Kai wasn’t quite sure how to proceed, but he had a general idea of the steps he needed to take before he could safely return and attempt to claim the Starforge.
He first had to find a way to breathe in space — the Breath of the Leviathan trait he’d ignored previously sounded really useful suddenly. Kai clicked his tongue in annoyance. I really need to evaluate my choices more seriously. He was about to chastise himself, but cut that line of thinking short, he’d been near death almost every time and just hadn’t known enough to consider every angle.
After he’d found a way to breathe in space, or hold his breath — perhaps a higher body grade? The second thing he needed to do was find a way to not freeze to death, while navigating deadly rocks and sharp ice. Kai rolled his eyes, easy peasy.
Lemon squeezy? Kura chimed in, projecting an image of herself not as a dragon for once—perhaps that was her money alter ego—but a snow-white fox resembling the Amarok Kitsune, wagging twin tails and pouncing on lemons with a cheerful ‘look at me’ face.
Kai smiled, tension leaving his body, that’s kinda cute.
He ultimately decided his body and aura should rank up at least once before trying again, breathing and dealing with the cold might be possible then. He would also prepare an extremely long rope as a lifeline. Then he could explore the area around the Starforge and perhaps retrieve the Starforger’s body. With Kura, the Starforge, and the corpse, maybe he’d get some answers and solid power increases. But right now, it just wasn’t something he was strong enough to attempt.
It wasn’t long before the Elder arrived and started scolding Kai and Matt, gesticulating angrily at various destroyed furniture and floorboards in the room.
She relented with a weary sigh when the massive central stalk shook violently, fragments of mushrooms falling from the canopy. In that moment her mask dropped and Kai caught a glimpse of how tired she was. He did not envy the weight of leadership.
Despite her frail appearance she scurried into action and the village bustled with activity as she barked out orders. Kai absorbed an aura crystal while following her. The aura inside the crystal felt almost painful to absorb after having tasted the cosmic auras beyond the wormhole and he clicked his tongue distastefully.
Kai swiftly learned from the Rakin Elder that the quaint village was besieged underground by root fiends — whatever those were. Images of demons with barkskin and red roots flashed through his mind.
The Rakin had been good to him, so he offered his assistance. The Elder glared at him a final time before she begrudgingly accepted his offer to help. More things to slay meant more levels and progress towards the trial he didn’t want to fail. Kura also had almost enough remains to evolve. Plus, he had a rope-related favour to ask the Elder and he was pretty sure she was not his biggest fan right now. Hopefully this would improve the odds of the Rakin helping him.
Stolen novel; please report.
Kai stopped abruptly as they reached a gnarled hole that led into the massive central stalk, root-like stairs spiralling down.
Suddenly his eyes shifted to a predatory gold.
“Wait!” Kai blurted, confused.
“I think there’s a primal be-below us?” he whispered, sharing the knowledge with a hint of pride on his face.
“I know it’s a primal!” The elder rubbed her temples vigorously. “Why else would it be giving us trouble? Every newcomer is the same, showing up and thinking were uncivilised, and they have all the answ—”
She stifled back a yelp as Kai tackled her away from where they previously stood.
“It’s right below us!”
“It’s a root fiend, of course it’s below us!” the Elder yelled, springing to her feet and chomping something he couldn’t quite make out. She rapidly increased in size, and towered almost twelve feet. Her aura turned her fur into thousands of razor-sharp needles, each the size of his finger. Some aimed at him, some at the ground.
Her eyes darted between the ground and him. Kai kept his eyes focused on the grass, expecting something to burst through like the Magma Wyrm had, but nothing happened and his eyes turned grey. Had it simply passed beneath them? He felt like an idiot as her narrow eyes locked with his threateningly.
“Sorry!” Kai blurted, raising his hands.
She sighed. “Now you see why I can’t fight in the tunnels beneath us.” Her fur bristled as her size returned to normal.
Kai remained alert as he followed the hobbling elder who started to ramble.
“We have lived beneath the Hearthshroom for generations, but on a horrible planet. We contributed decades of our aura crystals to transport our home here, for a chance at a new start. Just our luck we landed next to voracious root fiends.”
***
Matt dabbed his eyes with water to imitate tears. Perfect, he thought.
He ran up to the Elder and Kai. Flattening his ears, he forced his lip to quiver and stared at them with wide eyes.
“I was hoping to come with you, I want to become stronger!”
He didn’t want to feel like a burden to anyone. Matthias peeked at Kai's expression nervously. What would his answer be?
***
“You stared into a rent in space with me and didn’t cry,” Kai said, his eyebrow raised.
“Rats!” Matt said as his flat ears perked up. “Saw through that did ya?”
Kai chuckled and stretched out his hand to ruffle the fur on Matt’s head good–naturedly. This is awkward.
“You will be safer here, okay?” Kai said, before facing the Elder.
“I have a favour to ask you upon my return after dispatching the root fiends. Please consider it,” Kai said, nodding his head slightly before turning and entering the Hearthshroom.
***
The Elder’s expression softened. She hoped she had not sent Kai to his death; she liked the curious fellow, but her people came first. She hoped Algrom was right, but the gardener’s methods were a little crazy for her taste and they could not always be trusted. She tapped her gnarled staff as she gazed into the wheat fields, pondering her blocked path.
***