~Alex.
Unlike last time, the birds here don’t ignore us. At least not all of them. After slashing a gouge in the latest of the hostile {Hearthwood} spawners the surviving {Puking Puffbirds} fly back to nest in its branches.
This initial area has been a huge challenge for Ruby, as we quickly recognized that indiscriminate area effects drew aggro like a bitch in heat. Took another couple of swarms to start spotting the spawners and, that the first solid hit on them turned them passive. Though additional deliberate attacks would reactivate the whole flock and summon another wave of whichever rodent swarm was nesting in the area.
Some of the rodents and birds would taunt out attacks close to inactive spawners, and despite our otherwise solid coordination, there’s been quite a few glancing blows that start the cycle over again.
After we’ve dealt with the last of the {Pustule Rats} we regroup and while being careful of the surroundings Ruby splashes us with a controlled burn before I release a Flash Cleanse and start treating the wounds and worse we collected from this round. While my group cures are less Mana intensive than casting them all individually, Sid spotted something stirring in the forest the last time I did a large area heal.
I’m just going through the checkups with everyone, making especially sure after that set of mobs that we’re not harboring anything nasty waiting to flare up in the middle of the next encounter. Ruby accidentally igniting her own stream of vomit on fire in the middle of a fight was another good reason to avoid relying on the basic mass cure spellform. Though if I get more practice at it, I might be able to avoid interfering with our Blessing.
“Hey guys?” Bond interrupts my train of thought, when I glance over at him, he’s staring at one of the spawner trees. He waves for us to come over, “You’ve got to take a look at this.”
I pat Garn’s shoulder, “You should be all patched up. Let’s see what our Mana specialist has found.”
Ruby walks over, still brushing out her hair, “If it’s not another hot spring, I don’t care. How rude is it to have the rest area before both of the vilest encounters. If I hadn’t gotten clean, I wouldn’t have minded fighting them as much, but now I just feel nasty.”
Having gathered around, Bond finally glances back at us with incredulity and wonder on his face he makes a sweeping gesture at the tree, “Well guys, isn’t this awesome?”
Sid speaks up, “It’s a spawner, same species as Life. What of it, Bond?”
Confusion and then frustration settle on his features, “Really? That’s all you have to say. What about the patterns in the bark, the leaves?”
Garn sighs out his exasperation, “Bond… stop playing games. If it were dangerous, you’d explain. What’s so fascinating about the tree. It’s a spawner, so it has some monster characteristics, but it’s basically just an oak tree,” he plucks a leaf and starts outlining its shape, “See same oak pattern...”
Bond gets a smirk on his face, raises an eyebrow, “Oh yeah? Just wait until you realize the obvious thing.”
I touch Garn’s shoulder, he turns back to me, shock clear on his visage, “This is a maple leaf. A pink maple leaf. Neither oak nor ordinary maple leaves turn this color.”
Garn passes it to Ruby absentmindedly as he looks around at the foliage, while she spins it by the stem, “It’s really pretty.”
Bond speaks up again, “It’s not just the trees either. Once I noticed the colors, the noise and melodies stood out to me as well. I imagine you and Sid would likely pick up scents that I just wouldn’t know.”
As Garn takes a deep whiff of the air, Sid closes his eyes to do the same. After a moment his eyes flash open in surprise and I’ve had enough of being out of the loop, “Well, Bond. What is it that’s caught all of your attention so deeply?”
He sends out streamers of intricately woven Mana, as he bolsters us with one of his enhancements, “We’re all under a pretty powerful Charm effect. I’d guess we have been since before we even passed through the barrier. It’s dominantly visual, but I’d wager it was why the ambush managed to slip past Sid’s scouting. There’s a riot of chaos and life all around us that we’ve all basically been told to ignore.”
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As the magic works to amplify my mental resistance and a subtle barrier settles over my senses, the world seems to explode with noise and scent and sharp contrasts. It is with no little wonder echoing within me that Ruby sums up quite nicely, “How didn’t we notice all this before?”
“Well-“ Bond is cutoff as all the chirping, tweeting, singing, calling, and far-off scrambling and growls suddenly goes absolutely silent. Even the wind through the trees grows still.
As the anticipation builds in each of us, a new voice finally speaks up, seemingly from everywhere, “’Welcome to my parlor’ said the spider to the fly. Usually, your destination would be Life in the center of Dreams, but considering the nature of the quest one of your number has acquired… You are being led towards me, just a bit off the typical paths, though not without their own Challenges.”
Slamming a gauntlet on his shoulder, I snarl out, “Enough with your damn secrets Bond. What have you gotten us into?”
He gulps and looks away from my anger, “One of DNA’s scions tasked me to deliver an Artifact back to his Domain.”
Knowing that’s not the whole story I squeeze him enough to make it hurt, “And?”
“Now, now, now. Don’t ruin the surprise! All will be revealed soon enough. Father has approved an offer for a pair of {Boons} to be distributed amongst your party at your discretion. Not some generic boons either, but something personally crafted and close to his own Heart.”
Bond blanches as the voice finishes their speech. Finding some sort of reserve of courage or fatalism, both he and Sid deny my inquiries. Sid citing that they’ve been told by a Scion to wait for the reveal. The same Scion that both initially infected Bond and was able to perfectly observe their prior delve completely unnoticed.
My rage festers within me without an outlet until Garn pulls me into a crushing hug. Matching his efforts as the metal of my armor both digs into his flesh and groans against our collective strength, I calm down quickly.
When I glance back, I see Ruby lifting Bond’s gaze to her own, a peaceful, accepting smile on her face, “I know you still love me. That’s enough. That will always be enough,” her whispered words rise to normal volume as she turns to the rest of us, “Shall we get going then?”
---
As Thing said, there are additional Challenges as we continue, though, now that we’re more aware of the Charm, we can better avoid the various traps and make substantially smoother progress through the next encounters. When we come across another hot spring, I want to push forward and get this over and done with before a familiar voice calls out on approach, “[This is the last stop before the quest completes.]”
Aurora Hephaestus landed behind some of the trees ahead and walks towards us, “[No need to be impatient, all will be resolved soon.]”
I flare out a breath from my nose, “I thought you were just here to observe? Or is that more of your ‘advice’?”
The smile and scrape of blades as he turns his head to me make me take a step back. Garn’s steadying hand on my shoulder and gravelly growl vibrates through his whole body bring me back to my senses. A phoenix lord is not something I can casually disrespect like that. I grab Garn’s hand and reach up to put a hand on his back, pushing him down into a bow alongside mine, “Apologies, Lord Aurora Hephaestus. I spoke out of turn and my retainers’ actions are my burden to bear.”
He coos in response, “[You may rise. Your apology is accepted, and your formality appreciated. However, I wasn’t speaking to you before. I was trying to distract Gnat before she did something impulsive and caused an incident. With Leo so close by, a tragedy could have befallen what is shaping to be an ideal initial delve.]”
After his assent I look back at him and when he calls out the first name, he sweeps a wing up towards the branches of a nearby tree. One that has another, smaller phoenix perched on it with their streaks, splashes and patchwork patterns of vibrant colors somehow blending in with the chaotic foliage.
Gnat huffs at the larger phoenix’s speech before turning back and glaring at Bond for a moment. A young, melodic voice nearly overwhelmed by the resonance and buzzing of an uncountable choir of insects, roars out in the sudden silence, “{You’re lucky Father is kind, worm. Else I would tear you open to retrieve what belongs to Him.}” She briefly screeches out her hate before leaping from her branch and flying above the canopy. An immense cloud of infinitesimally small bugs rising alongside her and showcasing that the bark of the tree she was perched on wasn’t ‘naturally’ the glossy black it appeared to be.
As the chill from the grove fades, I glance over at Sid which earns me a harrowing shake of his head. No one spotted a legendary Scion just perched in this clearing with us, one that apparently harbored us significant ill will, and powerful enough to blanket the area in cold.
“[I do hope you’ll forgive her. She’s still quite young and adores her Father more than anything. With the rapid and chaotic pace of this dungeon’s advancements, she hasn’t had nearly the amount of time to mature as other Scions you might be used to. Nevertheless, as I said before, this is the last stop before you arrive at Thing’s arena. They will be responsible for the easy completion of the boy’s quest as well as distribute the rewards, should you accept them.]”
The phoenix having walked over to the spring during his talk, he takes a quick dip before turning his gaze to Ruby, and with a softer tone, “[I do hope you have an adventurous spirit to go alongside that crystal core. The aspirations this dungeon and I could fulfill for someone as… gifted as you have been, would be a true wonder to behold,]” he nods to each of us before taking flight, his voice now inflected towards all of us as he departs, “[Come visit me sometime. A dungeon isn’t the only path to gain power.]”