Wraithwood Botanist

B2 | Chapter 64 - Schemes

"Reward: Soul Guardian (Eighth Evolution Seed)

Grade: Legendary

Description: If you thought that scary soul monster was cool, imagine having one that’s smarter than you and has a penchant for eating your soul force as a food source. That’s what a guardian is—in practice. In theory, they’re amalgamations, like Yakana, that refine a single soul instead of creating a network of many.

When guardians aren’t threatening to rip your mind and identity apart, they are extremely useful, making up for your inadequacies. These parasites become part of your body, allowing you to borrow their unique abilities. If it’s a ground beast, you can ride it; if it’s a small creature, you can use it for reconnaissance or spying missions. It’s different for each beast, but it’s almost always powerful. And unlike people, guardians can heal from any wound unless they’re obliterated by an aura attack or stolen by a soulmancer, making them ideal bodies for fighting your battles.

It is just a seed that you need to help grow. So, like you, it will be a useless, blank slate when it arrives in Areswood Forest. That said, an eighth evolution seed has been refined with the souls of gods, so its potential is solely determined by your effort. It’s a legendary reward worthy of your achievement.

Don’t get too excited, though. It’s illegal to push legendary artifacts and resources into the lower domains, let alone eight evolution souls, so it will require a good deal of legal jujutsu and a multiverse-wide corruption scheme—and that pales in comparison to the difficulty of actually obtaining an eighth evolution seed. The law is one thing—the chance you’ll find one is slim to none this year.

Unless, of course, you conveniently have a powerful soulmancer as a patron, and he likes you. Then it just might be possible.

I will provide you with more information on the soul guardian once I secure one.

Seriously, Mira, congratulations on your achievement. Your talent, drive, and will have led you to greatness. I will stop at nothing to make sure that you get the value you deserve."

I read the screen in wonder and disbelief. The thought of having a god-level resource on my side was almost too much to take, and I had wild delusions of grandeur about riding on the shoulder of that colossus I saw at the pond.

Unfortunately, things weren’t as they seemed. I learned that the next day at breakfast when I explained the gift for the sake of transparency. I was hesitant to do so out of fear that the gift was actually a curse.

Turned out, I was right.

"What a fucked up gift," Kyro said. He released a long, passionate groan and leaned his back against a large rock. The meat I cooked him was left untouched.

"What does that mean?" I asked.

"Well, for starters, if you don’t feed it, it’ll eat your soul, and well, once you feed it a lot, you can’t feed it a little. So once that puppy’s tied up on you... you’re pretty much stuck here... forever."

My stomach sank, and I suddenly lost my appetite. I stabbed a piece of meat with my fork and fed it to Kline, who didn’t seem the slightest bit concerned.

"Plus..." Kyro swallowed and took shallow breaths. "Someone’s gotta bring it here, right? That means they’ll be collecting people to come live in this forest with you... This’s gotta be a scheme. I’d consult Nethralis first. You accept that gift without permission, and she’ll probably sic the Drokai on you."

I dropped my fork on my plate and cupped my face.

Kyro whined and looked at me pleadingly. "Don’t tell me you accepted?"

I shook my head. "I don’t have a choice. Last time I got a reward, the Oracle held the competition that started this nightmare."

He looked up. "Why?"

"’Cause it governs the multiverse through rewards. I think... it’s how it gets people to do what it wants. And since I’m part of its governance, it’s forcing a pipeline for taxation... and stuff. I don’t really understand it. It just said, It’s not all about you, Mira... One sec."

I swiped my finger in the air to communicate what I was doing to Kyro, then opened The Guide and said, Lithco. Can I refuse this reward?

A pop-up materialized.

"If you’re stupid, I suppose you could try. But I’ll still refuse."

Why?

The pop-up turned white, and new letters wrote themselves.

Mira smirked in triumph and pulled a skillet out of her pop-out stove. When Kyro saw it, he leaned against the rocks.

"That’s not how you make charcoal," Kyro said. "If you don’t remove the oxygen, it just turns to ash."

"It’s fine," she said. "I got an oxygen-free domain around it. That was the easy part. The hard part was finding an alternative for calcium chloride. Turns out, even the rocks are useful here. It’s like Candy Mountain... only for drugs."

"She can use isolated domains... of course she can... of course..." he mumbled. "Well, I’m still not gonna eat it. So you can save the effort."

Mira paused and then pulled out her pestle, grinding it up.

"Didn’t you hear me?" he asked. "I said—"

"You know what the cool thing about activated charcoal is?" Mira mused, floating charcoal into the air in a hypnotic stream.

"What?" he asked dryly.

"You can mix it with alcohol."

He opened his mouth to protest but held back his tongue. "Son of a bitch, she’s got me."

Mira smirked in triumph once more and finished grinding the charcoal and mixing it with a mixture of water and kianite powder to activate it. Once she finished, she grinned like a psychopath and forced some down his throat. Since he didn’t have a cup, he just had to chew it and wash it down. It was terrible, and he vowed he would never let her do it to him again.

But it did work, and his stomach calmed down, allowing them to hit the water at noon, floating down the river at a brisk pace.

The weather was warm, and the wood he was whittling with mana blades left satisfying shavings on the bow of the canoe. The wine had finally overtaken the charcoal, and it brought up his spirits, so he finally decided to get to know Mira.

"I hear you want to be a botanist."

"Yeah. I love plants."

"Even here?"

"Especially here." Mira smiled and looked through the mist to see the forest beyond. "Just because I haven’t been able to study them doesn’t mean that I don’t love waking up around them every day. I think that sychis are beautiful and that esca brush is fascinating. And just the thought that there’s natural aphrodisiacs and poisons and hallucinogens dotting the landscape is wonderful. This place’s a paradise. And once this bullshit ends... I really think I’m going to love it."

"Hmmm..." Kyro stopped shaving down the wood in his hand, realizing that he was carving out a cup—wondering why he would carve a cup mere moments after declaring he would never drink charcoal again. It made him realize that Mira had a powerful, almost charismatic will, and when she said something, it came into being. So he stopped questioning it and continued. "Where’re you gonna live?"

"In a big ’ol tree," she said proudly. "Gonna hollow it out right quick and make myself a house. I’ll add vents and a place for my stove and make bedding from esca brush. And then I’ll read and train and eat all winter until I can go out foraging again. I mean... I have all year before these Harvests. It’ll be a good a life... I know it."

Kyro saw the deep sincerity and hope and belief in her eyes and turned away. He was learning not to doubt her as much. If she wanted to be a botanist, he’d just have to wait to see it.

Unfortunately, he didn’t know if he ever would.

The mountains that were so clear two days prior were now blanked in a thick fog that blotted everything it touched like white paint. It was immersive and cold, haunting even, and he knew exactly what was within that white and distant expanse.

As they approached the fork that separated the Keliam River and the Diktyo, Mira was silent, staring up, realizing that they would soon be surrounded by the soul fog.

"Are beasts gonna scream at us constantly?" she asked.

"Not that way..." Kyro pointed northeast toward the Diktyo. "I mean, you’ll hear ’em but it’s diluted."

"But we’re going that way?" Mira looked to the west and saw a bleak wasteland of white mist and mountain silhouettes. "Ye~p. It’s the overflow for souls that refuse to be purified. So everything out there’s screaming like it’s getting tortured, and you can’t see them ’cause the mist. It’s really messed up."

Mira gulped. "So... how do we...?"

Kyro slowly unscrewed his flask. "That’s the trial. Find the crypt while all your senses are being bludgeoned to death. And... survive all the corrupted beasts lurking in the fog..." He took a long swig. "Yep. It’s a suicide mission alright. But you’ll be fine... You’re a self-starter. If anyone can learn soul sight on the verge of death... it’ll be you." He lifted his flask a second time to get his day started. "Probably."