"What? Was that nothing but an illusion?" Dirx gasped while rubbing his now-bloody nose as my franken-Vegeta and his jumbo jet attack faded away.
"I chased that bloody bee all over the place, but the moment I caught it between my fingers, I realized that it was just a diversion," Lysander continued, ignoring the goblins as he stepped into the clearing by the fire. "Well played, cultivator. I was surprised to see a portion of that farmer's corn harvested by the time I returned to the field, but seeing as you are indeed stuck in the body of a vegetable, I figured that you couldn't have gotten far. I don't really know what the situation is here, but I'm going to finish what I started before getting on my way."
"Hey! Hey, you're with the military, right?" Darotha yelled, before raising her bound hands. "Little help? We were about to be held at ransom by those goblins over there."
"I'll free you in a moment, young lady, I just need to cook a bit of corn," the Lysander replied as he brushed his thick dark hair to the side and raised his scythe towards my corn body. "End of the road. Tino, was it? I'll remember you."
"DON'T YOU DARE!!"Lyka yelled. "ITS MINE!!"
"Really, cultivator? You imbued this girl with lust for yourself?" the armored man scoffed with a chuckle. "Alright, you've done enough damage. Goodbye."
Thankfully, Lysander had yet to notice the "tundra slug" that was under my control, and I planned to use it to save my kernelled-ass. Opening the creature's mouth, I fired several frost bolts, but sensing the projectiles in the fraction of a second, the mage flicked his scythe to block each of the blasts and neutralize them by igniting the blade with his fire magic.
"What's that? A tundra slug?" Lysander grinned upon spotting my vessel. "Those aren't native to this province. Did you learn how to summon familiars as well, cultivator?
Wondering what else was in the slug's arsenal, I fired on all cylinders and had it use that frost breath ability while advancing forward. As the foliage ahead of me began to freeze up, I watched as the dark-clad mage charged at me while he swung his scythe. Ordering the creature to buy me a few seconds, I disconnected my kernel link to it, and blinded myself by returning to my corn body. Scanning the area around me, I found the energy signatures of the two young women and the two goblins that were still nearby. Focusing hard and deep, I called out to them through a weak kernel link, avoiding Lysander's blazing aura so that he was unable to hear.
"Goblins! Hear me out!" I spoke in my head. "I have a plan that can save us all, but I need you to do exactly as I tell you!"
"Gah, he's in my head!" Krissy whined as she covered her ears. "That weird guy from earlier."
"I hear him too!" Dirx exclaimed as he rose to his feet. "Show yourself! That royal mage revealed that you're a fake!"
"I have no time to explain, but I'm actually that corncob on the ground by the fire," I continued as Lysander was nearly upon my slug. "I need you to untie those girls, and then have the red-haired one hold me. I think I might be able to get us out of here."
"You're…corn?" the goblin leader snorted as he waddled over to the campfire and picked up my new body. "No way."
"Dangit, brother, do what it says, that government mage is probably going to cut us down when he gets through with that slug!" Krissy insisted.
Indeed, Lysander swiped his huge scythe at the slug as it still tried to freeze him, but instead of being cleaved in half, the creature instead rapidly-generated a crystal-shaped block of ice around its body, immobilizing it but also sparing it from being cut.
"Well that's annoying," the mage remarked with a shrug, before holding the tip of his scythe to the ice and as it began to glow a fiery red, the crystal rapidly started to melt.
"Okay, okay hold on," Dirx answered as he rushed over to the girls and quickly undid their bindings, where they both sprung to their feet.
"Give me that!!" Lyka growled as she snatched my body from the goblin's hand, before rapidly kissing at it, rendering Krissy, Dirx, and even her own friend speechless. "I can't believe how much I've missed this thing!"
"Lyka, right? I need you to do me a favor," I said, now telepathically speaking to the gorgeous auburn-haired young woman.
"Yes, Master!" the girl replied as she held my vegetable figure close to her breasts, largely exposed from the tight confines of her dress top. "Just tell me what you need!"
"Um…your home town, I need you to think about it. Really focus on it, picture it in your mind as clear as you can," I explained, somewhat concerned that I'd really messed up her mind given how willing she was to listen to a corncob.
"Can we trust it?" Darotha asked as she looked to my kernelled self. "What if it's a demon or something in disguise? I mean Lyka, why are you suddenly so drawn to it? I think its evil."
Just then, a loud crack was heard as Lysander shattered what remained of the tundra slug's ice barrier with a kick, where he reared his weapon back as he prepared to finish it.
"We don't have time to ask, girly, let's just do what it says!" Dirx insisted. "What do we do now, corn-who-speaks?"
"Lyka, you keep thinking about your home town, and the rest of you hold onto her," I explained.
"Okay…Carvestead, I'm thinking of Carverstead," Lyka whispered as she closed her eyes. Darotha, Dirx, and Krissy all put a hand to her back, looking to each other in confusion as they waited for something to happen.
Thanking the slug for its service, I felt all my acquired senses go dull as Lysander inevitably bisected the poor creature, where I was again fully deaf to the world. Still sensing the energy auras of those around me, I felt for Lyka's in particular and began to initiate my gamble. I didn't know if I'd actually be able to pull it off, but I was betting that I had the ability to teleport as well. Yes, once one had acquired a good bit of kernels, the sky seemed to be the limit to what one was capable of. Gambling on this possibility, I was going to attempt to teleport us, but being that I knew very little of this new world, I was hinging this possibility on Lyka getting us to her home town.
Sensing Lysander's flared aura approach, I thought hard and deep, absorbing Lyka's energy as I attempted to see what was in her mind. Blurry at first, I started seeing paved streets, gorgeous white buildings, and a large bell tower in the middle of town.
"Take me there," I thought to myself. "I want to go there now."
It took a great bit of willpower to stop myself from losing focus, knowing that my would-be assailant was likely seconds from hitting me with a killing blow, but after a meditation session that felt like hours transpire in a jiffy, something changed. The mild energy from the trees around us in the forest disappeared. We teleported.
I hoped.