The flight continued over the ancestral forest, but this time the excitement of discovery was replaced by calm concentration. Foster, perched on the back of his dragon - now an imposing, majestic, almost unreal creature - observed the landscape below with a watchful eye.
- Can you smell them?" he murmured, his fingers brushing against his companion's warm green scales.
- No. They're hiding.
Foster nodded. He'd expected that. Mana fruits emitted very little magical aura. They had evolved this way to escape magical predators, including the Obscurus. Their energy remained deeply buried, as if asleep, until a particular force awakened them.
- Then we'll have to do it another way.
He closed his eyes, searching his memories of his past life.
"Fruit feeds on memory. Where magic has bled, they can be reborn."
- Battles.
He opened his eyes abruptly.