Jaden had become lost in thought while watching the mana pool evaporate. This life isn't fair. At first, I didn't care. I would become what was needed, but Mother changed everything. I wonder if it was the same for her? I was just a duty, something ordained by prophecy. But our connection, though short, created a bond between us. She saw me as her child, her baby. Part of me embraced that. That feeling changed me over time. I want her to hold me again. Jaden looked at his more developed hands. I can't go back can I? My body tasted the power and acclimated to it. Jaden clenched his fists. I didn't have a choice. I wasn't about to watch Mother die.

"Jaden?" a familiar voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Sorry Emily, I was just thinking." Jaden turned to see her pouting, "What's wrong?"

"I'm shupposhed to be the big shishter!" she tried to glare at him with her hands on her hips, but it just wasn't working, she's too adorable.

"You'll always be my big sister." Jaden chuckled and he sat down so she was taller.

"That'sh right!" she said triumphantly and ruffled his hair. Molli watched on from a distance, she wasn't sure if she should laugh at the wholesome moment or cry because Emily had become the smaller of the two. The former won, she giggled softly.

"And big shish wantsh a piggyback ride!" Emily wormed her way around and hugged his back.

"I don't think that's how being the 'big sis' works." Jaden grinned as he teased her.

"I'm changing the rulesh." Emily stated seriously, "Now letsh go!"

The female Liralau watched dumbfounded as the strongest being she'd ever seen was turned into a child's toy. She turned to see the gray-skinned female watching the two with a contented smile.

Just what the heck is going on in this place? She asked herself and then her heart melted. But, that little girl's smile...

"I'd like to play more Emily, but there's something I need to do." Jaden slowed and walked toward Molli.

"Letsh play again later!" Emily was an endless ball of energy.

"Of course!" Jaden replied with a wink as he set her down.

"It's for Vivian, isn't it?" Molli asked him as they watched Emily swinging from a vine.

"Yea." Jaden nodded gravely, "She's barely holding on."

"What can you do?" Molli asked sympathetically.

"There's a pond in the Ominous Forest." Jaden began.

"The one she almost drowned herself in?" Molli asked.

"She did what now?" Jaden was shocked at this revelation.

"It wasn't on purpose, but yes. It healed injuries she didn't know she had because of that." Molli explained.

"So rather than go myself and fetch some of the water, I should take her to the pond?"

"Can you move her?" Molli asked.

"Have you seen Mother yet?" Jaden asked and shook his head, "It won't be easy."

"Emily wanted to see you," Molli shook her head, "we heard you'd grown up."

"I see... that's probably for the best." Jaden replied, "Emily shouldn't see Mother as she is now.  The most potent healing bath Anya can provide isn't helping much either."

"Maybe I can help?" Molli offered, "Although Anya being a Tree Spirit, she likely knows better than I do."

"Anya is only a little older than I am.  And don't let my body fool you, I'm not as old as I look either." Jaden replied, "Perhaps you could teach Anya a thing or two.  I'd be grateful."

"I'll see what I can do." Molli stated, "Oh?"

Anya set a path of vines for Molli to follow.  "Anya is eager to learn something too," Jaden explained.  "She also wants Mother to recover."

Jaden watched Molli depart before turning to look at the Liralau.  She shuddered slightly under his gaze as he approached her.  Her tail danced behind her as she shifted her feet uncomfortably.  "Y-yes?"

Jaden looked her over, his expression inquisitive,  "Do you enjoy watching suffering?"

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

"I made an exception for the sphinx.  He deserved everything he got," she replied coldly.  Jaden wasn't in a position to argue, his own history with the sphinx was full of hostility.  He decided it best not to dig deeper.

"What will you do now?" Jaden asked, "The clan is wary of everyone... including me and Mother."

"What about that woman and that girl playing there?" she asked.

"They just haven't noticed you yet." Jaden turned to watch Emily.  Anya launched the little fireball into the air.  Emily twisted, turned, and flipped her body every which way as she rose through the air.  Her eyes sparkled with unhindered joy.  Her clothes billowed in the wind.  She flitted about; a dancer unleashed.  The sky was her stage.

Emily's ascent peaked and her descent had begun.  Anya's vines spiraled into a column around her.  Emily bounced off the vines, flipping around inside the column and slightly slowing herself.  Anya separated a vine from the column, stretched, and flattened it out.  Emily landed on it; slipped, fell on her butt, and slid down the vine all the while having the time of her life.

"Thank you, Anya!" Emily's eyes sparkled as she rose to her feet and brushed herself off.  She turned around, looking for her mother.  She saw Jaden talking with a strange woman.  Scampering, she approached Jaden and hid behind him, grabbing the cloth of his pants.

"Jaden... who ish that?" Emily peeked around his body, catching a momentary glance before hiding again.

"This is a woman we met while we were looking for Isa," Jaden responded.

"Dosh she have a name too?" Emily asked curiosity had trumped her fear.

"No." Jaden shook his head, "I don't think she wants one."

"Why not?  Namesh are wonderful." Emily replied innocently.

"Names are dangerous." the Liralau countered, "You gain something, sure.  But in exchange, you also draw the attention of the gods."

"That'sh not a worry, we have Matriarch and Jaden!" Emily responded brightly.  Jaden scratched his head awkwardly at Emily's endorsement.

"We're not invincible." Jaden replied, "Mother got hurt pretty badly."

"Then, we jusht have to make her better!  Where is Aunty Vivi?" Emily ran off.  

Aunty Vivi, huh?  I'm sure she'll like that.  Jaden mused as he slowly caught up to Emily.

"Such simple lives.  I'm rather envious." the Liralau said to herself as she watched them running off.

"Their lives would be much simpler if their god had created them differently, or hadn't died before he gave them the system he made." Isa interrupted her musings.

"How so?"

"Right... you might be fine without your system, but they are heavily dependent on it; especially the way things turned out.  Their god wished for them to live peacefully, side by side with nature.  He made them weak on purpose, they didn't need much more strength than what they were given if they were going to be tending trees and farms.  The system was simply a 'just in case' measure."  Isa explained.  "The system provides them with unlimited growth potential, as far as I understand it, but it wouldn't activate unless they were threatened.  And then, only a select few would get it."

"What is Jaden exactly?" The Liralau asked.

"I'm not sure I should answer that." Isa looked at her with a slight smirk, "But it's not like he'll be in any danger if I do."

The woman waited in silence before Isa continued, "He's the reincarnation of their God, the creator of the unlimited potential system, and he's now being influenced by that system."

"A God with unlimited growth potential?" the woman's knees went weak and she collapsed to the ground when her legs buckled beneath her.

"What a twist of fate, I'd say.  But then, this was all ordained by the prophecy, wasn't it?" Isa flashed a dangerous grin.

"What do you mean?" the Liralau asked.

"If the Jadendajuda weren't hunted to extinction.  Do you think they would need to summon a savior, that first step which set the prophecy you know into motion?" Isa rebuked, "Whatever Jaden does now, all the races brought his reckoning upon themselves."

The Liralau shuddered.  Gods were already powerful beyond a mortal's comprehension.  Unlimited growth on top of that?  The Liralau didn't want to dwell on that, instead, she distracted herself with thoughts of what kind of man he would become.

"A hero and a monster."  Isa read the look on the woman's face, "Two sides of the same coin."

Isa flapped her tiny wings and took flight, leaving the woman alone to dwell on that thought.

----------------------------------------

"What is that liquid Anya?" Molli asked as she looked over the cocoon.  In response, a multitude of vines grew and merged forming a table.  From the table, a raspberry plant grew.  Molli watched in fascination as Anya peeled, squeezed, and separated the juice from the tiny plant.

"That liquid bath is pure raspberry juice?" Molli asked, then she nodded in understanding.  "Do you have any Rowan berries?"

Anya seemed to hesitate.  Momentarily, a pile of Rowan berries appeared on the table.  Next to them, Anya provided a makeshift mortar and pestle similar to that she'd seen Molli using countless times.

"I'm afraid you're much better at what needs to be done, I'll just explain." Molli looked at the mortar doubtfully.  "The rowan berry has a lot of pieces to it that make it dangerous.  The skin, the fruit itself, the actual core of the berry, and then there's the juices contained in the fruit and core.  Combined, the Rowan is a dangerously lethal fruit."

"By itself, the skin can cause paralysis.  The core of the plant induces euphoria, a desire to consume more by extension, and actually counters the paralysis from the skin initially.  The fruit itself is where the lethal toxins lie.  What we want is the juice, but I've never been able to separate it without any solids in any meaningful amount."  Molli explained and watched Anya efficiently separate the berries into their respective parts and drain the fluids.

"Each of the fluids has its quirks as well.  First and foremost, they all act as an amplifier.  If not for these, it would be possible to eat a tree's worth of Rowan berries and live to tell the tale."  Molli continued, "The juices from each part are also mildly toxic on their own.  However, if you crush a raspberry in the core juice, the toxin gets neutralized from something in the raspberry, and the healing effect is improved."

"I can feel your judgmental eyes on me, Anya.  I even understand it.  'Why do I know so much about the Rowan berry?' The answer is simple."  Molli sighed as Emily followed by Jaden entered.

Anya's heart shimmered elegantly for a moment, afterward, a blinding light began pulsing out in all directions.

"Anya?!" Jaden exclaimed as they all shielded their eyes.