As I made it to my door, I saw Tiana standing by her own, directly across from mine. She gave me a confused look before I walked in, making sure to close the door behind me this time.
The moon was high in the projected sky, yet this moon didnt have that silvery white glow like the real one. There's only so much a projection can do, I guess. I walked over to the massive pot in the center and pulled out the teal and yellow flower. A subtle glow poured out of it as I layed it in the soil.
Suddenly, that flower let out a blinding light that kept switching between gold and teal. After a minute, the light dimmed, letting me see what was sitting in the pot.
In front of me, the flower man was sitting comfortably in the soil. He looked around before his head turned towards me.
'Aaaah, the one human child that can hear me. Yes, the spirit farmer' he called out. I nodded slowly as I urged Veil to come out. Vines poured out until her main body and roots came out, resting in my arms.
'Your first bond. A bone vine that got a species specific evolution. Interesting. Do you know why I wanted to talk to you, or who I am?' He asked out as the flowers around his body swayed lightly as he talked. I shook my head as he took Veil and placed her in the pot.
'First, I am trofle, an honorary general in this division. But that isn't important. What's important is that you can hear me and you have the spirit farmer path' he explained, making my head spin. A general?! Why the hell isnt that important?
"Im sorry sir, general. Why is it that you wanted to speak with me?" I asked out quickly before he laughed out. My nerves were on end as he laughed. Am I in trouble? He clearly isnt human so will he kill me? He can just cover it up casually if he wanted.
'Just call me trofle. Now' he called out before a system notification popped up.
I stared at the contract with amazement as the trofle stared to sway. I hit accept and an ethereal golden chain pierced through my chest, and the same happened to trofle. If felt like a weighted blanket was wrapping around me before it faded.
'Now that you're my apprentice, let me see your status' he called out but I paused. Show him my status? How the hell do I do that?
"How do I do that?" I called out. He just stared at me for a moment before he nodded slowly.
'Aye aye. Just read off what your status says' he called out, so I listed off each section, not hiding anything. I don't want to get any backlash from the first contract I accept outside of class. I watched as his flowers shook whenever I went over my traits, soul space, and paths.
'Well human child, looks like you hide more secrets than I thought. None the less, you started off on a weird foot with the spirit farmer. Usually, that path starts with the skill, plant heart. It allows you to communicate with plants without words, yet your trait does that just fine' he went on about the first skill I should have gotten, but I didnt have it.
"Wait, so how do I get it?" I called out, making him chuckle.
'Well, 2 ways. You meditate beside ancient plants for a long time, or until they give you there blessing. The second way is to ask an evolved extraordinary plant to give you a drop of there essence' he called out as he reached into one of the flowers atop his head.
I watched as he pulled out a green drop of some thick liquid.
'This is a drop of my essence, to get you back on track. None of the other skills will be this easy to get to enjoy it while it lasts' he explained as he flicked it onto my chest. The green fluid shot through my uniform, through my skin, straight into my heart.
I felt a coolness envelope my body as my koi sped up a little bit. Time passed slowly as I felt a change happening inside my body until a system notification rang out.
I looked st the notification, a little scared that I couldnt hear trofle anymore but his voice rang out a lot clearer in a second.
'How is it? How do you feel?' He questioned in a deep voice, shocking me a little.
"I can hear you a lot better, but what else does it do?" I called out and he nodded slowly.
'It will slow augment you koi into plants koi' he explained and I paused. Plant koi? Oooh, like elemental koi.
I nodded slowly before he started to rub the flowers in his hands together.
'I am leaving for a mission soon, so im going to give you a gift before I leave. Bond with it and grow it to be strong. Also, use that bone flower with dark koi with it' he explained while handing over a grape sized seed.
I held it carefully as I called Veil back into my tattoo and placed it in my pot. Suddenly, trofle started to wilt rapidly, scaring me.
"Whats happening?" I called out as it shriveled up into a dying yellow and teal flower, lying on the floor. I nodded slowly in understanding as this was only a copy of him? A clone? Replica? Then, I glanced over at the seed.
Raising my hand, I pulled out a black bone flower and put it right over the seed before burying it. Finally, I took a breathe, and used my origin and tried to think back to how I bonded with veil.
A green light poured out of my hands as it coated the soil. I felt something absorbing all the green light quickly and then, I tried to feel it with my mind, like I did with veil. Nothing came through at first but slowly, faint thoughts came through.
Curiosity, hunger, excitement, but that was it. I felt a small root grow out of it's seed before my koi ran out. I took a minute to catch my breathe as I layed down in the grass, staring up at the moon.
"My life got a little complicated" I sigh out as I was left alone with my thoughts.
'Are you ok, master?' Veil called out, making me smile and a little shocked. Her voice sounded a lot clearer with more of an accent to it. It wasn't anything I recognised but still.
"Yea, just feeling a little alone" I tell the truth, thinking about my mom. I felt a wave of sadness come over me but shoved it back before I started to cry.
I looked down at my watch and saw it was 7, I had ended up talking to him for about 2 hours? How is that possible? I felt it took 10 minutes max.
Then, I pulled out that clear eye stone and checked the spirit farmer path.
<1/7 bond>
<2/7 forest heart>
<3/7 ???>
<4/7 ???>
I nodded slowly while a thought came to me. This is a passive skill so I can use it now. Bond was somehow a special occasion?
"Veil, do I... feel different to you?" I questioned aloud, thinking about how it affected my body when I gained the skill. I felt Veil stirring in her space for a minute until she hummed.
'Yes, you do but it can't tell what it is. It's like, you seem more like family now?' She tried to explain but she couldnt get it quite right. I just sighed as a fatigue washed over me. Today was too much for me. I just need to leave it behind, for now at least.
I walked over to my bed and layed down, passing out quickly after.
***
Out in the room across from mine, Tiana, Vivian, brandon, and one other guys at in a circle while the equation floated infront of each of them.
If one looked closely at the way there koi moved when they studied it, they would notice that all of there's was trying to match each other's, or at least trying to reach the same goal. They sat there for hours until an alarm went off, waking them up from there trance.
They all shared a glance before Vivian spoke up.
"I thought you invited felix?" He questioned lightly but it only irked Tiana. She sighed before waving her hand.
" he didn't show. Doesn't matter because roman came on short notice" she explained while pointing to the curly haired man with an average physical. He nodded quickly before they all stood up.
"Same time tomorrow?" Roman asked and she nodded while leading them out.
"Yea, and don't tell felix about the secret, he needs to know what it means to refuse me" she called out as the door closed.
***
Back to my side, I was in a land of it's own. I was back in that ocean of still water, staring at the moon. It's radiant glow made my mind clear up and wander through random thoughts as they came.
I floated as a single ripple would come off my body every so often. What is this place? How did I end up here? Slowly, I started to zone out, with my head becoming clearer and clearer.
Then, I watched as a trace of the moon's light entered through my eyes, blinding me as a clear chime spread out from everywhere yet nowhere.
Suddenly, I woke up. Everything lit up as I stared at the projected moon in the sky, shining brightly as if it was real.
I got ready for the day and showered in the bathroom before putting on a new uniform. I walked up to the large pot in my room and used my origin, letting the green glow flow freely into the soil. 4 minutes later, i could feel that the seed had cracked open more, as the root grew to be an inch long.
I walked towards my door, opening it to see an empty hallway. Walking down towards the elevator, I wondered why no one was out.
Walking out of the elevator, I saw a huge poster hanging on the ceiling.
'NO SCHOOL ON WEEKENDS, SLEEP IN'