She slashed her arms into the foliage. Each slash hacking off a piece of plant. The bitter fragrance of a vengeful spring invaded her nose. Vegetable blood splattered all over the place. She could almost hear it hiss when it reacted with the oxygen in the air.

Her feet stamped over the felled weeds. She left total devastation in her wake.

“Tremble in your static place, for I have come: The scourge of the floral world, menace to all veggies. I am Thulla Bardeabu, The slasher of weeds, muahahah.” She let out a villainous laugh. “Okay...That sounded a lot cooler in my head.” She admitted to Frederic and Pebelot, who wisely kept quiet.

Her bladed arms slashed through a growth on one of the vines. It split open. A light green, transparent liquid spilled out over her body and face. The resin-like substance instantly hardened. Encasing her in a layer of natural glue. “Yuck. What is this!” She cried out. It wasn’t enough to really hamper her movements. Thulla retracted one of her blades, she used her freed up hand to try and peel off the resin of her armor. It had adhered to it with a remarkably strong bond. However Frederic didn’t care, it easily shifted on a molecular level to shed itself from the sticky vine glue.

She petted her own head, the hardened pieces now easily slid off. For the first time since she got here, she felt lucky to not have any hair on her head. Shivers ran through her spine when she Imagined the tangled mess that would have created. “You are lucky I was already bald, or i would have uprooted your entire existence, stupid vine.” She harrumphed.

Thulla had calmed down a bit now that she was stopped in her slashing frenzy. Getting squirted on by a plant pimple made her re-evaluate her life choices. She was looking for better sources of water, food and shelter after all. Spending all her energy like this felt rather wasteful now that she was thinking about it. She sucked on her teeth. “Speaking of roots, why don’t I sneak a peek at what y'all are hiding under there.” She rolled up her upper lip to show her front teeth.

The plants all seemed to visibly shirk at the creepy vibes given off by the hairless girl, as if they all thought the same thing: “You may cut my branches and scrunch my leaves, but don’t you dare violate my roots.”

Her left handed appendage changed into a shovel. She flicked the tip with her fingers. A ding resonated through the metal. “The new product you’ve all been waiting for; the shovel-hand. Are you missing a limp, and in urgent need for a replacement? try the latest arm extension. Whenever you’re in need to dig a hole. The hand-shovel is there to help you. Don’t know what to do with the body of your dead husband? just bury it in your back garden. Did that nosy bitch of a neighbour spot you shoveling dirt in the middle of the night? Smash her head in with the shovel-hand, you only have to make the hole a bit bigger now, but that's easy! With the right tool as your hand.” Thulla blurted all of that out loud with the soulless positivity of a seasoned saleswoman. “Why am I like this?” she cringed at her own sense of humor: “I’m actually losing my marbles here, aren’t I?”

Thulla got on her knees and started punching the sandy ground. A dull shock jolted through her nerves with every hit. Her arm still felt tender, even if it seemed mostly healed by now. She grit her teeth. It wasn’t particularly painful, just a bit unpleasant. “Maybe I should consider a career in marketing if the magic thing doesn’t work out.” The thought bubbled up into her mind. “I could help dad sell his inventions. I know he’s just been living off his patents for the last couple of years.” She moved away the excess dirt. The sand here was mixed with the compost of dead plant matter. “Or become a botanist.” She laughed at that. Anyone that had seen her whack-a-plant moments ago would strongly disagree with that choice. “Don’t have the right temperament for that I’m afraid.”

She dug up one of the crystal nettles. The brittle sacs, underneath it’s leaves, broke apart by the slightest touch into razor-thin shards. The liquid that was released was no doubt dangerous. Thulla, who was protected by Frederic, was more or less impervious to these self defence mechanisms. She smiled when she held up a bunch of thick roots: “That’s my yam.” She cut them off from the rest of the plant, and placed them in her backpack. “If they aren’t edible then I should just place them in front of my shelter as a natural barrier.” She looked at the path she cut. “There are probably some more buried under there.”

Not much later her backpack was bulging with the many yams she had uprooted. She sat down covered in dirt and plant sap. The earthly smells somewhat disappeared to the background now that she was getting used to it. She uncovered her armor around her face to take a breather. The air here was humid.

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She grabbed her flask; it was half empty already, and took a couple gulps of the sweet flavoured water. “Aaaah…” She savoured the moment. “There must be a source of water here somewhere. Mmmaybe I should have stalked sir Miplo to see where he gets his juice.” Her fingers tapped on the steel casing while she thought over her options. “He’ll just leave me in the dust with a few quick steps…” She sighed. “I can try looking further into this jungle, try some of the other plants, or dig deeper to see if there is water in the ground. What do you think I should do, Pebelot?”

She grabbed the grey stone out of her pocket, and inhaled sharply: “Oh darling, the sight of you is petrifying. Just look at you; all covered in dirt. How utterly disgraceful. You should be out there dazzling the boys in the high magic societies. Not grovel in the mud like a peasant!.” - “Very helpful indeed Pebelot. Thank you for the reminder that keeping up my appearances is more important than survival.” She said sarcastically.

“Girl, are you soft in the head? You just have to do it with style, now put me back in the pocket. I don’t wish to be seen talking to you.” Pebelot demanded. Thulla tossed the sassy pebble in the air. “Heads: I slash my way deeper in the Oasis. Tails: I dig deeper for water.” The specks that resembled eyes looked up in the air. “Heads it is.” She put Pebelot back in her pocket. Imagining the proud pet-rock in a wild state of outrage for being used as a coin flip. She grinned at the thought.

Two bladed extensions grew out of her arm. The skin on her face was covered in metal once again. “Let’s be less wild.” She thought before she started swinging.

The tall crystal nettles splitting before her. She was focused now, her movements precise, and a lot more efficient. She no longer exaggerated her stampede, instead she brushed the leftover plants aside. “Just a walk in the park.” Most of her thoughts faded to the background as she slipped into a trance. Instinctively some of her mana supplemented her swings.

Force waves compacted the soil with every step she took. A swirl of ambient mana drew into her being, refueling her expenditures. Swiftly she advanced through the foliage. Until she stumbled into a clearing. Right at the edge was a deep gash carved into the ground. The edges were covered with dark crystalized glass. A shimmering force rose up from the abyss in an iridescent aurora. She tried to stare downwards into the blackest black. It disoriented her immensely, she lost her balance and fell on her butt.

She crawled backwards on her elbows and feet. The center of her gaze was blinded, only some light peered through in the peripheral parts of her vision. Her breathing was quick and shallow. Her consciousness was waning. She could feel the lights dying inside of her. “NO!” she cried out. She clenched onto the last sparks with all her might. Something burst inside. A torrent of white rushed through her body. Her eyes and mouth lit up. Rays of light blasted out. Burning brightly into the dimly lit surroundings. She didn’t know how long it all lasted. It went on until every remaining bit of chaotic energy left her body.

Thulla fizzled out alongside it.

~

“Yo, let’s take a break” Genik called out to Ramon. He turned around while still flying forwards. he casually leaned with his back into his glide. “Allright.” was his response. He kicked one of his feet back into his forward momentum, to quickly decrease his speed. The mana flow to his windwalkers stopped, and he hopped to the ground with a few steps to catch him from falling. Genik carefully shifted his weight to come to a more gradual stop.

The muscles in his legs felt sore from standing in a slight bend all this time. He loosened the straps and stepped off the board. “I need to sit my ass down for a bit.” Genik said. He was wobbling on his legs. His sense of balance felt off. Like he had been on a boat all day.

They both laid down in a patch of grass by the road, and grabbed something to eat and drink from their backpacks. It was a nice sunny day with a gentle breeze blowing through the trees. They stared off silently at the water passing them by. Taking in the ambience of the place they found themselves in.

“I think we’re almost halfway there already.” Genik said to spark a conversation. - “Not bad for a couple of hours, huh?.” Ramon responded. “Not bad at all.” Genik admitted. A muscle around his knee started to randomly twitch. He was too lazy to attend to it. “Are you going to market these?” Genik asked as he tapped the wooden board that was laying next to him.

“Yep, that’s the plan. Already got the patents registered to my name, just got to find a good manufacturer now.” Ramon said passionately: “I know there are some others trying to make something similar, but mine has got something special in it. I’m sure you’ve noticed.” - “It’s the mana drain right?” Genik guessed.

“Yep, sharp as always.” Ramon's face had lit up now that he was talking about his creations. “It’s barely a trickle. How did you even manage that?” Genik asked incredulously. “trade secret. I’m sure you’ll understand.” Ramon said with a smug look on his face. “All right then, keep your secrets.” Genik sighed: “how much would you sell this board for though?” - “You can have it, if you want.” Ramon said. “Really? Are you sure?” Genik asked, surprised by the sudden generosity.

“Take it already, or I'll change my mind.” Ramon jokingly threatened. “Thanks man, I appreciate it.” Genik felt a little unsure how to express his gratitude properly. “Yeah, yeah, yeah just keep being awesome with it, okay?” Ramon said, dismissing the thanks he just received. “Oh, that’s easy for me.” Genik said arrogantly. Ramon bumped him on the shoulder with a friendly fist. They laughed it off into a comfortable silence.

After a while Ramon spoke up again: “Are we close to the place where she disappeared?” He was fidgeting with a branch he had picked up from the ground. “Yeah, we should be close. I’ve marked the location on a tree.” Genik answered. “Okay, I’d like to check it out myself.” - “Of course, let’s get going again.”