Liam slowly began to stir as he felt something tickle the edge of his nose. Out of instinct he swatted whatever it was that was the culprit and tried to go back asleep. A second later the culprit once again tickled the edge of his nose. He swatted once more only to have something soft come back and run along his closed eye lids and forehead.
Liam flailed both hands around his head before opening his eyes to see what the pain in the ass insect or object was. However, as he opened his eyes and stared at the thing, he grew confused. It was a dark purple flower hanging from a single vine.
Wait, why is there a vine hanging over my head with a flower… Liam started to think until he looked around his tent. To his shock and surprise, a bush was sitting over the entrance to his tent with several vines that went up and dangled several more of the dark purple flowers.
Liam tried to assess the plant. He didn’t get anything from the bush, but the flowers produced some information.
[Midnight Iris. Item type – Material (Alchemical). Item Rarity – Rare. Item Quality – Average. Description: ???????]
“A Midnight Iris? When the hell did this get here?” Liam asked himself as he stared at it. “I don’t remember there ever being a bush here when I fell asleep.” Liam looked down at the ground and noticed the ground, which was once just a mixture of dirt and small patches of grass was now fully covered with grass that looked like it hadn’t been taken care of for weeks.
This confused Liam even more. None of what he was seeing was there before he passed out last night. Liam looked at the walls of his tent before looking at his internal clock and concluding it was still night time. Only five hours had passed when he finally fell asleep last night.
Curious on how the outside area looked, Liam started to move off of his tent. A couple of the long bluish-green vine stalks waved the flowers in front of Liam’s face. He was about to reach out and pluck them to get them to stop rubbing against his face, but stopped as Uncle Naro called out, “Liam, are you up?”
“Yeah,” Liam responded. He was about to ask what was going on, but was interrupted as he was asked, “Do you have a strange plant inside your tent?”
“Yeah. I don’t know where it came from. It wasn’t here before,” Liam replied, concern starting to fill him as he was starting to wake up more and hearing the strange tone in Uncle Naro’s voice.
“Do not touch it,” Uncle Naro swiftly stated. “The same goes for any of you that are up and see plants inside their tents. Once Liam gets out we will help you clear a path out of your tents so hold on.”
Liam heard the others respond before Uncle Naro asked, “What kind of plant is in your tent Liam?”
“It says it’s a Midnight Iris,” Liam replied.
“Since I don’t hear you panicking that means you haven’t tried to harvest it yet. Good. I am glad I got to you in time,” Uncle Naro stated making Liam swiftly look back at the plant.
With much concern and worry in his voice, Liam asked, “Why’s that?”
“Oh, if you try to pluck the flower that’s on top of the vine that its attached to, a black liquid will spray and blind you for hours if it gets anywhere near your eyes,” Uncle Naro said matter-of-factly.
“How am I supposed to harvest it then?” Liam asked as he eyed the plant warily.
“You have to pull it from the ground. Be careful when you do though because that same black liquid will pour out from the bottom. If you can, collect the liquid in a container. It makes for a wonderful component in Chemicalized Creations and Poison Craft,” Uncle Naro explained.
As much as he was wary of the liquid Uncle Naro had told him about, the mention of something being helpful towards Chemicalized Creations and Poison Crafts had him more than eager to harvest them. He put on his goggles and a pair of gloves before setting out a few containers and getting to work.
After he was done and was finally able to get out of his tent, Liam helped Uncle Naro free the others. Uncle Naro helped Liam learn how to harvest the plants that had grown in each tent. They had just finished with Artem’s tent and was about to help Ariyana, who was the last one, when they heard her yell out, “Barty! No! Bad! Spit it out now!”
Before anyone could react, Artem swiftly ran towards Ariyana’s tent. As he reached down to grab the zipper, his wrist was suddenly snatched away from it. Artem swiveled his head swiftly to see Uncle Naro staring down at him. Before Artem could protest and fight against him, Uncle Naro sternly said, “Do not blindly rush in there. You do not have the proper knowledge on how to deal with plants.”
“I know that, but…,” Artem started to growl in protest, but once more he was stopped as Uncle Naro pulled him to the side and said, “I have the proper knowledge let me handle this.”
Artem stumbled backwards. After regaining his balance he stared at the bear of a man. While he understood what the man had said was right and agreed that he was ill equipped in the knowledge department in this area, there was still a part of him that wanted to make sure she was alright. He huffed a few times as he stood there, waiting in case he needed to rush in. All the tension and worry he had built up suddenly vanished as he saw Barty, Ariyana’s Albino Crocolisk shaking his violently back and forth.
In his jaws was a bush slightly bigger than his mouth. He looked like a dog with an overly sized chew toy as he shook the plant. Weird noises escaped his mouth as he opened it, allowing the bush to fly towards the side. He chased after it and quickly snapped his jaws on another section of it.
The scene gave even Uncle Naro pause as he assessed what was going on. He looked at the distraught woman and asked, “Did you assess the plant?”
Ariyana turned her gaze from Barty and towards Uncle Naro. She had a worried expression on her face and quickly said, “Can you help me stop him? I don’t know if that plant was poisonous, but he seems to be drawn towards it and wont part with the bush. He ate the flowers that were in full bloom and…”
“Ariyana, focus!” Uncle Naro sternly ordered. The sound and crispness in his voice caused her to stop and even made Barty pause for a brief moment before going back to playing with the bush. “Did you assess the plant?”
Ariyana stared at him for a long moment before finally processing what he had asked. She nodded her head quickly before saying, “Yes. They were called Crocolisk Tears Daylilies.”
Uncle Naro relaxed at her words. She looked confused as she watched him do this and was about to question why he looked so relaxed, until he informed, “That’s the best case scenario in his case.”
“What do you mean?” Mercer questioned, asking the question everyone had on their mind. “How is that the best case scenario for Barty?”
Uncle Naro turned to look at him and responded as he looked back at Ariyana, “Young Crocolisks are drawn to this plant like cats are drawn to catnip. While they are great for certain potion recipes, they are also used as catalysts for evolutionary growth in young crocolisks. There are other catalysts like this they can find that can help trigger new evolutionary growths, but in the case of young Barty here and his mother Ariyana, this catalyst is perfect.”
“Catalyst? Evolutionary growth?” Ariyana asked, still trying to process what he was talking about. “What are you talking about and why is it perfect for him and me?”
“It’s because you have a plant affinity,” Uncle Naro replied. “His current affinities are Earth and Water. This catalyst, the Crocolisk Tears Daylily, will allow him to develop a new affinity as well as new abilities. It will allow him to evolve in a way that it will allow him to use Plant abilities. Creatures such as he can sense what they believe will be best to help them grow and in honor of you he chose an evolutionary path that will allow him to be closer to you.”
Everyone looked at Barty who was still shaking his head around with the bush in his mouth. He released it and was about to chase after it again but was stopped as Ariyana swiftly scooped him up and held him closer to her as she hugged him. She said in a relief and happy voice, “You idiot…You don’t have to change to be closer to me. I love you just the way you are.”
Barty made a happy chirp noise as he dangled in her arms. All of his legs remained still as he closed his eyes and looked like he was smiling. Liam was both amazed and terrified at the sight. He almost made note on how much bigger he had gotten. His tail almost reached the ground even though Ariyana was standing up straight.
“I am happy you felt like you wanted to evolve in a way that makes you feel closer to me, but next time don’t scare me like that until I know what the hell is going on, okay?” Ariyana said to the happy looking Crocolisk. He let out another happy chirp before she let him down. “Now come on. Form back into a tattoo.”
Barty looked sad after she said that. He let out a said noise before doing as she said. She then looked back at Uncle Naro and asked, “You are sure he will be fine?”
Uncle Naro nodded. “Yes. The flowers still need to be digested and will take some time after that, but him eating those flowers will be fine.”
“Alright,” Ariyana said as she composed herself. “Thank you. And sorry for freaking out like that.”
“You’re fine, but now is not the time for us to be pussyfooting around,” Uncle Naro started back up. He turned around to look at everyone and order, “Everyone needs to pack their stuff up as fast as they can. Something strange is going on and we need to get out of here…now.”
Everyone nodded before changing into their clothes and breaking down camp. It didn’t take Liam long to get everything done on his end. His Crafter skills and abilities helped him understand how to take everything down as quickly and efficiently as possible. Thanks to that he was standing next to Uncle Naro, who was staring out towards a certain direction.
He wasn’t entirely sure what was out that way since he hadn’t taken any time to explore the island. However, he did hear that there were buildings outside of town that were abandoned due to negligence on taking care of the structures or no one needing to use them anymore. He wasn’t entirely sure. However, the more he stared out in that direction the more he was starting to understand something.
Whatever the cause of what was going on was coming from that direction. The feeling he was getting wasn’t like the feeling he had got back on the last island. No. this one was different. He wasn’t sure what it was though. Even though the feeling wasn’t the same as the other he was still getting vibes not to go there.
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
“You can feel that?” Uncle Naro asked, not taking his gaze from staring off in that direction.
“Barely,” Liam responded before side eyeing the man. He could see a confused and concerned look on his face as he continued to stare.
“What does it feel like to you?” Uncle Naro asked.
Liam looked back in the direction of the strange power. He took some time to try and put it into words. However, no matter how hard he tried he couldn’t find the perfect ones. Instead he just settled on, “Trouble.”
Uncle Naro let out a single short chuckle before replying, “Good. You’re learning.”
Liam could feel both appreciation and sarcasm in his words. So in turn Liam said, “Kinda hard not to when you have someone who can literally beat it into you.”
This cause Uncle Naro to look at him with a raised brow. He then responded with mock hurt, “Your words wound me. It hurts me more than it does you to give you a lesson in tough love.”
Liam shook his head as he said, “Somehow my bones protest against that statement.”
Uncle Naro let out a loud chuckle. “I guess they could.”
Liam was about to add something snarky, but before he could, he felt something suddenly pulling all of his attention. It wasn’t close, but it wasn’t far either. It was familiar, yet it was foreign. Liam wasn’t entirely sure what it was, but he did understand one thing. This feeling was calling him. Inviting him to come…to challenge whatever it was.
Liam sucked in a sharp intake of air as he fought the urge to suddenly start running towards the taunting feeling. He could feel it down to his very core and he wasn’t sure why. This was a first for him. He had never felt this urge, this need to chase after the source of this feeling. He had felt the cause of it suddenly come to a stop. It almost felt like it was searching for something, like it too had felt what he was feeling. Like it was searching for…him.
What the fuck is this…feeling. This…urge… Liam thought to himself. It’s like every bone, every muscle, every cell wants to chase after…whatever that is and fight it and claim dominance…
Uncle Naro noticed something was wrong with Liam and was about to say something, but then froze as he looked like he was staring at something off into the distance. His eyes narrowed as a scowl appeared on his face and he muttered, “You can’t be serious…” He suddenly paused. “But…” Another pause. “A…” He paused once more before letting out an irritated sigh and growled, “Fine…I understand…”
Liam, who was finally able to control whatever urge that was, was confused as he watched the bear of a man muttering to himself. It took him a moment, but he figured out he must have been talking to Usar, his Patron Deity. Before he could ask what was going on, Uncle Naro turned and looked at the others who were staring at Liam.
After coming to a decision, Uncle Naro called out, “Avery, Roman, Mercer, and Blair.”
The four swiftly turned their attention to him after hearing their names called out. They weren’t sure what was going on, but from the sound of his voice they knew something was up. “You four will follow Liam and find out what is going on.”
“What?” Avery questioned, shocked at his declaration.
Even Liam was shocked at what he had just heard. He wanted to ask what he meant, but before he could open his mouth he felt his body feel…excited. He wasn’t sure why it felt excited, but he kept his mouth shut and fought back against the feeling.
“Ursa has informed me that he believes Liam going to investigate will help him in a way,” Uncle Naro said, the words sounding irritated and annoyed. “As much as I don’t want to have him go, I believe there is some merit to it. there might be some strong people to fight for him to gain an opportunity. However, I don’t want him going alone. You four are close in speed and can keep up with him.”
Uncle Naro looked at Artem, Gimmel, and Ariyana and said, “I want you three to stay with me. Artem is not as fast. Gimmel, you are still learning how to work those puppets, and Ariyana isn’t quick enough yet to make certain snap decisions.”
The three were about to protest, but after a single look from him they remained silent. He let out a sigh before adding, “I don’t know what it is my Patron is hoping for, but I can trust that with your Danger Sense…” Uncle Naro turned to look at Liam. “You can determine if the situation you are running into is too dangerous for you to handle…If it does end up being too dangerous…try to get as much information on what’s going on and then make your way back to the Teleportation building. We will be waiting for you there.”
Liam nodded. He understood that Uncle Naro really didn’t want to have him go, but he saw an opportunity in having him at least try to get information for him. Liam let out the air he held inside before asking, “Just to clarify. He wants me to go towards that strange power right? The one in that direction?” Liam pointed towards the area both he and Uncle Naro were recently staring at.
“Yup,” Uncle Naro nodded.
A small involuntary grin slowly grew on Liam’s face. He wasn’t entirely sure why his body felt the way it did, but he knew it had to do with that feeling. As for why his body felt so excited…the area he was heading towards was the same direction that new taunting presence was heading towards as well.
“Alright,” Liam said before starting to sprint.
“Hey!” Avery and Roman shouted as they and the other two chased after him.
Uncle Naro watched as they ran. He grew confused as he kept an eye on Liam. He felt like something strange was making him move. It was like he was excited about something. Like he was itching to fight and possibly kill something.
“Was it my imagination or did Liam look like he was grinning?” Artem suddenly asked.
Uncle Naro looked at the half Orc. As he turned to look back in the direction the five ran towards he had a bad feeling. Instead of following his hunch and wanting to follow them, he followed the orders his Patron gave him.
[Send the young Cait Sith out towards the source of that power. Do not follow. – Ursa.]
As much as he respected his Patron Deity, he also hated him at times when he sent vague messages like that. He would do that from time to time. However, whenever he did that it was because there was a battle to be fought. One that was worthy of whoever he sent. A tough and hard fight that could help grow a Beast-kin. And if he was sending out Liam…then he did see some potential and wanted the young man to grow.
While that was great and on the same page as he…he believed Liam wasn’t ready for the type of battles Ursa sent them into. He would have to have faith in Liam on this one as well as placing his hopes that Ursa wasn’t sending the young man to his death.
----------------------------------------
“Liam, what the hell is going on?” Avery asked after catching up with him. The others were close behind. Blair had her wings out and was flying behind them, barely keeping up.
“I’m not sure,” Liam started as he followed the direction of the power he was feeling. His senses were also keeping note where that other power, the taunting one was. It was approaching their destination much quicker than them.
“Just tell us what you do know,” Mercer requested.
Liam tried organizing his thoughts the best he could. He didn’t know where to start so he just blurted out the first thing that came to mind. “I’m not entirely sure, but I think we might be heading towards another Champion…”
“I’m sorry, what?!” Avery shouted.
“What makes you so sure that we are?” Mercer asked. “And when you say another Champion…do you mean…”
“I mean one like me,” Liam replied as he ran through the tall grass. He dodged roots and vines that had grown out in ways that would make it easy to fall down and trip if one wasn’t paying attention. “And…it’s hard to say, but this power feels kind of similar to the one I felt back on the last island we were on.”
“What do you mean by that?” Blair inquired. “Are you saying that one cloaked woman was a…”
“I believe she was. It would only make sense since she was able to feel something similar or familiar on me to her and the same with me,” Liam stated.
“And you’re saying it’s the same here?” Mercer questioned as he hopped over a thick root that was sprawled across the ground. “Do you know whose Champion they are?”
Before Liam could respond a sudden pulse of strange mana washed over the land before passing through them. They each felt a strange power course through their bodies. The power felt like it wanted to make them go backwards. Not like it was trying to blow them backwards but make them go backwards in an unnatural way. They focused hard to resist the effects the power was trying to make them do.
To Blair’s surprise it was easy for her and the same for Liam. However, Mercer and Avery looked like they were having a harder time. It was only for a long moment, but the two were able to push through it and continue forward with Liam and Blair.
“I’m not sure whose Champion they are and Eri is remaining silent on the topic for some damn reason,” Liam responded as he stopped and spun around a tree that had suddenly sprouted from the ground and grew to be full grown. “I would say maybe someone that deals with plants, but it doesn’t feel right.”
Avery, Mercer, and Blair agreed as they dodged bushes and other plant like things that suddenly appeared in their path. Another wave of power washed over the land and over them shortly after running some more. Blair and Liam felt some pull this time as they resisted the effects of the power. As for Avery and Mercer, their movements suddenly slowed down a bit as they felt a harder tug from the power. Liam and Blair grabbed their hands and pulled them forward, allowing them to escape from whatever the power was trying to do to them.
“You’re right about it not having to do with plants. That power is definitely something else,” Mercer said as he tried to find the correct words. “I’m not entirely sure what it is, but it feels…weird.”
“It feels somewhat familiar to me,” Blair said as she remained behind Avery.
“Speaking of feeling familiar…,” Liam stated as he felt the taunting power come to a stop. From where he felt the power it seemed like it had arrived at the place they were heading towards. A grin began to grow over his face as he felt them getting closer and closer to both the power they were looking for and the source of the power that felt like it was taunting him endlessly. “I need you guys to do me a favor.”
The other three looked both confused and concerned as they stared at Liam. They saw the grin on his face and recognized it. It was slightly similar to the one he wore when he lost his mind after his Zodiac power and Eri’s nature mixed together. While it looked like Liam was still in control of his mind, he also looked like he was fighting against some invisible opponent for that control.
“There is another power that arrived to where we are going,” Liam continued. "I am not sure why, but every inch of my body is being drawn to it. Like that power is taunting me…urging me to hurry up and get there so we can fight…It feels both familiar and foreign to me though, so please make sure I don’t do anything stupid.”
The three glanced at each other. Concern even more etched onto their faces. They weren’t entirely sure what was going on, but they could feel the pleading in Liam’s words, no matter how mask it was. They were about to respond, but before they could, several waves of that strange power washed over them.
Liam and Blair felt the waves grow stronger and stronger with each passing, almost like the power was trying to push back anyone and everyone it deemed as an enemy. Avery and Mercer, who had some issues earlier trying to resist it were now struggling even harder to. Liam stopped and noticed Mercer’s body stop mid jump. Avery was the same. Then, at the same time, their bodies slowly started to reverse. Almost like time was making them go backwards and away.
Liam grabbed their wrists as Blair placed a hand on both of their backs. They were lucky they were so close when this started happening. Both Liam and Blair struggled to stop their companions from going backwards as pulse after pulse washed over them. They were having a hard time trying to keep them from going backwards. Liam felt his body straining as Blair flapped her wings as hard as she could over and over. The power effecting the two friends was slowly starting to bleed over Liam and Blair.
Then all of a sudden the pulses stopped. All four flew forward and rolled across the ground, hitting every twig and root until they came to a halt. After they stopped they let out grumbles of pain and irritation. Liam slowly got to his feet and was about to say something until he felt something different fill the air.
His body tensed up as the power touched his core. He wasn’t sure why, but he felt he knew exactly what it was. Exactly who it was. An image of a person’s face appeared in his mind as he felt it in his core. He now understood why he wanted to race towards that power. He spun around and faced the direction the power was emitted at.
The other three noticed the look on Liam’s face. They saw recognition and eagerness. They were about to ask what was up, but then felt urgency as Liam sprinted away from them and towards the direction they were heading.
“Shit, after him!” Mercer cursed as they pushed their sore muscles harder to try and keep up.
The three pushed past giant leaves and flowers. They jumped over fallen down tree trunks, uprooted roots, and branches. It felt that the foliage around them had grown bigger than normal as they raced forward. They kept this up for a couple of minutes until they spilled out into a clearing of sorts.
They slid to a halt as Liam stood not too far from the edge of the strange forest. They took in their surroundings as they went to stand by Liam. However they tensed and locked eyes upon the people who were staring back at them.
There were four tanned cloaked individuals standing off to the right. Their bodies were in a fighting stance and positioned in a way so they could have eyes on both Liam and his group and the other group that stood next to a woman with a tanned cloak on. However, this woman’s hood was off reveling a slender tanned skinned woman with runic looking tattoos running down her face, neck, and arms. She had braided black hair, and her eyes and tattoos were dimming from a blinding blue color.
However, no matter how strange the woman was, Liam’s and the other’s eyes weren’t on her. Instead their eyes were on the familiar leader of the other group that was standing by her. Their eyes were locked on Jude.