He allocated his stat points the same as he had been since he Ascended; he evenly placed the two points each in Physique and Alacrity, and placed his Projection point into Evocation, bringing it even with Manipulation. As he felt the warmth of the stats increasing flow through him, he examined his profile.
Many of his Skills had improved since leaving Panstrum, with a few exceptions. He hadn’t had much opportunity to use Big Game WrestlingTactical RepositionHigh Caliber Resistance
The one Skill that had grown the most over the couple of weeks they had been traveling so far was Basic SpearmanshipEnhance LearningSomniant Trials
Jared and Mimi rejoined his companions, and Jared gestured to the field of dead rinoxen.
“Mind if I do my thing? There could be some good stuff here.”
Bonlanu nodded and Eleisa replied in the affirmative, so Jared activated Affliction Arsenal
The list went on. There were almost twenty different effects, each more confusing than the last. He decided to only add the ones that looked to be useful and that he could guess the effect of, in addition to upgrades to his previously gained effects. He accepted, and hooves, horns, and other parts of the rinoxen all around exploded into multicolored light, which flooded into him in a swirling stream instead of coagulating into a ball like usual.
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Most of them did exactly what he expected as he glanced over their descriptions, but he took a closer look at the first two
Both of those effects seemed like they had serious potential, but he’d need to test how exactly both of them worked, and how they could combine with his other effects. But that could come later. For now, he had a mystery tree to investigate.
Mimi walked next to Jared, his curiosity flowing into her across their bond. She felt curious too. If she ate one of those fruits, would it be like the Titanblood fruit and give her a new ability? Would it taste good? Or maybe she’d become like one of the animals they had just fought. Some of the magic they had used looked strong. It was a good thing Jared was so good at using her to kill them from so far away. Except for that one that had appeared next to them. Luckily, her mega punch killed it before it could hurt Jared. She exulted at the memory of being able to help her savior in a concrete way beyond just being his weapon. Not that she didn’t enjoy being his weapon; that was one of her greatest joys in life. To be able to serve as her savior’s means of striking his foes down. But she relished the opportunity to do more for him, since he had done so much for her.
They reached bug lady and tree man and Jared started talking to them, but Mimi didn’t hear much. Her attention was riveted to the large blue fruits hanging from the small tree. They practically glowed to her senses, and she felt like it was pulling at her, calling to her.
She walked over to the tree, her steps slow, yet purposeful, her attention fully enraptured by those magical blue morsels hanging just a few feet above. As she reached the base of the tree, one branch lowered until a fruit was just before her. So beautiful!
Not hesitating for a moment, she reached up and plucked the fruit from the tree, and was dimly aware of her companions yelling at her to stop as she opened her mouth wide and placed the fruit on her tongue.
She bit down, and an explosion of magic filled her mouth, sweet and tart, better than anything she had ever tasted. Pure bliss! She could feel the magic of the fruit flowing through her body, warming her from the inside. As she swallowed the fruit, the sensations grew stronger, her entire being buzzing. It almost felt like when she Ascended, but much more pleasant.
The buzzing kept growing stronger and stronger, her mind completely enraptured in the wonderful feeling that filled her. She was dimly aware of Jared calling out to her, and she looked at him but was unable to focus on anything as the waves of pleasure consumed her. It finally grew to be too much, and she drifted away, carried gently on rolling waves of bliss.
Having finished getting new afflictions from the rinoxen, Jared rejoined Eleisa and Bonlanu.
“Well, even though that wasn’t our most challenging battle, I will say it was by far the strangest.”
The other two nodded, and Eleisa spoke. “I cannot say I expected the magic to be so chaotic. It was as if instead of being wielded by the creatures, the magic itself was lashing out at random around the herd”
“Yeah, I noticed that. It…”
He trailed off as he noticed Mimi walking up to the small tree that had sprung up from the final rinox’s death.
“Hey Mimi, whatcha doin?”
She didn’t answer, and Jared felt a sudden intense hunger from her. His eyes widened, and he leapt forward. “Wait! Mimi, Don’t-”
He was too slow, and he could only watch as she plucked the fruit from a branch that had been much higher a moment ago, and tossed it into her mouth. Pleasure jolted through their bond, almost bringing Jared to his knees with its suddenness and power. He reached out to her as the sensation continued, only growing stronger over time.
“Mimi, are you okay? What’s going on?”
She turned to look at him, a huge grin on her face, her eyes filled with coruscating patterns of color and light. Then they rolled into the back of her head and she collapsed.
“Mimi!” Jared caught her as she fell, barely able to react through the fog of happiness flooding through their bond. With a force of will, he was able to close off the connection somewhat, stemming the ever-increasing tide of bliss, and he felt his cloudy mind begin to clear. As it did, he realized he had been giggling hysterically, and took a moment to regain his composure.
He looked up as Bonlanu crouched beside him, resting a hand on Mimi’s forehead. His eyes flashed a deep emerald green, and he nodded as if a suspicion was confirmed. Jared looked at him expectantly. “Well? What’s wrong with her?”
In response, he took another of the fruits from the tree and held it out to Jared. “Identify it.”
He did so, his eyes widening as he read the description
“Permanent? That can’t be right. There’s gotta be a way to fix this.” He looked into Bonlanu’s eyes pleadingly. “Right?”
The Arborial held his gaze for a moment, then nodded slowly. “I do know of a natural remedy but we will almost certainly not find it nearby, as I have only ever seen it growing in the heart of my homeland far to the north. But if we find a sufficiently skilled alchemist, they might be able to use the rest of these fruits to create an elixir of mental fortitude. It is not certain, since she is already under the fruit’s influence, but I believe it to be her best chance.”
Jared gazed down at Mimi’s unconscious body, mind racing. There hadn’t been many alchemists in the towns they had stopped in recently, and the ones they had seen were of relatively low level and probably wouldn’t be able to help them. He looked up at Bonlanu and Eleisa. “The only alchemist I can think of that might be strong enough is that Kyrien back in Panstrum.”
Bonlanu nodded. “We can check in the next town, but I believe you are right, and we do not have time to waste. You should go to the nearest dragon fly marsh and fly back to Panstrum with one of the fruits, while we take Naomi to the next town.”
Jared stood, handing Naomi over to Bonlanu. “Take care of her. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
With a glance at their map, he turned towards where it indicated a nearby marsh, activating one of his newer skills. Heat erupted in his stomach, burning like a star, and he began to run, trees blurring past him far faster than they should have as mana flooded his body.