Ambition without purpose is like making love without a partner. Hah! It can be done, but the act is empty.

~Dzbog, the God of Fortune

Black fire devoured the thick vegetation, and even the smaller trees became its victim. Crow didn’t bother to turn back and aimed straight for the stairs leading upward. Hooligan was guiding them, but there were a lot of woody plants, making it challenging for her to spot danger.

Behind them, Crow created thorn wall barriers. He couldn’t split his focus, or he’d have created something even deadlier. The squirrels attacked in waves, but individually they weren’t much of a threat. Hooligan took care of the ones that managed to get through the fire or the thorns. Most of those were the ones that came from above.

The squirrels’ glide ability was annoying, but there wasn’t much they could do about it. Crow grimaced every time one approached, but no one else knew that his main focus wasn’t on casting fire or thorns.

Two vines with Thorn Mouth Daffodils on the end were snaking up the massive tree. Hooligan didn’t even notice, much less the squirrels. While everyone was distracted, the two daffodils swallowed one of the golden fruits. Like a snake, a bulge appeared in the vine, and the apples returned to Crow faster than the vines could.

They hadn’t exited the overgrown garden, but two fruits appeared in his hand. Hooligan stared, dumbfounded when Crow held one out to her.

“You think I was going to leave a potential treasure?” Crow chuckled. “Take one.”

The squirrels became even more frantic now that they both held a gold apple. Their chittering became so loud that it was the equivalent of a sound attack. Hooligan and Crow were both affected by it, and it reminded Crow of a locust plague.

Ahead the shrubs were thinning, and both of them could see the stair through the trees. A loud snapping sound was followed by wooden shrapnel going everywhere as a tree exploded. Crow dove on Hooligan, shielding her from the worst of it. He knew his back was a mess, but most of his injuries were skin deep.

The fattest squirrel Crow had ever seen was on the stump left by the exploding tree. It was as tall as a man and had gnarly teeth that would cause anyone to shudder. Instead of chittering, it spoke, but Crow and Hooligan didn’t understand.

“When I tell you, run left and get to the stairs. Don’t argue, trust me.”

“Okay,” Hooligan nodded.

The moment Crow moved, the squirrel’s big bushy tail slapped him down. It didn’t hurt but left him so disgruntled that Hooligan couldn’t help but laugh.

“Damned rodent!”

The falcata swiped down diagonally, making it tricky for his opponent to dodge. Unexpectedly, the squirrel sucked in its belly and flattened out, so other than shaving off a little fur, it missed. Crow was already moving forward and put his shoulder into its gut. It was like slamming into water because the mass shifted, dispersing his attack.

“What the fuck is this thing?” Crow grumbled, but he wasn’t only relying on his martial ability. Vines were already creeping across the ground, but he let them move slowly so as not to draw attention.

The falcata went back into the Vortex Pin, and when he was going to blast it with a black fireball, the guardian squirrel jumped. Even his vines that struck like vipers weren’t fast enough to wrap around it. Just as he was going to summon his bow, an ax flew by his head.

Hooligan’s Farslayer hacked into the creature’s flesh, and gravity brought the squirrel down before it could react. Her ability to affect gravity was overpowered, and Crow sighed as he put an arrow into the beast’s head, finishing the fight. After it was grounded, there wasn’t anything it could do. The chittering stopped when it died, which was even freakier than the noise.

Looking back, he saw all the squirrels melting into a rainbow ooze and then evaporating. He had no words or explanation for this scenario, and he wondered what could cause such a strange mutation. It didn’t take much to know that those smaller squirrels were some type of clone linked to the boss squirrel they’d just killed.

“That ranks in the top five for strangest encounters,” Hooligan said.

“Top five? What the fuck could top that shit?”

“Hehe, secret,” Hooligan giggled. She then pulled out the apple and gave and analyzed it. “Any idea what this is?”

“Well, it’s not like any apple I’ve seen before, but… I might know what it is.”

Crow turned the golden-skinned apple in his hands until he saw the bottom of it. Sure enough, he found a pentagram-shaped symbol and knew he wasn’t wrong. There was a lot of symbology related to Mother Danu, and the apple was one of those. It had a lot of meanings, but the most crucial purpose of this fruit was that it could guarantee one progeny to the consumer.

It was a mystical fruit called the Apple of Avalon, and it was so miraculous it could even grant a baby to an immoral pairing like that of a man and animal. Mostly, it was married cultivators who wanted these the most because of how difficult it was for them to have a child.

Knowing what it was also explained the squirrel’s actions. The apple had another use—creating clones with an appropriate technique. The downside was they weren’t independent and died when the host did.

Crow explained all this to Hooligan, who stared at the apple affectionately. However, when she heard the explanation about the squirrel, her little face turned red with anger.

“How many fucking apples did that fat bastard eat? Go get the rest of them. These are treasures you can give to your other wives.”

Crow raised an eyebrow at her but had already sent vines up to pick the tree clean. Seeing Hooligan salivating over the apple, he sighed and stepped forward to hold her.

“I know what you are thinking, but not now. When we meet again, I’ll give you what you want.”

“Promise? You’ll really give me a child?”

“By root and limb, I so swear.”

“It’ll make it harder for you to achieve what you need to do…”

“I have ambition, that you already know. However, what is ambition if I give up all happiness and make those I care about suffer? I won’t live in fear of what may happen, only strive harder to protect our happiness. Understand?”

“I do.”

“Good,” Crow said and collected a dozen of those apples and put them in his Vortex Pin. That was more than he needed, but he felt the apple could create life and clones, so its vitality must be outstanding. There was bound to be a Scholarly Talent that could use these fruits. Mainly he was thinking of his mother because if it sounded like it was something that could restore life. Not only that, she was sure she’d never have another child due to her injuries, but this would give her an opportunity.

“What are you thinking about?”

“My mother,” Crow told her honestly.

“Oh. OH!” Hooligan’s eyes lit up because she knew some of his issues. Once she became one of his wives, he didn’t hide things about his family from her. These fruits really had the potential to help.

“Let’s go. We can figure that out later. I have no way of reaching her for now, and I’ll have to be very cautious talking about these things. So I can only attempt to do the research and hope Song Lin has some ideas.”

“Is she really that godly of an alchemist?”

“I’ve never seen anyone better. Because of her legacy, most of the knowledge stored in her brain is still locked. It only opens after she can make certain types of pills. Since she reset her cultivation, it’ll be a while before she can catch up to where she was. But I’m confident she’ll reach that point quickly.”

The two decided to rest at the base of the stairs. The garden taught them a lesson about getting complacent, so they didn’t want to go higher until they reached their peak condition.