Shucking the mushroom heads from their stems and letting them fall into buckets, a trio of people sat on overturned logs that had been manipulated into the shapes of benches. The conversation between Siya and Arjun kept the atmosphere from becoming too dull as the day passed on.
Eventually, Hemlock who was sitting next to them looked up at the sky and realized something. Based on the position of the sun, it was about time for him to leave.
“Alright guys, I’ve got to go. I’ll see y–”
“Ehhhh? Just like that, going to leave us to do all the work?”
The corner of Siya’s mouth curled up as she laid into the priest with her speech. She looked with disbelief at the standing Hemlock, with an expression that carried some unspoken indignity.
Wait, no. That feeling was actually expressed very clearly.
“Well, come on, I can’t really help it can I? I mean, I’ve got to do my best for all of us here and…”
“And what exactly does that entail?”
Siya’s brow arched in mock interest.
“S-sis!”
Arjun’s pleading voice interrupted his sister’s attempts to stall the priest any longer. The elf girl took one look at her brother before sighing.
“Ok, ok. Alllllright…go do your task or whatever for Licht. I was just giving you a hard time…”
Siya held up her hands and upturned her palms.
“Ah, okay, see you two then.”
Hemlock breathed a sigh of relief and gave a covert nod to Arjun for the help. He left their trio of log benches before walking toward the edge of the clearing, where he could see a familiar bundle of berry bushes lying lazily out in the sun.
A week had passed since Hemlock had met Licht by the Grove’s wall that night. Since then, the pair had dedicated the latter portion of each day to developing what necessities the twin elves might need in their future.
Why the Grove’s guardian had come to him, Hemlock had no idea. But as they had continued in the last week, each day perfecting the designs for what was going to be given to the twins, the priest began to feel touched by how much Licht valued the opinion of a layman.
Though the project was supposed to be kept a secret from its recipients, Hemlock knew.
As it was a surprise for the upcoming celebration of their birthdays, it wasn’t ideal that the children might know what they were receiving, or at least this was the custom according to Licht.
‘But as long as they continue to think I’m just running errands for their guardian, I suppose it’s fine.’
Hemlock shook his head to himself.
“Hey Muan, how’s it going?”
The priest greeted the clump of bushes that was propped up against the Grove’s wall. As he got to the entrance, he waved to the plantlife that he had gotten more familiar with in the past week.
“Daga.”
Muan lifted an arm.
Hemlock raised a brow. The plant life form usually spoke in its own language in almost every sentence, but it was rare that it would give a response without clarifying what it meant the moment after.
“What does that mean? Good?”
“Daga.”
Hemlock shrugged his shoulders.
“Alright, whatever. I’m going to see Licht, okay?”
The stout upper body of Muan shook. Loose leaves and brambles flew back and forth.
“Does that mean that it's okay or no…oh.”
Hemlock got cut off as the gate of the Grove proceeded to open on its own. His feet carried him forth as he said goodbye to Muan, quickly putting the bush’s strange behavior out of his mind.
Before him stretched a veritable sea of trees, in all directions rows and rows of wooden pillars extended upward until they blended together. It was under this dense canopy of green he set forth on a carved pathway.
‘More and more of the surrounding woodland has already been integrated. His speed is astounding.’
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Hemlock’s eyes were drawn to the surrounding marvel as he walked.
What was once a land of mud slick rock and sparse clusters of conifers was no more. Now occupying the land around the Grove for as far as he could see was a dense ocean of dark wood and grassy ceilings.
Stepping from the clear midday sky of the Grove’s clearing into the surrounding woodland felt like being thrust underwater. An impenetrable veil shrouded the earth all around him, and the dim glow of the thousands of red hanging fruit were akin to stars in the night sky. It was breathtaking, what Licht had been able to do in merely a week.
Yes, Hemlock was becoming privy to some of Licht’s processes.
As the man found himself more involved with work concerning the twins’ future, the Woodland Controller found himself more inclined to indulge the man’s curiosity. For Licht, the priest was becoming less of a growing vulnerability and more of an investment, a sincere addition to their Grove. This had started to extend itself to tolerance, and in some respects, a warmth for the priest.
And Hemlock had noticed it.
“Hemlock! Get over here, I’m just about ready with the newest reduction material!”
Hemlock’s pace quickened as he heard a voice call out from the forest. Taking a hard right into the tree line, he came face to face with the towering form of Licht, hunched over a contraption like a teenager who had purchased their first car.
“Get in, Hemlock, shield’s already inside for you.”
Licht patted the top of a sphere that was roughly a head taller than Hemlock himself. The man sweated a little bit.
“We’re already ready to go on this? I thought we were going to make adjustments before the next test?”
Hemlock laughed nervously.
“I already made the adjustments. Now all that’s left is for you to test them! Isn’t that nice of me?”
The eyeless giant grinned widely.
“O-oh, sure. Well, I guess I’ll step in then…”
Hemlock nodded nervously as Licht pulled open the side of the ball of leaves. It was hollow inside as they both knew, containing only a curved plate with a handle attached that sat on the floor of the ball’s interior. The object that they were going to see the effects of in only a few short moments.
…
A few minutes prior.
Licht stood in a space near the edge of the path leading to the Grove. The one that he had paved a few months prior by manipulating underground roots, like how he did most everything else.
‘I was wondering if it would ever get used at the time, with so little traffic in or out of the Grove, but now I’m glad I did.’
As the use of the path was being currently demonstrated by actively guiding Hemlock in reaching this place, Licht noticed as he held onto a root that was connected to an integrated tree near the grove wall.
Otherwise if he hadn’t carved the path reaching here, he would have had to guide the Priest himself, which would have been a huge waste of time, Licht considered.
At times, the forest was akin to a beautiful and mysterious landscape, but in the past week it had become like a maze, liable to swallow anyone who didn’t have enough of a grasp on their location.
After a moment of watching the priest continue down the path, Licht let go of the root and turned back to what he was looking at.
He plucked a glowing bulb from the canopy that was far above him, extending to reach it before bringing it back down to himself. With a single fluid motion, he skinned the glassy exterior to see what was within.
[Psychometric Observation]
[Ironlight Delia Sap Mk1 (C+)]
“The sap extract of a single bulb of the Ironlight species. Contains miniscule amounts of the Wood and Light virtues within.”
“Alright, alright, that makes sense. But what about the practical side of things?”
Licht raised the question to himself. He had waited nearly a week to do this, as he was concentrating on controlling the rate of integration around the grove, but now was finally the time to sample the product, so to speak.
Licht stuck a finger in the gooey texture of the opened bulb, passively allowing his nutrient absorption skill to work. Strangely, a faint bitter taste wafted through his mouth at the same time.
A single ping from his system window told him when to stop rolling his finger around in the sap.
[Virtue Detected!]
[Analyzing…]
Licht’s face stiffened.
“That’s…not right?”
[Virtue Found!]
[??? Progress: 2/12,000]
Licht stared at the screen. A multitude of thoughts went through his head as he looked back at the fruit. Licht suddenly had the urge to rub his temples.
“Does this make sense? From the description of the Ironlight Delia, the virtues in the sap should be trace fragments of those that were used in their creation, but by absorbing it now, I’m able to receive a new one?”
Licht looked around to the thousands of Iron Light bulbs that were suspended from the canopy around him.
This situation…it bore similarities to how the Manacle Blossoms had been two years ago.
And if it were back then, Licht’s mind would’ve suddenly exploded into joy at the discovery of a new virtue, something that was basically equated to a boost in his personal power, but that was no longer the case.
For better or worse, Licht had learned that he must consider what others would do with the same access to materials as him.
Licht compressed the bulb in his hand into a small sphere like folding up some paper before absorbing it entirely.
“I can’t be sure, but I’m not entirely convinced that the description was wrong. I wonder if it's something about how I absorb the bulbs into myself that allows them to grant unique virtues. Or perhaps it’s a mutation?”
Licht sighed, walking in circles to clear his head before eventually shrugging his shoulders.
The discovery that the Ironlight bulbs may give virtues beyond what he had thought would have to be looked into at another time. Licht looked at the sun’s position in the sky.
“Right now, I’ve got an appointment to keep.”
Licht glanced at the hollow sphere of wound-together leaves that sat next to him before deciding to call out into the tree line. He saw the faint silhouette of a man through the trees turn in his direction as he spoke.
“Hemlock, get over here!”