Gnawing at the Roots (p)

When word had reached him about trouble brewing within the beanstalk village, Solmar had at first been rather skeptical about the whole story, though he had decided that it would be worth looking into none the less. With his exceed Fellis flying overhead, the youngster had learned quite a bit over the last couple of months in which they had been fighting the risen dead, elementals and even some actual monsters, just to create a change of pace. The more they went looking for it, the more it seemed that evil was really always just around the corner and that people did not even need to look all that hard to begin with. That said, finding small acts of evil or creatures looking to devour flesh were not all that hard, though the greater evils such as self-proclaimed gods looking to sacrifice people's souls for their own purposes were luckily a whole lot less frequent. Because an altogether different job had taken him to the port of Cedar, it did not even take him all that long to get to the place that supposedly required his aid.

With the beanstalk village being the way it was, one wouldn't have a whole lot of trouble finding it, which was exactly the case for Solmar. After all, he had been here quite recently when he had to shoo away a dark mage and his demonic follower who were trying to burn the entire place down for shits and giggles. At the time, the people had considered him a hero for saving their precious beanstalk, as well as the surrounding tents they lived in. Even in spite of all that, Solmar had decided against staying the night there because of how weird some of the people got when discussing their overgrown plant. Feeling like some of them actually considered it to be some kind of gift from the gods to the point where they actually revered it, he had taken his leave before things got any weirder. Part of him was not altogether surprised when word reached his ear of something happening in the beanstalk village, however the fact that he had been there quite recently made it feel slightly odd.

In his opinion, he had left the place behind in a relatively unharmed state with the villagers being happy, even though some had to rebuild their tents due to the dark mage and his antics. Upon arrival, there was one thing that could be seen rather quickly, which was the fact that the stalk had seen better days. Looking like a plant that had been in the sun for too long and had a bug infestation, he figured that the former could not be true for this thing. Due to the sheer size of it, it seemed impossible that the sun had done this, because if it could have done such a thing, chances were that it would have done so a whole lot sooner. No, there had to be some other reason for it, like an infestation or something cutting off the flow of water to the places where the plant had its roots. Because his knowledge of plants and trees was limited entirely to the things he had learned from the old herbalist woman in Hosenka and from the plants growing around his lair in Sakuramori, those were really the only things he could come up with on his own.

"Ah, you are the one sent by the ealdorman. Good, we needed someone like you back here for sure if we are to put an end to all of this madness."

Looking over at one of the other people who were out on the road, Solmar figured that this might have been one of the people responsible for getting word out. After all, if he was aware of the ealdorman, it seemed to make sense that this was exactly the guy he was looking forward to meeting. Judging by his words, part of him was actually becoming a bit more invested in the whole job he was sent here to do, because from where he was standing, he could not exactly pick up on any madness. The only thing he saw was that the stalk had seen better days.

"Yes, I'm Solmar. I was sent here to investigate the place because the ealdorman had heard about "trouble brewing" around here. To be entirely honest, I don't think I recognize you."

"Oh but I recognize you. You kept the fires from reaching the tent where my wife and I had left our sleeping children while we went to see what all of the commotion was about. I shudder at the thought of what might have happened if you hadn't been there at the time…"

"I see.. well, mind telling me more about why I was called back here? Is there a monster problem or some kind of dark mage active in the area?"

Asking the obvious questions first after he had been given a quick rundown as to who this person he was meeting with was, the young mage was not exactly interested in having a friendly conversation over a pint of ale and a roasted chicken when there was a job to be done. Normally though, that was exactly what he'd end up doing. He'd just plant his behind firmly in a barstool, ordered a pint of ale and just ate a whole bunch of cooked livestock while he just kept his ears on high alert, picking up anything that might help him learn more about what was going on and to get a lead as to where he should be starting. This time however, it seemed that just talking to the person that had called him here would do just fine.

"No… I mean, I don't think so. But the people, they believe that the holy tree is sick, and that it is the wrath of the gods. The village priest has called people together, sharing tales of the wrath of the gods and how the end of the tree would mean the end of all of us. And the people.. they are scared, what with the recent attack on our village.. They are willing to do just about anything he says, and I'm afraid for me and my family."

Due to his own upbringing, or rather the lack thereof, Solmar had never really been all that understanding towards things such as religion. To him, believing in some kind of being, or several beings who had the power to make and take away life seemed foolish. As things were, he himself had faced beings that were perhaps as frightening as that, creatures like Cernunnos who deemed themselves to be the god of something or another, only to find their death at the tip of Solmar's blade. But being able to kill it did not mean that it wasn't a god, nor did having the power to actually kill it mean that Solmar was himself a god. It just meant that there were some things out there, things who possessed immense power that deluded themselves into thinking more of themselves than they actually were. Figuring the same thing might be happening here, he believed that revering something as holy or divine was dangerous as it gave people feelings of being right in doing unspeakable things.

"I see. And this priest, what is he making the people do? What is he telling them?"

"He hasn't given out any actual orders, though he has the people chanting some odd song at the base of the stalk. So far, he spoke of various sacrifices… blood sacrifices. They have already sacrificed a bunch of cows and pigs to it, though nothing has changed, which only makes the people more afraid. I'm afraid that when push comes to shove… they might actually start sacrificing people to appease the gods."

"….That would be bad.. That would be very bad.. Alright, tell me everything you know about the tree and do not skip out on any of the details. If you want me to find something that might cure the beanstalk and this whole situation, I need to know everything about this plant and more."

With that, the two started a conversation regarding the plant, as well as any places surrounding the beanstalk that might be of importance. In so doing, it was brought up that the tree was drawing most of the water it needed as nourishment from large lakes, one of the largest being up north in the area people had come to know as the Monsterlands. Claiming that there were also some natural caverns here and there from where people could visit the roots of the giant tree and leave offerings, it was also where local herbalists kept track of the state of the plant and any potential offshoots it had. Taking out his map, the local marked various locations on it where Solmar might go if he was to have any hope of figuring out anything towards putting an end to this quickly escalating situation. While it pained him to admit it, it seemed that the ealdorman had been quite right in his assumptions. Trouble was indeed brewing here..


(1537 // Solmar Total: 1537 // Thread Total: 1537)

Listening to a faint thundering in the distance, he saw something approaching the Beanstalk village at a fast pace. Having no idea as to who or what it could be, he nodded at the villager that had told him of the troubles the place faced, aided him with marking his map with the important locations and warned him of the cult-like rise that had been located in the village itself. Once he had nodded, he ran into the village, making sure that whatever this quickly moving object was would not end up tossing dirt into his plans by making it known to all that foreign mages had arrived. Though there was always the chance that the civilians wouldn't think much of it and might appreciate the help, there was also the chance that they might end up blaming them for their troubles. If that were to be the case, there was no telling what kind of shitstorm might start to brew. Sprinting into the direction of the incoming object as fast as his legs could carry, he held out his arms in an attempt at stopping it from actually getting too close to the other villagers.

In mid sprint, he started seeing the features of a person standing atop a chariot, seemingly being determined to get to the village for some reason or another. While he had a faint idea as to why the guy might have come there, Solmar could not risk giving the people even more to fear. As the chariot stopped in front of him, the resounding shock of it doing so passed by him as a powerful gust that nearly ripped his coat free from his body. Resulting in a few large dead leaves falling down from the beanstalk, the man made it quite clear that he was here to take on a job many of the villagers did not know had even been put out there. After all, there was no need for any mages when their priest had it all under control, or would soon have it under control if he were to be believed. Sending a look of mixed emotions that all resembled anger towards the man on the chariot, he walked up to and past him. Once he was close enough, he let a few words bounce from him towards the red haired individual in a rather clear tone of voice.

"Come with me. Now."

Not willing to risk staying around any longer than he needed to, he figured that if this guy was truly here for the job, he'd probably be smart enough to follow Solmar away from the village. Making it look like Solmar and the man did not know each other, mostly because they didn't, he would lead the way to the hills up north. Knowing that if they went far enough north, they would eventually reach the monsterlands, meaning no one would be dumb enough. Given how this was also where he expected most of the problems to have originated from when matching the potential spots marked on his map, this was where he would try to lead the red headed man. If the guy remained behind, it was up to him, though Solmar currently was in good standing with the place, which was not something he would be risking over this just yet. Looking over his shoulder but once, he saw some of the villagers gathering near the fallen leaves, the town priest standing over it as if praying for a deceased relative. In that moment though, he was sure the priest looked up at him for a second.

Because of the fact that Solmar was, by all means, probably closer to an animal than a human being in terms of his upbringing and his way of life, he could always feel whether people had more going on for them than the naked eye could see. And this sense, whatever it was, was off the charts with this fellow. By the time he felt that there had been enough distance between them and the village, he would take the time to actually properly speak to the man in an attempt at mending things. While he did not feel like there was any bad blood between them yet, the fact that Solmar had been rather visual about his anger towards the guy earlier was probably something that required addressing. Whether it would actually help or make things worse however was something no one could tell at this point, as Solmar did not really have a way with words as some of the fancy city folk might.

"So you said you came for the job, that's good, means we'll be able to cover more ground once we get to the first location. A local gave me some pointers about some viable locations in which we might be able to find the source of what is making the stalk sick. He also told me that the villagers were at the end of their ropes, and that their priest is proposing some rather strange and outdated customs in order to "appease the gods". That's why I made sure we left before the priest had the chance to talk to us, seeing as we can't use any men and women of the cloth standing between us and what needs to be done. I'm Solmar by the way."


(895 // Solmar Total: 1626 // Thread Total: 2684)

When the tension suddenly became tangible in the air, it seemed that much of what he had tried to tell the red haired man had fallen on deaf ears. Instead, it seemed that this guy had something else entirely planned for him, and it wasn't exactly what he had originally expected when he had shouted out how he had come for a job. No, most of the details regarding the job seemed like they were unimportant now that this man had seemingly managed to figure out about how Solmar had a demon inside of him. As this was not really something that had been done by choice and many steps had in fact been taken to get rid of it, the fact that it was still inside of him proved just how tenacious it was. The thought of this man actually wanting to challenge him if he did not provide him with the right answer was enough to make Solmar draw his own sword, a weapon that would most likely splinter the demon slaying blade that was currently being pointed at him.

In a way, much of what the man had said was probably true, what with him being the elder of the two and therefore having seniority, as well as apparently deeming himself to be the king of something made it so that Solmar would have even less of a right to speak. But all of that only worked out in society, and Solmar had long since stopped being a part of that. In the wilderness, seniority was only a thing until the younger animal beat the older in battle and took over his position. Maybe that was what needed to happen here, a show of force to demonstrate that the black haired swordsman could not give a whole lot about whether the man was his elder or a king of some weird place he had never heard about. While Solmar could not actually sense magical power, he was certain that this was not the case for this other guy, and as such allowed his own white flame aura dance around him to show that he was not just another pushover who would do what someone told him.

"Honestly, I don't care about a single thing you just said, nor do I care about your reasoning. This "stink" you referred to is very real, though it is not by choice, of that I can assure you. I don't know how it got here, though I know that it is at the very least contained for as long as I am alive, which is currently all you need to know."

Bringing his hand down to his right side, a flash of light appeared from the palm of his hand. A moment later, a massively oversized greatsword could be seen, a sword that had originally been crafted by an ancient warrior race from across the ocean for the sole purpose of killing a massive dragon. In the months that had passed after he got the weapon, he had come to learn a great deal about it, like how it worked great with his own slayer magic and that it had a bunch of hidden powers that activated itself simply by being in battle. Whether it were against a monster, a dragon, a demon or a king, once it started adapting itself in combat, the one he faced would bite the dust sooner rather than later. For that was the power of Sunvaar Kriid, a weapon meant for a warrior who was not bogged down by the norms of society and could therefore do whatever he considered to be right. And the way he saw it, what this Gangting person was doing and saying was far from it, something the man would hopefully come to understand about himself soon enough.

"While I don't want to sound high and mighty, seeing as how you've got that much covered entirely on your own already, I've come here to do a job. Now you are allowed to tag along so those cultists can go back to being ordinary farmers, or you can ready your sword. But I can promise you this much, if it means getting to help all of those people back there from maybe becoming a blood sacrifice to some fake god, I won't have any problems with killing a King."

Once those words had been spoken, he allowed his aura of white fire to recede, figuring that this man might have realized that, while there was in fact a demon hidden inside of his body, there was also a pretty strong amount of demon slaying magic present to keep the beast contained. This was after all the sole reason why he had become a demon slayer, though the main goal had been to burn the beast out of himself entirely. When that hadn't been possible, he figured that keeping it contained was about the best he could do for any and all around him. With the sword remaining within his hands, he had made it quite clear that he would not hesitate to kill someone if they intended to kill him first, or if they wanted to stand in the way of him protecting people that could not protect themselves. Keeping his eyes locked on those of Gangting the entire time, he made it entirely clear that, in terms of morals, Solmar was a very grey person who would do whatever was needed of him to see things through.

"So when you're done with the meaningless posturing, you've got a decision to make. You can either go back to the village and see where that gets you, do what you came here for and helping those people, or get cut in half where you stand. Because I can assure you, that toothpick won't stand a chance against this, as nothing has so far."


(981 // Solmar Total: 2607 // Thread Total: 5318)

With a slight flicker of light, Solmar's sword disappeared back to where it had been summoned from, wherever that was. Shaking the man's hand soon after, it seemed that he was not as bad as he sounded. Having only summoned his sword in the first place to join in on all of the pointless posturing, it turned out that his own honesty had managed to sway the man and his opinion, though he was certain that the show of strength had at least helped a bit. It was only human to respond to strength after all. It was good to know that the man was willing to help him out with what needed to be done, especially after the work Solmar had done to try and keep things quiet while they went about doing their job. Though he couldn't be sure, he was rather certain that the beanstalk was facing some kind of infestation, considering how it showed signs of more than just withering from a lack of water. If the stalk really had roots that stretched as far as the markings on the map suggested, not getting enough water seemed unlikely.

While it was possibly true that it was getting Less water than it normally would, it still would not be enough to reduce the tree to the state that it was currently in right now, that much was something of which he was certain. Considering the idea of an infestation, Solmar quickly came to the realization that they wouldn't just be dealing with something like ants, not when taking into mind the sheer size of the beanstalk. No, whatever was infesting the roots, it was something that was way, way bigger than an ant, maybe even bigger than a human, though probably no bigger than a horse. But all of those things would just make it easier for the two of them to know they reached the place they were looking for as the entrance and the tunnel or cave itself had to at least be big enough to allow passage for such a large creature. By the time he realized that he had been pondering on the information of the job again instead of contributing to the conversation, he pulled his back from wherever it was at.

"I see… well, I guess that makes the stories about our toothpicks somewhat similar. Mine was made by an ancient civilization of warriors who had their ancestral lands destroyed and sank into the ocean by a massive dragon. This blade of mine was forged from the blades of the fallen warriors, collected into one massive slab of iron, and as you could probably already tell, was made to slay that dragon."

Though the blade had already been unsummoned, he figured that the actual weapon had left plenty of a mark on the other man's mind. It wasn't that often that someone encountered a weapon of such massive proportions, at least that had been the case when Solmar first found the weapon on a job while assisting an archaeological society, whatever that was. Considering the amount of swords that had all been molten down and reshaped into a single large slab of iron, Solmar had always figured that the weapon had been created that way as a memorial to the fallen, as well as to make a sword so big and heavy that it might actually be able to harm a dragon. That said, in Solmar's own limited imagination, he couldn't really create an image that would serve towards what size the behemoth must have been if it had managed to sink an entire country. But that was a thought for another time.

"Unfortunately for them, they never got the chance to, and the last known chieftain died of old age after getting his people to Fiore. It turned out that my mother was a descendant of their bloodline, and that it is why I can use this weapon in the first place. But I've never seen a dragon though, I just use it to kill monsters and other things that deserve to get smashed by it. But I guess none of that really matters right now."

Since he had already been on long enough about the matter of the swords, he believed that he had done plenty to inform the man of the heritage of his own weapon, and that it too had been forged for a certain someone to fight some greater evil. Unfortunately, his sword had never gotten around to completing that particular goal, and now it was being used by Solmar to kill whatever needed killing so the rest of the people and animals it threatened could remain safe. Now was one of those times where he hoped they faced something he could use this sword for, which seemed about right considering how the place they were headed for was located at the borders of the Monsterlands to the north. There, the villager he had spoken to had placed one of the markings on his map, making it the most likely place for some monster to be nibbling at the roots of the tree and making it die off in this manner. Right now, that was what he believed, and it was about the only thing he could tell his accomplice right now as it was all he knew.

"One of the villagers I spoke to that pinned up this job made sure it was done in secrecy, considering how some of them believe the priest is starting a cult and plans on sacrificing people to appease the "tree god". He marked a few locations on my map where he believes the actual culprits might be active, and hoped that if they were taken care of, the village would go back to normal. The first location, and the one I am placing my bets on, is not that far from here."

Showing the markings on the map so he could see it with his own eyes, Solmar quickly put it away again as he continued his stride towards the Monsterlands. There, they would figure out whether his assumption was on point soon enough, for it would be there that they'd either find their target or would learn that it was the wrong place. If the latter were to be true, it would mean they had two additional locations to cover, but as a rather seasoned hunter of animals, some monsters and a bunch of sentient dead, it seemed entirely unlikely that he was wrong about it. But at the end of the day, him being right or wrong did not matter, all that mattered was taking down this problem before the cult issue in the Beanstalk village would rise to the point of making actual sacrifices.


(1130 // 3737)

"I talked to a bunch of old ghosts a while back, and they all said that the creature was massive. They didn't tell me exactly how big it was or why it attacked them the way it did, so I'm not really sure if it is actually still alive or not either. Personally, I've never seen a dragon before, and I only ever heard about them being an actual thing a few months ago since there are apparently people who slay them for a living. But to be honest, I forgot to ask if the dragon was still alive since they seemed quite busy with teaching me how to wield their ancestral blade, it must've slipped my mind."

Thinking back to the time when Solmar had ventured deep into a burial crypt located within the Phoenix mountains, a place he had been drawn to due to his dreams constantly being visited by the same ghastly specter. Bringing him to the Phoenix mountains by showing him visions of specific landmarks, the young mage had stumbled upon the place where he had then been tasked with taking up the sword he had touched once before, only for it to disappear someplace else. Using it to fight old, dead bodies inhabited by the ghosts that wanted him to take up the blade and kill them with it, they did so to choose their champion and release them from the crypt so they too could pass on to the afterlife. Once Solmar was done fighting them, that was exactly what happened, so he wouldn't be able to ask them about the dragon even if he wanted. Still, it made him wonder if it were true that a dragon wasn't as bad as a demon.

Knowing all too well what it was like to be wounded, he actually had the demon inside of him to thank for the fact that he was still alive, having most of his bones broken and many of his organs ruptured in a fight with a massive Yeti and the wraith that commanded it. Due to the demon breaking free when Solmar passed out, it doing so had regenerated all of his wounds and used it's overbearing might to rip off the Yeti's limbs before eating the face off of the wraith. After that fight in which he felt like he was going to die for sure, he had gone through some other battles which still pained him to this day. One of them had been with a powerful elemental that broke one of his ribs, another in which he sprained his ankle and wrist and finally the one where he had been hit in the back with a fireball. Had it not been for his own fire magic, that one would most likely have hurt him a whole lot more than it had done now.

In spite of his wounds, he was still alive and kicking, and very much on point and willing to finish this job before taking a break in some tavern. As he thought about taking a few nights to just lay down, eat and drink his pay away and heal his wounds while doing so, Gangting asked him how he got his hands on the demon slaying magic he had. Finding it a relatively good question he had only ever been asked before by another slayer, it seemed to be the kind of thing only another slayer would think of. After all, Slayer magic was in and of itself quite rare and existed for a select few people in order to kill a certain specific kind of target. Dragons, Demons, Gods, things most mages would not be equipped against properly, which was why these magics apparently existed. Hearing out the story of how the earth slayer got his, Solmar started pondering on the matter since there was such a stark contrast to the two of them in terms of obtaining their power.

"I see. Well, I imagine your reasons for seeking out this magic were more noble than mine. I've never had people to protect because the demon that inhabits my body killed them all one night. The reason why I set out to find this kind of magic was to get myself rid of him and erase him so it wouldn't be able to kill anyone again."

While this was not the first time he told anyone this story, it did not exactly make things any easier to talk about. To witness your own parents, neighbors and friends being ripped apart by your own hands while you were stuck having to watch as if your body was being piloted by someone else. Things like that really left their mark on a person, and went on to explain why Solmar wasn't much of a people person, as well as why he took to removing himself from modern society as much as possible. If he was on his own out in the wilderness, there weren't a lot of people he could hurt, or so he had reasoned.

"I got a lead that told me to go to the shadow isles, a place of darkness with plenty of demons. There, I found this odd little shrine while I was running from them, seemed they couldn't enter the place. Since I couldn't leave and they couldn't come in, I learned that the white flame at the center of the room was all that remained of some sort of avenging angel that had fallen in battle against demons. When I touched it, the flame disappeared and I got this tattoo on my arm. Been able to use those flames ever since."

Compared to speaking to a god and being chosen as some kind of king who needed to unite and lead his people against a demonic scourge, Solmar's story wasn't nearly as imposing. Most of the things he had done, he had ultimately done for himself because he was done with losing people, had a family to avenge and a demon to kill. These days however, he could not even remember where he was from or what his parents even looked like. But that was what happened when they were killed at a young age and many years were spent in solitude after that, filled with attempts at survival and keeping a demon locked inside. Continuing to move towards their destination, he figured that he wasn't much of a traveling partner considering how Solmar wasn't the kind of person that would be considered pleasant. That said, he still tried to make the best of it by going out of his way to properly elaborate on the questions he was asked. It was the least he could do.


(1111 // 4848)

Listening closely to what Gangting was saying as they moved closer towards their location, it struck him how little he actually knew about ghosts and spirits. Aside from being able to kill them due to his magic being devised for the sake of slaying the undead and demons, there was only so much he could actually say for certain about what they were and what they wanted. It did however make him wonder if the continent killing dragon was still alive or not. What with the thing that had been brought up earlier in regards to dragons rarely dying of old age, if at all, it seemed likely that the thing still existed to this day. Further judging it by what Gangting said in relation to the ghosts being around because they felt like they had unfinished business of some sort and that this was why they had taught Solmar to wield the dragonslayer sword, the young mage wondered if this was truly it or not. Having seen that some of these spirits had willingly bound themselves to their remains for the next heir to the blade, he figured some of them just wanted to be released.

"It might be possible, though I don't know a whole lot about dragons or ghosts. To me, it seemed like many of them just wanted to be freed from their remains so they could go to whatever afterlife they believed was awaiting them. They taught me how to wield this blade by fighting and killing them in an underground tomb, so I imagine it was a win win situation for them since they're all free from their bonds now."

As he explained a bit more about the situation, he felt more accomplished about the things he had done. At the time, he had been more focused on staying alive as they actively tried to kill him to prove that he was unworthy of the weapon, though that had changed. Now, he was just glad that he had proven himself worthy of the weapon and managed to set his ancestors free. Thinking about it almost made him miss out on what Gangting was telling him about a strategist and his armies, or how splitting up his forces might get more done at times than a large army, and vice versa. Through it all, Solmar figured that the main point to it all was that both of their purposes were noble no matter how small or large scaled they were.

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

Not really having a whole lot to reply with other than that, there were simply too many things running through his mind to actually give the man any more than that. That said, he still appreciated the notion, even though he felt like his own purpose was inferior. After all, all he was really after was, as Gangting put it, avenging the fallen and getting his revenge. Remembering how his father had always told him not to go out for revenge as it ate away at the soul, Solmar could not imagine going around as if everything was okay, giving up on getting his revenge and letting the demon be. No, that simply would not do, and he wanted to make sure that it would pay for it. Luckily, the large man made the situation a bit less gloomy by laughing out loud from time to time, causing the ground itself to rumble a bit. Having only ever witnessed such a thing when he fought an earth elemental, he figured that it made sense that this man possessed earth based magical powers. His pondering however was cut short when Gangting started talking about wargs. Knowing wargs were basically larger wolves similar to the dire wolves living in Sakuramori, he heard Gangting say how he was curious to see him fight.

Not really planning on fighting, Solmar closed his eyes in an attempt at letting his magic do its work. Being a kind of magic he had inherited from his father and did not fully understand, it let him speak to animals and plants as well, given enough time. Knowing that it worked by spreading a large yet thin field of magic around himself and his surroundings, he could feel all of the large wolves moving around inside of it. As he tried to sense everything around him, he could feel earth based magic passing through his surroundings as everything changed to become a flat surface. Taking away any and all hiding spots from which the wolves could lurk, Solmar frowned a bit as doing so would likely force them into attacking. Needing more time to figure out how to actually make contact with the wolves and tell them to take a hike, it seemed that his assessment of the situation had been correct.

Opening his eyes again now that his magic was going to work, he saw that Gangting himself was also preparing for battle as earth started rising up from below and got drawn towards his hands. Seeing that they were forming into some sort of gauntlets that compressed themselves and hardened visibly, there was also a notable golden glow to it, which he figured was similar to the white glow of his own flames. Getting a bit of insight into the workings of other demon slayer magics, he looked on to see large spikes growing out of the gauntlets, their purpose being all too clear to him. Figuring that he would not be able to respond in time with his own magic, the battle had already started between the earth slayer and the wargs. Expecting him to go about fighting with his own two hands, he however sent out a wave of spikes from the earth towards wargs that were trying to flank to the two of them, hitting two of them and causing them to bleed heavily, something that would undoubtedly kill them before long. With his spell still hard at work towards deciphering the language of wolves, Solmar made his move too.

Once some of the other wolves started moving on Gangting, he saw how one of them got their head smashed in while another bit into his arm. Not being able to do a whole lot about it as tugging at the beast or hitting it would just cause the fangs to dig into his muscle tissue and cause way more damage than it otherwise might, he focused on an altogether different warg that had started charging. Not feeling like hitting the beast with a blast of fire or killing it with his flames, he went for an altogether different and likely far less expected manner of dealing with it. Using his own magic, which was by all means still a work in progress, he pulled the earth beneath him towards his fist and created a thick earthen gauntlet with a white glow to it. Ramming it into the side of the wolf, the fact that his own version of Gangting's spell currently lacked the earthen spikes meant that the animal was just thrown aside with a good amount of concussive force. Making use of his physical speed and the earthen gauntlet he had more or less stolen from Gangting's assortment of magic, he kept at least two more wolves from getting close to them and smacking them away with his earthen hand. However, as more of the wargs were planning on attacking, his other spell had finished.

Closing his eyes, Solmar just stood there as all of the wargs stopped moving, though being visibly confused about something or another. Since his magic had finished deciphering how to speak to the wolves, he was now actively communicating with the animals. Though not doing so in words, it was a kind of communicative magic that worked through an exchange emotions, feelings and commands rather than actual words. Through it, he ordered the warg that had bitten into Gangting's arm to release his grip. After that, he managed to let the animals know that they were not the predators, and that they were fighting a fight they could not win. Telling them to leave if they valued their lives, the animals surprisingly nodded or simply lowered their heads in understanding before howling and leaving the scene. Disappearing rather quickly as they headed back to where they came from, Solmar figured that this was actually one of the easier encounters they would be having on their way to the root of the problem. As the earthen gauntlet crumbed away from his hand and his communicative magic disappeared along with the magical field, he turned his attention back to Gangting.

"They won't be coming back, though you should see to your arm. The mouths of wolves are generally filled with bacteria due to the fact that they can't exactly brush their teeth after eating raw meat. Also, it wasn't particularly wise to remove their hiding spots as they tend to get violent when out in the open as they were probably just sizing us up before."

Having lived in the wilderness for years, he knew quite a bit about dealing with wild animals and specific types of monsters one might encounter there. What he lacked in knowledge regarding magic, dragons or ghosts, he more than made up for by knowing how to survive outside of modern society. Running the risk of sounding like a smartass, he hoped Gangting would take his statement for what it was and would take to binding the wound on his arm before things got any worse. If they kept moving, they would soon make their way to one of the lakes the beanstalk drew water from as sustenance, meaning they would be able to properly clean the wound there too. First however, binding it would do so as to stop the bleeding.


(1639 // 6487)

Spoiler:

"Well then maybe people need to learn their place for once. These animals have been living here for far longer than there have been humans in Fiore, let alone settlements and villages. In case you hadn't noticed yet, these are the monsterlands, and they're no place for humans. If they do get injured or killed out here, that's their fault for venturing out here to begin with, not that of the animals that reside here."

Being rather blunt in his answer as Solmar was the kind of person who was quick to anger when people used excuses regarding animals hurting people, he wondered whether or not Gangting even realized how important this kind of thing was to the young swordsman. During his years in the wilderness, he had seen quite often how when a company started logging in a part of the woods and put up a settlement, hunters were then called in because "wild animals hurt or killed a settler". Instead of asking themselves whether or not they should have built in that place or whether or not it might have once been home to those animals before humans wrecked it, they just hired someone to kill their problem and be done with it. In fact, it was just one of many reasons why Solmar utterly hated being around humans, because they were just too damned selfish and egotistical. If they learned to share the planet with the many other creatures that lived in it without turning them into pets or livestock, the world would undoubtedly have been a much better place, of that there was no doubt in Solmar's mind.

"Besides, it's hardly interesting to fight such simple minded and straight forward animals such as these. If you really want to challenge yourself and let go of some of that pent up frustration, we can go a few rounds before we continue towards the source of the withering. I'd offer to fight you after, but I imagine you'll be pretty tired after we fight whatever's responsible for it."

Though the latter part was a joke in regards to the fact that the man was older than he was, he wouldn't have minded going a few rounds with the man. After all, the guy had made plenty of jabs at him to make him feel inferior just for being younger. In spite of that, the young slayer was quite confident in the fact that he could take this guy on any day. Taking into consideration some of the things he had been forced to fight over the years, fighting another demon slayer might have been quite an interesting bout. Sometimes, it was better just to duke it out rather than to let things fester like they did now, because they were making things rather uncomfortable for him. Besides, if the guy wanted to brawl something so badly, he should try his hands against someone that wasn't as simple in nature or as base as a wolf or two. In the case of Solmar, he could actually defend himself, not to mention that he could dish out a few solid hits as well. Whether the earth slayer would still be able to follow him on the job afterward was one thing, but that did not really matter right now. As things were, he'd rather just drop the job and fight this guy than continue going onward with someone who believed themselves to be so superior to him.

"You keep acting superior because of some god-given purpose, or simply because you're older than I, though I'm willing to bet that I can best you in a brawl. So unless you're a coward, prove to me now just how superior you are, or shut up about it and stop treating me like a child. Choose, now."

With the challenge put out there, the issue would soon resolve itself, or so he believed. He had been around boastful types before, but they always came up with some lame reason to drag themselves out and keep them from actually taking on the challenge. That was because cowards had the biggest mouths of all. Though he did not think of this Gangting person to be a coward, the constant belittling had started to really get under Solmar's skin, and he had enough of it. Not being used to actually having to get angry with someone, he would have rather liked blowing off a bit of steam here.


(744 // 7231)

As he had imagined, it did not take a whole lot to get the man to fight him, though what had not gone exactly as he had imagined it would have was the fact that he seemed rather contained about it. Judging from how the man had been acting before, it seemed that him actually being challenged the way Solmar did took away some of the high and mighty, but mostly just loud attitude and replaced it with a calmer one. Whether this was merely the state the man took on when he had to keep his wits about him or if it had happened by accident was not something Solmar really know, nor did it really matter much to him. All that mattered about his observation was that the man had calmed down, which meant that the fight at this point would not have a whole lot more to offer. Still, Solmar believed that doing so at this point, while being detrimental to the battle ahead, would at the very least serve to reduce some of the frustrations between the two parties. When the man in front of him started taking of pieces of armor, the young mage could tell that things were getting serious.

By removing his cloak and chest armor, a lot of wounds were revealed and what appeared to be either some strange kind of sickness or poisoning along with them. It seemed strange for someone who was suffering from such things to still be moving around in search for things to fight instead of waiting for their wounds to heal, which was only the most logical thing to do as far as Solmar himself was aware. Even though these thoughts came with a side of hypocrisy as he himself had never really taken a break from things when he broke a few of his ribs, when he broke his thumb or when he sprained his ankle, none of these injuries were potentially life threatening. Judging by the look of the wounds this guy had all over his body, the same could not be said about him as it appeared like the kind of thing that would eventually kill you if you weren't careful about it and refused proper treatment. Though he would not presume to know anything more about the man than what he had been personally told by him, part of him felt that it was somewhat safe to assume that the man hadn't really taken the time to rest from the wounds he had sustained.

"You know, someone in your state should probably not be traveling, let alone fighting. Hell, if a mere warg managed to injure you, it makes me wonder if you'll manage to hold your own where we’re headed. Not to mention the fact that if your resistance has at all been lowered, that bite itself might come with even more detrimental side effects like lockjaw."

Shaking his head a bit, he figured that the man had most likely heard all of these things somewhere before, and probably from people who had a lot more knowledge of the human body and medicine than Solmar did. Truth be told, all he knew was what he had learned through firsthand experience and a few books he had managed to get his hands on during his travels. But it did not take a physician to know that the wounds on Ganging were not normal, and that they should not be treated as if they were in any way normal. Still wondering whether he should actually fight the man knowing that it just might be the last push he'd need to kill him or put him into some kind of state that might be worse, Solmar imagined that the best he could do now was the make the man come at him. Figuring that it would allow him to better assess the situation and the way in which the man fought, it seemed unlikely that the man would have the speed to keep up with Solmar's own movement, let alone his magic that moved even faster than he could. Loosening the clip of his cloak, he took it off and tossed it a good three meters away from him.

Since the thing was of some significance to him, he did not want anyone accidentally stomping on it or hitting it with a spell of some sort. As he had nothing on him that was in some way a form of armor, all that was left on him was his black, sleeveless bodysuit, his boots and the elbow sleeve he had covering up his slayer tattoo. Putting his feet a little bit further apart, he bent through his knees ever so slightly as he readied himself for the fight. Not summoning his sword, he figured that this was to be a fight of magic and fists. Even if that were to be the case, he figured that it would likely be best not to go ahead and blast the man for all that he was worth, both due to his wounds and due to the fact that he might still have need of him if whatever was causing the beanstalk to die proved more difficult to deal with than he had imagined. If such were to be the case, the man and his magic would still be of use to the people of the beanstalk village, that much was certain. Now, all it took was to wait for the man to make the first move so they could get this demonstration of force out of the way once and for all.

"Ready when you are."


(940 // 8171)

Hearing the man out with regards to his wounds and how they had apparently been there for months, it was rather harsh to hear that no healer had been able to fix him during that period of time, and that there might not even be one that could to begin with. Understanding that his wounds made him weaker than he ought to be at this point, it just made Solmar wonder about why he wanted to fight him that much more. Once the part came up where the man considered himself a warrior who would not spend his time bedridden and would instead prefer to die as a warrior, it also made him wonder as to whether or not the man aimed to die. And if he did, if he wanted someone like Solmar to be the one that killed him, this thought only being reinforced when he jokingly brought up how he should not blame himself in case he accidentally killed Gangting during this fight. Not looking forward to being the guy that ended up being the reason why this man died before his time, the only thing he could really do right now was to go along with things for a little while longer and hope that what he had in mind might put them back on track towards doing the job they had been hired to do.

As it would be cowardly of him to issue a challenge and back down now, he called his sword to his side when he saw the spiked earthen fists forming. Holding it in front of his body with both hands, he took a deep breath before allowing his magical power to build up to tremendous heights. Creating a pillar of white light and flames, he put one foot in front of the other while preparing to make his move. Had the ground not already been shaking due to the earth demon slayer, it would most certainly be doing so now as the black haired youth unleashed more and more of his magic, building it up into a single strike that would for all intents and purposes end the fight in one go. With the flames intensifying, chunks of earth broke off around him and got sent flying into the area directly to his sides as the wind started howling. Holding the blade diagonally towards the floor, he readied himself to strike from side to side, as that was his preferred means of striking an enemy as it allowed him to take off a head or a leg in one go.

Once Gangting charged him, Solmar also set off, dashing towards him at a fraction of his full speed while carrying the blade by his side. As he set off, the pillar of fire and light died down, though he still very much carried it with him on the inside as his blue eyes lit up ever so brightly. While the two were approaching one another with the intention of fighting, there would be nothing giving away that Solmar was actually only keeping up appearances. It was as the man had said after all, if the guy died, it would not have been his fault, though the possibility was very much there once the two of them were to seriously clash with an intent to fight ferociously, maybe even with an intent to kill. But if there was one thing Solmar had learned while spending all of his years out in the wilderness, it was how to pretend to mean business when in the face of another predator or other territorial animal. That, and he had to always make it seem like he was a person like no other and that he knew what people were talking about when taking on new jobs, even though he usually didn't.

Therefore, as the two were about to collide, a bright flash of blinding light erupted from Solmar's body, a spell that had been made for situations exactly like these. Using the bright light as a means of actively blinding his opponent while masking a teleportation spell, the black haired magus reappeared directly behind Gangting. There, he would then go on to use the length of his sword in an attempt at stabbing the man in the glutes. Though he would only aim to draw a trickle of blood, his blade would only go in about two to three millimeters before he would draw the blade back to him and unsummoning it. Though some would argue why he would put up such a charade and not even fight properly, Solmar would tell them that it was all for the sake of making a point. In this case, that point was that he could most likely have danced around the heavily injured man for several minutes before landing a blow, or that he could have just ran him through with his greatsword from behind, though that was hardly the issue here. Right now, the most important of points that he was trying to make with this was that one should not underestimate the injuries they were suffering from, and that Solmar was far from a child that couldn't handle himself.

"Boop. You died. I win."

Though it came out in the same tone as all of his words did, this time, he actually aimed for it to not sound all that serious. Unfortunately, it still did. Whether or not the man would accept this outcome or not was one thing, though it was the only way for Solmar to properly deal with things and not have them go out of hand. Knowing himself quite well, he knew what might happen if he were to get injured himself, that he would get angry and would be out for blood. Luckily, it would not need to come that far as his only aim was to stab the guy in his unprotected butt cheek in order to make him aware of just how much his wounds were holding him back and how relatively easy it became for someone like Solmar to potentially skewer him. If nothing else, this would be better for the job as neither of them would have to face whatever it was that was making the Beanstalk sick while battered and beaten, as well as making it more clear that for the time being, Solmar was the superior fighter. Being young, fresh and most importantly not sick or wounded gave him an edge that would hopefully force the man to seek help in curing his wounds rather than giving up on it.


(1100 // 9271)

"Don't worry about it, at least it's behind us now, though the worst is still to come."

Speaking as if it had never bothered him to begin with, which was not the case in the slightest as it had done so to the point of him issuing a challenge, it seemed like the best thing to do for now. After all, it was true that that much was behind them, at least until one of them re-awakened the fire and it started all over again. But while that was behind them, Solmar did not doubt for a second that the real issue was still very much ahead of them as they had not really gotten to the point of finding the reason for the beanstalk withering and slowly dying. However, as they had already reached the point where the first cave was to be found, all it really took at this point was for them to move about a hundred meters further so they could get to the ridge that should be overlooking the caves itself, the lake and obviously the area between the two. Following Gangting into the right direction, the ledge gradually got closer and would most likely provide them with some new insights.

"Thank you, though it wasn't something I made myself. Most of my spells just happen when I need them, it isn't like I can will them into happening. Most of them happen simply when I need them, though I'm getting better at making them.. come out I guess. It sometimes also happens with other people's magic, though I-"

Cutting himself off mid-sentence, he tugged at Gangting's coat as he himself dropped to the floor. Leveling himself out with the ground so he could see what was going down below them while limiting those below from seeing him. Because his nose had picked up on something that smelled truly rancid before his ears picked up on the stomping of several feet wandering about, it was not much later that his eyes picked up on various strange beings. With pitch black skin, four hoofed legs and various flailing tentacles sprouting from their back, it possessed various gaping maws filled with several rows of teeth. Not seeing any eyes at first, it made him wonder as to whether or not these beasts hunted based on hearing or scent, though he could not spot a nose or any ears either. As such, he figured that it merely had these senses hidden but still possessed them, this being the safest thing to come up with until he could be sure that the former was the case or not. This way, he wouldn't be caught off-guard if his assessment was in any way incorrect.

Watching closely as a small band of four of these… whatever they were wandered over from inside of the large cave opening directly at the foot of the ridge beneath Gangting and Solmar, heading towards the lake and getting something to drink. If nothing else, they proved that they were creatures just like any other, though something was off about them. Letting his eyes drift around a bit more, it was at that point that his eyes fell on the large roots that dipped into the lake itself to provide moisture for the beanstalk in this part of the land. When he looked upon it however, he could see how chunks, bits and pieces were missing out of it before the four beasts ventured over to it and started tearing into it. As there was now no longer a point in denying that he was right, his belief that there was some sort of infestation eating at the roots turned out to be the case. If there were more of these things inside, which seemed likely as the tree would not start to wither from just having four animals eating at the roots, they would need to do something about it.

Normally, he was convinced that doing what was in the best interest of nature was always the right thing to do, which was also why he had bothered sending the wargs away instead of letting the fighting continue and having more of them killed. In this case however, he was not entirely sure as to what he should do. They could go in, guns blazing, killing everything in sight, as seemed to be the way of most of these guilds one encountered. He had met plenty of them so far and saw each time how they just wanted to kill things first and ask questions once there was no one left to ask them of. But that was not his way, and had never been his way. But these things were making the massive beanstalk within which not only a whole village had been built, but was also something that seemed integral to the local ecosystem, and turning it into a snack as they slowly killed it. So while something clearly needed to be done, Solmar was uncertain as to whether they should go in and kill the creatures or if there was perhaps another way in which they could deal with it. But judging from the looks of these beasts, they did not seem the kind to be susceptible to being asked to leave. As such, he turned to the older of the two. Even if things were likely not as grey to the man as they were to Solmar, and he felt like the answer he was getting was going to be pretty black and white, he still felt like asking.

"What do you think we should do?"


(937 // 10209)

“I’m not really sure how to explain it really. Sometimes, controlling my magic is easy and I can bring it out when I want it to, though there are also times when it comes out on its own. Usually, this happens when I’m angry or when I need to protect myself, and it usually only happens with my demon slaying magic. It might be because of the demon I’m trying to contain, since my magic was originally meant to burn it out of me. But it’s clear enough that that didn’t happen, or you wouldn’t have been able to sense it. All I know is that it might be the reason why my magic… fluctuates at times, as I have no other explanations for it.”

Though it might have sounded a bit rambly, him not really understanding what was going on made it hard to properly explain it. Still, that was the only truth he could share at this point in time, at least until he started understanding what it all meant himself. Still, it seemed odd that someone other than himself would worry about such things, though that wasn’t something he was going to be bringing up right now. For the time being, he could only wonder as to what Gangting would have to say in response, given how it might sound strange that someone was not entirely in control of their own magic power. The fact that he had always had so much of it allowed him to feel that it had been fluctuating a lot more lately, at least a whole lot more than in the previous eleven years, or for that matter, in the eighteen years that came before the past five months. There was no telling when it would stop, or if it would stop, though he could clearly tell that it was building up to something. Whether that had something to do with the demon inside of him or with the fact that he was getting stronger at an incredibly high pace, he didn’t know.

All that really mattered at this point was that it made him stronger, strong enough to deal with the threats he encountered along the way that rose their ugly heads from the muck. Using his powers for the sake of helping those that could not help themselves, be they civilians, animals or even plants and trees, he would make sure that he’d keep growing stronger so he could keep doing just that. So when Gangting brought up that he could sense that there were more creatures waiting for them in the deeper regions of the tunnels, part of him wanted to rush on down there. But Gangting was right about one thing. Before they would be heading down there, they should use the creatures that had come out for something to drink to see just how effective their magic would be against them. After all, neither of them had ever faced something like it before, and it was quite safe to say that these things had not spawned from a natural source. Their forms were far too warped and outlandish for that. That, and since they had no exact numbers and had no idea as to what else might be down there, it seemed like the best idea by far.

“You’re probably right about that. The beanstalk we saw is massive, meaning it would have a root network that might very well spread underneath the vast majority of Fiore as a whole. Since this is one of the primary places where the roots breach into a lake, it was one of three likely locations of an infestation. So with these things being here, and you being able to sense much more of them down in the tunnels, I’d say we found the source of the beanstalk’s withering… or rather, the location where the source of it all might be hiding.”

Thinking on what he had just been told, it seemed to be a good idea to test these creatures and see what would work best. Already knowing that cleaving them with his sword would do the trick, he wanted to see just how effective his slayer magic would work against these creatures. If they were monsters, they would just burn like all things would burn. If they were something more nefarious, chances were that the slayer magic itself would prove to be more useful than the actual fire would be. Up until now, he had learned that demon slayer magic was useful against all manner of creatures that were spawned from darkness, making it useful against more than just demons. A while ago, he had also used it against irritated ghosts belonging to tortured people, as well as zombies and abominations created by a demon-fueled Necromancer. Though encounters like those were not the kind of things he would want to walk on into all too often, encounters like the one with the Necromancer and the Wraith allowed him to learn more about his magic and what exactly it would be useful against.

“Well, whenever you’re ready. I’ll let you lead the way this time.”


(855 // 11064)
Turning in for freeform
(64)

Throughout his life, Solmar had never really met any wise men or women, at least not in the way Gangting clearly had. From what he could remember, his parents had been smart people, though he would not exactly go as far as calling them wise. As far as he could tell, the tips and tricks his mother had passed on to him when it came to stalking and hunting animals, as well as the things his father had taught him in terms of fishing and picking herbs and understanding plants had made them clever, smart even, though he felt like being wise was something entirely different. When looking at things from his own perspective, he felt like he had gotten somewhat wiser through some of the experiences he had had up until now. For one thing, his outlook on life had changed quite a bit after having to spend more time around people when they were just about everywhere, and moving around them seemed quite impossible. If nothing else, it had taught him that not all humans were rotten individuals that just wanted to harm nature at every turn.

That said, most of them seemed like greedy individuals who would go to huge lengths just to get paid their precious jewels and be done with it, not really caring about what stood between them and their payment. Another thing he had noticed was that people seemed to crave status, which was why some people would weasel their way into certain circles or guilds just to give them a false sense of meaning in life. Maybe in that way, Solmar could be considered wise as he did not really have a need for money, nor did he care a whole lot about status in social circles. After all, he didn’t really have one to begin with, so there was not much to strive for. Pondering aside, it seemed that Gangting was willing to take the lead as he made his way down with his earth magic and started attacking the creatures. Stabbing one through the gut with earthen spikes and blowing off one’s head with a slayer’s below, a kind of attack he himself was quite familiar with due to his own fire slaying magic possessing a similar spell, he noticed something curious.

Before he could really investigate it however, he drew his blade and dashed down the ledge at a high speed. Infusing his blade with fire for extra destructive force and making up for the physical strength he lacked by adding a great deal of magical strength instead, he carved through the two creatures with his greatsword with relative ease. Testing the effectiveness of bladed weaponry and fire at the same time, it seemed that what the two mages brought to the table was effective enough against them. With the creatures dispatched, Solmar had a moment to check up on what he had seen before when the first two died. Kneeling next to one of the dead monsters, he took a closer look at their blood, which was pitch black and seemed to share qualities similar to tar. When he tried to touch it, a tendril of black blood popped up in an attempt to lash out, proving that even the liquid running through these beasts was still quite dangerous and alive. With a flick of his wrist, the liquid caught fire and burned down until it did not move anymore. Rising back to his feet, he looked over at Gangting.

“So, these things are not animals, they’re not demons and they’re not monsters in your traditional sense, seeing as monsters are usually just bigger or more dangerous animals. Whatever these things are, they’ve either been made, or they are from some place else. No animal I’ve ever seen has blood like this, or looks anything like this for that matter. They might not even be from this world..”

Stopping to think about what he had just said, it wasn’t so much that other worlds were a strange concept to him anymore, at least not after everything that had happened with the wild god and what had happened with the elemental lords, all of which came from their own respective plains. The creatures though, weird as they were, were still behaving very much like animals in the sense that they drank water and ate vegetation and likely flesh too, given their large and sharp maws. If they were what had to pass for life on another world, he just hoped that they would be able to get rid of them here. Aside from that, it also made him wonder quite a bit about where it might have come from, and how they had gotten here to begin with. If it was all the work of some mage, finding the source and getting rid of it might be possible, though it would still be quite hard as pinning down the one responsible would mean catching them in the act. If they had, however, come here on their own, there was no telling how many more like them they might encounter in this place. Regardless, the answers to these questions would likely become clear once they ventured into the dark caverns.


(871 // 11935)

Probably being right about having to burn them, with a flick of the wrist, the corpses around the two mages caught on fire and would soon be broken down to nothing more than ashes. As the white flames danced on the corpses of his enemies, Solmar pondered on something Gangting had said, wondering whether or not he should bring it up since the man had said that it wasn’t worth the discussion. Personally, Solmar was the kind of person that believed in the things that he could see with his own two eyes, as well as in the things he could grasp by wrapping his mind around it properly. As such, he did not really believe in the ideas of there being a heaven and a hell, though he did believe that there were others worlds out there such as the one they found themselves on, such as Earthland. Aside from that, he also believed that there were beings and even people who could freely move between these worlds, which explained why demons, spirits, elementals, fairies, angels and even gods managed to make their way to their world, the human world.

One tale he remembered from the time when he still lived with his parents, some twelve to thirteen years ago when he was still but a child, was about a time of year called Samhain. Apparently, around that time of year, there were a lot of spirits, fairies and demons roaming around Earthland because the boundaries between dimensions became thinner, making it easier for those things that did not belong here to cross over and cause all sorts of mischief. Though he had considered much of those things to be nothing more than stories, he had come to believe that there were in fact other realms out there that were likely quite similar to the one they lived in, while others would be entirely different. For instance, he knew that there were at least four different dimensions that belonged to the elementals of fire, earth, water and air. That, and he knew that the demons and the angels had to come from some place too, meaning there were already six different kinds of places from which other entities might cross over, and that wasn’t even counting the one the spirits and the fairies might come from.

“You know… not to start a debate or anything, but you do realize that there are at least six other realms out there right? The four elemental plains, the demon and angel realms, the realm of the dead, and probably more I have never heard about. So in that sense, would it really be so strange to consider that there might be others? I personally don’t have a whole lot of trouble believing these monstrosities are not from our world.”

With that said, he figured he had kept it quite clean as opposed to putting it in a way that might go and spark conflict between the two again. Still, he wanted to at least point it out since it might be important for the job they had taken on, and so they would not be ruling anything out that might come around to bite them in the ass further down the line. When they stood in front of the cavern, ready to venture on in, Gangting stated a plan of his that did not really sit right with Solmar. The idea to just cause the caverns to collapse and kill everything inside did not seem like a sound plan to the young mage, mostly because of the sheer amount of caverns there were around there, going to depths and lengths he could not begin to imagine since he had no earth sense like the other guy. Besides, if they collapsed the caves, chances were that others would remain open, meaning they would not be able to get to them while they in turn might flee the place and go to feed elsewhere. No, the only good thing about any of this was that they were confined to the caverns for now, which was where they should stay until their final moments.

“There’s no telling what that might do to the root system, seeing as we could risk harming it even further. Besides, we don’t know enough about these creatures or what else they might be capable of, nor do we know if these are the only creatures down there. If we bring these caves down and they manage to escape through some other passage, I doubt we’ll get the chance to eradicate them all. So for now, lets not “wake the bats” and get going.”

Venturing into the darkness after discussing their battle plans for a moment, the two went into the caverns with bats hanging overhead. Though he could not see them in the dark, he could both hear and smell the quite well, which was all he needed to know that they were there. Hoping they wouldn’t be crapping on them as they passed, it wasn’t long before they got down to a depth where the bats no longer ventured. It seemed likely that they realized that the other creatures that were down there were a threat to them that would easily gobble them up as they slept, hanging from the ceiling. This in itself told Solmar all that he needed to know, and while he could have gone and asked the bats if they had anything to share with them regarding what else was down there, he figured that he and Gangting would run into it soon enough. Noticing a faint light from up ahead, it would seem that they had found where they needed to be going, though something seemed off about the roots. Glowing with the same faint green light, it made sense that the room ahead was a central hub where the roots all came together, meaning they were currently several tens of meters underneath the beanstalk and the village.

“I would imagine we’re literally at the “root” of the problem here. All jokes aside, this giant cavity you mentioned is probably where all of the roots connect to the beanstalk, so it would make sense for them all to be here and feed. But one thing still seem-“

Cut off from finishing his sentence, he felt the ground rumble as something from this massive cavity ahead seemed to move. Had his hearing not been so well developed, he would have probably thought that it was an earthquake. Hearing a deep, bellowing rumble that seemed somewhat similar to breathing, he imagined Gangting would be way better at figuring out what it was and where it came from with his ground sensing abilities. Until they made their way to the cavity, Solmar wouldn’t be able to make heads or tails out of any of it after all, so it was more or less up to the tall man to figure things out for him before they would venture into what might actually prove to be the belly of the beast. Whatever it was that was up in the cavity ahead, there was no doubt in his mind that his fellow mage had picked up on it before Solmar could actually feel the ground quaking. Stopping in his tracks for the time being, it seemed unwise to continue unprepared, and so he would wait for Gangting to inform him of what he had felt. One thing was certain, he was glad that he had conserved his mana instead of fighting the mage outside. He’d probably need every drop of it.


(1263 // 13198)
turning in for realz this time
(698)