Trouble

"So, Dryads, do you have the materials ready?" Mark asks them. I'm close enough to overhear them, but I'm not at the table.

"No, as we've told you already. We don't have any more materials to give you" Treena says causing Mark to sigh.

"Is that so, Alex what do you see?" Mark says, shouting the last part. The man wearing the T-shirt and shorts walks up to him. As he walks past me I Observe the small blue gem out of curiosity.

Magic Sealing Gem, Mythical

This Gem has been Enchanted and carved with various Spells and Runes. They will activate once mana has been poured into the gem. The Gem will create a circle around itself. The circle will be nearly twenty feet wide in all directions. Those within the circle will be unable to activate any Spells or Skills. This will NOT stop any Spells or Skills in effect. This will not affect any Passive Skills. Only those wearing Rings carved with the same Runes may use magic within the circle.

That's an interesting thing to bring with you. I guess they're here for a fight. I think before sighing.

"I don't see any materials nearby. The wood here would be around Rare grade. But it needs a few more months to become Epic. However, the Dryads did just lie now. When they said they didn't have any more materials to give." The man named Alex says.

"Really? Is this true Dryad?" Mark asks causing Treena to sigh.

"No, we do have more Epic grade wood. But! It's the wood we use for our houses. We can't give it to you." She says causing Mark to smile.

"Of course you can! We can just replace it with normal or the Rare grade wood around here."

"No we can't! The wood in our houses needs to be Epic grade to withstand the elements and to not burn from our stoves and ovens." Treena says, standing up and clearly angry.

"Okay, then how about we take a walk? Let's see if we can come up with another idea or find some wood." Mark says making Treena sigh. She nods and the five leave the table. Mark walks behind Treena and Layla. The man with the gem walks next to him. Liz and I follow closely behind and the people in the armor lag behind us.

"I hate this prick!" Liz whispers to me angrily.

"Me too, let's just put up with it for now. But keep your guard up." I say, not wanting to warn her about the gem yet, in case they can hear me.

"I am, but what was that all earlier? Getting all friendly with him?" She asks, a little too angrily.

"I had to try to make him less wary of me. Besides, I can't go and make an enemy out of the government. I couldn't just provoke him for no reason. Besides, he's more likely to do something stupid if he thinks he might be able to get me on his side." I say causing her to nod and sigh. We walk for a while, the entire time Mark keeps asking Alex about the materials nearby. Liz tells me that Alex is a Sensor and he's able to tell what rarity the materials are at a glance. Although she doesn't recognize the gem he's holding. After an hour of walking around, we get to the large green wall of plants that protects the Forest's Heart Core. We walk around to the door of vines and flowers before stopping.

"What are we doing here?" Treena asks as they stop abruptly.

"I want to see the inside." Mark says causing Treena and Layla to step between him and the door.

"You know you can't do that. The forest's guardian beast is in there. If it weren't for this barrier here, it'd be attacking you right now. If we let you in you'll die!" Treena says sternly. Is that what they told the government? I guess I never questioned how they hid this from them. So they say there's a beast that'll attack them huh? I can work with this. I think before turning back to Mark.

"Is there really? All the Dryad forests have this so-called beast, but no one's ever seen it. There's never been any casualties either, I'm starting to doubt its existence. Alex, what can you see?" Mark asks causing Alex to step forward with a smile.

"I can't see much because of their barrier. But I can see a large amount of magic. I'm sure there's a large amount of Epic or even Legendary grade materials in there." Alex says causing Mark to smile and step toward Treena and Layla.

"Dryads I have to ask you to open the door." Mark says.

"We can't! If you die here, we'll be held accountable!" Treena says, I can hear anger and a hint of fear in her voice.

"Then here, take this." Mark says while pulling a piece of paper out of his pocket. He unfolds it and hands it to Treena. "It's written and marked with my mana circuits as you can see. It states that if I get eaten by the beast in there, you will not be held accountable." He says with a smile. Treena reads it before sighing.

"Even so, I can't let you in." She says causing Mark to sigh.

"That's a shame. You were rather pleasant company, for Dryads that is." Mark says before raising his hand. The armored soldiers run past Liz and I while drawing their weapons. "Eric, do me a favor and stay out of this. I'll make it up to you later." Mark says before turning back to the Dryads.