Tree of Aeons

A New Order

Year 77 Month 10

Laufen, Jura, Belle, Emile, Lausanne, even Wahlen, Brislach came back. They meet in the main room in the secret hideout, seated in a circle.

I called everyone here to discuss the announcement from the High Council. Jura starts their meeting, the high council announced the arrangement a day ago, after formalising the necessary amendments to their rules and laws, to incorporate the existence of the new positions and institutions.

How could we not? Wahlen shrugs. Everyone in my workplace is talking about it, and asking me whether I get anything"

Jura sighs, "First of all, you might have heard the story, but let's just go through why this is happening. TreeTree, has decided that he wants a larger role in the affairs of New Freeka, since TreeTree has been tangled in multiple battles due to New Freekas hostile relationship with Salah, and providing free protection without compensation or representation isnt what TreeTree considers to be an ideal arrangement. This will give TreeTree the greater ability to choose the battles it fights, and avoids those it doesn't want to participate in."

"But isn't that what tree spirits do?" Brislach asks. "Tree spirits raised by elves protect their cities and capitals? Are they not benevolent spirits of the earth that protects the inhabitants and their surroundings?"

"Thats a story often passed down, but the truth is not so simple. We do not know what price does the elven nations pay to their tree spirits, in order to obtain their assistance. If there are, I would think they are secrets of the kings and the royal court. Perhaps the Tree spirits of those nations owe the elves some kind of favor too. We cannot use the charity of other tree spirits as an expectation of TreeTrees demands and conduct."

The other elves nod, prompting Jura to continue.

"A healthy ecosystem must have everyone playing their part. A New Freeka that does not contribute back to the system is not productive to the entire valley."

"Ecosystem?"

"Yeah, a word from TreeTree. It means the system of how each individual and creature in the valley interacts with each other."

An awkward pause.

"Ah. Back to the announcement. TreeTree decided to appoint me Supreme Counsel, and Laufen as Vice Counsel, of the newly set up Valtrian order. Now, what this means is that, both of us are now part of the high council of New Freeka."

"Some of them say its a power grab." Wahlen voices out the rumors from the ground. Theres plenty other such thoughts and rumors passing around...

"In some ways, it is." Jura nods. "Fact is, a third of all tax collected are now under our control, and so is a third of the militia. A skeleton group of administrative staff and treasury has been assigned to assist the Valtrian order as well. And that is a heavy burden we now have to bear, to fulfill TreeTree's will"

Another moment of silence, as everyone digests the meaning of this change. Its big, since the 7 of them are named as the 'Selected', special individuals that TreeTree has commanded to be specially protected. In time, this may mean having guards assigned to each of them.

"Any thoughts?"

Wahlen grumbles, "Uncle Jura, to be honest, I I dont really care what TreeTree wants to do. I am trying to move on, actually. We lived years under the TreeTree's care and protection, like refugees, like war victims, and now, there is a town that springs up next to Freeka, one of nonhumans like us, that we can return and now live a life as regular people again. A life, similar to the past, before all this destruction. I even have a job now and friends!"

Jura pauses, and he looks at Wahlen. "TreeTree"

But before Jura could continue his response, Wahlen already continued. " I understand that all this is actually possible because TreeTrees presence and protection of New Freeka. But this pronouncement does make our life a little bit more complicated.

"I understand. After living so long in the shadows of war, all of us would really cherish these moments of normalcy and calm"

"I would like to continue having anormal, like everyone else. Live a life in a town, work Being a part of the ruling elite is something that never crossed my mind." Wahlen and Brislach moved to New Freeka to work and live some time ago, and frankly, I can see why.

Its disruptive for the life youve tried to rebuild in New Freeka, but please, bear with us. Theres bigger things at play here. Jura nods. Ill try not to disrupt your life as much as we can., so you can still live some of that normal life. But things will change, and not everything will remain normal.

Wahlen sighs. I suppose that will be all I can ask.

Its Brislach's turn to speak. "Were going to be special, isnt it.

Laufen nods. "Yes. A strange twist of fate, but we are now a special group in this valley..."

Well, with some reluctance, the 7 elves accepted their fate.

The announcement was rather confusing to the populace of New Freeka, but to most of them, its something they soon forgot, since, reorganisations at the top happen frequently, and for refugees who lived through changes of power, such things are common. Every time a King changes, theres bound to be some restructuring.

So, the new organisation of the season, is the Valtrian Order.

That's the name I came up with, just a combination of the words 'Valley' and 'Tree'.

A few days later,

"Greetings." The exiled wizard of Baroosh visits the inner courtyard of my main tree, surprising Jura whos taking a rest, a little overwhelmed from the sudden influx of matters requiring his attention.

"Ah, wizard Madeus."

"I hear that you are hiring, Supreme Counsel." The wizard smiles, and bows.

Jura coughs at the title and the bow, perhaps the wizard is mocking him. "Ah yes."

"Well, good. Allow me to get to the point. I would like to offer my services to the Tree Spirit."

Jura coughs quite hard, and I think he's choking. After a few coughs he recovers, and looks into the wizard's eyes. "Surely, you jest."

"No. I mean it. I would like to offer my services to the Tree Spirit and the Valtrian order, and its something Ive been thinking for days since I found about the whole Valtrian orders setup."

Jura could not answer, so he just pauses.

"Accepted." I didnt let Jura say more.

I do have need for a mage's services, so the fact that he comes and offers it, is very much welcome. Whether he has the right motives, that can be sorted out later. As it is, I needed someone as a counterpoint to Alexis, to share knowledge of the magicks from a different source, and Alexis, as a foreign hero, lacks the nuts and bolts of magick, since her power over magic is likely to be innate, something of a gift arising from her cheat power. A regular mage like Madeus, would likely have a more robust understanding of basic magic, as he has to explore it in bits and pieces since young.

The wizard staggers back, not spoken to me telepathically before. "Ah Apologies. It is just a surprise to hear the voice in my head so this is what Yvon and the councillors hear when they speak of the Tree Spirit."

"Welcome wizard. We have much to speak about. Jura, can you please summon the captains of the existing Valtrian order. I wish to speak to them later."

Jura nods, and leaves, his cape fluttering as he walks. He has a special uniform made for him, one that identify him as Supreme Counsel, and everywhere he goes, a few of the Valtrian guards would accompany him. There would be plans for a new set of uniforms for the Valtrian guards, but that is a lesser priority, so for now, their uniform remain as it was.

"So, wizard. I believe your name is Madeus?"

He nods.

"Alright. Madeus, welcome to the team, and first of all, as a tree who doesnt get to go out much, my knowledge about the wider world is really limited. So tell me, what do you know about the wider world? And heroes. And of that void magic the Princess encountered."

He pauses, and stops. "Thats a lot to go through, but are you referring to my research back in Baroosh?"

"That, would be a good place to start." I lead him, using the vines, to one of the subsidiary trees' external rooms. Since some of the elves moved out, it has been repurposed into more of a study for Lausanne. Shes out now, so we can use it. Im hoping to make a library here someday.

"Back then, I am researching on the magics of the heroes so I collected various books and writings left by the heroes of the past. One of such items is the Mad-Hero, Arsene Emir, which obsessed on summoning more of his friends."

"May I ask why?"

"The Kings curious about the origins of their power. By discovering how they are summoned, perhaps we could gleam a hint."

"Oh?"

"Kings, in the case of the High King of Baroosh, is a very old man, he is close to a 100 this year. So, he has met many generations of heroes, who went on to slay the demon kings. When he was only a teenager, he met a hero who appeared in the Baroosh, freshly summoned by the gods. Our king offered him shelter, and spoke to him at length, and came to understand that the heroes all come from another world way unlike our own. But, at the back of his mind, he really wanted to know where the heroes power comes from, and whether, just whether, theres a way to gain that power for himself."

Well, okay. The High King of Baroosh just kind of went up in the list of threats, but somehow the wizard still talks of him rather reverentially.

"Well, the hero didn't know much, only knew that each of the gods give a few heroes their blessing, and as such, that generation, there were ten of them, scattered throughout the world. Anyway, the point is, the King seen the heroes when they are freshly summoned. The hero he met then, his name is Andrei, had the power of bending earth, such that everything was drawn to him, or away from him. He could make things heavy, or light."

Uh Madeus, are you going off tangent?

"When the King met the last generation of heroes, he was rather disappointed. Their powers are still amazing by most measure, but yet, compared to Andrei the Earthbreaker, there was just too large a gap. So, the King wondered whether theres a mistake in the summoning of heroes."

"Well, the heroes still beat the demon king, did they not?" I think heroes should be judged on whether they beat the demon king. Thats their purpose, right?

"The point I tried to make to my King, is theres just too many different types of heroes. Consider the story from 220 years ago, there was only a single hero summoned. And a single hero, became Emperor Taksa Moor Nungsari. That hero later is the founder of the Darmoon dynasty, which later splintered into the Takde, Nung, Salah, the now destroyed Moras and Fikris kingdoms."

I think you didnt answer the question isnt it? Sounds like theres nothing much, other than history. I mean, so what if? If my own experience serves as a guide, it could be their attempted extraction of souls didnt work that well, maybe the truck that supposed to hit the bus missed and the rest of the passengers survived.

"Well, yes. Madeus slouches, his head downcast. My research got nowhere. It seems a lot of it is on the individuals, and some strange stroke of luck. And its not as if the lesser number of heroes is always stronger than when more heroes are summoned. For every theory I came up with, theres always some other incident that proves otherwise.

Okay. So heroes are random. Actually, does he know about star mana?

"Yes. If theres anything that I actually did find, is that heroes are getting younger. And I have no idea why.

"Huh?"

Okay thats absolutely a letdown. I was hoping to gain some insights into heroes and the demon king, but looks like Ill have to try elsewhere. Never mind, since he seems rather knowledgeable of history, lets try a different question. "Anyway, since we are also talking a bit about history. is there a time before heroes?"

The wizard sips his tea and thinks. "Uh there is supposed to be a time before heroes and demon king but it is millenniums ago and we dont have any records."

"When is the first documented demon king?"

"We also don't know. There was a demon king, Demon King Amadeus, that destroyed close to 80% of the world, and with it most of the world's written records. So the information predating Demon King Amadeus is scarce and the word of mouth stories are not reliable."

"Fine, tell me about Demon King Amadeus, how did the world defeat it from such a horrible state?"

"Uh the legends of that era is not very consistent, it did happen about many thousands of years ago There are a few theories the most believed one is that a group of heroes were summoned in the scattered islands, and they later defeated the Demon King."

"Has any other demon king come close to that level of destruction?"

"Not many, but a few notable demon kings did destroy at least a few continents each. That we know of, Amadeus is successful enough to destroy all the continents"

Hmmm "Why didn't the heroes stop them?"

"Again, we have very little knowledge. My own understanding is, its a case of the heroes being summoned too late, and needed time to get stronger. In quite a few cases with other demon kings, overconfident heroes tried when they are not ready and got killed."

Howd the world recover from something like Demon King Amadeus?

Uh Id think theres survivors, just a lot of them in hiding. And the heroes that defeated Amadeus went out to defeat two more demon kings, so the legend goes, so that gave the world some time to recover from the extensive damage But all this is really word of mouth, since written records during the era is really really rare. We don't really even know whether the destruction is really that extensive, since the records from that time of reconstruction is very rare.

"Has there ever been instances where heroes were summoned twice?"

"...not that I know of, but possible?" Madeus seems totally clueless on this. Fine.

"Fine. Tell me about this 10 year demon king cycle." I mean, thats something that I wonder about. Why 10 years?

"Oh. We have no idea why. Perhaps its some quirk in the stars. Its not a rule though, theres been exceptions a lot of times, and we have no idea why either."

Okay, not helping. Lets try other kinds of questions. "Why did the world leave all the fighting to heroes? Why not the locals? Are there nobody at the level of the heroes?"

"Uh its its just the way it always has been"

"Really?"

"But I would think it's really really hard. Even slaying a demon champion needs very high level fighters and mages."

Once again, not helping. Is there some level wall or ceiling that exists for the locals, that the world must rely on external powers? "Hmmm. never mind then. Thank you for sharing your knowledge, I will borrow your knowledge of history more."

"You are welcome, consider it a proof of my sincerity." Madeus nods and takes a sip from the wooden cup.

"Anyway, why do you want to serve me?"

"When you managed to undo the damage suffered by the princess, I realised that you must be a great and powerful being. To serve a great being is a privilege, an honor, and I hope to be part of that greatness. Maybe, the greatness would rub off a bit on me." Ah, a glory chaser. Hmmm.. Ill need to watch him a bit more carefully.

"Hmmm, greatness may not be something I can offer. I can offer you fruits."

Madeus laughs, as a bowl of fruits appeared before him. He smiles, grabs one, and bites.

Year 77 Month 11

An envoy from Salah came, bearing strange news. One of unconditional ceasefire. A truce. Surely, such an offer soon riled up the entire high council, who are outraged, happy, greedy. Pretty much everything.

It is the first time Jura seats on the high council, with his 33% voting rights on such matters, and a right to veto certain decisions.

"We have the advantage, we should demand reparations from Salah!" One of the councillors said. They are afraid, now they want a truce!

I grow tired of war. Another councillor asks, Perhaps we should just take it.

No! Salah has caused us a great deal of harm, we should not take it without compensation!

As they argue, they eventually settled into two camps, a group demanding extra compensation, another saying to accept.

So, Yvon, as the chair of the high council, turns to Jura. Supreme Counsel, as representative of the Tree Spirit, would you have any words to add?

"Tree Spirit is of the view we should accept it. Ongoing combat is not productive for the valley, there are bigger concerns

My first concern, is the demonic rifts. Those should start appearing very soon, as those happen well in advance of the demon kings arrival.

But Salahs not exactly a trustworthy country to deal with? We could accept the truce and theyll break it!

So? We do not have any offensive capability at the moment. A truce is good for us, since it allows to trade with Salah.

With that, the truce is accepted, since Juras voting rights meant almost all of the councillors have to oppose Jura to get anything through. Of course, this is rather shocking to Salahs envoy as well, who expected a rejection, and was rather prepared to die.

Year 77 Month 12

Heres the man you asked me to find, tree spirit. Ill leave the room now. Jura bows, and leaves the old man standing alone in the small room, right next to the [Tree of Prayers]. Its a special room, as its more of a courtyard, with one tree in the middle, with sunlight coming in from above. Its winter, so theres some snow coming in.

The old man, a half elf, looks around and shrugs. Whats this

And I speak into his head. Hello, Wesley.

He pauses, and tries to see whether theres anyone else in the room. Is this some trick? Or magic?

I give him some time, and after a while he stops.

Fine. Whore you?

Im TreeTree, the Tree Spirit of the valley.

He rubs his chin. Huh, so there really is a tree spirit. So, what can I do for you?

Id like you to help conduct some ceremonies for me. Something a person like yourself, a former priest, can do.

What kind of ceremonies?

Simple ones. I have a few in mind, for the dying, for death, and for births. Laufen will assist you, but she is not fit for the role of a master of ceremonies. Are you keen?

The man pauses, Whatd I get?

A fair pay, accommodation. And some tea to help with the aches you have. Additional things can be discussed.

The man paces, and walks around the courtyard a few times, clearly this is something hes thinking much about, until he pauses and asks. Which god am I praying to?

None.

His face is that of shock So what rituals are we actually doing?

Ill let you know, but first, are you keen?

-

The first of the ceremonies happened a few days later, one of the older folk in New Freeka passed away. In New Freeka, the population comprises a mix of elves, dwarves, centaurs, treefolk, half-elfs, some lizardmen and quite a few more others, though elves form the bulk of them.

So, theres many ways of going about the corpse, such as cremation, burial, magical deconstruction, petrification or transformation into a statue. The presence of magic adds a large variety of possible ways a corpse can be sent off.

Anyway, thats just how things are elsewhere.

Whats this? An elderly woman, the deceaseds wife asks, as the corpse of the old man is brought in by some of the guards on stretchers.

Wesley smiles, a calm, reassuring smile from years of training as a priest, and he warmly greets the elderly woman, New Freekas welcomed the Tree Spirit into its fold, and, this, is one of the many ways the great tree has given us his gifts.

Its a large open space, and theres a curved, bent tree, as if the tree grew up, then sideways. Along its trunk, there is a large opening in it, filled with greenish liquid. Multiple flowers dot the side of that trunk.

Wesley nods to the guards, and a few of the men assist to place the corpse of the old man slowly into the opening.

With this, the dead will be one with the Tree Spirit, his soul on their journey to the world beyond.

The corpse slowly sinks into the thick greenish liquid, and for effect, the flowers around the trunk start to bloom a bit bigger, and a pleasant, calming, soothing scent is released into the room. Theres even some wind and rustling sounds, to add to the moment. And when the corpse fully sinks and disappears into the green liquid, the flowers glow slightly.

The family cries for a good hour, as Wesley speaks to each of the family, giving them a blessing. He then picks the flowers from the side of the trunk, and passes one to each of the family members.

What happens to the body?

It is now with the Tree Spirit, and has found peace, at last. Wesley says, and somehow, its probably due to his past [priest] levels, its really convincing. These flowers contain the essences of your deceased father, and they will last longer than normal flowers, but they will too fade after a year. Think it as a reminder, of he who has now left us.

The elderly woman nods, Is there something more permanent, perhaps a marker that we can get? To remind us of our beloved?

Wesley smiles, and he touches the trunk. And from the greenish liquid, a small bone floats up. He carefully picks it up with a special spoon, and places it in a ceremonial wooden bowl.

Ah yes. This, is the condensed bones of your father. Keep it as you wish, or make it into something. The elderly woman accepts with tears in her eyes, and after a bit more small talk, the entire family leaves.

Wesley breathes a huge sigh of relief.

Its the first time this ceremony is shown to the citizens of New Freeka, and even the guards themselves have not seen it.

Howd it go? Wesley asks, and only Laufen remains inside the courtyard of death. Theres some proposed names on the courtyard, perhaps to call it the Garden of Return, to signify ones return to the Tree Spirit. I quite like it, but Im still pondering for other names before finalising it with Wesley and Laufen, since Laufens going to play a larger role in the rituals and religious aspects of the Valtrian order.

Good.

Is that really the bone of the deceased?

Yes.

Ah, good. Ive not lied then.

Whatd both of you think of the ceremony?

Wesley sits and smokes some kind of rolled leaves, and he nods. Its easy. I believe the tale will spread soon, and more families will ask for this ceremony.

Any views on how to improve it?

Laufen shakes her head. I like it, but let me sleep on it a little. Maybe Ill get some ideas later.

Me too. Im so nervous doing it for the first time, all I want to do is just get a hang of it first.

Very well, its a good first time. Go get some rest. The both nod and leave the courtyard, and I return into my soul realm to have a look at the results of the ceremony.

The deads soul is in good condition and a state of calm. Reincarnation to the next world is going to be quite a breeze. Its actually an interesting modification of the elven tradition of burying the dead next to the soul trees, and instead go for the route of direct absorption.

Well, thats fine, but my focus is on collection, so I check my log.

Ah man, no seeds. Well, at least theres some essences

This ceremony, is actually derived from that little experience I had with both Alexis and later Falklay, and that exposed tree trunk, is really a modified biolab pod. The idea I had, is really rather simple. I want more of the seeds that came with Falklays death, and Im really keen to try and get more of such seeds by way of absorbing the corpses of the dead, and the dying.

By giving the citizens, the families a pleasant experience, Im hoping to get fresher dead, and with that, a higher chance of harvesting whatever I can get. A part of me feels a little tiny bit bad for desecrating the dead, but the bulk of me feels its totally fine, since, Im playing the religious role here! And besides, theyll just end up burning the body, so thats not exactly any better than what Im doing.

Well, the next ceremony is something where Laufen plays a bigger role. A birth, and babies. In some worlds, there are rituals like baptisms, or flower baths, or special chants, to bless a newborn.

Children is our future. And my future.

"Congratulations on the baby." Laufen bows and shakes the hand of the young mother, the father next to her watches. The little infant cradled in the mother's arms cry a little, and the mother quickly shakes and tries to soothe the baby.

"Ah what can we do for you?"

"As the Vice Counsel of the Valtrian Order, I'd like to present a small present for the family, for the newborn."

Laufen hands over a basket, containing a few bottles.

"That bottle contains a special liquid made from the sap of the Tree Spirit, it will boost the infants strength and vitality. Itll also help with the cold weather." Made using the [Childcare corner]'s special syrup, mixed with some essences, some minerals, it should give a good boost to any weak baby, and gives a shot of warmth to help the baby tide through winter.

"That other bottle is something for the sick babies, if they have a fever or a cold, or just don't look too well." Well, I had something given to Roma back when he was a tiny baby, so this is the same thing, bottled up. Made from [healing juice] condensed into a thick gooey sweet syrup.

"That last one, is if the baby's hungry but the mommy's out of milk." It's a thick preserved juice containing a mix of nutrients, meant to temporarily tide over the child's hunger. Again, made from the [childcare corner].

"Ah" The father and mother seem rather surprised, but the father seems afraid to receive, as is normal for gifts. Perhaps theres some expectation of payment, or some kind of subtle extortion, as refugees often encounter in their journeys.

"It's free, a gift with no strings, its something the Valtrian order wants to do for the children born of the valley." Laufen bows, and then she starts to walk out, she flashes a warm, motherly smile before she walks out. "Please let me know if you have any challenges with the child."

Well, although Laufen's official title is now Vice Counsel, she's not exactly keen to participate in the political kind of activities, so, as with all quasi-religious, militant organisations, there should be someone to spearhead the public service, charitable, social elements of the organisation.

Laufen's duties are to organise the gifts for the newly born, set up a creche for young children and babies within the Valtrian Orders space, an orphanage for the orphans, and a kindergarten and combat oriented school for the older kids. Charity and such social services "soften" the image of the Valtrian order, and cultivate have a generation with favorable views of the Order.

Theres a lot of births, on average, about 5 to 7 per day, so Laufens got many homes to visit. In time, Emile, Belle and the workers will also play the role of delivering these gifts, but for now, the 2 younger ladies are helping out as her assistants.

Some of the parents would outright refuse the gifts, and thats fine. Its given at no compulsion, and Laufen herself would not push, after all, parents have the right to choose what they give to their infants. Gradually, though, this is helping to build a positive reputation for the Valtrian order, and build public support for this new entity that suddenly emerged.

-

As part of the transition to the newly setup Valtrian order, a large patch of land around the Tree of Prayer has been transferred over, so a bit of construction work is going on to build all the facilities required, though we had to prioritise of the burial services first, which is fairly easy since its mostly just setting up the space for the tree.

Also, Id also like to have the Valtrian order earn some income independent of the tax collections, in order to fund all the other ideas I have in my head for my gradual takeover of New Freeka.

One of these ideas is to set up a clinic, or a healing chamber of some kind, using the biolab, and the medical juices. With this, I could charge adventurers, soldiers and whatnot a fee for using my healing services, similar to how it is for other healers all around the world. This wont be much, but itll help subsidise the cost of staff.

Next, would be to sell some special products. Ive got some in mind, perhaps the ginseng, if I could make them of an acceptable quality, they would probably sell for a good price. And higher quality crops, directly to the market. But that would involve dedicating some of the [subsidiary trees] for that purposes. Or a special series of olive oils for ceremonial use and sale. I think that could sell, since people love enchanted stuff.

The processed, preserved healing fruits is also a potential product, but whether its a worthwhile venture may depend on the price.

I also have my ability to make wood products using my wood-shaping magic, but I think thats probably not a good use of my time unless I can make them automatically.

Additionally, the beetles could go and kill monsters and bring back some loot for sale.

Oh wait. My large beetle-pods are ready too.

• • Large beetle pods - completed
  • Enhanced interior structures - completed

• Fruit bombs - increased range and power - completed

• Eye-Tree Stage I research option unlocked - 15 months remaining
• Beetle - anti-magma armors stage 2 - 6 months remaining
• Tree - volcanic adaptation stage 3 - 15 months remaining
• Roots - Volcanic mineral harvesting - stage 1 - 5 months remaining

I had an epiphany one day, which is, theres sulfur in the volcano, shouldnt that allow me to make sulfuric acid? Would I be able to have fruits with highly corrosive acid in it? Or beetles that spit acid? A ranged unit?

As a result, I just had to conduct research on the ability of my volcano-adapted subsidiary trees roots to safely absorb sulfur through their roots. I think that would be the first step in acquiring any sort of ranged unit. So, Im going to have larger beetles, hopefully ranged beetles, and also flying beetles, acidic corrosive beetles.

Plenty of variation in the beetle family. Of course, this makes Horns rather happy. I still havent figured out how to get that step from Sulfur to acid, but Ill figure it out once we get there. Perhaps itll be some kind of large segregated tank where the sulfur is processed.

Oh well.

I think Im starting to have a bit more things going on than I can handle.

Ah.

I think I need help.

Time to create another artificial soul.

THIS CHAPTER UPLOAD FIRST AT NOVELBIN.COM