Watching a tiny, mossy version of me running around makes me want to abduct the troll lady even more. She's adorable.
Lauren draws my attention away from the jumping little bean as she seems to have other matters to discuss. Looking at her, she appears to be quite serious.
"Kira, how come you're so focused? You've made plans for this whole thing, and good ones at that. You've even thought about how to stay in contact and made sure I can focus on learning wild magic by supplying me with coin. It's unusual for you to put so much thought into plans."
So I'm just gonna have a lie down and let this emotional damage heal for a moment. The troll dragon comes to my rescue and nudges my snout. She's growing on me like the moss grows on her. I should find out what her name is. Calling her troll lady or troll dragon feels rude.
With her hands on her hips, Lauren just stands there, looking at me with a cheeky smile. She's not pitying my plight at all! Even lying down, I'm big enough to nudge her as she's close enough for my stretched neck to cover the distance. And that means she's close enough for a lick of punishment!
She is right about me being weirdly focused, though. And for some reason, I'm also certain that I can't stay and join her for these wild magic lessons. It feels almost as if I'm being pressured to leave through gentle nudges in the back of my mind.
Drawing my attention back to Lauren, it appears Raya has joined her as Lauren tries to wipe away the saliva left behind by my fearsome vengeance while Raya is holding back a tiny moss dragon. With an extended neck, the tiny dragon is trying hard to mimic my behavior as its extended tongue lashes out, aiming for Lauren's face.
This is a situation that demands I step in and be the responsible party. Getting up and taking a few steps to get closer brings Raya and the moss dragon within reach. With a gentle claw, I lift them up, eliciting several sounds of excitement from the dragon, and, as a reasonable person, I place them closer to Lauren so that the mighty moss dragon can unleash her fearsome attack! In but a moment, Lauren is on the ground with a small dragon licking her face with impressive ferocity.
As the relentless attacks on Lauren continue, Raya steps to the side and crosses her arms.
"Something is going on, Kira. You're organized, Lauren found a way to learn new magic, and I feel like going home instead of exploring. I don't even know what plants grow around here, I can tell that I want to know, but... I don't know how to explain it... It's like I don't care."
Analytical Raya does have a point, but I don't like all this focus on me being organized being a red flag. And hearing her wanting to leave as well isn't putting me at ease. With the mention of not caring, I search my own emotions and I want to eat this feast prepared for me, but I'm also fine with just leaving. I can't tell if that's my normal 'fine with just leaving,' though.
"Lauren, how do you feel about this whole thing? Does anything feel odd?"
She's far too busy laughing and fending off a moss dragon to reply, so we'll leave her to that. Focusing instead on Raya, I ask if she felt anything was odd about the felifolk. I still find it hard to believe that they don't have any body odor. Everything I've encountered so far has had an odor, even their clothes did.
The moss dragon has a delightful smell of forest and what I would describe as welcoming, but that's not really a scent, I guess. The wolves share a scent, smelling, and the beets growing in the soil...
"Raya, do you think a farmer could go somewhere and not smell like soil? They have all these fields, but none of the felifolk I met smelled like dirt. Isn't that odd?"
Rather than replying, she starts looking around at the felifolk surrounding us. They don't appear threatening or minding us that much, which adds to the oddity of the situation. Usually, with groups not attacking or fleeing, there are circumstances surrounding it, such as the steelback boar attack. Okay, I'm freaking myself out here...
Pulling the moss dragon off Lauren and placing her on the ground nearby, she looks up at me as a purple fog surrounds her. It doesn't take long before she steps out of it, having taken the appearance of Raya again. Except this time, it doesn't look like she's trying to be deceptive as she wears her own clothes of worn linen, moss, and grass.
Looking up at me, her expression changes from a gentle smile to a frown as she steps toward Lauren again. Lauren appears to need a moment to collect herself as she stops writhing on the ground and her laughter subsides.
Troll Raya steps up to Lauren and weaves their fingers together, which causes Lauren's expression to become stern and sober.
"What's wrong, Kira? She thinks you're ready to attack something."
Before I have a chance to explain, Raya jumps in and goes over everything, making sure Lauren is caught up. She even brings up that the felifolk aren't really looking at us, they're just looking in our direction. I had not noticed that, but it sounds creepy. One person doing it is fine, but as Raya explains it, all of them do it.
The troll lady clicks her tongue, causing the wolves to create a defensive ring around the three of them. Sixteen is a lot of wolves, but it's not enough to create a tight formation around me. That's okay, I can take care of myself. I do feel like Raya and I need to know what's going on with this stuff, and asking about it has Lauren struggling to explain.
"She doesn't think like you or I. Her thoughts are like dancing smoke, creating plays to convey her ideas. It can be a little difficult to interpret."
Ooh! She's a visual thinker! Who knew? I guess being a weird forest hermit can do that to you. It makes me want one of those potions so I can see it, too. It sounds like it could be beautiful to watch the thoughts of a visual thinker.
Watching the felifolk around us, the looking past us thing becomes quite apparent, and now that I'm thinking about it, it makes me a little uncomfortable. That doesn't feel right at all. They appear indifferent to the sudden formation created by the wolves as they stand still, almost statuesque. Something is going on here. Okay, so I want to get out of here, they're creepy now.
Nudging Raya, she's quick to climb up on my head. With an eye on us, Lauren gets to her feet and carries the troll lady with her as I lower my head for them to climb as well. We're just gonna retreat and make a plan. A pat from Lauren alerts me to her wanting my attention.
"Kira, don't fly. Spirits need a connection to their demesne."
But I like flying... but fine. I'm not sure what the ramifications of severing that connection are, but I'd rather not accidentally hurt the cute troll. Keeping my tail high so as not to hit any wolves, I spin around, bringing our heading toward the forest, and with flexed claws digging into soil, we set off. The wolves are quick to follow me as we tear up the road in our wake.
As Raya climbs onto my nose, a slight scent of fear fills my nostrils.
"Don't look behind us, Kira. Just get away from them."
Well, now I really wanna look, but we should get to the forest first. As we approach the treeline, the troll lady joins Raya in the front row, waving a hand and guiding us through the woods. With great effort, I manage to only knock over a few trees.
We're a good ways into the forest by the time the troll lady signals for me to stop. With a slowing of my pace, the wolves catch up and the area fills with the sounds of panting as they take a moment to relax. Dang it, I'm on the wolf team... Stupid wolves...
Disregarding my disdain for those furry jerks, I focus my attention on the troll as she pats my nose. After patting me a few times, she stares at me before taking Raya's hand and patting me with that as well.
"I think she wants you to lie down, Kira."
Oh, right. That makes sense. I thought she was just being friendly, but it's reasonable for her to want to be as close to her forest as possible. As I lie down, she smiles at me again, obvious joy in her eyes. It doesn't take her long to slide down the side of my muzzle and plant her feet on the ground. Another purple fog covers her before she re-emerges as her own gray-skinned tiny form.
As I enjoy the sensation of moss and the forest floor on my scales, the troll dances toward a tree and plunges her hand into the soil before pulling out a root. A tuber of some sort, and attached to it is a vine which she grabs hold of before... She smacks me with it! What was that for?! She gets a puff of nostril smoke, that's for sure.
It doesn't have the intended effect as she starts dancing through it while swinging the tuber around like a crazed veggie merchant. Without warning, she stops next to my face and grabs hold of the plant before pulling it apart. Standing there with a wide smile and two halves of a plant, she shoves one half into my mouth, catching me off guard.
What kind of hospitality is this? It's tasty, but very odd and I'm not accustomed to it at all. Ooh... It's nutty with a slight sweetness to it! I'm not sure what it is, but I want more of this tuber. And not just because it's so small that it got stuck under my tongue, but also because we should cook something with it.
Lauren is staring at me, and I didn't notice her climbing down at all.
"Kira, we just escaped a village of Gods know what, and you're getting distracted by food again?"
"Have a taste and see if you can stay focused."
With a slight gesture of my head toward Lauren... I really need a name for the troll lady, it's getting annoying to think of her as mossy and foresty... I'm gonna call her Fenja. At my gesture, Fenja smiles at Lauren and shoves the other half of the tuber at my friend.
Not one to disappoint, Lauren grabs it and takes a bite before glaring at me.
"Fine, you win. This is good..."
Hah! I knew it was too good to turn away. Crap, I didn't think that through, now she's gonna want some, too, leaving fewer for me. I'm gonna nudge Fenja for another one.
Well, I would if I could see her anywhere. The wolves have settled down around us in small groups, but Raya and Fenja are nowhere to be seen.
"Lauren, did you see where Raya went?"
"No, but I'm sure she's with the spirit. She's safe as long as they stay in the forest."
Sniffing the air, Raya's scent becomes clear, and it appears they've left to go further into the woods. They might be a great match with a shared interest in plants.
"Lauren, what do you think those felifolk are?"
"Not felifolk. It's clear that they're something else and something is going on in that place. The question is how we're going to handle it. Do we go back and risk ourselves, or let nature take its course? If we do go back, we'll be limited in how we can act. Well, mostly you, since you can't just burn the place down."
I could do that, but it does seem shortsighted. The village has clearly been lived in, but something else moved in and displaced the locals somehow.
"Lauren, do you think the people Fenja evicted from her forest were the original villagers?"
"It's possible. We can't know unless we find them. Though we should settle on a plan regardless. What do you want to do, Kira?"
That's a good question. I want to know more about this stuff and find out why those beings are behaving so oddly and why they don't smell. But Lauren is right that I can't just burn the place down, what if the locals are still around? It would be quite rude of me to cause another homelessness crisis.
As I lie still, the soft rustling of wind in the trees creates a soothing melody of the wilderness, though the moment I move, my horns catch in the branches of the trees. The trees here are tall, but not tall enough to not be a problem. Lying down it is, then. As the sound of snapping branches ceases, the return of the forest's song fills the air.
It doesn't last long before the sound of rummaging in the underbrush alerts us to the return of Raya and Fenja. They both look like Raya, smiling and laughing as they carry armfuls of herbs and roots. I can't tell them apart... Fenja's ability to hide her mossy affinity at will is a problem for me, but as they get closer, the difference in scent becomes obvious.
Giving Fenja a soft grunt, I point to Lauren and release a puff of smoke into my claw before swirling it around. In response to my antics, Fenja lights up and drops everything she's carrying as she sprints to Lauren. Grabbing Lauren's hand in hers, she holds out her other hand in a claw shape and forms a ball of magic.
"I don't know if I can do it..."
Even without her saying as much, Lauren's doubt is obvious. She doesn't seem entirely sold on her ability to learn wild magic, even though she was quite excited to try. Being the Mighty Dragon of Support that I am, I nudge her and tell her that I believe in her and that she can take her time to get ready.
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"You can do it, Lauren! You're the champion of Merciferus! She who yells at dragons! Survivor of the Affront! Knower of many things! You can do whatever you put your mind to!"
"I do know many things..."
With renewed courage, she scrunches up her face and concentrates on something or other. I hope it's the magic and instructions Fenja gives her, but who knows, I don't have a mind bridge potion to find out. I am curious about these plants Raya gathered, though. Turning my head toward her and ignoring the loud cracks of snapping branches, Raya's collection comes into proper view and it looks like there are a lot of roots among them. If those are spices, we're in for a real treat.
Bringing up the topic of food, Raya is quick to point out that we don't have a cauldron or pot to use. And she's right about that, so thinking about it, I suggest using her helmet, since it is very bowl-like, but all I get in return is a stare, as if I just offended her.
"You think I would use my precious helmet to cook food in? It's far too valuable for that!"
"Sorry, you're right, Raya. I shouldn't have suggested that."
"I already tried. I can't boil water in it for some reason."
Dang it! That rascal got me to apologize for no reason!
She's staring at me with a smug expression, so it's pretty obvious that I have to counter it. "Did you try applying heat directly to the water instead of the helmet?"
And just like that, her smug expression fades as she mentions always applying heat to the pot instead of the water. Instead of retaliating, she dumps the plants near the ones Fenja dropped. In silence, she wanders off into the woods, leaving me to wonder what's going on. I know it takes more than that to upset Raya, so she's up to something...
A few moments later, she comes back carrying a large rock, at least compared to her. And as she approaches, she dumps it by my claw and begins taking off her Kirarmor. Watching her, Lauren does the same, as they seem assured that we're safe here.
With the bulk taken care of, Raya pushes herself under my hand, forcing me to lift it as she grabs one of my fingers. With a firm grip, she guides my nail toward the rock, carving grooves into the rock surface, repeating the process until it becomes obvious that she's carving a bowl.
So that's a pretty good idea. We don't need to bring cookware if we can just make our own without much difficulty. And my talons are sharp enough to carve stone, and should the case present itself, I can make them sharper with magic. "This is pretty clever, Raya. Good job."
"Thank you."
She seems to be concentrating quite a bit as I keep a soft touch, following her movement and only responding to her pulls and pushes of my claw. Every so often, she stops to tip over the bowl and empty out debris before continuing, making short work of creating a decent-sized cooking pot. For the finishing touches, there's a draw on my magic as she uses her own nails to even out the interior surface.
I am curious what she plans on cooking, though. It isn't raining and I'm not hearing any water nearby, but I'm sure she has a plan. As I watch her work, the temptation to find out what Lauren is doing strikes, but she's out of my line of sight, so if I move, I'd break a bunch more branches, and that might distract her... And it isn't just because I want food, as I was promised before the village of cat people turned out to be weird somethings.
With the finishing touches on the cooking pot done, Raya proceeds to grab a branch and her dagger as she starts debarking it. A stirring instrument is-
"Kira, how much do you know about your magic?"
Lauren's voice interrupts my train of thought as she brings up a topic I'm quite ignorant of. I know very little about magic in general, much less about my own. All I know is that it's primordial, malleable, and mutagenic for some reason. As she steps into my line of sight with Fenja in tow, she wears a serious expression. "What's going on, Lauren?"
Instead of answering, she forms a small ball in her hand of green and red magic, swirling and intertwining as they dance against each other. As I try to pull magic away from my eyes to see what it really looks like, it becomes apparent that I let my magic eyes stop at some point, and Lauren's magic ball just looks like that.
"This is an amalgamation of wild magic and primordial magic. They're standing as equals without one consuming the other. Do you know what that means?"
I do not. In fact, I have no idea what that could possibly mean. I do know that my magic has a tendency to consume other magic, so it does seem peculiar that these two can co-exist like that. The more Lauren looks at the two forms of magic in her hand as she leans against my muzzle, the more excited she becomes, failing to hide her emotions coming through our mental bond.
"I believe you wield destruction. Your magic is destruction, and wild magic is creation. They're the fundamental magics from which all other magic is born."
I'm still not sure what that means, but I'm happy for her! She seems almost giddy at learning this. And if she can wield the two fundamental forces of magic, does that mean she could learn any spell she could ever imagine? Or is it more like 'just because you can mill flour doesn't mean you can bake a cake?' We'll have to find out for sure.
It's tempting to ask her to show me an actual spell, but if she hasn't learned any yet, on account of how little time has passed since she started learning, it could really take the wind out of her sails.
And now she's laughing at me and hugging my muzzle... Dang it! Freakin' mind bridge potion!
"Sorry, Lauren. I'm curious, but I'm not sure what to do about asking."
"That's okay, you silly beast. I haven't learned any spells yet, so all I'm doing is wielding the magic itself in an unshaped form."
It's great to see her so happy. Giving Raya a look, I bring up the topic of her learning this magic, but she shrugs and goes back to carving her spoon. It's pretty clearly a spoon by now as she works on hollowing out the bowl of the utensil.
"It doesn't feel right for me from here. I think that will have to be Lauren's thing."
"Thank you, Raya. It feels right to me. I was never good at magic and most of my healing was done by Merciferus, but with this... With this, I can cast my own spells with my own power. I can heal people again!"
I hope so! She looks ready to jump right out of her boots, she's so excited. Which makes it all the more odd that she starts crying.
"What's wrong, Lauren?"
"Sorry... I'm alright. I just... I thought it was gone forever. I didn't think I would have the opportunity to learn healing magic again. I was never good at magic, but this feels so right. It feels like I was meant to wield creation magic."
That's fantastic news! Who knew almost getting killed by a vicious infection from some death realm and being left with crushed dreams and barely any magic, only to be partially mutated by dragon magic would turn out to be a good thing? I sure didn't.
On the topic of mutations, her eyes are glowing with an emerald gleam, matching the color of the magic she still holds in her hand. I can't tell if it's a trick of the light as the darkness of night approaches, or if this fancy magic has similar properties to my own magic. That sounds like something to worry about later anyway. For now, we should focus on being happy for her.
I'm sure I look a little nervous as I give Lauren a glance, which she returns with a stare. It occurs to me that I should ask a specific question... "Did you hear all those thoughts?"
"The potion's effect dropped as you asked me what was wrong."
Oh, good. I shouldn't think thoughts of crushed dreams if the person affected can hear my thoughts. That's just rude.
With that settled, Lauren, Fenja, and Raya sit around a circle of sticks as Raya places the stone cooking pot in the middle. There's something about that whole situation that reminds me of something... There's a reason why this might be a bad idea, but the exact reason eludes me.
For now, I'll just tell them to wait until I remember. Rather than wait, Raya gets up and walks into the woods, leaving the rest of us with an unlit campfire to sit around. In fact, I'm gonna get up and sit around it some more. I see no reason why I shouldn't enjoy some heat from a delightful fire.
As I begin coiling around, the dang wolves interrupt by settling opposite my shoulder, leaving me to have to settle as some weird crescent shape. Luckily I don't have to think about that too long as Raya returns with a few rocks in hand.
"Kira, I think I know what you're thinking about. This rock-"
She's holding up a rock with smooth surfaces, and it looks like it was smoothed by water.
"-is from a river. If you use it in a fire, it can blow up. Maybe it just cracks, maybe it makes you blind. Don't use it in campfires. And this one-"
Now she's holding up one with less smoothness, but with a crack, she hits it against another rock, cracking it open, revealing flint inside.
"-can explode, but might not. You can use it in a campfire for a little while, but it's better not to. And this one-"
The final rock she shows me has clear angled sides. If I were a geologist, I might've said something like 'that's granite,' but I'm not. So who knows what kind of rock that is.
"-is safe to use. It hasn't been in a river because river rocks get flat. If you're unsure, just use big, fresh logs. Then you'll know when you're in trouble because when they're on fire, you're in trouble."
Lauren is nodding along with a knowing expression, and my lack of wilderness training is showing. I enjoyed the quick lesson, though, but I'm not sure I could tell the rocks apart just yet. I'll have to keep all of this in mind, it might come up again in the future, given that fire is sort of a specialty of mine.
With her demonstration over, Raya and Lauren get to work on the finishing touches to the campfire. Satisfied with the arrangement of wood, Raya pulls on my magic and forms a fireball, which she pushes into the kindling. With all I've heard about dragon's gold being rare and dragonfired bricks being useful and fancy, watching Raya use my flame for mundane things like lighting a fire is a delight.
As the flame takes hold of the fuel, the wolves sneak closer to enjoy the heat, and Raya is quick to find Snarlacus and call him over. Living up to his name, he snarls at me before Raya guides him to my side. With her insistence, he lies down against me, keeping a wary eye out in case I try anything, but Raya appears to have obtained exactly what she wanted as she buries herself between the two of us.
Her own little nest of scales and fur with only a tuft of her unruly hair sticking out of the tiny gap between Snarlacus and I. Having watched Raya, Fenja joins in on the snuggle pile by digging her way into the gap alongside Raya. I think. I can't quite tell if they have separate areas or they're creating a nest together.
That leaves Lauren sitting on her own.
"You can join them, Lauren. I don't mind."
"Are you sure? I know you don't like wolves, and I don't want you to feel alone or left behind."
I certainly appreciate the concern, but a little reassurance later, she joins in on the fuzzy nesting time. Lauren is quite a bit bigger than the other two, so she settles for simply leaning against Snarlacus, enjoying the softness of his fur against her back.
Having watched everything, the other wolves grow bolder and approach, forming a tighter circle around the campfire to enjoy the heat. Dang it... I might have to face my prejudice and realize that wolves aren't that bad... That happened with adventurers too, and now I have adventurer friends.
I might have had to give up on the promised feast, but snoozing around a campfire with a bunch of friends is a worthwhile trade. What the hell was the point of the stone bowl if Raya is just gonna bury herself in fur?
"Raya! What happened to cooking food? You made that bowl for a reason, and I want to find out what you can make."
I can tell by the movement and soft rumbling that she's trying to get free, but it feels like she's stuck and there's no chance of her getting free. Serves her right for forgetting the important things, like treats and snacks.
"Lauren, what do you think happened to the actual villagers? Those weird, odorless things seem to have taken over the villages, and I think they might be a threat to the area."
"They were odorless? You couldn't smell them at all?"
I could not. It was so weird, since everything else seems to have a smell. Going over the details yields a thinking brow as she considers the possibilities. As she mumbles, she mentions that one of the ways to track shapeshifters is to use trained animals to scent them. Something or other about how they have a unique scent that no blessed species can detect.
She goes over a few other beings, like changelings taking the form of and replacing their target for safety. It seems they keep their target safe and fed, but it's still rude to replace someone like that.
Given that they use animals to track them, it doesn't sound like that's what we have here anyway.
A wave of fear interrupts her ramblings as her movements freeze.
"I think they tried to poison us, Kira. To make us join them. You're resistant, if not outright immune to such things, and Raya is so far along in her transformation that she likely inherited the same properties. I'm not sure where I am in terms of transformation, but I'm obviously still myself, so whatever they tried didn't work."
That sounds like a leap, but she appears quite sure that's the case. And as she talks more about how the villagers were excessively friendly as they left me behind, I grow increasingly convinced that she's right.
"Do you know what kind of being we're dealing with, Lauren? If they're using drugs, it sounds likely that they're keeping people alive."
"I'm not sure, but mental magic is part of its armory, and it likely uses mind-suppressing drugs to amplify its power. I think that's why you were so focused on leaving me behind. I'm the weakest of the three of us. If it can influence you, I don't think Raya and I should go there again. So if you want to do something to help the villagers, it would be safest if you do it on your own. We're safe under the protection of the forest spirit."
She might be right, and I don't feel like leaving any more than usual. Which means some jerk tried to get in my head without my permission...
I don't like that one bit, and it makes me want to retaliate to make sure it doesn't happen again. As I get up, there's a slight sound of surprise as Snarlacus falls to the side, squishing Raya under a veritable mountain of fuzzy goodness. Lucky her...
With a final question to Lauren before I leave for the villages, I ask if the felifolk we met were real or not.
"I don't know. I think you should treat them as if they were the villagers."
Dang it, I'll need to be careful then. Following the trail of broken branches and knocked-over trees, for which I'm not responsible, I head back toward the villages.
It would be a lot faster if I could fly, but nooo... Stupid trees have to be large and in the way... Instead, I pick up the pace and go into a steady run, the sound of my heavy footfall no doubt scaring the wildlife as I don't even see the shadow of a critter. I do cross the occasional scent trail, though, so I'm sure they're just fleeing.
Aside from breaking more branches, the run toward the forest's edge is uneventful. As the night sky comes into proper view, it becomes clear that the villagers have placed sentries to keep an eye out.
Rather than fighting them, I spread my wings and take to the skies, utilizing the speed from my run to reach a decent altitude fast. The ground is littered with villagers, all of them staring in my direction and tracking my movements. It's pretty obvious that something weird is going on now that I know to look for it.
Focusing magic into my eyes, a pale yellow, almost invisible field of magic pulsates through the area. Adding more magic to my sight makes it clearer, but the dang thing doesn't want to be seen, it feels like.
The closer I get to the largest village, the less capable of hiding it becomes. And I'm getting the impression that it's some sort of fungus with a web of hyphae making the area appear as mycelium.
Well, that gives me a target, at least. If I can follow the tendrils to the most concentrated part, I should find the heart of the fungus. Though using this much magic on my eyes does feel straining, and I don't think I should do so for too long.
Hold on... If it's using magic to fuel its growth and tendrils, what happens if I kidnap a villager and create a field of magic of my own?
"Lauren, if I can block your prayers with my magic, can I also block mental connections between other things?"
"I have no idea, but try it. It could work. Or it could backfire, empowering the connection and feeding the monster."
One of the things she mentions is a lot more optimistic than the other, so I'm gonna go with that. And there are plenty of test subjects below as they keep watching the skies. I haven't been let out of their sight for even a moment since I started flying over the villages.
Their movements appear mechanical now that they aren't trying to put on an act to lure us in. It's eerie the way they look like puppets on strings. Nobody deserves to be controlled like that, and there's a vibration inside me telling me to stop whatever is going on, feeding my building fury. Focus, Kira. Don't let your instincts take over. A charred body doesn't count as a rescued person.
There's a villager standing by himself with enough room around him to land. The temptation to simply swoop in and grab him is there, but I wouldn't want to accidentally break him, and I have no idea how durable these people are.
With a quick thud, I land by him on my hind legs, grab him, and push magic into my wings for a quick take-off. Kidnapping successful! The villager screams and fights in my grasp, but I know I'm not being too rough since there's room for him to wiggle.
Soaring through the skies with a screaming villager isn't the best for my image of a non-tyrant, but if anyone complains, I'll have Raya spin it to make me look good. I'm sure she can handle that.
That's not important right now anyway, I have magical fields to disrupt. Giving the villager a proper look reveals a tendril of magic connecting him to the ground, a pale yellow thing matching that of the magic fungus.
As I fly in circles, it becomes clear that I underestimated the utility of snatching up this guy as the tendril links to a specific spot in the central square. I guess it makes sense, but I'm pretty sure the heart of the fungus is underground.