Disregard

In that instant, I understood just how helpless I was before the sheer power of a greater being. With something as simple and as harmless as a leaf, it would be able to end all of our lives. We likely looked no different than ants in that cold, indifferent gaze of this timeless being, and died as easily. The admiration I had felt for its wisdom turned into hatred as I prepared for death.

Yet the leaf arced over my head, missing me by no more than an inch. I was stunned as the trailing wind blew into my face, causing me to scrunch up my eyes against their force. 

Once the wind stopped a moment later, I forced my eyes open to see where the leaf had gone. It was impossible for the attack to have accidentally missed me - the wind could not have deflected it, not with the kind of force behind that simple-looking leaf, nor could the aim have been off considering what kind of opponent we were up against.

Which meant that the leaf had been intended as a warning… or perhaps it had never been meant for me in the first place.

I turned to find an undead creature flickering into existence, dropping to the ground as it was bisected into two neat portions. It was a gruesome sight, but not one nearly as worrying as the fact that it had gotten so close, while we remained none the wiser about its approach.

After a moment of stunned silence, the other two students immediately bowed deeply to the Greater Life Herald, thanking it profusely for its aid. I followed a moment later, still struggling to process the sudden turn of events. The Greater Life Herald had… helped us? Was it truly a compassionate being after all? 

Yet as I lifted my eyes from the verdant ground, I found the Greater Life Herald's gaze lying on me. It held the same wisdom and compassion I had seen initially… but also a coldness lurking behind the warmth in its eyes. A disregard colder than the dark side of the moon and twice as hard to see if one did not know what to look for.

In an instant, it tore its gaze away from me, looking closely at my fellow students. I didn't even need to look at their expressions to know that they were absolutely overwhelmed by its sheer existence, to say nothing of the kindly facade they were deluded by. 

With a gentle wave of a branch, a warm wave of brilliant green leaves were sent flying to us. They flew towards us, sticking onto our bodies for a few moments before falling off to the ground. As more and more of the leaves were attached then detached, I felt the raw exhaustion and aching of my body disappearing and even my mental fatigue subsided, while the damages accumulated from overstraining my body had been entirely cured. 

I bowed once more to the tree to express my gratitude, then silently left with my compatriots once they finished paying their respects.