Lassim and Cirra made their way back to Marshlight, the small apothecary shop nestled within the Swamp Town.
As they entered, they could see Gregor finishing up a sale with a spider customer.
The spider, a large arachnid with a humanoid upper body, examined a small jar of anti-fungal cream with its dexterous appendages.
"Thank you for your purchase," Gregor said, handing over the jar. "This should help with the fungal growth. Apply it twice a day on your abdomen and you should see improvement within a week."
The spider customer nodded gratefully, clicking its mandibles in what Lassim realized was a gesture of thanks based on his limited knowledge of the spider language so far, before scuttling out of the shop.
Gregor looked up and spotted Lassim and Cirra entering. He gave them a warm smile, which quickly turned to concern as he noticed Cirra’s downcast expression.
"We’re going to take a break," Cirra announced as she walked past the counter. She grabbed a sign and placed it on the door, indicating the shop was temporarily closed.
They made their way to the back room, a cozy space filled with shelves of herbs, bottles, and various alchemical tools. Gregor followed, his brow furrowed with worry.
"What happened?" he asked, his voice gentle.
Lassim and Cirra exchanged a glance before Cirra began to explain, "Well, what we found wasn’t what I had hoped for... The so-called "four-leaved plant" that that adventurer told us about from his attempt to meet his friend the Monkey King turned out to be a parasite. It just mimicked a plant as a defense mechanism of some sort."
Cirra sighed, her shoulders slumping. "It’s been controlling the Monkey King and his troop this entire time. When we defeated the Monkey King, the parasite detached from his brain and tried to escape. I managed to capture it, though."
She reached into her pack and pulled out the two jars, one containing the slug-like creature and the other holding the strange fruit.
She placed them on the table, and Gregor leaned in to examine them closely.
"That’s... unsettling," Gregor murmured, his eyes fixed on the jars. "I can’t believe it wasn’t a plant at all. No wonder you’re so upset my dear."
Cirra nodded, her eyes welling up with tears again. "I thought this could be the breakthrough I was looking for, but it’s just another dead end. Another failure..."
Gregor got up from his seat and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into a comforting embrace. "Hey, it’s okay. You’re doing amazing work, Cirra. Adventuring and exploring these rumors is a majority of the work right now, but that’ll change once you succeed. Discovering this parasite and getting rid of the havoc it was causing is still important.
We’ll figure something out for the next plant, I promise."
He pulled back slightly and looked into her eyes. "Do you want me to make you a snack or something? Maybe some tea? It might help you feel better."
Cirra smiled lovingly at Gregor. "Sure, tea sounds wonderful, but let’s discuss something more important first."
She turned to stare at Lassim for a moment before she returned her gaze back to Gregor. "I don’t yet know what his suggestion is, but I took a heavenly oath with conditions to ensure the secrecy and safety of what Lassim is about to share. He believes he has a suggestion that could genuinely help with the research."
Gregor’s eyes widened slightly, but without hesitation, he replied, "I’ll take the oath too. Anything to support you, Cirra."
Lassim repeated the conditions he gave Cirra and watched as Gregor swore the oath with the same, even keeping the spider language assistance first condition.
As he did, the same glow and glowing thread appeared, connecting Lassim and Gregor before fading into invisibility. The divine recognition of their pact felt weighty and significant when the thread vanished.
Once the oath was completed, Lassim began to explain. "To begin with a brief overview, there’s a species known as the Drow that I encountered during my time recently where I was trapped in an undiscovered elemental plane. These unique people, somewhat similar to elves, are a species brand new to Nexaria and are remarkable.
When I first encountered them, I was captured and brought to their High Priestess, Sanvra, who is now a dear friend of mine."
Cirra’s eyes were wide with fascination as Lassim continued.
"Sanvra has an extraordinary mind and a unique ability to create a psychic link with someone she is in physical contact with. She can read memories and even share her own through this link, which is how we communicated and shared each other’s languages. It was as if I had lived a portion of her life, giving me an instant, full comprehension of the Drow language at a native level."
Cirra was beyond gobsmacked, leaning in closer as she listened. "That’s... incredible. I must meet this Sanvra! Where is this elemental plane? How can we get there?"
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Lassim chuckled at her over-enthusiasm. "Hold on, I’m not finished yet. After spending time with Sanvra and the Drow, we managed to leave the elemental plane together. They’re currently on their way to my family lands in the Aurora Kingdom, where my father is the Iron Marquis."
Cirra then recalled that Lassim was a noble, something she had overheard during their visit to Maelin’s shop.
"Sanvra’s ability might be able to assist your research potentially," Lassim continued. "It’s not exactly what you’re hoping for with the spirit sense, but you might be able to add it to your research and find a way to mimic it. I have no idea how it really works, and there might be species limitations, but it’s just a suggestion."
Cirra’s eyes lit up with newfound hope. She practically dove across the table to hug Lassim, her tears, this time out of joy, began streaming down her face. "Thank you so much, Lassim! This is the first real evidence of something I’ve dreamed about ever since I was a child!"
She released him quickly, embarrassed by her sudden outburst, and turned to Gregor. Hugging him, she began to do a happy dance in his embrace, her joy infectious.
Gregor joined in, and soon they were both jumping for joy, their laughter filling the room.
Lassim watched them with a smile, feeling a deep sense of satisfaction. He believed he had made the right decision to trust them.
Watching their celebration, he felt as if they were already long-time friends, sharing in this moment of triumph.
After they settled down, Lassim continued. "I’ll send a message ahead of time to my family and the Drow, and I’ll write a formal letter you can show when you arrive to gain access to the village. That should prevent any issues in case the guards are overly cautious."
Lassim took a moment pause before adding, "It’s not one of the conditions, but I’d also like to request that you use your experience in this world to help the Drow with their transition to living here. They’ve been a reclusive and hidden society, and are going to be adjusting to the change for a while. It would make me happy if you could help them out where you can."
Cirra and Gregor nodded wholeheartedly. "We’d be honored to help them," Gregor said.
They continued their conversation as Gregor cooked up a nice meal to celebrate. The aroma of roasted vegetables, seasoned meats, and freshly baked bread began to fill the room.
As they ate, the conversation turned lighter, with Cirra beginning to scribble in a notebook, jotting down her ideas.
She couldn’t resist asking Lassim more about the psychic link and his experience with it.
"It’s hard to describe," Lassim said, chewing thoughtfully on a piece of meat. "When Sanvra linked with me, like I mentioned earlier, it was like I was living part of her life. I understood the Drow language instantly, as if I had known it my entire life and experienced the exact same entirety of her upbringing as a child. From the first moment she was exposed to the language until fluency.
But she didn’t share much else through the connection, just what was necessary for us to communicate. She also seemed able to hear the conversation between my elemental companions and I at times too, so I do think there is hope here."
Cirra listened intently, her pen flying across the page. "This could be it," she muttered to herself. "If I can find a way to replicate this ability, it may be the exact thing I need to succeed in my research!"
Lassim nodded, though he knew there were still many unknowns. "Sanvra’s abilities are unique, and might be limited on how much we can actually mimic. But if anyone could do it, I’m sure you’d be able to."
As they finished up Gregor’s hearty meal, the evening continued with more excitement by Cirra, planning for when they’d leave, and the overwhelming sense of hope Cirra had for the future of her research.
Cirra even began to immediately dive into the next Spider Language lesson to continue Lassim’s education to bring him up to an acceptable fluency for a few hours.
His brain was exhausted after the long day and was only able to extract himself from her over-enthusiasm with the help of Gregor. He only returned to his inn when it was well past midnight.