Chapter 161: Squirreling around
🕑 Added 2024-06-20 10:57:30 +0000 UTC...
Deep within the heart of a towering tree, nestled in a forest veiled in a magical mist, two squirrel siblings were embroiled in a seemingly trivial yet deeply personal argument.
"Big sister! I don't understand why I should be the one to go! You're the one who got asked!" the younger squirrel protested, his voice tinged with frustration.
However, the older sister became tense and wanted to change the topic immediately, "I... dear brother, do you know the Twin-Acorn branch?"
The younger squirrel immediately stopped the fight, remembering them too well, "That is the branch in the beast-kin territory far away, the oldest of all. Who doesn't know?"
The Twin-Acorn branch of the Temple was clearly the oldest, surviving a multitude of catastrophes. This made it the most resilient but also the smallest of all, due to its location in one of the harshest areas on the continent for nature-dwellers.
Everyone massively respected them but mostly ignored them in many ways due to their ancient doctrines and small following.
Hearing this, his sister smiled widely, nodding vigorously multiple times, "Of course! If you go there, you can study at their branch and talk with the Oracle and Messenger! Will this not be exhilarating? Usually, to get such a privilege, we would need to get great merits or reach the second blooming!"
The younger squirrel contemplated the merits of such a proposition, becoming silent. While it was tempting, the younger brother still had his duties, which, when he left, someone else would take over, and by finishing them, they would get all the favors and merits.
His older sister saw him in deep thought, now becoming more serious. She walked around him, occasionally touching him with her tail to show closeness, trying to persuade him to go instead of her. She whispered into his ears why he should go, making him increasingly more curious.
"The Oracle! Those are mostly protected and never to be seen by other people but the closest. Even here, you may see our every hundred-odd years, but there? You will be able to drink tea with them!"
Every word was like honey to him. He loved to explore and challenge his perspective. However, while competent and steadfast, always following his doctrines, he was still a sapient, easily swayed by personal emotions.
'Seeing an Oracle casually... hehe.'
Figures of authority highly influenced him, and he loved to imagine how much he could brag when he returned and talked about his experience working closely with the oldest branch.
"You may even work closely with a Messenger! What an honor! Who but the most honorable and meritious would be able to do such a thing? A Messenger! The people who talk to their Oracle and are part of them!"
Her younger brother was still in thought, rubbing his hands against each other and making squeaky noises, unable to decide, 'Should I really risk it?'
The Twin-Acorn Temple's sole area was Moorgrel, close to Kratikal, an area filled with death and demise, far away from anything resembling peaceful nature. Because of those ridiculously harsh circumstances, no other Temple branch existed there.
As such, it had far fewer members than other branches and only recently experienced a significant boost. Regardless of tripling or quadrupling its numbers, it was still barely functional, thus needing tremendous help from the local rulership.
However, he and most others respected the members there the most, who tried to establish and bring peace to all those who were in the most dire need of it. This circumstance was also why the rulership there was the most respected and seen as amiable as possible since they worked closely with the Temple.
If he could work with them on this case, it would quickly catapult him into the upper echelons. He already started fantasizing about how others would look at him, like he looked at those authority figures, making him giggle.
"You see, I would love to go, but you know I need to get ready for a battlefield in the north while Moorgrel mostly needs healers and other supporters..." She came closer, "...aren't you one of the best supporters and healers? Even before reaching the first blooming?"
Her brother frowned at her, becoming insulted, "Of course I am! My skills are fantastic, and the expertise I have is excellent!"
The sister nodded vigorously, holding her brother on his shoulders. She came even closer, pushing her nose against his.
"Yes! Wouldn't it be fantastic to collect merits while experiencing the most deadly areas, helping the wounded, bonding with the oldest branch, and visiting other cultures?..." She sighed, "...Aren't you bored of all the same food, people, and talk? Don't you want to discuss theology with someone of a wholly different experience?"
She was right about everything! If he wanted as many merits as possible, he would need to go to Kratikal. If he could help with the effort against the wild demons, he could become someone like Kairoso, a Druid of exceptional reputation who revived the Twin-Acorn branch and opened multiple Temples in Moorgrel.
He would need to risk it to have even a lick of the same fame. Fortunately, they were also aggressively recruiting and promising valuable skills for the healing professions, something he learned extensively and was interested in the methods in such an area.
Other than that, the cultural and theological aspects were invaluable. Moorgrel was very different from central Mal-Gil and their region, making it a priceless life experience. He wanted to talk about all the various races, people, food, and how they were, bragging to them that he was risking his life there daily.
"Think about Lola." A snake-like whisper, as if wanting to seduce him, bringing him over the edge, deciding on his next thirty to fifty years.
He blushed, pushing his face into hers, making her step back when he screamed as motivated as he could, "I will go to Moorgrel and come back as the most respected healer ever!"
His sister jumped in joy around him, "Great! Here, take this then!"
Confused, her brother took a bracelet and a letter made with the new parchment he liked and used for talismans, "That's...?"
"It is a present for the child of the Lord and Lady of the region from our Oracle! It is very important, so don't lose it!"
"Child? Lord and Lady? Oracle?! What?!"
Her brother looked baffled at the bracelet, not understanding what had happened. Receiving something from an Oracle was of the highest honors, and now a child was presented with such recognition. He was even perplexed by the obscenely costly spatial object in his hands, worth more than a hundred years of his service.
"See? Don't forget that the Lord is also the Druid Kairoso, and his child is apparently also some genius, working closely with the Temple, so be as respectful as possible!"
"Really?!"
He now understood everything, becoming even more excited. Besides healing and support, which were only military aspects of his interests, he was primarily interested in theology, seeing the Temple as the proper way to live.
Deciphering the Core, the Circle, and the Outer parts made him join after his sister, but while she was more of a brute—a nice one, though—he liked to study scriptures, nature itself, and philosophy.
Now, the son of Kairoso got the goodwill of their Oracle, who wanted to gift him something, which made him almost giddy. He wanted to talk with him. If he was genuinely a genius, he would love to teach him theology and help the boy follow the way of his Father.
Even though he highly respected Kairoso, he didn't hear anything positive about his fervor for their faith and his education in terms of theory. Worse, if his wife was someone educated, apparently a noble, it meant that the boy would be led astray, someone of the same blood as one of his role models, the ones who built the temples in the harshest regions.
He couldn't let it be. He needed to be there and educate him properly for Kairoso and the Twin-Acorn Temple! While he was of another branch, it didn't matter ultimately, as they all fought for the same goal against the same enemies.
Something ignited inside the small squirrel, like a flame, sparkling with enthusiasm and bravery, "I am ready!"
The brother nodded at her, looking at his sister with a sparkle in his eyes, "You truly became bold, haha!"
"Of course! I am ready!"
"Good, and don't forget, whatever they say about me, I am still your sister and love you!"
"Wha..." she interrupted him, "We need to pack all your things and plan out the route. Let's go!"
"Oh, ehm, okay!"
...
Place: Moorgrel
Time: The day after Alexander decided to create a ball
Months later, a portal opened inside a simple cave hundreds of kilometers away from Blue-Vermillion, a city where Count Moorgrel resided. Walking out was a joyful but slightly disoriented squirrel barely able to stomach the teleportation he experienced.
When he stepped toward their portal, he was sucked into it, being thrown around like a nut inside a cup that shook violently, him unable to comprehend what was down and up.
However, the moment he stepped into the cave, it became much worse, unable to acclimate. An aura pressured him down, miasma made his breathing difficult, and someone was before him, their voice making the squirrel squirm every time he heard them speak.
"Verily... they doth truly show us great disrespect, do they not?"
It was ethereal but also motherly and fatherly at the same time, like strict parents, with a hinge of terror, something the young squirrel couldn't comprehend but still tried to be as cordial as possible, exactly knowing who this was.
"I greet thee thy, Oracle of the Twin-Acorn branch! This lowly fauner of the Earthly Sisterhood will become your servant, as the ancient rules of merit dictate!"
He looked carefully and fearfully up, seeing something indescribable before him. It was a massive cave with a glistering lake to the side, illuminating the whole place and allowing him to see grandness.
Enormous roots conjugated all around the cave, drinking from the mana-rich lake, flowers that he had never seen or heard of before, looking like they were from a time long before even his ancestors were born.
However, what indeed took his breath away was the Oracle before him, far from what he saw at their Temple. Theirs was a beautiful sylph with incredible charisma, with which everyone would become enchanted by every word she said.
Not here. The tiny squirrel stood before a gigantic elfoid with greenish hair and miraculous black eyes, who showed him a time long before any other branch existed. The person was not only ancient, but they were what looked to him as time itself.
The elfoid was embedded in those thick roots, which surrounded almost all of his body and half of his face. Bark and branches grew out of them as they became one with nature.
The squirrel couldn't help but stare at this person. Even though the aura made him shiver slightly, he was captured by the magnificence before him, like the rawness of the natural energy they leaked, something he never felt before.
However, when they looked in his direction, he flinched, feeling an incredible amount of negative and positive aura flowing through him. It was as if suddenly, multiple personalities, all with unique emotional states, appeared in his head.
The elf sighed, making him shiver but also feel ecstasy, almost bursting out in tears and having him even become sexually aroused, 'What is happening?!'
"My eyes beholdeth that Green hath informed me that a squirrel shall arrive to receiveth punishment and bestow upon us some trinket. We hath struck a bargain, yet I beholdeth only a lowly substitute. Thou art but a scapegoat, lacking in all knowledge. I can discerneth it within thy very soul."
The squirrel's shiver suddenly disappeared, and he felt like something had been ripped out of his body. This made him scream silently into the void, wishing for death, as the feeling was still there, only intensified due to the lack of an outlet.
He became limp, falling, and seeing how the Oracle looked over a mass of opaque energy, which left his body, 'Am I dead?!'
He couldn't move and feel while still experiencing every single emotion possible, not able to discern what was happening and slowly going insane. All he could focus on was the weirdly gaseously shaped energy-like essence before the Oracle, which felt familiar; wondering if he would die in but a moment or go before that insane.
Fortunately, the Oracle snickered, and the energy-like essence entered his body again. He could breathe again, but every time he inhaled the air, all his emotions started to conjugate into a mixed mess. Together with the almost-death experience, he didn't know what was happening, as if he lost all his senses.
It felt like he endured decades of torture, with him not comprehending what happened. His Oracle would never do something this horrific, but this wasn't just any Oracle. It was the oldest one ever, from a race far older than anything existing on this planet, except maybe Giants.
They had other moralistic views, seeing the fauner as nothing but a slightly bigger squirrel. Was it an honor to meet them? He didn't know, but it was an experience, this much he was sure, and it was definitely worth it.
He heard constant pings, his divine grace as his body tried to fight against all the craziness he experienced, making him level up dozens of times in seconds.
"Take heed of this message, Ludwig: Journey to Wolfsteeth and fulfill your duty without fail. I do not regard one of such meager stature as yourself, lacking any visible determination to live."
Ludwig could barely recover from the horrendous experience, trying to find any solace in the meager positives. However, when he heard the Oracle of the Twin-Acorn Temple again, it was all gone, reverted back to him being a shivering mess.
Worse, the being sounded bored and annoyed, but Ludwig, once looking into those inkishly black eyes, was unable to turn his head away. He was shivering, and as he had a little sanity left, he did what he was best at: Analyzing.
Ludwig was the greatest in one thing other than theology and healing, surpassing every scholar in this field with his pure instinct. He could discern someone's strength, making him one of their branch's most prodigious military experts—an asset of value.
However, looking at the Oracle, it was as if he saw a deity. They were the closest to one of the Orbis's representations, something he couldn't compare to anyone else. Even his Oracle paled, with him not believing the grandness, like a hole without any bottom.
Even though Ludwig felt terrible and would like nothing more but to run away, he was still staring, unable to look away as the natural energy was the rawest he had ever seen, making him feel like he would be crushed by all the earth himself. It was a beautiful feeling for someone of grand faith.
However, he was also conscious enough to understand that he should leave, but he couldn't, 'I can't look away... help.'
The Oracle sighed, slowly coming closer with a finger toward his forehead. Every inch the giant finger came closer made Ludwig's emotions wild, increasing manifold. All he could do was use all the skills he had, leveling them up quickly as he forced himself to suppress all those emotions. If not, he would do something wildly inappropriate, given that he felt everything he could at an astonishing rate.
"Let it be known that I shall aid thee, but carry this missive thine. I have a small token for my valiant Druid's son, whose tireless efforts have greatly enriched our Temple, attracting true seekers of the authentic Core. I wish for him to prosper and retain his steadfast resolve. 'Tis a joy to sense the vibrancy of his spirit from afar. It shall never be surrendered to Orbis!"
The moment the thin but grand finger touched Ludwig's forehead, he suddenly screamed, but no sound came out. It was violence, joy, happiness, greed, and thousands of other emotions he felt. It was as if his whole life, the past and future, was concentrated in one single point, making his soul and body rip into but a moment.
Ludwig suddenly became enlightened, as if he saw everything and nothing. It was exhilarating, making him try to comprehend the true Core. Sadly, in what felt like but a moment of pure ecstasy, he fell down, feeling a wooden floor under him and slowly remembering what happened.
However, while his mind was somewhat there, he couldn't help but feel all those emotions simultaneously, spasming out while looking at a surprised and angry fairy before him.
He defecated and urinated, cried, laughed, came, and did everything else that was deemed highly inappropriate. He was a mess of everything he could, only having moments of clarity trying to stop this humiliation.
However, before he lost his consciousness, he heard the fairy talking, sounding very annoyed, "I hate that fucking elf. At least give me a warning before you send those losers here."
...
No cheatsheet, baby, since it is a somewhat new character
Words: ~2900
