Chapter 45: Chapter 45: Spriggankin Assemble!

Book1, Volume 5

Chapter 45

“I can be tall again!” Michael said while pumping his fist in the air as he read his Way of the Spirin Syldrake skill. So happy... even if it's just for 5 minutes... I'm sure it'll last longer as I rank up... ugh... that's if I even get to keep my class after I get them to change my gender back...

Bzzz-bzzz-bzzz

Thwump Thwump Thwump

Michael's eyes opened wide, his hands froze in place, and a small “eep!” left his lips! It was at this time that he noticed three things: One, he seemed to have absentmindedly been petting a cute fluffy furbee in his lap... or to be more precise a cute fluffy Princess Furbee. Two, slowly turning his head to the sounds of the 'Thwumps'... Lunori seemed to be running his way which meant something must have happened while he was attaining his class. And three, that it was already twilight which meant he must have been here way longer than he thought.

Why did the wonderful pats and pets stop? Princess Furbee made soft bzzz-bzzzing sounds of protest as she nuzzled her face into the strange wonderfully fragrant furbee girl's belly.

Lunori came to a stop near Michael as she put her hands on her sides, slightly bending over, breathing in and out, catching her breath. With head tilted a bit to the side, she scrunched up her brows trying to understand why Michael was frozen in place like that, with an alarmed look on his face and unmoving hands hovering over the cute gentle Princess Furbee in his laps. All around him in a semi-circle were about a dozen furbees lounging on the ground like a pride of lions as their Princess was enjoying her 'pampering' time.

Shrugging her shoulders, unable to understand what was going on in Michael's head, Lunori walked up to him, knelt down, and gently took the bzzz-bzzzing Princess Furbee in her hands, lifted and turned her so they were face to face, and began to Tootle-tu as Princess Furbee Bzzz-Bzzz'd; Back and forth they 'talked'?

Michael didn't understand what they were saying, but now that he was a druid, he felt the beginnings of a connection with them... able to understand that the two were being friendly with one another. Looking with his Oryn eyes he could see a pastel yellow aura around both of their bodies. Hmm... maybe these pastel yellow auras mean friendship? Shrugging, Michael got to his feet and focused on the two.

Lunori nodded her head to Princess Furbee, walked over to Michael, and held the Princess out facing him. Michael's brows scrunched up. What does she want me to do? “Do you want me to... make friends with Princess Furbee?” Michael asked looking at Lunori.

Lunori nodded her head and 'tootle-tu'd'. “I'm not sure how to make friends with her... umm... Anari can you help me out here?”

[ Just think on it and follow your heart Wylla. ;) ]

“Aye Lil' lassie you can do it...” “I wish I was that Princess Furbee...” “With a heart like Wylla's, I'm sure they'll became good friends...” A melody of encouraging words trickled down from above.

Hmm... maybe it's like dealing with unknown dogs... if I just slowly hold out my hand for her to sniff... then maybe she'll know I'm not her enemy... I mean this is the second time I've woken up with her in my arms and she hasn't stung me yet so... let's go with that. Michael slowly raised his hand stopping just under Princess Furbee's nose.

Princess Furbee bzzz'd softly as her wings gently fluttered. Michael's heart beat a little fast as a bit of oryn energy flowed from his chest to his hand. He took a deep breath and lightly began to pat Princess Furbee who began to nuzzle the palm of his hand with her fluffy head.

A flash of golden-green light lit the twilight sky blinding all looking as Michael felt prickly tingling sensations on the back of his hand. “Ah, what was that?” Michael said with his head facing down as he rubbed his eyes, waiting for the colorful 'flashspots' to fade and his vision to clear.

After a minute or so his sight returned as he felt waves of joy coming from in front of him. Looking up, he spotted Princess Furbee hovering like a hummingbird in front of him softly buzzing. There was something different about her now, a small golden-yellow ethereal flower seemed to have sprouted from her forehead between her antennae. And while he didn't understand what she was saying, he definitely felt that she was very happy at this moment.

Such feelings seemed to be contagious as Michael smiled and followed his urge to pat her but froze with his hand just inches away from Princess Furbee's head. “What's this?” Michael softly asked out loud staring at the back of his hand which was now adorned with the same ethereal flower that Princess Furbee now had.

[ Congratulations Wylla! You have formed an Ami'ku Flora Bond with Princess Furbee! Yay! You have received the Furbee Friends title. :) ]

“Eh? Does that mean I'm a tamer... I don't remember seeing that spell in my Druic Grimoire...”

[ Oh no, the Ami'ku Flora Bond is a rare friendship bond that can be formed with beasties you have cultivated an empathic connection with; Tamer bonds are different Wylla. ]

“How so Anari?” Michael asked with his hand still frozen in front of the waiting Princess Furbee. Bzzz-Bzzz! Tired of being teased for her pat, Princess Furbee softly bumped her fluffy head into Michael's waiting hand. Reflexively, he began to gently pat her.

“Oh Sorry Princess, didn't mean to leave you... hanging.” Michael looked about, noticing for the first time that there were a lot more furbees around. “Ah, these must be your entourage... hello,” Michael said looking around as the sounds of the group's soft buzzing and fluttering wings filled the air.

“Now... what was I asking?... Oh ya, how are Tamer bonds different Anari?”

[ Tamers form one of 2 main types of bonds that can evolve into a special bond. The first being a Master-Servant bond in which the Tamer must defeat their chosen beast in battle, greatly weakening it so that the beast must either accept the Tamer as it's master or become the Tamer's loot pinata.

The second is a Partnership bond in which the Tamer faces off against the chosen beast in battle and fights to the point that regardless of which one wins, they will be greatly hurt making it easy for others to play the role of the Oriole in which case they both lose. ]

“Ah, I see... so in the first one the tamed beast would have no choice but to follow the orders of the Tamer... even bad orders but in the second bond, the tamed beast could choose whether to follow the orders or not and even leave if mistreated?” Michael looked skyward for confirmation.

[ Very good Wylla! That is indeed the case. ]

“So then what would the special bond be?”

[ That would be the Fidelity bond. The tamer earns the trust and love of their tamed beast, deepening their connection forming a bond of trust. It is the ultimate bond between Tamer and beast; Such a bond is seen as a badge of honor filling the Tamer with pride and earning the respect of other Tamers.

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And most importantly, the Fidelity bond opens the path for possible Lykren evolution! ]

“Ooh! That sounds fun... umm... what is it?” Michael asked with his face slightly flushed.

[ It means their bond has been recognized and blessed by Lykris, the God of Beasts. As such the tamed beast is given a soul and a demi-human form that they can freely shift in and out of. This transformation opens the door to the Soulmate bond if the two are of like mind and heart. If such a bond is then recognized by Lovriel, Goddess of Love and Marriage, she will then bless them with a Layth sigil on the back of their necks; And if they already have a sigil there the Layth will then be added to it. ]

“Okay... I think I kind of get it... so the Fidelity bond not only gives the beast a chance to ascend... umm... evolve into a beast demi-human that I'm guessing is the Lykren race but can also evolve the type of bond they have into a Soulmate bond which is... marriage? Which if recognized by the Goddess Lovriel will earn them her blessing in the form of a Layth sigil. If so then what if the beast is not the gender the Tamer wants to be with... and what does a Layth sigil do?” Michael asked while feeling a tug on his hand as his other hand continued to pat the happily purrin... err... buzzing Princess.

[ If the two have a Soulmate connection then the beast's gender will become that which the Tamer desires upon Lykren evolution. As for Layth, it's a small flower-shaped sigil that connects soulmates with one another.

When Soulmates summon forth their Layth, an ethereal vine tipped with a beautiful Layth flower sprouts from the back of their necks and binds with one another like two Serpris kissing, forming an empathic connection vine with one another.

This connection has two main functions: The first being that their pheromones will travel through their Layth vine into one another's bodies, changing their pheromonal scents into a new synchronized pheromonal scent which only the two will share. As a result, they will only feel a physical attraction towards a person with such scent, meaning only with one another.

The second function is the one all covet, the empathic connection; Meaning when their Layth are connected with one another they can feel what the other is feeling... which seems to greatly increase mating activities. ] Michael's face lightly reddened as he read the last part. [ Are you interested in getting Layth'd Wylla? ] Anari couldn't help but tease her cute little sister Wylla.

Michael quickly looked down and away, covering his beet-red face with his silky spiln hair. “No... no...” He sputtered. “I get it... about Tamers and bonds... so the bond I have with Princess Furbee means we're like good friends then?” He once again felt a tugging on his hand as he brushed his hair aside and looked up seeing Lunori's anxious face. “Ah, sorry Lunori... I got sidetracked!”

[ And that you can sense one another's feelings; Which is also a part of your Druid class passive skill: Empathic Flora Connection. ]

“That's wonderful!” Michael said with crescent moon eyes and a joyful smile. “Thanks for clearing that all up Anari!”

[ You're Welcome Wylla. :) ]

Michael's eyes once again fell on the antsy Lunori. “Is the Village under attack?” Michael asked holding onto Lunori's hands with both hands as Princess Furbee flew next to them, watching. Lunori shook her head side to side.

“Hmm... then did the village get attacked before you came to get me?” Lunori 'tootle'd' and nodded her head up and down. Not good... I was hoping to be there when they came... we better head back. Images of the Witch flashed through his mind as he felt phantom pains on his arm where she had cursed him last time. “But first... provisions.”

Michael's eyes looked down, guided by the sound of falling water. That should do quite nicely. Michael got down on his knees in front of the Oryn Tree pool of water. He pulled out some of the grasses and flowers from the ground and made a small pile. Let's see... the more materials I have the less Oryn energy it'll cost to make them... but I don't want to cut the Oryn Tree to take its sap so this will have to do. Michael placed his hand over the small pile of grasses and flowers. He closed his eyes, visualizing what he wanted to make, and called out “Bontanic Creation: Vial”

The small pile of grasses and flowers filled with golden-green streams of energy from his hands and began to meld into each other forming the shape of an empty 8-ounce flora vial with a flowery cork stopper on top. “Yes! It worked.” Michael grabbed the small flora vial, opened it, and then dunk it in the pool filling it with the curse purifying water.

Smiling, he turned to Lunori holding up the filled flora vial for her to see. “These will help cure anyone who gets cursed by the Witch. We'll head back once I finish making a lot more.”

A short time later, Michael stood up, feeling quite drained of Oryn energy but happy with the results as he looked down at the 14 filled flora vials. Now how to take them all with us... they definitely won't all fit in my belly pouch. He thought as he put a couple of the vials in there next to his 3 Healing Nectar fruits. He looked about for a bit and noticed the solution hiding the thorny guard bushes.

He knelt down and pulled his bulging Traveler's Pack out from its hiding spot. Ah, it's too packed... no choice. I have to empty it. Gently sighing, he opened the bag and dumped all his belongings onto the ground, then stuffed it all into the thorny bushes. “You all be sure to protect my stuff!” Michael said to the thorn guards as he put all the vials into the now almost empty bag; He decided to take a couple of Oryn fruits with him after thinking about one of his quests. Who knows... maybe this fruit can soothe the savage beast... if we run into each other again. And if that doesn't work there's always the water... and if that doesn't work... oh well, we'll cross that bridge if we get to it.

Satisfied with all his preparations, Michael stood, slung the Traveler pack's strap over his shoulder and called out, “Alright, all set and ready to go. Let's head out.”

Lunori tootle-tu'd and took his hand, walking at a quick pace beside him as Princess Furbee flew next to him on his other side; Behind, a lively flock of fluffy buzzing furbees followed.

On the way back to the village, Michael thought back to all that Anari told him about Tamers and was a bit saddened. It would be great to be able to tame one of these cute fluffy beasties here in Havenscent Meadow starting area, to be able to fight side by side and grow strong together... but I guess it wasn't meant to be. Michael sighed. Still, if I had to choose between being a druid or a tamer... I'd choose Druid.

It took the small parade... umm... group less than an hour to reach the south side of the village. The full moon shone down in streams through the green canopy of the trees as luminescent Lampryn flower bulbs lit the area.

There were signs of battle everywhere as over a dozen spidoll bodies, and a few Kavi ones as well, littered the ground. The flowery landscape was trampled, darts were embedded in tree trunks, and sticky webbings were splattered here and there.

The spriggankin learned of his arrival and began gathering around the area.

The sight made Michael's heart ache. These were his friends. They took him in, shared their food with him, gave him a place to sleep, and taught him about the plants and trees, helping him to unlock his wonderful class. Just the thought of them getting hurt or worse because of that Witch and her Kavi made his blood boil.

Ah, I forgot to ask! Michael thought, spotting his Old Raven teacher. Walking up to her with hurried steps, he asked with a tinge of dread in his heart, “Did anyone... di... die?”

The Old Raven shook her head side to side and held out a Healing Nectar fruit for him to see. It looked different than the ones he made which could only mean one thing... Yes! It seems some of them were able to learn my Healing Nectar spell. Still, if everyone is okay then Lunori wouldn't have come running to get me which means... “Did some of the spriggankin get taken?”

The Old Raven, Lunori, and the spriggankin near him which heard his question all nodded their heads. Michael thought back to that night at the Witch's village, the caged and enslaved spriggankin, the vile experiments; He clenched his hand into a fist. Enough! It's time to end this threat once and for all... And free the spriggankin!

“Spriggankin Assemble!”