The Monkey King lay motionless, its vitality finally succumbing to the grievous wounds inflicted by Lassim’s [Thrust] attack. Its remarkable endurance, a testament to its Spirit Ascension level body and physique, was no longer enough to sustain it.
Cirra watched closely, her eyes filled with a mix of curiosity and sorrow. Just as she was about to turn away, continuing to compare it to the lessers of its species, something unexpected happened.
The "plant" inside the Monkey King’s body, the very one that had wrapped itself around the creature’s brain, began to wither and die off as well. Cirra watched as the leaves wilted away.
However, instead of perishing within the corpse and that being the end of it, something emerged from the brain cocoon. This odd entity, a slug-like creature, glistening with a slimy sheen, wriggled free and traveled through from the brain up through and out the dead Monkey King’s ear canal. It landed on the ground with a wet plop and immediately began trying to burrow into the earth.
Cirra, with her fast reflexes, swiftly captured the creature in a glass jar she had prepared previously in her pack. She sealed the jar tightly and held it up to the light, studying the creature closely. The slug squirmed within its glass prison, its green body was slightly translucent, revealing faint, pulsing veins.
"Lassim, come look at this," Cirra called out.
As Lassim approached from his sentry position, she held the jar up for him to see.
"That’s the plant?" Lassim asked, his brow furrowed in confusion.
Cirra shook her head, a bit crestfallen. "No, it’s not. It’s something far worse and useless to me." Her voice was filled with a mix of frustration and disappointment. "I need to see the main ’plant’ now."
Without waiting for a response, Cirra rushed over to the Monkey King’s throne with Lassim following closely behind, his curiosity piqued.
As they reached the throne that was wrapped up in the "plant" with its long ivy-like stems and bunches of four leaf bundles interspersed, the "plant" trembled slightly.
Then, from its tallest branch, it began to produce a fruit, the green four-leaf bundles across its body rapidly wilting and dying away. All the remaining nutrients inside its cells seemed to be channeled into this single fruit. It looked like a large apple, bright green with a sweet, alluring scent filling the air.
"Don’t touch it," Cirra warned, her eyes never leaving the strange fruit. She stood there, deep in thought, her mind racing as she tried to make sense of what she was seeing and coming to terms with her thoughts on what this "plant" species was.
Lassim stood beside her, his gaze shifting between the withering plant and the fruit it was producing. "So, out with it. What do you think it is?" he asked.
Cirra sighed, her shoulders slumping. "This definitely isn’t a plant at all. It’s a parasite that mimics a plant. It probably would use this "fruit" to trick its prey into consuming it and then spreading its body into new hosts for survival. I believe that it’s trick of ’mind control’ is most likely just a form of communication between the parasite’s main body and its clones.
Potentially some sort of hive mind type relationship based on how similar they are to each other and the synchronized attacks and movements we witnessed earlier."
Her voice wavered as she continued, "I had hoped this would be a breakthrough for my research based on the stories we heard, a way I could finally come up with a solution to create spiritual sense communication between individuals. But… like everything else I’ve sought out for the last 50 years… it’s just another failure."
Tears welled up in her eyes, her disappointment palpable. "I thought I had really found something incredible this time..."
Lassim placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder, his eyes still cautiously eyeing the parasite "plant." "Cirra, I know this isn’t what you were hoping to find. It’s unsettling to realize it’s a parasite, not a plant. But you did the right thing by investigating it. We never could have predicted this."
Cirra nodded as she listened, attempting to stem the flow by wiping away her tears.
She looked through her teary eyes at the "fruit" and said, "We need to be careful with this so that it can’t cause any more problems, but there’s really nothing I’ll learn from it either… Ahhggg! This stupid parasite just ruined my day. What should we do with it?" She roared out in frustration.
They stood there in silence, contemplating their next move. The parasite’s fruit hung ominously from the branch, its sweet scent filling the air.
Cirra then took a deep breath before she moved to collect the fruit in another glass jar as well. Since caution was needed, she carefully strapped enchanted pieces of paper around the lids of both jars. She then touched them each and infused them with a slight bit of mana. The paper flashed, completely sealing the barrier between the lids and the jars tightly.
"This enchantment will keep it from getting out if it’s smart enough or able to uncork it," Cirra explained, her voice steadying.
Lassim watched her and offered her a consoling pat on her back a few times in silent support. Cirra, now visibly depressed with slouched shoulders, got up and started to slowly walk back toward the entrance of the village at a slow pace.
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"Alright, Lassim, we’re finished here. There’s still a bit of day left so we can have a lesson when we get back if you wish." she said, her voice tinged with melancholy.
Lassim stood there for a moment, his head churning as he thought about how much he could trust her. She was clearly, truly, dedicated to this dream of hers. His mind raced as he quickly caught up to her and matched her pace.
As they walked back along the bamboo path towards the swamp, Cirra took a moment to punch Lassim in the arm.
"Hey, who told you to be so strong anyway?" she said, her tone still depressed but with a hint of teasing. "You nearly murdered the Monkey King in one attack, and then what is up with that spirit pressure you released? That’s not normal at all!! Are you actually only 14 years old?
You’re not some 500 year old transcendent pretending to be a kid, are you?" She gave him a side-eye as she observed him warily.
Lassim sighed, feeling a tinge of regret for his reflexive instincts to danger and to protect others. He really didn’t even lose control there, but he definitely didn’t hold back with his spirit pressure that he released. How could he even fix that in the future either?
He used barely a fraction of his divine mana in the actual attack, with Zaphy’s assistance as well, but he is going to face this issue again, and again with his spirit pressure when he executes a single rotation of his cultivation. He really had no idea how to handle it.
’Maybe I should just embrace it and not care?’ he thought to himself.
"Sorry, Cirra. I didn’t mean to scare you or potentially hurt you," Lassim said aloud, his tone sincere. "I’m still figuring out how to control my newfound strength. It’s a lot to handle."
Cirra looked up at him, her expression softening, but a look of confusion still present, "Well, just be careful. We don’t need another incident like this one or else you’ll really get the Widows sent after you in a heartbeat. I can’t even believe you’re really 14, AND that what you showed against the town’s guardian wasn’t anything like what you just showed. It’s ridiculous!"
Lassim nodded. He then decided to go with his gut on trusting her, hoping to lift her mood. "Well, I am indeed 14 years old, and there’s a lot more to me that I just can’t share with you for now. However, I think I might have a solution to your research."
Cirra’s eyes widened with curiosity and hope, changing from their depressed state, "Really? What is it?!"
"Well, before I tell you, I’ll need you to swear a heavenly oath with some conditions before I can share the information and suggestion with you," Lassim said, his tone turning serious.
Cirra immediately quieted fora moment and became serious. Her eyes lit up at the possibility of a solution to her dream. Nearly all of her sadness from the repeated failures vanished. "I’d do anything to pursue my dream. What is a little heavenly oath if I can make it a reality? I’ll agree to whatever you ask; within reason of course."
Lassim took a deep breath and began outlining the conditions. "First, you must help me with my spider language training for the next week until I can reach an acceptable fluency to carry me through the rest of the Threads by myself. Second, the information I provide must be kept a secret and cannot be shared with others unless they also accept this oath.
Third, you must cause no intentional harm or purposeful danger to the species and individuals I introduce to you. Fourth, the safety and wellbeing of those individuals and species take priority over your research, and the participants that you get to go along with your research must be willing individuals.
Fifth, any information you obtain about my life and potential secrets must remain as secrets and cannot be shared with others not included in the oath, including my own family members."
Cirra listened intently, her face growing more determined with each condition. "I swear it. I, Cirra Leafshadow, hereby take a heavenly oath and will forsake my heart world, exploding it into the heavens if I fail to adhere to all the conditions Lassim has stated."
As Cirra spoke her promise, a soft hum filled the air. The mana in the atmosphere around them thickened, and the very will of the heavens seemed to acknowledge her words.
A radiant golden light briefly enveloped her, shimmering and pulsing with a unique energy. One that Lassim felt an odd closeness to. The light grew brighter, almost blinding in a flash, before it condensed into a thin, golden line that connected Lassim and Cirra’s heart worlds together.
The line glowed brilliantly for a moment, then faded from sight, as if everything that had just happened was an illusion.
In that fleeting moment, the heavens seemed to hold their breath. The gods and the will of heaven recognized the agreement, their silent approval lingering in the air.
Lassim felt a profound sense of relief, knowing the oath was sealed and in place. This was the first time he’d ever had anyone swear an oath in front of him with such weight, but the agreement seemed a bit more dramatic that the stories of what he’d read as a child were like.
None of them mentioned a golden glow or line of connection between the hero and his party or when the stories would develop in ways where two merchants try and use an oath to conduct honest business. It was a bit too serious, but he just let that thought go as this was the real world and not one of his childhood books. Things were usually different in real life, right?
"Alright, then," Lassim began, his voice steady and reassuring. "I’ll have Gregor make the same oath, minus needing to teach the spider language if he doesn’t want to, once we get back to town. Then I’ll explain my suggestion."
Cirra nodded eagerly.
Lassim smiled warmly. "Thanks for trusting me so willingly, Cirra. It’s honestly a lot to ask of someone we’ve barely met, but I appreciate it. Makes me feel like we’re really close friends already. We’ll sort things out once we’re back in town so I can tell Gregor and you at the same time to make things easier."
They had then reached the swamp at the beginning of the path towards the village. Lassim created their makeshift icy raft once more as they headed back to the Swamp Town.