"This place barely held together…I should've been more prepared…I could've-" Wyzsta said, clutching his sword as he looked around the battle-scorched land outside the walls.
Kali looked at him and said, "Don't beat yourself up over it. For somebody without powers, you took down several Vernos all by yourself, that's impressive."
Wyzsta felt gratitude but, at the same time, guilt. He turned to her as they started to walk uphill towards the coast and asked, "I always wanted to learn how to do magical stuff, any ability, literally anything, but I just haven't been able to master it, how did you?"
Kali considered this question and gave him a brief smile before replying, "Perfecting an art is difficult. It took me a few weeks just to control a simple fireball, but I saw your combat abilities, and I'm sure you will be able to find one for you."
Wyzsta gained some confidence after what she had said. He began thinking about the possibilities of what his Pop Pop predicted,
"I wonder if it's a new element never before seen? Maybe I could shape-shift? But what would being struck by lightning have to do with it?"
Once they reached the northern coast of Tabatha, they began crossing treacherous waters to the Ranca coast. The distance wasn't too far, but the currents were strong against them. They both took off their shoes and rolled up their pant legs to prevent any form of soakage from happening to their clothes.
He giggled and then spoke out, "This might suck treading through this water, but I'd rather do this than have wet socks, that's the worst feeling ever."
Kali laughed and said"Believe me, I know. . had to get through this water to get to you guys in the first place; sadly, today, I didn't have time to worry about wet.
The strong current rumbling past was a constant noise that flooded their ears. Water splashing up, distant waves, crashing in the wide stream and gusts of wind coming by. Wyzsta moved his arms back and forth to gain distance following behind her. He managed to walk forward and struggle through the strong waterway. Once they finally made it over to Ranca's southeastern coast, they got their equipment ready and fixed their clothes.
As Wyzsta put his boots back on, Kali explained, "Up ahead we will have to go through a mountain valley. Once we make it through, it will open up and we will see the grasslands!"
Wyzsta nodded his hand and hoisted himself up from the ground. After managing their way up the steep hill, they finally approached the beginning of the mountain valley. As they started to walk through, they admired the scenery around them. For Wyzsta, this was all new for him since he hadn't gone away from home since he was a young child. Coincidentally time he left was to see his Pop Pop back when he didn't freak out the family with his omens.
The air was thinner due to the elevation, and he was not used to this type of climate either. It was a lot cooler and breezier than back home. In Tabatha, the climate gave off a static feeling due to all the electricity from the crystals within the land. This also meant that the air was typically more humid due to being a coastal region. Adapting to the climate alone will challenge him, but Kali, not so much.
As they were walking, Kali said now this area might be new for you, but for me, it's home,e. I live in Ranca, but I b, ranched out to other territories to help them with creating fires. People with the astral arts of fire are scarce across the land and are among the few who can use them. That's why I'm always called to do jobs."
Wyzsta listened closely and then said, "That's so interesting. Back at home, there were a few water, nature, and fire users. But I did hear that fire arts were more uncommon, and it intrigued me. It's awesome that you achieved this power!"
Kali smiled gave a little giggle and went along. Continuing along their path, the grass thickens and a few trees are misplaced by their roots. Some trees are uprooted, some are covered and vines, and others have just fallen over. Up ahead, Kali hops over a fallen tree swiftly, and Wyzsta soon follows. They then continue downhill from now on and make their way out of the mountain range. The area starts to open up, and it reveals a wide open grassland with trees sprinkled across the land. Immense plant life, large trees, open grass plains, and blue skies now were ahead.
They started journeying across the grasslands, spotting several animals living off the land. Different types of birds, mammals, and even reptiles inhabited this land. Kali points over to the tree formations to show Wyzsta. The tree bark slowly moves on its own and slowly grows the tree in real-time. Like back on earth, the trees are alive, but the trees within Ranca grow at extreme rates because of the living bark. This part of the world was alive at every turn and felt so relaxing. The long open grass fields, the mountain ranges in the east and south, and the tame animal life.
Kali stringed up another conversation, "Regarding life in Ranca, it's pretty calm. It was fairly tranquil if you know the history of when our parents came to the planet. The Central Hold and the surrounding settlements were built in less than five years. The technology is something to admire."
Wyzsta nodded and responded, "I agree! In Tabatha, we are still improving our city daily, and it's crazy to watch in real-time. The Verno attacks were a minor setback, but we will continue building and strengthening. Mazura is far different than Ranca for sure!"
Kali chuckled and said, "Oh of course! Being able to travel to other regions changed my view of how drastically different each land is. Heading to Belio will certainly be a change of pace for you then!"
He then cracked his knuckles and walked along the dirt path that started to lead down. As they both continued to appreciate the land, they heard a cry for help up ahead, so they began running in that direction.
"HELP ME! HELP US!" The stranger cried out.
As the two of them got to the scene, they witnessed something horrific. A family of three was huddled against a log outside of their house. Wyzsta further inspected the house and noticed that it was crumbling from vines that seemed to be devouring the household.
He then confronted them, "What is going on here? Do any of you know how this happened?
The youngest child from the bunch said, "I was up in my room just playing with my toys, and suddenly, a vine burst through my window. The scary thingy started to take over my room!"
Wyzsta and Kali listened to the rest of their accounts and were perplexed about how this happened. Kali thought,
"Living vines? I knew about the trees, but this is something entirely different..."
Wyzsta concluded that it had to be connected to the sentient nature, but he couldn't figure out why it would've attacked these people.
"Try to get farther away. We will try to see what's causing this, but just stay at a safe distance!" Wyzsta yelled as he and Kali rushed the house.
Wyzsta unsheathed his sword and walked up to the front door. He then lined up his blade and cut through the vines that covered the front door. Once he relieved it from the vines, he kicked it open to reveal the inside of the house covered in more vines.
"Do you think your fire could hurt them?" He asked, looking over at her.
"I could try, but it's going to be difficult not to burn the whole house down." She replied reluctantly.
"Let's see if this works.."
She cast a small fireball that was able to scorch a handful of vines in the living room. They began to retract upstairs, and any surrounding vines showed signs of fear as they tried to back away. Wyzsta sliced any dangling vines and pierced them as they dropped upon the hardwood floors. He pocketed a few vines out of curiosity. Kali cast out several more fireballs to clear out the rest of downstairs, but the vines seemed to be refuge upstairs. The fireballs she cast were weaker so they spurted away after impact. They both started to make their way up the rickety staircase that was being torn apart by the vines aggressively wrapping around them.
"Stand back-" she demanded Wyzsta.
She contorted her hands into this formation that not only created a fireball but also summoned a chain-like formation made of fire that connected to it. She made a molten mace that could extend almost like a ball and chain.
"Did you just create a weapon?!?" Wyzsta questioned out of amazement.
"I call it "Crispsor," it's sort of like a ball and chain weapon that I can wield at will. Now watch~," she said as she flung the weapon up the stairs.
The weapon's chain covered the entire staircase, hitting every vine on every step. This burnt the vines to a crisp, and they retreated farther upstairs. Wyzsta watched in disbelief, wondering how she had become this strong. As she made her way upstairs, he watched their back to see if any remaining vines were downstairs. Wyzsta followed her upstairs but looked at the sears made into the hardwood stairs. Along the hallway upstairs, there was a room at the very end that was covered in vines.
"It must be in there…it has to be…"
Kali thought to herself. As they both approached the door, Wyzsta looked down at his sword, forming an idea. Kali then dispersed the crispsor, coated her right hand with flames, and used it as her blade. She sliced the door in an X formation, and it fell inwards into the room.
As they both looked into the room, they saw a creature sitting in the middle of the attic. Vines were coming from its very body as it sat there, almost in a meditative state. The beast had moss and mold growing along its arms down to its fingertips. It was humanoid but, at the same time, resembled a spirit.
"That is just disgusting…what is this thing? Rather, how do we take down this thing?" Kali struggled in her head to figure out what this was.
The vines surrounded the whole attic on the inside, and this creature was the source of them all. Once the door fell, the creature looked up at the both of them with piercing eyes that sent terror through them. This creature had some sort of fur that covered its entire body. The only part of it that wasn't green was its red glaring eyes. Along its neck was a scarf of leaves, alongside its grass gown. With the both of them too stunned to speak, the creature spoke itself,
"I see I have some visitors…. Zum…. I thought humans were meant to knock first… Zum….not burn the whole door down… Zum…"
Wyzsta was dumbfounded that this horrifying creature could communicate with them. He quickly took hold of his sword handle and looked over to Kali.
"I can't believe this thing speaks…did it consume a human? How does it know our language? …we just have to take this thing down…" Kali's mind was puzzled, but that didn't stop her hands from moving. She started to do a new hand formation.
"Before you even think about starting a fight with me… Zum…. you're in the wrong… Zum….these pests built a… Zum….house….on my land…"
Kali and Wyzsta looked at each other and spoke without words. Their main goals were to take down this beast and protect the house.
"So what even are you anyway? Do you have a Name?" Wyzsta called out to the vine creature. It responded by looking over at him and pointing up at the vines that covered the attic ceiling,
"Your kind calls us "Ampleo"… Zum…we don't give ourselves names…Zum…we don't need them..."
Kali was almost done with her hand formation, and before she finished, she called out,
"Well, Ampleo, we intend to end this right here!" Kali looked over to Wyzsta and nodded "NOW!" she called out to him.
Wyzsta lunged off the attic boxes that had been stacked in front of him. He kicked them down to distract the Ampleo while propelling himself into the air. The vines that were attached to the walls started to shoot towards him alarmingly fast. Before they could even get halfway to him, Kali launched an arc of fire that sliced through the vines. The Ampleo screamed out in pain but maintained an assault towards them. Wyzsta threw his sword toward the beast's head, but it summoned vines in front of its face to block his attempt. His sword went flying upwards and got stuck in the ceiling.
Wyzsta, now without a sword, digs deep into his left pouch on his waistband. He pulls out a thick string that he unravels and wraps around several vines. He tries to round up as much as possible while Kali takes her Fire-coated hand to cut the others on the side of the room. The Ampleo didn't respond well to this and started to grow thorns out of the vines. The thorns started to shoot out first at the main body and started to spread throughout the rest of the vines, making their way to the bunch that Wyzsta was holding. Wyzsta had to think quickly, or his hands wouldaled with a bunch of thorns.
"Crap Crap Crap…umm…Plants…Fire…My sword…Thorns that stick…Wait…I GOT IT!"
A marvelous idea clicked inside his head as he yelled to Kali, "When I say "Now" throw one of your weak fireballs at me!"
Kali's face was perplexed by this, and she shouted back, "Are you crazy?"
Wyzsta fully accepted that he was crazy, but this idea might just work, and they ran out of options. "Just trust me, okay?!" He screamed as he launched himself off of another pile of boxes and chucked the group of vines toward his sword in the ceiling.
The spikiness of the thorns made them get stuck in the wood ceiling. During this throw, he wrapped the previous vines that he pocketed from downstairs around a part of the vine without thorns. He was able to grab it safely and use it as a handle to pull himself up and grab the sword out of the ceiling.
With his left hand on the vine and his right hand on the handle of a sword, he yelled down to Kali, " DO IT NOW!"
Without hesitation, she cast a fireball and threw a throw straight towards him. The Ampleo was clueless about what was transpiring and was confident in its ability enough not to care.
"This is all you got?… Zum…Two kids playing catch with fire?" It spoke out and laughed.
Wyzsta pulled the sword out of the ceiling, ripping the wood panels holding it. He then twisted his body while holding onto the vine to face the fireball that was flying towards him. He then let go of the vine and started falling from the ceiling, plummeting toward the Ampleo.
"Exactly, now it's your turn!" He whaled while catching the flame with his sword.
The flame engulfed his blade as he now gripped the handle, holding it back, ready for one last swing upon this beast. Wyzsta slashed down onto the Ampleo's neck, slicing it clean off of its torso. The flaming blade left a scorch along the path of the sword's entry. He landed behind the beast's body after his flawless severe through its vine-invested body. His cloak settled back down onto his head and along his shoulders. As the Ampleo's body started to turn to ash, Wyzsta gave one last remark,
"One deadly game of catch~"
"That was otherworldly… I have never seen someone with sword skills like you…" Kali said to Wyzsta while nearly speechless.
He started to turn around because he heard a noise coming up the stairs. It was the family that was outside.
"Is the monster gone?" The little girl called out.
"Yes everything is safe now, the vine monster is gone!" Kali reassured the little girl.
Wyztsa picked up the loose vines and piled them up where the Ampleo's ashes were. Kali then tossed a fireball into the pile and burnt the rest of its body. The two of them walked out of the attic and met with the family at the top of the stairs. The family gave the two of them a surplus of thanks and respect. The whole time, they kept watch from the yard and could hear the battle going on from within the house. Wyzsta and Kali stayed around to help clean up any debris and damage that was caused to the family's home. Kali made sure to radio into a local Ranca lumber yard so that they could help repair the family's household. After they both said farewell to the family, they headed back onto the path towards Belio. It started to get later in the afternoon as they transversed the trail up north. They started to see the snow in the distance and began to gain hope that they were closer. The air became even cooler from the downdraft of the mountains up ahead.
Wyzsta noticed a peculiar stone formation as they approached the beginnings of the next mountain valley.
"Keep going ahead; I'm just gonna check this out real quick!" Wyzsta gave off a nervous laugh and fist-bumped Kali.
As she continued up the path, he stayed back for a moment so he could inspect this strange-looking rock. It almost seemed man-made, being held up by two wooden logs in the back. He was able to climb around the front of it, and he saw all sorts of mysterious symbols sprinkled across the stone face. He then whipped out his notebook and began to sketch this rock formation.
Once he had a good sketch down he slipped the notebook back into his pocket and began to catch up to Kali.
"Ugh, I hate this chilly weather, Looks like I gotta wear this dusty old thing again-" she said disgustedly.
Wyzsta watched her unravel her lab coat around her waist, and he realized that it was from the Central hold.
"So you mentioned you came from the Central Hold, right?" he asked politely. "Yeah, but only for a few months. I'm Dr.Censia's Assistant, " she said while slipping her arms into the sleeves.
Wyzsta stopped in his tracks, causing her to also stop and look back at him. "Nio…Censia…?" He asked slowly.
Kali looked confused and said, "Yeah, why? Do you know him?" Wyzsta nodded and replied,
"Yeah, I do, he's my dad's best friend.."