Chapter 545 - Woodland Magic

“This is our stop, kids,” John said when their train came to a surprisingly quiet stop at the outskirts of a quaint little town that looked

“This is our stop, kids,” John said when their train came to a surprisingly quiet stop at the outskirts of a quaint little town that looked like something out of a fifties post-card. Even if most of the smiling faces had a Han cast to their features and tiny horns that really did blend into their hairline, such that Eric hardly noticed them by the time they had made their way down the station stairs and along a spot that would have been a station parking lot, anywhere else. But here…

Eric blinked in bemusement. “Bikes. No kidding.”

John smiled with pride at the pair of bikes they had, one with a wagon-like attachment, the other look very much like the ten speed Yeti Eric had enjoyed cutting loose with on the hilly trails outside his family’s upstate home, when not shredding turf with his motor bike.

“They’re a pair of beauties, aren’t they?” John said as Hanna gently directed the girls inside the wagon, which fit the both quite comfortably in miniature fold-out seats and only looked awkward because of his own cultural proclivities, Eric knew that. Just as he knew that even hunched over and trying to look unassuming, he was far too massive to fit in with the petite pair of girls.

John chuckled, nodding at his own bike. “Well, it looks like the old man will be getting some exercise. Not that I mind a good run.”

Eric grinned, shaking his head. “No need. Honestly, John, after being cooped up all day, to say nothing of the trip getting here… I wouldn’t mind stretching my legs at all.”

“That’s not a bad idea, Eric. Few things are better for grounding oneself than a good workout, and this beats the hell out of a cramped transport ship’s training room, doesn’t it?”

Eric smirked at that. “It does,” he conceded. “At least from what I’ve seen. I didn’t get much chance to use the crowded, sweaty training center during my trip, but I’d far rather be here than there,” he admitted freely, loping at a gentle pace that felt as effortless as floating in a dream, yet was still a stride that allowed him to keep up with the couple’s own bikes, Ella and Maja trilling happily as they rode along the paved blacktop street that had a fair number of locals traveling at sedate paces close to the lip of the road, faster bikes toward the central strip.

Eric inhaled fresh crisp air that smelled of ripened peaches, magic and Qi as they made their way along the town road. He couldn’t help but smile as he gazed up at the stately fruit trees filled with trilling birds and rustling branches providing shade to both road and bluestone sidewalks.

He nodded at the occassional pedestrians dressed in cotton pants and hemp shirts who smiled or nodded back, happily noting that they didn’t look or act all that different from townsfolk back on Earth. At least, before everything had changed.

“Left up ahead, Eric.”

Eric nodded, noting that even the signs for crossing lanes were near identical as to what had been used back on Earth, not that long ago. Though the word for ‘stop’ was different, and it was bikes alone that people seemed to use out here. It wasn’t hard to understand why, as his muscles tingled with the delightufl flow of Spiritual Energy out here that was already greater here than what had washed over him in NanDushi proper.

He got his first real culture shock when they turned the corner and were confronted with a giant abomination chittering away as it scrabbled upon the ground.

Eric’s eyes widened, heart pounding as he prepared to obliterate the threat only feet away from the screaming girls as the giant insectoid abomination that had already devoured two…

Eric froze, Battletime in full effect as he truly took in the situation, so stunned that his furiously blazing fist almost gave away all his cards before he quenched it in the time it took Hanna to blink, turning her head as her cultivator instincts screamed…

But it was only a dazed Eric, looking upon the gigantic rhino-sized BUG skittering along the road… docile as could be. With a straw-hatted man on its back, casually snapping a strap, the bug effortlessly scuttling with a massive wagon of produce hitched to its… thorax?”

“What the holy fuck is that thing?” Eric trilled as Ella screamed and Maja burst into tears.

John’s expression became one of consternation when the obvious farmer stopped his scuttling mount with a single garbled word, gimlet eyes fixated upon none other than Hanna.

“These the kids you two are adopting?”

Hanna smiled, dipping her head. “That would be right, Paul.”

The man’s hard gaze eased into a smile. “I take it they’ve never seen a rhino beetle before.”

“Sure as fuck not one that sized,” Eric muttered under his breath, earning a look from John, and a snort from Paul.

“Yup, he’s a big’un,” He snorted. “But harmless as a pup, so long as you feed him right.”

“What does he like to eat?” Eric couldn’t help but ask.

The man shrugged. “Wood pulp, vegetable trimmings, leftovers from the harvest. And its dung makesmighty fine fertilizer.”

Eric solemnly nodded. “I guess that makes it pretty useful.”

“Most useful critter on my farm, boy.” He peered thoughtfully at Eric. “You got a sturdy frame on you, son. You from farming stock?”

Eric forced a smile. “My mother was an actress. If there were any farmers in my family, she never bothered telling me about them.”

“Mmm. How about your father?”

“Never in the picture, sir.”

The man blinked before the suddenly hard gaze of Hanna. “Well, that’s alright then. I’m sure Hanna and John can teach you everything you need to know about running a farm of your own. A pleasure to meet you…”

“Eric, sir.”

“Eric. Call me Paul, as you like, though most lads your age, especially the ones that hire on for the harvest, just call me farmer Long.”

“A pleasure to meet you as well, farmer Long,” Eric said as the man tipped his straw hat and continued on his way.

Ella bit her lip, face crinkled up in worry. “What was he saying?”

“He was assuring us that his bug was a harmless work beast, then introduced himself as farmer Paul Long. He asked if my family had any experience farming.”

“Does it?”

Eric winked. “Only in my dreams.”

This earned a snort. “Dreams don’t count, Eric.”

“Oh… I’d say it depends on the dreamer. With enough hard work, you’d be surprised at just how many dreams you can bring to life.”

“If only that were true.”

Eric reached over to brush the girl’s silver green curls. “Give it time, Ella.”

Hanna gave Eric a sympathetic look. “Sorry, Eric. Sometimes I forget how direct Paul can be.”

“No worries. Though I wouldn’t have pegged you and John as farmers.”

“Oh, my wife is the one with the green thumb. I just plant things where she tells me,” John declared with a chuckle, earning a nod from his wife.

“True. But you’re learning, husband, as is Louise.”

John sighed and smiled. “Farming comes far more naturally to our daughter than her old man.”

“Of course! She has me as her mother,” Hanna cheekily replied. “And if you children will look over yonder… that’s our home.”

Eric took a shuddering breath, struck to the quick by an impossible sight. A body that could safely store a hyperion core giving off enough radiation to bake any lesser Silver in seconds was struck with flashes of heat and cold, sweat prickling his back as tears streamed down his cheeks.

Unable to believe what he was seeing.

Unable to process what he was feeling as he gazed upon a beautiful lodge made of carefully fitted and mortared stone blocks, exquisitely crafted and chestnut-stained hardwood, with half a dozen large windows letting in the afternoon light under a slate tiled roof. The entire manor-sized home was further sheltered under the bowers of trees radiating such strong Wood Qi that it felt like coming home.

Eric felt chills of awe, feeling both like he was stepping into a beautiful painting of what hearth and home should mean… or perhaps living dream.

For the entire manor somehow looked exactly like the childhood retreat he and his sister had once so loved, where Aurelia’s fierce intensity would mellow to gentle tolerance from the moment the scents of jasmine, honeysuckle and the sharp citrusy scents of their mandarin trees that somehow grew perfectly fine for the Winter Queen, even in the middle of winter, filled the air.

The very scents teasing Eric’s nostrils as he gazed from the top of the gentle slope they had ascended to gaze down upon the grand lodge and the surrounding farmlands, crops of wheat growing under the bowers of gently rustling walnut trees and pear groves spreading out for acres adjoining the property of the house itself, which was surrounded not with money crops but rather the grandest of home gardens.

Tulips, posies, marigolds, and beds of roses and carnations of such brilliant hues, as well as countless varieties of floral brilliance Eric had no name for, all of it bidding them all welcome in the flower beds just outside the house as a warmly smiling John and Hanna, somehow knowing not to say a word, led their charges to what would, by some unbelievable miracle, serve as their new home.

Eric swallowed the almost painful lump in his throat as he beheld a scene of such bucolic wonder that for just a second he wondered if he really had ascended after eliminating a certain thermonuclear hyperion bomb and had finally come home.

“It really is something, isn’t it?” John’s voice was filled with unmistakable pride as he gazed at the obvious love of his life, earning a smile in turn from Hanna as she soothed and talked to the excited girls, their eyes just as wide and awe-struck as Eric’s own, clearly understanding the warmth and welcome of Hanna’s words, even if the local dialect was still months away from becoming their own.

“Eric! It’s so beautiful!” Ella cried as Maja trilled and hugged her sister, tears streaming freely from her eyes. “It feels like…”

“I know,” Eric whispered, surprised to find his voice sounding so husky. “It feels like coming home.”

“What do you think, Eric?” Hanna asked softly as Eric effortlessly kept up with the pair of bikes that John and Hanna rode at a sedate enough place, clearly loving the feeling of coming home with the warm afternoon sun lighting up the gardens below so brilliantly. A true wonder Eric knew few would ever get a chance to experience, or understand just how truly precious it truly was.

“It’s one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen,” he confessed in all sincerity, earning a pleased smile from Hanna.

“I’m glad you think so, Eric. I truly am.”

Eric grinned. “And the girls… they love it too.”

Hanna glanced fondly at her passengers. “Wonderful. That’s exactly what I was hoping to hear. Now come. Let me show you your new home, and a certain girl who I know is eager to meet you all.”

Eric couldn’t wipe the grin off his face as he savored air so rich in floral scents, Spiritual Energy, and the ephemeral taste of memories that could so easily have been his own.

A tiny corner of his mind was giddy with the possibilities, filing a dozen questions away for Hanna later. But mostly what he felt was oddly nervous. As if he was about to interview for a desperately wanted job by a boss that he feared would hate him on first sight.

“Louise, we’re home! Come downstairs, darling.”

Eric’s heart skipped a beat. Because the footsteps flowing down the steps inside the house were so familiar… yet when the door opened, the emerald green eyes, golden locks, and teasing smile he had halfway expected to see… revealed instead a girl with high cheekbones and Han features that mirrored her mother’s, chestnut blond hair that had been pulled back in a french braid, irises closer to crimson than pink, and a pair of horns that were over a full inch long that she did noting to hide in the subtle way that Eric had sensed so many adult professionals chose to, even enhancing them with tiny jeweled sapphire rings on both that glittered prettily in the afternoon light.

Eric sensed the momentary flicker of consternation across her mother’s features as the girl straightened her light pink blouse and crossed her arms… before her eyes melted with warmth as she caught sight of a shy-looking Ella and a positively beaming Maja who trilled happily, even when her sister flushed.

“What did she say?” Louise softly asked.

Eric smiled. “She asked if you were going to be her new sister.”

Louise blinked at that. “I… maybe?” She earned an approving nod from Hanna that turned to a strained smile when Louise stared, open-mouthed at Eric.

Eric smiled self-consciously. “Apologies. I didn’t properly introduce myself. My name’s Eric. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Louise gazed dumbly down at his hand.

“Louise!”

The girl flinched before her mother’s sharp whisper, the harshest Eric had heard her all day.

Her obvious daughter forced an awkward smile. “Um… hi! My name’s Louise. It’s a pleasure to meet you?”

“And you as well,” Eric solemnly assured.

Her father sighed even as he swept his daughter in a hug.

“How’s my little tigress?”

“Oof. Too strong, dad. You can’t hug me in public, remember?”

“This is our home, child, and we haven’t seen you all day. Now let’s make our newest additions welcome, shall we?”

Louise, pulling away from her dad, froze, gazing at Eric once more. “Is he… um… is he… dad, I though you were just adopting the underworld girls?”

“Louise, language!” Her mother scolded.

Louise winced. “I mean… otherworldly girls? Space girls? Are they faeries? Elves?”

A smirking Eric couldn’t help but grin as he translated, Ella crossing her arms and shaking her head, having already learned a few silent gestures, it seemed.

“Nope, No Sylvan bloodline,” Eric explained. “Though they might have a dryad in their racial family tree, they consider themselves as human as everyone else.”

Ella pointedly tapped the pair of very small forehead protrusions that looked like newly budding deer horns, complete with soft fuzz.

Eric blinked, only then taking in the obvious. “But why doesn’t Maja have any horns?”

Ella gave him a pointed look. “Because she’s still just a child, big brother. Obviously.”

Eric forced a chuckle. “Okay, that’s fair. Yeah… maybe I should have realized horns worked that way.”

Ella trilled in agreement, though her grin was teasing. “I see big brother isn’t entirely perfect.”

“Never said I was,” Eric fluted back.

Louise was gazing at Eric all the harder. “Wait, he understands them? He can speak in birdsong?”

She then rather boldly brushed back Eric’s golden blonde locks.

He stiffened, suddenly afraid to move a muscle, never so aware of his terrible strength then at that moment.

“Louise!” Snapped her increasingly exasperated mother.

“And where are his horns? Did he have them removed?” Louise winced, touching her own pair of jeweled appendages as if pained by the very thought.

His father chuckled. “No, dear. His tribe are neither born with horns nor do they come in with puberty.”

Louise blinked. “Wait, so that means… he really is an elf, like in the stories? Or does that make him a faerie?”

“Faerie Prince, actually,” Eric cheekily declared. “Who nobly gave up his throne so he could live a life of bucolic splendor and translate beautiful birdsong. But no need to call me, ‘Your Grace,’ or even better, ‘Your Majesty.’ Plain old Eric is fine.”

Louise just stared while Eric trilled a translation that had Maja and Ella singing with obvious laughter.

“You’re teasing me.”

Eric winked. “Maybe just a tiny bit?”

“But you are an elf, right?”

“Half elf,” Eric admitted with a sigh. “And the human tribe I come from… well, Terrans don’t have any horns either.”

“Really? None at all?”

Eric solemnly shook his head. “None at all.”

“But… seriously? How do you even, you know…” Her words cut off, cheeks flushing as she caught her parents suddenly very firm stares.

“Come, Louise. Let’s show your sisters and Eric their new rooms.”

Louise flinched. “Yes, Mother.”

Hanna gave Eric a pleased smile that conveyed so many things as he gently took the lead in gathering Ella and Hanna before translating Louise’s running account of all the rooms, where they would be staying, when mealtimes were, what her own favorite meal was, which involved lots of sausage and bacon and pancakes and butter and maple syrup and Eric thought it sounded absolutely perfect and didn’t care how similar it was to his own favorite breakfast, not that long ago. Because astronomical coincidences or harmonious paradoxes aside, nothing beat a good breakfast. Even if the distinctly uncomfortable green tint to the younger girls’ features made clear that opinions as to what exactly a good breakfast entailed varied wildly in the now expanded household.

Eric thought that the views of the vegetable gardens and flower beds from the reinforced floor-to-ceiling glass windows in the gaming room and den were beyond epic, made all the better since there was both a morning and evening room, assuring that the family could relax with the dawn or enjoy a striking sunset whenever the mood struck them.

The girls trilled with delight that matched the joy in Eric’s heart, somehow not surprised to find that they had a full 3-D holographic entertainment center downstairs, as well a modern-looking kitchen filled with exotic appliances with cookies baking away in an actual oven, as well as any number of other sophisticated gadgets and toys.

A wealth of domestic treasures tucked away in a snug country home easily the size of a mansion. Because John was a Bronze-Tier ex mercenary, Eric was damned sure, and that meant that the man must have amassed a considerable fortune of his own over decades, maybe even centuries, before falling in love with a native here on Titan Prime and finally settling down.

Eric could tell that the central game room in what was effectively the basement level was obviously a point of pride with Louise. As to how they had managed to obtain and maintain so many high tech electromana gadgets in a land filled with so much Spiritual Energy soon became painfully obvious to Eric as he noted the tiny strain to Hanna’s smile.

So like his own.

“So dad has the only entertainment center in the whole neighborhood!” Louise happily declared. “And I’ll bet you can’t guess why. I’ll give you a hint… even computers in the city risk their memory sticks getting wiped, if the owners aren’t very careful.”

The girls frowned when Eric swallowed his discomfort with a smile and continued to translate.

Ella frowned. “Is it more advanced technology? Is that how it endures the flow of Qi so well?”

Louise shook her head smugly at the translation, then caught Eric’s gaze. “Can you guess why, Eric? Or…” Her head tilted with sudden concern. “Are you okay?”

Eric felt his cheeks flush at the sudden concerned look that Hanna was giving him.

“I’m fine. And I’m guessing it has to do with warding runes?”

Louise grinned “Nope, that doesn’t count. It’s formations!” She then furrowed her brow at her mother’s raised eyebrow. “Okay… maybe it counts? But this isn’t a paper talisman. We’re talking formation arrays that direct the flow of Qi away from our entertainment rooms!”

Hanna nodded. “It doesn’t completely stop the flow of Spiritual Energy, of course. But it is as still and calm as a lake in this chamber, and far less likely to wash away precious electromana charges.”

“And the garden has even more Spiritual Energy flowing through it than the pear grove does, which can leave you feeling really invigorated, if you learn the right mediation exercises!” Louise happily declared, before her smile faded. “Living here’s really good for you. Better than living in the city all the time. Even if you’re not a cultivator.”

Unified Perception check: Success!

Eric blinked. Surprised by how obviously he could sense it. Maybe because of the sharp contrast between the richer motion of constant Qi flow outside of the entertainment center versus the sharp decrease in concentration and effective dead air of the room that left his muscles and bones suddenly crying out for warmth with a cramping pain that had caught him completely off guard.

But if there was one benefit to him being in here, it was that he could now so easily see the contrast, much like when he actively used Infravision. Yet instead of his foster family glowing with heat… it was with Spiritual Energy. Currents that cycled oddly through Ella and Maja. The way John’s entire seven node configuration glittered with a rigid stiffness that was oddly brittle, yet shown with rich potency… what Eric instantly surmised was what one would expect of most System classers. Powerful but rigid, darkness instead of light, since it was potency and Mana, not Spiritual Energy that had crystallized… or at least that was the case for most of the high level classers Eric had come across.

Yet what truly caught his attention was the tiny yet brilliant trickle of Spiritual Energy he could sense flowing through all seven of Louise’s obviously intact meridian channels. Which meant that she wouldn’t only survive Tier 1 pods, but had Bronze potential. And since it was Spiritual Energy flowing, she had the potential to walk a cultivator’s path as well.

“Eric?”

Eric flinched at the odd mixture of protectiveness and genuine concern he heard in Hanna’s voice. No doubt because he had been staring at Louise so intently for a handful of seconds.

He winced and turned to Hanna, giving her a bow before nearly stumbling.

Horrified by what he saw.

Channels so like her daughter’s. And far from being as narrow as a strand of hair, these were somehow wide as mighty roaring rivers. Yet there was no Qi flow through her meridians at all.

All was completely still.

And the Qi within looked stagnant, bereft of the clean vigor of fresh running spring water.

Eric’s heart twisted with sympathy, the strain in Hanna’s eyes and smile now so clear.

But why? Why was her Qi utterly—Essence enhanced Qi Perception check: Critical Success!

Eric’s eyes widened with horror. Then fury.

He quickly averted his gaze, lest his clearly concerned hosts suddenly misunderstand.

“This one apologizes. The… lack of Qi flow in here has me feeling less than at my best.”

Hanna’s gaze became one of heartfelt concern, her smile one of gentle sympathy. “I can imagine. Come, children. I think it’s time we took a walk around the garden, and then we’ll prepare dinner together. As a family.”

*

Eric savored the fresh clean air so filled with the scents of freshly growing crops, sun-kissed fruit and wildflowers that tears came to his eyes as the warm shafts of afternoon sunlight caressed the wondrous sanctuary now before him and his foster family.

Nestled between groves of fruit trees were countless blossoms that didn’t just fill the air with brilliant colors and the scents of jasmine, honeysuckle, wisteria and happiness, but Wood Qi as well. Spiritual energy that his was aligned to one of his own cultivation affinities, greedily drunk in and warming Qi starved muscles as Wood feed the Fires of his heart and soul and he could sense his Qi Pool slowly ticking up a few more precious points as Ella and Maja squealed and trilled with delight.

“They really seem to enjoy the garden,” Louise said, gazing so fondly at her adoptive sisters as John and Hanna held hands and gazed fondly at their growing family.

Eric nodded. “They really do. It reminds them of… wow!”

His eyes widened, lips curving in a smile even as Louise lurched back.

“What are they doing?”

Eric blinked, his curious look turning to a reassuring grin with magics he intuitively understood t “Don’t worry. They’re just asking the pear tree to give them a lift.”

“Girls, please be careful!” Hanna cried as the girls reached the closest and perhaps tallest pear tree almost in the garden more than the adjoining grove. A tree that began moving of its own accord.

Gentle currents of brilliant Mana also aligned to Wood now flowed harmoniously with the Qi as the tree came to life, lifting the girls in giant arms that creaked audibly as Ella and Maja were lifted well over fifty feet high upon giant leafy hands that were interwoven branches from which the girls could gaze upon the entire garden with wonder, even as they munched on a pair of perfectly ripe pairs.

Eric couldn’t help but laugh for sheer joy, shivering with odd epiphanies of his own. All but tasting a revelation just a simple twist of understanding away.

There were so many secrets he needed to keep close to his chest.

But a chance to learn magic, to see arcane arts that so many unseen figures had tried so hard to keep out of all terran hands… to see a spark of that even now, glimpsing arcane arts he doubted few if anyone knew of, let alone could manipulate here, in this realm.

No. He would not be denied again. Not when he could all but taste the wondrous potential right here, right now, in the waning afternoon light.

The air trilled with fresh melodies and a flood of jubilant Mana. Mana normally so tied to his Qi found vent in a new, wondrous direction.

Eric stumbled to one knee, filled with a bubbly sense of Champaign wonder and laughter as he sung, golden peels of joy and hope dancing about countless thousands of swaying flowers and the rustling trees as well.

Yet he did not force it, nor did he deny his own nature.

Instead, he allowed his absolute flood of Arcane Reserves to flow through him and into the garden at large. His own affinities made it so easy to commune Mana that had known the taste of forests and fields with the Wood-aligned Qi all about, sparing him from the need to tap into his own perilously slim Qi reserves as a second pear tree stretched powerful arms before wiggling rooty toes in rich loamy soil.

Then a third.

Then a fourth.

Eric’s bubbling laughter only grew as he danced and spun like the faerie prince he ultimately was, as an entire grove of pear trees delighted in his jig, a pair of woodland dryad children echoing his song.

Congratulations! You have unlocked the essential meaning of two additional lesser runes!

You may now bring animation and life to the forest around you!

Runic Lore is now Rank 35! You have unlocked an additional perk: Arcane Lead. You may channel Mana alone, coaxing Spiritual Energy to follow suit! Note. This ability only works in high Spiritual Energy environments! Casting time is doubled. Potency is reduced. Total Mana cost is DOUBLE what Mana and Spiritual Energy would normally cost when used together!

But with over 18,000 Mana at your disposal… why not finally make use of it all!?

“Eric? Eric! What’s going on?”

Yet Eric could only laugh when the beds of flowers and extensive vegetable garden sprung free of topsoil to twist and spin about the Carpenter family, leaves twirling as flowers bobbed and twisted, filling the air with petals and pollen and all the innocent joy of a warm summer day.

Warm tears of happiness flowed down Eric’s cheeks, resonating with the Water Qi he sensed just a single whisper away as the brilliant golden rays became silvery shafts piercing overcast skies that graced the grand dancing garden with gentle showers as Eric closed his eyes, ears filled with awed murmurs and joyful laughter as Water nurtured Wood and gave rise to a fresh bounty of ripened crops filled with the furious Fires of springs blossoming, summer’s growth, and autumn’s wondrous bounty.

Ears ringing with the wonder and glory of a perfect ending to a perfect day, Eric dreamily lay down upon the soft loamy soil as his Mana reserves crashed to zero, sensing an acre’s worth of sleepy floral dancers desultorily slip back into their mounds, ready to rest beside Eric who commanded Dominion over his own muscles to assure no restless tragedy as he slipped off into the gentle land of Nod, a pair of dryads snuggling against him as gentle whispers of shocked wonder filled the air.

“Mom! What… what just happened?”

“I’m not entirely sure, dear. Husband?”

“I… it was an arcane ritual. I’m sure of it! Even on Orion IV, I never saw anything quite like it.”

“But the entire pear grove… all our flowers and herbs… everything was moving and spinning… the whole garden was dancing!” declared a breathless Louise.

John chuckled softly. “The power of magic, my daughter. Nature-aligned arts embraced by a pair of girls far closer to fairy than I would have believed, outside of old legends.”

“So they used Wood Qi to control our entire garden? To bring it to life? That’s powerful! Right, mom?”

“Yes, dear,” A now reserved Hanna quietly said. “To command an entire acre of forest and fields to do your bidding… that’s quite powerful indeed.”

“Wait, is that like an Energy Stage cultivator?”

Hanna sighed. “Perhaps, darling. And an advanced one at that.”

“But I thought that they never leave the highlands, right?”

“They rarely have cause to, dear.”

“Mom?”

“Yes, love?”

“What are we going to do with this huge pile of corn, squash, and fruit?”

“Well I suppose we’ll have to get the wagons and head to… oh my.”

“Mother?”

“These are absolutely filled with Spiritual Energy!”

“Ooh… Are we still going to sell them?”

“Perhaps not, dear. Some things are best kept close and spoken of to no one.”

“Oh.”

“Head inside with your father. I’ll watch over the children.”

Eric would have felt embarrassed, to come across so vulnerable, had he not already drifted off to sleep.