Leaves rustled before a strange figure came out from a nearby bush. It was what appeared to be a walking trunk, with roughly carved-out holes that resembled eyes, despite being empty. There was also a crudely made mouth that consisted of jagged teeth, overflowing with sap.
Despite supposedly being a tree, it easily jumped around and bent back and forth, stretching with more elasticity than skin.
"eXciTing! eXciTing!"
The broken speech patterns seemed to be partially a result of its natural physique. Repeating itself seemed to come naturally, likely in part because of people asking to repeat parts they didn't hear clearly.
At the top of the trunk was a white daffodil. It had eyes on each of its petals, almost making it look like a pattern if it were a picture and one wasn't looking too closely. Though the constant movement of each of its pupils made it rather clear those weren't simply a discoloration.
The center of it opened up, stretching out the petals and making the flowerhead look twice as large when it talked.
"It's been a little while since we've had folks here before! Now, I'll simply cut to the chase, there's a code for those who have already gone through the whole spiel. Have you heard it before?"
Mia just barely audibly muttered to herself.
"What is happening?..."
The flower lifted up two of his leaves awkwardly before crossing them.
"EEN! That was not the code!"
"wrOnG! iNcoRReCt!"
The tree stump appeared to have a rather fun time bouncing back and forth, though it didn't seem to really understand what was going on. Jack, who appeared to have more or less the same thoughts, began joining in.
If it weren't for the fact that Seedy was currently away, it probably would've done so as well.
The flower let out a cough, though it was rather grotesque with how unnaturally stretchy it moved.
"Anyways, Master has designated that everyone will be blocked from entering higher than floor three without permission! This is simply for the sake of your own safety, as the population of this level is already quite limited. Even just the games on the second floor are plenty! It's best you don't risk your life going any further."
Mia narrowed her eyes slightly. She was able to regain her composure relatively quickly, all things considered. Although she couldn't be sure, her logic was telling her that they were telling the truth.
Even if there really were more sinister intentions, she was willing to bet those were with whoever "Master" was supposed to be and that... these things had no intention to harm them.
Regardless, if they were just barring entry, it would be best to leave it here, especially when they were so new to how things worked here. With most of them having entered the third level for less than a day, and the most for a few days, minimal risks should be taken when the information was so sparse.
She opened her mouth, about to say they were going to leave, but-
"Mmmm... I really want to go though! This place looks like a lot of fun!"
Jack puffed up his cheeks and pushed two index fingers together. Jessica became quite distraught at his sudden sadness, immediately summoning her katana and pointing it at the trunk and flower pair.
"Hmph! How dare you bar our entry! What business do you have if we wish to go through!"
Mia's eyelid twitched. She could tell that Jack wasn't consciously trying to do so, but Jessica had essentially become his lackey at this point. It seemed him saving her in the earlier game didn't help that fact either.
Though she wasn't too panicked, as the six eyes on the flower only turned to Jessica with curiosity. After glancing between Jack and her, it let out a chuckle.
"If you truly do want to go past this point, then you will be given a test! So long as you pass this test, you will be granted entry and be told the password so other fae won't block you from entering either. However, please do keep in mind, that even if you do pass said test, the actual trials you will face past that point will be harder. Enter at your own risk!"
"dAngErOUs! scARy!"
The flower extended out from the trunk, revealing its uncannily large stem which was dripping in tree sap as it came out. It slowly came a bit closer to Jack, before letting out a snide remark.
"Though the only person that'll pass the test is probably you."
It then looked over at Kenji.
"And perhaps you will just barely scrape by, though the odds are against you."
Despite being one of the people called out, Jessica didn't look particularly offended, perhaps because Jack was technically praised.
"Then what are the conditions of the test?"
The flower retracted back slightly before continuing on.
"Simply put, from the start of the test, you will have to remain standing for ten minutes! If you fall down for any reason, then you're out immediately! If you want to retry, there is no cost for doing so, but know that it will be harder the second time. I recommend you prepare for a while before deciding to take on the trial."
It gave a glance at Jack.
"Even you. Besides, if only you make it, then your companions won't be able to join you."
Hearing that made Jack let out a small gasp.
"Eh? They can't come with me?"
The flower twirled its petals like it was tilting its head to the side, but given its symmetrical features, it still looked the same.
"Unless they pass the test, no. Which is frankly quite unlikely."
"uNLikeLY! uNLikeLY!"
The trunk appeared to be quite happy repeating things like it was a parrot. However, instead of being perched on a shoulder, a flower was instead perched on top of it.
Jack looked quite upset, ruminating over his own thoughts. At the same time, Mia couldn't help but just come out with her curiosity.
"How are you able to judge our strengths? Is it some sort of technique?"
The flower turned its eyes over to Mia.
"You should have a fairly good idea. It's the smell."
Jessica notably was quite surprised, blinking several times in succession. Though she quickly went to being concerned for Jack, trying to hug him in an attempt to make him happier. As for Kenji, his reactions were more or less the same as the rock next to him.
On the other hand, Mia furrowed her brows in confusion.
She could somewhat understand why the flower had confidence in Kenji, given his much stronger smell. However, Jack's was actually weaker. If that was the sole judgment, then that simply didn't make sense.
"Sorry, I still don't get it."
The flower seemed to have expected her reaction.
"You don't have to get it. But I truly have based my entire judgment based on their smell."
It then turned to Jack, before getting a little closer.
"To put it simply, this one has dealt with a rather... troublesome and disdainful fellow. For whatever reason, the group they are part of actively seeks out trouble with everyone else! Even the ones that simply want to be neutral and mind their own business. Not even the ones asking for alliances are spared."
The flower contracted its petals to let out a scoff. It appeared quite personally ticked off at this group.
"But perhaps the most unfortunate fact is that this boorish group has the power to act that way. Every single one of their members has a frightening degree of strength, along with a unique smell they give to their killer upon dying. Regardless of the amount of advantageous factors that were involved in the victory to kill their weakest, it is still an impressive feat."
"bAd... people... bAd... people..."
The trunk lost a lot of its enthusiasm after hearing that.
Mia raised an eyebrow. She took a step closer to Jack, intending on trying to smell this so-called unique scent. Though the flower interrupted her before she even started.
"You won't be able to smell it. Your intelligence still needs to be higher. You should already know I'm not talking about standard intelligence."
Mia slowly nodded. After all, it didn't matter how smart a person was, it didn't let them smell the blood of previous kills, nor did it give someone telekinesis.
"How do I improve it?... How do we all improve our respective strengths?"
The flower let out a small sigh. It seemed to be a bit annoyed, but continued on anyway.
"It's slightly different for all of you. However, the gist of it is to practice it like a muscle. The best place is within the games. You can think of it as the difference between training with a proper diet, versus someone that hasn't had enough to eat. There are also various opportunities for bigger and more direct improvements, but those more or less won't show up to people on your level. Even if they do, they will be out of reach for you."
It was a little strange for a plant to be talking about muscles and training, but it got the point across to everyone.
Though Jack was still unsatisfied, pouting as a flower grew out from his hair.
"Can my friends play here with me, pleaseee?"