While Jericho's elemental clone practiced skills, Princess and Jericho worked and refined the performance for hours.
"This would be easier to show if Ken were here to help me." Princess sighed. "This line dance is designed to be performed using a mirroring effect."
The half of Jericho working with her gave a nod. "You mean the type of line dance where every other person is facing one direction and the others are facing the opposite, like a checkered pattern or a mild adaption similar to a square dance?"
"Yep," she confirmed.
"Then why don't you message him? I think he would enjoy hanging around and helping you out." Jericho suggested.
The girl smiled and sent a message over to Kenneth.
The dancer received a reply almost immediately. [The person you have messaged is currently busy and unable to respond. They will receive your message when they are able.]
Princess sighed and shared the message with her brother.
"I got a similar message when I tried to message Shiarra while she was in combat." Jericho explained.
The pre-teen looked a little worried. "Should we go find him?"
Jericho shook his head and looked up at the canopy above them. "Don't worry about Ken. Like Shiarra, he is strong. He will message back when his is able."
Princess smiled and calmed down slightly. "Oh, speaking of Shiarra, she wanted me to tell you hi. I think she likes you since we talk about you all the time."
Jericho paused and gave his sister a 'You really had to go there?' type of look. "I'm glad she is doing well." He replied.
"I like both your ship names. Which do you like better, Jeriarra or Shiacho?"
Jericho face-palmed. "I told you already. Shiarra and I don't know each other. Why are you trying to play matchmaker? You know people can change their appearance in game and act very differently than in real life."
The girl sighed. "I just want you to be happy too."
"And you are convinced Shiarra would help me have this happiness?" He asked with a shake of his head.
The girl sighed back. "It is at least worth a try! Besides, aren't you being too quick to reject her?"
Jericho turned away from his sister. "I'll only add to her misery. Now can we drop the subject?"
"Fine, but one day, you will see that you deserve to be happy too." Princess turned away with a scowl.
The bard took a deep breath. "But I am happy when I can see you happy."
"Liar."
Jericho received a message. [From !Admin¡ Griffin Knight: Mrs. Long, the woman in charge of the game, has requested a meeting with you before you get much further into your current quest. She has asked us to tell you she wants this meeting to be as convenient for you as possible while also being as soon as possible. Please set the date, time, and location in your reply. The sooner you meet the better.]
Jericho sighed and replied. [How do I confirm this is genuinely from an admin? How long of a meeting does she need?]
[From !Admin¡ Griffin Knight: Log into the forum. Search Admin. You will find the !Admin¡ to be the indicator you are talking to a real admin instead of someone pretending to be an admin. Let me check with her on that question. Message you again shortly.]
"Brother, who are you talking to?" Princess asked seeing that he didn't verbally retaliate to her calling him a liar.
"Apparently an administrator of the game," he replied.
"Wow, is it something important?" She inquired.
"I would guess so, the woman that gave us the game wants to meet with me about something."
"Huh, I should be there to make sure she doesn't have the hots for you. I can't have you being snatched away by someone I don't approve of."
Jericho laughed. "I am sure she only wants to talk about something related to the game."
"If you are going have a meeting with a strange woman, I'm going to be there to keep you safe. You don't have a choice. I'll skip school if I need to." She said in a threatening tone.
"What are you? The PDA Police?"
"What is that supposed to mean?"
Jericho's laughter increased. "The Public Display of Affection Police; an organization dedicated to making sure nothing affectionate or intimate happens." He replied with a mild mocking exaggerated enthusiasm.
"Yep! I will make sure she doesn't try to seduce you. So don't go flirting with her either. I know how smooth of a talker you can be." The girl grinned.
"Yes ma'am." Jericho shook his head.
[From !Admin¡ Griffin Knight: Mrs. Long has said that the meeting should be short and shouldn't take longer than an hour. Please tell us the time, date, and location so we can schedule it.]
Jericho sent a reply. [3:00 PM, Tuesday October 7th (Tomorrow), At 231 Blue Hen Rd, Newcastle. Please send me a reminder of this upcoming meeting just beforehand.]
[From !Admin¡ Griffin Knight: Time, Date, and Location confirmed. I will send a reminder message when it is time.]
***
Ken swallowed the two glowing yellow crafting material in front of him without hesitation. (Sure it tastes bad but it isn't that hard to swallow. I don't understand why you are so opposed to it, Lux.)
(I can't believe I'm watching you do that.) Lux replied as the green cloth stabilized on the top of his head. It looked like a green wizard's hat with holes for his ears to poke out from.
[You have swallowed Lyngurium of Truth. Your spiritual power has activated.] [You are absorbing spiritual power from the stones. The longer you can keep it down the more power you can obtain.] [Power absorbed: 0.1%]
Ken felt a prickly, painful sensation in his stomach and throat. His gag reflex was repeatedly triggered. He closed his eyes and used his hunting skill Focus to keep himself calm and from throwing up.
Multiple notification sounds were heard.
Ken felt a strange sensation flowing through his body. It tickled and made the irritation harder to deal with. His ear's twitched when he heard hacking sounds coming from Lux. (So gross, I can't believe Ken is fine. Ignorance truly makes one dumb. I would rather eat a hairball than do what he just did.)
Ken wanted to curse as the pain intensified and Lux insulted him. A light growl escaped his muzzle.
The sounds of more notifications played.
The pre-teen felt something shift inside of his stomach and chest.
A relaxing herbal smell entered the lynxes' nostrils.
The painful feelings subsided and a rush of power flowed through Ken's body. Ken felt weak and slept.
Lux got bored of watching Ken struggle. He played around with his new wizard cap a bit. (Wow, this hat is great! Wait, when did this relaxing smelling liquid get here? Hey brother, why are you sleeping? Did swallowing Lingurium kill you? I know I would die if I swallowed it.)
***
Purai and Lillith had seen the whole thing. They were picking herbs in the area when they heard the sounds of the two felines fighting.
"Lynxes have some really gross habits don't they?" Lillith whispered as she saw the one swallow the objects off the ground.
Purai shook her head. "There seems to be more going on." She pointed to the old lynx phantom. She saw the painful look on Ken's face and the sounds coming from the hat wearing Lux.
She pulled out a small bundle of herbs and some water. She lit a small fire with magic and brought the small amount of water to water to a boil. She placed the herbs into the hot water and placed the steeping liquid near the two felines. She gave a bow to the lynx spirit and walked away. "There, that seems to be helping." She smiled seeing the painful expression on Ken's face relax.
Lillith frowned. "Why did you do that?"
Purai smiled sweetly. "Have you noticed that nothing seems to have been attacking us while we have gathered the ingredients to help cure the satyr's ailments?"
"I did. But what does that have to do with the two lynxes?" The young elf questioned.
The healer chuckled. "The two of them have been hunting in the area and helping us out. I don't know if they were doing it on purpose or if it was just a coincidence but either way, we have benefited greatly from their efforts. Making a relaxing herbal tea is something very simple I could do to repay them."
"Oh, I get it. Well, we should keep searching for ingredients right?"
"Yeah. I have almost everything I need to treat the third satyr on their list. This will take a while. I hope we can get things done more efficiently. We should prepare as much as possible to save extra trips into the forest."
"Alright!"
***
Ken woke up to the feeling of Lux pushing his head against his body repeatedly. He shook his head as he opened his eyes. (I'm awake Lux. What are you doing?)
(I'm glad you are awake. I thought you had died. Swallowing Lyngurium is more horrible than death.)
(Right…) Ken drowsily stood back up and started to read the notifications.
[You have gained the Spirit Beast skill line. You can now learn Spirit Beast abilities. You have gained the Spirit Beast (lynx only) skill True-Lynx Eyes. You can see the hidden truth…]
[You have grown a spirit crystal.]
[Because you have grown a spirit crystal, your body, including the crystal, has become more valuable. Perceptive creatures will be able to detect the spiritual power you give off. You may get hunted down more frequently because of other's greed as a result. This aura is suppressed while you are in human form.]
[You can choose 1 known ability and convert it into a spirit influenced ability. You can learn 1 additional spirit ability from an outside source.]
[Your True-Lynx Eyes have grown to 0/10 Adept. Your spirit beast skill line has risen to tier 2. Warning, your spirit beast skill line cannot break through to tier 3 until your Animal (predator) skill line reaches tier 3. You can see more hidden truths and see the intentions of creature who's eyes you can see.]
[You have gained the Spirit Beast (Lynx only) skill Produce Lyngurium. Any lynx can produce Lyngurium but only a lynx spirit beast can purposefully create it. Lyngurium has many uses including transferring vitality or knowledge, attracting things to a location or creature and so on. If used in crafting it can create a variety of effect usually related to luck or sight. Note that obtaining the negative status 'captured' or the neutral status 'tamed' will weaken the Lyngurium you can produce to the Tier 1 weak Lyngurium until the condition is removed. You can use this skill three times a day.]
[Your spirit crystal has stabilized as a tier 2 crystal. You have gained improved spiritual power. The materials your body is made of are worth more. As a Tier 2 Spirit Beast have gained the special stat: Spirit. Note that Spirit cannot be given assigned stat points. Spirit will have almost no effect on your human form.]
[As you have not yet chosen: You can convert a total of three known abilities into spirit influenced abilities. As you have not learned any additional spirit abilities from an outside source, you can learn up to three new spirit abilities from outside sources.]
[Produce Lyngurium has increased to 0/10 Adept. 25% of the time, when producing Lyngurium it will become infused with spiritual power raising its tier to 3. When producing tier 3 Lyngurium or higher you can infuse it with any known spiritual power. Tier 3 Lyngurium and higher can hold spiritual power.]
[Your skills have stabilized. True-Lynx Eyes has reached 10/10 Adept and cannot change to 0/10 Expert until your Animal skill line has reached Tier 3.]
[You have received a message from Dancing Princess: Hey, if you are free, can you come help me with the dance I am making? I could use a dancing partner.]
© J Eranoth