With the plans for the new clothes set, Lassim was about to ask Cirra if she wanted to leave when he noticed Maelin looking at him with a peculiar gaze.
Maelin leaned up against the counter and fixed her gaze on Cirra, "You know… maybe our young friend here can help pay off his debt by assisting with THAT plant," she suggested, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper.
Cirra, caught off guard, blinked a few times, her mind racing to catch up.
At Maelin’s pointed look, realization dawned, and she nodded slowly. "Ah, right, THAT one."
Lassim, feeling like he had just walked into the middle of what his mother always referred to as ’the maid’s gossip’, raised his eyebrows.
"So… either of you want to fill me in here or…?" he asked curiously.
Cirra cleared her throat, shifting her stance, almost as if she was about to start teaching him another language lesson. It seemed she had the proper posture of a professor or teacher. He wondered if that was a past profession of hers at some point.
"Well, this starts with a tale of a formerly great, yet small beast tribe led by a Monkey King," she began, her voice taking on the timbre of a storyteller. "This king had a good relationship with the surrounding towns nearby, including this one, for many years. But about thirteen years ago, his demeanor changed abruptly. He became reclusive, and his tribe… something terrible happened."
She paused for effect, glancing at Maelin, who nodded for her to continue. "After a few months of isolation, a mass die-off occurred among his troop. But curiously, about a week later, they were spotted again, alive, yet not the same. Their eyes were glazed over with a white sheen, and they mindlessly followed every command of their monkey king."
Lassim listened intently.
"Seemingly, under his orders, they began to attack and scavenge nearby towns of their foods and wines, leading to the current hostility between the towns and this tribe," Cirra added.
"So, what does this have to do with a plant?" Lassim interjected.
Cirra nodded, acknowledging his confusion. "I’m getting there," she assured him. "The key to this mystery came from a regular we’ve sold potions to over at the Marshlight. He returned one day with wounds across his back and legs so severe we thought they had festered for over a week. But he claimed they were fresh, inflicted just two hours before by these...
zombie monkeys, after a visit to his old friend, the Monkey King."
She leaned closer, lowering her voice as if the walls themselves might listen. "You see, this regular had been a long time drinking friend of the monkey king. He’d travel the various nearby kingdoms or even those far away in search of unique and interesting ales for him to share with the monkey king.
A unique relationship for sure, but one that had been established long before the monkey king was the current king of his tribe. He returned to share some new finds with his friend, unknowing about the recent change in behavior."
Cirra paused for a breath before continuing, "When he arrived he noticed a unique, green four-leaved plant growing over and throughout the king’s bamboo throne. Trusting his friend, he believed the monkey king had to have either been hypnotized by it or had consumed it, granting him the power to control these mindless monkeys of his troop.
It’s highly possible that they aren’t truly dead as well, but are under some form of necrosis that creates their highly infectious claws and would explain some of the bones showing. Also, that the plant itself has possibly allowed the Monkey King to gain a form of mind control."
Lassim absorbed the information, "So, is this a mission just to get rid of the nuisance, or…?" he asked, trying to understand the full scope of what they were proposing.
Cirra, sensing Lassim’s contemplation, elaborated further on her intentions with earnest precision. "As I mentioned, my primary research goal is to unlock a new form of mental communication through spiritual senses, unrestricted by language.
If this plant possesses the capabilities I suspect—allowing some sort of connection between its consumers—it could revolutionize the field of my communicative research. But there’s a significant barrier: the Monkey King."
She sighed, "He was already strong before this plant, but has become incredibly more dangerous with such a massive troop of thousands of monkey able to attack in a unified manner all at once. This combination is much more powerful than myself or even Gregor could hope to handle. I’ve discussed this with Maelin, hoping for her assistance..."
Maelin, who had been listening intently, interjected with a firm tone, "I am only in service of Her Majesty the Queen. The Threads are hers and hers alone." Her declaration was staunch and incredibly practiced as if she had uttered such a phrase countless times in her life.
Cirra picked up the thread of conversation, a slight frown on her face, "…which is her usual response when I request her strength to deal with threats impacting my research."
She turned back to Lassim, her eyes searching his’ for perhaps a hint of the courage needed. "So, there you have it. If you’re able to help me secure this plant like Maelin believes you’ll be able to, not only would I consider your debt paid in full, but I would owe you a significant favor. What do you say?"
Lassim weighed the risks against the potential rewards. The danger posed by the Monkey King and his hypnotized troop was clear, but the opportunity to contribute to a groundbreaking discovery—and to clear his indebtedness to Cirra—sounded honestly kind of fun.
He’d been itching to test his power out since returning and only been met with beasts that ran away from him and a town guardian that threatened his passage if he didn’t behave.
After a moment of consideration, he nodded, his decision made.
"I’ll do it," he affirmed, his voice steady with resolve. "It sounds like a challenge, but the potential fun is too much to ignore. Where is this monkey king’s location and do you have a general plan about how we should go about it?"
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Cirra nodded, pleased with his enthusiasm, "First, there are some ground rules. None of the mindless monkeys can be killed. Do you have a way to incapacitate them without causing harm?"
Lassim pondered for a moment, then suggested, "I could use my [Lightning Lash] technique. It’s a single-target, lightning-empowered shackling method that shocks and paralyzes. Or, for multiple targets, my [Storm’s Grasp] could immobilize them with water. Which do you think would work better?"
Maelin, interested, chimed in from the side. "Can you, perhaps, also control the water elements to freeze, like some spirit warriors of your kind are often able to do with the water element?"
"Yes, I can," Lassim replied confidently. "I should be able to modify [Storm’s Grasp] to quickly freeze the water around them. I did something similar when I was in the Spirit Incubation stage during a school trial, but I’ve only grown since then. It should be able to immobilize them without being lethal if I control it properly."
Cirra responded with approval. "That sounds like a viable plan. Just make sure to hold back on the lightning, we don’t want to risk accidentally killing them if they can be saved. It’s important to me that we try to free them from whatever control they’re under; if they’re still alive that is."
Cirra pulled out a small, detailed map from her bag, spreading it on Maelin’s counter, clearly comfortable in her friend’s shop, for Lassim to see.
She pointed to a densely forested area not far from the town, "The Monkey King’s tribe is located here," she explained, her finger tracing a path through the swamp that led to a secluded clearing marked by an unusual circle of bamboo trees on the map. "It’s in the swampy outskirts of this town, quite isolated and difficult to access due to the dense undergrowth and the peculiar terrain.
The trees along our path there are thick and the ground is marshier than the surrounding lands. Then we’ll have to deal with the monkeys who have their stronghold around an ancient, overgrown temple filled with bamboo trees that’s been reclaimed by the swamp."
"I’ll need to prepare some disinfectants and healing salves in case we’re attacked and receive any injuries from the monkeys. We already know they’re highly infectious and will fester quickly. We shall leave at dawn tomorrow, so I will have to get started right away on making them so we have enough."
Lassim nodded, affirming his understanding of the plan with her.
Cirra then hastily departed from Gossamer Goods to start her preparations as Lassim turned to Maelin to bid farewell as well. He attempted the farewell phrase in the Spider language, incorporating the hand gestures Cirra had taught him.
"[Skreeka lok varrak, tika lok!]" he said, with his arms performing a gentle downward sweep, palms facing outward then curling inward..
Maelin nodded with a small smile, impressed with his effort. "Well done, young child of man. [Skreeka lok varrak, tika lok!] Safe travels."
Feeling excited, Lassim left the store, ready to discuss the plan with Zaphy and Mari to see if they had anything to add before tomorrow.