"Eh? So that's what you meant, nya? Niv thought Master was finally going to make a baby with her, meow…"
Hel could clearly hear the disappointment in Niv's tone.
"What are you even disappointed about?" she said irritably, rubbing the catgirl's fluffy head. "You're an artificial idiot — and you're talking to me about having babies? Honestly…"
"Wuu… Master, Niv was wrong…"
After a good while of rough head-patting and hair-ruffling, Niv finally whimpered her surrender. Only then did Hel release her.
"Niv, you've got some mixed goblin blood in you. That actually makes you quite compatible with this particular Mother Tree. If we use its bloodline as a base, it might even help awaken that hidden bloodline of yours completely."
"Eh? Really, nya?"
Niv blinked, looking suspiciously at the massive tree in front of her.
It was true — she did carry a dormant bloodline deep within her, one that was a fusion of four destiny-tier races and her own base genetics. But so much time had passed, and that power still hadn't awakened.
From Hel's perspective, Niv's bloodline trait had always flickered on her interface — glowing faintly, as if waiting for something to trigger it.
"The Mother Tree's bloodline extraction method won't disrupt your internal balance," Hel explained. "It'll simply accelerate the process of awakening and evolution. I'll teach you exactly how to handle it."
She transferred part of the knowledge she had gained from the Elven Mother Tree directly into Niv's consciousness.
While the catgirl processed the data — her eyes glazed over and tail twitching slightly — Hel used the time to issue another order.
She commanded both the Hybrid Goblin Mother Tree and the Snow Elf Mother Tree to extract and condense their entire memory banks.
As a result, Hel obtained two more Saint-tier soul clusters, along with two keys embedded within the depths of their essence.
"Good. Once your main body arrives, I'll help you begin the bloodline refinement."
Hel placed the still-distracted Niv next to the hybrid Mother Tree and turned toward the Gray Elf Mother Tree.
The hybrid tree suited Niv, and the snow elf tree suited Anna. That left only the gray one for Hel herself.
Gray Elves were a rare species — once counted among the three noble High Elven clans during the Third Epoch, alongside the Sun and Moon Elves. They'd had their age of glory, but when their era ended, the goblins had plundered even their sacred Mother Trees.
Still, they'd been luckier than most — at least they hadn't become slaves like the Snow Elves, nor been genetically rewritten like the Wild Elves, whose entire lineage had been tampered with by goblins.
At least, they'd been lucky until Hel showed up.
She studied the flow of information transmitted from the Gray Elf Mother Tree and placed her hand gently upon its trunk.
[Trait Plundered: Dormant State (Black).]
The moment the trait was removed, the transformation began — swift and visible.
The Mother Tree's withered bark began to peel away, layer after layer, revealing the vibrant green wood beneath. Its lifeless branches trembled, rejuvenated, as fresh shoots burst forth.
Within moments, the once-dying tree stood tall again — lush, alive, leaves rustling in the breeze like whispers of resurrection.
"Every time I do this, I'm reminded that black traits are basically a bug in the system," Hel muttered, half in awe, half amused.
No matter how severe a negative condition was — as long as it existed as a black trait, Hel could simply pluck it off using a small amount of trait energy. And for just a little more energy, she could duplicate the trait into two copies.
That was something even the highest-grade positive traits couldn't replicate.
Satisfied, she tucked the plundered black trait deep into her inventory vault — her "bottom drawer" of dangerous treasures — and reestablished her link with the rejuvenated Mother Tree.
"Now then," she said softly, "gather all your bloodline energy for me."
At her command, the tree began condensing several glowing fruits along its branches.
Unlike the earlier white ones, these were deep crimson, as if bleeding light itself.
[Name]: Fragment of the Elven Mother Tree's Bloodline (Gray Elf)
[Rank]: Red · Saint Tier
[Trait]: Gray Elf Bloodline (Red)
[Description]: Contains a portion of the Gray Elf Mother Tree's ancestral bloodline. Consuming it allows creatures with elven blood to enhance and evolve their lineage.
But that was only the beginning.
One after another, fruits began to form — ripening rapidly, then dropping into Hel's waiting hand.
By the time the 90th fruit fell, the Mother Tree's bloodline trait had already turned red in her interface. When the 99th fruit dropped, the glow of that red had dimmed almost to black.
That seemed to be its limit.
"Still red-tier, huh?" Hel mused, watching the faint shimmer on the Mother Tree's data panel.
She decided not to push further.
The Mother Tree had already begun instinctively resisting the extraction process. If she forced it any longer, she risked causing irreversible damage to its structure.
Besides, lowering the bloodline level to this point was already sufficient for her purposes.
Hel pressed her palm against the trunk once more.
[Trait Granted: Death Elf (Pink).]
The transformation this time was far more violent than before.
Dark miasma surged from the base of the trunk, spiraling upward through every branch. Within moments, the entire tree was shrouded in death energy, its once gray-green leaves twisting and changing under the corruption.
Half of each leaf turned a vibrant emerald green — the other half became pitch black.
It looked almost like a mischievous child had painted down the middle, dividing life and death with a single stroke.
The trunk, too, began to change — spiraling black patterns etched themselves into the bark, coiling upward like serpents.
Hel stared at the strange, mesmerizing sight for a moment before blurting out:
"Why does this thing look like it just got a zebra tattoo? Shame the other half isn't white — that'd really complete the look."
But just as she said that, the brown bark of the tree began to bleach into pure white before her eyes.
Hel stood there, dumbfounded.
She had felt it — an emotional pulse from the Mother Tree itself, a wave of submissive, eager-to-please emotion, as if the sentient tree were trying to make her happy.
"…Are you kidding me?" Hel muttered blankly.
"You're a tree. How the hell are you acting like a dog?"