Taboo Online

Lauren focused on the nearest knot, and pale roots closed around it. The corrupted stream collapsed, leaving only harmless residue and spent mana behind.

She exposed two more, but the curse quickly changed its approach. Larger streams divided into countless threads. Some carried real knots, while others existed only to waste the Heartroot’s strength.

Unveiled Weakness showed Lauren what could be damaged. It did not tell her which weakness mattered most.

She opened Oracle’s Glimpse.

Possible futures spread through the network. In some, the Heartroot exhausted itself crushing false targets. In others, Lauren lost consciousness before the real corruption reached Lethariel’s connection.

Trying to follow everything had always overwhelmed her.

Luke had taught her to search for the future they needed instead.

Only three knots threatened the living path in every possibility.

Roots pierced the first from both sides. The second divided, but Lauren followed the half still connected to the curse and ignored the empty fragment.

The final knot withdrew through a dead village connection. Lauren ordered the Heartroot to sever the branch, trapping the corruption inside a root that no longer led anywhere.

Dark mana consumed the abandoned section, but the path to Lethariel remained clean.

[The final root has been preserved.]

The curse screamed through every root at once, carrying the grief of dead villages and the anger of something that had been denied its final victim.

False memories surrounded Lauren.

She saw her daughters dying in Canada while she remained inside the tree. Another vision showed the café abandoned after the Bureau removed their bodies from the immersion facility. A third showed Luke standing outside the Heartwood while villains tore through him to reach her.

In every vision, Lauren remained safe while someone else suffered.

The curse had found the fear behind her choice.

What good was safety if Luke had to pay for it?

The Heartroot answered with another memory.

An elven Oracle stood inside a tree while warriors defended her during an ancient siege. She sent them warnings, exposed enemy positions, and opened paths through the roots.

Several warriors died protecting the trunk, but the Oracle did not leave it. She stayed where her abilities could help everyone else survive.

Lauren finally understood what the Heartroot was trying to show her.

The tree would not remove her from the fight. It would let her help Luke without forcing him to protect her body every second.

Enemies could still attack the Heartwood, and Luke might still have to defend it. However, Lauren would no longer stand behind him with no way to protect herself or follow the battle.

She could watch the battlefield, expose weaknesses, and guide him while the tree protected her body.

Luke would be free to fight.

The realization passed into the Heartroot.

Green light entered Lauren’s chest and spread through the roots holding her arms and legs before moving beneath her skin. Her body warmed until it felt as though sunlight had reached her inside the sealed trunk.

[The Heartroot has accepted the Oracle.]

[Combat adaptation recognized.]

[New Skill created: Oracle’s Heartwood.]

[Oracle’s Heartwood]

[Summon a young ancestral Heartwood from natural ground.]

[Several seconds are required for full growth.]

[The Oracle may enter the Heartwood and become Rootbound.]

[While Rootbound, the Oracle cannot move.]

[Physical protection and magical resistance are greatly increased.]

[Stability of Oracle abilities is increased.]

[Visions, warnings, and revealed weaknesses may be transmitted directly to one bonded ally within range.]

[Physical contact is not required while the bonded ally remains within the Heartwood’s root range.]

[The Heartwood does not automatically reveal weaknesses.]

[The Heartwood continuously consumes mana.]

[Powerful enemies may trace the Heartwood through its active mana connection.]

[The Heartwood requires natural ground or a connected source of living mana.]

[If the Heartwood core is destroyed, the Oracle will be forcibly released and suffer severe magical backlash.]

[Current bonded ally: Luke.]

Lauren read the messages while the new ability settled inside her.

She could feel how the skill worked. Given several seconds and enough natural mana, she could summon a pale tree from the ground. The trunk would open, draw her inside, and seal around her body.

It would not make her invulnerable. Strong attacks could break the bark, while fire, corruption, and magic could damage the core. Remaining inside would steadily drain her mana, and losing consciousness would force the tree to release her.

Even with those limits, the skill changed how she and Luke could fight together.

Lauren could use Oracle’s Glimpse without standing exposed several yards behind him. She could share Unveiled Weakness while he moved freely through the fight, and she would no longer become helpless whenever an enemy slipped past him.

Luke would not have to choose between attacking and staying close enough to catch her if a vision overwhelmed her.

A smile touched her lips.

He was going to love it.

The warmth inside her body deepened, but then pain gathered beneath her skin.

The Heartroot’s mana moved easily through the roots around Lauren, while her body resisted every pulse. Human mana channels had never been meant to connect directly with an elven root network.

The Heartroot tried to withdraw.

Lauren’s body had already become part of the connection, and pulling away caused the roots to tighten while mana burned through her chest.

A system warning appeared.

[Incompatible bloodline detected.]

[Continued assimilation will damage the Oracle.]

The Heartroot gave her another choice. It could release her and protect itself, or it could change her enough that the living roots would stop rejecting her.

Lauren examined what the spirit offered.

A seed of ancient mana rested at the center of the Heartroot. It held no personality or memories, only the foundation that allowed elven bodies to live in harmony with the forest.

The spirit could not turn Lauren fully elven, but it could place a small part of that foundation inside her.

The change would be permanent.

Lauren thought of the Queen fighting beneath the last silver tree. She remembered the dead villages and the villains laughing as they destroyed what remained.

Then she imagined trying to explain all of this to Luke.

A quiet laugh escaped her.

"He is never going to believe this."

Lauren accepted.