Chapter 72: The Stone Eater

"The Moon Goddess was once a gardener?"

Hearing what Augla said, Rhodes straightened up.

He looked at his hands, then at the Moon Well not far away, and his face darkened.

Good guy.

Case solved.

The gardener profession was indeed the one that Moon Goddess gave him, so that he could help rebuild the woodland.

No wonder you chose gardener among so many professions. It turns out that you are a gardener yourself!

"Master Rhodes, what's wrong with you? You don't look well."

Augula noticed his strangeness and asked in confusion.

"How can a tree spirit like me have such a face?"

Rhodes said unhappily.

My face is made of tree bark, not a marquee, so how can it change color?

Unexpectedly.

His words had just fallen.

Augula suddenly screamed.

"No, Lord Rhodes, your expression has really changed!"

He shouted and backed away, and even the little thing seemed to have discovered something and stared at his face closely.

Rhodes:? ? ?
What do you mean?
Subconsciously, Rhodes reached out and touched his face, but there was no change.

When he turned his head, he found that the crystal tree next to him was flashing a strange light, which was reflected on him and almost turned his entire face yellow.

"What the hell is this monster!"

The terrifying face reflected in the crystal frightened him so much that he jumped away reflexively and almost smashed the crystal tree.

But the next second he realized that the monster was himself, and he was immediately embarrassed.

But right away.

Their attention was drawn to the crystal tree.

Looking at the flickering yellow crystal, Augla shrank his neck, and the little thing hid directly behind him, sticking out its head to look secretly.

"Lord...Lord, this thing is not going to explode, is it?" Augla whispered, fearing that he would say something wrong and cause it to explode.

"Look how scared you are. It's a waste of your big body. You still have to rely on me for this kind of thing."

Rhodes glanced at him, walked straight to the crystal tree and observed it carefully.

This look.

He actually discovered something different.

At the tip of a crystal on the edge, a crystal bud that looked like an ice sculpture grew out.

Streams of yellow energy were transmitted from the ground into the flower bud, and could be seen clearly because of the transparency of the crystal.

It seems like it is nurturing something.

"Could it really be a baby mountain giant?"

Just when Rhodes was confused.

The crystal bud finally absorbed enough energy and fell to the ground with a "pop".

That's right.

Lost……

Rhodes looked stunned.

Little Augla also came over curiously.

"What is it?"

Augura poked the bud with her finger.

The little thing squatted beside it, reached out and touched it gently, then quickly pulled its hand back, fearing that the flower bud would suddenly bite it.

Perhaps because their movements were too big, the crystal bud finally moved.

First, two hands grew from the sides, and then two feet grew from the bottom. Then, as they watched in amazement, a small round head cautiously stretched out like a turtle.

"Live!"

"Yeah!"

"What the hell!?"

Three exclamations rang out almost simultaneously.

The crystal man's head shrank back instantly in fear.

The Soul Raven, Big Bear and the Elemental Elves in the distance heard the noise and gathered over, forming a circle nearby in a blink of an eye.

A good while.

After finding out that there was no danger, the crystal man showed his head again.

This time, it is obviously much bolder.

As if it sensed the familiar aura around it, it began to look around at the figures surrounding it, like a newborn baby.

"There is actually life growing out of a tree. Have you seen this thing?" Rhodes looked up at Augla and the others.

The answers I got were all shakes of head.

Even Augula said that this was the first time he had seen this kind of life.

"That shouldn't be the case. Logically speaking, the seeds condensed from the soul power of the mountain giant should be related to the mountain clan."

He stretched out his palm and placed it on the ground. The crystal man looked at it hesitantly, and finally jumped onto his palm and ran back and forth happily.

Then, as if sensing something, he suddenly looked towards a pile of scattered rubble not far away, jumped off his hand and ran towards that direction.

then.

A scene that shocked everyone appeared.

The moment the crystal man approached the rubble, the stones seemed to be summoned and all gathered towards the crystal man, covering its small body.

In the blink of an eye.

The palm-sized body turned into a little stone man half a meter tall, staggering and learning to walk.

"Sigh~"

Augura gasped.

"Mountain Giant!"

"So this is how the Mountain Clan was formed?"

That's right!

appeared before their eyes.

Isn’t it just a smaller version of the mountain giant?
Even Rhodes didn't expect that the inconspicuous crystal man would actually be the real body of the mountain giant.

It turns out that it really is grown from a tree!
one more time.

Rhodes's three perspectives were refreshed.

Even if you tell him now that tree spirits lay eggs, he will probably still remain skeptical.

But after the shock, he suddenly became excited.

As long as this crystal tree is there, won’t mountain giant babies be born continuously on the altar?

When they all grow up, their combat power will be comparable to that of giant war trees, and their absolute loyalty can be guaranteed if they are trained from a young age!

It turned out to be the case.

Is this the fire that the Mountain Clan is willing to leave for the Dream Forest at the cost of their last bit of strength?

The flame of hope that has been passed down for three hundred years.

Sure enough, it won’t be extinguished so easily.

Rhode took a deep breath and smiled at the little guys around him, "Let's go outside and get some more stones. We'll have a lot of new friends here."

"Yeah!"

"Quack~"

As soon as I heard the new partner.

The little ones were immediately excited, and ran outside with Augla excitedly, carrying the black soil to carry back the large stones nearby, smashing them all and piling them next to the crystal tree.

It only took half a day.

They turned this corner of the altar into a stone forest.

No new mountain giant babies were born, but instead the playground became a place for them to play hopscotch and hide-and-seek, with laughter constantly coming from inside.

Rhodes ignored them.

Instead, he observed the little stone man from the side.

He discovered that the newly born stone man could not become fat in one bite and absorb all the stones that were brought back.

Instead, there is an upper limit, and it can only control a certain amount of stone attached to the body surface, which seems to be related to the level of the crystal man itself.

And the way they upgrade their levels is also very simple.

That's eating stones!

"Well, we just ran out of food and wood, and now there's another stone eater..."

Rhodes held his forehead with one hand. It seemed that his idea of ​​having the mountain giants in front to lead the way and the war trees behind to provide support would take some time to realize.

And just then.

A long-lost message suddenly popped up in front of him.

[Crops mature, experience points +1]

……

(End of this chapter)