Wraithwood Botanist

My corrosive poison arrow was devastating. It exploded on the tree, splashing at least fifty square feet before the arrow blew a hole through the trunk. The center and surroundings sizzled and smoked, peeling bark as if it were melting—turning the tree to mush.

The nearby areas weren’t much better. The water created a poisonous mist on the rebound, and it soaked into the plants, withering flowers and ground cover and bushes. It turned the area yellow and smokey.

I grinned. "This isn’t even fair… Assuming it doesn’t splash me, too."

I shuddered, unzipping my backpack to place the poison bottle inside, but hesitated. I did a thorough check to make sure there was no poison left in the bottle before I stored it.

"If it breaks in there… all my stuff’s ruined…" I thought. "And it’s sure as shit’s not going into my pocket… I need unbreakable jars…. I’ll buy some next Harvest."

Or just grab my stuff from the Bramble. But I didn’t say that aloud.

I returned home and established a springtime routine. I would thread as usual, then make breakfast and go on a foraging trip, picking up plants and returning to make elixirs and poisons until sunset, when I would return to my nightly routine.

Weeks flew by like that, and I finally felt at peace. My life was everything I wanted when I came here, and so, so much more. I had a real home with real equipment, a way to contact my family and hobbies. I even had a train of fluffy animals to keep me company and the power to do whatever I wanted.

It was my dream come true.

But, like all dreams, I eventually had to wake up and face realities that I was avoiding.

That day came when I returned home one day and found a certain fairy sitting on a branch above my tree house, drinking a tiny flask.

"Kyro!" I cried cheerily.

"Gah…" Kyro groaned. "Why’d you have to be happy? I was sent here to admonish you."

I frowned. "Admonish? The hell does that mean?"

"What do you think it means?"

"I know what it means. I’m wondering why. You do know that Kline and I wiped out a legacy troop and eighty bad apples, right?"

Kyro unscrewed his flask and swigged it. "I’m aware."

"Then?" I asked.

"Then…" Kyro whirled around his index, capturing every home in my little village. "You decided to colonize?"

"Don’t be dramatic. I just want guests."

"That’s what the Jacksmores said." He took a drink. "At least… that’s what Brindle said they said. Whatever, the Drokai believe that’s what they said, and that’s all that matters."

I scoffed. "Why can’t you just let me live? I’m policing the damn Harvest. And by next year, I’ll be even stronger. Then stronger after that. Can’t you just let me be?"

"Nope." Kyro flew down and pinched my cheeks, then patted my stomach. "You’ve been eating good."

I slowed time, using months of second stage Mental Shielding training and the nearan upgrade Brindle gave me. Kyro caught it as it was happening and flew away, but he was far slower. Despite that, I still couldn’t catch him. He was like trying to swat a fly.

"Just how fast are you?" I cried.

"Not as fast as I can think!" Kyro said. "This is getting unfair. You don’t get grabbing privileges until we hit the Fifth Domain. My curse’s showing."

I folded my arms. "We?"

"Yeah, we. Or did you forget your soul pact? I’m your guide till the Sixth Ring."

"Yeah, but I’m not traveling."

"Doesn’t matter."

I scrunched my nose and pointed at the homes. "I’m inviting Felio. She’s cute, friendly, harmless—a legacy. She’ll be able to see you."

"Yeah." He pointed at them as well. "That’s why they’re pissed, idiot."

We stared at one another for almost a minute before I said, "Soul pact."

"Yeah, soul pact," he agreed, unscrewing his flask. "Problem solved."

"That’s it?" I asked.

"I’d would’ve said the same thing if I were lying." Kyro shrugged, taking a drink.

My eyebrow twitched.

"In any case, it’s whatever," he said. "We’ll figure it out. Until then, are you going to invite me in? It’s nipply out here." He rubbed his arms.

"I’m going on a hike," I said.

"Yeah, you’re going on a hike," he said. "But that doesn’t mean that I have to suffer." He opened the pelt flap to my home and knocked on the ward. "So…? You gonna be gracious or what?"

My nose scrunched in, but I said, "Fine," activating the key and pushing his tiny body into the house. Then I took a three-hour hike to clear my head, expecting my entire little village to be reduced to cinders when I arrived, but instead, I found Kyro lying drunkenly on my countertop, head shaded by a handle of liquor.

"Did you dismantle my ward?" I cried.

"Couldn’t get this in here if I didn’t," Kyro said lazily. "But I put it back."

"You’re unbelievable!"

"But you love me."

"The fuck I do."

"You could shorten that sentence to, ’I do.’" He took a drink. "Or if you insist on four words, ’You’re right, I do.’"

I seethed, but I was indeed glad to see Kyro and grateful for the company, so I just unlaced my boots and used Separation to pull all the water and poison from my clothing. I created a ball and considered splashing Kyro with it, but I didn’t want to be mean.

Kyro was my friend.

So I kept silent and cooked a pot of High Ev Stew (the name I gave to pure meat gruel I ate almost exclusively) and offered him a bowl, but he denied it, pulling out jerky from his backpack. Then I ate, wondering if he’d eat if I made him a quality bowl.

I made him one on the boat ride to the crypt, but I think it got lost, and I was too nervous to ask if he kept it, especially since it was a trashy whittled thimble made by an unskilled woman with big hands. But things had changed; I now had Kira to help me.

"What are your plans?" Kyro asked.

"To pick plants for my patron god in Misty Row," I said.

"Ugh… your god put you up to that?"

"Yeah. Is that a bad thing?"

"No… it’s just a pain in the ass. You’ll need to do some serious training. That’s all I can tell you."

"What’s the mystery?"

"Don’t want your friend listening in."

My eyes widened, and my lips curved into a wry smile. "Fair. Still sucks."

"It does, but I’ll handle it. But first… what the hell’s that thing in your chest?"

I grimaced.

"It’s clear as day," Kyro said. "Freakishly so. You look like Brindle—and you’re clearly not Brindle."

Kira separated from my body, and Kyro’s jaw dropped.

"This was a legendary reward I got for developing the kyfer core," I said. "There’s no way I could have a soul guardian like this otherwise. It was also hand delivered from the Dante, so it’s the easiest to explain."

Kyro’s eyes trembled as he stared at Kira, who had misinterpreted the attention and started striking subtle poses. But it wasn’t funny, and he wasn’t "amazed." His eyes glinted with horror and carved through my ribs on a second glance.

"What?" I asked nervously.

"Mira…" Kyro said. His tone was unsharpened but frosty, icing my bones and capturing my full attention. "Who gave that to you?"

I swallowed. "Brindle."

He cupped his hands and groaned like a fog horn. "We’re fucked. We’re seriously fucked."

"What’s the problem?" I asked.

"What’s the problem?" Kyro laughed. "Soulmancy’s illegal, so it’s not like people just have engineered souls lying around. That thing had to be registered somewhere. And if it wasn’t, that’ll spark a glaive investigation. Either way, people’ll be crawling here to investigate."

"Glaives?" I asked nervously.

"Anti-soulmancer specialists," he said. "Their kind doesn’t take kindly to soulmancy. If they find out you’re practicing, fanatics and officials alike will hunt you down."

Brindle’s warning he gave me before I accepted his legacy played out in my mind. His introduction had the following note:

The art of manipulating the souls and consciousness of living creatures is considered blasphemous by countless religions and organizations. Should people learn that you have accepted my legacy, you will be shunned by many societies in the Multiverse and hunted down by zealots. Thus, to accept my legacy, you must commit yourself to a life of power.

I knew it was a problem, but I didn’t think problems would arise so quickly.

"That’s why the Drokai planted all those soul plants this year," Kyro said. "That way, there were natural explanations for your soulmancy. But this." He eyed Kira up and down and then shook his head. "Get rid of it," he demanded.

"No."

"Yes," Kyro said. "Unless you want a horde of specialists hunting you and your family down."

I grimaced and looked away. "Can’t we just hide her? I… can separate her up to a half mile, probably twice that if I keep eating third ev meat," I said. "Also…"

I transformed her into a field of flowers.

"Would that work?"

Kyro stared at the ground in wonder. "What the hell’d he give you?" he whispered. Then he looked away and started pacing. "Yeah… No, this is good. We can buy a few years this way at least… maybe a decade if we make the right moves. And by then…" He studied Kira up and down. "Yeah… this might work."

I got a bad feeling about what he was thinking, watching him reflect silently all night before submitting to my Mental Shielding training.

I thought there would be time to discuss it the next day, but I was wrong. Kyro was gone in the morning. He left behind his bottle of spirits, so I imagined he would be back by sundown, but he wasn’t. Nor was he there the next day. So, I did my best to ignore it and continue my routine of foraging and studying alchemy while I waited.

I even tried out recipes from a book I got from families who traded me spices. It was written in another language, but the Guide translated it so I could read it.

The food was strange and foreign but miles better than what I was eating. So, I made it a routine to forage for mushrooms, nuts, and early berries and use them with spices and meat for dinners.

And before long, I was back to my routine until I had forgotten all about Kyro and the glaves and everything else, enjoying my spring—making the most of Alchemic Scrapper, which was now suggesting recipes like wildfire and taking me to strange locations to find cool stuff.

It was great—

—and then Kyro returned, bringing friends with him.

They were ghostlike, the Drokai, suppressing their mana and aura by distributing both into a small cloud, then blending in with nearby soul plants. They even shaped it to mimic their location. I didn’t even notice them until I returned and found a whole council of them sitting near my treehouse.

"Welcome," I said nervously. "Can I make you some tea?"

2.

Nethralis and the guests took me up on my offer, so I ferried them into one of the extra homes, as I’d rather die than show them how messy my room was, and made them tea on the heating array.

I used the best tea I got from the trade, which was high class, and used tiny cup prototypes I was making with Kira, tiny utensils that were proportionally the size of tea cups.

It surprised them.

"Forgive me for not having chairs," I said. "I’m not skilled enough yet."

"No, this is more than accommodating," Nethralis said.

"I’m glad."

Zyphrael clicked his tongue when I put a tiny cup in front of him. Then he sneered when Kyro downed his tea and filled the cup with liquor.

The rest of the elder Drokais kept silent, watching me with distrustful eyes.

I sat and glanced between them. "Where would you like to begin?"

"I’ll start by explaining who these people are," Nethralis said. "These Drokai make up Serenflora’s Grand Council. They are here today to bear witness to the soul within you, and discuss your plans for the future."

I nodded at them, trying to remain composed.

"Let’s start with the soul."

"Kira," I whispered.

Kira separated from my body, stunning the council members. She bowed to them, removing her blindfold to seem more human and amicable.

"This is Kira. She’s a soul guardian who previously served an eighth evolution god."

Kyro’s eyes widened with the council members. I never told Kyro what she was, and her soul force matched an evolved soul core. It still surprised me that he didn’t have a clue.

"Her power has reset," I clarified, "but her potential is limitless."

"And this was a gift from Brindle?" Nethralis asked over the sound of the council’s stunned murmurs.

"It was a gift from the Oracle, but Brindle supplied the guardian. I believe he modified her because I can shape her at will."

I shaped Kira into a patch of flowers.

"The larger she is, the dimmer she becomes under soul sight. However, there are limitations on how far she can stretch. So she’s noticeable if she isn’t masked," I said. "I can also keep her at the better part of a mile away from me, and that distance seems to increase with my aura intake. Most importantly, she can act independently, making her capable of moving."

"It seems you’ve done your research," Nethralis said with a slight smile.

"As much as I could in a short period. My family’s at stake here. I’ll do what I can."

"That’s good to hear."

I nodded and waited for her next words.

"If you don’t mind," she said after a pause, "I would like to hear your plans. Though, I would like to clarify that Kyro has already informed us that you wish to bring in guests and has made an argument for it. We have agreed provisionally, subject to certain conditions. So you needn’t spend your time pandering to us needlessly. We simply wish to know what your plans are."

Kira’s eyes widened and she developed a hopeful smile, lips cracked.

"Interesting…" Nethralis said.

I swallowed awkwardly, hoping she wouldn’t realize that Kira’s initial hostility didn’t reflect my own.

"Um… yes." I coughed. "Kline and I eliminated an entire legacy family, save one, this year, along with eighty offenders of my laws. I plan to keep collecting tribute and policing them to the best of my abilities, though next year may prove dicey. In the meantime, I would like to invite family and alchemists to stay with me. I don’t think humans evolved to be alone."

The council members mumbled, and Nethralis nodded.

"That’s reasonable, but we’ll go further. The Council will extend your rights to a full colony of permanent residents, subject to conditions."

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