After a few minutes, the scouts began to figure out the tricks to navigating the new forest, and the Witches who were touring the villages to heal the others began to move again, mostly with guides, so that everyone could learn the area again.
Once the scouts from more distant villages found someone, they just stayed with them, it was the only way to not get completely lost in the forest, and the trees were beginning to give them the creeps like they were being watched and judged.
The first few scouts to arrive at the Den came up silently and handed over their notes, then did a double take when they understood the witch who thanked them for their help.
Both Wolfe and her were having a great time with the show as the scouts realized that the Curse wasn't in effect here at the Den, or possibly anywhere in the Forest, but the improvised outfits as the scouts removed layers to adapt to the suddenly increased temperature were just as good as the look on their faces.
They didn't usually carry a large bag, so they had nowhere to put the extra layers that they took off, and only the furriest of them looked normal and weren't wearing multiple layers as capes or tied around their waist.
"Well, we've had our fun. We should decide what we're going to do about our own patrols now, though. They usually only go a short distance from the Den, in case something was sneaking up on us, but now we have no idea where any of the monsters are.
They probably didn't die from the temperature change, and they will love the abundance of food here in the Forest, so their numbers could become a problem quite quickly once the others begin to notice that there is food here." She recommended.
"The Fae is likely the one who knows the most about this forest, but she's passed out right now, exhausted from the effort of shaping the forest and casting the defensive spells. Until she wakes up, I'm not sure how much we will be able to learn unless someone else has extensive knowledge on the topic." Wolfe agreed.
"I'm sure we have a bookworm or two in the group. I will see what they know. My shift is over now, so if you don't mind staying here for a moment, I will also find my replacement and see what's keeping them. The real mysteries are up here."
She disappeared for a few seconds, then came running back up to the entry shack. "Wolfe, you need to come downstairs and see this."
He found himself pulled by the hand down into the Den, where the Mana levels had gotten intense, with his Array increasing a much higher background amount of atmospheric Mana, but that wasn't the reason that he was drawn down into the Den in such a hurry.
There was a small Coconut tree standing in the dining room, waving branches at anyone who came close and guarding the Ice Cream.
"Perverts, lechers, how dare you threaten to milk me?" The squeaky voice of the small tree creature was shouting.
"What seems to be the issue?" Wolfe asked as he stepped between the Witches and the animated tree.
"They threatened to milk me. Treants don't give milk. Not even Dryads give milk. You keep those perverts away from me!" The Treant demanded.
A small coconut grew from her branch and was immediately hurled at the closest witch.
Wolfe moved to catch it, then crouched so he was closer to the same height as the newborn Treant. "You see, the milk they're referring to is the inside of the fruit that you threw at the witch. They're not going to try to milk you. It's just called Coconut Milk."
The branches slowed their defensive waving, and the plant shifted its upper layer a little, revealing a bark-covered face that had been hidden under the foliage. "You're sure? They look sketchy, and they're not even Fae. Well, you're not Fae either, but you don't look as dangerous as they do."
The witches hid their laughter at the Treant's version of what made a creature dangerous. But from a treant's point of view, a burly young man was less likely to bother them than the gardener was.
"So, they just want the fruits? Why didn't they say that in the first place? They still can't have them, but they could have said what they wanted." The little Treant complained.
"Do you want to go back into the garden and put down roots? Nobody will try to take your fruits by force. But if you get tired of carrying them, just drop them into the basket with the ones from the regular coconut trees, and they will take them away for you." Wolfe offered.
"Mmm, the soil in there is pretty good. Witches might not be Fae, but they are good for the soil, and not just when you bury them in it." The treant agreed before lifting up on its roots and beginning to walk back to the garden area.
Once the treant was settled, all of the witches breathed a sigh of relief. Wolfe looked around and gestured for someone to explain the situation to him from their point of view.
"The kitchen staff had been announcing a fresh batch of ice cream was ready when the little treant woke up. They took it the wrong way and thought that we meant to milk them and not just make ice cream from the coconuts. You came in just after that." A dark-eyed witch with long green hair replied while trying not to laugh at the absurdity of the situation.
"If you think that is crazy, go up and look outside. We're going to have to rename our section of the Frozen Wastes. It's no longer Frozen or a Wasteland. The spell worked way better than expected with the mana of over a hundred witches added." Wolfe told her with a wink.
"So that's why you blocked us? I thought something went wrong when I suddenly couldn't feel the source for so long, but the Mana was so dense that none of us could get close to your room to see what was going on." She replied.
"Yeah, it was pretty amazing. But I will turn down the array if you need it. We should check on the weaker witches, like Katerina, and some of the others who are still on the low end of the First Rank. This might have made them pass out."
The young witch in question spoke up when she heard her name. "I'm fine. This Mana is easier to deal with than the raw mana from the array. My aura is growing so fast that I can actually watch it change, and it's amazing. But where is my Faerie? I haven't seen her in like an hour, and she isn't answering the link."
"She's sleeping in my room. She was the one that shaped the spell, and she was exhausted. You can cuddle her if you like. Familiars recover more quickly when they're next to their Witches."
The little witch nodded. "That's not a bad plan, but she gets cranky if you wake her up early, and I don't have the honey that she's been demanding yet, so it's better not to risk it with only cookies to offer."
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