CHAPTER 26: TO THE FORT (2)

After Amanda’s history lesson on vampire and eleven history conversation between us dried up till Kana returned from a successful hunt with a decently size wild boar of some kind. I decided to go with a stew for tonight and set about prepping it.

It was a bit of a challenge learning all the new ingredients but thankfully most items I knew had a comparison in this world it just took a bit of trial and error to figure out what they were. A good example is the weird blue tubular roots which was a staple ingredient around here, and the reason for that was that they are basically potatoes but blue.

Anyway I continued on with food prep as I filled Kana in on what was shared, I did check with Amanda to make sure she didn’t mind me letting Kana know she was a vampire and supprisingly she didn’t balk at the idea. Apparently she took my statement about giving some trust to heart and given that I obviously cared a lot for Kana she was willing to extend this trust to her.

The food was eventually ready and whilst it was not my best meal by any stretch it did help me learn some of the ingredients so I was hopeful that I could learn to cook better, did always enjoy cooking back on Earth so was eager to get back into it. Any leftovers were stored in my choker ready and waiting for breakfast tomorrow.

The night passed with only some gentle play between me and Kana not wanting to make too much noise and disturb Amanda too much. Apparently though vampires have good hearing as in the morning she was blushing something fierce when she looked at either of us.

Regardless, we continued on with our journey. This time we stayed within the outskirts of the Forrest as I wanted to practice ’communicating’ with the Forrest around us in preparation for the Living Vine we would be soon facing. Saddly not much progress was made on the first day and we pitched up camp again that night.

This routine continued for 3 more days, we would alternate between traveling slightly slower within the Forrest one day with me working on communing with nature around us and then the next we would be back on the grasslands making up for any lost time.

A couple of things of note happened during this time. On the third evening after we left the town whilst I was making dinner I decided to see if I could imbue the food with my mana. And turns out I could.

[Congratulations you have learned the skill - basic mana cooking]

What this skill did was pretty simple I could imbue the food with my mana during the cooking process this didn’t change much but it did noticeably improve the taste of the dish and seemed to provide a very minor mana regeneration effect for a short time after we ate.

The next event of note happened on the 5th day. We were walking on the grasslands at this point when we suddenly saw a large number of birds flying out of the forest all at once clearly in a panic. This caused us to all go on guard and I summoned my sword and changed my dress into its much more revealing battle mode. This did have the unfortunate side effect of completely stunning Amanda who couldn’t help but stare at me with obvious lust in her eyes. I guess hearing me and Kana have sex for 5 nights in a row was getting to her. Thankfully she snapped out of it by the time that we started to both hear and feel a rumbling. And it was getting louder.

It was Kana who first recognised what was happening and her face grew pale as she spoke up. "It’s a beast tide." She sounded utterly defeated as if this was the end. Refusing to allow that to be the case I activated nature moulding to the max and called the two girls to gather next to me. I summoned the berry bushes I still had in my storage and placed them tightly around us and pumped all of my mana into them to reinforce them. I willed roots to sprout from the ground not using either of my root spells just purely by manipulating nature around us. By the time I was nearly out of mana we had a redout where I prayed that the bests wouldn’t just smash through. We had some limited visibility through the natural barrier of made and from it we saw the tide.

Their were hundreds of bests, of all shapes and sizes. I saw a few Moss Bears just behind the lead creatures which looked like giant wolves but with 6 legs. I saw hogs, giant snakes at least 10m in length, a weird creature that had no earth analogy that had 3 legs in the front and 3 in the back it was covered in thick black fur and had no visible head. And a multitude of other creatures , all of them heading in our direction.

We hunkered down and I actually prayed to whatever entity that granted my boons asking for its help. I revived no answer but I suppose that was to be expected. But I felt better for doing so. When the beast tide approached us I nearly welt with joy when the beasts split and passed our patch of nature. And am I ever glad for that as I can distinctly feel several beasts of at least iron rank pass us by. The world shook at their passage all I could do was cling desperately to Kana pulling Amanda into the hug too as we all sat there watching as a tide of beasts passed us by less than a couple of meters away. Some of the dumber beasts did half trample part of the bush but I made sure to errect a root wall when I saw one of these coming thankfully managed to redirect their headling charge away from us.

Just as we were thinking it was about over as the tide had mostly left us behind I felt a pressure settle down on my forcing all of us to our knees. Amanda choked out. "Gold rank." To both my and Kanas horror at the implication. With only a few slower beasts chasing after the main horse looked around desperately for the source of the pressure. Because if that creature manages to find us it could kill us in an instant. And to my horror it seemed that the creature had indeed spotted us.

Whilst we all looked in front of us towards the Forrest and to either side we didn’t think to look up. So supprise us all when from behind us their was a sudden blast of wind and a thud of something landing behind us. We quickly turn in its direction to see something truly majestic and terrifying.

The creature that landed was easily 3 meters in height with a wingspan at least twice as large. It looked like a giant owl just with green feathers and what looks like moss and leaves spread over it’s magnificent body. I stared up into its eyes with both fear and awe having never met something so powerful and beautiful before. Without really thinking about what I was doing I separated from the 2 girls and took a step forward befor bowing to the creature and speaking.

"I great the guardian of nature and ask for understanding that we wish no harm to you or yours. All I ask is to be allowed safe passage." I don’t know where I got those words from but I feel it deep in my soul that this is the only thing I can do that might give us a sliver of a hope of getting out of this alive. Whilst I would love to examine the owl in front us I I dare not incase it takes it for an attack.

The owl seems to consider both my words and me for both an age and an instant as it feels like it is looking directly into my soul. Eventually I hear a voice in my mind, it is ageless and ethereal and somehow reminds me of the swaying of branches in the wind. "I greet the young Druid and will accept your wish of safe passage. Long has it been eince one of your kind has faced these lands. I am glad at your return." With those words spoken it lists its giant wing and as it is about to lift off once more a surge of its own nature mana rushes out of it and right into me. I stiffen and let loose a short scream before collapsing to me knees. By the time both Amanda and Kana reach my side I look up only to see the owl has gone. I blink in wonder before something pops into my vision.

[Congratulations you have encountered an ancient guardian of nature and revived it’s recognition. New Title Gained - One With Nature.

One With Nature - you have revived the recognition of a guardian of nature, all flora and fauna with a nature affinity will now recognise you as an ally unless otherwise provoked. If in danger there is a small chance that a nearby nature aligned creature will come to you aid.]

I blink as I look at that title and can only stare at it in amazement until I am shaken out of it by the 2 girls who are asking me if I am alright. I can only dumbly nod and share with them the new title I gained to which they are equally as shocked as I am at this new and unexpected development.

Nevertheless we stay huddled with each other in our partially destroyed cover until the last beast we saw disappeared over half an hour ago. I don’t even bother trying to grab the bushes as with the amount of moulding i used on it it will take far too much work to get it out.

We manage to get out of our hiding spot and proceed to sprint away for another hour to get some extra distance before finding a secluded spot and I once more hide us with plant life. That night we don’t get tents out or start a fire we just gather up in a pile of blankets and lay there together all of us just thankful to be alive after what we witnessed that day.

The 6th day after leaving the town was blessedly quiet with nothing dramatic happening around us. And this we get to the 7th day since we left and mange to spot the large rock formation that marks the spot we need to turn South at. Thus we begin our journey into the Forrest. It is supposed to take one more day to get the the entrance of the valley.

The day continues on with Kana leading the way now we are back in the woods with me in the middle and Amanda behind. And whilst I am fairly confident we won’t get attacked by any wildlife it does no hard to remain vigilant. As the evening wears on and the suns begin to set we finally spot the valley we are searching for and sure enough in the center of the valley is a old and slightly decrepit looking fort. But that’s not what catches our attention, or at least not mine. No what I notice first is the pure presence of the Living Vine and the unsealing feeling that this vine is no weaker than the Gold ranked Owl. "Well fuck." I mutter to myself. "This is going to suck.

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