YEAR 10 - MONTH 6 - DAY 18
After ascertaining our friendship, Cat the cat had me move my avatar into a sitting position against my tree trunk and curled up into my avatar’s lap, immediately falling asleep for two days straight. Lily also kept trying to both kick Cat out of the courtyard and actually kick him. Of course, I protected my new friend.
Currently, Cat is waking up from his slumber while Lily is sitting in her chair shooting daggers at him. So mean. “Did you have a nice nap?”
“I did, thank you, Tree-chan.” Cat yawned, then gestured a paw toward Lily. “You’re much kinder than our resident princess over there.”
Cat hopped off my lap and strolled around the garden, investigating it. After a few moments, he returned to my avatar’s lap. “This world is odd. Are there no seasons?”
“Seasons?” Lily questioned. Although, for some reason, I knew the definition of that word. And now that I think about it, it is quite odd that we have none.
“Different winds and rainfall patterns depending on the time of year,” Cat explained, “No matter, the world god probably forgot. They tend to forget essential things. For them, it’s just writing in a book, nothing real.”
Lily was trying to comprehend everything until she asked more about Cat’s origins. “How do you know all this? Where are you from?”
“Another planet, one in a different universe.”
“Planet?”
“Huh? Did the world god forget that too? This is disappointing,” Cat lept off my avatar’s lap and strolled over to my lawn chair, making himself comfortable. “Planets are what we’re on. They spin around the sun.”
“I thought the sun spun around us?” Lily didn’t seem to understand these fundamental concepts, yet I did? Where am I from?
“Another time, princess. I’m too bored of explaining. I’ll write a book or something later.”
“...how do I understand all this?”
Cat stared at my avatar. “You do?”
“...yeah.”
“Where are you from?”
“I don’t know.”
Cat sat silently for a couple minutes until he walked back toward my avatar’s lap. “Strange. We’ll need to investigate your origins.”
“Anyway,” Cat continued. “I want to explore the world! Princess, lead me to the city!”
“I’m not being commanded by a cat. This is a dream, right Tree-san?”
“Nope.”
Lily deflated. “Well, can you share your vision with Tree-san using the familiar bond?”
“Sure, sure,” Cat replied, and suddenly, my vision expanded. Another dimension opened up, just like with my avatar. Now I could see three things simultaneously, my nature sense, my avatar, and Cat’s perspective. However, Cat’s vision was… different. Compared to my avatar it felt both more and less dull. I could clearly depict shades of blue and green, but red was a struggle.
“Now lead the way, princess.” Cat interrupted my thoughts and Lily began guiding him out of the courtyard. “Ah, wait.”
Cat moved his paws as if touching something, then another dimension opened up for my hearing. “Okay, now we can go. Just had to make sure Tree-chan could hear us.”
“Will he be able to reply?” Lily asked.
“He can communicate through our familiar bond. Now, go go go, slowpoke!”
Lily spun around and continued leading Cat out of the garden. The moment she stepped through the gate, I got my first look at the castle beyond. It was a big hallway with nothing special.
For the next ten minutes, Lily led Cat through a maze of identical hallways until finally, it opened up into a larger area. This larger area served as the main hallway. It was five meters wide and at the far end of it was a gate similar to the courtyard, except about ten times bigger and with way more metal straps across with various different patterns and runes, probably for defense. That gate, however, was open since it was the middle of the day. A few servants were walking in and out, each bowing to the princess as they passed.
As soon as Lily walked out of the castle, two guards appeared right beside her, escorting her. The outside of the castle was a large swath of meticulously maintained grass. In the center was a paved stone walkway with a few exits along the edges into garden spaces enclosed with hedges.
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After reaching the end of the walkway, which was a few dozen meters long, there was a big loop for carriage drop-offs. Inside the loop was a huge fountain spewing water. Lily led Cat along the edge of the loop toward the entrance. The entrance was the only opening, or only public opening, to the vast metal fence that encased the castle grounds. The gate was open but had four guards standing right in the middle along with another six at the sides.
The moment Lily walked through, another two guards joined the existing pair escorting her. Upon leaving the castle grounds. We were greeted with the noble district, or really, royalty district. The Twilight Empire is huge, it encompasses numerous smaller kingdoms, enough to make an entire area of royalty’s houses in the capital. Despite the obvious difference, it wasn’t classified separately from the main noble district.
Now that Lily and Cat left the castle, Lily started up a conversation. “So, where do you want to visit?”
They continued walking down the main road, with large palaces and residences fenced in by various palisades lining the borders. “The slums would be nice, but I’m sure your entourage would refuse.”
Lily nodded while her bodyguards had palpable disgust emanating at the mere mention of poor districts.
“I guess the best place would be wherever people are. Maybe some main market,” Cat suggested.
“Okay.”
Lily continued leading Cat through the noble district until she reached the stone brick wall that encased it. Luckily, it only took about ten minutes. The noble district made a ring around the castle so the main road wasn’t too long. They walked through the wooden gate, past the two guards, and into the merchant areas.
While the merchant areas were a step down in quality, it was still luxurious with houses and estates for the wealthy. This area formed another ring, serving as a divider for the nobility and commoners. Right beyond that divide, was where most shopping took place.
After another twenty minutes, Lily and Cat had reached the largest market square in the capital. There was a flurry of carriages and pedestrians leading to a chaotic scene as everyone went about their days. The road was an intersection with the main road, which led all the way to the castle, and a secondary road that encircled the merchant area. Most trades took place on this secondary road, with the majority of the action happening at this very intersection.
The scene was chaotic enough that most people didn’t realize the princess was there, of course, those closest did and immediately vacated the space around her, and her bodyguards didn’t help, but it was manageable. “So what’s the plan, kitty cat?
“Cat, not kitty cat, weakling princess.”
“So what’s the plan, Cat?”
“I want some drugs.”
Lily sighed. “What’s the real plan?”
“I already said, drugs. Show me your potion shops.”
“God damn it.” Lily led Cat through the crowded markets and into a small alchemy establishment. Stepping inside the almost entirely glass door, a bell rang and an employee quickly came out through a hanging curtain. Upon seeing the group a shocked expression filled her face. She wore a brown apron over a sky-blue dress. “Your highness! What can this establishment do for you?”
Lily glanced at Cat who started taking in the room. The room was rather small, with only a couple people walking around, however, it was of pristine quality. The shelves were all dusted with neatly arranged and labeled potions. Each potion had a list of effects, side effects, and, of course, the price. This was actually my first experience with prices in this world, but it was apparent enough what was valuable.
One shelf, in particular, was made of some type of black rock or metal, which was labeled with prices ranging from a few hundred gold to a few thousand. Cat immediately walked right over. “Hmm… decent quality, although the duration is lacking. Strange development, usually potency presents a larger issue, especially when extracting essence from items…”
After looking everything over and very easily deducing the composition of just about every potion, leaving the employee shocked, Cat settled on one in particular. The liquid was a viscous lava color teeming with energy. A subtle swirl could be seen as the different shades mixed themselves in a slow dance. “I think I want this one, princess.”
Lily walked over to Cat and then immediately shouted out. “No way! Why the hell would we spend eight thousand gold on that?!”
“It seems fun.”
“But–It’s literally a potion for killing magical trees! What are you planning?!” Lily attempted to grab Cat nearly knocking over the shelf.
“I’m aware. But how would Tree-chan ever get stronger if we don’t give him some practice?”
“You shouldn’t be trying to kill him! I thought he was your friend!”
“It’s just some practice, I’m sure Tree-chan would love it. Right, Tree-chan?”
Ah… I’m not too sure. Uh, not really.
“Oh, come on. There’s no way this kills you, you’re a talking tree. Even I haven’t seen one of those before, and I can tell this potion is way too weak.”
As much as this scares me… I really don’t sense any ill intentions coming from Cat. Maybe I’ll purchase some anti-poison skills? Just in case…
[Root 5.1: Aura of Weakening selected!]
[Root 5.1.1: Aura of Weakening Potions selected!]
[Root 5.2: Aura of Purity selected!]
[Root 5.2.1: Aura of Curing selected!]
[Destiny Points: 20,694]
I guess it’s okay. Just this once.
“There, we have his approval! Now, put your imperial lineage to use and get me this potion!”
“Did you actually get permission!?”
“Yep!”
“First a tree and now a cat. Gah. Whatever. But I’m having guards there every damn second, if Tree-san says a single thing against you I’ll kill you myself,” Lily gave in then made a sac of gold appear out of thin air using her spatial ring. She gave it to the bewildered employee then grabbed the potion, tossed it in the ring, and left the store with Cat happily strutting behind.
“Anything else, kitty?” Lily huffed.
“Hmm… maybe… No, I think we’ll save the rest for tomorrow's trip. Can’t leave Tree-chan alone for too long after all. Don’t want him blowing up the world.”
“We’re not having a trip tomorrow.”
“We’ll see.”
----------------------------------------
Tree-san's stats:
[Destiny Points: 50,694]
[Followers: 31,251]
[Level: 9]
[Displaying tree…]
[Branch 1: Shadow Magic]
[Branch 1.1: Blend with the Shade]
[Branch 1.1.1: Sync with the Shade]
[Branch 1.2: Shadow Leap]
[Branch 1.3: Shadow Stalk]
[Branch 1.4: Assassinate]
[Branch 2: Water Magic]
[Branch 2.1: Summon Water]
[Branch 2.2: Water Shot]
[Branch 2.3: Water Blast]
[Branch 2.4: Drown]
[Branch 2.4.1: Drown Shield]
[Branch 2.5: Permanent Skill]
[Branch 3: Light Magic]
[Branch 3.1: Greater Heal]
[Branch 3.1.1: Greater Refresh]
[Branch 3.1.2: Greater Cure]
[Branch 3.2: Sudden Stasis]
[Branch 3.2.1: Offensive Stasis]
[Branch 3.2.2: Postpone Death]
[Branch 3.3: Permanent Skill]
[Branch 3.4: Lance of Light]
[Branch 3.4.1: Light Beam]
[Branch 3.4.2: Light Arrow]
[Branch 3.5: Dome of Light]
[Branch 3.5.1: Moving Dome]
[Branch 3.5.2: One-sided Wall]
[Branch 4: Mind Magic]
[Branch 4.1: Telepathy]
[Branch 4.1.1: Enhanced Telepathy]
[Branch 4.2: Seed of Thought]
[Branch 4.3: Permanent Skill]
[Branch 5: Aura]
[Branch 5.1: Regal Intimidation]
[Branch 5.2: Royal Grace]
[Branch 5.3: Permanent Skill]
[Root 1: Nature Sense]
[Root 1.1: Life Sense]
[Root 2: Telepathy]
[Root 2.1: Marked Telepathy]
[Root 3: Path of Divinity]
[Root 3.1: Divine Tax]
[Root 3.2: Druidtree]
[Root 3.3: Magitree]
[Root 3.4: Comfort of the Trees]
[Root 3.5: Divine Descent]
[Root 4: Human Avatar]
[Root 5: Aura of Peace]
[Root 5.1: Aura of Weakening]
[Root 5.1.1: Aura of Weakening Potions]
[Root 5.2: Aura of Purity]
[Root 5.2.1: Aura of Curing]
[Root 6: Rapturous Roots]