CHAPTER —195- EVER—ROOT IV
The silver bud hung quietly amongst the crimson leaves.
For several moments none of them spoke.
The fire crackled softly beneath the Everroot. Above them, the tiny bud swayed almost imperceptibly amongst the branches.
It was Seraphine who moved first. Or rather, it was Seraphine who almost moved first, because the moment she shifted forward, Leylin was already standing. His eyes remained fixed on the fruit, not excited, not shocked, simply focused, studying it the same way he studied everything that interested him. Without a word, he stepped toward the trunk.
Seraphine looked up. "You aren't seriously climbing that right now."
Leylin didn't answer. One foot landed against the silver bark, then another, and his body shot upward. The motion was smooth, effortless. Within seconds he had crossed half the height of the tree before landing lightly upon one of the enormous branches supporting the crimson canopy above. Leaves shifted around him. The branch barely moved.
Far below, Seraphine stared upward. "...show-off."
Then she vanished.
The branch trembled lightly as another figure landed beside Leylin. Seraphine brushed a crimson leaf from her shoulder before immediately turning her attention toward the fruit. Up close, it looked different—smaller, yet somehow more significant. The silver surface seemed almost translucent beneath the moonless glow of the stars overhead.
Neither of them noticed the third arrival, not immediately. Only when a voice spoke beside them.
"I disagree."
Both cultivators turned. The spirit was already there, standing casually several paces away, not on the branch, not floating, simply standing on empty air beside it as though reality had forgotten to apply gravity to him.
Seraphine stared. Then sighed. "I genuinely hate that."
The spirit ignored her. His attention remained fixed entirely upon the bud, and for a while the three simply observed it. The fruit hung silently amongst the crimson leaves, small, unassuming, yet impossible to ignore. Leylin slowly circled it. Seraphine crouched beside it. The spirit remained standing where he was, watching, thinking, calculating.
Eventually the spirit spoke. "You should touch it."
Leylin glanced toward him. "Why?"
The spirit shrugged. "I want to know what happens."
Leylin looked back at the fruit, then at the spirit, then back at the fruit. "You touch it."
The spirit's expression immediately became innocent. Suspiciously innocent. "No."
Seraphine looked between them. "You're both ridiculous." Before either could respond, she stepped forward. "Move."
Leylin moved aside. The spirit moved aside even faster. Seraphine rolled her eyes, then slowly extended her hand toward the fruit. Halfway there..
"Stop."
Her body froze. The voice had come from the spirit, and for the first time since awakening, it didn't sound amused or curious or mysterious. It sounded serious.
Seraphine frowned. "What?"
Only then did she realize something strange. She was sweating.
The spirit drifted closer, its gaze remaining fixed on the fruit. Then it gently lowered her arm and shook its head. "No."
Seraphine's expression darkened. "Then why tell us to touch it?"
The spirit didn't answer. Instead it turned toward Leylin, and for a moment neither spoke. Then the spirit bowed its head slightly, not deeply, just enough, and asked, "May I?"
Silence. Leylin stared at him, then at the fruit, then back at him. The entire exchange felt absurd, yet something about it felt important. Finally he nodded. "Do it."
The moment the words left his mouth, the spirit moved. Fast, far faster than either of them expected. Its hand struck forward and wrapped around the silver bud, and then everything stopped.
The spirit froze completely. Its crimson body became motionless, its eyes widened, then turned white, not glowing, white, as though every trace of colour had vanished from them. Several seconds passed. Nobody spoke, nobody moved. The wind continued flowing through the crimson leaves overhead.
Then the spirit staggered backwards. Its hand released the fruit, its body retreated three steps through empty air before finally stabilising. The white faded, colour returned, yet the expression on its face remained. Shock. Pure shock.
Leylin immediately stepped forward. "What happened?"
The spirit didn't answer. Its gaze remained locked on the fruit, its body trembling slightly, not from fear, not from pain, something else, something far more dangerous. Wonder, the kind born when a lifetime of assumptions suddenly collapse.
Seraphine exchanged a glance with Leylin, then looked back at the spirit. "What did you see?"
The spirit swallowed. Once. Twice. Then slowly lifted its head, its eyes moving toward Leylin, and for the first time since awakening they contained something close to reverence, not for Leylin, not exactly, but for what surrounded him, for what he carried, for what the fruit had shown.
The spirit's voice emerged as little more than a whisper. "...this isn't a fruit."
Silence. Leylin's eyes narrowed.
The spirit looked back toward the silver bud, then spoke the words that made both cultivators go still. "It is a seed." And the trembling in its voice grew worse. "A seed..." Its gaze slowly lifted toward the stars above the realm. "...for something that should not be able to grow."