Pumpkin Cultivation

Chapter 37: Pumpkin Cultivation

"This is nuts," he said as he laid eyes on this unique room for the first time. 

"Do you really think he is ready to experience something such as this, Sep?" April asked her witch friend.

"There is no time left," she soon replied to him.

"But what if he is not ready for something like this?" 

"If he is not ready, he'll die, there is nothing we can do about it," September explained almost as if the beast wasn't there, standing right next to her at the entrance of the pumpkin patch room. 

"I'm still here. You know? And I can die because of this room? What the fuck is this place?" the Minotaur lashed out at her. 

"This is my pumpkin patch, Junk," she announced to him. 

"Why do you have a pumpkin patch? Inside I mean?" 

"This is not a normal pumpkin patch, Junk," April said.

"I figured this one out by myself," he replied to her. 

"Being a witch from the Autumn, this room represents my growth as a spell caster. This is a very special and  precious room. The bigger the patch becomes, the bigger my magic becomes as well. And my patch possesses the key as to how we are going to make you stronger," the witch continued, explaining more about this room.

"Why do I need to get stronger, exactly?" he asked her.

"It goes without saying, but in the physical and mental and magical state you are, you don't stand a chance against enemies such as the witches from the guild and Monsoon," she said to him.

"But I wasn't too bad against Araknar and the night whisperer. Right?" he pointed out to her. He was sort of right. 

"You stood your ground. You were decent. But when the time comes, you won't stand a chance against our true foes," she said.

"I'm proud of you, Junk. You did awesome in the recent battles, but she is right. You are there enough. You are strong, physically, that is. No doubt about it. But when the time comes, I wouldn't want to see you fall," April lowered her head and blushed. 

"So, what can this room do for me exactly?" he asked.

"I am going to teach you cultivation, Junk. Pumpkin cultivation or as it is more commonly known Halloween cultivation or even trick-or-treat cultivation," September announced to him as she crossed her arms together and stepped forward. Walking deeper into the room between the pumpkins. 

"Cultivation? What is that?" he demanded. 

"Cultivation is how people such as April and I obtain our powers. Cultivation is the action of bettering yourself in general. Therefore, prolonging your lifespan, benefiting your body and your soul. Without cultivation, you are nothing more than a bull. But if you reach a state of pure cultivation based on serious training, you could become a much powerful monster with constitution and wisdom that could surpass what any other Minotaurs have obtained in decades. Centuries, perhaps," September went on to say.

"Alright. What do I need to do?" he directly asked her.

"Since I am an Autumn witch, the type of cultivation I'm going to teach you personally is called the: 'pumpkin cultivation'. Which means that you are going to take the essence of your growing power from the earth and from the harvesting of pumpkins."

"There are different types of cultivation too?" he asked her.

"There are. It's different for any of the four seasons."

"For example," April stepped and semi-interrupted her friend, "since I represent Spring because I was born during Spring, I take my powers from the magical source of the renaissance that comes with Spring. A new beginning. Being reborn. Awakening," she said.

"That sounds pretty cool. But I don't understand why I am going to be tough on the pumpkin cultivation method of the Autumn? Was I born during the Autumn or something?" he was confused. 

"Yeah… About that…" April lowered her head again.

"Why do you think I sought after you?" September asked him, smirking, ever so slightly. Not showing a lot of emotion. Just a tiny bit. Then, all of a sudden, everything made even more sense to the beast. Ultimately, there were more reasons as to why he had been selected and sought after by the dark mistress. Even more, reasons that she was still probably hiding. However, what might have been the bigger and most important reason of all had just finally been unveiled to him. His eyes opened wide as he heard this surprising news.

"So, you didn't just pick me because I was a monster?"

"Let's begin your training," she avoided his question.

"Alright. Cultivation. How do we do this?" he asked her.

"Come with me," she said to the conflicted Minotaur.

"It's going to be okay, Junk," April tried reassuring him, even though she didn't look reassured. She followed. Closely. The three members of the party walked into the middle of the room. A room that didn't look or felt as if it was built inside. But rather more like an exterior court. There were no walls. Only black, ghostly void. A bunch of awkwardly shaped and dismembered, spooky trees on all sides of them. The witch escorted the beast and the elvish ranger between a circle of pumpkins. Bright, vibrant green roots could be seen, partially coming out of the soft ground, connected to all the orange pumpkins. 

"The first step is always the toughest," she said to him.

"Why is that?" he asked her.

"Be strong, Junk. You can do it," April fully supported him. 

"Alright. Whatever. Whatever happens, happens," he shrugged his shoulders. He was down to business with this intense and strange thing.

"Here's the first step…"

"Yeah?"

"Go on and make your pick."

"My pick?"

"Select your pumpkin. That's the beginning.'

"Why do I need to pick a pumpkin?"

"You'll see," the witch replied to him. 

"Alright. I don't freaking care. Let's pick…" he searched for one that felt different to him for whatever reason. He selected one of the ones that were the closest to him, but one that appeared to be a bit different. The only one he noticed that was not completely orange, but one that had a little green slime splattered all over it. "... This one," the Minotaur, had made his first and final choice."

"This one? Are you sure?" September asked him. 

"Why? This one is not okay?" he asked her. 

"No. It's fine. Alright. Time for you to be one with Autumn."

"Be one with Autumn?"

"Close your eyes."

"Fine. Whatever." 

He closed his eyes and then… 

The next thing that he felt was like a dream. He felt swept away into some kind of another world where everything was easier and more sense. The first thing he saw when he was transported there was fog. Thick fog. 

"Hello?" the Minotaur called out. He stood alone in the middle of the blinding fog. Lone. Lost. Everything was easier here, except that he quickly learned that it was easier because there was nothing. No enemies to confront. No witches to deal with. No elvish girl to protect. Nothing like that. He was on his own, and he thought that it was most likely what he most likely deserved. 

"So, this is it? This is part of the bullshit training program?" he yelled in the fog. Facing the deep void. No one could hear him. No one could reach him. "That was so worth it to listen to her and her stupid Seasonal witchcraft thing," the Minotaur continued yelling as he turned around in the middle of the fog‒he was then surprisingly met with the arrival of someone or something in the fog with him. He witnessed the shadowy shape, a silhouette or someone far in the fog. He couldn't tell who it was, naturally, but he knew for certain that he or she was a humanoid at the very least. "Huh? Who is that?" the beast whispered to himself.

The shadowy silhouette kept walking closer toward him.

"Who goes there?" Junk spoke for the first time to the individual who was so calmly walking toward him. Raising the tone of his voice for the first time. 

"I said: Who goes there?" he ultimately had to repeat himself, as the person in the fog with him never said anything. 

"Last chance. What do you mean?" The beast wasn't messing around. Even though he wasn't armed in the fog, he was still wearing his entire suit of Minotaur's armor. He was more than ready to use the claws that came with the gauntlets of the armor. He was going to defend himself. Especially if he thought or feared that his life was in danger. However, as Junk waited and waited for the mysterious individual to make his way toward him, he or she eventually, awkwardly vanished in the fog. It only took time for him to close and re-opened his eyes, one second and the individual was gone already. "Wait a minute… Where did it go?" he asked himself.

But then, suddenly surprising him again, the person that had been walking in his direction for the last minute or so instantly re-appeared right next to him. Bumping into him. Completely taking him by surprise. The beast jumped. But at least, he now knew who this person was, and to his shock, it was the Autumn witch herself, September. She stood there. Wearing the same witch outfit, she always did, but the Minotaur almost immediately noticed that she wasn't carrying her leaf scepter with her, which he found odd to say the least. Why wouldn't she be carrying her own weapon with her? 

"You should relax a bit more, Junk," she sensually told him.

"Holy shit! How do you want me to relax if you sneak up on me like that? I thought it was an enemy coming for me," he said.

"That's exactly the problem, Junk. You believe everyone is your enemy. It's not the case. You have to learn to find your inner peace and to be in touch with who you truly are," she invited him. 

"Bullshit! I'm already in touch with you, I truly am. I am a freaking Minotaur. What is there to figure out?" he asked him.

"You are much, much more than that," she corrected him.

"What do you mean? How?" he asked her, totally confused.

"You are going to learn about it sooner rather than later."

"How about now? Why are you talking like that, September? It's not your type to be this warm and personal," he pointed it out to her. 

"There is so much that you are going to learn here," she said.

"Speaking of which, where is here? What are we doing here?"

"This is the place where you are going to begin your pumpkin cultivation journey. This is the place where everything begins," the beautiful and sensual Autumn witch explained to him.

"So, where is this place exactly? Are we still in the forest room with the pumpkin patch we were in earlier? Are we still in the crypt?" The Minotaur had a million different questions for her.

"No. We are no longer in the crypt. We are somewhere else. 

"Where is this place then?" he continued interrogating her.

"Isn't this obvious, Junk? This location is your subconscious," she sensually announced to him.

"My subconscious? Then, how come you are here but not April? Where is she? She didn't come into my subconscious? You didn't bring her along with you?" Junk asked her. 

"No, Junk. She stayed behind," she murmured into his ears as she moved even closer to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. She was being up close and romantic with her. She kept pleasantly staring at him. She only had eyes for him.

"What are you doing?"

"This is what you have been desiring ever since we met."

"It is?" 

"Yes. Except…" she paused as the wind blew into the fog. Then, the next instant, all of her clothes were suddenly gone. All of them, save for the two jack-o-lantern breastplates covering her big and heavy and milky breasts. "This is better. Right?" she paused again, another strong wind blew into the fog and now, it was his turn, the Minotaur had lost his armor. He was now entirely naked. He was back as a human. "Even better," she continued sensually murmuring to him as she leaned forward and kissed him on the mouth.

The kiss ended.

"This can't be real."

"But what if it was?" she asked him. 

They kissed again. This time, with their tongues. However, this time, Junk opened his eyes during the sexual kiss and witnessed something that nearly gave him a heart attack. 

The witch, he thought he knew, slowly lost her skin right before his eyes. Peeled off of her to reveal her true form… 

A humanoid female monster woman with orange and green pumpkin skin.