Sunflower - Chapter 18 (Patreon)

There is beauty in the simplicity of life.

Grass, green, blows in the soft wind, carrying with itself a soothing, dry warmth.

It hints of a summer, mellow, to soon come over the world.

Burch and I have escaped the hobgoblins and we have walked in blissful silence for days.

I gaze up towards the sun, as my friend walks, her ‘hands’, which I have now come to understand, are gripping the ‘straps’ of the rucksack.

[Sunflower]

You bask in the light of the sun

+ 1 EXP

EXP: 172/310

EXP (Burch): 22/240

She is hungry.

My friend is sustained only by the sugars, which I provide her and by the hopes that the light of the sun brings us both, with its most generous offerings.

But there too, is beauty in the simplicity of this. Hunger.

Imagine, being alive, being able to feel hunger.

It is so simple, yet so magnificent.

Hands. Straps. Hunger.

How many more such unique concepts are there in the world?

A word to describe every thing, be it a sensation or of the material world or even of the spiritual.

- How many words are there?

There must be very many.

This is the best.

I never knew that there were so many words.

I want to learn more words.

I am sure that Burch knows many words.

- I wonder, will she teach them to me?

That would be fantastic.

If only I had a way to ask.

Oh well.

I suppose that it does not really matter.

Before, I knew few words and life was good.

Now, I have learned many words and life is still good.

It does not matter how many words I learn, life is good either way.

___________________________________________________________

Burch, ever since ‘reaching level five’ has been using what little energy she has to spare to consider an array of options, that I do not quite understand.

She reads her book and flutters through many of its pages, like an excited bird, digging through the underbrush in search of strong material for a nest.

I feel that Burch too, searches for strong material for a nest.

But both the material, which she seeks, as well as the nest, which she hopes to construct, are not of the physical word.

- I am a metaphorical sunflower.

Haha.

Burch sighs, closing the book for the night and we stare at each other for a time.

Hello.

I find your face pleasant to look at.

[Sunflower]

You bask in the light of the sun

+ 1 EXP

EXP: 174/310

EXP (Burch): 24/240

“I think if I get a class, I can really help us,” she says, breaking our streak of silence. She places her hands behind her head and lays down on the grass next to my stem. Her eyes wander past my face, towards the starlit sky and I, being a most curious creature, turn to stare at it together with her.

- I wonder, are we looking at the same star right now?

“You know?” she asks and I notice that she lifts a thin, bony arm towards the sky. But I do not quite understand why.

She simply lays on the grass and holds her arm upwards, her hand outstretched, as if it were a stem, as if she were trying to grab the stars.

Ah.

I understand.

Yes.

Turning back towards the sky, I realize that I wish I had hands like her.

- Then, maybe the two of us, maybe we could grasp the sun from beyond the darkness together.

However, this is a silly thought.

Your arms are far too short for that, Burch.

But I like your spirit.

Let us reach for the sun together again tomorrow.

I am a sunflower.

- Even if I do not have hands.

___________________________________________________________

The bird flies away in a startled panic, feathers falling through the air.

We are high up, Burch having once again climbed a tree.

Today, she found a nest.

In the nest are eggs.

Grabbing the bunch of them, she carefully reaches around into the rucksack and stows them in there, nesting their fragile bodies on top of my roots, one by one.

I wrap my roots around them, gently caressing them and holding her treasures safe, as she shuffles back down the tree, down towards the ground.

It seems that today, there will be food.

We reach the soil and Burch, despite it not being night, starts a fire.

Gently, she removes the eggs from my mothering clutches and lays them at the edge of the fire, resting them on the outside of several slowly heating stones.

We sit and we wait and we watch.

I lift my head, turning back towards the tree, looking at where a distressed bird sits, its treasures having been plundered.

- I wish to say that I feel good.

After all, the birds had stolen my precious seeds. So it only seems fair.

However, I do not feel good about the bird’s anguish.

Oh well.

Burch is buzzing again, humming as she pokes the fire with a stick, watching the eggs with a precious glow in her eyes, akin to the brightest tinder in the pile.

- This makes it even for me.

[Sunflower]

You bask in the light of the sun

+ 1 EXP

EXP: 175/310

EXP (Burch): 25/240

Life is complicated.

___________________________________________________________

“Maybe a druid?” asks Burch, she holds out the book towards me, pointing at some of the squiggles inside of it.

I lean down, trying to make sense of what it is that she has put on display for my sake.

But I can not decipher a thing.

Indifferent, I stare back up towards the midday sun. I watch it carefully, to make sure that we are still heading in the right direction.

[Sunflower]

You bask in the light of the sun

+ 1 EXP

EXP: 176/310

EXP (Burch): 26/240

We are.

“I mean, it would really fit well with you, you know?” asks Burch, lowering her gaze back down to the book.

- I do not know.

“I bet there are all sorts of magical spells that we could combine,” she suggests. “I could finally start helping you too.”

Ah. So many words.

My head buzzes.

How many words was that?

Far more than have ever been spoken to me at once.

How unusual. Where do I even begin to pick apart her question, which I only vaguely understand?

She wants to expand her magic. I suppose this is only natural of her.

- A hunter always wants to hunt better.

A predator longs to be at the apex.

As proven by our hunts, we are above the hobgoblins and we above her own ilk, as we too are above the birds and the rabbits.

But we are not above the bramble-deer. We are not above the great-water.

There are many things, many predators and dangers which are far more deadly than us.

- Isn’t it amazing?

Just how many things are there that could hunt us? Kill us? Eat us?

Wow.

Life sure is thrilling.

Very well.

I turn my gaze back down towards Burch, whose eyes rise towards my face expectantly.

I do not know how to answer her, so, instead, I lower my face, pressing it against the book, against the open page.

As I pull back, I see that she smiles, a spot of egg-yellow stains the corner of her lip.

Her face looks very warm and she nods to me, wasting water once again.

- What a fool she is.

It will not rain for another few days yet.

Oh well.

She is a fool, but she is my friend.

___________________________________________________________

(Burch) has selected her primary-class: [DRUID]

Druid: Primarily a caster class, these casters are attuned to the ways of nature and are more often than not physically fit because of this that others are not. Druids are in tune with the natural forces and magics of the world, drawing their energies from any natural source of ambient magic.

- [Stats] -

• STR: 08 ↗
• DEX: 13 ↗
• WIS: 09 ↗↗↗
• INT: 09 ↗↗↗
• LUK: 09
• LOV: 06 ↗

+1 Ability points [5]

 NEW - [Forest Botany]{Passive}

• Allows you to identify all herbs and plants that are equivalent or below your current LEVEL

Spending all of their days in the forests of the world, druids have a keen and sharp eye that is able to identify the plants around themselves. Many plants are useful for eating and for crafting medicines, salves and poisons.

NEW - [Natural Resistances]{Passive}

• +8 NATURE RESISTANCE
• +8 POISON RESISTANCE
• +4 WATER RESISTANCE
• +1 FIRE RESISTANCE

Prolonged contact with the microbe and fungal rich soils of the world trains the body of a druid to fight off natural incursions into itself.

NEW - [The thing in the woods]{Toggle}

• Allows you to blend into the landscape, camouflaging your appearance, according to where you find yourself.

Watching the birds, the insects, and the flowers shows one many things. One of these is how to avoid predation.

NEW - [Dowsing Rod]{Passive}

• While holding a pronged stick, allows you to find nearby sources of water within a radius of your (LOV/2) in kilometers.

Druids know the landscape, they know every nook and cranny and after many long times of wandering, they come to understand how water flows through these cracks and crevices in the landscape. From here, it is easy to tell where it collects.

NEW - [Ambient Energy Wave]{Active}

Cost: {5} SOUL

• During the day: Deals NATURE DMG equal to your INT to your target
• During the night: Heals your target equal to your WIS

The ambient magics of the world are laden with powerful energies. Druids learn how to manipulate these energies to use as powerful attacks and healing spells.

Wow.

Those sure are a lot of words.

My theory from before holds true.

- What a world.

How can anyone keep up with so many different things?

I prefer the slow life, honestly.

While my friend buzzes and hums like a bee, I, being the wiser of us both, spread my petals and take in the light of the sun.

[Sunflower]

You bask in the light of the sun

+ 1 EXP

EXP: 178/310

EXP (Burch): 28/240

Joyous.