chapter 42-Inner Strength

Again, the empowering feeling filled her soul, but it wasn’t the feeling of growing more powerful; she somehow felt more in tune with nature. As if she had transformed into a new being. Anemone found her new abilities to be quite easy; all she had to do was touch the stem of a plant, and it would bloom within a few seconds, though she could feel her mana deplete in real time. By the tenth flower, she felt beads of sweat drip down her face despite the work not being physically taxing.

Anemone soon had a small patch of bright, red roses. She kneeled down, not worrying about dirtying the dress, and inhaled. The exquisite, refreshing, earthy smell of roses filled her nose. She didn’t know why exactly they smelled good, as she didn’t like the smell of dirt, which was also earthy, but she didn’t think too much about it.

‘I love that I don’t have to think about how to grow the plant, it just grows itself. This is amazing! Now back to the previous scroll.’

Anemone put all the used scrolls into her spatial ring, clearing her left hand, then began to paint the image of a pond of water that lived in her stomach, where the soul and mana core was thought to be located. She continued with this image, watching the blue liquid flow through her arteries, up her neck, and into her eyes. She continued and continued, but felt nothing. No results.

“Oh my lord.” Anemone backed up against a tree. “How do I do this?”

Anemone once again looked at a wild piece of plant life. It had a small trunk the size of a wrist and grew up. The stems were hairy and had a slight hint of pink and green. Each branch that separated from the main root had thorny-looking leaves that slumped down under their own weight. The small shrub was surprisingly beautiful, and the part that truly captured Anemone’s eye was the small red bud that looked similar to a thousand small red berries clumped together. She knew this wasn’t it in full bloom, as other parts of the plant that grew into dense panicles had more developed berries at the end.

The shrub before her had a strong citrus smell that radiated from it despite its red appearance. Anemone desired deeply to know what it was before her, and maybe even to find out whether the plant was poisonous or good for cooking. Anemone kept the picture of water flowing through her body from her mana core. Second after second, minute after minute, it never worked. But then something happened, for a split second, runes appeared in her eyes, runes she could understand despite them not being the human language, and they read, ‘Sumac.’ The only word that could be understood currently was the word ‘sumac.’ Despite this, there were many other words, sentences, and descriptions. But the words quickly vanished before her eyes, and no matter how hard she tried, they were not summoned again.

Defeated, Anemone started walking back to the tavern. On the way, she ran into a stray cat, protecting her kittens. Anemone harbored no ill feelings, but she found this to be a perfect time to use her artifact, The Bracelet of Despair. The cat was hissing at her, her head low to the ground and tail tucked. All Anemone could do was hope the bracelet would not actually hurt the kitty.

Anemone tried to trickle mana into the bracelet, focusing on the enchantment, or active ability, in which anyone who harbored ill feelings towards the user would feel an incredible weight. Soon after, when the enchantment had taken effect, the cat’s legs gave in, forcing her onto her stomach, still looking up at the woman before her. The cat tried to stand, with no luck. The cat seemed to give up.

Misunderstanding this as a sign of trust, Anemone put her hand forward, starting to pet the cat. In doing so, she stopped the flow of mana to the bracelet, allowing the cat to once again stand. The cat quickly stood up and bit Anemone’s hand, causing two streams of blood to flow off her hand. Anemone didn’t feel much pain despite this, so she just stood up.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. I just wanted to test something. I’m gonna go now, you’re a good mom for protecting your kittens.”

Anemone resisted the urge to once again try to pet the hissing cat and just stood up and began to walk away.

***

Astrape walked down to the main floor of the tavern, where many customers were eating. sitting at a random table, she ordered a drink which consisted of finely diced fruit and crushed up ice. She sat there, thinking of what to do.

‘Should I ask Anemone what she wants to do? I mean, I need to find Tasim and give him his rings, but what about after? Should I just rest and wait to be told what to do?’

Drinking from the wooden cup, her mind continued to think of things to do, but to no avail; she didn’t set her mind on anything just yet.

Astrape brought out one ring from the small pouch and just put it in her hand, making a fist out of boredom. Someone soon tapped on her shoulder, freaking her out and causing her to panic. She quickly jumped, tossing the ring into the air. The stranger caught the ring, and it turned out to be Tasim.

“Don’t make me drop my food, I just saw you and came to get my rewards.”

Astrape looked down to see Tasim eating from a plate, a mix of potatoes, broccoli, carrots, rice, and meat. Astrape didn’t like how the rice was all over the meat, but she wasn’t the one eating the food, so she didn’t look too much into it.

“My rings.”

“Oh, sorry.” Astrape brought out the small pouch and poured out five silver rings, three with red gems and two with brown gems. To increase the potency of fire magic and earth magic, respectively. “Here you are.”

“Thanks.” Tasim grabbed them, walking away with no further interaction, which Astrape thought was rude, but didn’t really care. She only wanted to make Anemone happy after all.

As Tasim walked away, his thoughts wandered.

‘Why am I getting this? Give me something good.’ Tasim sighed and shook his head, already walking to an appraiser he trusted

***

“Five hundred gold, or fifty platinum for the lot.”

“Give me the platinum, it’s easier to carry.”

The appraiser handed Tasim a large stack of platinum, which was equal to five hundred gold, or about fifty thousand copper, which could last the average person ten years. Giving them food, things to drink, and a place to stay.

Tasim walked away, quite content with what he just made, even if he could have somehow haggled for one to ten more platinum; fifty platinum was plenty for now. Tasim eventually decided that one week from now would be his last day in town. And for now, he would set aside one platinum and just stay away from Master Chi, even if he had feelings for the dog, somewhere, deep down inside his heart.

Tasim paid the keep for some lodging, a simple place to stay, a wood cabin. Which came with food and water that was stored under the floorboards with some ice to keep it cold. Tasim prepared himself a simple lunch, despite his not being an expert in cooking, and for a meal he cooked himself, over a fire, he found it quite delicious. The fire was set to the side of the cabin, surrounded by rocks. Once he had finished eating, he sat in a rocking chair.

“I’m acting like that old bastard; he may have influenced me more than I thought.

***

Anemone, Astrape, and Father each looked down at their respective scrolls. Each was currently seated in their own rooms, on their own beds, their faces as pale as a ghost as they read.

Anemone - Marked

Vitality: Low

Will: Red

Resonance: None

Title: None

Echoes: Call of Fire.

Compendiums: none

Echo Description, Call of Fire: This echo, once used, can produce a downpour of blades created by fire. It was first used by an incredible being, capable of forging any creation by himself, capable of turning his body to fire and lightning. This echo can only be used once.

Echo Condition: Unusable

Astrape - Marked

Vitality: Low

Will: Red

Resonance: None

Title: None

Echoes: Hachi’s Strength

Compendiums: none

Echo Description, Hachi’s Strength: This echo, once used, will give the user a second wind, revitalizing themself for a few minutes, no matter the exhausting, physical or mental, it will cleanse it all for a few moments. Any wounds or causes of pain will stop the production of pain, allowing the user to be fully focused. This Echo was created as a memory of a man named Hachi. At the end of his life, he eventually became known as the god of war and archery. It can only be used once.

Echo Condition: Unusable

Father Hatheway - Marked

Vitality: Low

Will: Brown

Resonance: None

Title: None

Echoes: Curse of Thoughts

Compendiums: none

Echo Description, Curse of Thoughts: The user has once entered a parrel like no other, cursing him with undesired thoughts that will haunt him until his end. This has given him the ability to force those memories upon another, ridding himself of the haunt, causing the recipient to become haunted instead. The user does not know if this memory belongs to him, or was created by someone else and was forced upon him. This echo can only be used once.

Echo Condition: Unusable

Father, stunned, stopped reapplying the ointment produced with Astrape’s help, and sat the scroll down, staring into nothingness as his mind raced. Meanwhile, Astrape in her own room had her mind become completely blank; she felt powerless now, as if controlled by a higher being.

‘What does this mean?’ she asked herself, time and time again. For now, she just decided to go for a walk and try to clear her mind.

Outside the tavern, the sun was slowly setting, and the long, tiring day was slowly coming to an end for everyone. Astrape, fiddling with her bracelet, the Hollow Echo, was trying to clear her thoughts to no avail, and just decided, for now, she would go see if this stupid object worked. She glanced into a random alley to see a rat, dining upon a bloodied corpse of another, much larger animal. The large rat, easily the size of a human foot, just made high-pitched noises while its body was covered in blood.

She was absolutely horrified at the sight of this savagery, and mana instinctively flowed towards her artifact; she could feel her mana slowly leaving her body. And as it did, the rat stopped moving, its feet collapsed beneath itself, and it began to make screeching noises while trying to move. Astrape, in the moment, became horrified with herself; she cared for all creatures, no matter how vile, but she was hurting the poor rat who was just trying to live. She stopped the flow of mana and walked back to the tavern.

At the base of the tavern, before it closed, she sat at a table and ordered a small portion of food, with a piece of meat. Her mind was focused on the dead animal before, when she looked towards the piece of meat upon her wooden plate, the thoughts became even worse.

‘Am I a murderer for eating meat?’

Astrape looked towards the piece of meat and just ate the vegetables on the plate, leaving the rest. She returned to her room, just trying to think happy thoughts.

‘I need to focus on others more; if I can make them happy, I will find happiness within. What am I even thinking about? How did I get here? Just because the scroll shows my name doesn’t mean I am controlled by some god. I am fine.’

***