Oh no oh no oh no! What have I done? I’m a goner, he’s going to cut out my roots. I was just curious! It’s his fault for throwing a stupid stone to me! He knew I was going to pick it up didn't he! Then he showed me exactly how to use it. Diseased, he just wanted me to know that I was just a small succulent in the knott of his hand.

I pulled myself away using my Soul Spore. He looked up, obviously seeing me. I wasn’t even hiding. I ignored him and quickly returned to the forest. Swinging around I prepared for a fight. I felt no vibrations in the area. Could I have been wrong in my assumption? Perhaps he was doing it to help me? I went back through the chain of events:

After he rose from the fall, the not-Reform started doing magic. Based on what mother told me of magic, it could be nothing else. He kept creating stones, then breaking them, then creating them again. I was confused on what magic he was performing.

Eventually he got up, seemingly in a panic, and started shuffling through a… thing. It looked like an animal bag, but it most definitely was not. I made sure to be on my guard in any case. He ended up taking out a weird stick. Then he did nothing, just staring at it for a while. After playing around with the object, he squeezed it and the stick produced fire! He then lit an object which broke my heart, but such was the cycle of life.

Unlike the dead tree he lit, fire wasn’t a threat to me. I always make sure all my leaves were fresh. A fire that cold wouldn’t even scratch me. The non-Entropy then ran into the distance. Seeing a creature run was always funny. It made me appreciate my Environ heritage that much more.

After that I rifled through-I mean investigated- the bag he left behind. It seemed that the top was easy to get into. It must be something besides a bag. Why have a bag that can be easily opened?

The contents of the not-bag were weird contraptions. There were no herbs, Sacred Soil, Ambrosia, rare metals, or anything remotely valuable. Instead he just had objects made with iron and tin. Seeing how poor the not-Reform was, I decided to trail him. Maybe he forgot his home-soil. With the little riches he had, I could imagine how difficult it would be to get back.

I went to follow him, and quickly caught up to the still running figure. I stayed far enough away that he shouldn’t be able to sense my tremors. He stopped and started to move his head a lot. Just as the fire died it looked like he found something. I went around to his front to get a better look. Just as I got across from him, he ran forward and kicked something at me. I froze. How did he know I was here?

He then sat down and completely ignored me! How rude! Wait, he must know that he isn’t supposed to be here! He wants me to know that he knows I’m here without anyone else knowing that he knows. Smart.

I went over to the object he kicked to me. I looked back over to him. He was reaching over the ground before picking up a similar object. He squeezed the rock, and then… made his face weird. I was hesitant to repeat the action, so I watched to see if there were any side effects. Another rock appeared in his hands, before he crushed it again. I looked on at his actions, mildly annoyed. Don’t pressure me! He summoned the rock a different way this time, before crushing it again and letting out a loud noise. I get that he’s showing me what to do, but I don’t like how he’s going about it. I heard some wizards can pass messages in unique ways, going by his earlier noise, this must be one.

I reached down, picked up the object, and squeezed it. That was when I realized I was doomed. No, it wasn’t the knowledge that the stick earlier was a BICC lighter that was actually a useful tool. Rather, it was the feeling of another energy attaching itself to my soul. A soul that should only have a single addition. A pink light rose from my hand before burrowing its way into my eyes, creating a pain that I had never experienced before.

I found myself in my Greenhouse. Only, it looked very different. There was a soft loam all around my Soul Spore that stretched far into the distance. Normally the soil only stretched to the edges of the clear Greenhouse, I knew this was only the start of the changes. I used my Spore to search out the dirt and found stones similar to what the not-Reform gave me. Where normally this could be explained with my Soul Spore going through spring, the pedestal directly in front of it could not. The pink orb in the sky also ruined my theory.

I had heard rumors of this event before: system sharing. The adding of an additional system between races. Once a sought after gift, at the start of the Era of Realism, all races unanimously agreed to ban system sharing. The punishment for breaking this universal law was death. This punishment was carried out by returners from the Pearl Necklace, those who had earned the right of system sharing. Terror filled me when I realized what the not-Reform had done. He wasn’t being nice or helpful. He knew I was there, and wanted to mark me for death. The Inquisition would soon be coming for me.

I could already feel the shears at my throat. I panicked and grabbed my spore in the broken Greenhouse, and withdrew it. Both of us returned to reality.

This brought me back to my present scenario. All signs pointed to the not-Reform wanting to weed-whack me. He didn’t give chase though. He didn’t need to. If his fellows didn’t chop me down, the Inquisitors would soon do so. The thing that was not neatly aligned was hius reason. A sane person would not want my system for fear of the situation I now find myself in. Did he want to take control of the forest? Hanging my life like a trellis, controlling how I grow, how I act.

He must not expect me to act. If I go in now I can catch him off guard. I need to take precautions as I am sure he has done the same. I need to lure something to distract him, a moment is all I need. Then, when he least expects it, I’ll strike! While my Spore will only be able to use a fraction of its power, the element of surprise should shore up that rot. What could I use as a distraction? The Stolon tended to keep this forest clear of any creatures, but brother Lianfa does have a hobby of collecting various creatures and plants. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind if I borrowed one. So I sent my vines out to find one. They came back faster than I expected, telling me of an Earthen Primate enclosure. I used my Spore to lead the primate, and soon it headed towards the evil-Reform.

I chased it into the large area right next to him before bringing my vines back. I went around to flank him from the side, lifting my vines to strike him the moment he was in my sights. The moment he saw the primate rush towards him, he turned and ran. In that second he glanced at the direction my vines were. He knew. Not so fast! I used a vine to trip him, then prepared for a follow up strike.

I froze with what happened next. Rather than the primate being reduced to mulch with only a second for me to strike before the evil-Reform attacked, the primate was beating the curled up weak-Reform.

Maybe he was baiting me. I would come in with guard lowered, then his friends would attack me. So I waited. And waited. And waited. He was not looking too good. Maybe there was another explanation. Perhaps he did give me a gift, and had a way to avoid the Inquisition. Perhaps he was trying to give me the freedom that I have always wanted, and I was turning it down. After a while I couldn’t take it. Brother Lianfa would get mad at me for it later, but even if the not-Reform was evil, I felt bad.

“Are you ok?” I called out to him, propping his back up with a vine. The not-Reform froze for a second, before moving his head back and forth. Mother told me about this! It meant no! I decided to ask another question, “You were trying to show that you aren't a threat right?” A few moments passed without him responding. He just stared at me. “Oh, I’m sorry that is an obvious question.”

“あなたは私に話しかけようとしていますか?” He responded in words I couldn’t understand. He used his mouth too! Mother never taught me English, and I didn’t want to bring it up since it reminded her of dad.

“Im sorry, I don't know what you're saying…” I responded back to him.

“すみません、あなたが何を言っているのかわかりません,” He responded back. It seemed we were stuck. He could understand me, but as he was unable to rustle, I could not understand him. I thought about it for a second. Oh, I have an idea! I already have this system, I might as well make the most of it.

“Could you throw me another one of those stone things? Include knowledge of your language, then I can understand you.” I took a step towards him with excitement at my idea. That was when my foot hit something. I looked down to see a large stone already there. I went forward and picked it up. I looked back to him and saw that he was laying sideways now. I looked back to the stone, then back to him. I put the pieces together. He must’ve known this would happen. So he made the memory, then rolled it over to me before I had even suggested it!

I took a moment to collect myself. Mother always said first impressions were important. “Be mysterious, knowledgeable, and aloof,” She’d say, “Reform-like creatures react well to it.” Mom obviously had experience with dad, so I decided to trust her. I had already slipped up, I was too concerned earlier. Act natural Isencia, act natural. Finally I took him up on his kindness, and destroyed the stone.

Yuclaus wasn’t sure what to expect when she broke the stone. He had pieced together by now what the stone was, and how it came to be right next to her. When he had earlier broken character and spoken plainly in his internal monologue, he had chastised himself, thumping his head. His broken mind popped out the very thing he was thinking about, deeming it the “loosest” memory. He hadn’t noticed anything was wrong because he physically didn't know how to make the sounds of his old expanded vocabulary.

He could remember speaking eloquently in his memories. He could remember that him talking like that was important for some reason. However currently, he could neither remember how to use his vernacular, what words it contained, nor remember why it was important.

His fragment containing his cherished proper english had lay unmoving as he attempted to escape the demon monkey. The tree girl, appearing where he had been trying to sleep, then walked forward, literally running into the object. When the tree girl had seen the fragment, somehow she knew immediately what it was. It makes sense that people in my dream would know what I know, Yuclaus thought to himself.

Yuclaus could sense the large stream of knowledge enter her mind. It was more accurate to call it a river with how large the flow was. Yuclaus failed to keep the single tear from falling down his face. He quickly wiped away the manly tear, packing mental dirt in his mental wound. There was a possibility the nymph would be able to return the memory. Hope was not lost.

The fragment was completely consumed in seconds. Yuclaus half expected the nymph to start babbling like a child. Just because she now knew the words, doesn't mean she could produce the sound. As he was getting ready for a long practice sessionm, he was rid of that notion.

“Ah, can you fathom my speech?” The nymph said with a raspy voice. Rather than the sing-song voice Yuclaus subconsciously expected, it sounded as if she had never spoken before. Spoiler alert: she hadn't. Dream logic, Yuclaus consoled himself, obviously she can speak fluently, and obviously I can understand her. He ignored the hurt in his heart at hearing such beautiful words, the very same words that eluded him. Yuclaus also assumed that the memory had included how to form the words, which would explain why he was incapable of using them. Not that there needs to be a reason for a dream to make sense.

“What am I saying, of course you can understand me,” the nymph continued, straight faced. Alright let's do this.

“Yes, I can understand you clearly, I’m impressed you picked up the language so well,” Yuclaus was surprised, it was almost as if she read his thoughts. Cause also noticed that she no longer talked as he once did. He decided to just go with the flow. Perhaps his dream was trying to fix his insecurities through a mind reading tree person. He would play along. Contrary to expectation, the only answer to his question he got was an interesting scent before she continued.

“Can I help with your injuries?” she said, ignoring his question. Something was off about the nymph. Yuclaus couldn’t quite place his finger on it. She almost seemed robotic. Not harmful, just not life-like. Luckily the robotic qualities did not place her in the uncanny valley. In the end though, Cause decided it didn't matter. Neither the mind reading, nor the English speaking nymph. After the monkey, Yuclaus knew that he would be a fool to use common sense any longer. He decided to cope with his trauma through surrender. Questions are unnecessary for the unexplainable.

Yuclaus went through a paradigm shift. Unconditionally accepting the craziness of his mind. She knew his mind because she just did. She was robotic because she just was. Memories could be physical because this was a dream. Nothing needed to make sense. This mindset was freeing. This mindset was damning.

“I would normally be honored to have such care given, but I don’t think there is anything to heal,” Yuclaus said while looking down at himself. He expected to see his body in perfect condition, but was caught off guard when he saw a faint pink color spreading under his skin. Almost as if it was a bruise, but instead of black and blue, it was pink and purple. The nymph seemed to notice it too.

“Let me,” Another scent wafted over him as the nymph came closer. She knelt in front of him, within arms reach. A lesser man, believing himself to be in a dream would do something… problematic when faced with a beautiful nymph. For Yuclaus, neither this thought, nor her beauty took even an iota of his attention. Locked away in his heart was a truth his mind would not accept. Instead, he viewed this as a trial. He was simply a witness, objectively observing, enjoying the surrender. He was now an actor following a script.

A vine shot out from the back of the girl, digging into the ground a few feet away. A tremor was the only prelude to an explosion of vines. Yuclaus squinted his eyes on instinct against the raining debris. Opening them, he found a massive writhing tree behind the nymph. Like a nest of vipers, the tree was in constant motion. Vines separated as if they had a mind of their own, grasping at the air. A singular vine separated from the whole and came to rest beside the nymph, a flower at its tip.

The flower reminded Yuclaus of a large blood red lily. Sticking out from the center of the bloom was a thick pistil. The nymph proceeded to pull the pistil from the center, before rolling it between her hands. A viscous liquid soon flowed into her palms from the tube, as if a thick molasses was being drained. She then started maneuvering Yuclaus’ limbs, looking for the worst of the discolorations.

Yuclaus raised a hand pausing her search. After some fiddling, he took off his cloak, leather jerkin, and the cotton tunic beneath them all, revealing a thin yet muscled chest. Finally, at least I got one good thing out of this. I’ve always wanted a six pack. She then started to apply the salve. Normally a patient might flinch when a salve is applied, surprised at the cold. Cause sat there like a greek statue, as motionless as he was chiseled.

“I know you were doing it to put me at ease, but you really should not have let the Earthen Primate hurt you like that,” She commented as she worked. Yuclaus only hesitated for a moment, his ad lib getting smoother by the second.

“Obviously, but if I had not, we would not be speaking like this.”