Chapter 50: Chapter 50: Of Death and Rebirth

Book1, Volume 5

Chapter 50

Eh, looks like it's trying to head this way. Michael thought to himself, eyeing the badly damaged and nearly dead Kraken as he stepped around the extinguished witchfire pit, making his way towards the front of the cauldron since he could still feel some heat radiating off the bottom half. It doesn't really think it'll make it does it? No matter, I'll just block its path.

Michael grabbed hold of the warm lip of the cauldron with his right hand, a message popping up as he sent oryn energy down through his body and out of his foot into the ground: “Earth Flora: Wall.”

A short 3 and a half foot tall wall of earth and vines rose up from the ground blocking the last hope the Kraken had of returning home. Satisfied, Michael read the pop-up message as Syl drove her spear into the Kraken's body, pinning it to the ground; And then finished it off with a barrage of 3 quick Noctis Bloodrose Tailstings.

[ Would you like to loot and soulbind the Briar Bloodrose Cauldron? Y/N ]

“Yes!” Michael said with a teeth clenched smile as he felt his hand once again get pricked. The cauldron glowed for a breath or two, then began to vibrate and hum as it shrunk in size... getting smaller and smaller until it reached the height of his thigh. “Ah, I don't know why you got smaller... and if that's a good or bad thing but at least now I can carry you.”

Michael bent down, laid his staff on the ground, and grabbed hold of the top of the cauldron with both hands. He lifted up with all he had, muscles straining, as the bottom of the cauldron rose several inches off the ground. Oye, this thing is heavier than it looks!... Why? “Guh!” Grunting and breathing a bit hard, Michael dropped the cauldron onto the ground 'Gongongong.'

“Heck with it.” Michael placed his hands on his hips, arced his spine back, and stretched for a breath or two all the while staring at the deceptively heavy cauldron. “Since your quite round I'll just roll you or cut down some serpenvines, wrap them round you, and pull you to where ever I go.”

“Okay, since that's done... I just need to find that Grimoire.” He looked about for a moment before slightly tilting his head in the direction of a long wooden table off to the side near the Serpris cage and hut. “Wow, it survived the battle without getting knocked over... its luck is high.” Laying amidst all the vials, jars, and clutter on top of the table was a large dark ornate book.

Smiling, Michael made his way past a very ecstatic Syl, who was reading something only she could see. He came to a stop in front of the table; Laying there before him was the Briar Bloodrose Grimoire right next to and slightly on top of its patched up carrying bag.

Michael reached out, hand lightly shaking as memories of the last time he held it flashed through his mind, and touched the Bloodrose in the center of the Grimoire.

[ Would you like to loot and Soulbrand the Briar Bloodrose Grimoire? Y/N ]

“Soulbrand? What does that mean Anari?” Michael asked with a confused look on his face.

[ There are certain items that you can't soulbind without first getting the item's approval like Grimoires. In such cases, you may soulbrand the item allowing you to carry it with you until you feel ready to attempt soulbinding.

While the item carries your soulbrand, no one else will be able to carry it without being constantly attacked. If you fail soulbinding with the item, your soulbrand will vanish and you'll never be able to soulbrand that item again. Furthermore, all future attempts to soulbind with said item again will be rejected. There are also other uses for Soulbrands but that's a discussion for another time. ]

“Ah, that's good to know. Thanks, Anari! And since that's the case... Yes, I'd like to loot and soulbrand the Grimoire please.”

[ You're Welcome Wylla. Now, just place your hand on the Bloodrose in the center of the Grimoire and merge some of your Oryn energy within the book. ]

Michael closed his eyes and clenched his teeth in anticipation of some type of pain since all the other times he soulbound with something it hurt; He then poured some of his Oryn energy into the Grimoire's cover.

The Bloodrose glowed, the book shook, and thorns sprouted out of the bloodrose vines surrounding the edges of the book cover. The Oryn energy streaming from Michael's hand turned into a liquidy serpent that hovered above the Bloodrose within the cover of the Grimoire. The serpent began moving in circles, seemingly chasing its own tail as butterfly wings grew out of its back and little legs sprouted from the front and back of its long liquid body.

Its head then changed shape and its body became solid and fluffy. My soulbrand is cute! Michael stared at the little fluffy butterfly SnapDragon happily flying around above the Bloodrose on the cover of the Grimoire. Looks like my soulbranding was a success... and best of all, it didn't hurt!

Meanwhile, as Michael and Syl were both busy doing their own things a certain change was taking place on the dead Witch's body.

The Bloodrose from the Witch's tattoo on her right arm rose up off her skin, fading from mortal sight as it took on a ghostly form. A womanly face emerged on the side of the ghostly bloodrose bulb, its body of tendrils propelling it forward through the air like a jellyfish at sea heading towards the Briar Bloodrose hut. Reaching the walls, it did not stop but ghosted through them, entering the magically enlarged space within.

The Bloodrose ghost made its way towards the corner of the hut which was draped in long thorny rose vines from ceiling to floor. The vines opened as soon as the Bloodrose ghost's tendrils touched them, revealing a flora cradle within as the walls were lined in various luminous roses. The roses were each of different shades of colors containing different realms of magic within.

Entering her rebirth shrine, the vine curtain closed, welcoming the witch soul with pulses of energy obtained from the large ley line directly beneath her dwelling.

As that was taking place on the inside, changes began to occur on the outside of the hut; Vines grew in numbers like oversized thorny anacondas wrapping the dark flora home up in a giant Briar Bloodrose cocoon, leaving no way to enter.

Within, all was dark, except for the occasional bursts of light leaking out of the vine curtain enshrouding the rebirth shrine which was pulsing, pulsing, pulsing with faster and faster beats of energy reaching a crescendo!

A huge surge of power burst up through those vines and entered the cradle with a heartbeat-like THUMP!

The rebirth shrine's vine curtain quivered, then slowly opened revealing the flora cradle within as cooing sounds softly rang out. The little albino baby. wrapped in leafy blankets, opened her big icy blue eyes, looking around the room.

To her left, growing out of the vines was an ethereal blue book with a ghostly blue rose in the center and bone-shaped vines around the edges. And on the right of the baby, growing out of the vines was her new Briar Ghostrose Staff.

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Her newborn eyes traced ghostly blue energies as they went up the Bloodrose vines and every time those energies reached a Bloodrose a change would take place transforming them from blood-red Bloodroses into icy-blue ethereal Ghostroses.

Meanwhile, with the witchling distracted by the lively glow of racing energies, a baby Ghostrose tattoo sprouted on her right tender shoulder, latching onto her soul. If Michael could see the reincarnated baby at this time with his Oryn Spirin Eyes they would show him that the witchling's mortal vessel wasn't the only thing that changed, her class did as well: Brair Ghostrose Netherwitch.

Yosh! I got the cauldron and the Grimoire... and I bet there's more to loot in the Witch's hut! Michael turned from the table to look at the hut, his eyes widening in surprise. “What happened there? The place looks like some kind of slithering plant tomb with no entrance... and all the bloodroses are gone. Replaced by those ghostly blue roses... hmm... guess it's a no-access zone in the game? Such a shame...”

“Ahahaha, Yes! Muy Bien,” Syl said with a laugh, holding a large dark round item in her hands. “I got some soulbound weapons!”

Syl lifted her new Noctis Eldrytch BludShield which was round like the lid of a cauldron; Slipping her left arm into the straps on the backside, the shield held firmly in place. She then grabbed hold of a rather comically large tentacled Noctis Eldrytch BludSword in her right and turned towards Michael, smiling.

The large round shield was pitch black around the edge with its body looking like dark purple-ish waters. There was dark mist tainted blood-red hovering just above the surface of the shield and hidden within that mist, one could see something 'snake-ish' swimming about; From time to time, one of three dark blood-red glowing orbs the size of a fist would emerge from the depths of the shield's 'watery' surface.

Michael involuntarily took a step back; Having seen them before, Michael knew what those orbs and slithering 'snakes' were. “Ah, looks like your hentai... err... wicked-looking shield is sure to scare your enemies... And with that matching sword... you might find them running away before the fight even starts.” Especially any female ones!

“Still... if your scales were fish scales instead of wyvern, and the horns on your head and the tail swinging behind your back were tentacles... You'd look like a Lovecraftian mix of Captain America meets Aquaman.”

“Haha! Make way for the new superhero... Abyss-girl! Or maybe Cthulla!” Syl said with her shield proudly in front of her and her large sword high in the air. “Either way, don't I look cute!?!”

“Umm... you look rea...” Michael started to say before being interrupted.

“You want to see something really cool Wylla? Watch this!” Syl swung her shield onto her back as small tentacles emerged out of the backside of the shield wrapping around her body like a harness and securing the shield in place on her back as it shrunk to a perfect fit.

Syl then sent a stream of energy into the shield; 3 dark blood-red eyeball tentacles rose up from the misty surface and hung over her shoulders looking about, ready to fire Bloody Void Orbs on command. “Isn't this cool, I can even see what they're seeing like we're linked together! With this, it'll be hard for beasts to sneak up on me. Such cute and useful little eyestalks... Dontcha think?”

Huh? How could she possibly think that something so icky and slick is cute? But Jen... err... Syl looks really happy right now... Since that's the case, let's just say something encouraging. “Umm... sure... Ya... I guess... maybe if they were soft and fluffy, all covered in long spiln fur. Then they'd be... I think.” Michael said with his head tilted to the side gazing at the wiggling eyestalks. “They'd look like cute fluffy caterpillars with eyeball heads or mouth heads depending on the tentacle hanging out.”

Syl's eye lit up at the thought. “Hmm... let me check if there's an option to do so...” She took the shield off her back and once again held it in her hands.

The 3 eyestalks swayed to and fro as Syl directed her energy into the shield, guiding it into the eyestalks which began to glow; Soon after, long silky strands of spiln hair in shades of a purple night began to grow out of their tentacle bodies!

Once the spiln hair had finished growing patterns began to emerge; One received blood-red tiger stripes, another grew blood-red leopard spots, and the last one was painted in camouflage patterns of dark blood-reds, pitch black, and deep purples.

The eyestalks danced in joy as Syl caressed them with one hand as the other hand held the shield. “So soft and cool to the touch! Awe! Just look how cute they are now; Come pet them Wyll!”

Michael froze for a moment looking at Syl's face. OMG! Did she figure it out? He then relaxed as he noticed that Jen-Jen was too absorbed in 'mofu-mofuing' her new 'pets' to have noticed her slip of the tongue... at least Michael hoped it was a slip.

Michael walked up to Syl and reached out with his small hand, stroking one of the furry Eyestalks. “Ooh... they really are soft and fluffy! They definitely look cute now but you may want to use them the other way when fighting to intimidate your enemies.”

“Advice taken and appreciated,” Syl said as she shifted the shield onto her back. “I wonder if I could to the same with this large curvy sword? How funny would that look? Being attacked by a fluffy tentacle sword! Hahaha...”

Michael shivered, “Ya, I'd definitely want to avoid fighting someone like that...”

PWUMP! PWUMP! PWUMP!

The deep sound of drums resounded in the night air, coming from the Kavi village. Michael's head snapped towards the sound, suddenly remembering that there was still a battle going on! “Ah, I forgot! Lunori, the Old Raven, the Furbees, and the rest of the Spriggankin may need help!”

“Well then, what are we doing around here? All 3 of my bars are refilled and raring to go!” Syl said, grasping the handle of her sword as she waited for Wylla who was looking down at her cauldron.

I need to find a place to store this since taking it into battle with me would be a very bad idea for so many reasons.

“There, I'll put it over there...” Michael tipped the cauldron onto its side, leaned over, and started rolling it towards the Serpris cage, almost tripping in the process as the carrying bag holding the Grimoire repeatedly bumped into his thigh. Reaching the cage, he stood the cauldron up against the bars as the Moon Serpris moved her young to the far side of the cage, guarding them.

Looking down at his side, Michael decided the Grimoire was better off being left behind as well so he took the Grimoire bag off his shoulder, and stuff it into the cauldron for safekeeping. “Okay, they should be safe here... Watch these for me okay. I'll be back to pick it up once the battle is won and then I'll free you and your babies!” He said, facing the Moon Serpris.

Satisfied, he turned back, retrieved his hard-earned staff off the ground, and rushed next to Syl. “Okay, all set. Now, how about we go smash open some loot pinatas!”

Smiling, the two set off...