The chirping of birds is almost enough to fool me into believing I'm standing in a peaceful glade. Distant booming footsteps, and the low calls of woodwalkers shatters such a flimsy illusion. I'm standing beside Silva. We're both taking in the sights and sounds of the Wildwood.

  "This place is amazing, Mother!"

  "Indeed. This is the Wildwood, your main territory."

  Silva nods softly at my words. The tall humanoid's ears twitch at the forest's many sounds. I can already see nubs indicative of future antlers budding atop Silva's furred head. His dark brown eyes stare at the Wildwood in wonderment.

  "This is all mine?"

  "It is smaller than it appears, Silva."

  "This is more than enough!"

  Shifting from hoof to hoof, Silva gives me an eager look. I can tell he's ready to get started on his duties, despite not yet knowing the details.

  "Your first lesson in being the forest's caretaker is the whole."

  Silva nods, eyes staring down at me with such reverence it's almost suffocating. I don't let my trepidation show as I continue my lecture, the amulet around my neck ensuring my voice comes out sounding like that of a goddess'.

  "An ecosystem is the relationship between the plants, terrain, and animals. It is the sum of the parts. In the case of the Wildwood, it is the animals eating the plants, and those plants eating those same animals once they pass."

  A thoughtful look slips onto Silva's face. He looks past me to the highbark, watching a few birds flit about. One of these birds is building a nest among the branches of the highbark. Two other juvenile birds flit about playfully. An unlucky bird is struck down by the strike of a great hawk.

  Silva's attention moves to follow the great hawk as it flies up and away. It lands in a nest some distance away, much to the delight of its eager brood. Understanding fills Silva's gaze.

  "I think I understand. This cycle is what I am striving to maintain, Mother?"

  Wow! He picks things up fast, at least when it comes to this subject. I suppose it would be disappointing if he didn't have an affinity for the entire reason I created him, but I am impressed regardless.

  "Indeed, Silva. You are to keep the balance of things. No plant nor animal should grow too weak or strong in number, as extinction is the failure of the whole forest."

  "Extinction? How can that be when you've designed things so perfectly, Mother?"

  "There are those that do not understand the sanctity of nature. Humans often trample that what they can gain from in order to grow in wealth and power."

  Silva's expression darkens as I explain the presence of outside factors. I haven't revealed that I myself am a human of sorts, but I figure pretending to be something more mysterious makes my authority appear stronger.

  An irritated huff leaves Silva's wide nostrils as he crosses his furred arms. It wasn't intentional, but I think I've given him a very bad impression of humans as a whole. Hopefully I'm wrong.

  "These humans sound awful, Mother. Why did you create them?"

  Well that's not what I expected. Probably should have realized my creations would think I am the maker of all things, not just themselves.

  "Humans are not my creation. They are a creature born of millennia spent striving to survive, hardened by the elements and a rivalry for success."

  "There are things you didn't make, Mother?"

  Silva looks shocked. His mouth hangs open as he looks at me. I think I've inadvertently shattered the poor guy's world view! He doesn't say anything for some time. I can see the gears turning in his head as he adjusts to the knowledge.

  "Silva, one of your duties as the custodian of forests is to deal with visiting humans."

  "Humans will come to my forest?" Silva's eyes narrow.

  "Yes, humans calling themselves adventurers often visit my realm."

  A low guttural growl slips from Silva's lips as he clenches both his hands. He raises one of his fists up and gives me a salute of sorts by slamming his fist to his chest. The ferocity in his eyes is a bit worrying, as it's directed at humans, people I don't want to unilaterally hurt.

  "Do not worry, Mother, I will drive out anyone who dares intrude on your realm!"

  Well shit. I'd better fix this before his distrust of humans gets any worse.

  "Silva, calm yourself. Humans are not all invaders."

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  "But Mother-"

  I raise a palm to stop him from arguing, and explain exactly what humans are to me.

  "Humans are a source of power for me, Silva."

  Silva's eyebrows raise in surprise. He looks impressed with me, as though my ability to grow from the presence of 'invaders' is truly remarkable. Considering his lack of a reply, I continue my explanation.

  "The more time a human spends within my realm, the more mana I gain. Their struggles and injuries fuel my growth. Death also provides me with power, but I do not wish to slaughter all who visit my realm."

  Nodding along, Silva speaks up about my last point.

  "Why not, Mother? The meat eaters consume the prey, so why do you wish to spare your prey?"

  "Because, Silva, Humans are dangerous when persecuted. If we kill one group of humans we are not just killing prey--we are angering all other humans."

  Silva's eyes widen as he immediately understands how bad that could be for me.

  "I understand, Mother. You wish me to keep humans in your domain, and to heighten their struggles, but not kill them."

  "Yes--but do not capture them. Missing humans will invoke the wrath of all humans, much like slaughter would. Be careful, Silva."

  Smiling slightly, Silva bows to show his fealty to me. His voice is much calmer as he affirms his willingness to abide by my words.

  "I understand, Mother. Your word is my law."

  "Good. I must go for now, but know that I will always be watching."

  Silva straightens his posture at that. I'm stretching the truth a bit, but I will be watching sometimes, so it's not a total lie. Silva pulls me into a quick hug before I leave. The bigger furred custodian is quite a good hugger, so I can't complain.

  With a simple tap, my amulet takes me back to the dungeon's core chambers.

  Familiar blue light illuminates the core room. I sigh, my body and posture relaxing as I let my shoulders sag for the first time in hours. Putting on that act in front of Silva is really draining! I'm not totally sure if it's worth it to pretend to be more enigmatic and powerful than I really am, but it does make me feel more confident when speaking to the two and half meter forest custodian.

  My robe's hood is pulled aside to reveal my rather plain human features. I carefully remove the amulet from around my neck. It's a large heavy thing, laden with mana I wove through it. The multiple magical functions bound to the amulet are very useful for keeping up the ruse of being a powerful inhuman being. I can't control mana at all when I'm in my human body, but with the help of the amulet I can make due.

  Maybe I should create something to help me cast more magic in my human body?

  Just not sure where to begin with that one.

  Discarding the amulet, I move to my core. A soft tap is all it takes to leave my body and begin moving freely throughout the dungeon. I first check up on Silva, curious to see what he'll do when I'm not standing right beside him.

  The hooved man is walking along the forest floor. He pauses after a few moments, glancing down at the discarded branches littering the mossy ground. I watch him reach down and pluck branch after branch from his feet. None satisfy him, all being cast aside.

  He finally stops searching through the sticks when inspiration strikes him.

  Raising an open hand, Silva starts to weave mana from his body into the air. I watch, fascinated, as he creates a wooden staff out of nothing but mana. His speed in learning mana usage is frankly frightening. He doesn't stop at creating a wooden staff, and I watch in awe as Silva makes his staff come to life. The wooden thing is sprouting leaves. Flowers bloom at the knotted top of the staff in a variety of bright colors.

  He tests the staff by stabbing the bottom into the dirt. He walks back and forth with it in hand, nodding in satisfaction. He made a walking stick. Probably the most unique walking stick to exist, but a simple tool meant to aid him in foot travel.

  I think I've created a monster of sorts...

  Anyway, time to link up the Wildwood with the door in Swarm Forest!

  I'm sure nothing bad will come of this, only good things.

  ~

  The odd hissing noise of a swarmer doesn't phase me. I stab it in the face with my spear, watching it convulse before going limp. The others handle their opponents in much the same way, only suffering from a lack of stamina rather than real injuries.

  "Good work, fellas!"

  I congratulate them, keeping team morale high. Now for the awful part of this job.

  Butchering the damn giant spiders.

  "Danny, you're on butcherin'."

  Danny lets out an exasperated groan of dismay. He's the youngest of the group, being a boy we got to come along with a promise of pay. He's only carrying the spear for self defense, as all he's good for is butchering monsters and hauling our stuff. The boy really drags his feet as he pulls out the knife we use for tearing up the monster corpses.

  "Boss, I swear I've done more than my share of the cutting!"

  A harsh smack to the back of the head sets the boy straight. He winces before getting to work.

  "You'll do what I tell you to if you want your damn coins, kid!"

  There aren't any more words from the indignant brat. I huff in satisfaction, happy to have shown the stupid boy his place. One of the boys is poking around some old chunks of stone when I hear him holler, his voice shaky with excitement.

  "B-Boss! I found somethin'!"

  I stomp on over expecting to find him gawking at a pile of steaming shit or something equally stupid, but what I see takes my breath away. I've heard of the doors in the valley--the closed ones--and this door in front of me sure ain't closed.

  The big stone door looks just like the one at the dungeon entrance! It's got different pictures on it, these ones all about trees and such, but it's just like the dungeon door. Beyond the door is a little stone room, lit by lantern stones, with an open doorway leading out into what looks like a forest. The trees look really different, though, nothing like these gnarled oak trees.

  "We gotta report this! The guild will give us a real nice reward for-"

  "Shut up, stupid!" I clobber the idiot with my fist "Nobody is telling the guild!"

  "B-But, Boss, he's right. We get money if we do!"

  Now this is the reason I'm in charge and these flunkies aren't. They just don't understand how to get ahead of the crowd. No sense for business or profits, just mindless greed.

  "Fellas, let me ask you this, what will happen after we get our guild money?"

  They all look at one another, unsure what answer I'm looking for.

  Finally, after several long moments, one of them steps up.

  "Uh, Boss, won't we be heroes?"

  "No, you brainless dolt!"

  The man flinches at my outburst, ducking his head in shame.

  "The guild will tell everybody, and then there will be tons of folks barging into this door looking for loot and glory and fame. What happens then?"

  No one is eager to speak up after I snapped at that first guy. They all look too shy to speak, afraid of being wrong like he was. I sigh, tapping my foot, and finally give them the obvious answer.

  "We get less money, because they take it."

  A chorus of understanding exclamations erupts from the crowd of buffoons. I chuckle, grabbing two men by the shoulders, leaning in with a wide grin. The men look at me with a mixture of fear and curiosity. They're like sheep, listening to what I say without question.

  "Now boys, what do you say we beat everyone to these new riches?"