Roars sounded out from the surrounding beasts as the Royal Lizards pulled the only fruit they plucked towards them. Hundreds of eyes leered enviously at the descending peach as they seemed to weigh certain decisions.
The more rash of them leapt off of the tree itself, all for a chance to take a bite. They sacrificed their climbing progress for the sake of the descending fruit. Unfortunately for those hasty beasts, they always came up short. The Royal Lizards coordinated well to stop any ambitions in its tracks.
One of the Royal Lizards roared, and the Emerald-Essence Peach floated over to it. The fruit was about the size of a human's head, making it look like a pea before the giant reptile. With a chomp, it took the fruit into its mouth, snuffing out its green glow.
One of the fruits had disappeared just like that.
The Royal Lizards then hurriedly turned to another Emerald-Essence Peach, sending out their Tangible Wills once more. With another satisfying note, another fruit was plucked off, causing the surrounding beasts to stir.
The horde was getting agitated.
The Orcs atop the Royal Lizards expected the beasts to attack the Royal Lizards. They had already prepared themselves to fight off the waves of bodies that would soon attempt to climb the scaly platform they currently stood on.
Contrary to their beliefs, however, the first to pull the trigger against the family of royalty was one of their own.
RRRAAAAH!
There was a roar, and a Royal Lizard slammed into another. Several Orcs that had been on its back were flung off.
With a glance, the Orcs saw that it was the same lizard who ate the first fruit. And it looked to be fighting its own kin for another scrumptious bite!
The endlessly quaking earth had grown fiercer all of a sudden. Wrestling Royal Lizards were crushing beasts aplenty as they rolled around the area. It forced a few of the other Royal Lizards to join in, as they tried to stop the ongoing quarrel.
But such an action only made things worse.
As the first Royal Lizard fought, its strength kept growing instead of decreasing. Something was happening to its body, and it clearly was the effect of the fruit. The Royal Lizard was now fighting four of its own kin at the same time, howling and roaring as it slammed its body or whipped its tail.
Blood was being drawn and it poured from the wounds of the giants, bathing the beasts below them in red. Barrels of blood joined the many pools that already littered the landscape.
As the lizards fought, the most nimble of the beasts had finally made it to the Emerald Tree's branches. From there, it sprinted, with corrosive drool dripping from its maws.
An Emerald-Essence Peach was just a few feet before it now, and the beast lunged hungrily.
Its teeth bit into the fruit as it pulled with all its might.
Pop!
The fruit was twisted and was plucked with a satisfying note once more. The branch it had been hanging on swayed.
The beast then flicked its head up, tossing the fruit as it opened its mouth to swallow the fruit in one gulp.
But what came up did not come down. The beast was left hanging in an awkward pause as it awaited the literal fruit of its labour.
The beautiful green Emerald-Essence Pear had disappeared into thin air.
A similar thing was occurring elsewhere.
As the beasts in the branches pulled more fruits off of the branches, a few of those disappeared the moment they lost contact. Those who tried to toss the fruits into the air just so they could swallow it whole all lost their treasures.
There were also a few who dropped their own fruits after exerting too much strength for their own good. The beasts fell off the Emerald Tree's branches while their fruits vanished.
As for the rest of the horde, the Emerald-Essence Pears were as stubborn as ever, with quite a few beasts lacking the ability to pluck them out. A number of the beasts no longer tried to pull the fruits out and simply bit into them.
Athelei had pursed his lips when he saw them munch on the fruits. He could not push the fruits into Shop's zone of dematerialisation to successfully steal the item. They also ate up the fruits faster than the speed at which Athelei could change their phases.
And in the first place, the fruits had yet to come off of the branch of the Emerald Tree. That meant that the Cosmic Interface still saw the tree and its fruits as one entity, which subsequently meant that Shop was not identifying the unpicked peaches as an [Item] just yet.
'The Cosmic Interface is indeed intelligent,' Athelei sighed in resignation as he jotted down a few more notes in his mental library. He was going to continue testing the limits of Shop.
He currently had eight Emerald-Essence Peaches hidden a few kilometres away. Six were in perfect condition while the remaining two had portions bitten out of them. But at least, they were safe, buried inside a cosy cave.
'If only all the fruits were placed in a bag and dragged on the ground like how those goblins brought their apricots home...' Athelei wryly smiled as he snatched another half-eaten Emerald-Essence Pear.
His eyes moved towards the Royal Lizards who were changing up their strategy.
While the giant lizards had their Wills wrapped around the fruits, the angel could not claim ownership over them. It allowed the lizards to have three fruits to themselves.
But now, they decided to scale the Emerald Tree instead of relying on just their Wills. They had realised how insufficient their Tangible Wills were due to the distance between them and the fruits above.
On top of that, they clearly did not expect the stubbornness displayed by the Emerald-Essence Peaches.
Their own brothers and sisters were also fighting amongst themselves.
Their previous teamwork had dissipated, and now they were like the rest of the beasts, fighting for themselves.
Athelei then moved his gaze at the fruits that hang on the higher branches. His eyes flashed as he felt the slowing flow of residual consciousnesses. Many beasts had already perished, and even the Orcs had now begun to move. He could pull back enough of his fog to use his physical body.
But, although the numbers were falling, the fights were still escalating. Those beasts who had taken a bite out of the pears or swallowed one themselves seemed hungrier than they were before. Their attributes had also increased, allowing them to cleave through the other beasts that sought to take 'their' fruits.
Carcasses had long been piled up on the roots of the Emerald Tree. Blood flowed in rivers from a hill that stank of death.
And so, with a loud flap of his wings, Athelei flew to the crown of the Emerald Tree and dove into its leaves. His irises dilated at the sheer brightness that was now his surroundings as he unsheathed his Mind Splitter.
Clang!
The enchanted single-edged sword cut into a peduncle, but it wasn't able to cut through it in one stroke. Athelei had to slash four more times as he heightened himself with his Tangible Will and Mystic Patterns before the fruit finally began to fall.
With his hand, he nudged the fruit into his Cosmic Interface and had Shop transport it away. A tuft of grey fog replaced the fruit that had disappeared.
'That's another one,' Athelei had a smile on his face as he eyed the other fruits near him.
It had been a long time since he could move his body this much. He had been seated at a desk for much too long.
It was time for a practical exam after all that studying.