Becoming a Monster N Chapter 229: Terms and Promises

Chapter 229: Chapter 229: Terms and Promises

Noah’s lack of excitent when announcing the tree’s introduction created an awkward atmosphere. No one knew how they should respond, but all eyes were quickly directed to the supposed new mber. The tree didn’t understand embarrassnt, however it felt at a loss as it perceived their stares and yet it was unable to communicate with them, not everyone could feel its intentions like Noah has.

Even the natives of the forest were unable to communicate with it even on the most basic level. The only reason its past host, the spider, was able to communicate with it was because it had already consud the fruit, allowing the two’s consciousness to link. Without such a bond, the tree found itself isolated from the group.

A faint stirring from Fenrir broke the tree’s concentration. The wolf was still sniffing around its base, pawing at its roots in an almost playful manner.

"You’re weird," Fenrir declared, his head tilting to one side. "Why don’t you talk? Everything that joins the pack talks."

"Dummy..." Arachne hissed behind him, the mont she spoke, Fenrir’s ears instantly perked up, and his head snapping in her direction with such an intensity, one would believe that he was about to attack.

"You can’t call

that, ’He’s’ Dummy now!" Fenrir directed its snout towards his follower, who had finally crawled its way to Fenrir’s leftovers. Its strength had yet to co back as it struggled to nudge its body on its side so it could eat.

’What should I do?’ The tree thought to itself. Having always been an observer, it had never had to interact with anyone before. The relationship it had with the spider was just as strained, distant at best. The two had set their terms where they respected each other’s existence and stayed out of each other’s way.

As far as the tree could recall, it has never grown lonely, nor had the desire to socialize despite its curiosity to the life it constantly observed. But now, there was a greater sense of purpose besides just growing. The tree was unsure what that purpose was, but it felt a connection to not only Noah, but also the other creatures that held a special bond to him.

It attempted to extend its consciousness, hoping to convey its thoughts in the sa way it had once done with the spider. But to its frustration, there was no response.

However, there was still one person who was now able to understand it completely. Yet even with Noah, the tree felt a sense of imbalance; he gave it purpose but no clarity. What they had was a bond without structure. To the tree, this was unnatural. It needed terms to go by, rules to establish the boundaries of their relationship and the tradeoff that would be established for their bond.

The tree hesitated before reaching out to him, not physically, but with its consciousness, a tentative brush of thought against Noah’s mind to understand its role.

Noah, who had been focused on the others, suddenly paused. His head tilted slightly, he then redirected his attention for the confused faces and looked towards the tree.

’What do I want from you?’ For a brief mont, Noah said nothing, his thoughts churning as he considered the tree’s question.

For a mont, Noah was unsure how to answer. The tree was undeniably a valuable asset, but was that all it was? A tool? A ans to an end? That thought didn’t sit well with him, but he couldn’t ignore the practical truth either.

He crossed his arms, his gaze narrowing slightly. "What do I want from you?" he repeated aloud, his voice was soft as he mused to himself in deep contemplation.

The others fell silent, their attention drawn to Noah. They didn’t fully understand what was happening, but the intensity in his deanor made them hesitate to interrupt.

"I want you to help

reach my goal, my goal is simple, to grow stronger to keep what’s mine." His eyes softened as he continued. "But this bond we now share isn’t one sided...now that you are with us, it’s not just about what I want. Our bond is different from the one you had, you’re not a tool to be used and discarded." He stepped closer, his voice was firm but the tree could sense his kindness layered in it. "So tell , what do you want?"

The tree faltered at the unexpected question. It had never truly thought about such a thing until now. Its every decision, every action, every thought seed to be ingrained into it that now that it thought about it, its goal didn’t feel like its own. For a mont, it didn’t know how to respond, the harder it tried to ponder about its actions up until now, its goal for bonding with the spider, its goal for creating another fruit in the attempt to gain another "host