, to find someone that could aid them in a different world. To do so, she needed the help of her attendants and close friends – the Five Nymph Sisters, and the combined effort of the five had finally resulted in a successful summon of a hero from another world.

Unfortunately, the queen had miscalculated one small, but very important thing.

Just because the summoned had the responsibility to fight, doesn’t mean that they had to fight.

And the result of which was an all-powerful mage, Jiyuu, erecting a giant castle on top of Mount Killaraus, far away from any sort of conflict with the tyrannical king. And now, the queen had no choice but to clean up her own mess, and each of her attendant had the new mission of convincing their hero to finally embark on his triumphant journey.

“Melly, it’s your turn today…” In the tallest tower of the Dragon King’s castle, the pseudo prison meant for the queen and her comrades, a woman in a white robe yawned loudly, completely contrasting her sunshine-like blonde hair.

“… Is it mine already?” Another taller woman with short hair in the color of a burning flame lazily stretched out, seemingly disinterested in whatever her task was supposed to be.

“Come on Sis, we’ve agreed on this,” answering her was a blue-haired woman, shorter than the rest of them in the room, “Oread just finished her turn yesterday.”

“… Haaa…” letting out a loud sigh, the redhead finally stood up, “alright, fine, I guess I’ll go today.”

“Thanks, Sis!” The other two waved goodbye with a huge smile on their faces, and at that very moment, they all had the same exact thought: “thank the Gods that I don’t have to go there today!”

Mount Killaraus stood tall at the edge of the land, acting like a natural great wall separating the land and the sea. However, all of its natural beauty had been long gone, for standing on top of what was supposed to be a pointed snowy peak was a giant castle whose base was larger than the mountain itself. The disproportional shapes made the once beautiful mountain now an abomination of nature, as if some dumb, spoilt kid with a block puzzle just stacked the pieces on top of one another instead of actually taking the time to think and solve anything.

“O’ Great Hero, we require your assistance!” Meliae, standing at the foot of the mountain, shouted out with everything she had. However, like every other day she and her sisters had tried, answering her was a series of deafening silence, as if the clearly man-made structure up there didn’t actually have anyone living inside.

“O’ Great Hero, please answer us!” Meliae, not giving up just yet, continued to shout. And once again, answering her was naught but the sound of howling winds and snow, the likes of which only served to heat up her already low temper instead of cooling her down.

“O’ Great Hero!” Meliae shouted once more, as if trying to tear through space itself. And it looked like third time was the charm, as finally, there was an interaction coming from the top of the mountain.

Unfortunately for the nymph, said reaction wasn’t meant to be a good one.

From the castle fluttered down a giant piece of cardboard, miraculously intact even after the dreadful mountainous weather. And as soon as it made contact with Meliae, the piece of cardboard instantly lit up as if bursting in flames, revealing a giant message piercing even the darkest clouds, in letters bigger than a grown man:

“NOT WELOMING GUESTS TODAY. OR ANY DAY, FOR THAT MATTER.

- JIYUU, THE MAGE -”

It seemed like the giant message was the last straw for Meliae to stomach. With her hair almost standing up like a giant flame and her face as red as the morning sun, she once again screamed, but not with an ounce of plea left in her intention:

“LISTEN HERE YOU LITTLE SHIT!”

Her shout echoed through the mountains, packing enough destructive force to send even an avalanche down her path. However, said action amounted to nothing but a suicide attempt, for the man in question was still in his castle, casually sipping the fine wine that he pulled out of his ass (metaphorically) just the day before while watching his summoner suffer in agony.

As the snow settled, however, Meliae still stood fine. As the nymph representing the ash tree, she, like her sister Dryad, had the best defensive magic among her sisters, by utilizing fast summoning and acceleration spells to command trees of her genus to grow. Unlike Dryad, however, Meliae’s ash wood were also known for another use.

The snow that was once caging her soon burst into flames, along with the wooden walls she had raised to protect herself. Now forming itself into a giant silhouette similar to a person, with Meliae riding on top of its shoulder, the magical construct stood as tall as the castle itself, ready to wreak havoc anywhere it touched.

“I have you now, slacker!” Meliae lets out a crazed laughter, clearly going insane after her failed attempt at calling the man. “Prepare to meet your major! Bring that castle to the ground, Wicker Man!”

The giant burning doll swung its fist forward. One touch, and even the sturdiest walls would have to break and burn down crumbling like a paper toy. Well, that is, if it were to it.

Before the giant could make contact, a sudden downpour flooded the area in a breakneck pace, clearly unnatural for the simple fact that black clouds covered the entire mountain in less than a second. With the ensuing rain, the burning wood was easily doused, and the remnants of which couldn’t support its massive weight, so the obvious result was that the whole structure broke down in pieces like a flimsy pyramid of playing cards.

“I’ll get you for this, you shitty mage! Mark my words!” Meliae shook her fist in anger, but she could only do so much before turning tails and return to her tower, leaving the magus with the shit-eating grin to roam free for another day.