As we walked, I had to pay attention to my surroundings while Garret and Landon talked and Veil hummed.
Suddenly, we all heard distant clashes, like 2 hard things repeatedly hitting each other. We all shared a glance before dashing forward. Within the minute, we saw a woman holding an extra long stick like a spear against a spirit i didn't recognise.
<15% chance to drop a spark. 10% chance to drop spirit skull. 0.01% chance to drop a soul>
Suddenly, the woman looked at us and I caught a glimpse of annoyance before she covered it with an indifferent expression.
Then, I watched as Landon shot forward, cutting it's back with his stick. Bright red blood poured out, but the woman shocked us all. She was standing infront of the gecko but in the next second, she was standing next to Landon, stabbing her stick into the wound.
The gecko screeched before going still. We stood there in shock before she turned to us.
"What do you guys want? Food? Ill sell you a pound for a spark" she announced, stunning me. What was even more surprising was that the three looked like they were contemplating it.
"2 pounds and your cooperation" Garret offered in return, catching my attention. I glared at him but he shook me off.
"Deal, 4 sparks please" she called out in a sickening sweet voice as she stretched our her arm.
"Garret, I don't have a spark to give" I called out, making everyone pause. He glared at me while taking a deep breathe.
"Yes you do. You got it from that lost bone soldier in the ambush. Why else would you be staring into your soul space?" He called out but I had no answer. I was checking out the bow but I don't want to hand that over.
"You 3 can give me a spark but he has to leave the group. I will leave otherwise" the woman announced, making the air tense. I looked at them one by one but they weren't saying anything.
That familiar feeling came up, like when Gavin's group left me, making me depressed and angry. Then, a chilling coldness enveloped me from the inside out.
"Fine, good luck on your assignment" I called out coldly before Veil made her appearance. I felt her growing a long vine out of my shoulder, making it shoot up into the trees.
Looking up, I saw it was covered in bone thorns and was stunned.
"Felix! What are you doing?" Brandon yelled but it died off when he saw veil's changes. Suddenly, it wrapped around a branch and I shot up, swinging away from them.
'Veil! What are you doing!?' I mentally yelled as wind rushed against my face. I watched as I swung between trees, quickly passing the stream and shooting down it.
'Master, that female human was manipulating the male humans against you. You were in danger so I removed you from the situation' she explained urgently. I watched as her vines grappled onto different branches, swinging me further and further.
'How can you do this? I could only get your vine to grow to 2 meters max before your ascension' I asked curiously and she chuckled.
'After I reached elite, my energy purity improved greatly. Allowing me to grow my body out to the extreme' she elaborated but something else caught my attention. Infront of us was a spirit with a suffocating aura.
<30% chance to drop a spark. 10% chance to drop a spirit skull. 0.01% chance to drop an undead soul>
A 3 meter wide bird of bone was gliding infront of us. It's wings looked like bone blades stacked on top of each other, making a layering effect.
"Veil! Drop!" I yelled aloud as an ear piercing screech echoed all around us. Suddenly, Veil's vine let go af the branches from above, letting us free fall. I saw the stream below but I doubted it would cushion the fall completely.
'Master, do you trust me?' Veil's voice rang out quietly, giving me an uncanny amount of tranquility.
"Yes" I breathe out as I felt something new. The majority of my koi was flowing to my arm, into the white tattoo that layed there. A white and green hue of light emerged from it before 6 vines green out from different parts of my body.
I felt a little weak as the vines shot out, grabbing onto the trunks of trees, breaking my fall and shooting me forward, hovering just inches above the forest floor. I heard another ear piercing screech and felt my head get heavy.
Suddenly, we were shot into a clearing where a massive lake lay. The vines all held onto different trunks as they were strained to the max. I stopped mid air and hung there for a moment before slowly sliding to the ground.
'It won't be able to find us for a long while but we have no energy. We need food, water and sleep. Or you can pierce a creature with my thorns?' Veil called out weakly and I nodded. I slowly walked towards the edge of the water, looking down.
When I saw my reflection, I felt my world pause. There was dried blood, dirt and grime caked on my face and hair, making me look like a damn cave man. My hair looked a little longer, reaching my shoulders yet it looked a little different.
I dunked my head in the water and scrubbed my face and hair, every time I came up for air, I would see the water get darker and darker. 10 minutes later, my face felt smooth and I could see my hair, yet it was slightly different than I remembered. I saw strands of white throughout it like I dyed it professionally.
I had to walk a bit away before I could get to clean water and looked down. My slightly curly hair was now a light brown with a handful of white highlights, along with a few silver ones. I stared at them in awe before I dunked my head in, taking large gulps of water.
'Master, be careful. I can see a spirit swimming up to you' Veil called out, making me pull my head out so fast, my hair slammed against my back. Scanning the water, I spotted what she was talking about immediatily. There was a half a meter long blue fish with sharp teeth rushing towards me.
<10% chance to drop a spark>
I jumped back, getting ready for the worst and watched as it swam to the edge, watching me with a cold determination.
"It can't get me on land. Guess that makes sense" I breathe out as Veil sent an urge through me. Looking down, I raised my hand and slowly grew a vine out. I wanted it to wrap around it's body so it couldn't bit it but it was going to be hard.
Then, I got an idea. I looked around and grabbed a stick thick enough not to break immediatily and got ready. Then, I dipped it in and shot my vine into the water as fast as my tired body could make it.
The quick water trout bit down onto the stick, almost breaking it immediatily but my vine was starting to wrap it. Suddenly, I pulled hard and dragged the fish up, out of the water. Suddenly, I watched the thorns tear into it, but that wasnt the interesting part.
As it layed there, the trout bled but none of the blood touched the ground. Instead, Veil absorbed it all, along with it's bones. I could feel a steady flow of energy flowing through the vine until I heard it.
The system rang out and left me a little suprise. I glanced at my soul space and saw a golden spark but chose not to absorb it. They fact that the other three didn't absorb all there sparks threw me off. Don't tell me the academy uses sparks as currency?! The rich would get strong while the poor grew weaker.
'Thank you master' Veil called out, making me smile. What a polite plant I bonded with.
"No need, you saved our lives twice now" I retorted and I heard her chuckling softly.
'You said that aloud and I hadn't had this much excitement in a long time. Thank you for bonding with me' she called out before I looked down at the fish flesh.
It can be considered perfect with no blood or bones to spoil it. I stored it and pulled out a bit of deer meat. Then, I gathered some dry sticks. 10 minutes later, I was grilling the deer meat on a bone.
The oils were making me salivate to the extreme. I looked up at the sun's position and saw it was around 2, with 5 more hours until the sun fell. I ate with gusto as Veil and I were talking casually.
'So, what are your plans Master? I've never been outside of the ruined forest and you don't talk alot about the outside world.' Veil questioned, making me think back to the conversation the other guys and I had.
"I don't really know yet. I have to serve in the military for a minimum of 2 years before I can leave or continue to stay" I explained, watching her nod in my mind's eye.
'You still have time to figure out. You can say im your origin if you want. I saw you lying about it to the 3 the other day' she offered, making me pause.
"Just what can you hear and see? How does it work?" I asked with curiosity and she replied quickly.
'I can use my energy to see around me but i use you to hear. Everything you hear, i hear' she answered, stunning me.
"You know what, that kinda makes sense" I breathed out as I looked out, over the lake. Ripples spread out everywhere as the wind passed continously. This would be a great place to grind out some sparks. Just in case they actually use sparks as currency. If not, I just got a lot stronger.
I start to walk around the lake, observing the waters with discerning eyes. 6 minutes passed before I suddenly felt a shift. The trait, plant affinity, which faded into the corners of my mind, suddenly sent signals of urgency.
It put me on edge as I scanned for all plant life in the area. There was a line of trees behind me, grasses to my left and right, and a lake infront of me.
'Master! Run!' Veil practically screammed in my mind before I finally realized. Wait... aren't there aquatic plants? Then, I saw it.
<100% chance to drop a spark. 40% chance to drop a spirit skull. 0.01% chance to drop a soul bone. 0.001% chance to drop an extraordianry aquatic soul>