Chapter 25 - Searching

Pan ran across the dark meadow as if it were daytime, taking in the perspective of the grass as he passed.

 'That's a bag to manage.' Thought Pan.

 Though he had a lot more essence than any apprentice should have in four months at the academy, stealing the perception of green still drained his reserves at breakneck speeds. But luckily for the young miss Monica, Pan had learned to control what he took.

 He learned to remove useless perceptions such as touch, after all, apart from specific cases, there was little reason to take the touch perception of a tree that is meters away.

 The only problem was that with each perception he excluded, the others became cloudier and the ability to see everything slowly diminished. But the savings were worth it. The only reason that lady could still get out of this whole situation alive, Pan wasn't evil, but he wouldn't risk his life to save a complete stranger either.

 'The moment my essence runs out, I'll be alone, in the dark.' Thought  Pan.

 A moral war was being waged in his mind, every moment, every second that passed, the terror for his own life, became greater than the empathy for the next. Pan had seen occasional mandrake sleeping here and there. And the thought of going blind and stepping on one of them was terrifying.

 'Where the fuck are you, how did you get so far?' Thought Pan.

 His face was frowning like a stone statue, his muscles were stiff with stress and anxiety, his hair was wet with cold sweat and so were his hands, there was so much sweat that it was difficult to hold the sword, even his injured shoulder ached from all the tension.

 "Hmmmmm!!!"

 A muffled sound was then heard, causing Pan to stop his run. The source was the young lady he was looking for. The lady in question was full of tangled roots on her body and one of them was running through her leg, creating a grotesque wound that, along with the other writhing roots, made the whole scene a macabre sight to behold.

 'I found you!' Exclaimed Pan.

 The young lady, seeing Pan, opened her eyes with panic and hope. But her gaze soon changed, as Pan swung himself hard towards her and swung his sword hilt so hard in her head that nearly made her faint, almost, to her misfortune, then another came with much more strength and agility, making the young lady wonder why an honorable apprentice crusader would hit a "damsel in distress".

 'Was it because I was rude?' She thought before losing consciousness.

 'I almost fucked up.' Thought Pan.

 He, of course, has studied a lot about Grass Mandrakes, although these brown and twisted imps will attack anyone who gets close, they depend on the roots to sense and filter the environment and soon calm down if the target doesn't move, as they think it's not a hostile living being. A fact that, upon reading it, surprised Pan, who thought that the small sphere in its center was an "eye" to detect threats, but that he ended up discovering that it was the organ that the "roots" used to filter the essence of the air and feed on her.

 'Thank you Palas, if I ever find you, I will surely return the favor.' Thought Pan, remembering the writer, researcher and enthusiast of all things green. The same one who wrote most of the books he read in the Order. After all, without the genius and a little... eccentric, researcher, both Pan and the young woman could already be dead.

 After Monica stopped moving, the living root stopped growing and began to shrink back to its original size. Exactly as written in the book; 'Mandrakes, Their Dangers and Their Medicinal Wonders.'

 'I want to see Edward say that botany won't keep me alive at graduation after this one.' Thought Pan, imagining the taciturn and slightly exaggerated butler having to admit that he was wrong after so much pestering him in the last four months. Master Pan, 'I see you think in front of me indeed, blah blah blah, honor of the crusaders, ble.'

 After the mandrake had finished shrinking again, Pan calmly picked up the young girl and tucked her under his left arm and walked back towards the camp, taking care to avoid the little devils scattered across the meadow.

 'That is?' Pan noticed something as he walked back.

 On the way back, there was a small dark brown sphere, so small it could have been mistaken for gravel. But Pan knew it wasn't gravel.

 'An offspring? That's an offspring! Can be!' Thought Pan enthusiastically.