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Chapter 306 Blooming Relations
🕑 Added 2023-01-22 23:07:37 +0000 UTCAuthor's note:
And here is the second one for today!
Enjoy!
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We found Elder Bloom much deeper into the silverwood forest. From up in the air I knew it was a deep stretch of the trees blocking off the taint. What I had not seen were the flowers blooming underneath the blue canopy. Obviously, there was shimmerleaf. The small flowers with quicksilver blossoms help a good bit of praecantatio and ordo. When we got even deeper, there was another new plant I had never seen before. But I had read about it in the Thaumonomicon.
It had a straight stem about one metre tall with large leaves stretching in an orderly pattern from it, four per level offset at exactly forty-five degrees to the next. They got smaller the higher up they were. And on top was a glowing orb of auram and sano exuding vis. It was called ethereal bloom and the only way to cleanse taint other than silverwood trees.
And Elder Bloom stood right next to one, gently checking the leaves for damage or maybe parasites. Now his name made sense. Elder Bloom took care of the ethereal blooms while Elder Leaf managed the silverwood trees with shimmerleaf growing in the shadows. Okay, that second one was a bit of a stretch.
Elder Bloom was a tall and willowy man, literally. His hair was leaves, drooping like the pale green of a weeping willow. His body had a grey-brown bark texture to it. Even his clothes were baggy and wide. He looked a bit like a monk.
“Ah, you are here”, he said with an airy voice as he turned to us, “Welcome, Hero Fio. I hope you are having a wonderful time in our humble home.”
“It’s a nice place”, I said, “And there’s a lot to learn.”
I indicated the ethereal bloom.
“How did you make that? I have heard of it before but…”
“Hmm, yes. You would have. Elder Leaf, will your new saplings be fine?”
“They’ll be just great. But I do have some other business to deal with. I’ll see you later, Hero Fio.”
She gave me a strange hug without touching my body at all before leaving. I looked at Elder Bloom expectantly but the man was back to dealing with his plant, seemingly ignoring me. It took him almost six minutes to finish his work before he stood.
“Please, follow me”, he said and started walking slowly.
I was intrigued so I cautiously followed him. It was two minutes later that he spoke again.
“You see, Fio, I do have to keep up an appearance. At least for the other Elders. So do all of my attendants.”
No ‘Hero’?
“And yes, I am aware of the things the Great Tree has done to them. Because I helped him.”
I froze and spread my wings slightly.
“Oh, you have no need to worry. Us bark-kin are taught from very early on that the Warp is horrible and needs to be avoided at all costs. But when the Great Tree was besieged by taint, he had to defend himself. And so he taught his most trusted. The first five Elders. But only one found a way to protect this land. The First Bloom. Since then, all of my predecessors have been working to protect this land with the aid of our Holy Protector. We are the only ones to ever get in hands reach of taint. And we are the only ones to have seen the Descent.”
“You mean…”
“Yes. The Great Tree has told me why you are our Hero. You are the last hope. We were prepared to commune right before the end and give ourselves up to our Holy Protector. But now? He may protect us, yet. Through you.”
“Then why are you mind-controlling the other Elders?”
“Because there have been… complications. Some of their predecessors discovered what was beyond the silverwood. They tried… How should I put it? They physically showed their displeasure? Yes. Now, they all know. Because there is no more reason for them to be complicated. It is much easier to stay safe this way. If the freedom of my mind was not so important to make the ethereal blooms I would be thrown under the same spell.”
He turned to look at me. There was an intense glow in his eyes. His next words were hard and clear, nothing like his normal airy voice.
“And I wish I could be.”
I tilted my head.
“You want to be mind-controlled?”
Elder Bloom went back to his airy voice.
“Yes. It would make life so much easier. To not have to worry about every little detail. About how long we may yet live. I could be happy, instead of going insane.”
I clicked my tongue.
“Insanity isn’t so bad. Just go far enough and you’ll be normal again.”
“That is not how it works. I would die long before I got there. I can see the Warp in you. I wish you were not our only hope. I want to end you. May the Great Tree bless your soul.”
I hissed and he flinched back.
“Leave me out of this freak show. I just want to figure out how to grow silverwood trees.”
He took a deep breath, his hair twigs whipping in the breeze.
“Apologies, Fio. I will answer your questions.”
I swallowed my annoyance at his behaviour.
“How do I get enough auram to grow a silverwood tree away from others of its kind?”
He nodded.
“A good question. If I was suspecting you were planning something nefarious I would never answer it. It comes from nodes. Break them down carefully and collect the essence. If you then bring it into contact with the ground and air nearby your sapling it will be able to grow. In nature, it may only happen near nodes.”
“Good. I can do that. Anything I should pay attention to?”
“Stay with positive aspects. Aer, terra, herba, and similar ones will be most beneficial. The essence gathered from nodes is impossible to separate from its auram counterpart. That would dissolve both.”
“And how do I gather it?”
“You will have no issue with it. Simply focus on keeping some of the node on this side while you break it.”
“Okay. That’s easy enough. I… may need to make ethereal blooms myself one day. Even if just in preparation for a possible accident. This is the only place where I know to find taint…”
“If you have to push back taint, I will provide a bloom for you. You may also observe our process of gathering it.”
“Does it involve silverwood?”
“Yes. Buckets.”
“Do you know what happens when taint comes in contact with a soul?”
“You are asking dangerous questions.”
“I have a Skill I can use to transport objects. It puts things in a space inside my soul. I think. It’s at least very close to it.”
He scanned me over for a moment.
“I do not recommend it. If it is your soul, it is unlikely to harm one like you. If it is not, you will soon be yourself no more.”
I clicked my tongue. That would have been very helpful.
I inclined my head slightly.
“Thank you for your assistance, Elder Bloom.”
“You are welcome, Hero Fio. The Great Tree blesses your journey.”
‘I hope not’, I thought to myself.
I took off without another word. That had been an… unpleasant conversation. Maybe Catori had a better day. I reached for her in my mind as I slowly glided along the ridge. She seemed busy but sent me a feeling of having some time soon.
Below me, the silverwood forest grew on top of the roots of the Great Tree. Of Hive. Said roots extended over a half-kilometre-wide gap in the world. I could see the hungry node glowing far below and a few lines of sunlight lighting up the other side of the world. Its inside, at least. It was a very strange image.
The roots reached the other side of the gap covered in ethereal blooms. There was a beachhead of sorts maybe fifty metres onto land before they were taken over by taint. For a moment I considered if Hive had been taken over by taint on the inside but that made no sense. From what I knew, he would simply start devouring everything not taint around him. That meant there was a good chance he had some natural defence against the purple corruption. I saw some movements in between porous trees and tentacle-like plants. Something like glowing bugs. It might be worth scouting it with a disposable body.
But that was not something to do without consulting Catori at the very least. Speaking of, she was paying attention to me, now. And she was not reading my memories to catch up.
“Hey, Fio. What’s up?”, she asked.
“It’s a mess here. I learned about silverwood. And ethereal bloom. But the people are a mess.”
“Well… What’s wrong with them?”
“Mind control. And they’re asking for it. Some kind of religious fanaticism. They’re calling me ‘Hero’ because I’m Hive’s last hope of dealing with the hungry node. But the one person that wasn’t mind-controlled was an ass. Okay, the one not mind-controlled person I talked to.”
“Oof. Okay, we were expecting something like that, right? Are you safe?”
“Yes. Annoyingly so.”
“You have no excuse to attack Hive.”
I grumbled.
“Well… we have what we want, right? You can just leave.”
“Not exactly. I’ll have to see if the silverwood can survive inside [Owl’s Stomach]. If not, I need to bring one to Serrington within a week.”
“That… seems like a close cut.”
“We’d probably have to run our body in shifts. Fly non-stop.”
“Your body. Fio, that’s you. I’m glad you’re willing to share it but…”
“So the starling is properly yours, then?”
“Yes! I… Um… I had a very nice day. Nymph took me out into the city. We’re trying to give the system enough information to evolve it. So just doing stuff… I’m sorry you’re having such a hard time and I’m just playing around.”
I laughed.
“It’s fine. You live your own life. We’re always together but we should enjoy ourselves wherever possible.”
“Thank you, Fio.”
“Well… there’s the matter of the taint. I was thinking of taking an expendable body and exploring it directly. But it might do something to our soul. What do you think?”
“I think it’s a good idea. Give yourself something to kill the body and see if it does have an effect on our soul. Even if you have to stay close to people you dislike, the information could help a lot.”
“Alternatively… Stormbringer should pass by soon.”
Catori laughed.
“That’s another month at the very least. Probably closer to two. I say you find out what you can about taint and silverwood and when he comes by, you go for it. Alex should be back in Serrington soon and we’ll have that meeting. I’d be happy to have your input for that.”
“Right”, I mused, “You can easily take part, now. I’d like to find a place where it’s safer, though… I’ll scout through the Deep Green a little as well.”
“Okay. It’s nice just talking like this.”
“Yes”, I agreed, “It is.”
