Hel watched the elf mother tree before her with a helpless expression.
She couldn't shake the feeling that this thing was secretly wagging its tail at her.
That alone made her reluctant to form a contract with it.
Still, after thinking it through, she gave up on that hesitation.
The race of Death Elves was, after all, one of her own creations—one that might one day help her fuse the Reincarnation attribute. Unless something unavoidable happened, Hel had no intention of abandoning them.
With that decided, she waited until both her true body and Niv's true body had arrived before she began swiftly carving one alchemical rune after another in the air above the tree's bark.
This was the same method once devised by the Goblin Emperor for forming a contract with an elf mother tree.
Originally, after such a contract was made, the bloodline of the contractor would slowly overwrite that of the mother tree. But after Hel's modifications, even though she possessed no elven bloodline herself, she could still form the bond.
However, in her version, her bloodline wouldn't overwrite the tree's. Perhaps it might leave a faint trace of influence, but it would never have the domineering, full-coverage effect of the original version.
Countless alchemical sigils spun in the air, radiant magical light blooming across the meadow. Meanwhile, deep, complex incantations flowed from Hel's lips:
Vas'tal kor! (By blood as the key!)
Zal'go mahn! (By soul as the lock!)
N'zoth fra'um! (This body forever bound!)
Xal'atath, kia'jarn! (Thy fate is my fate, thy soul my vessel!)
And from now on, you're my Palu—working 007 hours every day, and no complaining!
The next instant, Hel felt her blood and soul connect to the mother tree before her.
At her mental command, the massive elf tree rapidly shrank, transforming into a streak of light that darted into her body.
She instinctively lifted her shirt—Only to see that a new tattoo, shaped like an elf mother tree, had appeared on her lower abdomen.
A vein popped on Hel's forehead.
Seriously? Of all places, it had to take root there?
Wait… that position…
Hel touched her belly lightly. The tattoo sat exactly where her womb would be—and the womb, of course, symbolized life and creation.
Come to think of it, the mother tree also represented life. In that sense, it actually… made perfect sense.
But then—if the contractor had been male, like the Goblin Emperor—what would've happened?
Would the mother tree have forcibly turned him into a woman just to take root there? Or perhaps, the Emperor had never been able to fully absorb the mother tree at all?
A realization struck her like lightning.
That might explain why, even though the Goblin Emperor had long perished, the Hybrid Goblin Mother Tree still remained in this city—continuing to spawn goblins.
Could it be that he simply couldn't take the tree with him because of his gender?
The more she thought about it, the more Hel felt she'd uncovered a hidden truth of history.
After all, if she herself had been the Goblin Emperor, when the goblins faced divine punishment, she would've definitely tried to transfer her true spirit into the mother tree.
But Hel had examined the Hybrid Goblin Mother Tree inside and out several times already—it was no different from the other two. That only strengthened her suspicion.
She then tried something else: transferring the mother tree within her body to Morrigan.
To her surprise—it actually worked.
After some thought, however, she recalled the tree to her true body. Something that precious was best kept safe with her.
After a few more practice rounds of summoning and storing, resizing and reshaping, and finding no issues, she finally sealed it away again.
"Alright, Niv—it's your turn now."
Hel took Niv's hand and led her to the Hybrid Goblin Mother Tree.
Using the same method as before, Hel made the tree produce another batch of bloodline fruits.
She didn't take them this time—instead, she handed them all to Niv, instructing her to absorb the bloodline energy within.
"If we used the goblin method to extract the bloodline energy manually, it would take a long time for you to digest it all. But these bloodline fruits will let you absorb it much faster."
As Niv swallowed the first fruit, Hel continued explaining.
When Niv reached for a second one, Hel gently tapped her hand.
"Don't rush. You'll only need nine fruits to fully awaken your hidden bloodline and reach the level required to bond with the mother tree. After the mother tree takes root in your body, then you can digest the rest."
"Okay, Master," Niv said meekly, pulling her hand back.
She paused for a moment, then blinked in surprise.
"Master… I think the fruit in my body has already been digested."
"What? Already?"
Hel stared at her in disbelief, quickly pulling up Niv's status panel.
Sure enough—the flickering talent trait that had always been unstable before… was now shining steadily.
[Heaven's Chosen Mecha Princess (Red)] Magic Power +200% | Charm +130 A hybrid bearing the blood of two Epoch's fourth-generation divine races. You have defied the trajectory of fate itself—your future holds limitless possibility.
"...Huh."
Hel compared Niv's new bloodline trait to her own Witch bloodline and suddenly felt that hers wasn't so impressive anymore.
The bonuses were identical—but Hel's Witch bloodline required walking the Path of Apotheosis just to evolve further.
Meanwhile, Niv could simply finish eating the remaining ninety fruits and push hers to demigod quality.
Truly, comparison was the thief of joy.
"Master, I think I know why I was able to absorb them so fast," Niv said suddenly.
"Oh? Why?"
"The biological energy reactor inside me is made from Tier 7 materials—its strength is at the saint level. So its efficiency is way higher than that of an ordinary biological organ."
"…Right."
Hel remembered now—Niv's body was largely mechanical.
Those mechanical organs naturally operated at a much higher efficiency than flesh and blood—and they were made from high-grade materials too.
"Well, in that case," Hel sighed, "go ahead and eat the rest of them. The faster you finish, the better."
With a wave of her hand, all the fruits on the tree were plucked at once and piled into a basket before Niv.
"Eat up, my dear. I'll go check on the last mother tree."