Politeness. That was the name of the game in this situation. Generally, Lukas had a pretty flippant attitude toward strong or powerful people—Sera being a prime example. She was a literal goddess who could kill him so fast he'd never see it coming, but even when she'd appeared before him acting as gods do, he hadn't cared.

Despite having felt the divinity wafting off her like she'd emptied a whole can of Axe body spray on her head, he'd just treated her like a normal person. Sure, her aura had borne down on him like a magnifying glass on an ant, but he hadn't felt pressured or intimidated.

The same was true now, and Lukas felt like an ant staring at a boot. He didn't necessarily care that this stranger was more powerful than him, that was how this new world worked, and he was at the bottom of the pile.

The woman's aura was immense compared to his own, but very different from Sera's. Sera's felt like a bottomless wellspring of power, one that could wash him away like a sandcastle on a beach. The person in front of him, on the other hand, was more quantifiable. Granted, the power in that aura was still enough to squash him like a bug.

Death wasn't something Lukas feared; he'd faced it plenty of times by now. Hell, he'd even come to terms with death, expecting to bleed out and die on his first day here. That didn't mean Lukas wanted to die, though there was more to see in this new world, after all. He wouldn't go seeking death by taking on beasts and challenges far out of his reach. He knew his limits and he knew that angering the strange forest lady could lead to a swift end.

At the moment, there was no killing intent in the woman's aura, indicating she truly didn't mean him harm, and Lukas wanted to keep it that way. He knew that could easily change, so that meant playing nice for now while also looking for an escape route.

Taking his words as an invitation to come closer, the woman approached slowly, as though he were a wounded stray. "My name is Calayis. I'm a dryad. I'm not going to hurt you. Nature spirits are peaceful by nature," the woman said gently.

Lukas was taken aback by her claim. He'd heard of dryads before, from old myths: nature spirits that inhabited trees and were, as she said, relatively nonviolent. He didn't know much more than that, but was still hesitant to believe whatever this stranger said. For all he knew she had a way of hiding her nefarious intentions. But if she did, why bother? It wasn't like Lukas would be able to put up a struggle. Besides, there was the way she carried herself—like a nervous teenager—which he found was disarming.

The self-proclaimed dryad continued her approach, and Lukas was hesitant to allow it, but it wasn't like he could do anything about it.

As Calayis got closer, more of her appearance became apparent. She was tall, likely a head taller than Lukas—who stood roughly six feet tall. She looked lithe, almost dainty, an incongruous thing considering her height, but those muscles were clearly sinewy and ripe with strength. She wore a simple white dress that looked handmade and without flourish, bearing dirt marks and scuffs in the fabric, as though she had been on her knees gardening. Her fair skin had hints of green, but it was faint, making it seem like a trick of the light. The dainty hands clasped before her were deceptive, looking soft and weak but harboring calluses and strength that belied the dryad's thin frame.

Then there was her face. Unbelievably pretty, with slightly rounded edges suggesting she was still in her late teens. However, the sky-blue eyes that observed him with interest were anything but young, and Lukas could see age and maturity in them. Her slightly tapered ears might have made him think she was an elf if she hadn't already identified herself as a dryad. Her hair was the warm hue of bark, glittering in the sunlight as the wind blew through it.

Finally, there were the horns he'd mistaken for antlers. Resembling roots, they grew slightly above her temples, curving back along her head. Small branches split off from them, some holding bulbs at their ends like flowers or leaves ready to bloom.

Lukas stood rooted to the spot, startled by her beauty. "You said 'dryad?'" he managed.

"You know what a dryad is?" she asked, tilting her head slightly. "I didn't think there would be nature spirits where you're from."

A pit of dread formed in Lukas' stomach. From the moment he'd noticed the dryad, he had activated his Stranger in a Strange Land ability, hoping the nature spirit wouldn't be strong enough to see through it, but apparently it hadn't worked.

Lukas took a step back from the still-approaching dryad, and she stopped, not wanting to spook him. "You know I'm an outworlder?" he asked, ready to jump into the shadows and get out of there.

Realizing she'd spooked him, Calayis stepped back hastily and offered a gentle smile, as though to show she wasn't a threat. "I see you have an ability to hide it, and while I'm powerful enough to see through it, I am still a nature spirit. I'm attuned to the world and can tell that you're from somewhere else. I meant it when I said I don't want to hurt you or cause harm; I simply sought you out because I was curious and wanted to talk to another person. I haven't seen anyone in a long time."

Lukas stared at the taller woman, barely a dozen meters away, unsure what to do. The dryad, Calayis, sounded sincere—almost pleading. He guessed she'd been alone for a very long time by the sound of it, and now that someone had finally stumbled across her, she desperately didn't want him to leave.

He didn't know what to do. On one hand, he felt bad for this lonely nature spirit who probably hadn't had a conversation in years. On the other, he feared she might be so starved for social interaction that she'd keep him here against his will. That thought only made him feel worse, and he felt himself softening toward her.

"Okay," he said, relaxing slightly—something the dryad noticed, as she resumed her slow approach. Lukas felt awkward and unsure of what to say next, so he latched onto something she'd asked. "Dryads aren't around in my world, but they exist in myths and legends. I didn't know what to expect one to look like, but you definitely fit the bill."

Calayis smiled sheepishly, stopping a few meters away. "What do those myths say about dryads? Nothing bad, I hope." She giggled.

"It's pretty much what you told me—that they're mostly peaceful nature spirits. They say a dryad lives in a tree, though. Do you live in a tree?"

"You could say that," she nodded, "but it's more like the tree is a dryad's anchor to the physical world. Younger and less powerful dryads do retreat into their trees, since being out like I am now can be draining. Thankfully, limitations like that lessen as a dryad gets stronger." Suddenly, she perked up and looked at Lukas imploringly. "Would you like to see my tree?"

Lukas was hesitant to accept, guessing that the closer she was to her tree, the stronger she'd be. But he also felt he couldn't refuse, not necessarily out of fear but because she had asked the same way a kid might when wanting to show you something incredibly mundane they'd done.

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"I don't see why not," he said, feeling he really had no choice.

Calayis once again gave him a beaming smile. "It's this way," she said, waving for him to follow. "I'm sure you'll like it!"

Grimacing slightly under his mask, Lukas nodded and started after her, but she didn't set off immediately. Instead, she waited for Lukas to walk alongside her so they could move together, making him feel incredibly awkward and uncomfortable. Still, he tried not to show it.

The two set off in a silence that weighed on Lukas like a mountain. From the few glances he'd shot the dryad, he got the impression she didn't mind the quiet—she was probably just glad to have someone around. He caught her looking at him multiple times, and more often than not, they would sneak looks at each other at the same time.

It felt like Lukas was suffering from constant mental and spiritual attacks from the sheer awkwardness of it all, and if he listened closely, he could almost hear Sera cackling maniacally. There was no way she wasn't watching him at that moment, storing ammunition for later.

That thought alone spurred Lukas into action. "Soo…" he began, not really knowing what to say. "Are there other kinds of nymphs and nature spirits in this world, or just dryads like you?"

"Nymphs!?" Calayis repeated, perking up at the term. "Most people just call us nature spirits."

"Is 'nymph' a rude word to call someone like you?" he asked, really hoping he hadn't just used a slur.

"No! No, nothing like that. It's just that most people don't know what spirits like me are called, so they lump us all together and call us 'nature spirits.' It'd be like me calling you a humanoid instead of a human."

"So there are other types of nymphs and nature spirits?"

"Oh, right, sorry. Yes, there are a lot. They're not as common as the humanoid races, but definitely not as rare as…someone like you."

"So there are naiads, nereids, and other nymphs like that, right?"

"There are!" Calayis said happily, enthused that he knew such things. "Those two are nymphs of streams and rivers. Others can live in boulders, flowers, and so on."

"And what about other spirits?" Lukas asked, starting to feel more comfortable now that they were actually conversing. "Are there creatures like satyrs?"

"Yes! There are also wind, earth, and other spirits called elementals—though they don't often have an intelligence like nymphs or other nature spirits."

"Are there any other nature spirits around here? I haven't seen any during my time wandering the forest." The moment the words left his mouth, Lukas could already guess the answer.

"No," Calayis said softly, shaking her head. "I'm the only one in this area."

"Are they that rare?"

"It's not that. The low magic in the area prevents new ones from being born. Nature spirits can only be born in places with higher ambient magic. This part of the world used to have the highest level of magic on the planet, and nature spirits were everywhere, but over time, the magic shifted."

Lukas frowned, looking at the spirit beside him with concern. "Does that mean you can't survive here?"

"No, nature spirits don't need high magic levels to survive; they only need it to be born. Once we're born, some of us can live off lower ambient magic, relying more on our essence. Since I'm a dryad, I rely on my tree for energy.

"Over time, all the other nature spirits died or couldn't keep up with me, or they simply left, so I was left behind. I grew stronger, letting me remain, but as a dryad, I'm bound to my tree and unable to leave."

Lukas wasn't so socially inept as to miss that this was a sensitive topic. He could only imagine how hard it must have been to watch everyone else die or move on, leaving her all alone.

With that in mind, he tried changing the subject slightly. "How do you get stronger and progress through the ranks? Being mostly peaceful, I can't imagine nymphs follow the same path as me or other humans."

Calayis nodded, a small smile returning to her lips. "You're right. We don't kill or craft for progression like the humanoid races. Instead, we do a sort of cultivation."

"Cultivation? How does that work? Could humans do it?" he asked, always looking for alternative ways to grow stronger.

"It's something only spirits can do, because we're more spiritual and in tune with the world. By the time a humanoid reaches the necessary level of spirituality, they're already well into their own methods of gaining power. As for how it works, I'll keep that to myself," she grinned.

They walked and talked for well over an hour, Calayis proving to be an even more inquisitive character than Sera, tossing question after question Lukas' way. She asked about architecture, culture, history—everything she could think of about Earth. Lukas tried his best to answer, but his pre-arrival apathy meant he couldn't offer much about recent events and such. He was better with history, though, having always enjoyed fitting it together like a puzzle. This led to him explaining a lot about human civilization and its growth.

Calayis was absolutely captivated by all of it, and Lukas could even sense Sera listening attentively as well.

Eventually, Lukas realized they were going deeper and deeper into the forest. The trees around them grew even larger, matching some of the pines he'd seen. Soon, Lukas couldn't hear any beasts fighting—just the rustle of leaves and the chirping of birds.

Noticing this, he paused in the middle of explaining Columbus's voyage to the Americas. "Are there no beasts in this area? I can't hear any."

"Hm? Oh, no, there aren't. They can tell this is my domain and avoid it since I'm much stronger than they are. I don't keep them out on purpose; they just stay away on their own."

"Your area?" Lukas asked.

The dryad nodded. "All these trees around us are part of my tree, making this all my territory. That's why there are fewer pines here. Over time my trees have pushed them out."

"Wait. I thought we'd just entered a different forest or biome that merges with the pines. You're saying all these trees belong to a single tree?" he said, astonished. He'd heard of something like that back home—a massive organism called Pando—but he couldn't believe he'd stumbled on something similar here.

"They're more of a network than a single tree, but yes, they're connected," Calayis said, patting a nearby trunk proudly. "If I didn't have them, I wouldn't be able to wander more than a few kilometers from my tree."

"How is that possible?"

"It's part of my cultivation, something I gained once I reached a certain rank. They also help gather energy for my tree, speeding up my cultivation even more."

"That's…wow."

Calayis giggled. "If you think that's impressive, just wait until you see this," she said, gesturing ahead.

Not a minute later, a soft chiming of bells joined the whisper of the leaves and the birds. It was soothing and ethereal, calming both mind and soul.

They pushed through the last of the forest, emerging into a massive glade dominated by an even bigger tree at the center. It was the largest thing Lukas had ever laid eyes on, making even redwoods look small by comparison. The crown had to be at least a thousand meters high, piercing the heavens. The lowest branches protruded ten stories up, stretching hundreds of meters across. They were so sturdy they hardly swayed in the wind and were as wide as major highways. The trunk was enormous and easily as large as a city block, filling most of Lukas' view until he almost doubted what he was seeing was real.

Around what could only be called a world tree, gardens grew en masse, featuring fruits, vegetables, herbs, and spices. In one corner, he saw a pond with tributaries and streams branching off to provide irrigation. Snuggled up to the trunk was a small stone cottage with smoke rising from its chimney. All around the glade, thin trunks were planted with lines of colorful fabrics and flags—like pennant strings—strung between them in a web. Old bells and chimes hung from those lines, creating the mystical sound Lukas had heard.

He could only stare at the paradise before him in wonder, wishing he could have created something so idyllic back home.

Next to him, Calayis looked on nervously. "Do you like it?"

"It's the most amazing thing I've ever seen," he said, awestruck.

Too captivated by the scene, Lukas failed to notice Calayis' cheeks flush a darker shade of green.

"It's not that impressive," she managed quietly.

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