V2Ch166 Newly Autonomous

"Inverse flower?"

'It's a flower that is the exact opposite of the flower that I used to create my potion. Just as dangerous as the one I used. The effects are slightly different. You met the user already.'

"What? When?"

Our conversation was uninterrupted by my fumbling through the forest down the hill of the mountain.

'The body thief.'

"Him? Wait. He drank a potion of Rage?"

'No. It was made with different ingredients. I did not make it. The wizard that drained the world of mana was the one who made that potion. It was that human that went on a rampage all those years ago. The world blamed my potion but in fact, it was a different potion with equally fearsome results. That explains how he and the hero that went to fight him both had powers from the "potion".'

"This... Is a lot. Why are you only telling me now?"

'That potion that Adoy gave to you. It made clear what the Ent did to you. He hid information inside of you. The potion made it easy for me to understand. This information is not well known. I didn't even know it until just now. I learned, just as she said the potion would do.'

"So, the body thief, the one that keeps calling me "user." He is... what? My opposite?"

'In a sense. Yes. Have you ever been in a darkness that wasn't your own? Maybe those times where I couldn't see what you saw?'

"I... Maybe. The dark room I was in when he found me. It was like he could feel my presence."

'That must have been his darkness. His room for his mind. The Ent seems to have a listening trick. He can communicate with any plants on this planet. Any conversation had near any plant is not safe from the Ent. He overheard conversations with the body thief. He translated them and gave them to us. He implanted the images in your head and lead you to Adoy.'

"Really?"

'Yes. And there is some good news, too. You now have the ability to sense lesser spirits if you concentrate. The process may not be easy to learn at the start but, once you get a hang of it, you can use it freely. The Ent gave you what you wanted and more.'

I stopped in my tracks. That was good news. Very good news.

"Do you think I would have been able to translate all of that stuff without you?"

'Hard to say. If you could, it may have taken years to discover.'

I let out a light chuckle.

"Once again, you prove yourself an invaluable ally. You and Mother. I don't know if I would be this far along in my travels, physically and mentally, if it weren't for you two."

I felt a sense of pride. Not for myself. It was like Rage and Mother were pushing their feelings through me.

"Anyway. How does the spirit sense work? Do I have to..."

I tripped on a rock and started to tumble. My backpack came loose. I caught one handle and the other handle caught a rock on a ledge. I looked down. There was green water 150 feet below. It was bubbling and hissing.

'That's not water. That's acid. I'm willing to bet that the little cottage by Adoy's tree entrance is filled with acid. If you had opened the handle...'

"Yeah, well that's not the problem right now."

I reached up to try and grab a ledge. Mere inches from the ledge, the strap of my backpack was starting to give out. I lurched forward the last two inches and grabbed hold. I was safe.

*CRACK*

Or not...

The ledge I grabbed onto gave loose. I fell again. The strap that was caught on the rock had broken loose, too.

"FEAR!"

'Already on it.'

As I called out for Fear's assistance, I hadn't realized that my backpack had slipped out of my hand. Only when I was caught by a shadow and watched it fly past me had I realized that my backpack and all my stuff were gone.

The shadow that caught me was that of a giant hand. I grabbed hold of two fingers and looked over the edge just in time to watch the coloring of my backpack spread out over the water as it melted.

"No..."

"They were just things. Nothing to be worried about."

Fear's voice was audible. It wasn't in my head, it was behind me.

"Nice to meetcha."

A shadow in the shape of the Fear I knew in my head was standing on the hand with me.

"It was just things... But I had some important things in there. A ring, for one. That gold could have helped me get a boat to Missing Star. Who knows what I could have gotten for that Nightmare eye."

I motioned for the shadow hand to put me down by the acid shore. I got off and recalled my shadows. I stepped forward and looked over the edge. The acid was only a few inches down from the ledge.

Something moved in the liquid. It bumped the side of the shore. I reached in quickly and pulled it out. I dropped it on the dirt when I lost the feeling of the flesh in my hand.

"May I?"

Fear was still out and in his shadow form. He held up what looked like giant shadow scissors near the edge of the melted flesh on my arm.

"I thought I recalled my shadows."

"I've been working on this for a while. I can operate this form independently of your consciousness. This way I can act as a loyal operative for you when you are unable to act."

Scary.

"I can still hear your thoughts, too. You can command me even when this form is not nearby. A remote drone, if you wish."

*Shik*

Fear cut my left arm off. My melted forearm fell into the acid pool and melted into nothingness. I picked up the object with my other hand. It was the Nightmare eye.

"Acid can't melt you, eh?"

As I held the eye up for examination, Fear clamped the shadow scissors onto the hardened orb. No difference on the orb could be seen.

"Please don't do things like that without permission."

"Right."

The scissors faded away into his new body.

"Shit. I guess I'm stuck with just the eye. Maybe I can sell it and make up some losses. Since you are out here... Any plans?"

"I was thinking about exploring the outlying regions of the Dark Elf Territory. You will have Tian Ret covered in no time. I'll keep ears and eyes out in the surroundings and report if needed."

"Fine. One thing though."

"No killing. Especially when it comes to innocents. Got it."

He melted into a black puddle on the ground and shot away through thin strands of shadow in at least seven different directions.

It made me a little nervous to have an autonomous sense of self. Embarrassment and I didn't really get along... Fear...

'If it makes you so uncomfortable, I can recall my shadows. I don't need to do recon.'

"Do what you will for now."

'Right.'