Goodbyes

Kyria reached over into her own back, and with an uncomfortable expression, directly pulled a flower out. It was a flower with longer than usual and curved white petals. It didn't look particularly special other than being quite a pretty flower.

However, upon receiving it, Jack saw a system prompt.

[Flower of Naivety]

[A parasitic flower that will naturally increase someone's charm slightly, mainly making it harder to harbor antagonistic thoughts and increase positive ones towards the host. Miniscule improvement in vitality. Can be temporarily called upon to significantly increase effects at the cost of the host's nutrients.]

He tilted his head to the side while reading that.

"What is this?"

Kyria smiled slightly, eagerly explaining her gift.

"It's a flower that you can let become part of you. The process is a bit scary, but it makes you stronger and also can help make bad guys stop attacking you. Just let the roots go into your skin, and it should work."

Jack tilted his head to the side before smiling.

"That sounds cool! Can you help me do it?"

Kyria gave a nod that bordered on being a bow.

"Ok!"

She gingerly took the flower before taking a step towards him. After brushing his hair shyly, Kyria gently put the flower into the side of his hair, letting it sink in until only the petals were revealed on the side of his head.

It looked rather cute, though it would've been more fitting if he was a girl rather than a guy.

After a few moments, those petals also sank into him. A few changes had occurred throughout his body. Jack's eyes glimmered a little more, his tear ducts naturally working a little harder to make them more shiny.

Though it was small, his jawbone was changed ever so slightly to make it more round, while his skin had become incredibly smooth and nearly spotless.

Although he didn't look threatening before, it was even more so now. In fact, just looking at him gave a certain sense of endearment that naturally made people feel protective. Kyria was in a daze while looking at him for a while, not realizing that she was still stroking his hair even now.

She suddenly snapped out of it, hurriedly backing off with a yelp, holding her hands behind her back as though not being able to trust them.

Jack didn't seem to even notice, letting out a soft hum while his thoughts were elsewhere.

Suddenly, the flower reemerged from the side of his head, and his appearance fundamentally shifted. His hair had become soft and curved delicately. His eyes widened slightly, just large enough to be cute, but not uncanny. The same happened for his nose and mouth, but the other way around, becoming smaller.

His body proportions changed dramatically, making him look younger than he really was, along with a faint sparkling radiance coming from his body itself. Jack had essentially become an unattainable version of cute that normally only appeared in artistic depictions rather than real life.

Kyria's eyes widened as she looked on, short of breath.

Yet, only after using it for a short while, did Jack start panting. The flower retracted from his head as an intense hunger surged through him. Thankfully, he still had some leftover beef jerky that he didn't finish, so he hurriedly took it out and ate it all.

But despite finishing it, he still felt a bit hungry.

Still, with a bright smile, he looked at Kyria.

"Thank you! It's a really cool gift!"

She blushed while turning away slightly.

"N-No problem."

At the same time, Ben raised his hand above Seedy before beckoning to him.

"Raise your head and take a drop of my blood."

Although confused, Seedy did just that with one of its heads. From there, Ben nicked his palm and let one sizable drop of black blood fall down. The wound sealed up right after, almost as though it was unwilling to give any more.

It fell into Seedy's mouth, and for a moment it only lingered there confused. Yet moments later, it began convulsing violently, like it was getting shocked by an absurd amount of electricity.

Instead of growing larger as it had usually done, the vines had actually shrunk to about half of their original size. While that was happening, faint black marks appeared on the sides of some vines.

Suddenly, one black flowerhead suddenly sprouted from a vine, letting out a valiant roar after appearing.

Soon after, Seedy had calmed down. It looked at the transformations that occurred, raising its vines curiously. It then pranced around excitedly, sporting speed that far surpassed its previous self. Now, it was moving at speeds on par with animals such as wolves or deer.

Seedy reached out to affectionately rub its three heads against Ben's. He let out a laugh while narrowing his eyes.

"Now, we match. Although I'm not sure if you understand, the genes from my blood should give you a substantial increase in regenerative powers, along with a general boost to your physical capabilities."

His tone shifted to become more serious.

"Though most importantly, so long as your black head exists, you will be unable to die. Along with that, so long as your other heads exist, the black head will instantly regenerate any wounds. If you don't understand that, at the very least your master will."

He turned to look at Jack, who gave a thumbs up to show he understood. At the same time, Seedy nodded with its three heads happily, dancing around with its vines raised high. Jack let out a giggle and ran up to it, raising his hands excitedly as well.

The two of them pranced around in a circle, making Kyria laugh and join in as well.

While Ben didn't join in, he was still smiling.

After playing for just a little bit more, Ben ushered them to leave, having long left the doors to exit. Only after a lot of heartfelt goodbyes, lots of waving, and some crying from Kyria, did they finally leave, disappearing into a flash of light.

Though he wasn't immediately taken to the third floor. And neither were Mia or Jessica.

When Mia had finished her promotion, she was taken into a full white room, making her think that the tests still weren't over yet. However, she was only overthinking it. Out of nowhere, the walls were filled with various numbers that made formulas, information, and patterns that seemed to be glyphs. She felt her nose tingle somewhat while her brain received a substantial boost in function, making her thoughts clearer, and increasing the capabilities of her psychic powers.

Although it was never explicitly told, she somehow understood that her sense of smell had improved, specifically the scent of blood.

It was still far inferior compared to Jack's current ability, but that didn't mean it would stay that way forever.

Then, while not having spent even an entire minute in that room, she was taken to the third floor.

Jessica had a similar experience, though was taken to a black room. Depictions of people swinging swords, moving their hands, and other such moves were shown on the wall. Not all of them were necessarily for humans either, and neither were all the targets the techniques were for.

Somehow or another, an understanding of it was formed deep in her muscle memory, though it wasn't a perfect understanding. At the same time, Jessica could tell her control over herself had increased significantly, whether it was being able to perform the things she intended to do or her spatial understanding of where each individual part of her body was relative to her.

Soon, she too was transported to the next floor.

As for Jack, he wasn't taken to a room, but rather a prairie. The grass stretched for as far as the eye could see, while the sun was starting to set, giving the sky an ever so slightly orange tint.

In front of Jack was a woman who looked like an otherworldly beauty. There was a small smile on her face that felt so bright that everything else seemed to darken. She was wearing a set of robes that covered most of her body, yet despite it only being cloth, there was an unmistakable charm behind it.

Occasionally, parts of the woman would fade out of reality, almost she was simply an illusion.

Even Jack was astounded as he looked up at her, visibly shaken by how she appeared.

It would be hard for anyone to tell by how naturally dazzling she was, but there was guilt behind her smile. The woman got down on one knee to gingerly hug Jack, as though she would break apart with too much force.

"I'm... sorry."

Her voice made one imagine of a clear lake that ran slowly, with the tremble in her voice being the ripples within.

Then just as soon as she wrapped her arms around Jack, she rapidly disappeared like she was never even there, leaving him by himself in the seemingly infinite grassland. Jack remained there confused for a long while, despite the fact a deep understanding of emotions rushed into his brain.

For whatever reason, Jack felt like he was supposed to feel sad, and this feeling only grew stronger with his understanding. However, he didn't actually know why.

While there was no real change to his body, he somehow felt much stronger than before. It appeared to be more of a manifestation of will, than actual strength, which helped him endure the elusive feelings of sadness.

After standing silently in that field of grass for a few moments, he too was sent away to the third floor.