Hyperion Evergrowing

Chapter 83: Stubborn

Leif stared dumbly at where the newcomer lounged next to the fire. The horned man was dressed in what looked like a dozen different animal pelts that had been stitched together, and he was absolutely covered in dirt and grime. Splotches of blood and less identifiable things stained his rags.

Despite his ragged appearance the man was strong, his physique muscular and solid, Leif was glad he didn’t appear to be hostile. He didn’t need to activate [Combative Gumption] to know the being before him was a fighter. But still, who the hells acts like this around strangers? He thought, halfway between amused and annoyed. But Leif thought he knew who this man was, or rather, he had heard of him before.

The spriggan sat next to the fire and watched as the man reached into a pocket and withdrew a handful of nuts. The man started chewing loudly, not looking at Leif. There was silence for several awkward minutes before Leif sighed and spoke. “You have a family, correct? A group of nomads that travelled through this region some time ago.”

The man didn’t reply, instead he reached into his pocket and withdrew what looked like a pear. They locked eyes as he took a large chunk out of the fruit, juices dripping down his chin and splattering the front of his rags.

He ate the entire pear, including the pip, never once taking his eyes off Leif. The spriggan didn’t shift impatiently, his physiology was more than sufficient to remain still while waiting for the man’s answer. Then the man reached into his pocket, and withdrew a second, almost identical fruit.

Leif glared at the stranger, his eyes blazing gold as he cocked his head to the side. Is this some sort of abstract mind game, or is this guy completely clueless?

“Hmm?” The horned man grunted. “Did you want something?”

“An answer would be nice.” Leif replied flatly.

“Answer… to what?”

The two just stared at one another, the man beginning to slowly eat his second fruit. Nothing but the sound of munching broke the silence that stretched on for another few minutes. Leif stared impassively, he couldn’t read the man’s aura and [Amber Sympathy] wasn’t picking up his emotions or intent. From what Leif understood, that meant the man’s aura was stronger than his own.

His aura’s rank must be quite high, because his [Charisma] seems to be as low as it could possibly get. Or maybe it’s his [Intelligence] that’s lacking? Brain damage? Or is this a specific thing to do with his species and acting like a brick wall is perfectly normal behaviour?

“Are you the patriarch of the demikin clan that was travelling through this region prior to the undead appearing?” Leif asked, exasperated, though he tried not to let his emotions show in his voice or body language.

“Oh. Yes.” The man replied, mouth full of fruit.

There was another several minutes of silence that stretched on and on as Leif waited for the still unnamed man to elaborate. If Leif’s memory was correct the stranger before him was the ‘revered ancestor’ the nomad Liv had described. He, or rather, the high level tempest goat in the guise of a man reached once again into his pocket.

“Please talk.” Leif said, trying to interrupt his guest before the man could stick anything else into his mouth.

“About what?” Asked the goat.

The spriggan just stared at the man, watching in dumbfounded silence as he pulled out an entire bottle from his pocket. What is wrong with this guy? His family seemed like relatively normal people, how on earth is he so strange. Leif thought, trying to recall if he had horribly misinterpreted the actions of the nomad tribe.

“Your name, why are you here? I need to know where your family is because I left some of my own with them.” Leif asked, feeling like he was explaining the basics of conversation to a child.

“Ram.” The man replied, then took a swig from his bottle.

If Leif’s eye could twitch he likely would have done so. Why is this guy so bad at communicating? It feels like I’m trying to break a stone with a feather. I’ve had better conversations with the birds living in my branches. He let Ram drink, then drink some more. When it became obvious that the man was just going to let the silence drag out like usual Leif spoke again.

“What about the second question? Why are you here?”

“I already answered that.” Ram said simply, putting a cork back into the bottle and returning it to his pocket.

“Oh?” Leif said, drumming his fingers on his knee in irritation. “I didn’t hear you say anything.”

“I said it months ago.” Ram replied blandly. “I aint repeating myself.”

Leif just stared. “Ok then.” He said, standing. “I’m Leif, It’s a pleasure to meet you. I consider your family my friends, and you are more than welcome to stay. Once you're ready to have a proper conversation, come find me.” Then he stalked off, he had better things to do than have the social equivalent of banging his head against a boulder.

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Ram spent the next few days relaxing, letting the healing energy flowing from the ivory tree heal his aches and restore his body. The best part about gaining power was utilising it to fight ever more powerful foes. Normally this would result in weeks, if not months of downtime as he recovered from battles that shook the ground and sent weaker creatures fleeing in panic. But normally he didn’t have a natural treasure capable of healing him.

His wounds were rarely visible, his evolved constitution and certain skills allowed him to suppress injuries, even near lethal ones. But in doing so he would become weakened for far too much time if the battle was particularly fierce. Trading blows with the powerful monsters that called the northern mountains home was exhilarating, but it had to be done in moderation. Usually.

Coming to investigate the aftermath of the battle that had taken place here had been among the best ideas he had ever had. Sure there had been some real monsters lurking around, but they had swiftly left for one reason or another. The only thing Ram had to contend with for this place was a towering ice elemental that had wandered down from the mountains, likely drawn by the battle just as he had.

That creature’s corpse still jutted from the ground several miles north, a near permanent monolith to his victory. This place was great, he could fight, then return here to heal and recover. Ram hadn’t gained this many levels in what felt like decades. The undead were an annoyance and the foul energy they carried tended to linger unpleasantly, but even that was no longer an issue. Not with the tree.

If only the natural treasure’s guardian wasn’t so… prickly. Ram turned his attention to the tree. Evolved trees were shockingly rare, and even rarer were ones that weren’t hotly contested by all manner of beasts and monsters. But here, in the middle of an undead infested wasteland was a treasure to behold.

The plant monster that served as a caretaker for the magnificent tree trudged by, walking up to the ivory trunk and placing a hand to the hardy bark. They spoke a word and golden light flashed. Before Ram’s eyes the tree stretched and grew, new branches rose to the sky and hundreds of budding leaves sprouted.

The domain that nourished the world, fought back the undead and imbued him with life seemed to grow and expand, becoming denser and more potent. Ram had to give the guardian credit, they certainly were a capable green thumb.

===

Leif caused his aura to rise up into the sky and marvelled at the newfound strength and control upgrading [Aura of Nobility] from rank two to rank three had granted him. He had gained the upgrade earlier that morning after finally pushing the skill over the threshold after days of practise.

But it hadn’t just been mastery or control that had been the catalyst for the upgrade. It was his connection, or maybe familiarity with the skill. Leif couldn’t say for certain what the final straw had been, but ever since he had regained consciousness the upgrade had been tantalisingly close.

Above, a flock of mismatched songbirds danced and dove, moving in intricate patterns as dictated by his aura control. He wasn’t forcing them to act in this way, instead the colourful animals seemed to treat mimicking his aura control as some sort of game. Leif split his aura, dividing the birds into two equal groups that spiralled around one another. He guided them in ever more elaborate manoeuvres, splitting his aura into half a dozen rope-like strands.

The spriggan retracted his aura, the birds letting out tweets of disappointment before returning to the domain tree. Leif let his aura wrap around him, then expand into a dome three metres out. It hung in the air, the condensed and potent power rippling ever so slightly. If there was one benefit to focusing so heavily on [Charisma], it was that his aura was far more powerful than even its rank would suggest.

He spent the next hour practising [Wood Manipulation], working to condense and compact small spheres of timber that had been restored by his healing skills. Leif worked on his finesse and control, tasks that had become much easier since his aura had upgraded.

An orb of smooth wood half the size of his fist hung just above his extended palm as Leif willed it to become smaller, to compress more tightly. It was a struggle, his concentration straining to maintain the process. As it was reduced to a satisfactory size Leif wove in another layer of wood and repeated the process.

The ball grew hot, trembling where it floated under the effects of [Wood Manipulation]. Finally it grew too dense, its weight too much for the skill to control without his full attention. The ball fell into his palm with a heavy thwack.

It took focusing on [Might] with [Grand Action] to keep the sphere of condensed wood from slipping from his grasp crashing to the ground. Leif tensed the wood fibre muscles of his arm, feeling the steady strength contained within.

Heavy footfalls sounded from behind him so Leif turned, conjuring two amber arms to hold the ball as he took in the horned man that approached. They stood there for several moments just looking at one another. Leif was tempted to play the awakened goat’s game and match his silence until he caved in and spoke, but determined he had better things to do than waste several hours.

“Ram.” The spriggan said, nodding slightly.

The goatman crossed his arms and grunted. “What are you doing?”

Leif blinked at Ram, then looked down at the ball of compressed wood. “I’m experimenting, discovering the limits of my skills before I leave. Why do you ask?”

Ram seemed to chew on his words for almost a minute before answering. “Why leave? Isn't it your duty or whatever to protect this place?” When Leif didn’t immediately respond the man vaguely gestured to their surroundings, as if that clarified his comment.

“No…? No not particularly. I intend to use this place as a home of sorts, maybe as a point to begin removing the undead’s presence from this region.”

Ram frowned as if confused. “I thought you were tending to the tree. Is that not your purpose as a guardian?”

Leif blinked, staring mutely at the awakened goat for several moments. What is this guy on about? “Guardian? Why would I be the guardian of myself? Sure, the domain tree took a while to grow to its current size but I’m not exactly tied to this place.”

“What?”

“What?”

Both spriggan and awakened goat stared at one another for over a minute. Then Ram took a swig from his bottle and snorted in amusement. “Well, why didn’t you say so?”

If Leif thought he could attack the being before him without being vaporised in a flash of lightning he would have done so. He could admit to himself the idea was very tempting. Maybe a good punch will knock the hypocrisy out of him?