Empire Builder 1: Breed, Populate, Conquer by Dante King (free e books to read online txt) 📕

what the trees are feeling if I listen closely. I cannot yet fully understand them, nor communicate with them.”

“But you will be able to one day?” Ben asked.

Vinata nodded.

He smiled at her as they came to a stop in front of one particularly large oak tree. “That’s one of the coolest things I’ve ever heard,” he told Vinata, sincerely.

She cocked her head and looked at him. “You have a funny way of speaking. When something is cool, that is a sign of positive appreciation, yes?”

He laughed. “Yeah, that’s right. I think it’s amazing that you can talk to trees.”

Vinata beamed. “I hadn’t thought of it that way. Thank you, Benjamin. One day I will be sure to tell you what the trees think about you.”

Ben chuckled nervously. He wasn’t sure whether that would be a good thing.

“And what magic are you capable of, Benjamin?” Vinata looked up at him curiously. “You must have great power to kill those mountain ogres the way you did tonight.”

“Uh, actually, that was pretty unexpected to me, too,” he said.

She frowned, as if slightly disappointed in his answer.

“I mean, I’ve never fought so many enemies at once. I didn’t know if I could handle it.”

Vinata put a hand on his arm. “We watched you through the window of our hut, all three of us. You fought bravely.”

Ben smiled and took a deep breath. It was hard to explain his new powers when he hardly understood them himself. But he found he wasn’t feeling any fear or anxiety at this point. Only sheer joy at being alive and at attaining power he’d scarcely even dreamed of.

“Benjamin?” Vinata interrupted his thoughts.

“Hmm?”

“What was the power you used on those ogres? One man could not have slain so many without some sort of magic, surely.”

“I can take energy from others,” he explained.

“What does that mean?” she asked.

“It means I can take strength or mental or emotional power from others. I can also give it to people, as well as take it.”

“So that is how you were able to slay their leader. That is how he became so weak.” Vinata’s eyes lit up with understanding. “That can’t have been easy for you, to stand in front of such a terrifying giant.”

“It certainly wasn’t,” Ben agreed.

Vinata’s brow furrowed. “But wait, if you can sap emotional energy too, is that what you did to Lulu?”

He nodded. Ben worried she might be angered by him messing around with her friend’s emotions like that. But he wasn’t about to lie to her.

She continued to look puzzled. “And you did that to us, taking our fear away?”

Ben felt his stomach clench. He had made a difficult decision as the Forgotten Ruler to do what was right, even if they might not understand it. Now he had to defend that decision.

“And that’s why you slumped to the ground while you were talking to us?” Vinata probed.

“That’s right. I called you monsters because I was frightened. I’m sorry.” Ben held out his hands apologetically.

The beautiful dryad beamed. “That was so brave of you. And so kind.”

“You’re not angry at me?” he asked.

“Why would I be angry?”

“I didn’t ask for your permission.”

Vinata dismissed this with a wave of her hand. “We were hardly in a state to give permission. You did what you saw as best to resolve the situation. You had no other choice.”

Ben smiled, a weight lifting off his chest. “Let me show you what else I can do.” He took the green haired woman’s hand, looking into her eyes.

She looked back at him with curiosity.

Ben gathered his mana. He could tell he definitely had more than before. It must have been regenerating. He would have to talk to Melody about this later.

He gathered some of the joyful emotions that were filling him now at his newfound place in this world. Being careful to lose as little as possible, he gave some of this emotion to Vinata.

Her eyes widened as she felt the joy flooding into her. She laughed, a bright and clear laugh.

Looking deep into his eyes, she smiled warmly. “That is a beautiful spell.” She paused for a moment. “Beautiful and terrifying.”

Ben nodded. She was certainly right about that.

They continued a little while longer, through the trees and into what seemed a much wilder part of the forest.

A chill suddenly ran down Ben’s spine, and he immediately stopped in his tracks. Deep in his chest, he felt a throbbing, as though a phantom hand had suddenly gripped his heart.

He gasped.

Vinata rushed over to him. “What is it?” she asked.

Ben shook his head, and the feeling abated. “It’s. . . I felt something just then.”

She looked him over, and her gaze came to rest at his feet.

“There,” the dryad hissed as she thrust a finger at where he was standing.

He looked down to where her finger was pointing and saw that he was standing on something most definitely man-made. It was a stone block, covered in leaves and detritus, but he could just make out arcane symbols carved into its weather-worn surface.

“What is it?” he wondered aloud as he stepped back away from it.

“Something from long ago,” Vinata said.

Ben squatted down and brushed the leaves away from the surface. “I can’t read whatever these symbols are. Can you?”

Vinata held her hands out helplessly. “Reading?”

Right, he considered, dryads probably wouldn’t condone paper production either.

There was one symbol in the center of the stone slab that did look strangely familiar. It was a triangular shape with an oval inside it. The third eye? The evil eye? It was a symbol we had back on earth too. What could it mean? None of the other symbols made any sense to Ben.

“Do you think this stone is related to the ruins back in the town?” Ben asked.

Vinata shrugged. “Probably, but who can say? This region is filled with the remnants of the Forgotten Ruler’s former civilization. They say that there exist dungeons beneath the earth, where one can find his power if they are willing to defeat its guardians.”

“Is