Trees loomed around the pair as they pushed further down what used to be an Old Town street. Oddly enough, the newly grown flora was fungus free, unlike the infestation Craig and Domison had witnessed closer to the black-glassed wasteland. The facade of storefronts and street-level apartments could barely be made out underneath a tight wrap of purple vines and every great once in a while Domison could make out the faint light of a streetlamp escaping from beneath the constricting plant life.
It was extremely disconcerting to Domison to see the light peeking through from all of the still functioning electronics. It made the fact that the plants had grown over everything in a matter of days all the more apparent. He also begrudgingly respected the electrical infrastructure in the entire city-state of Aurora, ‘brought to you by ProtoElectrica’ Domison thought to himself with a roll of his eyes. The man was begrudgingly glad that they were at least good for something other than the revolving ad cycle peddling the newest line of ‘OrgaRep’ merchandise. Thinking about the advertisements solidified Domison’s contentedness with his choice to limit the organic replacement that he himself would be willing to undergo. The only surgery that he had undergone was for a Cerebral Implant, or C.I., that allowed a neural uplink to the data cloud.
This mainly meant he could be inundated with even more advertisements but it did have a few pros, especially now that the expansive data cloud and general internet access were unavailable. Domison was especially happy with the increased reaction time afforded by his C.I. and he was quite happy that it seemed to be mostly operational. Domison hadn't even thought to check the viability of his C.I. when he first returned to Terra, convinced that the implant would have been destroyed in the void of space along with the rest of his body. 'My brain must have been protected somehow…' Domison thought to himself as he rounded a particularly large tree trunk, keeping an ear out for any movement besides their own. The view completely changed in three short steps.
Right on the other side of the large tree was a small shop, but instead of being overtaken by the alien trees, it was completely wreathed in flowers. They weren’t flowers that Domison had ever seen before, but they were mesmerizing. From what he could tell, there were only two distinguishably different species of flower but they completely co-mingled with each other. One species was akin to a rose in ways, the blooming petals were wrapped around the center and colored a bright cherry red. It had several stamens that reached out from the center of the flower, glowing red and pulsing every few seconds. The second type of flower had fat and wide cobalt blue petals with striations running across their surface like lightning bolts. Instead of glowing stamens protruding from the center of the flower, the striations on the petal instead flashed with a blue light in time with its companion flora.
As soon as Craig joined Domison by his side, he gasped audibly, “It’s mana bloom!” The large Urketh bellowed aloud in excitement. Immediately his massive form crouched low to the ground, head cocked and leaning close to the nearest flower. “Hmmm. This is amazing, Mister Wolfe.” For a heartbeat longer Craig held his face close to the blossoming flowers and Domison started to open his mouth before Craig jumped back up to his feet incomprehensibly quick for his size. “Please do not think I am being disrespectful, but you MUST collect these, Mister Domison.”
Domison cocked one eyebrow at this assertion, “That good huh?” He bent down and ran a finger along the fat blue petals of the closest flower. A thrill of energy ran through his fingers as they made contact and he felt the mana in his core react immediately. The man looked at the large Urketh sharply, “Craig. I need you to explain to me what these are. And quickly.”
Craig nodded his massive chin so deep that he almost touched his barrel chest, content that Domison was taking him seriously. “These are Manabloom, Mister Wolfe.” He spread a handout, indicating the expanse of the lightly glowing flowers. “They are flowers that typically grow near outcroppings of Mana Crystals, and they encapsulate the properties of mana, transmuting them into physical formations.” Much of this information Domison was compartmentalizing in his mind, using what information he had to fill in the blanks and come to conclusions. He had no idea what Mana Crystals were, but he could make an educated guess and he did not want to waste more time than necessary on small talk in this deadly forest. Craig continued his dump of information then, “These are useful for many things, but most importantly they can be used to brew elixirs that can restore either mana or health. Once we have samples, we can cultivate more as-”
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Domison cut a hand through the air, stopping Craig’s sentence, “I understand. I’ll gather as many as possible and we can move on. We’d be stupid to pass this up and anyways, I have an idea.” Domison ignored Craig’s questioning gaze and instead concentrated on the connection to his inner world. He wasn’t sure if he would be able to do what he was planning, but he screwed his eyes and pit his willpower against the insecurity of the unknown. For several moments nothing happened at all, a bead of sweat started to run its way down Domison’s head and he stared intently at the space directly beneath his splayed right hand. In a blink, a small black rend in space appeared. Domison immediately felt the connection to his inner world and he swept his hand over to the nearest flower. As soon as his hand came into contact he felt a distinct urge to direct the plant within his inner world. Instinctually he knew that he could allocate it to storage space, but he also felt that there was another way. If he wanted to, he would be able to plant these flowers within his inner world.
For the moment Domsion decided that he would store most of the flowers and allocate a smaller amount to plant, he had a feeling his group would need the elixirs even if he did not. It took less than ten minutes to collect all of the Manabloom in the area and Craig stared at Domison with a gaping mouth when he stood, finished with his task. The large Urketh started blubbering and after several failed attempts, words finally formed from between his tusks, “Gods be praised, I have made the best decision in my life.” Domison felt very awkward at the sudden words and Craig began again before he had the chance to recover, “Your class even has an ability that grants you a storage space? You truly are a progenitor of this ascended plane, a thousand thanks for accepting me into your group!”
A huge body hit the ground with a crash as Craig fell to his knees and prostrated himself in front of Domison. The man, on the other hand, felt extremely uncomfortable with the situation and scratched his head awkwardly. Domison opened his mouth to speak, but as soon as he did a sound filled the air that made his blood run cold. From deeper in the forest came a shrill, high-pitched screaming and it took the man only a millisecond to recognize the source. It was a small child wailing in terror. Domison whipped his head toward the source of the sound, every muscle in his body taut as he prepared to dash away, “Craig get up, we need-” but he was cut off again as a bone-shaking roar ripped through the air, sending a visible tremble through the plantlife around them. Domison didn’t wait for another second and flickered from view. He darted between trees as he rushed away, clearing a dozen yards in a heartbeat and leaving a concerned-looking Craig behind, still picking himself up off of his hands and knees.
Plantlife whipped at Domison’s face as he plowed through the forest, rushing ever closer toward the growing commotion. While Domison no longer heard the terror-filled scream of a child, the noise emanating from deeper in the forest did not put to rest his anxiety. The sound was violent and predatory, causing a shiver to run up Domison’s spine. The noises coming from the beast were quite distinct, and although he was sure that he was running up on a monster, it sounded strangely familiar. Yet even after sprinting for several minutes, he couldn’t seem to find the source of the noise, it felt like running down a never-ending hallway but being able to see the door at the end.
Domsion paid this fact no mind and continued to pump his arms, driving himself ever closer. He knew that he had put considerable distance between himself and Craig at this point, but that didn’t matter. There was no way he would be able to forgive himself if he even didn’t try to save a child from a horrible monster. A cold resolve filled his heart and he rotated the mana in his core, calling forth his Abyssal blade. His sprint became a run, which decelerated into a job before finally becoming a cautious trot. The sound was very close now and when Domison broke through a particularly dense grouping of underbrush, he finally laid his eyes upon the source.