《Cultivating Plants》


 1. Aloe

    Sunlight purified the dunes.


    The scorching desert sun loomed over Aloe¡¯s back. Every step against the shifting sands was hard-fought, her boots sliding into the ground with every wrong movement, no matter how slight it may be.


    Traveling the dunes was a skill few people had, and Aloe wasn¡¯t one of them. She had more than enough water and food in her backpack just in case, and her garb covered every inch of her skin so as to not let the sun rob her stamina away, but even then, she felt like she hadn¡¯t prepared enough for the trek.


    ¡°Why... am I... even... doing... this...¡± Aloe¡¯s voice was rough and slow, the signs of a tired person in the first stages of dehydration. It would be easy to drink the water in her backpack, but it would be difficult to save it up for later. ¡°Ugh...¡±


    Upon the homogenous sameness of the desert, only a few rock formations breaking the dunes, Aloe¡¯s mind wandered to the reason she had come to the middle of the desert.


    It had happened a week ago, Aloe¡¯s mother came to see her with tears flowing down her eyes. The calm woman didn¡¯t normally show much emotion, so a single tear was enough to raise all alarms in Aloe¡¯s mind.


    ¡°Mom? What¡¯s wrong?¡± Aloe put aside her quill back on the tincture.


    ¡°Your grandfather, Aloe. Your grandfather.¡± She wailed with great lament. Her mother fell on top of what had been her father''s favorite cushion sofa. The daughter rushed to the assistance of her mother.


    ¡°What has happened?¡± Aloe asked even if she could make herself an idea.


    ¡°He... he has passed away...¡± Her mother locked Aloe in an embrace, shoving her face in Aloe¡¯s chest as she cried anew.


    It was to be expected. Only a month ago Aloe¡¯s grandfather came back home from his greenhouse hidden in the desert to try to recover from his sickness. Karaim, her grandfather, wasn¡¯t exactly ancient, but at the age of sixty-five, it was obvious that he didn¡¯t have much time left. The man lived alone in the middle of nowhere, always attending to his plants. It was a miracle that he was able to live as long as he did in his condition.


    Heat and loneliness were the banes of the elderly.


    Aloe didn¡¯t know what to do in this situation. Her mother, Shahrazad, was a strong-willed and uptight person. She knew how to handle her emotions; Aloe would go as far as to call her mother proficient in it as she had never seen Shahrazad raise her voice. But then again, this was the first time she saw her mother cry.


    She caressed her mother¡¯s hair. Unlike Shahrazad, Aloe wasn¡¯t afflicted much by the death of Karaim. Yes, he was her grandfather, but the man was mostly a hermit that had little to no interaction with his family. But for Shahrazad though... Karaim was her father.


    The situation was a bit uncomfortable; it was as if their roles had been switched out, and now she was the adult in the room, but nonetheless, Aloe did her best to soothe her mother¡¯s mourn.


    The banker¡¯s apprentice spent a solid quarter of an hour before her mother finally rose her head and undid the embrace. Aloe hadn¡¯t noticed Shahrazad had been holding her extremely tightly until her arms were away.


    ¡°First your father and then your grandfather... Will we ever know some respite?¡± The mature woman wiped the tears out of her visage with her dark sleeve.


    Aloe had lost her father at a somewhat young age. Back then she didn¡¯t understand death very well, and she didn¡¯t see her mother cry. It was now that she realized that Shahrazad had been holding out her tears in front of her young daughter up until now, it took the death of her father to cry her husband¡¯s. Aloe wasn¡¯t young anymore, not officially an adult yet, but now at her seventeen years and closing eighteen, she had learned her share about death.


    Yet it felt so alien to her.


    Her father had been a banker in a minor position at the local emir¡¯s court. As a banker, he had made quite a substantial amount of money, even for his family to hold out economically beyond his departure. That didn¡¯t mean they weren¡¯t struggling with money. Shahrazad held the position of a minor scribe at said emir¡¯s court. Whilst not as much well-paid as her father¡¯s job, it was still far better than some of the¡­ other ones.


    Aloe hoped that once she claimed a position as a banker, hopefully as high as her father¡¯s, or maybe even higher, she and her mother would be able to live as ostentatiously as before, instead of quasi-near poverty.


    Now I have to worry about managing a funeral. Aloe thought. I doubt Mother is able to hold herself together now. We may have to cut some losses in our budget for this year.


    As she disposed to guide her mother back to her chambers to rest, Shahrazad stopped her.


    ¡°Your grandfather didn¡¯t write a will.¡± She whispered. ¡°He made me write it on his deathbed.¡±


    ¡°He didn¡¯t have much, to begin with, did he?¡±


    Shahrazad swayed with her head.


    ¡°The greenhouse,¡± Her mother said. ¡°A greenhouse in the desert is a thing only princes may afford. Even the richest merchants would be reticent of such waste.¡±


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    ¡°What happens with the greenhouse then?¡± Aloe asked.


    ¡°He gave it to you, my daughter.¡±


    ¡°Come again?¡± Her stone fa?ade broke into pieces as she thought she heard wrong.


    It was impossible to think the grandfather she had seldom interacted with gave her such an expensive property as a greenhouse.


    ¡°Are you sure? Didn¡¯t you hear it wrong, Mom?¡± Aloe refuted. ¡°In any case, he must have given the greenhouse to you. His daughter.¡±


    ¡°I am not wrong, Aloe,¡± Shahrazad said calmly. ¡°Your grandfather gifted his greenhouse to you with his last breath, and I¡¯m not against the decision.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t care about that; you are his daughter!¡± The apprentice reiterated.


    ¡°It¡¯s illegal to refute and or overwrite a man¡¯s written dying wish on their property.¡± Her mother stated with a tone worthy of her position as an emir¡¯s scribe. ¡°I¡¯m not in conditions to visit it, but perhaps you could.¡±


    And that¡¯s how she ended up in the desert, almost a day¡¯s worth of walking away from civilization. Aloe couldn¡¯t even understand how her grandfather had made the journey to Sadina with his deteriorating health. She felt as if she was dying as the desert constantly drained her of her energies.


    Even if Ydaz was mostly desert, she was a city girl. She had walked on the sands but never truly explored them. And it showed.


    ¡°I... should... have... rented a... dune dweller...¡± Aloe mussitated to distract herself.


    She knew it was impossible to do so. Aloe and her mother were tight on money after paying the expenses for her grandfather¡¯s funeral, renting a dune dweller for even a few days would put them on red numbers.


    The sole reason for her expedition was money. She intended to loot her rightfully owned greenhouse out of any sellable resources. Karaim must have had seeds and medicines lying around, those would sell for a hefty coin. With luck, there would be secret money stashes. Aloe also intended to sell the greenhouses, but it would take her far more time to find any buyers. Any rich buyer would want a greenhouse on their property rather than in the middle of the desert, but there was probably someone out there, maybe another old person who wanted to rest for the rest of their lives, to buy the greenhouse.


    Did it hurt her to sell her grandfather¡¯s legacy?


    No, not really. Aloe didn¡¯t know the man well and her family needed to survive until she got a job. Her only worry now was if she had taken a wrong turn at some rock and missed her path. Getting lost in the desert could be detrimental at best. Lethal at worst.


    The sun bathed Aloe¡¯s garb without mercy. Even if her skin was free of the scorching light, she could still feel the heat weighing down on her body like a burden.


    As the hours fled, Aloe got more and more scared. The desert was lethal during the day, but that didn¡¯t make it safe during the night. Monsters came out in the night, and she didn¡¯t mean in the sense a parent might use to scare their children into sleeping. Low temperatures could be as lethal as high ones, but she had brought a tent just in case.


    She hoped she didn¡¯t need to use it.


    Though as the sun began to set, Aloe feared she might have to set camp. That was... suboptimal, for a lack of better words. But fortunately for her, the dim light of twilight proved a blessing for her. On the horizon, she could see a bunch of tall figures. Thin, unlike the rocks of the desert.


    ¡°Trees!¡± Aloe shouted in exhilaration upon the sighting of palm trees. ¡°There must be an oasis nearby!¡±


    All the fatigue in her body and the pain in her feet were banished at the idea of an oasis. Even if it weren¡¯t her grandfather¡¯s greenhouse oasis, it would still be a far better place to set camp than in the middle of the dunes.


    Aloe ran with reinvigorated energies, sprinting like a madwoman across the dunes. That was a bad idea, as she almost lost her balance and rolled out of the dune¡¯s face, but she was quick enough on her feet to avoid that from happening. It would be pathetic to die because she broke her neck rolling down a hill.


    And as she rose her face, she was greeted by a magnificent sight.


    Amongst the dunes, there was an oasis overflowing with life. But even better, slightly drowned by the sands, a sturdy and short building made its appearance. A bigger one to the side made of glass, and free from most of the sand that covered the other, blinded her as the sun shone back at her.


    She didn¡¯t have a great memory, but the images of her infancy flashed before her eyes. And quite literally at that.


    ¡°The greenhouse!¡± Aloe rushed to the half-submerged building, now with the presence of mind to not slip on the sand.


    Aloe walked across the oasis; her boots were met by ground more solid than the sands. Even if her leather boots were thick, she could swear she felt the lush blades of grass caressing her.


    With a shy push, she swung the door of the house next to the greenhouse open. It was unlocked.


    ¡°Damn, it¡¯s too dark!¡± Aloe shouted in annoyance and left her backpack on the ground to take out an oil lamp. She patted herself on the shoulder to thank herself for her foresight.


    The oil lamp¡¯s light shone dimly. It was a scribe¡¯s light that her mother had given her, it was meant to last a long time rather than give off significant light. It was more than enough as Aloe made her way to the house¡¯s windows to open them, letting the twilight¡¯s light in. It wasn¡¯t much either, but the small sources of light accumulated to give her a better look at the abandoned house.


    Aloe took a step back as she noticed the sorry state of the house, it almost looked...


    ¡°Ransacked?¡± She rose her guard, though the house looked empty. And for a long time at that.


    What gave her the clue that her grandfather¡¯s greenhouse had been looted were the open door (obviously), the mess on the ground (though that could have been made by her grandfather), and the clean spots in the ground. The house was mostly covered with a shallow coat of dust and sand, but three spots in the ground had a lighter color. The round shape of the spots reminded her of big storing jars. And, indeed, there were more around the house.


    ¡°How weird...¡±


    The banker¡¯s apprentice inspected her grandfather''s, or rather, her own house to see what the looters may have taken away, but everything else looked in order. They didn¡¯t take the many labeled pots with seeds and medicine, and there was even a coin purse with three miserable drupnars in the desk, but no matter how little that was, Aloe doubted thieves would just leave visible coins behind.


    Whoever had entered the house, they had only stolen those three jars and nothing else.


    After having fully inspected the main house and skimmed through the greenhouse from the exterior (the door was locked and no one had forced their entry), she found no hidden bandits or ambushes and allowed herself to rest.


    Her backpack was already lying on the entrance, but now she took her desert garb to let out her tan skin and her ebony curly hair. She shook her head around to feel the air finally grazing her hair. It wasn¡¯t exactly comfortable having your head covered for the whole day under heavy clothing.


    Aloe decided to leave the looting, ehem, seizing of valuable assets for tomorrow morning. She was incredibly tired and felt like she would fall asleep at a moment¡¯s notice.


    But before she went to ready her late grandfather¡¯s bed, her eyes were drawn to the desk where she had left her oil lamp. In the middle of the wooden desk, there lay a single book with a title written by her grandfather¡¯s hand on the cover. It read:


    ¡°Cultivation technique?¡± Aloe read aloud.

 2. Veritas

    The cover of the diary was made of thick leather, even if the book itself was pretty slim. Aloe caressed the engraving of the title with her fingers. She didn¡¯t remember many things about her grandfather, but she recalled the man having very distinctive handwriting. Whilst Asayn had floral calligraphy, Karaim wrote the letters with thick straight lines. The title ¡®Cultivation Technique¡¯ was also written in that manner.


    It was late, the sun had already set by now and she was tired after a full day of walking, but for some reason, Aloe was attracted to the book. It was recent, the parchment was still straight, and the cover had also no dust on top. This diary was probably the last thing Karaim did before he fell ill and came back to Sadina with Aloe and her mother.


    With some hesitation, Aloe opened the brown-maroon cover. The first page was short in content, but the handwriting was the same as the title cover. It read the following:


    ¡°If someone is reading this, then I¡¯m probably dead.¡±


    That was the first sentence, but Aloe felt a strange feeling inside of her, it was kind of ominous reading the words of a man who knew he was going to die.


    ¡°In this diary, I¡¯ll detail my botanical research of my greenhouse, so please, if someone else who isn¡¯t my granddaughter Aloe, stop reading. This is the last wish of a dying old man.¡±


    That¡¯s where the first page ended. She shouldn¡¯t have thought much of it, but then she noticed something. It was barely visible, but a few specks of dust greyed out the top corner of the page, as if someone had opened this book after a long while.


    ¡°The bandits?¡± Aloe mussitated. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then I guess it makes sense they left the diary here. It would be kind of a bastard move to go against the wish of a dead man after already robbing his property... my property.¡±


    Aloe glanced at her scribe¡¯s light, it had enough fuel for a few more hours, but she wouldn¡¯t like to waste all of it today. She turned to the next page and resumed learning.


    ¡°Aloe, if you are reading this, I think some apologies are in order. I practically abandoned your mother and you when your father died, and whilst I¡¯ll not explain my motives, please accept my apologies.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not a good way to apologize, old man,¡± Aloe whispered with a hint of rage. She couldn¡¯t care about the man, she never did. But Karaim had forgotten about his daughter, only turning up to her when he was dying. He was a pathetic grandparent, but an even worse father.


    Aloe groaned. ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter, I should just read.¡±


    ¡°I spent most of my twilight years on the development of... a magic.¡± Aloe raised her brows but continued reading. ¡°I¡¯ve deciphered the origin of the monsters but found far better applications than I could have first believed. My greenhouse is the culmination of this investigation. I call the process ¡®Evolution¡¯ and through the mixing of different species I was able to cultivate new plants never seen before.¡±


    ¡°The origin of monsters?¡± Aloe herself didn¡¯t know much about the creatures that waltz around the desert.


    Most of them just come out at night, and not every creature was hostile. Dune dwellers are a clear example of that. Humans had learned to domesticate the monsters. But that raised a question.


    ¡°What has he done? Has Karaim... created new monsters? He talks about plants but... I certainly didn¡¯t expect this from a book titled Cultivation Technique.¡±


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    Aloe continued reading.


    ¡°I¡¯ve discovered that Evolution is similar to the Nurture nobles use, and I have found signs of some other application of the arts... However it may be, Evolution differs greatly from other vital arts as rather than applying to the practitioner¡¯s body, it¡¯s expressed through other individuals, whether they may be plants or animals through the transference of foreign vital energy.¡±


    ¡°Nurture... that sounds familiar. But what are vital arts?¡± Aloe felt like a moron when the next line explained it.


    ¡°I¡¯m not an expert on vital arts, I have barely scratched the surface of one of the three fields, but I have an approximate idea of what they are. The name ¡®vital arts¡¯ comes from the source, the power needed to execute such arts, Life.¡± The last word was written differently, it wasn¡¯t straight like the others. It possessed some... elegance. ¡°¡¯Life fuels more life, and therefore, the world blooms ever-brighter each cycle.¡¯ It¡¯s a quote I have taken from an ancient pagan religious manuscript, but I feel it applies perfectly to the description of vital arts.¡±


    The page ended, prompting Aloe to turn to the next couple.


    ¡°I¡¯ll go over more details on the vital arts along with my notes, but my knowledge is scarce as I¡¯ve made it sound. I won¡¯t bore you anymore with endless explanations, instead, I want you to see my masterwork. Please, go to the shelf behind the desk and pick up a jar with the tag ¡®Aloe Veritas leaves¡¯, there should be a few aloe vera-like leaves inside.¡±


    Aloe grabbed the scribe¡¯s light and referred to the shelf in question. There were tens of jars of all sizes tagged with their names. Some were seeds, whilst others were leaves or roots. There were also fruits, but all of those had been spoiled by now after a month in the desert. Thankfully, there was no odor, the scorching heat had dried them before they rotted.


    ¡°Jasmin, date, palm, grass, can¡­ oh.¡± Aloe stopped at one jar that piqued her interest. It was tagged with the ¡®cannabis seeds¡¯ name. She quickly searched for¡­ grown specimens but found no samples as she had done with other plants. ¡°Oh well, this is certainly quite the acquisition, either way. They surely will sell for a hefty price, though who should I sell them to? Hmm¡­ That¡¯s a problem for tomorrow me. I should search for the Aloe Veritas leaves now.¡±


    It didn¡¯t take her much time to find the right jar as they were all tagged and placed in alphabetical order. Shahrazad, her mother, made a joke about her father¡¯s tidiness once she recovered from Karaim¡¯s death.


    ¡°Your grandfather took this long to die because even Death had problems with all the bureaucracy he had laid before him.¡± Her mother had said with a weak smile.


    Stupidly enough, Aloe also found herself smiling at the recent memory. She grabbed the pot with the ¡®Aloe Veritas¡¯ tag and brought it to the desk to continue reading the diary for instructions.


    ¡°Take a single Aloe Veritas leaf and apply it to your skin.¡±


    Aloe opened the jar to get hit by a stench. Aloe vera didn¡¯t have the greatest smell, and it would seem this ¡®Aloe Veritas¡¯ was even worse. She had never heard of the plant''s name before, but the smell was pungent enough to carry a legacy.


    The woman put the leaf on the desktop and looked at it. It did resemble a lot like an aloe vera leaf, it was long and slightly thorny, but instead of the vibrant green color of the plant with a similar name, the Aloe Veritas leaf was light brown, appearing more like a strip of parchment than a plant. It had some dark blue splotches on the surface, making her think that it may have begun to rot.


    With only the shallowest hint of hesitation, Aloe picked the parchment leaf and rubbed the cut section against her dark-skinned hand. The cut poured a bit of liquid, but instead of the light green from the aloe vera plant, it was almost pure black tar.


    The surface of the leaf began shifting, the spots of what now looked like ink splutters reordered and drew arcane symbols.


    ¡°What the...?¡± Aloe jumped out of her seat and the leaf fell to the desk. ¡°Is... is that normal?¡±


    The leaf itself didn¡¯t move, but the ink spots continued moving around until they settled in cohesive wording. They read:


    Name: Aloe Ayad


    Species: Human


    Description: Female member of the human species, a species known for their ingenuity, high adaptive capabilities, and societal structure.


    Aloe felt as if her heart had stopped as she read the words of the leaf that had read her entire being. Her hands trembled and sweat started to trickle down her forehead. Something was very wrong. She looked at the inked leaf in front of her, her name written on it. Shivers were sent down her spine. Only two words came out of her mouth.


    ¡°What the...¡±

 3. Night

    Name: Aloe Ayad


    Species: Human


    Description: Female member of the human species, a species known for their ingenuity, high adaptive capabilities, and societal structure.


    Even after reading it for a second time, Aloe still doubted what her eyes were showing her. The parchment read with pristine clarity; a calligraphy so perfect that it seemed impossible. The ink spots that formed the words had stopped moving by now, but Aloe still felt herself shaking. She clasped her hands together, hoping to make them stop.


    ¡°How?¡± She muttered in confusion.


    The woman traced the ink written on the Aloe Veritas leaf, trying to sense it with her touch as none of this felt real. The ink didn¡¯t adhere to her skin like normal ink would.


    ¡°This¡­ this plant has¡­ it knows me. How?¡± Aloe picked up the parchment-textured leaf, observing it from below, trying to decipher any tricks or ploys. Alas, she found nothing. ¡°How does it know my name?¡±


    The fact that a plant could know her name and write it out scared her far more than the idea of bandits coming to steal some jars from her grandfather¡¯s¡­ her house. One she could understand, the other¡­ the other was unsettling on many levels.


    It took her a bit, but she finally comprehended this wasn¡¯t any ploy, but some sort of magical¡­ something. If there was a place to look for answers, it was in the diary before her.


    ¡°Unless the leaf has lost its efficacy you should have seen by now your own description. This is the effect of the Aloe Veritas, the best plant I managed to cultivate through Evolution before mortality caught up to me.¡±


    ¡°Is this what Evolution is?¡± Aloe read once more the contents of the evolved plant.


    Aloe felt something shift inside of her.


    She had thought Karaim had been an old man overly obsessed with plants, enough so to forgo his family until it was too late. But maybe, just maybe¡­ he was right. This wasn¡¯t normally botany or gardening; however, he had managed to come to the thing he called vital arts and the Evolution process, it was something far bigger than himself.


    Something worth devoting yourself to.


    Gripping the Aloe Veritas leaf with force, the juices pouring out from the cut section, Aloe couldn¡¯t help but feel angry at herself. Because she had given the reason to her grandfather. Because Evolution was incredible, and she would be lying if she said she wasn¡¯t interested in the arcane arts needed to perform these seeming acts of magic but still, it felt wrong being on the same page as the man who abandoned them.


    Nonetheless, Aloe continued reading the diary with a burning passion.


    ¡°Aloe Veritas is able to inspect the objects or people it touches. With objects I mean living beings, or at least, what used to be living. Plants and humans have different descriptions, but very similar formats, I haven¡¯t yet tried it with animals or monsters, but I¡¯m inclined to believe they should work as humans. If you haven¡¯t tried yet to use one on another leaf, I encourage you to do so. Anyways, I have copied my results on the next page.¡±


    Species: Aloe Veritas


    Sobriquet: Bitter Truth


    Description: An evolved member of the Aloe Vera species, a species known for their ability to infer with the Records and manifest knowledge onto the surface of their leaves.


    Alignment: Information, Arcane


    With scholarly curiosity, Aloe took another leaf out of the jar carefully so as to not touch the cut sections or not allow the other leaves to do so. Karaim had said that they reacted to the touch, and whilst that was true, he had forgotten to specify that it only happened when the sap from the cut touched another living being. Otherwise, it made no sense that the rest of the leaves in the pot were free of text, only populated by senseless ink spots that looked like gibberish.


    The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    ¡°Hmm, does it fade with time?¡± Aloe left her question aside as the rubbed the new leaf with the old one that had her name written on it.


    Sure enough, it showed the same description as the book.


    ¡°I understand the sobriquet part, even if it¡¯s a weird term, but what is the alignment?¡±


    Both the Aloe Veritas leaf and the diary pointed out the alignment of the plant as Information and Arcane, whatever that meant. Aloe consulted the book again for answers.


    ¡°The recollection of Aloe Veritas is a bit cumbersome, as the instant the sap touches skin or other plants, the leaf is consumed. They are one use only. I recommend using tools to cut the leaves but leave the plant intact. After all, a single Aloe Veritas will provide limitless leaves.¡±


    ¡°Well, that answers some of the doubts I had, but that¡¯s not what I¡¯m looking for. Though it¡¯s interesting the unlimited amount of these leaves.¡± The scholarly applications of the plant alone were staggering.


    Before peering back into the book, a stray yawn escaped Aloe¡¯s mouth. The inadvertent reaction prompted her to look outside the open window, the starry clear skies of the desert revealing to her. She was still in her desert garbs so she didn¡¯t have much cold, but when she was to go to sleep, she would need to close any open windows. The chill of a desert night was not to be underestimated.


    ¡°I guess I should go to sleep now¡­¡± She added between yawns. ¡°But I need answers. Just one more page.¡±


    The next section alleviated part of her itching curiosity.


    ¡°Overall, plant descriptions produced by Aloe Veritas are composed of four parts: Species, which contains the name of the plant. Sobriquet, this is the only optional field as not all plants have alternative names. Description, self-explanatory, a brief statement glimpsing at the capabilities of the plant. And finally, Alignment.¡±


    Aloe was annoyed as the explanation ended there because the page ended there. Ignoring her previous statement, she turned over to the next page.


    ¡°Alignment is a field I¡¯m still a bit dumbfounded by.¡± Karaim admitted. ¡°I have only found three alignments as for the current time of writing, though I doubt I¡¯ll be able to find any more. These alignments are Life, Information, and Arcane.¡±


    It hadn¡¯t escaped Aloe¡¯s mind that she hadn¡¯t seen this Life alignment on the Aloe Veritas.


    ¡°All common plants have Life alignment, though even some of the evolved ones I detail in this book also possess such Alignment. As far as I can tell, every plant has Life alignment, though I have yet to decipher why that is not the case with Aloe Veritas and others. My current hypothesis is that their properties don''t have anything to do with life as a whole, but it¡¯s a flimsy theory at best. I have only seen Information and Arcane alignment on Aloe Veritas and another plant, whether I tried it on the leaves or the whole plant, and once more, I have no explanation or description about them.¡±


    Aloe couldn¡¯t help but frown at what she had just read. Karaim had been working in the greenhouse for years, maybe even decades, so Aloe couldn''t comprehend everything the man knew about his ¡®Evolution vital art¡¯. She didn¡¯t forgo the idea that maybe it was explained further down the book, after all, this was just the beginning. The latter pages had to be updated with newer knowledge, even if it was just by a few months or even days.


    ¡°My best speculation on the effects of every Alignment is the next one: Life, related to living beings or healing properties. Information, related to knowledge or ¡®The Records¡¯. Arcane, related to magic. Mind the emphasis on Records, I don¡¯t know what they may truly entail. Take everything with a grain of salt, as my knowledge is shallow, I wish I had discovered Evolution earlier in life. Not only because of the time I could have dedicated to the craft, but because I would have enjoyed more vitality to dedicated to the plants if I was younger, and therefore accelerate my findings.¡±


    ¡°More vitality¡­¡± Aloe muttered as she grazed her pink lips with her dark index finger. ¡°Right, he wrote before that Evolution needed ¡®vital energy¡¯ or something like that.¡± She tried to remember the exact wording but found her mind failing her.


    She tried to go back to read the book again for answers, but like her memory, her eyes faltered. Her vision became blurry the instant she set her sights back on the desk. Another yawn, far louder than the previous one, broke away from her mouth.


    ¡°I guess it¡¯s sleepy time,¡± Aloe said as yet one more yawn came to her.


    Sluggishly, she got up from the chair, picked up the scholar¡¯s light, and rounded the house in search of any open windows that she closed promptly. After locking the main door, which she had forgotten to do before with the scare of possible bandits being in the house, and checking the whole house was secured and closed, she directed to her grandfather¡¯s - now hers - bedroom.


    With a groan, she removed her dirty desert garbs and boots leaving them all on the ground without any care as she was left in her underwear. Aloe dropped to the old, dusty bed, and even if the sleeping conditions were less than optimal, she fell asleep in seconds.

 4. Oasis

    This was, without a shed of doubt, the worst morning Aloe had experienced in her life. She woke up dehydrated and soaked at the same time, and when she stood up she almost fell back to the bed as her head spun around.


    With some difficulty, Aloe reached for the waterskin in her backpack and took some hearty gulps. Hearty meaning the whole contents.


    She groaned as not a single drop of water came from the waterskin. It wasn¡¯t enough. At least now she didn¡¯t feel like she was going to die.


    Aloe thought about dressing herself but was repulsed by the idea. Not only she was soaked in sweat, but all the dust in the dirty bed had adhered to her body. Feeling dirty was an understatement. She felt like a mine slave worker rather than an upper-class citizen, and that she couldn¡¯t allow. Rather than a drink, what she needed now was a bath.


    ¡°I mean, there¡¯s an oasis nearby...¡±


    The girl tiptoed to the door, trying to open it but finding resistance. She then remembered she had locked it the night prior and quickly snatched the key from the desk and unlocked it. Whilst covering her chest with one arm, she opened the door with her free hand. Aloe peered to the outside, the oasis almost blinding her as the light from the sun reflected from the water''s surface and into her eyes. There was obviously no one outside, yet she couldn''t help to feel some shame as she opened the door half-naked.


    Shyly, Aloe put a foot on the outside, the clear sand feeling like melted rocks under her.


    ¡°Ouch!¡± She removed the foot as soon as it touched the sand. ¡°Yeah, barefoot is a bad idea.¡±


    She didn¡¯t want to dress. Her desert garb weren¡¯t exactly clean, but they would then be foul if she wore them in her current state. Her boots though? Yeah, those were already torn asunder.


    Aloe put on her thick boots and went outside the house. She took the first steps slowly, gawking at her sides in paranoia. She was in the middle of nowhere in the desert, but that didn¡¯t stop her unconditional fear of someone out there currently spying on her.


    She continued shifting her head from side to side, her steps heaving on the sand with the imprints of her boots. It was only when she was covered by the shade of a palm tree that she finally left her nervousness aside and removed her arm from her chest.


    A sigh of relief left her body.


    ¡°Coconut palm and date trees, huh.¡± Aloe inspected the vegetation of the oasis.


    She hadn¡¯t had much time yesterday as she had arrived by night and even if that weren¡¯t the case, she wasn¡¯t in the physical nor mental state to check it out.


    ¡°I guess I can drink from a coconut until I refill my waterskin.¡± She had heard they were hard to open, but she had brought a knife just in case. It couldn¡¯t be that hard. ¡°Now that I think about it, should I be bathing in the place I¡¯m going to drink from?¡±


    Aloe lay her hand on the nearest palm tree, resting her weight on the trunk as the shade covered her nakedness.


    ¡°I mean, I¡¯m going to have to boil it either way, and the oasis is pretty big, so I guess there¡¯s no problem. Right?¡±


    The oasis was colossal, making her think there had to be a subterranean river providing the water as the reserve was way too big for it to be formed by the very rare and fleeting rains, maybe the Eyana River or a tributary. It was difficult estimating the true size of the oasis, but it looked far bigger than Sadina¡¯s main plaza. And Sadina wasn¡¯t exactly a small city.


    Before getting into the water, Aloe glanced at her surroundings once more. Just in case. Hesitantly, she approached the oasis shore and took off her boots, feeling the vibrant grass on her feet.


    ¡°Grass... It¡¯s not that common...¡± She had heard of lands where only grass grew for kilometers without end, where graceful animals lived in peace. It felt impossible.


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    Dispersing her thoughts, Aloe removed her panties, leaving them on top of the grass (which looked far cleaner than her boots), and ran into the water. She almost regretted it as it was unbearably cold, something you wouldn¡¯t expect in the middle of the desert, but quickly acclimatized to the temperatures. She finally relaxed once the water covered her from the neck down. The waters were clear but at least now she recovered her decency.


    ¡°Oh~¡± Aloe groaned in satisfaction as the dirtiness left her body. The dust peeled off her skin. ¡°This is far better than a hot sand bath.¡± She wasn¡¯t used to the cold, but the water was a magnificent sensation. She couldn¡¯t have allowed such menial use of water back at home. Or at least for free.


    Then an intrusive thought hit her.


    ¡°There aren¡¯t any creatures in the oasis, right?¡± She knew that aquatic animals lived in the seas and rivers, even lakes, but a closed and stagnant water body shouldn¡¯t have any critters inside. It shouldn¡¯t.


    Aloe took a step back in proud precaution, not at all scared, then took some air and submerged her head into the waters. At first glance, it didn¡¯t appear that any fish or worse creatures were swimming around, but just in case, she hastily scrubbed her body and hair as best as she could without bathing equipment and stepped away from the oasis.


    The thought of... things swimming around unsettled far more than someone peeping at her. So much so that she had completely forgotten her fully naked state.


    That was when she realized that she didn¡¯t have any spare clothing. She hadn¡¯t intended this journey to be a comfortable or long one, but now looking back at it with the gift of hindsight, she should at least have packed a change of underwear.


    Considering her panties were the dirtiest set of clothing she had, Aloe grabbed them from the grass and rinsed them on the oasis. She couldn¡¯t do a great job as she lacked a washing table, but it was better than wearing the used underwear back.


    Aloe put her boots back and hung the dripping piece of cloth in the closest palm tree and proceeded to inspect the oasis. Not only she needed to wait for her panties to dry, but also her hair, so this was the best way to kill time.


    The massive oasis bustled with plentiful flora, far more than one would expect in the inner desert. In the undergrowth mostly composed of grass there still lay some stray flowers, not enough to be called a patch, but enough to give more color than just green. Aloe recognized the yucca and the jasmines, but most of the plants¡¯ names were beyond her.


    What interested her the most were the palm trees. The oasis was dotted with two kinds of them. Ones bearing coconuts and the other bearing dates. The sheer number of trees would allow a person to eat and drink indefinitely without depending on outside rations or the water of the oasis.


    Aloe¡¯s stomach rumbled in protest.


    ¡°I kinda forgot to have breakfast, didn¡¯t I?¡± And also supper. But she left that unsaid.


    The dates cried for her attention. She didn¡¯t want to go outside of the grassy ground of the oasis until she was finally dry as there was a considerable stretch of sand toward her grand- her house. And going unto the sand whilst wet was just screaming to the desert to get dirty again. So, Aloe did the next best thing and grabbed a date.


    ¡°Hmm... sweet.¡± Aloe indulged herself in the sweet taste of the date. Almost maybe too sweet.


    She now wanted something to drink but taking a sip from the oasis without boiling the water was foolish at best or a death sentence at worst. She wasn¡¯t a doctor, but everyone knew that simple diarrhea could be lethal. Aloe also doubted she was able to open one of those coconuts with her bare hands. It was best to wait to go back to the house and grab a knife or set up her kit to boil water.


    After downing the date, Aloe cleared her sticky hands from the date on the oasis and donned her now dry underwear. Even after realizing again her nakedness, she didn¡¯t feel ashamed, but maybe... elated.


    That didn¡¯t stop her from running all the way back to the house, locking the door, and dressing herself in heavy desert garbs in a matter of minutes. Maybe the lack of clothing didn¡¯t make her uncomfortable, but having her skin covered was far healthier for her psyche.


    Aloe breathed in and out to calm herself. She grabbed her backpack and went back to the oasis, peering occasionally on the horizon, truly hoping nobody had seen her even if that was highly, highly unlikely. Once she arrived back at the shore, she took some materials out of her backpack and set up the boiling kit.


    Calling it boiling kit was a bit of a misnomer as it just was a set of wooden stands and a thin and light metal cauldron. Aloe grabbed a loose piece of thatch fallen from a palm tree and put it under the hanging cauldron. With the lighter she had used to light her scribe¡¯s light, she started a few embers on the thatch slab. This wouldn¡¯t be enough to make a fire but unlike her clothing situation, she had packed enough dry wood to make a modest campfire just in case she was stranded on the desert. The night could truly be unbearably cold.


    Once the fire was controlled and wouldn¡¯t die out without supervision, she filled the cauldron by diving it into the oasis and then hung it on top of the fire. She would only need to come back after the water finally began boiling.


    With her water situation solved, Aloe¡¯s focus shifted to the main reason why she had come into the middle of nowhere, to begin with.


    The greenhouse.

 5. Greenhouse

    Considering Aloe had traveled plenty of kilometers into the desert just to visit the greenhouse, it was a bit awkward that it took her half a day before stepping foot in it. Her late grandfather¡¯s property was composed of three structures. A modest three-room house, a greenhouse, and an outside latrine. She could only be thankful for the latter being far away from the house.


    The most important and remarkable of the buildings was the greenhouse, of course. And it was far bigger than the house itself. It was mostly made out of glass, which was as inexpensive as it could get in the desert. Though Aloe doubted a greenhouse could have been constructed here if it wasn¡¯t because this area was known for its lack of sandstorms. Otherwise, the fragile and rather cheap-looking glass wouldn¡¯t survive for a day.


    And even if there weren¡¯t any sandstorms, the wind was strong enough to carry copious amounts of sand over time. It looked like Karaim hadn¡¯t cleaned the panels for a very long time as it was impossible to see anything beyond them. At this point, they weren¡¯t translucent, but full-blown opaque.


    The foundation of the greenhouse was composed of hardened sandstone, and the glass panels were held together by bars of iron. The metal was probably the most expensive part of all the property. There may be twice her weight in iron in all the supports combined.


    The greenhouse had no key lock whatsoever, but it did have a simple lever lock to keep the door closed. The instant Aloe opened the door, a foul stench assaulted her nostrils.


    She quickly ran away and stopped only after moving ten meters away making puking gestures as she recovered her breath.


    ¡°What in the nightmarish nocturnal dunes is going on in there?¡± Aloe could almost see the stench escape from the doorway. ¡°How long has that been closed? Far more than a month, I tell you. What in the nine hells has Karaim done with the greenhouse?¡±


    Aloe wasn¡¯t spitting curses out of rage, but to delay the inevitable. That smell had hit her like a sledgehammer, and she wouldn¡¯t want to try it again.


    ¡°I have no choice, do I?¡± The girl sighed, but she refused to enter without making some preparations.


    Firstly, she went back to the house and grabbed a pot labeled ¡®Jasmine Flowers¡¯. They were dried by now, but thankfully not rotted, and they conserved part of their fragrance. Aloe wrapped the dried flowers in a handkerchief and then slightly wetted the cloth in the oasis. Finally, she put the makeshift smell filter between the cloth sheets of her garb that she used to cover her face in the desert.


    The attire was quite thick and she couldn¡¯t almost breathe, but at the moment of truth, it mostly blocked any incoming smell. A hint lingered in her nostrils, but it was tolerable.


    ¡°Hmm, I think I need a duster.¡± Aloe¡¯s muffled voice came out of her mask.


    The glass walls and ceiling were covered in a considerable layer of sand, impeding her to see most of the greenhouse interior. She could only somewhat visualize the silhouette of a tree in the center of the structure, and whilst it was curious that her grandfather decided to waste this much space of the limited that the greenhouse offered, it was better if she at least illuminated the place first.


    Karaim didn¡¯t have a duster, which was downright moronic considering where he used to live, but he did have a broom. With broad and uncaring strokes, Aloe removed most of the sand in the lower parts of the greenhouse¡¯s walls. Her short stature didn¡¯t allow her for much, nor she was in the mood for cleaning. Even in the section she cleaned, a lot of dust still lay stuck to the glass, but leastwise the interior was visible now.


    The worst part of the ordeal was that she had to do it under the harsh sun with her heavy garb and the facemask because the stench reached even the opposite wall the door was located in.


    Aloe sighed, leaving the broom supported on the glass wall. ¡°Well, I think I see green.¡±


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    The glass panels had a brown tinge to them that she doubted it would go away unless she did some intense cleaning and used some actual water.


    ¡°The smell is... not better, but not as worse.¡± Even as she said so, Aloe was vehemently against removing her cloth mask. She slightly closed her eyelids, her eyes irritated by the smell.


    A lot of bad things could be said about the greenhouse. Saying the current conditions were nefarious was an understatement, but all of her curses and bad thoughts were substituted by the striking image of the tree in the center.


    ¡°What the...¡± The words died in her mouth as she observed the impossible plant.


    The tree was completely out of this world. Everything about it was alien. The canopy, the trunk, the colors... nothing made sense. It had long branches with countless leaves, the canopy making the shape of a bell. The leaves themselves had an antinatural blue hue. Flowers could have blue petals, but they at least had some green in them in their stem.


    This tree did not have a trace of green.


    But that was still understandable, the worst offender was the trunk. It had a sickly white color, not much unlike that of the ashes left by a hearth. The trunk deviated from the rules of nature as it coiled around itself like a spring.


    Such a tree was impossible to exist. It was an abomination, and yet...


    Aloe was bewitched by it. She subconsciously approached it.


    It had an outstanding aura, so much so that the sick, decayed, and fetid greenhouse vanished from her senses. Aloe had thought that the Aloe Veritas was an act of magic, and it truly was. A single leaf possessed knowledge beyond her comprehension. But this tree... She couldn¡¯t put it into words, but this truly was...


    ¡°Magical.¡± It just felt right to call it so.


    It was a work of magic. It was almost as if she could stand all day looking at it. It induced an otherworldly calmness... A timelessness of ageless status... And then... fetidness.


    Aloe rushed outside the greenhouse as her head spun around, lowered her mask, and threw up the contents of her empty stomach on to the sand.


    ¡°Oh... oh, gods.¡± She cursed in her respite, but then a second wave of vile came.


    She raised her head, looking at the cloudless sky and feeling her lungs with clean air. The sun was a little too high. She also didn¡¯t fail to notice that her nausea appeared to be because the aroma of her jasmine filter had run out.


    ¡°How much time have I spent looking at the nince-damned tree?¡± Aloe groaned as she cleaned the puke out of her lips with her dirty garb, the awful taste almost provoking her to puke again. ¡°Time... time? The water!¡±


    Aloe rushed to the oasis shore where she had left the water boiling. She saw the column of steam before the fire, but thankfully, it was a thin strip.


    ¡°Oh, gods, it¡¯s still there.¡± She gazed into the cauldron, a lot of water had evaporated by now, but still, half of the contents remained. ¡°I¡¯ll still need to do some more rounds though...¡±


    Carefully as to not burn herself, Aloe placed the cauldron in the ground, far away from the grass lest it instantly combusted for some reason. She doubted it would happen, but she did so just in case.


    ¡°Hmm, I should grab a jar or something, I don¡¯t want to wait for the water cool down. And cooling down the cauldron on the oasis sounds like a recipe for disaster.¡±


    Karaim had a lot of filled jars of varying sizes, but not a single one was empty. Aloe decided to look at the kitchenette cupboards for anything she could store the water into, and she almost slap her face when she found a clay kettle.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t even need to take the boiling kit out of the bag!¡± Aloe groaned in her stupidity. ¡°Of course, he would have a teapot! He grows plants and only has access to dubious water! Blessed heavens, I am stupid!¡±


    She still wouldn¡¯t have used the hearth on the house to boil the water as it was incredibly dirty, but the kettle would have been appreciated. At least she now knew it for later.


    Aloe marched out of the house with a water vase and poured the boiling water of the cauldron inside.


    ¡°I should have rinsed the vase before pouring the water in, shouldn¡¯t I?¡± She asked in lament with the empty cauldron in her hands. ¡°Oh well, damage¡¯s done. A little dust won¡¯t kill me.¡±


    Then she dipped the cauldron back into the oasis and put it in the stand to boil another batch of water.


    As her stomach growled, Aloe remembered that she had only had a single date to eat in more than half a day. She grabbed a pita from the rations she had packed and munched it. She sat on the grass and delighted herself with the beautiful sights of the lonely green and blue paradise trapped amongst the mountains of bronze and golden.


    ¡°Not the best breakfast, or lunch I guess,¡± she said between bites, ¡°but it¡¯s good. I think I¡¯ll have some cheese too.¡±


    In the end, she downed two and a wedge of cheese.


    ¡°Hmm, I have more than enough food for a day or two. But it¡¯s worrying seeing the food decrease when it¡¯s all I have access to...¡±


    As enough time had passed for the water in the vase to cool down, she refilled her waterskin. Only a few drops of water remained in the vase. Aloe took a heavy gulp as she no longer had to worry about her water running out.


    ¡°Rest¡¯s over.¡± After being satiated, Aloe stood up from the grass and stretched her arms. She passed her hands through her hair, feeling it a bit sweaty. ¡°Gotta see what that greenhouse holds beyond that tree.¡±

 6. Cleaning

    Before going back to the greenhouse, Aloe made a new mask with more dried jasmine flowers. She ended up emptying the jar as there weren¡¯t many left. Instead of slightly pouring water, she dipped the whole cloth into the oasis this time.


    ¡°Hopefully this mask will hold for a longer time.¡± She said before placing it on her nose.


    The jasmine-scent mask was damp, and while it was uncomfortable to the touch, this way the stench wouldn¡¯t affect her as much as before.


    Maybe it was the cleaned windows that allowed the sun to wash away the putrefaction or the opened door circling some fresh air, but nevertheless, Aloe was delighted to find that the odor wasn¡¯t as lethal as before.


    The vague smell she picked up was of stagnant water and rot. Whilst the white and blue tree in the middle of the greenhouse seemed unaffected by the lack of moisture, other plants had wilted away.


    The greenhouse was organized into five distinct parterres. Four at each corner and the middle one that was solely taken by the coiled tree. The glass house was littered with dead plant matter, not only in the soil but also in the glass. Aloe wasn¡¯t an expert on botany, not by a long shot, but she could recognize the simple vines or the jasmine flowers. Or at least what used to be those.


    As she inspected the damage to the greenhouse, Aloe got more interested in the tree. Whilst every plant had withered or was vaguely alive, the blue-leafed tree was healthy. There were a lot of things wrong with the tree, its leaf color, and the strange canopy, but she had failed to notice its size.


    The alien tree was short, incredibly so. It wasn¡¯t even three meters tall, and she had a gut feeling telling her that it should be taller.


    ¡°Is it the environment?¡± Aloe approached the tree once more with a hint of reticence. She wouldn¡¯t want to be enchanted by it once more.


    The leaves were blue, but they seemed muted. She didn¡¯t know how the tree should look, but she felt it was wrong.


    ¡°Is it the lack of water, or something off with the soil?¡± Aloe wondered, alas, she had no answers.


    Other plants had survived, but she wasn¡¯t surprised by those. One of the four parterres of the corners was populated by more desert-suitable flora. Namely, cacti and aloe vera.


    ¡°Wait, isn¡¯t aloe vera a type of cactus?¡± In a way, she couldn¡¯t help herself to feel ashamed to know the answer as the plant in question was her namesake. ¡°I feel like I should at least have some fun trivia at hand...¡±


    She also found one lone plant far different from the green-colored cacti. It was the plant her grandfather was proudest of.


    A single Aloe Veritas bloomed in the parterre, partially wilted by the environment but alive, nonetheless. The parchment texture on the plant was more defined than the dried ones in the storage.


    Whilst the aloe vera¡¯s leaves pointed to the ceiling with strength, the parchment-like leaves of the Aloe Veritas hung with difficulty, most scratching the dirt with their tips. It seemed the magical plant required more water than its unevolved counterpart.


    ¡°Hmm...¡± Aloe peeked at the only tree in the greenhouse over her shoulder and approached the Aloe Veritas. ¡°I¡¯ll be taking one if you don¡¯t mind.¡±


    Aloe grabbed her knife from one of the many satchels in her belt. She had brought as many bags as possible as she intended to loot the greenhouse from seeds since the beginning. Now she had second thoughts after seeing what her grandfather had managed here. She swayed her head slightly, pushing back those thoughts, and cleanly cut one of the Aloe Veritas leaves.


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    Carefully, she grabbed it so as to not let the sap touch her. Unlike the dried leaves on the pot, the recently cut one didn¡¯t stop pouring sap.


    ¡°Why doesn¡¯t it stop?¡± Aloe stood up, her voice showing a hint of anguish. She tip-toed her way into the central parterre, trying hard to not get touched by the sap.


    She let a sigh of relief once the Aloe Veritas sap dyed the ashen trunk of the tree with a weathered dark blue color reminiscent of squid ink. Instantly, letters began to write themselves onto the parchment.


    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s see what you are called.¡± Aloe brought the leaf before her.


    Species: Na¡¯mul Ter¡¯nar


    Sobriquet: Blue Tree


    Description: Member of the Ter¡¯nar species, a species known for their ability to survive with mana alone. Their leaves are high on mana and are considered a delicacy.


    Alignment: Arcane, Information


    ¡°Mana?¡± Aloe frowned. ¡°What¡¯s mana?¡±


    For a brief instant, Aloe hoped the Aloe Veritas would answer her. The description of the plant hinted it could give knowledge, and considering it knew her name maybe it could understand and answer her questions. Quite a jump to conclusions, but at this point it wouldn¡¯t surprise her. Unfortunately, her wishes didn¡¯t come true.


    ¡°And that¡¯s quite also a sobriquet. Blue tree, really? At least Aloe Veritas had a real one, I know it¡¯s a blue tree! The coiled spring is more eye-catching than the leaves you know?¡± And the plant did, indeed, not know.


    It was just a plant.


    ¡°It also doesn¡¯t say it¡¯s an evolved species like the Aloe Veritas did with aloe vera. How did Karaim get this plant? Do these really exist out in the world somewhere?¡±


    Aloe highly doubted so. If there were coiled trees with colorful canopies around, she would have definitely at least heard rumors. And she still pondered about the mana term. But beyond that, she fixated on the alignment of the Na¡¯mul Ter¡¯nar.


    ¡°Arcane and Information... Didn¡¯t the Aloe Veritas also have that alignment?¡±


    Whilst she was highly interested in the properties of the clearly magical plants, she had the feeling that the cultivation journal contained most of the answers to her questions. Her current questions that is.


    ¡°I guess I should remove some of the dead plants. This will only get worse with the heat.¡± Aloe turned her head from side to side. ¡°Did Karaim have any gloves?¡±


    One of the walls of the greenhouse had a rack with tools. Scissors, knives, hoes, water cans... in general, a lot of everything. Once again, Aloe was taken aback by the riches of her grandfather. Metal tools were expensive, and he had a lot of them. She could understand having a spare set, but this many seemed overkill.


    And in fact, Karaim did have a pair of gloves. They were a set of hard dark brown leather gloves, rather dry and coarse as they were old.


    ¡°Why in the dunes did he have a trillion tools but only a single set of gloves?¡± Aloe groaned but wore the gloves despite her protests.


    Most withered plants were flowers, making it easy to remove them, roots included. The weeds were the real problem. They had grown over the dead plants and were deeply rooted in place. Sweat trickled down her face as she used every pinch of her strength to clean the parterre.


    Before her mask ran out of scent, she had only cleaned two of the four parterres, her hands numb by the applied force and her arms flopping as wet noodles in exhaustion. Luckily for Aloe, one of the remaining parterres was the cactus one, meaning not a lot of work had to be done in that one. She then stood up in confusion as she dusted the knee section of her garbs.


    ¡°Why am I even doing this again?¡± Aloe said as her body slumped on the warm sand just outside the greenhouse.


    Aloe removed her mask and slightly opened her garb to let the air refresh her. Beside her lay a pile of dead plant matter, which she could only be thankful for its lack of odor. Her body trembled in pain and exhaustion, yet she couldn¡¯t deny that she felt a ping of satisfaction for a job well done.


    ¡°Oh right, if I sell the greenhouse I guess I¡¯ll need to tidy the place.¡± Though as she said that, she couldn¡¯t help but feel conflicted.


    With yet another groan, Aloe stood up and walked inside the greenhouse. Now it was vaguely breathable, but she held her breath nonetheless as she only wanted to leave the gloves in place.


    She went out as soon as she came in and then stood looking at the decomposing pile.


    ¡°Eh, can¡¯t be bothered.¡± So, she left it there on the sand, underneath the sundering sun. ¡°I guess I could make it into fertilizer or something, but I can¡¯t be bothered right now.¡±


    Aloe made her way to the oasis to clean her hands. Even though the gloves had completely protected her, that didn¡¯t mean the gloves themselves were clean.


    Then she noticed the boiling water, mostly evaporated by now as she had taken a few hours to clean the parterres.


    ¡°Fffffff-¡° Aloe groaned.

 7. Ter鈥檔ar

    ¡°Not a single nince-damned sofa on this house!¡± Aloe protested as her body dropped on the chair next to the desk. ¡°How in tarnation do you buy tens of iron tools but not a single sofa!¡±


    The satisfaction from her cleaning job had totally and utterly disappeared, only exhaustion and anger remaining. She had messed up the boiling again, making her do more rounds. Her waterskin was empty as she had been left incredibly thirsty after all the exertion in the greenhouse.


    The wooden chair pressed hair against her back, her posture uncomfortable and unhealthy. Aloe pondered if she should lay in bed for a while, but she knew she would fall asleep if she did so. And the last thing she wanted right now was to lose another batch of water because she was sleeping.


    And she also had to eat.


    Her breakfast had been already modest, and this was probably the day she had exerted the most... ever. She was a banker¡¯s apprentice, not a farmer. She was ignorant to tiring herself. The only pain she had truly known was carpal tunnel or her butt going numb after a whole day of being sat.


    Also migraines. A lot of migraines, actually.


    Surprisingly enough, Aloe currently didn¡¯t suffer from any hunger. She knew she had to eat, but her appetite was nowhere to be found. What she had was an unquenchable thirst. What a shame most of her water had evaporated away.


    ¡°I guess I can make time by reading the ¡®cultivation technique¡¯ until I¡¯m hungry.¡± She added with a sigh.


    Aloe opened the diary back when she left it last time, on the page about the Aloe Veritas. She hoped the next one would be about the Na¡¯mul Ter¡¯nar.


    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m not going to say that whole thing every time,¡± Aloe said as she slowly passed through the pages. ¡°But using the sobriquet feels dumb. I¡¯m not gonna call a magical tree just ¡®Blue Tree¡¯... hmm... yeah, just gonna say ter¡¯nar.¡±


    Her arms were so tired that even the thin pages felt heavy under her fingers.


    Rereading the last page, Aloe noticed that the other plant that Karaim mentioned that had Arcane and Information alignment was the Na¡¯mul Ter¡¯nar. The continuation of what she read was basically more of the same, baseless theories on what alignments were and how they worked. Unfortunately, Karaim seemed as lost as Aloe on the matter.


    ¡°Ah, this is what I was looking for,¡± Aloe commented as another Aloe Veritas excerpt made its apparition.


    It was identical to the one she had found herself in the greenhouse. The species name, the sobriquet, the description, and the alignment were all identical. She somehow hoped to see some difference and partially didn¡¯t believe the descriptions could be reliable. They came from a plant that suddenly gained information out of nowhere, that didn¡¯t seem a... trustworthy source.


    But sure enough, as it happened with the Aloe Veritas, there were no distinctions in the wording. That led Aloe to question the working of the magical plant.


    ¡°With humans it shows their names... so what would happen if someone changed their name? Will a written leaf change, or only take place after using a new one? Will it even change? What if they don¡¯t legally change their name but start calling themselves differently... Yeah, let¡¯s leave this out for now. Food for thought though.¡±


    She doubted the diary would have the answer for such niche and absurd questions, but Aloe continued reading, nonetheless.


    ¡°The Na¡¯mul Ter¡¯nar is an interesting tree. Unlike the Aloe Veritas, which shares the same Alignments, it doesn¡¯t possess flashy effects but it¡¯s interesting nonetheless.¡±


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    ¡°Oh, right. He stopped talking about the Aloe Veritas to focus on the ter¡¯nar.¡± Aloe mussitated, her chin laying on her hand as she read. ¡°Oh well, it wasn¡¯t that important of a question anyways.¡±


    ¡°I found its effects after reading the description. This is also a thing I found out after inspecting a lot of plants. The description may give the properties of the plant but not how to make use of them. For example, Aloe Veritas doesn¡¯t tell you you have to wet with its sap to inspect a living being. Anyways, after reading that the Na¡¯mul Ter¡¯nar was described as a delicacy I tried using its leaves as tea. And surprisingly it worked. The taste was... curious, but that you can check it yourself. What matters here are the properties.¡±


    The page ended, prompting Aloe to flip to the next one.


    ¡°Whenever I drank Na¡¯mul Ter¡¯nar tree I felt reinvigorated. It didn¡¯t restore vital energy; I have other plants that do that and I have become rather acquainted with the flowing of vital energy. No. Whatever the Na¡¯mul Ter¡¯nar does it isn¡¯t replenishing my vital energy, but every time I consumed it my mind felt faster. Not clearer, I would dare to say the contrary, it was difficult to think under the effect, but somehow faster...¡±


    Aloe raised her brows upon reading the text. ¡°Karaim, if I didn¡¯t know better, I say those are drugs...¡± She made a mental note to try the ter¡¯nar leaves at some point. ¡°Anyways...¡±


    ¡°The Na¡¯mul Ter¡¯nar and the Aloe Veritas are the only plants I managed to create that have an Alignment that isn¡¯t Life, next I¡¯ll detail the creation process of both. Let¡¯s begin with the Aloe Veritas. Alike every other Evolved plant, I began affecting an Aloe Vera with my vital energy but it wasn¡¯t until-¡±


    ¡°Nope, nope, nope, no-pe.¡± Aloe swayed her head violently in disbelief as she read the next words. ¡°You must be joking, right? This cannot be how the whole Evolution thing works. This is moronic!¡±


    ¡°-it wasn¡¯t until I dropped by mistake a recently cut aloe vera leaf and some seeds into an old tome. Most of the seeds became inert and lifeless, but a single seed pod had changed. Though the leaf in question had also mutated. I don¡¯t know what happened back then, I have yet to recreate it, but the seed rooted into the tome and from the leaf sprouted a white growth. Somehow, at the same time, I managed to create my only Aloe Veritas and Na¡¯mul Ter¡¯nar plants.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe that for an instant I bought this whole Evolution and vital energy ramblings. The old man was just senile. Ha, ha.¡± But as she laughed, dismissing the journal as the madness of an old man, Aloe¡¯s mind wandered to the Aloe Veritas. ¡°But what about that plant then... That, that wasn¡¯t normal. Is he telling... no. This ¡®vital art¡¯ cannot be this simple, can it?¡±


    Aloe found herself at a crossroads. She had seen the power of the Evolved plants at work, but her pragmatic mind couldn¡¯t begin to process how the mystical plant that had access to unknown wisdom was made just by mistake. And in a such stupid and convoluted matter.


    She closed the book and inhaled and exhaled four times, clearing her mind from the stress, in the fifth inhalation for a total of nine exchanges, she stood from her chair and left the house.


    ¡°I should check the water.¡±


    The water was boiling by now, but unlike before, this time she hadn¡¯t lost most of it to the atmosphere. As she was going to grab the cauldron, the written words of her grandfather flashed through her eyes.


    ¡°Tea...¡± She couldn¡¯t manage to believe that the coiled blue tree had appeared from a leaf and a book, but Karaim put the ter¡¯nar tea in an interesting light.


    She unloaded the water of the cauldron into the water vase, but instead of refilling the cauldron with oasis water Aloe went back into the house and picked up the kettle. She then did a quick trip to the greenhouse and yanked some leaves. Karaim probably had some in his jar storage, but if she was going to make tea, she was going to use fresh leaves.


    As she waited for the water in the kettle and leaves to be ready, she picked up the vase and brought it back home, and refilled her waterskin. By now she had more than enough water for today and the trip back.


    Instead of going back to reading her grandfather¡¯s cultivation book, she took advantage of her free time to do some inventory. Seeds were expensive and lightweight, unlike the tools at the greenhouse. Whatever she decided to do with the property, selling some of the seeds at Sadina would be a good money injection. Karaim certainly had some expensive seeds, but Aloe didn¡¯t know how much time the seeds would last before they lost their ability to germinate.


    Once she thoroughly inspected the contents of the cupboard, it became apparent that Karaim didn¡¯t have that many seeds. Most of the jars were common flowers, and the rest were leaves of the plants at the greenhouse or the oasis. Flowers were expensive, especially exotic ones, but she doubted she would get much from them.


    The only real one that looked expensive was the cannabis seeds. Aloe left the small pot on the desk and went back to the oasis to pour some tea. After having a late lunch, she would go to sleep early so she could march tomorrow at first light.

 8. Departure

    ¡°I hope this doesn¡¯t knock me out.¡± Aloe prayed as she sipped from her mug, trying the ter¡¯nar tea for the first time. ¡°Woah...¡±


    She instantly comprehended what her grandfather had said about feeling his head clouded but faster. It was difficult to focus on a single thought, her head wandered around, as her body did. She didn¡¯t trust herself to not fall onto the oasis, so she sat down and took another sip.


    It certainly was the strangest tea Aloe had ever tasted. Some infusions had noticeable effects, but they weren¡¯t instantaneous. However the ter¡¯nar worked, it kicked at the exact moment that it went down her throat.


    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m tripping.¡± Aloe looked down at her hands, they weren¡¯t blurry or had more fingers than normal, actually quite the contrary. They were incredibly detailed, but the moment she stopped thinking about them, her hands vanished from her sight as if they were in a blind spot.


    Focusing her mind on a single thought, Aloe found herself that her mental calculations were faster than ever. She had a knack for numbers, she wouldn¡¯t have tried to become a banker otherwise, but it felt awkward. The moment another thought passed through her mind she completely forgot what she was calculating.


    ¡°Useful, but damn it tastes awful.¡± It was true that she lacked any finesse and didn¡¯t possess the best teamaking skills, but considering her permanent thirst, any liquid should taste like glory. That wasn¡¯t the case with the ter¡¯nar tea.


    That didn¡¯t stop her from finishing her cup and having a second one.


    ¡°Ya¡¯ know, I¡¯m beginning to understand why gramps stood in this place, hihi~¡± Then she refilled her cup with a third round. Unfortunately, the kettle emptied by now, only managing to fill it three-quarters up.


    The scorching, ceaseless assault of the desert weighed down on her, prompting Aloe to open her garbs a bit and refreshed herself with the cold water of the oasis. She lay under the comfortable shadow of a palm tree.


    ¡°I could, could get used to this~¡± Her limbs relaxed, occasionally taking a small sip of her tea, trying to make it last as long as she could. ¡°He was right, I do feel alive.¡±


    Aloe blinked. When she opened her eyes, the orange and pink of twilight greeted her. She blinked twice, feeling a cold breeze caressing her collarbone.


    ¡°Fuck.¡±


    She quickly stood up, stored the boiling kit in her backpack, and went inside the house. It was a really bad idea to spend time in the desert at night, and it didn¡¯t look like she had much time left.


    ¡°So much for going to sleep early to wake at first light.¡± Aloe sighed as she left the backpack at the entrance.


    Even after having eaten nearly nothing for a day, she did not feel hungry. Instead of eating, she gathered the most expensive-looking seed jars and stored them in the backpack, along with her grandfather¡¯s journal.


    She didn¡¯t know when she would come back to the greenhouse, so it was better to come back to the city as loaded as she could afford.


    Her body surprised her with a yawn even if she had just woken up from a solid nap. Aloe took her clothes off, this time leaving them well folded and hanging in a coat hanger instead of laying around, and dozed off in the old, creaking bed.


    <hr>


    Aloe woke up from the bed feeling hungry yet rested. Waking up early in the morning meant that the cold of night still lingered around and because the sun had yet to truly come out, this time she wasn¡¯t covered in sweat.


    Well, much sweat.


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    She hadn¡¯t cleaned herself after working in the greenhouse, so a slim layer of sweat covered her skin. But considering how the journey back would only get her dirtier, it made no sense to have a morning bath.


    The first thing she did after going out of bed, even before dressing up, was to have a sizeable breakfast. Her backpack was filled with an ungodly number of rations because she had skipped lunch, dinner, and anything in between. She took a drink directly out of the water vase, finishing it first instead of wasting the limited water on the waterskin.


    The breakfast consisted of pita bread, cheese, and jerky. Not exactly fancy, but the quantity certainly made up for it.


    After having filled her stomach and lightened a bit the load on her backpack, Aloe checked one last time that she didn¡¯t leave anything important behind, especially in the cupboard.


    She pondered about taking some Aloe Veritas leaves with her, they could be useful, but paranoia assaulted her. This was Karaim¡¯s masterwork, a certainly incredibly powerful plant, an asset. And if it fell into the wrong hands...


    It could cause a lot of problems, but also meant an incredible loss of money.


    The mind of a banker was not something she could say she was proud of, but the heartless viewpoint of risk and reward was undeniably useful.


    ¡°Aloe Veritas is too magical to show to someone, ter¡¯nar on the other side...¡±


    Sheepishly, Aloe entered the greenhouse and pruned some of the most peculiar blue leaves of the white tree to help it grow stronger in the future. Or that¡¯s what she told herself, avoiding thinking about yesterday¡¯s episode, leaning to believe this was a logical decision rather than an emotional one.


    One last time, she revised her backpack, checking that all seed and leaf pots were in place and secured. Aloe took the ¡®cultivation technique¡¯, feeling the leathery cover in her hands, and stashed it inside.


    ¡°Alright time to go back to Sadina.¡± She locked her late grandfather¡¯s house, stepped into the warming sands, and departed from the place she had once hoped to find nothing.


    The journey back was something she was not looking forward to.


    Aloe was leaving earlier than she had when she originally departed from Sadina, and whilst she now knew the path, that didn¡¯t mean her travel time would speed up much. She had arrived at the oasis once the sun had shortly set, so that meant that she would see civilization around the sunset.


    The earliest hours were the most comfortable, or as comfortable as trekking the desert could get. The air was slowly warming up, but in the span until the sun finally took to the skies, the coolness of the night still comforted her.


    Once morning had barged its way in that was when the journey started becoming miserable. She didn¡¯t suffer as much as the first time, now knowing how dredging it would be, but her mood remained sour as ever.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you go and die in a hole?¡± The woman shouted at the incandescent ball of fire in the skies.


    The celestial body didn¡¯t reply back, though Aloe felt the desert got ever-so-slightly warmer after her curse.


    Aloe groaned and continued walking in silence.


    Only a faint trace of her face was uncovered by cloth, and it was mostly protected by the sand as she constantly looked down, yet she couldn¡¯t help to feel the oppressive weight of the sunlight on her skin.


    Some nomads recommended against using sleds to carry loads unless you were in a convoy on long journeys because apparently some creatures of the night did follow the prints and waited for night to ambush travelers. She asked why didn¡¯t happen with footprints then, but the nomads just shrugged. Their response was just ¡°I guess the sled prints anger them¡± which was stupid, but she trusted the words of the people who lived in the desert to guide her survival.


    ¡°But I don¡¯t intend to stay the night in the desert, the oasis is close enough... Maybe I could buy a sled, monsters are abhorred by civilization so they may not approach the house. Hmm, I should consult it with the nomads.¡±


    And then she fell silent for a few more hours, knowing better than to waste saliva by talking to herself.


    Once the sun reached its apex, Aloe rested on a ragged rock. She could sit on the sand, but that would only warm her body. She opted for survival before commodity.


    Moving at high noon is a bad idea as it is the hottest time of day, meaning it takes more effort to walk and your body heats and dehydrates faster. She took out some of her rations and slowly gnawed on the dry meat.


    The water felt like a blessing in her sweltering state. Even if the water itself was lukewarm, to her, it was as cold as the southern glaciers she had listened the bards sing about.


    Half an hour later, she was rested enough and returned to the path.


    The break helped her greatly, renewing her spirits and speed. The spring in her step was more vigorous, even if the seeping sands and the withering sun were going to dimmish that energy in a matter of hours if not minutes, but for now, she pressed on.


    Before she noticed, the clear blue skies gained an orange tinge.


    Her estimate had been perfected as the moment the sun began to hide, the beige walls of civilization became visible to her.


    ¡°Ah, sweet Sadina, how much I missed you.¡±

 9. Sadina

    The city of Sadina may not exactly be the biggest, especially by the capital standards, but it was more beautiful than any other city in Ydaz. The orange glow of twilight only gave it a more mystical tinge.


    From her elevated position in a sizeable dune, Aloe could peer into the skyline of the city. Most rooftops were flat and lackluster, yet they compensated for that with beautifully sculptured details. Other buildings possessing more riches, like banks, sites of adoration, or schools had their ceilings marked with gold or other polished metals. The light bounced off them in a spectacle not normally visible from the streets. Though most of the actual color came from the myriad silks of the stall¡¯s canopies at the bazaar.


    Red, blue, green, yellow... They were all there.


    Aloe slowly descended from the dune, not wanting now to break her neck because she was hasty. It took her almost a quarter of an hour to arrive at the city walls, which only remarked the magnitude and vastness of the desert.


    The city gate was manned by two male guards who wore light clothing, white desert garbs, and handled scimitars in their hips. As she tried to cross the gates, Aloe was interrupted by one of the guards.


    ¡°Is it the little plant, I see?¡± One of the guards approached her with a smile on his face.


    ¡°Uncle Jafar!¡± Once she recognized him, the guard who went by the name of Jafar, enclosed Aloe in a hug. Aloe herself patted the man on the back, mainly as a friendly gesture, but partially signaling him to stop as the man was too strong for the little woman.


    ¡°It¡¯s been a while since I last saw you. Karaim was still kicking around then.¡± Jafar added with a wry smile. ¡°So where have you been, little plant?¡±


    Jafar was a close friend of the family, a long acquaintance of Aloe¡¯s father and grandfather. Even if both were now dead, his grin was as friendly as ever, only if a bit darker. The man was well-built and donned a perfectly trimmed beard. Jafar was well over forty, but he didn¡¯t look beyond thirty. His powerfully tanned skin, strong ebony short hair, and his well-built muscles only made him even younger.


    ¡°How many times have I told you to not call me that way?¡± Aloe added with a fake scowl. She was honestly thankful that the first human interaction after three grueling days was Uncle Jafar. The man knew how to warm people¡¯s hearts better than the sands.


    ¡°But you are little. And a plant.¡± Aloe pouted and he laughed loudly. ¡°Hey, Sirhan. Does it bother you if I leave early?¡±


    Sirhan, the other guard, looked at the sky where the sun was hiding. ¡°Sure, no problem. Our rotation is soon over. I¡¯ll sweet talk our relief to forgive you but owe me a drink.¡±


    ¡°But of course, brother. Next round''s on me.¡± Jafar slapped Sirhan''s shoulder and both exchanged a grin. ¡°Let¡¯s go then. Shan¡¯t we, little plant?¡±


    Aloe groaned but followed Jafar into the city.


    ¡°Can I offer myself to carry your bag?¡± The guard offered a hand.


    ¡°Oh, yes please!¡± The girl threw the backpack off her shoulders without even minimal hesitation.


    Jafar grabbed it without problem, weighing the bag in his hand. It was heavy and Aloe knew it, but he didn¡¯t comment on it. Instead, he put the backpack that was colossal for her over his shoulder, just locking like a bandolier to him.


    ¡°I haven¡¯t failed to notice that you haven¡¯t told me where you have been. Skipping town is not a great thing to do to your mother when your grandfather just died.¡± Jafar said over Aloe¡¯s shoulder, a hint of sadness in his voice.


    He didn¡¯t mean the gesture in a bad manner, Aloe knew it. Jafar was far closer to her grandfather than she had ever been, and honestly, it wasn¡¯t difficult looking over her shoulder when she was a meter and a half tall, and Jafar was pushing it close to the two meters. If he weren¡¯t covered in half-armor and muscles, the man would have looked like a noodle.


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    ¡°It was actually Mother¡¯s idea.¡± Aloe sighed. ¡°I went to see the greenhouse my grandfather was always so occupied with.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡± An indescribable shadow passed through Jafar¡¯s normally bright eyes. Aloe didn¡¯t dwell on it. ¡°Well, what are your thoughts then? I¡¯ll admit I didn¡¯t visit the place much; Karaim was secretive about it. And I also couldn¡¯t be bothered to do the day-long trek whenever I wanted to visit him.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll say that I¡¯m more impressed with the greenhouse than I would originally have imagined.¡± The petite woman revealed. ¡°It is clear that Karaim dedicated a lot of time to it, and he was certainly knowledgeable, but something still bothers me. How is it that he got enough money to build it? Glass is cheap, but metal is certainly not. And even more so considering the distance between the oasis and Sadina. He would have needed to build it himself to keep the prices reasonable.¡±


    ¡°Ah, is it that the banker¡¯s insight that I behold?¡± The guard laughed. ¡°Karaim did indeed build the greenhouse himself, but as for the funds...¡± Jafar became silent for an instant, then renewed his words, ¡°...your father did provide some capital. But if I recall correctly, Karaim had some coin well before all of this. I don¡¯t know how much Amid contributed to the funds, but I fear the only ones who knew the answer are no longer among us.¡±


    The placid and familial air vanished as both of them sulked. Not even the normally loud bazaar could distract them as most stores and posts had closed for the day.


    ¡°Anyways,¡± Uncle Jafar tried to re-establish their dialogue. ¡°What does your little banker mind tell you about the greenhouse? Is it profitable?¡±


    Aloe stopped, her expression shifting into one of frigid seriousness as she crunched numbers. Being used to her antics, Jafar stood still before her with a comforting smile.


    ¡°The greenhouse is mostly self-sustainable if we factor in the oasis. There would be no need for water or food, maybe some slight restorations... Overall, the inversion is minimal. The greenhouse is already built and partially seeded. The main problem is if it produces significant income.¡± Aloe snapped out of her tranced. ¡°That reminds me that I have brought a lot of seeds and leaves, but I don¡¯t exactly know where to sell them or what their actual prices may be. If it''s considerable... then this may be a financially viable enterprise.¡±


    The man laughed at the last line.


    ¡°Something wrong, Uncle Jafar?¡± Aloe added with a totally-not-subtle sarcasm and a shadow of a pout.


    ¡°No, not at all.¡± Though as he said that he covered his mouth with his hand. ¡°It¡¯s just that you reminded me of your late father, he just thought in profits and ventures, but beyond the numbers and the money he was a good man.¡±


    Aloe opened her mouth but soon closed it, unsure of how to respond.


    ¡°But I think I can help you with the seed business and that,¡± Jafar said. ¡°I would like to direct you to an apothecary, but now it should be closed. If you visit me tomorrow morning before my shift, I guess I could take you there. Aya will be also happy to see you.¡±


    ¡°Oh, right.¡± Socializing, I forgot about that. ¡°Is Aya alright?¡±


    ¡°Perfectly fine, the girl¡¯s a prodigy. She will surely become a renowned scribe or scientist.¡± Jafar¡¯s eyes gained a powerful spark as he talked about his daughter. ¡°You could bring Shahrazad to my home for supper. Mirah won¡¯t have a problem making a feast.¡±


    ¡°Hmm, my mother is still on her mourning leave, so it will be alright. I¡¯ll convince her to do so.¡±


    ¡°Perfect!¡± Then his expression became troubled. ¡°But let¡¯s leave that for tomorrow, if I bring you two today, I will only get an earful.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, Aunty Mirah will surely want to have some early notice. You don¡¯t make banquets in a matter of hours.¡± Aloe looked at the almost darkened sky. ¡°Or minutes.¡±


    ¡°Yeah...¡± Jafar laughed, scratching the backside of his head. ¡°Let me escort you home quickly, I wouldn¡¯t like to arrive home late. Mirah will think I have gone drinking with the boys.¡±


    Navigating the night streets was dangerous. Not exactly because of the crime, Sadina was one of the more orderly cities of Ydaz, and Aloe counted on her own personal guard as her escort, but because you literally couldn¡¯t see anything. And tripping in the dark was a recipe for disaster.


    Richer districts like the university or the noble houses did have lampposts set around, but unless you were in the red-light district, the only light you would get on the fairer parts of the city was that of houses or the weak moonlight.


    ¡°We must be thankful for this bright moon today.¡± Jafar looked up at the blue moon in the dark sky.


    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s surprisingly big today,¡± Aloe commented.


    ¡°Maybe it¡¯s an omen?¡± He added between laughs.


    ¡°An omen for what?¡± She looked at the guard pungently.


    ¡°Who knows? The skies work strangely.¡± Jafar shrugged. ¡°Anyways, we are here.¡± He stopped at the entrance of Aloe¡¯s house and handed her the backpack. He carried the child-sized bag easily in one hand. ¡°Salute your mother for me, will you?¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡± Aloe half-nodded half-bowed. ¡°See you tomorrow morning.¡±


    Jafar walked onto the dark streets, his silhouette vanishing fast in the darkness. As for Aloe, she relaxed her shoulders after three days and unlocked the door.

 10. Soup

    Aloe¡¯s house was dark, with only a vague luminance coming from the kitchen. She pushed the wood strip curtains that worked as a door and entered the kitchen to see her mother eating a bowl of soup.


    ¡°Oh, Aloe. You are back.¡± Shahrazad said a bit absentmindedly. ¡°I didn¡¯t hear you enter.¡±


    ¡°I just arrived at the city.¡± Aloe sighed and left the backpack on the ground, promptly seating on a kitchen stool. ¡°It¡¯s comfortable to see that you have enough strength to make food.¡±


    ¡°I may be old and grieving, but I¡¯m not stupid enough to forget to eat.¡± Her mother responded. Aloe gave her an unsure look. Shahrazad wasn¡¯t the emotionally strongest person.


    ¡°Well, you look healthy enough if you haven¡¯t eaten these prior days.¡±


    ¡°I have!¡± Shahrazad scoffed at her unruly daughter. ¡°There¡¯s more soup in the cauldron if you haven¡¯t had supper yet.¡±


    ¡°Oh, thank the skies, I was starving here.¡±


    Aloe jumped from her stool and grabbed a wooden bowl from the kitchen cupboards. She peered into the cauldron and saw the steaming potato and carrot soup. She filled the bowl to the brim after diving the ladle twice in the cauldron.


    ¡°Yeah, I can see that someone is hungry.¡± Her mother snickered. ¡°Beware, you may become fat.¡±


    ¡°Shut up, you haven¡¯t been walking in the desert for a full day.¡± The daughter retorted, though there was a glimpse of amusement in her voice. ¡°And can soup even get you fat? It¡¯s mostly water, and there¡¯s no meat in here.¡±


    ¡°Anything can make you fat, even air.¡± Aloe squinted at her mother¡¯s words and decided that it was better to let her be.


    The soup was nothing out of the ordinary, but the cozy and familiar taste of a mother¡¯s soup felt glorious. Especially considering her whole body was screaming in agony. She could still feel the heat of the sun weighing on her even if the sun had gone down around an hour ago.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you hot with all those clothes on you?¡± Shahrazad asked, leaving her bowl to the side.


    ¡°Ehmm... yes. But I¡¯m hungrier.¡± Aloe admitted, though that didn¡¯t stop her from opening part of her vest. ¡°I¡¯m drenched and dirty, I think I¡¯ll go tomorrow to the public baths.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with our bath?¡± The older woman added with a fake offense.


    ¡°That it¡¯s sand. And I¡¯m tired of the sand. And I want water.¡±


    ¡°Understandable.¡± Shahrazad sighed. ¡°You have enough money?¡±


    ¡°Mom, it¡¯s only a handful of drupnars for a bath.¡±


    ¡°Just making sure.¡± She raised her hands in defense.


    ¡°Oh, I almost forgot.¡± Aloe left the spoon in the bowl. ¡°Tomorrow we will dine at Safar¡¯s house.¡±


    ¡°Oh, you saw him on the way back?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Aloe nodded. ¡°He also sent his regards.¡±


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m relieved that I won¡¯t need to make supper tomorrow then. Though if you go to the public bath, you should go soon.¡±


    ¡°Yes, yes,¡± Aloe responded after finishing her bowl. ¡°Tomorrow morning I¡¯ll go with Jafar to an apothecary to appraise some seeds I have gathered from the greenhouse.¡±


    ¡°Talking about the greenhouse, how did it go?¡± A sparkle appeared in her mother¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°The trek there is nefarious, there¡¯s no saving grace there. But...¡±


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    ¡°But?¡± The expectation was palpable in Shahrazad¡¯s voice.


    ¡°It¡¯s a worthwhile investment.¡± Aloe sighed in defeat.


    ¡°Yes!¡± Her mother jumped off the chair with a grace that made her twenty years younger, the sulking of her mourning totally forgotten. ¡°How happy you made me, my daughter! You don¡¯t know how much this means to me.¡±


    ¡°I... ¡°The sheer cheerfulness of her mother paralyzed Aloe. She blinked thrice before her brain rebooted. ¡°I didn¡¯t know it meant this much to you.¡± And that surprised her. And also made her feel a bit bad.


    Shahrazad finally relaxed and straightened out her hair and robes, then directed to her daughter.


    ¡°It honestly doesn¡¯t mean that much...¡± Aloe squinted her eyes at her. ¡°I truly meant it! It¡¯s not like I have been in the greenhouse many times, but your grandpa was always so happy with his plants... I feel like it will do the same thing to you. Especially considering that you sulk around all the time with that face of yours.¡±


    Aloe groaned. ¡°That¡¯s my resting face!¡±


    ¡°See! That¡¯s what I meant.¡± It was curious seeing this facet of her mother, overenergetic and enthusiastic. ¡°You are always groaning around.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not even a real term,¡± Aloe responded, her face devoid of emotion.


    ¡°If you do it constantly, then yes, dear. It is a term.¡±


    Aloe held with all her might, not giving Shahrazad the satisfaction of yet another groan.


    ¡°You are holding yourself.¡± Her mother pinched her in the face.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what you are talking about,¡± Aloe said, her face a monument to stoicism.


    ¡°Of course, you do!¡± Shahrazad jumped behind her and put her hands on Aloe¡¯s shoulders only to quickly remove them. She examined her dusty hands. ¡°Huh, you should remove your clothes at the entrance to not make more of a mess.¡±


    The daughter rolled her eyes. ¡°Yes, mother.¡±


    Aloe had always been told that she had inherited her mother¡¯s physique, but her father''s mood. And with that she agreed, for better or worse, her mother was too emotional. Though she guessed it was better having her hopping around rather than drowning in misery.


    But a part of her hoped for the reverse genetics. It¡¯s not like she behaved like she did on purpose, that was truly herself. She couldn¡¯t change that. And her late father had a strong physique, equal to that of Uncle Jafar even if the man had only been a banker. Tall and emotional, which would have made her far more popular than her short and apathetic self.


    She sighed as she removed the sand-covered desert garbs on the house entrance, a small cloud of dust forming on her feet as the clothes dropped to the ground.


    ¡°I do need that bath now...¡±


    Aloe cleaned her feet in the mat and went to the bathroom where she picked up a towel and dusted herself off. Not the best, but certainly far better and comfortable to sleep with. She thought of removing her socks but decided to keep them for now.


    She went back to the kitchen to pick up her backpack and found her mother dry-cleaning the kitchen utensils and cutlery.


    ¡°Oh, hi sweety. Are you still hungry? There¡¯s still more soup.¡± Shahrazad pointed at the cauldron ignoring her daughter¡¯s nakedness.


    ¡°No, I¡¯ll pass. I just was going to take the backpack to my room.¡±


    ¡°Oh, okay. Remember to dust it off first.¡± Expressionlessly and wordlessly, Aloe raised the dirty towel in her hand. ¡°Right, right. There¡¯s no need to be this aggressive.¡±


    Aloe took a deep breath and held her groan, and instead took the backpack to the entrance where she promptly cleaned the sand away. She carried the backpack on her bare shoulders and took it to her bedroom.


    The room was dark, so she took the scribe¡¯s light from the bag, lit it up, and left it on the desk. Before doing anything else, she rushed to the closet and took out a translucid white nightgown. Unlike the middle of the desert, mornings in Sadina weren¡¯t scorching hot, but nights were equally as cold. Sleeping without pajamas ended up in either a cold or a restless sleep.


    Even if her body was still covered in a slimy layer of sweat, donning her soft silk nightgown brought Aloe back to life. She took her socks and panties out, the cloth was too dirty for her liking, and she didn¡¯t feel like sleeping with underwear today. A slight breeze coming from her room¡¯s window grazed her, but instead of feeling cold, the low temperatures reinvigorated her.


    ¡°Ah,¡± She sighed, standing nearby the window covered by a circular clay pattern. ¡°Cold, I love you so much. Why don¡¯t you kill the sun and embrace me forever?¡±


    Aloe snickered and got away from the window. She doubted anyone saw her with the low visibility at this hour of the night, but she wouldn¡¯t like to push it. She picked up the ¡®cultivation technique¡¯ from the backpack and the scholar¡¯s light from the desk and brought them both to her nightstand.


    A yawn escaped her mouth as soon as her back rested on the soft bed, prompting her to grip strongly the book in her hands. Sleep assaulted her body, but she didn¡¯t feel like dozing off yet.


    ¡°Let¡¯s see, where did I leave...¡± Aloe opened the book, slowly cruising through the pages.


    One thing that surprised her was how much emphasis Karaim put on the vital arts and the ¡®Evolution¡¯ but he had yet to explain how it worked or how he evolved the different plants. He only explained fragments of it in the ter¡¯nar section, but Aloe had a lot more questions.


    She started reading.


    ¡°Beyond the Aloe Veritas and the Na¡¯mul Ter¡¯nar I have failed to create evolved plants with such flamboyant aspects or effects but...¡±


    Not even a paragraph in, her eyelids failed her. Her hands became weaker as the book fell to the side of the bed, her consciousness drifting faster than she noticed.

 11. Morning

    ¡°Good morning, world!¡± Aloe yawned, stretching her arms far up as she woke up. She looked next to her; her grandfather¡¯s journal was opened at the side of the bed. ¡°Damn, I was knocked cold.¡±


    Aloe stepped out of her bed, the tiled floor feeling cold to the touch. She wasn¡¯t against it, though. The lingering coldness of the night sent shivers down her spine, but she appreciated the refresher. Even if it was early in the morning and she was only covered by very thin blankets and her nightgown, she was beginning to feel hot.


    She took out her nightgown, leaving her completely naked, and hung it in the closet. It was modestly filled with clothing; Aloe didn¡¯t enjoy dressing herself much. Most of the clothes in the closet were actually from her mother, and not especially old considering their similar build.


    The first thing was a fresh pair of underwear, though she left the socks untouched. She didn¡¯t intend to go out of the city for a while, so she took out her favorite set of footwear, a pair of light brown sandals that reached up high on her legs with thin leather strips. As for her clothing, she just took out a simple refreshing white tunic. Modest, simple, yet fashionable. And most importantly, they were the freshest clothing she had.


    Today was aiming to be a hot day with the first impressions she had gotten out of bed.


    Once fully dressed, Aloe stepped out of her room and went to the bathroom to ready herself. A quick brushing of her hair, some skincare routine she hadn¡¯t bothered to do in an outing to the greenhouse, and a swift pass through the toilet were all she needed to do to start the day.


    ¡°I see someone has woken up.¡± Her mother commented after Aloe entered the kitchen.


    Shahrazad was reading several parchments with a focused face, that resulted in mixed feelings for Aloe.


    ¡°Doing some work?¡± Aloe made her way to the kitchen counter and picked up a ripe banana from the fruit bowl. She lay her back on the counter and began peeling the yellow and brown fruit.


    ¡°I fear so, yes.¡± Shahrazad sighed, the youthfulness of yesterday completely disappeared from her visage. The exhaustion and wrinkles made her appear more like someone of her age. ¡°The emir won¡¯t appreciate if I lack behind in schedule.¡±


    ¡°You are still on your leave,¡± Aloe said as she shoved the banana in her face.


    ¡°Sadly, it ends tomorrow.¡±


    She almost choked on the banana. ¡°Tomorrow? That¡¯s too soon!¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t do anything else, daughter.¡± Her mother sighed once more. ¡°My position is a highly needed and coveted one. If I lack behind, they won¡¯t doubt to make me out. And talking about positions, what are you going to do with yours at the bank now that the greenhouse is on the plate?¡±


    ¡°Which position?¡± Aloe scoffed. ¡°Farid refuses to give me one. Unless I show some confidence, the man will take my position for granted. If I leave him alone for a while, without a basically unpaid apprentice under his name, he will realize my usefulness.¡±


    ¡°It seems a bit... risky.¡± Shahrazad showed hesitation.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you the one who wants me to take care of the greenhouse?¡± The apprentice squinted her eyes.


    ¡°Yes, of course. But a job as a banker is a great one...¡±


    ¡°You should decide yourself. I clearly did.¡± Aloe finished the banana and left the peel in the bin. Hmm, I could grow some bananas in the oasis. They would certainly be nutritious and sell better than dates or coconuts. ¡°But do not fret, I¡¯m sure with my direction. If my bet fails and Farid wants nothing to do... I¡¯m still a very qualified individual with a good track record and significant parents. Being on the blacklist of a bank is a problem, but others will want me.¡±


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    ¡°If you say so... I¡¯m not an expert in such fields. I can only but trust your words.¡± Her mother peered through the window at the rising sun. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you go with Jafar now?¡±


    ¡°On my way.¡± Aloe pushed herself away from the counter and locked her mother in a hug. ¡°See you later.¡±


    ¡°Have a good transaction!¡± Shahrazad said her goodbyes jokingly, knowing that the thoughts of money always populated her daughter¡¯s mind.


    Aloe groaned and took to the streets of Sadina, not before picking up the backpack from her room.


    ¡°How in the tarnished sands did Jafar manage to carry this bag with one hand,¡± Aloe grunted as she stabilized the backpack in her back and touched her rather thin arms with her fingertips, prompting a sigh.


    The trip to Jafar¡¯s house was short as he lived in the same district as Aloe. In the fifteen minutes that took her to arrive, she delighted herself with Sadina¡¯s vistas. The city was mostly light brown, the color of dirt, sand, and clay reached as far as the eye could see. The main bazaar was far more colorful, the little artificial channel flowing through the middle gave the place more color, but especially more live.


    The channels fed by the underwater Eyana River crossing under the city were the only green spots in the city. Mostly grass and palm tree grew around the water, but nonetheless, the green splotches of color were greatly appreciated.


    It was nowhere comparable to the bountiful life of Karaim¡¯s oasis, the botanical gardens of the university, or even the noble private gardens, but the contrast made the little vegetation seem bountiful.


    Besides the greenery, the main bazaar presented a myriad of colored canopies from the endless shops sprung along the venue.


    ¡°Hmm, I could cultivate dyes. They certainly sell for a lot.¡± Aloe¡¯s eyes jumped from one canopy to another. Red, yellow, green, blue... ¡°But how do they work? I¡¯ve heard you need high quantities of anything to make a single pot of dye...¡±


    Before she could arrive at a conclusion, her thoughts came to an end as she reached her destination. Aloe knocked on the door. Not even ten seconds later, someone opened it. The person in question was a middle-aged woman with dark skin and bountiful bosoms.


    ¡°Aunty Mirah!¡± Aloe saluted the housewife with the most jovial expression she could craft.


    ¡°Oh, Aloe!¡± Mirah jumped toward Aloe, locking her in an embrace.


    That was what Aloe feared. She suddenly found herself being asphyxiated as her face was drowned unto the tall woman¡¯s overwhelming breasts. The sheer difference in height always ended up in such an uncomfortable posture. And like her husband, Mirah was quite strong. Or at least, far stronger than Aloe.


    Aloe tapped twice on the housewife¡¯s hips as she, unfortunately, didn¡¯t reach further.


    ¡°Oh, sorry, sorry.¡± Mirah apologized as she released Aloe from her lethal hug. ¡°It has been a while since I last saw you and I got a little too excited.¡± She put her hands on the shorter woman¡¯s shoulders. ¡°Tell me, have you grown taller?¡±


    ¡°Very funny, Aunty.¡± Aloe¡¯s voice lacked amusement of any kind.


    ¡°Sorry, sorry.¡± The housewife apologized once more, though this time wasn¡¯t as much heartfelt. ¡°That joke will never grow old. Or tall.¡± Aloe¡¯s willpower was worthy of legends as she contained herself from kicking the married woman on the sheens. ¡°Anyways, please come inside. Jafar is still reading up, he told me about your apothecary business.


    Aloe entered Mirah and Jafar¡¯s house, instantly feeling better as the sun no longer shone on her. The couple weren¡¯t exactly rich, their house was smaller than that of Aloe¡¯s yet theirs felt infinitely more alive. There were plants and little trinkets around, not only giving color but also the feeling that someone was actually living in the house, unlike Aloe¡¯s, where she and her mother were incredibly austere. They were never bothered by guests, so they hadn¡¯t changed their home for... years.


    ¡°Come, Aya will be pleased to see you.¡±


    ¡°Is she still home?¡± Aloe asked.


    ¡°What do you mean still home?¡± Mirah looked at the short girl in confusion.


    ¡°You know, shouldn¡¯t she be at school?¡±


    Mirah laughed. ¡°Oh, Aloe. We are on the weekend still!¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± The sound escaped her mouth.


    ¡°Where have you been living to lose track of the days?¡± Mirah turned her back and said jokingly as her cleavage bounce up and down.


    A not-all-hidden hint of repulsion and jealousy sprouted from Aloe¡¯s visage. This woman... And then regretted not having kicked her before.


    ¡°In the desert.¡± And Aloe responded ever-so-seriously.


    ¡°Oh wow, you should tell me that story.¡±


    ¡°Tonight when I come with my mother to dine, if that,¡± Aloe responded. ¡°For now, I¡¯ll do with greeting Aya and get going with Jafar to the apothecary.¡±


    ¡°Of course, little plant.¡±


    Aloe groaned as she heard Jafar¡¯s nickname come out of Mirah¡¯s mouth. The housewife cracked a laugh in consequence.

 12. Apothecary

    ¡°Sister Aloe!¡± The small child rushed towards Aloe in a mad sprint and then enveloped her in a hug. Though small child wasn¡¯t exactly the right term as Aya was only a head shorter than Aloe.


    What¡¯s with hugs in this family? Aloe pondered as the overenthusiastic girl constricted her in a snake embrace. Thankfully, the youngster didn¡¯t possess the strength of her parents. Yet.


    ¡°Hello, little Aya!¡± Aloe forced a smile as she patted Aya¡¯s head. That gesture, though, was completely genuine. ¡°Are you doing well?¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± Aya separated her face from Aloe¡¯s chest and looked up at her. The girl seemed a bit disappointed by the lack of padding, making Aloe¡¯s eye twitch slightly. ¡°The teachers say that I¡¯m advanced for my age and that we¡¯ll go straight to multiplication and division!¡±


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s nice to hear!¡± Aloe put more speed to the head pat, turning Aya¡¯s smile ever-brighter.


    ¡°By the way,¡± Aya started after she undid the hug, ¡°what are you doing here, sister Aloe?¡±


    ¡°What? Can¡¯t I visit my favorite child?¡± Aloe joked.


    ¡°No,¡± Aya responded with childlike ruthless truth. ¡°Sister Aloe does not do things without expecting something in exchange.¡±


    This girl... Aloe gritted her teeth slightly.


    ¡°She¡¯s a smart kid, isn¡¯t she?¡± Aunty Mirah¡¯s smile shone with the radiance of a thousand suns as she rested her head on her open palm.


    ¡°Yes... yes, she is.¡± Aloe added with annoyance and then directed to the small girl. ¡°I¡¯m here because your father promised me to take me to see someone.¡±


    ¡°Father always says that promises are to be held!¡± Aya jumped on the spot. ¡°I¡¯m going to bring him!¡± And she dashed away into the house, cutely swaying from side to side.


    ¡°My little girl is so energetic.¡± Mirah¡¯s visage held the happiness only a mother could have.


    ¡°Too much for my liking.¡± Aloe¡¯s smile disappeared the instant Aya went away. She felt the corners of her mouth were beginning to hurt.


    ¡°I see that.¡± The housewife laughed. ¡°Oh, Aloe, you should try happiness sometime.¡±


    ¡°I heard it¡¯s an addictive drug, so I¡¯ll pass,¡± Aloe replied to her with a shit-eating grin.


    ¡°So it¡¯s your mood too.¡± Mirah¡¯s smile felt void for the first time, which made Aloe impossibly happy.


    ¡°Yes, yes, I¡¯m going. Stop pulling.¡± The voice of Jafar could be heard from the corridor, and before he and Aya appeared, Mirah¡¯s expression recovered her warmness. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect you to be this soon here, little plant.¡±


    ¡°Today I have a busy day, and besides, it¡¯s not that soon if Aya is already awake.¡±


    ¡°Sorry for not having the energy of a young child at my age.¡± Jafar sighed and patted the overexcited girl on his legs. ¡°Shall we get going then?¡±


    ¡°Lead the way.¡± Aloe pointed at the main door.


    As Jafar opened the door, Aya shouted at them. ¡°Bye Dad, remember to bring sweets!¡±


    Mirah stood behind Aya and gave her husband a gaze telling him ¡°Don¡¯t you dare.¡± Jafar smiled at his family.


    ¡°I don¡¯t promise anything, sweetling.¡± That answer pacified both women. ¡°Follow me, Aloe.¡±


    Instead of using the main bazaar, a road far too open where the sun always hit, Jafar guided Aloe through the many labyrinthic alleyways of Sadina. Those, whilst far more claustrophobic, were always covered in the shade provided by the houses or the canopies that connected them.


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    Aloe could only be thankful for Jafar¡¯s foresight; she detested the sun. Quite ironic as her name was based on a plant. Though the plenty turns along the corners of the alleys got Aloe worried.


    ¡°Uncle... are we going to some sort of... underground apothecary?¡± She wasn¡¯t a blissfully ignorant youngster, she knew the world wasn¡¯t golden like the sun, but indagating in that world made her nervous, nevertheless.


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t call it that...¡± Jafar responded, but even he wasn¡¯t sure. ¡°It¡¯s a legitimate business, I can tell you that much. But it¡¯s true he¡¯s open to more options than other apothecaries.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll trust your instincts then.¡± The conversation died out until they reached their destination.


    The fa?ade of the store was like any other house or shop. Though the doorway was free, only a red curtain blocking the view from the inside, and at the top of where the door should be hung a wooden signboard with a nondescript leaf.


    ¡°Women first.¡± Jafar opened the curtains for Aloe.


    She didn¡¯t respond, instead wordlessly entering the apothecary. The place was poorly lit, light only entering from a window placed high on the wall that faced the street. Some plants grew in plots, but even to Aloe¡¯s unexpert eye, she could tell they were purely decorative.


    ¡°Ah, clients. That is an uncommon sight.¡± An old man appeared from the back shop, rubbing his hands against a dirty piece of cloth. ¡°What brings you here youn... Jafar?¡±


    ¡°The one and only.¡± The tall man shrugged. ¡°How are you doing, Umar? Is business good?¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t say it¡¯s going swiftly, but I¡¯ll survive whatever of my life is remaining.¡± Umar, the apothecary, responded. ¡°And what¡¯s this young girl you brought with you? Aiming for youngling even when you are married?¡±


    ¡°Please don¡¯t make that type of jokes, I love my Mirah too much for that. And I like them with more meat.¡± Jafar and Umar chuckled together, making Aloe¡¯s mood sour. ¡°And no, in any case, she made me bring her here. She¡¯s Aloe, Karaim¡¯s granddaughter.¡±


    A brief flash of darkness was exchanged between the men¡¯s eyes. But it was too fleeting for Aloe to make sense of it. I guess I¡¯ve just imagined it.


    ¡°Oh,¡± Umar gesticulated in surprise. ¡°You have my condolences, Aloe. Karaim was one of the best if not my best customer.¡±


    ¡°First time I hear about his,¡± Aloe commented.


    ¡°Well, your grandfather was of the secretive kind,¡± Umar said. ¡°But let¡¯s leave the dead to their rest, tell me about you. What are you doing here, Aloe?¡±


    ¡°I intend to sell some of the seeds that my grandfather left behind that I have no use for.¡± Aloe took the backpack out of her back on dropped it carefully unto the ground.


    ¡°All seeds are useful, that is my opinion as an apothecary.¡± The old man said.


    ¡°Will you have a look at them, or should I get out now?¡± Aloe responded nonchalantly.


    ¡°You have brought a tough nut here, Jafar. But yes, young one, please let me have a look at your wares.¡±


    Aloe slowly took the jars out of the backpack, the first ones being seeds of common flowers.


    ¡°Hmm, I see.¡± Umar read the labels and opened the jars to inspect the seeds. ¡°I now understand why you said you had no use for them. Neither have I. Though others will certainly do.¡±


    ¡°How much can you offer for them?¡± Aloe¡¯s eyelids were half-opened, her expression shrewd.


    ¡°Ah, I said some will be opened to offers, but I fear my business doesn¡¯t deal exactly with flowers. To sell this I should go to other intermediaries.¡±


    ¡°Price.¡± Aloe stated cuttingly.


    ¡°Twenty drupnars per jar,¡± Umar replied in kind.


    ¡°With twenty drupnars I can only have a fancy dinner.¡± The woman¡¯s face was devoid of emotion.


    ¡°Some people can¡¯t even afford a fancy dinner.¡± The old man smiled at her.


    ¡°I¡¯m a fancy girl, what can I say.¡± Aloe slightly upended the corners of her mouth. ¡°Forty drupnars per jar and some cheap medicinal plant seeds.¡±


    ¡°I think you overestimate how many people will even consider buying you these seeds.¡± Umar sighed. ¡°Though I liked the medicinal seeds part. Per five jars, I¡¯ll add a pot of my own with a mix of basic herbs.¡±


    ¡°No change in price?¡± Aloe rose her brows.


    Umar shrugged.


    ¡°Thirty-eight drupnars per jar.¡±


    ¡°Twenty-five.¡±


    ¡°Thirty-five.¡±


    ¡°Thirty, and I won¡¯t go higher than that.¡± Umar lay his hands on the counter.


    ¡°Those herbs better be good.¡± Aloe offered her hand.


    ¡°Only the best.¡± The apothecary smiled at her and accepted the handshake, closing the deal.


    Aloe pushed ten pots of simple flowers, only vaguely wanted for their pretty colors and nothing else. Umar replied in kind by pushing sixty fajats to her. The copper coins were slightly bigger than drupnars and had inscribed on each face the flag of Ydaz, a sun shining over two dunes. Aloe pushed the fajats into her coin purse, making it extremely heavy. He could have paid in drupnari. The banker¡¯s apprentice sighed mentally.


    ¡°As for the seed mix, I¡¯ll need a minute to gather them.¡±


    ¡°Wait.¡± As the old man proceeded to go to the back shop, Aloe stopped him. ¡°Who said our business had concluded with just that transaction.¡±


    Aloe rummaged through her backpack, looking for the main dish of her sale. She took out a little inconspicuous pot and slammed it on the counter. She slowly rotated it for Umar to read the label. The old man took a few seconds to read the text.


    ¡°Oh.¡± The sound coming from his mouth was of genuine surprise.

 13. Cannabis

    ¡°You are either courageous or stupid by showing me cannabis seeds in the presence of an officer of the law,¡± Umar stated with a deadpan.


    Aloe blushed.


    Cannabis itself wasn¡¯t illegal, seeds even less so. But there was a strict control on hashish. She eyed Uncle Jafar from the corner of her eye without turning her head away from the apothecary.


    ¡°Ha!¡± The old man laughed, hitting the counter with his fist. ¡°Gotta give it to you, girl. You have balls of steel. Or I guess ovaries.¡± Umar shrugged. ¡°Jafar has seen worse shit go through this shop than just seeds.¡±


    ¡°Come on man, you can¡¯t just admit to that in front of my niece.¡± Jafar sighed placing his elbows on the wooden counter.


    ¡°Considering the rumors always circling about the guard, that¡¯s just expected of you at this point.¡± Umar crackled, his laugh was mixed with some coughs. ¡°Anyways, let me first have a look at what are we dealing with here first.¡±


    Umar lifted the top of the pot to inspect the seeds, instantly filling the room with a strong yet sweet aroma.


    ¡°Yeah, definitely cannabis.¡± The apothecary said as he fingered the pot, revolving the seeds inside. He took one for everyone else to see. ¡°These ones are recent, only a few months old.¡±


    ¡°Wait.¡± Aloe suddenly petrified. ¡°Are you saying that my grandfather was doing hashish?¡±


    ¡°Most likely yes,¡± Umar responded nonchalantly, almost as if he already knew.


    Aloe turned to Jafar. ¡°Did you know?¡±


    The guard raised his hands and put his index finger on top of his lips.


    ¡°That¡¯s not a response.¡± And she kicked him in the sheens.


    The strongly built man didn¡¯t react to the attack, instead he was highly amused by the burst of anger coming from Aloe.


    ¡°Well, you now know why Karaim was so secretive with the greenhouse.¡± Jafar deflected.


    Aloe straightened her posture and then realized. But that isn¡¯t the case. He was secretive because of the vital arts and the Evolved plants. And I didn¡¯t see any cannabis plants growing in the greenhouse. She stopped for a second and blinked. Or at least I didn¡¯t recognize any. Most plants were kind of ruined. Was the cannabis production just a front to cover his discoveries?


    The banker sighed and dusted her dress. ¡°Anyways, how much is that worth?¡±


    ¡°Hmm, it¡¯s difficult to estimate.¡± Umar scratched his chin, unfazed by the duo¡¯s antics. ¡°There aren¡¯t that many seeds here, this just looks like a redundancy stash. Karaim must have set these seeds apart in case the harvest was poor. Hard thing considering he was using a greenhouse, but still possible.¡±


    ¡°How much?¡± Aloe reiterated; her businesswoman expression returned.


    ¡°To be honest, seeds aren¡¯t worth that much, what matters is the plant. The product.¡± Umar stated. ¡°People who can cultivate cannabis have unlimited seeds, and people who want to cultivate can get those seeds cheap from people who have an unlimited supply.¡±


    ¡°But the latter doesn¡¯t know who the former is,¡± Aloe added.


    ¡°Clever girl.¡± Umar smiled. ¡°That much is true. The latter is a novice, inexperienced group. They aren¡¯t in for the business but for recreational use. And most likely than not, they are apprehensive to show their tastes to others.¡±


    ¡°But an apothecary could provide those seeds without scaring them.¡±


    The old man¡¯s smile intensified. ¡°Yes, of course. But a single seed would be enough for them.¡±


    ¡°Meaning you can charge them whatever you want for them.¡± Aloe leaned closer to the counter.


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    ¡°She¡¯s got you by the balls, friend.¡± Jafar snickered at the side.


    Umar pushed the seed pot back Aloe. ¡°My opinion as an apothecary? Keep them.¡±


    Aloe frowned. ¡°Why¡¯s that?¡± She didn¡¯t bother to take back the pot, that would signalize weakness.


    ¡°I do have seeds of my own, and besides, you have time.¡± The apothecary got away from the counter. ¡°Those seeds will keep their effectiveness for a long time, maybe years, if you really want to make coin, I recommend you growing those seeds yourself.¡±


    ¡°Y-you want me to...?¡± Aloe was speechless.


    ¡°Are you now worried about drugs, really?¡± Umar deadpanned.


    ¡°It¡¯s not that,¡± Aloe responded a little too fast.


    ¡°That¡¯s what seems to be the case.¡± The old man said. ¡°Girl, that is a gold mine. You don¡¯t sell the gold mine, you mine the gold and then trade it. Keep them, I¡¯m making you a favor here.¡±


    Aloe unconsciously turned to look at Jafar for an opinion, but the guard just shrugged. This was her decision. Aloe¡¯s hand shook slightly as she grabbed the seed jar. She knew Umar was right, if she truly wanted to make money, Karaim¡¯s greenhouse offered her a lucrative future along with the seeds.


    But.


    Her mind was filled with the rumors and hearsay of the drug lords and addicts. But especially the others. She knew that there was money to be made, but should she go to that level?


    ¡°I¡¯ll...¡± the seeds suddenly felt heavy in her hands, ¡°I¡¯ll think about it.¡±


    ¡°Is that all, or do you keep more secrets on that bag of yours?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s all I considered worth taking from the greenhouse,¡± Aloe admitted, even if it was a half-truth.


    ¡°Alright then, give me a moment to ready some of those medicinal seeds we¡¯ve talked about before. Back in a minute.¡± Umar said as he disappeared into the back shop.


    As soon as they were alone in the shop, Aloe turned to face Jafar. She lay the weight of her body on the counter in a relaxed posture, yet her eyes were all but that.


    ¡°So, hashish eh,¡± Aloe said.


    ¡°Aye.¡± Jafar rested his back on the wall, unconcern written on his face. ¡°Though you can¡¯t write off cannabis directly as hashish, there are some other factors involved.¡± He responded with a suspicious acquaintance to the process.


    ¡°How long have you known?¡± She ignored the guard¡¯s comment.


    ¡°Little plant, it would be easier to count how long I have not known.¡± His words were filled with mockery, yet his tone was serious.


    ¡°Does everyone know?¡± Aloe shook lightly the pot. The cannabis seeds inside making a muted ringing sound.


    ¡°Suns, no!¡± Jafar let out a sigh. ¡°Mirah would kill me if she knew, and Shahrazad would suffer from a heart attack if she became aware of what her father did. Only the men knew until now. Me, your grandfather, Umar here, and Amid.¡±


    ¡°My father?¡±


    ¡°Ah, sweet desert child.¡± Jafar swayed his head. ¡°A commoner doesn¡¯t become an influential banker without some tricks. Either connections or capital. Your grandfather was the one who allowed him to reach those heights.¡±


    ¡°D-does that mean that all the money in our family is drug money?¡± Aloe¡¯s heart skipped a beat.


    ¡°Nah, your father was a legit fella. At most, just the foundation.¡±


    ¡°I-¡° Aloe didn¡¯t know what to say. She had always thought that his father had been a paragon of commerce, a master manipulator of the economy, a meritocratic icon. From humble beginnings to wealthy standards. ¡°Can I even become a banker then?¡±


    Though doubt was what prevailed beyond the anger and frustration.


    ¡°I can tell that you are far more competent with numbers than your father ever was. Without Karaim sponsoring you... I think it¡¯s possible. You will have a far rougher way ahead of you, and it will take certainly longer to reach the level of your father, but I do believe it¡¯s doable.¡±


    So that¡¯s why Farid never promoted me beyond apprentice. Aloe muttered to herself so low that it almost seemed she had kept it to herself. I never had a sponsor behind me after Father passed away.


    ¡°I...¡± Aloe¡¯s grip on the pot tightened. ¡°Thanks, Uncle Jafar.¡±


    ¡°No problem, little plant.¡± The tall man gave her a warm smile. ¡°I wish you find success in the greenhouse.


    ¡°How did you know?¡± She added in confusion. ¡°I didn¡¯t tell you.¡±


    ¡°You are like an open book, little plant!¡± Jafar laughed, slapped his knee, and then pushed against the wall, springing outwards the wall as Umar appeared from the back shop.


    Aloe¡¯s expression of weakness transformed into a frown.


    ¡°What are you bringing there, old man?¡± Jafar asked Umar, refusing to deal with Aloe.


    ¡°Two pots of a mixture of medicinal herbs.¡± The apothecary explained. ¡°Nothing fancy, really. The first pot has half thyme and sage seeds, and the other chamomile and black seeds.¡±


    ¡°I can understand the first three,¡± Aloe pointed out, ¡°but what is medicinal about the black seeds? Aren¡¯t they just spices?¡±


    ¡°What is a spice but the tongue¡¯s medicine?¡± Umar added with the tone of the classical old man speaking in riddles.


    ¡°Just admit you didn¡¯t want the seeds around.¡± Jafar spitted.


    ¡°Bah!¡± Umar groaned. ¡°Always badmouthing me.¡±


    ¡°Whilst they are not medicinal, I¡¯ll think I¡¯ll take them.¡± Aloe took the pots out of the apothecary¡¯s hands. Food in the greenhouse had been rather dull as she lived on rations, but if she wanted to have better meals, black seeds¡¯ seasoning would certainly help. ¡°That reminds me, do you have any food I could grow in the greenhouse or the oasis?¡±


    ¡°Food? I¡¯m an apothecary, I only deal with drugs or medicine.¡± The old man grunted. ¡°If you want to grow food, just go to the market and buy a sack of potatoes. Those plants are almost weeds, they grow anywhere.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll take up on your advice then,¡± Aloe responded with a fake smile. ¡°See you later.¡±


    ¡°Yes, unfortunately. It seems our paths will cross in the future.¡± Although Umar¡¯s words were harsh, a genuine grin appeared on his face.

 14. Bath

    ¡°You both certainly sprout from the same plant,¡± Jafar commented as he and Aloe left the apothecary.


    ¡°You offend me, Jafar.¡± Aloe led her hand to her chest in faux offense. ¡°I am nothing like that geezer apothecary.¡±


    ¡°I can still hear you!¡± Umar shouted from the interior of the shop. ¡°Damn you both!¡±


    Jafar and Aloe laughed at the old man¡¯s curses as they rushed into the streets. Somehow, the farther they got away, the louder they got until they eventually dissipated into nothingness.


    ¡°Ah, that was fun,¡± Jafar said.


    ¡°You have a weird concept of amusement.¡± Aloe replicated.


    The guard shrugged. ¡°What are you going to do now, anyways?¡±


    ¡°Now I¡¯ll go to the public baths and rest a bit. I still feel the sand coursing through my body from yesterday.¡± Aloe sighed. ¡°What about you, shouldn¡¯t you be working?¡±


    ¡°I have time still.¡± Jafar looked at the sun¡¯s position. By now, it had already been out for a while, though it still was far away from its apex. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t you like to bathe with your uncle?¡±


    Aloe¡¯s gaze turned lethal. ¡°I¡¯ll shove that scimitar of yours up your ass before getting nowhere close in the bath with you.¡±


    ¡°Whoops, it seems this wasn¡¯t a little plant, but a kitty.¡± Jafar raised his arms though he gestured the motion of claws with his hands. ¡°It was just one time, won¡¯t you forget, Aloe?¡±


    ¡°You almost drowned me when I was a child! I won¡¯t forget nor forgive!¡± The girl exploded. ¡°I spent years being afraid of water because of you!¡±


    ¡°Ah, fair.¡± The man¡¯s arms fell down as if their strings had been cut. ¡°I¡¯ll leave you alone then, and I¡¯ll spend a bit of time with my loving family.¡±


    ¡°If you dare follow me, you¡¯ll see that I wasn¡¯t joking around with the scimitar.¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t, I won¡¯t.¡± Jafar took a step forward. ¡°But let¡¯s be honest. I could put you down with a single finger.¡± His smile curved in demonic darkness. ¡°Kidding, of course.¡±


    Aloe knew that wasn¡¯t the case. Ignoring the genders, Jafar was almost half a meter taller than her. And unlike her, the man was well-built and had training as a soldier. The weapon he carried on his hips wasn¡¯t a decoration.


    ¡°I¡¯ll see you at the feast tonight.¡± Aloe walked away from the man without giving him an opportunity to say his goodbyes.


    Even though she didn¡¯t know her exact current position or the streets she was moving through, it was somehow easy to find her way back to the main bazaar. Not only it was the longest avenue of the city ¨C spanning from one side of Sadina to the other, only cut in half by the emir¡¯s palace ¨C but also a lot of tall buildings were built around it, making it as easy as following the city skyline to return to the bazaar. Far more boring than guiding yourself with the night sky¡¯s stars, though.


    ¡°Yeah, I think I can make the way back alone if I want.¡± Aloe thought aloud as she saw a carpet trader post she was familiar with. That meant she wasn¡¯t that far away from her home.


    Taking advantage of her proximity, Aloe went back to her home to leave the backpack and the worryingly full coin purse. She had hidden it inside the backpack because a purse that fully attracted cutpurses like the night did with monsters.


    Her mother was still at home, though she had moved from the kitchen to her late father''s office to continue working with her scribe documents. Aloe greeted her and left the mostly empty backpack, along with the coin purse and the cannabis seeds in her room. She substituted the hard leather backpack with a cloth bag that she filled with bath products and a set of clothing and undergarments. She also grabbed a spare coin purse and put three of the copper fajats she had gotten in the apothecary to use as change.


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    The stroll there was pleasant, even if the sun was already starting to shine with strength. Aloe could only bless the endless line of palms planted in the center of the bazaar avenue for their plentiful and cool shadow.


    The Public Baths of Sadina was the biggest public building and one of the biggest structures in the entire city. Only the Emir¡¯s palace and the university¡¯s library were greater in size. Unlike the university which had limited and controlled access, everyone was free to enter the public baths. Though that was not Aloe¡¯s true intention.


    The great building decorated with marble pillars and a sizeable dome at the top provided subpar services for the public unpaying citizens. Sure, you could soak yourself in the waters of the Eyana River without being apprehended by the guards for either contaminating the precious waters or public indecency, but the public forum that was the baths was... undesirable.


    Many people flocked to the public baths every day at all hours of the day because it was free and it was the only real way for most of the population to bathe legally without using a sand bath, meaning it was always full.


    And all that people made so the water wasn¡¯t exactly clean.


    At least in Sadina the baths were separated by gender, other less populated or less wealthy cities couldn¡¯t afford segregation as it took away scarce resources. Aloe could only be thankful for that as she doubted her heart could take a bath with people of the other gender.


    But beyond the public baths, there was an alternative. A separate service for those willing to pay. The price was steep enough for the average citizen to not be able to take it regularly, but low enough for at least experiencing it once in a while.


    Instead of entering from the main gate, she ignored the colossal steps guiding her to the grand entrance and diverted to a more modest doorway. As for traditional ydazi architecture, the gate itself wasn¡¯t a door, but a set of blue curtains that matched with the building¡¯s function.


    As Aloe stepped into the baths, the temperature increased from the exterior, hints of steam coming beyond the reception desk. At said desk, a woman sat behind with a bunch of stacked papers. She was lightly clothed, her pale arms and sections of her torso visible.


    ¡°Welcome to the Public Baths,¡± the receptionist said with a practiced motion, ¡°what service would you require today?¡±


    Aloe knew all the services by memory as this wasn¡¯t the first time she came. There were three: a simple, a normal, and a luxurious one. The simple one was only one drupnar, but it allowed people to enjoy a warm bath. The normal one at the price of one fajat was better, the warm waters were now scented with perfumes and oils. The luxurious one was dotted with massagists and other services, but the price ramped up significantly more from the previous ones, now at the mark of one drupnarun.


    It was needless to say that even the richest patrons didn¡¯t take such service regularly.


    ¡°Just a normal one.¡± Aloe slipped a fajat from her coin purse to the counter in a practiced motion.


    The female receptionist didn¡¯t pry any further, only vaguely pointing at the door she needed to walk towards with a slight sway of her head.


    The changing room of the normal bath service was empty, though some of the baskets were filled with contents. Aloe undressed, placing her clothes on the basket and hiding the two other fajats she carried outside the purse and putting one in her clothes and the other under the basket.


    Just in case.


    Once she donned her birth clothes, Aloe grabbed her rather cheap hair products and a towel, then directed to the cleaning pool. Unlike the free service, you had to clean yourself in a separate bath before entering the real deal. No one wanted to bathe in dirty waters, especially paying customers.


    The water in the cleaning pool was rather cool as it came directly from the Eyana River. The subterranean river was frigid for desert standards and also not that clean, but it got out the worst on Aloe¡¯s skin. She scrubbed the sand that lingered in her body even after a full day, though she didn¡¯t dare to submerge her head in the questionable water. The oasis back in the greenhouse looked more pristine than the cleaning pool.


    After a few minutes, she took off and entered the warm bath. The waters were hot as they were constantly being heated by coal and the sun. It was a type of warmth that was comfortable, instead of the oppressing sun that she was so used to.


    Her feet and legs melted as soon as they touched the water. Aloe¡¯s tiredness evaporated the instant her shoulders were submerged and her back lay relaxed on the walls of the pool.


    The water was steaming and remotely white, filled with perfumes and oils that soothed her skin. The scent was somewhat sweet, but overall, barely noticeable. And yet they made her sleepy. It was difficult to remain awake when the soothing water caressed every corner of your body.


    There were more women in the bath, but because of the odd hour and the colossal pool, only three of them shared the whole place for themselves. One of them had a chest so big that it floated on top of the water, dark spots vaguely peeping over the whitish liquid.


    Aloe was not jealous at all.


    Not at all.


    She turned her face away, thinking of more important matters.


    ¡°Ah, I almost don¡¯t remember walking for a full day...¡± Aloe moaned as her shoulders downed ever-so-slightly deeper into the waters. Though her thoughts turned a bit darker as she noticed her lacking body in the obscuring waters.


    At least, the water hid it.


    She could only wish water was more present in her life.

 15. Office

    Aloe blinked, steam occluding her sight. A grumble had awakened her. Her head was dizzy, and it took her a monumental effort to make coherent thoughts. She looked down at her body, her hands extremely wrinkly by the water. Her stomach grumbled once more in protest.


    That snapped her out of her trance.


    ¡°How much time have I spent in the pool!¡± Aloe jumped out, her body splashing water everywhere as she stood up.


    She blushed once she became aware she had shouted, but as she swayed her head from side to side praying on occlusion from the steamy environment, she noticed she was thankfully alone in the bath.


    That didn¡¯t stop her from becoming overly conscious of her outburst, Aloe put an arm before her chest as she left the hot bath, eager to run away in shame even if she had the place to herself.


    Unfortunately, or fortunately, she remembered that she hadn¡¯t washed her hair, let alone soaked it.


    Aloe groaned as she grabbed a wooden bucket hanging from one of the decorated stone walls of the bath. Stone was rare in Ydaz, let alone Sadina. Most houses were made of sandstone or mud, only rich people or public buildings like this one could afford such luxuries.


    The naked girl tiptoed in the cold tiling of the floor, quite gracious with their floral motifs though she could only now frown in annoyance at the temperature dissonance, then knelt down before the warm and scented water pool and downed the bucket inside.


    She heaved the bucket all the way to the across and cold-water cleaning pool and then dropped the contents of the bucket on top of her head. The perfumed water washed through her sweaty and dusty hair, though she was far from over.


    Going back to the warm bath, Aloe filled the bucket again but now grabbed her towel and bath products. Firstly, she grabbed a bar of soap, slightly soaking it into the bucket, and then rubbed it in her hands to make some foam.


    She put the bar aside and scrubbed her hair with passion, not wanting to leave a strand unwashed. Once satisfied with her thorough cleaning, Aloe dropped the bucket once more on top of her, the warm water washing away the soap.


    ¡°Ah~¡± Aloe groaned in satisfaction. ¡°I feel alive once more.¡±


    Her hair didn¡¯t usually get dirty but considering how much she had worked out the previous days and the thrashing stray sands of the desert infiltrating her clothes, her scalp had gotten rather itchy. Scrubbing her hair was an understatement as Aloe proceeded to hack her scalp like a madwoman.


    ¡°I shouldn¡¯t have thought about the itch.¡± She gritted her teeth. ¡°I can¡¯t stop feeling it now!¡± And then put more vigor into her assault.


    Once the irritation of her head had been satiated, Aloe grabbed the soap bar and made some foam again. Instead of washing her hair now, she led her foam-covered hands along the edges of her body. The scented water had done an excellent job, especially after staying inside as long as she did, but it was better to be preventive and scrubbed her body. Aloe¡¯s soft pink palms traced along her dark skin until the white foam stretched out too far to be seen.


    She rinsed her head and body once more to wash the soap away and then vaguely dried her hair with the towel (with her short hair and the thrashing sunlight there was no real need to even dry it in the first place). Satisfied with the bath, Aloe covered herself with the towel and went back to the changing room.


    Her paranoia was harder to satisfy as she looked at the corners and doors of the room for any prying eyes, Aloe checked the fajats she had stored away. She only breathed once she secured that they still remained in their respective positions. No one had neither disturbed her clothing. She knew she was being irrational, there were no reports of someone stealing anything in the public bath changing rooms, certainly not in the ones with a price tag, but that didn¡¯t scratch the itch in her head.


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    Cautiousness was good.


    Donning her clothes back was a bit cumbersome as her wrinkly skin was quite irritated, but she powered through the feeling and sighed in relief once she made it out of the changing rooms with her clean set of clothing.


    The bath had been refreshing but the instant her wet hair met the outside air, that was when she was truly refreshed. She had forgotten how hot it was inside the bath, even the desert midday seemed cold in comparison.


    ¡°Oh no!¡± Aloe cried in realization. ¡°It¡¯s midday!¡±


    The wet sound of the Aloe¡¯s sandals splashed around, the leather becoming soft and musty with the water, but she wasn¡¯t worried about that. Aloe rushed through the streets in an awkward trot as she went home.


    The windows were still closed, her mother hadn¡¯t bothered to open them in the morning. The only light in the whole house came from the single opened window in the kitchen. Shahrazad wasn¡¯t there. No kitchen utensils had been used either.


    Aloe frowned and went to the second floor of her father¡¯s office. At least her mother had the conscience of mind of opening the window instead of lighting a lamp as she wrote in the parchments.


    ¡°Still working?¡± Aloe lay her back on the office¡¯s doorframe, hiding the exhaustion and short breath from her rush.


    Shahrazad raised her eyes from the papers, they looked tired. ¡°Still wet?¡± She pointed with her feather at Aloe¡¯s hair.


    ¡°No need to be this aggressive, I made an honest question.¡± Aloe walked into the office and dropped her body lazily unto her father¡¯s favorite sofa.


    The piece of furniture was probably the most expensive in the whole house. The red pillows were etched with complex patterns and filled with feathers, clearly not a commoner¡¯s resting place.


    ¡°Sorry,¡± Shahrazad sighed, ¡°I shouldn¡¯t have left all this work for the last moment.¡± She put the feather aside and put the cork on the ink pot.


    ¡°You were mourning,¡± Aloe added, ¡°they are not paying you enough to bear with this.¡± Then corrected herself. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t be dealing with this.¡±


    Her mother just gave her a slightly tired smile and clapped her hands. ¡°Have you eaten yet?¡±


    ¡°I have not.¡± The daughter admitted. ¡°Though I guess it¡¯s a bit late to make something, don¡¯t you think?¡± Her eyes pointed through the window hole at the lowering sun.


    ¡°Nonsense!¡± Shahrazad stood abruptly from the chair, her motherly instincts kicking in. ¡°It¡¯s never too late for a meal!¡±


    Aloe, even as she held the mask her father had taught her to use, couldn¡¯t help to smile at her mother¡¯s sudden energies.


    ¡°I¡¯m glad you are motivated but remember that we are having dinner at Jafar¡¯s. And you know that Mirah won¡¯t do anything short of a feast.¡±


    ¡°Oh, you are right.¡± The enthusiasm vanished from her mother¡¯s visage. ¡°Well, we still have a lot of soup from yesterday in the cauldron. We should eat it now before it gets spoiled.¡±


    ¡°Let me light the fire then, you finish your business here.¡± Aloe offered.


    ¡°No, please let me do that.¡± Shahrazad walked away from the office desk. ¡°I need to do something besides letters and numbers.¡±


    ¡°Yes, and it¡¯s called ¡®rest¡¯.¡± Aloe stood up from the sofa and put her hands on her mother¡¯s shoulders. Looking at her closer, it was obvious how the death of Karaim still weighed her down.


    ¡°Aloe.¡± Her mother looked at her directly in the eyes. Unlike Aloe¡¯s green, almost aloe-like eyes, Shahrazad had an almond-brown color. And they wouldn¡¯t take a no for an answer.


    ¡°Mother.¡± She smiled at her with a cunning grin.


    Bankers were suited devils, or so Aloe¡¯s father liked to tell her when she was still a child. Her father didn¡¯t embellish the job, most times even downright insulted it, but somehow, she found herself following his steps and using his tactics.


    Shahrazad held her breath as her daughter¡¯s smile and gaze penetrated through her thoughts, the older woman deflated. She now looked infinitely smaller.


    ¡°You don¡¯t play fair.¡± The scribe looked down at the floor, her brown eyes becoming vaguely glassy.


    ¡°I never do.¡± And the apprentice¡¯s smile grew ever-so-devilish. ¡°Rest.¡± The order was short and shallowly spoken, but Shahrazad obeyed as she lay down on the sofa.


    ¡°Wake me up when the food¡¯s done,¡± Shahrazad whispered, an arm on top of her hiding her eyes.


    ¡°Of course.¡± Aloe nodded, though before she even left the room her mother had already passed to the land of the dreams. Heavens, she¡¯s exhausted.


    Aloe herself didn¡¯t fare any better, but her exhaustion was physical, and that was easier to cope with. Though she wouldn¡¯t deny the prospects of the coming hard labor she had before her didn¡¯t weigh down on her. She wasn¡¯t lazy, but nobody enjoyed using their muscles until they screamed.


    Nobody sane.


    With a melancholic smile, Aloe went to the floor below and lit up the hearth in the kitchen. Soup sounded rather delicious now.

 16. Dinner

    ¡°I¡¯m still angry that you didn¡¯t wake me up before.¡± Shahrazad pouted as she and Aloe walked down the bazaar.¡±


    ¡°You needed to sleep more, Mom,¡± Aloe said. ¡°If you are going to go to work tomorrow, being a moving corpse won¡¯t do you any good.¡±


    ¡°I guess you are right.¡± The old woman sighed. ¡°I¡¯m letting this affect me too much.¡±


    ¡°You are not letting anything affect you, this is normal, you¡¯ve just lost your father.¡± Aloe was brimming with anger, though it wasn¡¯t directed at her mother but at the people who forced her to work this soon after her loss. But that person was the head of Sadina and the whole region, so there wasn¡¯t anything to do.


    ¡°Don¡¯t put that face.¡± Shahrazad alerted her daughter. ¡°A girl with such beautiful clothes shouldn¡¯t have that expression of annoyance.¡±


    Because of the feast at Jafar¡¯s house, Aloe and Shahrazad had dressed for the occasion, taking out some of their best clothes. Aloe looked down at her body, not thinking the clothes were especially beautiful. She wore a simple light brown dress with a pistachio foulard covering her torso and shoulders from the sun, besides also wearing her favorite high sandals.


    To Aloe, her mother was more well-dressed.


    Shahrazad wore a white dress, more complex than Aloe¡¯s with its floral patterns, and a black shawl that contrasted perfectly with it. Her sandals were more worn than Aloe¡¯s and not as pompous, but she compensated it with her white silk bracelets-slash-open-ended gloves. And as an extra, Shahrazad donned a cayora, a traditional silk veil that women use to cover themselves from the sun.


    That was mostly the tipping point. Whilst her mother graciously protected her head from the sun with a white cayora, Aloe just put a simple straw hat on her head. Truth be told, she didn¡¯t have any other head accessories. Cayoras were adult headwear, and she was still technically not one. The saving grace that avoided her hat from destroying her whole outfit was the cloth band on the hat. It had the same pistachio-esque color as her foulard, meaning it complimented perfectly.


    Hmm, I could take the hat to the greenhouse. Aloe kept to herself. It does kinda make me look like a farmer.


    Not before long, the mother and daughter arrived at her destination. Aloe knocked thrice on the door and an instant later a short figure opened the door for them.


    ¡°Oh, what do we have here? Is it little Aya I see?¡± Shahrazad responded overjoyed as the one who opened the door was Jafar¡¯s daughter. Befitting of her position as a mother, Shahrazad rushed to grab the little girl¡¯s fluffy cheeks and toyed with them.


    Aya was obviously very against the gesture, but she had difficulties escaping from Shahrazad¡¯s playful onslaught.


    ¡°Sister Aloe, help me!¡± The girl cried in protest, though Aloe just stood to the side and smiled at the torture session. The heavens knew she was subjected to that many times when she was younger.


    As the little girl¡¯s cries for help grew louder, another figure came through the doorframe.


    ¡°Dad, help me!¡± Seeing that Aloe wouldn¡¯t do anything, Aya asked for help from her father.


    ¡°But of course, sweetling. Please Shahrazad, stop.¡± As Jafar said that, Shahrazad stood up from molesting Aya, but both gave themselves a knowing smile. Then Jafar assaulted her daughter¡¯s cheeks.


    ¡°Nooooo!¡± Aya let out a guttural scream as she was betrayed by her own father.


    <hr>


    ¡°Did you two need to be this forceful with her? She looks like a squirrel!¡± Mirah reprehended Jafar and Shahrazad once everyone had sat for dinner.


    Aloe couldn¡¯t deny that the excessive onslaught from the parents had turned Aya¡¯s cheeks from bronze to red. And also inflamed them a lot. Yet it was sickeningly sweet for Aloe. Jafar and Shahrazad seemed to think the same as there was a smile plastered on their faces.


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    Aya continued to pout in anger and refused to look at her father.


    ¡°I know how Jafar is, but I expected better from you Shahrazad!¡± Mirah critiqued.


    ¡°In my defense,¡± Shahrazad put a hand on her chest, ¡°she¡¯s extremely pattable.¡±


    ¡°That wasn¡¯t patting!¡± Aya shouted angrily.


    ¡°I agree. My sweetling is extremely pattable.¡± Jafar ignored her daughter and smiled at Shahrazad.


    Mirah sighed at her daughter¡¯s mistreatment, not knowing how to respond. Aya, on the other hand, did very much know how to respond as she began pummeling punch after punch on her father¡¯s side. The little girl¡¯s wild strikes did nothing but take out some laughs from Jafar. The guard was too well-built and the girl too weak to even harm him. Indeed, after a while, Aya stopped and panted in exhaustion.


    Everyone at the table laughed at the child¡¯s failure, even her supportive mother. Aya pouted harder in response, only highlighting the redness of her cheeks even more, though her gesture was interrupted as her stomach grumbled.


    ¡°Can we eat?¡± The little girl¡¯s eyes were redirected to the full table.


    ¡°Yes, I think it¡¯s time. Otherwise, Dad may do more bad things.¡± But before Mirah finished her sentence, both Aya and Jafar were munching on the food, prompting another sigh from the housewife. ¡°Every day like this.¡± She commented to Shahrazad.


    ¡°That¡¯s good.¡± The other mother smiled.


    ¡°Good?¡± Mirah frowned. ¡°This chaos?¡±


    ¡°A lousy house is better than a silent one,¡± Shahrazad responded with a hint of melancholy.


    ¡°Ehm...¡± Mirah didn¡¯t know how to respond. She was now thankful that Aya and her husband were too focused on eating to hear Shahrazad. ¡°I... I guess you are right.¡± She added warmth to her smile, trying to alleviate the tension. ¡°I¡¯m too used to the lousiness to have it stop now.¡±


    Aloe just tasted a bit of everything, putting meat and vegetables in equal measure on her plate, trying to not disturb the exchange.


    ¡°But enough of such dark topics,¡± Mirah clapped her hands to change subjects, ¡°what is this about Aloe and the greenhouse that I heard about.¡±


    The girl in question almost choked on her food at her mention. ¡°Yeah, what about it?¡± Aloe responded between coughs.


    ¡°Well, what are you going to do with your grandfather¡¯s greenhouse?¡± Mirah asked. ¡°I know that you are hyper-focused on money so you must have a robust financial plan to get rich.¡±


    ¡°...I don¡¯t?¡± Aloe turned ever-so-smaller and blushed.


    ¡°What do you mean you don¡¯t?¡± The housewife frowned.


    ¡°I was kind of a passionate and sudden decision.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I need to hear the story about this.¡± Jafar stopped toying with her daughter and entered the conversation. ¡°The little plant making a decision with her heart instead of her mind? That¡¯s unheard of!¡±


    ¡°Oh, f-¡° Aloe eyed the children at the table and held herself, ¡°screw off, Jafar. What do you take me for?¡±


    ¡°A money-obsessed djinn,¡± Jafar responded instantly.


    ¡°A cold-hearted profit machine,¡± Mirah added later.


    ¡°I asked only Jafar!¡± Aloe added angrily. ¡°And damn you both! Is that really what you think of me?¡±


    ¡°Daughter,¡± Shahrazad put a hand on Aloe''s shoulder, ¡°you tried to sell your father¡¯s carpet because you didn¡¯t like it.¡±


    ¡°I was six!¡± Aloe countered. ¡°And it was horrendous!¡±


    The money-obsessed djinn groaned.


    ¡°As much as I like to molest the little plant here, you surely have an idea to make the greenhouse work. Don¡¯t you, Aloe?¡± Jafar shifted his expression to a more serious one, yet not completely his guard-death-stare one.


    ¡°The greenhouse allows to cultivate exotic plants unsuited to the desert, and the oasis is fertile. So rather than not making profits, it¡¯s about not having losses. Minimizing the deficit of the enterprise until it grows sustainable. I can grow crops easily to sustain myself, and if I get my hands on hard-to-grow medicinal plants, then the money will literally grow from trees.¡±


    ¡°Hmm, sounds reasonable enough.¡± Jafar nodded. ¡°But I feel like you are hiding something from us.¡±


    ¡°Ehm... you wouldn¡¯t be wrong,¡± Aloe admitted. ¡°But I¡¯m not ready to disclose any information yet.¡±


    ¡°Oh~¡± The guard smiled at the lackluster response. ¡°You have only increased my interest, little plant.¡±


    ¡°Likewise.¡± Her mother added. ¡°I¡¯m overjoyed that you are going to take care of my father¡¯s greenhouse, but I would like to have information.¡±


    ¡°My lips are sealed.¡± At her daughter¡¯s response, Shahrazad frowned. ¡°Don¡¯t put that face, Mom. I¡¯m going to disclose information... in the future. I¡¯m still not ready. Karaim left some notes,¡± Aloe didn¡¯t explicitly mention the existence of the book yet, she had many things to confirm, ¡°an economically viable plan of sorts, but it will take me some time to put it into motion, and I¡¯m still not sure if I¡¯ll find success.¡±


    That was an outright lie. Karaim didn¡¯t set up his ¡®cultivation technique¡¯ as a monetary masterplan, but the economic opportunities were obvious. The Aloe Veritas itself was a revolutionary discovery allowing scholars and apothecaries to instantly classify plants (and most likely also animals as it worked on humans). But Aloe was unsure if to make this discovery public, if Karaim hadn¡¯t done so, he must have had a reason. And Aloe had some vague ideas of her own on why.


    Even if she thought she should do it, which she didn¡¯t, the scenario would need to be set carefully to present people with these magical plants. The ter¡¯nar also included.


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll wait patiently.¡± Shahrazad¡¯s expression relaxed and finally put a hand on the feast.


    Hopefully, no one would pry much on her grandfather¡¯s greenhouse anymore.

 17. Seeds

    The rest of the feast had been quite enjoyable. Even though Aloe didn¡¯t have the best of relations with Mirah, she couldn¡¯t deny how much of an excellent cook she was. No one in her household actually cooked. Since Aloe could remember, her parents had been always too occupied at work and would usually eat in the court.


    Before her father¡¯s death, when the family still overflowed in riches, they had contracted a maid to babysit Aloe, clean the house, and do the meals. After that though, she found herself frequenting more and more Jafar¡¯s house. It wasn¡¯t until a while ago that she had stopped going, deciding to cook for herself.


    And whilst she wasn¡¯t exactly a good cook, no one had truly taught her besides those times she observed Mirah cook, Aloe had surpassed her mother in the kitchen.


    Why all of this rambling?


    Because for the first time in a while, Aloe was cooking for herself again. Shahrazad had gone back to work at the emir¡¯s court with the scribes, leaving her alone. She intended to go back to the greenhouse this same week, but first, she had some errands to do. And other reasons to stay behind for the time being.


    Gathering rations and actual food as she intended to stay for a longer period was important, but she would leave it for last as the fresher the food, the better.


    The first thing Aloe did was write a letter. She needed to have a word with the bank, especially her ¡®mentor¡¯ Farid, but doing so face to face would show desperation. Well, partially. She just didn¡¯t want to have the conversation of why she hadn¡¯t been promoted yet to an actual job and she was leaving for an indeterminate period of time.


    She had to show them that they needed her. And the excuse of ¡®you are not an adult yet¡¯ would not work. The heavens know that the children, whilst not yearning for the mines, are part of the workforce.


    And if the greenhouse truly was a successful venture, well, they would already know why she didn¡¯t bother contacting them back.


    Writing letters was tricky, you needed to convey passion in your words, but you couldn¡¯t speak with the heart because that would be interpreted as weakness. It had to be equivalent to a talk but without being present.


    Weakness was something tricky to fight around.


    ¡°Honestly, I should have asked Mom.¡± Aloe dropped the feather in the tincture after having finished. ¡°She isn¡¯t a scribe for anything. But that would have prompted questions. I can¡¯t have her reading this.¡±


    Overall, she considered the letter a solid job. Not perfect, but it would do the trick just fine. The thing was delivering it. She couldn¡¯t do it just now, the bank would probably come for her. She had to be out of the city the moment the letter arrived to them. That would put a wall between them. They had to grow desperate and see how useful she really was.


    Now, she could only do two things as she waited. And she had very good reasons to wait a few days before leaving for the greenhouse.


    One was reading more of Karaim¡¯s cultivation technique, the other was investigating what she could grow in the greenhouse. The banker¡¯s apprentice eyed the seed pots she had obtained from the apothecary.


    ¡°Thyme, sage, chamomile, and black seeds. Hmm...¡± She lay her head on the cool wooden desk, swaying one of the pots from side to side as the seeds inside swayed like sand in the dunes. ¡°None are really expensive, and I kinda can use all of them if I ever get sick in the greenhouse. It would be really easy for me to fall ill, and the closest hospital is a day away. Probably more if I have to do the trek in suboptimal conditions. Hmm... could I get others?¡±


    From what she had seen, most of the greenhouse was occupied with flowers. Flowers that she wouldn¡¯t replant as they were hard to preserve, transport, and overall inexpensive. That left a sizeable parcel for medicinal plants.


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    ¡°Huh, now that I think about it, most of that dead organic matter was cannabis, wasn¡¯t it?¡±


    Considering she hadn¡¯t found any of the plants, and his grandfather was apparently some kind of drug lord, the only real reason for the lack of cannabis being planted was that it had wilted away and it was too unrecognizable for Aloe¡¯s untrained eye.


    ¡°I mean, I wasn¡¯t looking for it, and even if I was, the nince-damned blue tree and the foul smell had all my attention.¡±


    Aloe wiggled her head across the desk until she spotted the only seeds she had kept.


    ¡°I could.¡± She said looking at the pot. ¡°It would be easy money. The thing is, should I?¡±


    Cannabis trafficking, and therefore hashish trafficking, wasn¡¯t outlawed by the government. You could get into some problems regarding manufacturing, taxes, or in which hands ended, but the problem wasn¡¯t the government itself. The problem was the...


    ¡°Assassins.¡± Aloe sighed.


    Everyone that lived in Ydaz, or even the whole Qiraji region, knew about the menace that they presented. A collective of lethal murderers that obeyed no one, those are the assassins. Sometimes they accepted coin, but most times when they assassinated important targets, they did it out of their own volition and agenda.


    ¡°If I started doing cannabis, especially at the amounts the greenhouse will allow me to, they are going to find me.¡± She wasn¡¯t na?ve. ¡°The assassins have eyes and ears everywhere.¡± That was a saying that circulated the streets. ¡°Is that truly true though?¡±


    Yes.


    Most likely yes.


    ¡°If not even the sultanah or other nations have been able to stop them, then no one can.¡± Aloe separated her face from the desk, her skin distorting a bit from the stickiness of the wood, and forcefully lay her back on the chair with her head looking at the ceiling. ¡°The previous Emir of Sadina died because he wronged them, and they made sure to make that clear, do I really want to call the attention of those people? Am I that desperate?¡±


    The answer was simple.


    ¡°No to both.¡± Aloe jumped from the chair with the cannabis jar in her hand. ¡°There are many alternatives, and we aren¡¯t that short of money.¡±


    But deep down she knew that that door would always be open.


    ¡°I need some air.¡±


    She forcefully left the pot on the desk, the crash loud enough to make her think she had broken it, but she didn¡¯t hassle herself to check.


    As Aloe rushed into the morning sun, she couldn¡¯t avoid but think if she was making a dune out of a pile of sand. Sure, the assassins were highly covetous of drugs, for whatever reason, but they wouldn¡¯t hurt her.


    Quite the contrary, in fact.


    Whilst they were known to be cold-blooded murderers, they weren¡¯t serial killers. Some even said the assassins were fairer than those ruling the sands. Aloe didn¡¯t have an opinion on that, though she knew that assassin micro-states existed. The only sovereign they tolerated was their own.


    ¡°I should just focus on the cultivation technique for now.¡± The girl walked down the bazaar.


    The merchants shouted at the passerby for their attention, wanting to sell their wares and relieve others of their drupnars. The loud cacophony was comforting, it was familiar, and it prevented her from thinking.


    ¡°Huh, that reminds me I need something beyond food and seeds.¡± The colorful canopies of silk and palm leaves filled her vision as she now walked with a destination in mind.


    It was peculiar feeling lost because she had too many options. Until now she had lived with the mentality that she would become a banker, but her grandfather had shown her a more... mystical way. And if Jafar and Umar¡¯s words were to be trusted, the banker''s path wasn¡¯t as open as she once hoped it was.


    Before she could sink into more depressive thoughts, Aloe stopped at a stall. Not any notable products were for sale, but she didn¡¯t want anything special.


    ¡°G¡¯day missus, what da ya¡¯ wan?¡± The vendor was quite old, the beard not quite white yet, but close.


    ¡°Not much, I¡¯ve just noticed you are selling farming equipment.¡±


    ¡°Aye,¡± The old man nodded, ¡°recently had a nasty wound and I can¡¯t go back to the fields.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you have anyone in the family to sell them? What about the fields?¡±


    ¡°Nay, missus. Ma¡¯ daughter works at the university, and ma¡¯ own missus is far worse for the wear than me. The fields even ain¡¯t ma¡¯ own.¡±


    ¡°Huh, quite rare,¡± Aloe mussitated, she remembered that around Sadina most farmers owned the land they sow. If the man didn¡¯t own it, then it was reclaimed land by the sultan. ¡°Anyways, what do you have here?¡±


    ¡°Anythin¡¯ ya¡¯ can use in the field, missus.¡± The ex-farmer pointed with open arms at his stall. ¡°Some old bronze tools and such.¡±


    ¡°What about the gloves? They look new.¡±


    ¡°Aye, bought them a few months back. Ya¡¯ can have them for a fajat if ya¡¯ wanna.¡±


    ¡°Deal.¡± Aloe tossed him a fajat from her coin purse in a swift finger flip. The old man caught it in midair without breaking a sweat.


    ¡°Pleasure doin¡¯ business with ya¡¯, missus.¡± The farmer stated after chewing the thick copper coin.


    ¡°I¡¯m not quite done yet, though,¡± Aloe said as she stashed the hard leather gloves in her bag. ¡°Would you happen to have some seeds?¡±

 18. Dweller

    ¡°Seeds, missus? Ya¡¯ fancin¡¯ a farm?¡± The farmer turned vendor inquired.


    ¡°Not quite, more gardening than farming. Though I intend to grow my food.¡±


    ¡°Hmm, ya¡¯ have ya¡¯ own lands or are we talkin¡¯ about a fancy garden?¡±


    ¡°An in-between?¡± Aloe shrugged. ¡°I do have a ¡®fancy garden¡¯ but also some rather expansive lands. Not crop field-sized, but certainly enough to feed a single person.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡± The old man scratched his beard. ¡°Winter is coming, so I would recommend some ¡®tatoes if it¡¯s just ya¡¯. Any other crop requires far too much involvement.¡±


    ¡°And medicinal plants? Do you have any?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t even remember if I have seeds, missus. And if I still have some, they are all crops, can¡¯t afford to dedicate medicines.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡± Whilst it was a shame she couldn¡¯t buy more seeds, she wouldn¡¯t deny the conversation hadn¡¯t been useful. ¡°Thanks for your help,¡± Aloe added with a bow.


    ¡°No problem.¡± The old man smiled. But as Aloe turned to leave, he stopped her. ¡°Hey, missus. A little advice. When ya¡¯ plant the ¡®tatoes, break them in little pieces, they will have a better time growing.¡±


    Without talking, Aloe thanked him once more with a bow and departed to the bazaar.


    Hmm, everyone is saying potatoes... Aloe pondered as the stores passed through the corners of her eyes. But I can¡¯t just survive on potatoes... Well, maybe I can, but it¡¯s better if I have diversity. The oasis has a lot of palms, but they are all coconut and dates, maybe I could get a banana one? But how long do trees take to grow? Probably a lot. Aloe sighed.


    With her occupied thoughts, she had failed to notice she had wandered into the sunlight, so she quickly shifted back to the palm tree¡¯s shadows. Not before long she arrived at the walls of Sadina.


    The stalls on the walls contained rather different merchandise from that in the main bazaar. Namely, animals.


    Taking a slight detour to the right, Aloe arrived at the stables. Basically all the pack animals of the city were stored here. The stables were one of the few sections of Sadina with actual patches of grass, and besides, no one wanted to smell manure when they woke up.


    The place was littered with all different kinds of mounts: camels, dromedaries, dwellers, and...


    ¡°Are those horses?¡± Aloe exclaimed in surprise at a couple of white and dark brown four-legged animals.


    Horses were incredibly rare in the desert as they had difficulties surviving. The problem wasn¡¯t the food, but the water. Those animals weren¡¯t used to the heat and couldn¡¯t contain water as easily as camels or dwellers. And besides, no desert inhabitants would have such striking colors. One horse was pure white, the other so dark that the brown looked black.


    ¡°Sure they are.¡± Someone responded behind her.


    Aloe turned to look at the person who talked. It was a man leading a couple of dromedaries with a lead into the stables.


    ¡°How¡¯s it?¡± Aloe asked, unfazed by the impromptu jumpscare. ¡°I haven¡¯t seen many of them here.¡±


    ¡°And for a reason!¡± The man chuckled. ¡°They are from a couple of merchants, or travelers, I be damned if I knew. They come from Loyata, but they are here just passing through.¡±


    ¡°The Northern Plains?¡± She added as she observed the rather majestic animals.


    ¡°Aye.¡± The man tied the dromedaries to a pole. ¡°Those fellas run everywhere in the plains. I have heard that in Loyata they have a horse for every ten soldiers.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a lot of horses,¡± Aloe commented remotely interested.


    ¡°Well, then.¡± The man positioned himself before her. ¡°What brings such a fine-standing girl to this place?¡±


    ¡°I was thinking of buying a mount, or rather, a pack animal.¡±


    ¡°A customer I see.¡± The man cleaned his hand with a rag and offered it to Aloe. ¡°The name¡¯s Jamal.¡±


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    ¡°Aloe.¡± She accepted the hand without hesitating. Her father had told her that showing hesitation when intending to strike a deal only difficulted transactions. Though in his case it was rather loans than purchases.


    ¡°Alright, lass. Why do you need the animal for? Not wanna pry on your life, just trying to see what suits you best.¡±


    ¡°Hmm, I intend to make several travels into the desert. Some carrying load, but most travels just myself.¡± Aloe explained.


    ¡°Well, you are quite small...¡± Jamal whispered and Aloe frowned. ¡°Sorry, I didn¡¯t intend to offend.¡± He raised his hands in apology. ¡°I just meant that if you just wanna travel with a mount, you are not going to need anything strong considering your stature and weight.¡± He added the last part diplomatically, sweetening the weight of a lady.


    ¡°I see,¡± Aloe said in understanding, though her voice carried visible annoyance.


    ¡°Ehm, well, what about housing?¡± Jamal shifted the conversation.


    ¡°Housing?¡±


    ¡°Yes, housing.¡± He nodded. ¡°It doesn''t seem like much, but most animals are rather fussy with their beds, so housing is a very important subject when buying one, especially these ones here.¡± Jamal patted at the wooden pole behind him. ¡°Do you have a place to store the animals?¡±


    Aloe thought for a moment before responding. ¡°I do not. Not here, and not in the desert. Though outside there¡¯s an oasis next to my residence, and I own all the surrounding lands.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a bit of a problem, but not much. Follow me.¡± Jamal gestured and started walking. ¡°You can just pay to have us treat with any fella here so that¡¯s not the question. It¡¯s nice that you have a lot of land even if you don¡¯t have any empty shed to house them. Are there palm trees in the oasis by any chance?¡±


    ¡°Yes, a lot of them.¡± Aloe nodded. ¡°Also a considerable green patch of grass.¡±


    ¡°Are there any monster sightings or sandstorms near your residence?¡±


    ¡°None that I am aware of.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s your budget?¡± All the previous questions she had answered instantly, but with this one Aloe stopped to think, prompting a slight frown from Jamal as he turned to look at her.


    ¡°Not... great,¡± Aloe responded. ¡°But there¡¯s a margin.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡± Props to him, Jamal didn¡¯t instantly make Aloe out but pondered his options for a second. ¡°I do have a girl that may fill your criteria and budget, please follow me.¡± Though Aloe didn¡¯t like the sudden inclusion of formal language and that ¡®please¡¯.


    The well-standing and clean stables gradually shifted to a more shambled state as Jamal guided her. They weren¡¯t slums as such, but it was obvious the animals here didn¡¯t receive the same love as those at the entrance.


    ¡°Here we have her, Fikali.¡± Jamal pointed into a rather gloomy pen.


    Inside lay a tired-looking desert dweller. Normally desert dwellers would have a dark brown color and relatively low bodies as they latched and borrowed into the ground, but this one looked a bit too pale, and her body lay lower than the ones Aloe had seen. The dweller still possessed the menacing claws common to her species, and she wasn¡¯t exactly small either. It could probably weigh three or four times more than Aloe, easily.


    ¡°She seems a bit old,¡± Aloe stated.


    ¡°Well, Fikali is our oldest dweller in the stables.¡± Jamal countered. ¡°If you want something cheap, this is your one.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± The monster didn¡¯t look sick, just old. That was more than enough for Aloe. ¡°How expensive is she?¡±


    ¡°How much money do you have?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not how trades work.¡± Aloe frowned at the stable master¡¯s words. ¡°If you are asking me for a price it¡¯s because you don¡¯t have one. And that means one of two things. It¡¯s not for sale, or...¡±


    ¡°Alright, alright. You got me.¡± Jamal sighed. ¡°Fikali here is rather useless to us, so I want to get rid of her, or at least, get some coin out of her remaining time.¡±


    ¡°And how long is that remaining time?¡±


    ¡°Hmm,¡± The man peered over his shoulder at the thick-skinned creature. ¡°Around two years, give or take half.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not a lot of time for a pack animal. It¡¯s going to cost me to recover the investment.¡±


    Jamal shrugged. ¡°Not asking for much, how about two drupnarun?¡±


    That¡¯s two hundred drupnars!


    Aloe almost choked at the price but held her stone expression. That would be a sign of weakness. No, negotiations should be played on equal terms, and if that wasn¡¯t the case, those should be faked. In truth, the price of two electrum coins wasn¡¯t much, but why waste money?


    ¡°A bit excessive, don¡¯t you think?¡± Aloe said smugly, as she approached the pen. ¡°Fikali here is old, two years means that I¡¯ll have to at the very minimum gain ten drupnars per month to break even. I told you that I don¡¯t intend to use her much, so the chance of breaking even is outright null. And besides what guarantees me she won¡¯t fall ill?¡±


    ¡°It seems I won¡¯t be able to rip you off.¡± Jamal chuckled, admitting to his crimes with a smile. ¡°One drupnarun and a fajati, won¡¯t go lower.¡±


    When people say ¡°I won¡¯t go lower¡± they either mean that you will make them go lower easily, or that they won¡¯t change their mind and a counteroffer will end in a broken deal. To Aloe, it was obvious she was dealing with the latter case here.


    ¡°One hundred and fifty drupnars, huh.¡± She pondered for a second. With the money she made in the apothecary from her grandfather¡¯s seeds, she would still have some remaining money even after buying rations for the future. ¡°Deal.¡±


    The banker¡¯s apprentice extended her hand and the stable master accepted.


    ¡°I don¡¯t have the money here, but I don¡¯t intend to pick Fikali just yet,¡± Aloe added once they undid their handshake. ¡°I¡¯ll go out of the city in a few days, can I pay and pick her up then?¡±


    ¡°Sure, no problem,¡± Jamal replied. ¡°It isn¡¯t like could you take her out right now. We would have to saddle her and ready the contracts. By the way, I don¡¯t know if I mentioned but Fikali is too old to carry a load and a passenger at the same time, even with your build.¡±


    ¡°You did not mention that.¡± Aloe scowled. ¡°And that¡¯s a very important factor.


    ¡°Oh, shame. Deal¡¯s already sealed, no take-backsies.¡± It was very much not sealed, but it was obvious that she had been played. And Jamal wouldn¡¯t lower the price now. ¡°If it helps you, a light load mounted could be doable at a lesser pace thanks to your low weight.¡±


    ¡°It helps, but not a lot.¡±


    Aloe walked away from the stables before she decided to kick the man in the balls.

 19. Body

    Shahrazad woke up to the groans of her daughter. Even if the walls of her house were thick and the windows were closed, she could still perfectly hear Aloe. Peering into the slit of the wooden window doors, Shahrazad saw a glimpse of dim morning sunlight.


    Considering she wouldn¡¯t be able to sleep anymore with her daughter¡¯s groans and that was almost time to wake up, Shahrazad got up from her bed, too big and lonely for her liking.


    ¡°I curse the heavens for giving me a body!¡± And her decision proved right as Aloe¡¯s screams only got louder.


    With a sigh, Shahrazad walked down to the kitchen. She was used to Aloe¡¯s screams, so she picked up a jar of chamomile with a practiced motion and lit up the hearth to boil water.


    ¡°I will sunder the sky, dry the earth, and drink the sun! Bring all to an end!¡± As she was reading the infusion, yet another colorful curse came out of her daughter¡¯s mouth.


    ¡°Oh, hot,¡± Shahrazad whispered to herself whilst pouring the chamomile tea into the two cups. She blew a bit to cycle the steam away and mounted the cups into a tray.


    Even recently woken up, she had no problem doing all of these tasks and carried the filled-to-the-brim cups upstairs. At this point, it had become a monthly tradition. With her free hand and a slight kick, Shahrazad opened her daughter¡¯s room door.


    ¡°Yet another moon I have failed to satiate the sacrifices for a newborn.¡± Aloe whimpered weekly as she rolled across her mattress. ¡°The heavens laugh at my suffering. When will the pain end? My mortality is always confronting me with the hardest challenges.¡±


    ¡°Oh, daughter. Always exaggerating.¡± Shahrazad left the tray on the nightstand and went to open the closed windows. Once the room had a hint of light, she sat on the bed with her daughter.


    ¡°Exaggerating?¡± Aloe looked directly at her and stood up in rage. A gesture that ended up being a bad idea. ¡°Ow!¡± She placed a hand on her stomach in pain.


    ¡°Careful.¡± The mother lent a hand to her daughter and positioned her along the bedstand and pillows.


    ¡°You don¡¯t understand, my colic is burning me up from the insides!¡± Aloe pleaded with tears in her eyes.


    ¡°Yes, yes.¡± Shahrazad patted her daughter. ¡°Just drink the infusion.¡±


    She, indeed, did understand the pains of her daughter. She was also a woman after all, but it was true that she suffered from greater menstrual pains than most.


    ¡°Oh, hot,¡± Aloe added weekly as she took the cup from the tray and slowly blew the steam off.


    ¡°How do you intend to cultivate at the greenhouse if you are also going to be like this next month too?¡± Shahrazad asked. ¡°I¡¯m scared of leaving you alone in the desert while you squirm in pain.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I don¡¯t intend to be in the desert when the next cycle comes, that¡¯s for sure. I¡¯ll just come the day prior if not earlier.¡±


    Shahrazad frowned and gave her daughter a tired look. ¡°So, are you just not going to water the plants for days?¡±


    ¡°What? It¡¯s not like they are going to instantly die.¡±


    She continued to look at her daughter with the same expression, but after a while without any response from her, Shahrazad took a sip out of her town cup and just sighed.


    ¡°You need to care for the plants if you want this ¡®enterprise¡¯ to find success.¡± The scribe spoke in terms her daughter could understand.


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    ¡°I know, I know,¡± Aloe said between sips. ¡°But how do you intend for me to survive in the middle of nowhere with these cramps?¡±


    ¡°They are just cramps, stop being a child and grow some spine.¡±


    ¡°My bloodied sheets tell otherwise.¡± Aloe countered.


    Shahrazad flicked a finger at her daughter¡¯s forehead. ¡°You know what I meant. They won¡¯t kill you.¡± Then she stood up. ¡°Once you finished the infusion, get yourself clean and take out those sheets.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Mom.¡± The girl said with a monotone tone, prompting her mother to flicker her finger one more time. Albeit stronger now. ¡°Ouch!¡± Aloe led her hands to her forehead.


    ¡°You don¡¯t speak to me with that tone.¡± Shahrazad smiled at her. ¡°Gonna make breakfast, don¡¯t take long.¡±


    <hr>


    After having breakfast and solving all the mess she had made, Aloe went back to sleep. These types of days were basically a void in her life, she couldn¡¯t bring herself to do anything, there was just so much pain.


    ¡°I hate being an ¡®adult¡¯.¡± Aloe groaned as she woke up. It was already past midday.


    She went down to the kitchen and grabbed a banana. She wasn¡¯t hungry enough to have a full meal, but she also knew it was bad if she didn¡¯t have something to eat. She also emptied the remains on the kettle. The chamomile was long cold by now, but it still was drinkable.


    Once she finished her meal, she sighed in exhaustion. There still was half a day in front of her, and she couldn¡¯t just waste it. The best moment to depart to the greenhouse would be tomorrow morning. It would give her the most time to stay in the greenhouse and read Karaim¡¯s cultivation technique.


    ¡°I have to go out, don¡¯t I?¡± Aloe groaned her way of the kitchen.


    She dressed herself in light clothing, she felt like her body couldn¡¯t tolerate anything else in her current state.


    ¡°Alright, what things do I have to do?¡± Aloe went through her mental list. ¡°Sent the letter to the bank, buy rations... is that all?¡± She looked at her fingers with confusion. ¡°I feel like I should ready myself more. I will only bring potatoes and those seeds Umar gifted me to plant, I think I should plant more things. What could I plant?¡±


    The best idea she had was to stroll down the bazaar to get actual ideas. Good ones, hopefully.


    ¡°It has to be food. But I need to make money, don¡¯t I?¡± Aloe scratched her head. ¡°Sure, if the Evolution thing works I¡¯ll be able to make money out of any plant, but that¡¯s not a real plan, is it?¡± She knew she was risking a lot in a gamble that had shown prodigious results but knew nothing of the process. ¡°What can make me money?¡±


    Her thoughts instantly went to the small pot of cannabis she stored in her backpack.


    ¡°I... maybe? But?¡± It was risky. She hadn¡¯t grown up with scary assassin bedtime stories for anything. ¡°I¡¯m not that short in money. I can put it off for... an indeterminate amount of time.¡±


    It was free money, yes. But the consequences of involving herself with the assassins were too big. Those people were powerful enough to murder the previous Emir of Sadina and get away with it scotch free.


    Aloe sighed. ¡°Maybe, just not now. Not yet.¡±


    The truth was that the idea of making a lot of money excited Aloe. She remembered fondly the days of her childhood with her mother and father, those days when the family overflowed with riches. And unlike selling the greenhouse, this alternative presented constant income.


    ¡°Not yet.¡± She repeated to herself, guiding a hand to her heart.


    Her thoughts were dispelled by the smell of food. She looked at the sun, which had moved significantly from its previous place since she had gone outside. How long have I been wandering around? With a sigh, Aloe looked at the stall in question that was selling fasolia.


    ¡°Care for a stew, darling?¡± The female shopkeeper inquired as Aloe stood far too long looking at the steaming cauldron.


    ¡°No, thanks I¡¯m f-¡° Then her stomach grumbled, reminding her she hadn¡¯t had an actual meal. She sighed. ¡°Pour me a bowl.¡±


    ¡°Of course!¡± The cook smiled. ¡°Two drupnars.¡±


    The price was quite reasonable, so Aloe didn¡¯t have any problem taking two small copper coins out of her purse.


    ¡°Thanks for your patronage.¡± The woman accepted the money with a smile and handed her a wooden bowl and spoon. ¡°You can sit there and have your meal.¡±


    ¡°Right.¡± Aloe took the bowl and on top of a barrel, then guided the spoon to her mouth. ¡°Hmm!¡± Normally these types of food stalls would sell a watery mess, still good, but not truly able to call it a meal. This one though? It was surprisingly tasty.


    ¡°You seem to enjoy it quite a bit.¡± The shopkeeper remarked.


    ¡°It¡¯s been a while since I have had fasolia. But this is one of the betters I had.¡±


    ¡°The ingredients matter a lot. Most people say the crucial ingredient is the lamb, but I disagree. The special touch is the beans!¡± The middle-aged cook boasted as she pushed her chest outwards. ¡°And only the best of the best!¡±


    ¡°Beans, huh.¡± As she took another spoonful, Aloe got an idea.


    To say the least, she spent more time than needed in the fasolia stall.

 20. Sultanah

    Hassan always felt nervous when he was in the imperial palace. Even if it was his birthplace, the majestic building was but a hostile environment. Maids and guards avoided looking at HIM, but he knew they were scheming and/or feeding intelligence to his siblings.


    He kept his posture straight and regal. Showing fear was showing weakness, and he wasn¡¯t the same kid as before. He was now a mighty lord, thousands of lives hung on his every whim.


    With a vital pulse, Hassan checked that no servants were looking at him and allowed himself to puff some vitality-charged air. His siblings stressed him, but the true fear in his heart was none other than the Sultanah of Ydaz.


    He knocked three times on the audience hall¡¯s colossal door. Instantly, some guards proceeded to open it from the other side. It took them thirty seconds to fully open the mammoth piece of stonework.


    Yes, the doors were made out of limestone.


    Steeling his mind, he took one step forward and shouted for everyone in the room to hear. ¡°My Sultanah, I, Hassan-al-Sadina, have arrived at your summon!¡±


    The room was mostly open, with two servants at each side of the Sultanah and two guards at the doors. Considering the might of the person on the throne, there were three more guards than needed.


    ¡°Ah, yes. Hassan~¡± She spoke without any care or acknowledgment of his presence.


    Yes, her.


    Hassan kneeled before Aaliyah-al-Ydaz, the ruler of the Qiraji Desert and the Sultanah of Ydaz.


    ¡°It¡¯s been a while, hasn¡¯t it, my son?¡± Aaliyah-al-Ydaz stated with a shed of boredom in her voice. One hand was on her face hiding a yawn, the other extended at the side of the armrest as a maid tried with all her might to puncture her fingertip with a menacingly sharp needle. Judging by the incredible red visage and the blood vessels popping in the maid¡¯s arm and forehead, she was having a lot of trouble with her task.


    On the other hand, Hassan was in a moral conundrum. Should he direct to her as her mother or the Sultanah? Aaliyah-al-Ydaz was quite volatile with titles, and getting the wrong honorific could lead you to her wrong side.


    And you didn¡¯t want to be on the wrong side of Aaliyah-al-Ydaz.


    I should have bribed someone to know her mood today. With his very limited information, Hassan opted for the former. She had referred to him as her son, after all, instead of an Emir.


    ¡°Indeed it has been, Mother.¡±


    ¡°Come on, Hassan. Raise your head.¡± And so, he did.


    It wouldn¡¯t be an understatement to call Aaliyah-al-Ydaz the most beautiful woman in all of Ydaz if not the whole world. Her bronze skin was delectable, and her violet eyes penetrated through anyone¡¯s soul. She irradiated a powerful innate charisma that was difficult to resist against. A dark ebony mane flowed behind her, so long that it seemed part of a dress.


    And talking about clothing... she had almost none.


    If the Sultanah decided to go around near naked, it wasn¡¯t public indecency, but a decree. Aaliyah-al-Ydaz wore a transparent magenta short top that quite literally left nothing to the imagination. And it didn¡¯t help that her breasts were as big as watermelons. At least she covered her nether regions with a set of pink undergarments embroiled in gold. Aaliyah-al-Ydaz wore more trinkets and gold than actual clothing. From wristbands and necklaces to bracelets and rings on the legs and feet. Her attire resembled more of a courtesan dancer than an empress.


    Her beauty was so majestic that even Hassan, her own son, couldn¡¯t help but be partially captivated.


    Though the sultan¡¯s slender figure was broken by her rounded belly. Somehow, the curves of pregnancy added to her beauty. There hasn¡¯t been a day that I haven¡¯t seen her pregnant. Hassan thought.


    One of Aaliyah-al-Ydaz¡¯s titles was The Broodmother, and it wasn¡¯t for nothing. Whilst she looked incredibly young, she had surpassed her sixties a while ago, and in that span, she had had more than thirty children.


    At his twenty-five years, Hassan looked older than his mother.


    And because Aaliyah-al-Ydaz wasn¡¯t bothered by gender or pregnancy, the imperial harem was far bigger than his family tree. Hundreds of members composed his mother¡¯s harem. Whether they be nobles, guards, maids, or even members of the imperial family, Aaliyah-al-Ydaz''s lust knew no boundaries.


    Hassan didn¡¯t even doubt that her mother had laid her hand on the other four other people in the audience hall.


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    ¡°Why have you summoned me, Mother?¡± Then he slightly corrected his manners. ¡°I attended your summon instantly, of course, but it lacked any explanation.¡±


    ¡°Do I need a reason to summon my children to my palace?¡± Her violet eyes penetrated his built body without difficulty. Her sight astute and cutting.


    ¡°O-of course not, Mother.¡± Even the mighty Emir of Sadina trembled before the Sultanah of Ydaz.


    ¡°I see.¡± Then she started playing with the maid at her left, caressing the young woman¡¯s cheeks and making her redden. ¡°How long have you been the Emir of Sadina, Hassan-al-Sadina?¡±


    He noticed the sudden change in titles. ¡°Five years now, my Sultanah,¡± Hassan added with a bow.


    ¡°Then you are..?¡± Aaliyah-al-Ydaz looked at him with confusion, but thankfully, he was able to understand her wishes.


    ¡°Twenty-five, my Sultan.¡±


    ¡°Twenty-five and you aren¡¯t married?¡± The woman stated as she got more salacious with her touches. Prompting a muted moan or two from the maid. ¡°I even heard you don¡¯t have a harem. Quite disappointing.¡±


    ¡°My Sultanah, is that why you requested attendance?¡± Hassan inquired. ¡°I am being wed?¡±


    ¡°No, and no.¡± Aaliyah-al-Ydaz sighed. ¡°Just a mother¡¯s curiosity. The real topic is another, but why haven¡¯t you married? Do you fancy men? I have no problems with such inclinations whilst you continue to extend the bloodline.¡±


    ¡°No, Mother.¡± Hassan switched titles once more. ¡°The sudden departure of the previous Emir left a bureaucratic hole in the administration of Sadina, and I have been these five years solving it. As you may already know, Sadina is a hotspot for commerce, and a lot of my resources are tied to such affairs. I have had no time for marriage or establishing an official harem but be assured that I have not left my cultivation behind.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡± The sultanah added with a hint of annoyance and pressed the maid¡¯s breasts, prompting a cute ¡®eep!¡¯ squeal from the girl. ¡°Then you won¡¯t be unbeknownst to the reason why I called you. Refresh me, Hassan-al-Sadina, why did the previous Emir of Sadina perish?¡±


    The air in the room suddenly turned frigid.


    ¡°Because his edicts were against the assassins.¡± The emir responded with total confidence as cold sweat trickled down his nape.


    ¡°Yes, that old dumb fuck decided to halt the local drug production. And the local branch of assassins killed him. Simple as that.¡±


    ¡°If you may allow me,¡± Hassan interjected, ¡°my predecessor did not halt the production. Only decreased it because the region was going through a famine. So, he wisely decided to feed the population instead of feeding the addiction of the assassins.¡±


    ¡°Wisely, huh.¡± Aaliyah-al-Ydaz snickered and nonchalantly led her free hand to the nether regions of the maid. The servant was on the verge of tears, but Hassan could tell those weren¡¯t of pain or sadness, but ecstasy. ¡°He lowered, ONLY LOWERED, the production of drugs and the assassins offed him.¡±


    Hassan shivered.


    ¡°Why are you telling me this,¡± he quickly recalled the previous time the sultanah referred to him, ¡°my Sultanah?¡±


    ¡°My son, the assassin activities of Sadina have become rather er-¡°


    ¡°Augh!¡± The sultanah was interrupted by the groan of one of the maids. Not the one that was being ravished even now, but the other one who had been trying to puncture the sultan¡¯s fingertip with a needle all this time.


    The maid¡¯s expression became mortified after she noticed that she had interrupted the great Sultanah mid-speech, but she measly bowed and continued to her task as it was of utmost importance. The maid grabbed a glass flask and put it under Aaliyah-al-Ydaz¡¯s fingertip waiting for a drop of blood to fall into.


    Aaliyah-al-Ydaz¡¯s blood, the blood of a longevous cultivator like her, was able to revitalize whole regions of the Qiraji desert even with a single drop. Such was the raw power of a master of Nurture.


    Even with her reddened expression from the sheer force she had to apply to puncture the skin, the maid waited patiently between pants for the blood to trickle. The Sultanah¡¯s blood was thicker and denser than quicksilver, and rumors told that her heart had enough power to send an elephant catatonic if it was ever transplanted.


    The sheer strength of Aaliyah-al-Ydaz was something that could not be comprehended by mere mortals.


    ¡°As I was saying,¡± the Sultanah continued without paying attention to either of the maids, though both of them had their legs trembling, for totally opposite reasons that is, ¡°the activities of assassins in your domain have become erratic.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean, my liege?¡±


    ¡°Something has perturbed their distribution.¡± The woman put more impetus on her assaulting hand as a hint of anger lingered in her voice. ¡°Not much, just a hiccup. But those people are volatile, and the slightest change in the flow of drugs irritates them.¡±


    ¡°What do you intend me to do then? Kill them?¡± Hassan asked nervously.


    ¡°Kill them?¡± Aaliyah-al-Ydaz laughed. ¡°You can¡¯t kill those rats, more will pop up. And if you do so, others will come to kill you. Assassins aren¡¯t like cultivators; they don¡¯t need eternal training. Anyone short of me is on their plate, remember that.¡±


    ¡°Yes, my Sultanah.¡± The emir bowed. ¡°What should I do then?¡±


    ¡°Nothing.¡± The woman stated. ¡°I just wanted to warn you. I don¡¯t want to bother putting other people in power.¡±


    Bother. That was the true reason. She didn¡¯t care about Sadina or the wellbeing of her son, she had tens of others, no. What irked the Sultanah was the nuisance of another ceremony. Of another promotion.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take your words close to heart, my Sultanah.¡± And keep my thoughts even closer.


    ¡°Well then, you are dismissed, Hassan-al-Sadina.¡± As Aaliyah-al-Ydaz said that, finally the drop of blood left her finger.


    The maid holding the flask quickly put a cork on it and held the blood in high reverence. The single drop of crimson fire could sustain a farmland in a harsh environment for a year.


    ¡°Wait, son.¡± As Hassan proceeded to stand up, the sultanah stopped her. ¡°It¡¯s early in the morning and I have yet to have breakfast, accompany me to the dining hall.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Mother.¡± Hassan bowed even deeper. That was not a petition. But an order.


    He heard the sounds of footsteps approaching and a warm hand rested on his shoulders. ¡°Come on, son.¡±


    Hassan raised his face to look at his mother, a figure far taller than him that couldn¡¯t be appreciated when she sat on the throne.


    Tall. Regal. Beautiful.


    Those were the only words able to describe the Sultanah of Ydaz. A towering two-meter woman, brandishing bronze skin and powerful violet eyes. As Aaliyah-al-Ydaz walked, the Emir of Sadina followed along with the maids, the woman¡¯s wide hips used to childbearing swayed from side to side deliciously. Able to enchant anyone, no matter their gender or inclinations. She pushed the two heavy stone doors with a flick of her hand.


    That was Aaliyah-al-Ydaz.

 21. Return

    ¡°Is everything ready?¡± Shahrazad asked Aloe as her daughter juggled between multiple bags.


    ¡°Yes, Mom,¡± Aloe responded, her face a stone wall. ¡°This is the fourth time you asked.¡±


    ¡°Things could have gone wrong between each question!¡± She added with motherly worry.


    Aloe groaned. ¡°I¡¯m fine really.¡±


    ¡°You do not look fine.¡± Shahrazad pointed at the copious bags the little girl was carrying.


    ¡°Okay, I¡¯m not fine.¡± She tried to shrug, but the leather straps from the multiple bags restrained her from doing so.


    ¡°Let me help you at least, daughter.¡±


    ¡°Nope.¡± Aloe crossed her arms, or more exactly, tried doing so. ¡°I asked Jafar for help, so you just go to work. I still have to patch up some things whilst he arrives.¡±


    ¡°But...¡± Shahrazad shyly extended a hand to help her daughter.


    ¡°Mom.¡± The daughter state vehemently. ¡°Go to work.¡±


    ¡°I... fine.¡± The scribe sighed. ¡°Take care, Aloe.¡±


    ¡°Always, Mom,¡± Aloe responded with a smile.


    The moment Shahrazad left the house, Aloe slumped to the ground, the bags, satchels, backpacks, and whatever else were too heavy for her. Not only she was wearing her heavy desert garb, but she also had to carry all her rations, seeds, spare clothing, bath products, and a few emergency waterskins.


    Her load was quite literally heavier than her. The sacks of beans and potatoes were incredibly heavy, but she needed to carry such obscene quantities because she not only intended to eat them but also plant them.


    And whilst a single piece of clothing was light, the multiple sets she packed for the whole month were absolutely not. Her mother also forced her to pack a washing board, because otherwise, she may as well wear dirty clothes during her moon-long stay.


    Jafar arrived not long after Shahrazad departed to work, just a little over a quarter of an hour.


    ¡°Damn, little plant. How much do you carry there?¡± The guard¡¯s face was littered with bewilderment.


    Aloe locked at her surroundings, the bursting bags that covered her from the feet up to her waist and uttered a single word. ¡°Yes.¡±


    In the end, the colossal guard had no problem carrying the bags. He showed a hint of exhaustion by the end, but Jafar managed to carry most of the bags by himself without even stopping once. Aloe was incommensurably thankful to her uncle as otherwise the journey to the stables would have taken her over an hour of juggling bags and countless stops to rest.


    ¡°Ah, you are quite early.¡± Jamal, the person who sold Aloe the dweller, said as she saw her enter the stables. ¡°And you also bring quite the load.¡±


    ¡°Can we get going with the contracts?¡± Aloe sighed. ¡°I have already lost a lot of time and I have a long journey before me.¡±


    ¡°Straight to business, can¡¯t say I¡¯m against that.¡± The stablemaster grinned. ¡°Follow me to the office, your companion can stay here with the bags.¡±


    The stable office was quite simple, and it was obvious this wasn¡¯t a private office but a shared workplace. There were two different desks with shared the same shelf storing countless ledgers. Jamal had already prepared the contract and the moment he sat on the chair, he pushed it to Aloe.


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    Even if she was in a bit of a hurry, it would be downright moronic to not read the fine print of the contract. Jamal hadn¡¯t tried to scam her or anything, it was quite a standard contract simply stating that the desert dweller in the property of the Sadina Stable¡¯s would be transferred to Aloe Ayad after paying the accorded sum of one hundred and fifty drupnars. She just signed the contract after verifying that everything was indeed in check.


    ¡°Alright,¡± Jamal nodded after Aloe signed. ¡°Now the money.¡±


    Aloe took out the coin purse full of fajats that Umar had given her, which felt significantly lighter after having bought many of the rations and miscellanea, and slowly took out one fajat at a time. A simple copper fajat had five times the value as a copper drupnar, the lowest form of coinage and the default term of the currency, so after taking out thirty of them and leaving the purse almost empty, she had set the one hundred and fifty drupnars on the table.


    Just in case, Jamal recounted the big copper coins on the table, even if Aloe had taken them in a scrupulously slow manner.


    After he was done, Jamal spoke. ¡°Pleasure doing with you, ma¡¯am.¡± And he extended her a hand.


    ¡°Likewise.¡± Aloe closed the transactional handshake.


    ¡°Now let me help you tie all those bags onto Fikali¡¯s back.¡± Jamal stood up from his seat. ¡°We are going to need a fair share of rope to keep all tied up.¡±


    Jamal was quite the master with his job as he didn¡¯t need but five minutes to order the dweller to move out of her pen and then the monster didn¡¯t protest when he tied all the bags in her bag.


    Once all the bags were tightly secured, the stablemaster led Fikali with a lead out of the stables and across the gates of Sadina. Aloe and Jafar followed closely behind.


    ¡°Two things before I leave you alone,¡± Jamal turned to face them. ¡°Fikali will listen to you, she¡¯s quite tame, but if you ever travel in the desert at night, she might abandon you.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t intend to do such a thing,¡± Aloe responded truthfully.


    ¡°Oh, I know. It¡¯s just a warning. As for the other,¡± He handed her the lead and Aloe took it out of his hands, ¡°dwellers move far faster in sand than on solid ground, if you ever take your hands out of this lead and you aren¡¯t mounted on top, Fikali will leave you behind.¡±


    ¡°Noted.¡± She said as she rolled the long rope along her wrist.


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s all. If you ever need to house her here in Sadina, just come to the stables and we will take care of Fikali.¡± With those words, Jamal entered back into the city, not even allowing them to say goodbyes.


    ¡°Quite a nice fella,¡± Jafar added as he watched him go.


    ¡°You say it because it¡¯s just like you,¡± Aloe uttered.


    ¡°And aren¡¯t I a nice fella?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s open for discussion.¡±


    ¡°Discussion? I¡¯ll give you a discussion. C¡¯mere, little plant!¡± Before Aloe could defend herself, Jafar locked her in a tight embrace by the neck and proceeded to rub her head.


    ¡°Ah!¡± Aloe cried. ¡°Watch out! You are going to undo my garb!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t make yourself the victim, you deserve it!¡± The guard drilled his knuckles into the girl¡¯s clothed head.


    ¡°Stahp!¡± Aloe stomped on the man¡¯s foot, making him backstep.


    Though instead of pain, Jafar showed a smile on his face. He hadn¡¯t even felt it.


    ¡°I¡¯ll leave you to rest now.¡± He added as if he was doing her a favor. ¡°Anyways, how long are you going to stay away?¡±


    ¡°Less than a month,¡± Aloe responded with a pout as she fixed the cloth covering her head.


    ¡°Alright then, how about we have another feast in my house by then?¡±


    ¡°Fine by me.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a deal!¡± Jafar grinned and extended a hand.


    Aloe sighed. ¡°A closed deal.¡± And accepted the gesture.


    ¡°See ya¡¯ in a month, little plant.¡±


    ¡°You too, Uncle Jafar.¡± And then he disappeared into the gates of the city.


    The girl stood there in the walls for a moment, enjoying the last moment of shade she was going to have for the whole day, and looked at her new companion.


    ¡°How about you, Fikali.¡± Aloe talked to the dweller. ¡°Are you ready?¡±


    ¡°Wroyyyyyyy!¡± Fikali responded with what only could be described as a grunt.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take that as a yes.¡± Aloe gazed at the horizon, inhaled, and then exhaled. ¡°Let¡¯s go then.¡±


    As she started walking and began pulling on the lead, Fikali abandoned her stationary position and followed her. The monster was old and had a sizeable burden on her bag, yet the moment her feet and claws dived into the sand, she became infinitely more agile.


    ¡°Oh wow!¡± Aloe almost lost her balance as the dweller quickly overtook her, but with a simple tug of the lead, Fikali stopped. ¡°Jamal was right, you are quite obedient. Let me go first, I¡¯m the one who knows the way.¡±


    ¡°Ohhuurgh.¡± The desert dweller groaned, and once again, Aloe took it as an affirmation.


    The two-way trip had taught Aloe how to walk on the desert and now even with just a few days of practice, her steps felt more secure and less draining. It also helped that she didn¡¯t have to carry anything on her person besides the garb and a bit of water at hand.


    Aloe looked back at Sadina, only five minutes had passed but the town had become a spec on the horizon.


    ¡°Nice!¡± The apprentice fist-bumped. ¡°At this rate, we will reach the oasis far before twilight!¡±


    Invigorated by her quick progress, Aloe¡¯s mood allowed her to ignore the rising sun that was beginning to heat the dunes up and scratch her back.

 22. Pistachios

    Whilst Fikali didn¡¯t make for the best talk companion, the old dweller provided a bit of entertainment. Just leading her with the rope provided Aloe with a constant trickle of infinitesimal amusement.


    ¡°How can guiding an animal with a lead be fun?¡± Aloe muttered to herself.


    ¡°Hroooow!¡± And surprisingly, the monster responded.


    ¡°You know, I¡¯m beginning to think that you can understand me.¡±


    ¡°Ohhhhwoooo.¡± The next grunt felt lazier than the previous one.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take that as a ¡®mayhaps¡¯,¡± Aloe added with a posh accent at the end.


    The human and monster continued in silence for a while until the monotony of the landscape was broken by rugged silhouettes.


    ¡°Rocks!¡± Aloe shouted enthusiastically.


    She recognized the rocks from her previous trips, and while they may not be tall enough to provide shade, they were far colder to the touch than the sand, allowing her to take a seat and rest.


    ¡°Come on, Fikali!¡± The dweller didn¡¯t understand her, but after Aloe showed her enthusiasm by pulling the lead, Fikali put an extra oomph to her walking. ¡°Hmm, would it be walking or swimming? Wait, but she constantly digging, isn¡¯t she? Ohhh!¡± Her etymological debate was broken by the pull of the rope as the dweller rushed madly to the rocks. ¡°Wait, wait!¡± She didn¡¯t wait, prompting Aloe to run with all her might lest she wanted her arm popped out of her shoulder.


    If it wasn¡¯t because she had been taking the trip slowly, Aloe wouldn¡¯t have had the stamina or the strength to keep up with the dweller. Luckily for her, even her mad dash was cut short as there were less than a hundred meters to the rocky formation. Even then, Fikali couldn¡¯t move that fast thanks to the burden on her back.


    And in dweller fashion, the instant Fikali sensed the solid ground below her, she stopped moving at such vertiginous speeds and set on a pace more according to her age.


    ¡°We...¡± Aloe said between pants as she lay her hands on her knees, ¡°shall never... do that again...¡±


    Running in the desert wasn¡¯t a pleasurable experience. The more pressure you applied to the sands, the faster they shifted and the more energy they sapped from you.


    Aloe dropped on one of the rocks, and whilst it was unbearably hot, it was still colder than the sand.


    ¡°Ah, sweet respite.¡± She exhaled in relaxation and lead a hand to the collar of her garb and opened it. ¡°Ah~ Sweet air~¡±


    The hot and sand-laden air wasn¡¯t exactly the most refreshing sensation, but the sweat trickling down her chest in contact with the slightest breeze revived Aloe. She also turned to have her back face the sun, as even a short rest like the one she intended to do could burn her chest and deprive her of a lot of water if the kept facing the celestial body.


    ¡°Watah... need some water.¡± Aloe uncorked her waterskin with a single hand as she furiously fanned her open garb with the other.


    She drank gluttonously from the waterskin, not worrying about running out. Unlike her previous trek to the greenhouse, now with the help of Fikali she was able to carry a lot more water.


    ¡°Hey, Fikali,¡± Aloe asked the dweller who was flopping on the rocks like a fish out of the water. ¡°Want some water?¡±


    ¡°Hwwooooooo!¡± Fikali responded enthusiastically, raising her fins and claws to the skies.


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    Aloe smiled. ¡°I¡¯ll take that as a yes.¡±


    Whereas a desert dweller like her could survive days without water, Aloe understood Fikali¡¯s eagerness. The waterskin on her hands was mostly full, so decided to empty it on the dweller.


    The cloth-covered human walked up to the monster. ¡°Alright, Fikali. Open up!¡±


    The dweller understood her gesture as Aloe swayed the waterskin in her hand and opened her gaping mouth. Aloe poured the waterskin¡¯s contents on Fikali¡¯s mouth and for a brief moment fear that the creature might choke on the sudden flow of water, but the next instant the dweller began chugging the water like a certain guard did with beer at the tavern.


    ¡°Damn, you were thirsty, weren¡¯t you?¡± Aloe shook the upside-down waterskin, and not a single drop more came out.


    ¡°Wruooooh.¡± Fikali admitted.


    ¡°Oh well, I¡¯m now thirsty too.¡± She walked to the payload at the dweller¡¯s back and with swift carefulness, Aloe swooped off the other waterskins she had packed and took another greedy gulp. ¡°Ahhh~¡± She let out a non-gormandizing moan. ¡°This one¡¯s cold. Oh, that hits the spot, yes.¡±


    The water was fine, but her stomach grunted in protest.


    ¡°Right, food.¡±


    Aloe dropped her backpack on the rocky surface and took out some rations. She didn¡¯t carry much weight only water, some food, and a mantle. Things that she could take out without having to undo the knots on Fikali¡¯s load.


    ¡°Huh, I forgot I had already another waterskin here.¡± Aloe shrugged and noticed something she hadn¡¯t packed. She picked up the bulbous cloth bag and opened it. ¡°Are these pistachios? Why are pist-? It was Mom, wasn¡¯t she?¡±


    Aloe looked for a note, but apparently, she just decided to pack some snacks for her daughter. Said daughter threw a handful of pistachios into her mouth. The dweller looked at her with a frown.


    ¡°You want some?¡± Aloe extended the bag toward Fikali as she talked with her mouth full.


    ¡°Hwoooo!¡± Fikali nodded.


    ¡°Can dwellers even eat pistachios?¡± The dweller twisted her head, not understanding the question. ¡°You are omnivores, so I¡¯ll say yes... Eh, I¡¯ll doubt you¡¯ll die by having a pistachio or two.¡± Aloe threw Fikali a handful at her.


    The dweller caught the nuts midair and chomped on them.


    ¡°Hey, watch out!¡± Aloe protested. ¡°You are going to drop my things!¡±


    Fikali ignored her and continued thrashing the nuts in her mouth. The sound was quite scary, the pistachios cracking like bones. The human sighed.


    ¡°Here, don¡¯t jump.¡± Aloe offered Fikali a palm full of pistachios and she happily ate from it. ¡°Now that I look at you, you are quite cute.¡±


    ¡°Ohhhh!¡± Fikali added between chomps in a tone that suggested ¡®Yes, I know¡¯.


    Aloe frowned at her suppositions. ¡°I think the heat of the desert is affecting me, dwellers are intelligent, but not that intelligent.¡±


    Aloe set up the mantle from her backpack on the ground. The extra layer of cloth reduced the heat she was getting from the rock. She began gnawing a piece of jerky.


    ¡°Dry.¡± Aloe deadpanned and salivated over the meat to make it somewhat consumable. ¡°But chewy. And dry. Damn, it¡¯s dry.¡± She took another sip from the waterskin.


    Fikali didn¡¯t add any other grunts to the conversation, just slowly eating the pistachios out of Aloe¡¯s hand, savoring them and making them count. Aloe grabbed pistachios for herself with her jerky hand, exchanging bites between the pistachios and jerky.


    Eating two extremely dry and salted foods in the desert wasn¡¯t the better of her ideas.


    ¡°Bah, I packed a lot of water for a reason.¡± The novice desert dweller shrugged.


    The actual dwellers licked Aloe as she ate the pistachios. The monster¡¯s tongue was funny to the touch as Fikali tickled Aloe¡¯s hand with her greedy licks.


    ¡°Hmm, I wish I could have more...¡± Realization struck her, and she looked down at the almost empty bag. ¡°Pistachios are the fruit and the plant, right?¡±


    The dweller swooped Aloe¡¯s hand with her tongue, sending a shiver down her spine. There were no more pistachios, not even dust, so Fikali approached the bag.


    ¡°No!¡± Aloe quickly grabbed it and backstepped. ¡°Fikali, with this we can grow even more pistachios!¡±


    ¡°Wrooo?¡± The monster didn¡¯t seem to comprehend her intentions. Nor that she needed it.


    ¡°No more pistachios.¡± Her new master ordered.


    ¡°Hwoo...¡± Fikali turned her face down, her visage infested by palpable sadness.


    Aloe counted at the nuts in the bag and groaned. ¡°Alright, one more.¡±


    ¡°Hroooh!¡± Fikali jumped in happiness, belly-flopping the rock beneath her.


    ¡°No jumping!¡± Aloe was stressed out, worried about her luggage.


    The dweller instantly stopped. Aloe was unable to decipher if she had done so because it was an order or because Fikali truly wanted that pistachio.


    ¡°Rest¡¯s over, let¡¯s go,¡± Aloe ordered, not before masterfully throwing a last pistachio into Fikali¡¯s open mouth. The dweller dwelled on the taste, taking her tongue out and throwing a smile of contentment. ¡°You... you are really cute.¡±


    Fikali may be old and wrinkly, but Aloe couldn¡¯t deny she was shaped like a friend with her bubbly body. And her mannerism only made her even cuter. Aloe stashed the mantle she was sitting on her backpack and dusted her garb off.


    ¡°Come on, let¡¯s arrive before twilight.¡± Aloe pulled the lead gently, a smile of her own on her face.

 23. Bags

    ¡°We are finally home!¡± Aloe raised her hands to the air as the grass blades of the oasis caressed her boots. It was incredible that they had actually managed to arrive at the greenhouse even before twilight, let alone sunset.


    The dweller, on the other hand, was more interested in the plentiful food around her rather than their arrival.


    ¡°Stop Fikali, let¡¯s first get to the house and unload your back then you can eat as much grass as you like.¡± She pulled on the lead to move the dweller out of the grass.


    ¡°Ouuuuh...¡± That gesture got a protest out of Fikali, but the old dweller obeyed, nonetheless.


    In a manner, unloading her luggage was far more tiring than walking across the desert. Whilst the trek had been long, at least it has been light to her body. Not unlike the knots tying the bags together, Aloe had to fight for her life to undo them.


    ¡°I know. That. They need to. Tie them hard. To not. Lose. The bags.¡± Aloe added between tired pauses, her knuckles becoming white from the strength applied to the ropes, a striking contrast against her dark skin. ¡°But. Damn. These are. Fucking hard.¡±


    By the time Aloe managed to undo the knots, her fingers had become a throbbing pinkish mess. Her bottom dropped to the sand, her back lying on the house¡¯s wall.


    ¡°What are you looking at, huh?¡± Aloe shouted at the inquiring dweller.


    This time, Fikali didn¡¯t respond with one of her grunts, but Aloe could swear she saw the monster roll her eyes.


    ¡°Bah, doesn¡¯t matter. Just let me move the bags into the house.¡± She stood up and unlocked the main door.


    It took her a solid five minutes to grab the bags from Fikali¡¯s back and carry them inside. Most were incredibly heavy, making her stop to regain her breath every single time. After she was over, her garb was soaking from the inside from all the sweat.


    Without thinking it twice, Aloe undid the bindings of her garb and dropped it to the ground. Leaving her mostly naked, but above else, able to be grazed by the shallow breeze.


    ¡°Ah, freedom.¡± She rose her arms to the air in a V-shape as the sun bathed her.


    ¡°Hroooooo!¡± A powerful grunt distracted her.


    ¡°Oh, I forgot about you, Fikali. Sorry.¡± Aloe picked up the garb, dusted it off, and unceremoniously threw it inside her house. Then she picked up Fikali¡¯s lead and lead her to the oasis. ¡°I don¡¯t have a pen for you, so you are going to live here.¡±


    ¡°Whuu.¡± That grunt she didn¡¯t understand. But Aloe saw a hint of a frown on the dweller¡¯s face.


    ¡°What?¡± She asked in protest. ¡°You have grass, water, and shade. What else would you even need?¡±


    ¡°Uoh.¡± And now it felt like Fikali was shrugging.


    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m fucking losing it already. That or I¡¯m dehydrated.¡± Aloe sighed in defeat. ¡°Let¡¯s see where I can tie you.¡±


    She proceeded to look for the best spot for Fikali to roam. The rope wasn¡¯t that long so it was actually quite a challenge to do so. In the end, she settled for a date tree that was close to the oasis and surrounded by grass. Whilst it didn¡¯t provide much in terms of shade as the tree was separated from the rest, Fikali would have her basic necessities covered for this night at least.


    And monsters wouldn¡¯t attack her. Or so she wanted to believe.


    ¡°Hwoooo!¡± Fikali protested at the fact she was left tied on the tree, but it wasn¡¯t as this was nothing new for her species or her.


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    If dwellers could survive for days in the desert without food or water, she was more than settled here. And if she were to be attacked, she could easily cut the rope with those claws of her with ease.


    Wait. Aloe¡¯s thoughts stopped in realization. She could cut the rope! She knew that dwellers were tame and Fikali wouldn¡¯t do that, in theory, but the possibility of losing her one hundred and fifty drupnars scared Aloe.


    But after pondering it for a minute, she realized there was no alternative. There wasn¡¯t space for Fikali in the house, and she would eat the plants in the greenhouse if she let her sleep there. Aloe could only pray the monster was satisfied enough to not escape. Though she still had a carrot in her metaphorical stick.


    ¡°I¡¯ll grow some pistachios in the future, you know?¡± That got the dweller¡¯s attention.


    It was a cheap shot, not only for the extorsion but because she knew that at best it would take the plants months to grow. Though by that time she could go back to Sadina and buy her weight¡¯s worth in pistachios.


    With Fikali¡¯s loyalty supposedly bought, Aloe finally realized her nakedness. She didn¡¯t try to hide it, she knew no one would see her, but the thought that she had undressed herself with such ease unsettled her.


    Nonetheless, she covered her braless chest with her arm and walked back home.


    She sighed as she saw the mess she had made in her distress and started to clean the main room. The first thing was picking up the garb from the ground and hanging it behind the door. She would probably not wear it until the day when she was going to return to Sadina as the cloth was too heavy to work with, but being remotely tidy didn¡¯t hurt anyone.


    As for the multiple bags, it took her a longer while to order them. Aloe decanted the multiple full waterskins into the amphoras of the kitchenette. That already freed her of a lot of weight and space.


    The second heaviest thing were the potatoes and beans sacks, but she left those in the ground of the storage room. It was a misnomer calling it a room because the place didn¡¯t even have a door, making it rather a continuous section of the main living room-slash-kitchenette-slash-office, and now, slash-storage-closet.


    But without a doubt, what took most of the volume of the luggage was her clothing. None of the pieces were fancy, she knew they were going to get dirty out here, but just in case, and mostly because of her mother, she had packed different sets for every day of the week and double the undergarments.


    Just in case.


    ¡°Oh my...¡± Aloe led her hands to her face as she entered the bedroom with the clothing-filled bags. ¡°I¡¯m such a moron.¡± Her expression drowned in dread. ¡°Karaim didn¡¯t have a closet!¡±


    She had obviated the detail as she didn¡¯t linger much time in the bedroom during her first stay at the greenhouse, but the old man didn¡¯t treat his clothes exactly well. Karaim had a clothes hanger where he left his clothes, and as a matter of fact, most still remained hanging there.


    ¡°Alright, how do I do this.¡± There weren¡¯t many spaces on the hanger, not enough to fit all her clothes. Aloe checked the nightstand¡¯s drawers, finding a few of Karaim''s underpants and socks. She could throw the clothes on the hanger and the drawers, but she still wouldn¡¯t have enough space. ¡°Damn.¡±


    The first task at hand was to remove of all Karaim¡¯s old clothing. Even if they were only rags at this point, Aloe now had enough presence of mind to not throw them to the ground. At the very minimum, they could be used as bandages.


    She stacked all of Karaim¡¯s clothing in the bed and stored all her undergarments and socks in the drawer. After pilling them up carefully, she noticed that she had made a dune out of a pile of sand because there still was a lot of space remaining. Enough to store her nightgowns. Aloe brought them... just in case, but she knew she probably wouldn¡¯t end up using them. Thankfully, a small space remained, enough to store her foulard and shawl.


    As for the completed set of clothing, she hung the most expensive ones in the hanger and left the remaining ones in the bags.


    ¡°I could put a shelf right here.¡± Aloe visioned her redecoration with hand gestures. ¡°Not a closet, but still better than having the clothes laying around.¡± The question was: where would she get that shelf from?


    By the time she left the bedroom, twilight had come and sunset was approaching. There were a lot of things to do, but she was incredibly tired from the journey, even if it had been lighter on her body than the previous ones.


    Aloe went out of the house to check on Fikali, yet again forgetting her semi-clothed state, and after verifying that the dweller hadn¡¯t escaped and was just laying around, she took out some jerky and pita and ate it for dinner.


    Not a glorious dinner, but by now, she was too tired to even think. Aloe removed her boots, leaving them outside the house to not infest the already charged air, and donned a white silk nightgown. It was remotely hot outside, but the embracing touch of the silk was too good to let it pass. She also closed all the windows, remembering what happened the last time she didn¡¯t do so.


    With enough luck, she wouldn¡¯t wake up tomorrow in a pool of her own sweat. Just after the sun hid to reveal the golden moon, Aloe was already laying on the bed, her grandfather''s old clothes thrown on the ground. Not even nine heartbeats later she passed out from exhaustion.

 24. Planting

    Aloe was abruptly woken up by the rising temperatures, but luckily enough, she woke up before she had dirtied her nightgown with sweat. Not that it mattered because it was going to go straight to the washing board either way.


    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s hotter in the middle of the desert than in Sadina, who would have thought?¡± With a yawn and a stretch of her arms, Aloe jumped out of bed.


    She kept the nightgown for the time being and poured herself a cup of water from the amphora. That was what she thought before she checked the kitchenette¡¯s cupboards.


    ¡°Oh, glasses! How fancy!¡± Aloe picked up a glass and drank from it. It felt more refreshing than drinking from a clay cup.


    Whilst glass itself was not expensive given that the prime material was literally everywhere, a glassworker was still expensive to commission.


    ¡°Hmm, Karaim most likely also bought the glasses from the glassworker that did the greenhouse¡¯s glass panels.¡±


    After downing a glass in a single gulp, Aloe had some breakfast. She opted for bananas for two reasons. First, the fruit was going to spoil soon. Second, she was going to begin planting today and she wanted to give the palm trees in the oasis a new brother.


    Devouring the bananas was an understatement as Aloe only left the peel and the seeds after she ended with them. She went back to her bedroom and donned some rather old clothes, ready to be dirtied. She also took out her straw hat, that single piece of clothing already made her feel like a farmer.


    ¡°Alright, time to begin cultivating these plants,¡± Aloe said as she stood outside the house, hands on her hips. ¡°Okay... that sounded better in my mind.¡±


    She wasn¡¯t a farmer, a gardener, an apothecary, or a cultivator, but she had some basic knowledge of how farming worked.


    ¡°What do I need?¡± She checked with her fingers. ¡°Seeds, water can, hoe, gloves, and... that¡¯s all? Sounds about right.¡±


    First, she picked the things that were already in the house, namely the banana seeds and the newly bought gloves. As for the water can and hoe, she did a quick trip to the greenhouse.


    It was difficult to not see the decomposing pile of plant matter in front of the greenhouse. It was all that Aloe had removed when she was cleaning but was too lazy to pick up. The pile no longer emitted any smell, the harsh days under the sun and the drying nature of sand had made the matter near dust.


    ¡°Moment of truth!¡± She ignored the pile once more and opened the greenhouse door. And... ¡°Oh, thank the heavens, it¡¯s breathable.¡± It was still foul, better than a latrine but not by much. But breathable, nonetheless.


    That didn¡¯t stop Aloe from picking up the water can and hoe and getting the hells out of there. She left the door open this time, though. With luck, the greenhouse would be survivable in a few days.


    As she walked toward the oasis, she didn¡¯t forget to check on Fikali.


    ¡°How ya¡¯ doin¡¯?¡± Aloe tried a very rough and rather classist farmer accent.


    ¡°Huoo...¡± The dweller added with laziness. She was laying under the shade of the date tree Aloe had tied her on, but she seemed to have no problems whatsoever, just living her life.


    ¡°Good for you, I¡¯m gonna plant some banana seeds.¡± Fikali didn¡¯t answer her, and Aloe highly believed the sound she was hearing was snoring. ¡°I don¡¯t even know why I even try...¡±


    From her rather lacking botanical knowledge she obtained from hearsay or the school, Aloe knew that trees took nutrients from the ground, so if you planted them too close to each other, they would wilt and die. So, the first thing she did was search for a space with moist ground that wasn¡¯t close to other palm trees. There were a lot of clear spaces near the oasis, but if there weren¡¯t any trees there already, it was for a reason.


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    In the end, she decided on a spot in a flower bed. It was the only place far enough from the other trees, and it was big enough to fit the two seeds. With the hoe, she opened a socket in the dirt. She didn¡¯t know how deep the seed should be, so she arbitrarily decided that a finger of depth was good enough.


    ¡°I mean, the water has to reach it?¡± That¡¯s how she justified herself.


    Aloe covered the hole and flattened it with the head of the hoe, then repeated the same process for the second seed. She planted the banana seeds first because she was sure these would be the ones that would take longer to grow.


    ¡°Okay, now the water.¡± Aloe picked up the water can from the ground, dived it down on the oasis, and split the whole water between the two seeds. ¡°Is this enough? Or is it too much? I know that seeds can drown, but the dirt seems to be drinking the water.¡±


    She touched the ground and whilst it was humid, it wasn¡¯t drenched.


    ¡°Eh.¡± Aloe shrugged. ¡°Good enough.¡±


    Deep down she knew she should have consulted a farmer or bought a book about gardening, but the whole greenhouse and enterprise were just fa?ades she had put to hide what she was truly interested in.


    Either way, it didn¡¯t hurt her to have free food.


    ¡°Now the beans and potatoes.¡±


    She started with the potatoes as she had been suggested by multiple people to plant them. Umar had told her that they were basically weeds and that they would grow anywhere. Aloe couldn¡¯t tell if he was being serious or not, but she picked a handful of potatoes and decided to plant them on the first grass spot she found.


    Another thing she knew ¨C if she recalled correctly - was that plants had a hard time growing on soil infested by grass because they were another plant competing for the limited nutrients and water.


    ¡°A bit to remember that, not gonna lie.¡± She said thinking about the banana seeds.


    The first course of action was to heave the soil a bit. She stroked the grassy patch with the hoe, not with the intent to till the land but to expose the weed¡¯s roots. She decided to work with a square meter of land as it seemed manageable and big enough for the three potatoes to grow.


    Heaving up and down the hoe was tiring, especially with the sun scratching on her back. The straw hat covered her head, but her arms were discovered. Between the exertion and the sun exposure, Aloe¡¯s arms were slowly becoming numb.


    ¡°I... think I¡¯m doing... this wrong.¡± She said between pants. Becoming aware of her exhaustion she entered the house and filled a waterskin to take out.


    But not before taking another glass of water in a single gulp. She wanted to have the waterskin full when she went back to work. It was left unsaid, but she rested in the shade of her house for five minutes before going back at it.


    After some polishing, and with that she meant easing the roots on the soil, Aloe put the gloves back and started pulling away the weeds away. It was incredibly easy after uprooting the ground with the hoe, even if she thought she had done a horrible job at it.


    Less than a quarter of an hour later, the whole square meter patch of grass was cleaned from vegetation, only the brown of the dirt remaining.


    ¡°Should I till the ground?¡± Aloe pondered as she rested her whole weight on the hoe¡¯s handle.


    Even if she had already worked the soil, the truth was that Aloe didn¡¯t know how to actually till. She had seen farmers from afar doing so in the sparse instances she had left Sadina but didn¡¯t have actual knowledge. She didn¡¯t even know why people plowed the earth; she only knew it was necessary.


    Aloe shifted around the soil a bit, hoping it would do something, and then grabbed the potatoes. Following the advice from the retired farmer that had sold her the gloves, she broke the potatoes into pieces and then planted those pieces in the same manner she had done so with the banana seeds. And like her first sowing, she picked up the water can and watered the potato perimeter.


    Once again, unsure how much water she should use, she decided to irrigate the potatoes with two rounds of the water can.


    For the beans though, she opted for a different placement and method.


    She knew they required more water so the spot she decided to place them was near the oasis¡¯ shore. Aloe sowed them along the shoreline, taking advantage of the fact that no grass grew there, making her job easier. She hadn¡¯t counted how many beans she had planted, far more than the potatoes, even when counting the chunks, but a good section of the shore was now marked by a line of beans.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if I¡¯m making this right, but at least it will be easier to water.¡± Aloe sat underneath the shade of a random palm tree. From her position, she could see Fikali who continued to sleep.


    With a sigh of exhaustion, Aloe looked up to the sun. It was barely past its apex, so that meant it was still lunchtime.


    ¡°I kinda lost progress of the time.¡± Her hands were covered in dirt, even if she had worn the gloves. And they hurt. Her body was all sweaty, and some smudges of mud covered her legs. She couldn¡¯t think about eating right now. The only thought in her mind grew more and more as she continued looking forward. ¡°That water is looking really tantalizing right now.¡±


    Before Aloe even realized it, she found herself naked in the oasis, scrubbing her dark skin from dirt and sweat. She could only hope that nothing lived on the waters right now, because her full mind was on removing the grime and the heat from her body.

 25. Vitality

    The bath had been refreshing and Aloe felt alive anew. Though the water made her aware of her hunger. Now that she actually had towels, Aloe dried herself and went to the kitchen. There she grabbed a cauldron, dived into the oasis (a spot far away from where she had bathed), and lit up the hearth.


    She didn¡¯t intend to make a fancy meal, far from that. Her intention was to drop some of the beans and jerky into the cauldron and call it a stew.


    ¡°Hmm, maybe I could use some of the black seeds to give it taste.¡± But once she opened the jar, Aloe remembered that there weren¡¯t many. She sighed and left them apart; they were better in the greenhouse¡¯s parterres than her stomach.


    As Aloe waited for the water to boil, her eyes were directed to Karaim¡¯s cultivation technique. The diary rested on the desk, she had taken it out at some point, but her memory from yesterday¡¯s night was blurry.


    Her fingers lay on the cover, today was the day.


    Today she would use Evolution.


    ¡°I¡¯ve talked enough about the Aloe Veritas and the Na¡¯mul Ter¡¯nar, now I want to focus on the first evolved plant I made.¡± Aloe liked how the page was developing. ¡°First I need to clarify some points. When applying vital energy to seeds, you will not always get an evolved plant. Evolution isn¡¯t a straightforward art. Most times you¡¯ll end up with a healthier, maybe fast-growing plant, but not an evolved one. And besides, it wasn¡¯t until the discovery of the Aloe Veritas that I knew what evolved plants actually were.¡±


    ¡°Hmm...¡± Aloe scratched her left cheek. ¡°It¡¯s not good. You are now stating that there¡¯s a failure chance...¡± Nonetheless, she continued reading. For what her situation respected, she was now trapped in the greenhouse for a month.


    ¡°The first plant I evolved is quite literally the most basic of all: grass. I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s because of the simplicity of the plant, but the grass was the first plant I managed to evolve. Its effects are rather minimal, but considering how much grass one is able to grow, quantity surely overcomes quality in this aspect.¡±


    Aloe was left dumbfounded, eyes open like plates, as she read the next line.


    ¡°All the grass in the oasis has been substituted by Cure Grass, its evolution.¡±


    The girl jumped from her chair, grabbed the jar with dried Aloe Veritas leaves, and rushed for the oasis.


    ¡°He must be joking,¡± Aloe muttered under her breath. ¡°It¡¯s just normal grass!¡±


    But that didn¡¯t stop her from carefully grabbing a leaf, albeit she wanted to waste it by identifying herself, and rubbed the cut section on the first blade of grass she saw.


    The ink spots on the Aloe Veritas began wobbling, letters rapidly forming. And they read:


    Species: Cure Grass


    Sobriquet: Munchers


    Description: An evolved member of the Poaceae family, a species known for its ability to grow virtually anywhere and restore vitality upon consumption.


    Alignment: Life


    ¡°Impossible...¡± The words left Aloe¡¯s mouth short of a whisper. ¡°It¡¯s really not grass.¡± She had trouble believing it, so she kneeled on the grass patch. ¡°There must be a distinction, any difference!¡±


    Her eyes were scarce centimeters away from the blades as she inspected them. They truly looked like normal grass. The blades were far brighter than those in Sadina, but she had attributed that to the oasis and the uncontrolled growth, not some weird magic. But...


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    ¡°Are they a bit blue?¡± It wasn¡¯t much, it may as well be a light trick made by the reflection or the sun, but the blades of Cure Grass seemed to have a faint blue shade to them.


    With a sigh, Aloe went back home. It was surprising that she had been sitting in a pile of evolved plants but the grass itself didn¡¯t look anything special. She returned to reading the cultivation technique.


    The next section was the same text that the Aloe Veritas had shown her, once more, the text was perfectly identical.


    ¡°Now that you¡¯ve become acquainted with the concept of vital arts and evolved plants, it is time for you to learn how to use vital energy.¡± The phrase excited her. ¡°Oh, that reminds me that the Aloe Veritas technically calls vital energy ¡®vitality¡¯. I discovered that it was the same concept once I ate some of the Cure Grass.¡±


    ¡°You did what?¡± Aloe was at a loss for words. The old man was utterly senile.


    ¡°The sobriquet was what gave the idea. The veritas calls it ¡®munchers¡¯ so I tried to munch the Cure Grass, and surprisingly, it worked.¡±


    ¡°Surprisingly, he says.¡± She continued reading.


    ¡°Whilst the taste isn¡¯t the best, it did partially restore my energy. I have also found that it works for headaches, though the quantities needed to chew are far too much to consider it useful. Every blade contains an infinitesimal amount of vital energy. Or, I should say, vitality. Now, as for the usage of Evolution, you first need to be able to sense your vitality.¡±


    Aloe didn¡¯t know why, but she didn¡¯t like that wording. Vital energy seemed more appropriate.


    ¡°It was very difficult for me, taking me years, but I had no mentor to help me, so I hope my instructions will be more than enough.¡±


    ¡°Heavens, I hope so. I don¡¯t have years.¡± Aloe was getting more and more remorseful of her hotheadedness. She should have read all the cultivation technique before rushing to the greenhouse.


    ¡°First, get naked.¡±


    It took Aloe all her willpower to not throw the book out of the window.


    She took a few breaths. Maybe more than she would have liked to admit but continued reading.


    ¡°It is incredibly difficult to sense vitality for the first time. I have heard really awful things to unlock this ability, either involving virgin blood baths, drug ecstasy until you no longer feel you are alive, or orgies. I cannot confirm these methods works, except for the latter. That does work.¡±


    The deadpan on Aloe¡¯s face was worth of legends.


    She, much to her lament, continued reading.


    ¡°The main idea behind my unlocking method is the deprivation of life and meditation. You need to stand in the desert without any clothes shielding you as the light and heat assaults you. This is dangerous.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, no fucking shit.¡± Her voice had shed any pretense by now.


    ¡°But it will bring you slightly closer to death. You have to do this whilst holding a seed, any seed will work, in your hands. During the whole session, you need to only focus on the seed, on its vitality. Once dehydration starts kicking in, you should feel its vitality. That is why I also recommend not having eaten or drunk in a while, as then there will be more pressure in your body to succeed.¡±


    Aloe was at a total loss of words. What Karaim asked her to do was simple, albeit demeaning, and slightly lethal.


    ¡°Modesty or magic?¡± It was a rather tough choice, but ultimately, Aloe caved in. Evolution was the whole reason she had come back to the greenhouse.


    Taking note of the last sentence, she checked the water on the hearth. It would still take a while to boil, but not enough to do whatever Karaim wanted her to do. She carefully removed part of the wood and closed the door to the hearth. The reduced fuel would mean she would have more time.


    And then, regretfully, she took her clothes off.


    Somehow, she felt even more ashamed than the first time she bathed in the oasis. That time was about necessity, but this... it felt like she was exposing herself gratuitously.


    As for the seed, she checked in the storage closet and found Cure Grass seeds. Karaim didn¡¯t state any type of seeds, but considering Cure Grass apparently held more vitality than normal, this should make it easier to detect the vitality. Or so she wanted to believe.


    Aloe stepped to the outside, hot sand met her feet in a scorching greeting. She didn¡¯t step back because she knew it was going to get worse.


    Painfully, she walked into the desert. Away from the oasis, the house and the other buildings, and any other signs of life. She hid behind a dune, so she couldn¡¯t even see the oasis.


    ¡°I hope this works because if not, I¡¯m going to resurrect Karaim just to kill him again.¡± And then she sat on the sand.


    Instantly, she felt the scorching sand burn her thighs and buttocks.


    Aloe bit her underlip, her skin would be sore tomorrow and probably longer. The sun already began focusing on her as her back started to burn.


    ¡°Let¡¯s begin.¡± Aloe¡¯s words were charged with pain, dread, and shame; her eyes showed likewise.

 26. Evolution

    Aloe¡¯s body was in a rough state. Not even five minutes in and her back was already on fire. The only positive point she could take was that the ground was no longer burning her glutes as all the temperature had transferred to her body. The sand was still coarse to the touch, though. And her skin didn¡¯t like that.


    She truly tried to sense something in the seed, but it felt impossible. The Cure Grass seed was encased between her palms and no matter how much she directed her thoughts to the oval black speck, nothing happened.


    Are you going to give up after only five minutes?


    The only way she found to continue forward was to deprecate herself. If her time as a banker¡¯s apprentice had told her something it was that insults did work. They built hate - a lot of it actually - but they did push people forward.


    Sweat trickled down her palms, yet her back was infinitely dry.


    Aloe continued pushing herself forward.


    Her full attention was on the Cure Grass seed, she tried to close her senses, the less she thought about her discomfort, the less heat she would feel. Or so she told herself.


    At some point, Aloe had closed her eyes because her sight was becoming dizzy. Forget about dehydration, her main concern was now insolation.


    Stop thinking.


    She told herself, yet her thoughts wandered around once more. It was hard keeping oneself focused as your mind was melting.


    Why are you even doing this?


    The next voice that whispered did not continue pushing her forward, but the opposite. It beckoned her to stop, albeit with an implicit speech. The uptight tone sounded just right for a banker.


    Yes, that¡¯s right. Why am I even doing this?


    Her weak mind sought the light, for the suffering to end. It was a tone of weakness. But then she remembered the words of her father.


    Never show weakness.


    The banker had used the words for very different situations to which Aloe was applying them to. He talked about contracts and promotion opportunities, not life-or-death situations. Yet those words had become a pillar to Aloe¡¯s school of thought.


    Weakness was inferiority. And a person should only strife to greater heights. And strife implied challenge. And challenge implied difficulties.


    But why are you doing this?


    This voice wasn¡¯t damming like the others, but veritably curious. A child-like innocence and interest that was looking for answers to the questions they didn¡¯t have answers to.


    I...


    Aloe found herself at a loss.


    Why was she doing this? Why was she exposing and torturing herself? Was it money? Evolution had infinite opportunities to make her rich.


    No...


    Her mind was guided by money, yes, but now she was thinking with her heart. Was it power then?


    No.


    A resolute answer. Aloe had never sought power, however tantalizing it was. Money granted power, but her true obsession with money lay in the comfort it allowed her, not the influence that it gave.


    Then what?


    Her mind was a mess, but she managed to come to a solution. It wasn¡¯t respectable, honorable, or any of the epithets one may use to justify a goal.


    No. It was a primordial reason. Not elaborate by the mind, and not the heart. At least of an adult, that was.


    Magic.


    The words and images shook her. Aloe had been captivated by the arcane indescribable abilities of the Aloe Veritas and bewitched by the beauty of the Na¡¯mul Ter¡¯nar. What guided her forward was the heart of a child. The dreams of a child that could never let go of the fantasies of their overreaching mind.


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    Magic at my fingertips.


    Aloe had forgotten about her precarious state, her ramblings had locked her in her mind, but now she recovered her sense of touch. She traced her tongue along her teeth and palate. The exposed bones were incredibly cold to the touch whilst the flesh on her mouth was awfully dry.


    Saliva didn¡¯t come to hydrate her mouth.


    Before she could even think about her lack of hydration, a jolt of lightning traversed her arms. Her body was completely numb from the dehydration, the sun, the heat, and her awkward posture; yet she felt a palpitation.


    It was incredibly dim, she almost feared that she had lost the sensation away, but in the next heartbeat of her slow pulse, it was still there. A tingle. Not powerful. Just a spec of energy.


    But with her closed eyes and her desensitized skin, Aloe could feel it.


    And she knew what it was.


    Her mouth didn¡¯t utter a single word, but she didn¡¯t stand still in amazement. Aloe jumped out of her spot, sand violently splashing everywhere, and booked it to the house.


    ¡°Fuck, fuck, fuck!¡± She cursed as the hot sand calcinated her feet. ¡°Fuck all of this!¡±


    Aloe ran as if her life depended on it, but she hadn¡¯t taken into account her famished and dehydrated state. Her sight spun around and she fell from the dune she had been sprinting on.


    She closed her mouth and eyes as she tumbled down, the sand was like a thousand hot needles, so coarse that it felt as if her skin was being torn up. Maybe she had not been lacerated by the time she hit the foot of the dune, but it certainly had felt like it.


    ¡°Augh...¡± Aloe groaned as she slowly stood up. She was incredibly tired. Her heart skipped a bit until thinking about the seed she had been carrying in her palms and... ¡°It¡¯s still there... I still feel it!¡± She didn¡¯t care about the seed itself, but the energy that it was emitting.


    Aloe hopped in joy, the sand embedded in her skin flowed down from the sudden movement, and she almost stumbled back to the ground, but at the last moment, she managed to regain her footing.


    The exhaustion, the hunger, the thirst, the heat, the pain, the nakedness... all was forgotten. Only expectation lingered on her mind.


    She rushed to her house, having one or two more close calls as she almost fell again. She didn¡¯t care. Aloe¡¯s visage was plated with a child-like glee.


    Nothing could remove her smile.


    She swung the door wide open with tackle and rushed to the waterskin she had readied this morning. In three seconds, she emptied the leather sack.


    ¡°Live again!¡± Aloe panted with enthusiasm, though that quickly diminished as she saw all the sand she had brought into the house. ¡°Fuck!¡± Even after recovering, her curses still lacked any flourish.


    As her stomach grumbled, Aloe checked the cauldron. The water was bubbling, and it had thankfully not boiled away. She unceremoniously dropped beans and chunks of jerky into the cauldron and called it a day. She didn¡¯t care about meals now, no. She rushed to the desk, sitting in the chair with her exposed skin and sand-laden body, her focus was single-mindedly on the cultivation technique.


    ¡°If you have managed to sense vitality coming from the seed, congratulations! Otherwise, I recommend....¡± Aloe quickly skimmed over the following lines, that didn¡¯t interest her. ¡°...but now it¡¯s time to begin with vital arts. Let¡¯s try evolving a grass seed as Cure Grass is the evolved plant that I have seen that requires less vitality to create.¡±


    Aloe jumped from her seat, covering the house with even more sand. She didn¡¯t even need a minute to find the jar with grass seeds in the storage closet and bring it to the desk.


    The expectation was palpable in the air and her heartbeat. Closer to that of a critter than a human.


    ¡°Next step after you sensed foreign vitality, is to feel your own.¡±


    This was something Aloe had expected. Karaim had already dropped in an off-hand comment that to use Evolution one had to infuse their own vitality.


    ¡°Try to replicate that same feeling, but instead of outwards, try inwards.¡± The old man stated. ¡°If you work better with a mental image, think about the rays of sun penetrating your body. That energy growing inside of you, <u>like a plant</u>.¡±


    After her meditation session on the sands, she could easily visualize that image. The sun violently raped her body like war machines did with city walls or a flail violently striking a criminal.


    The heat and pain returned to her.


    For a brief instant, she hyperventilated. It had been truly painful, even if she had hidden it from herself. But the energy... the energy she understood.


    It was a vague feeling, like a mixture of a jolt of lightning and a filling gulp of water. But it wasn¡¯t that simple to describe, she could add the refreshing taste of mint, but the relaxing smell of jasmine.


    That was how the energy felt.


    The vitality.


    It wasn¡¯t a straightforward concept, but a tangible one, nonetheless.


    She couldn¡¯t point it out in her body, but it was there, somewhere. Her eyes peered back to the diary.


    ¡°Canalizing vitality is a bit harder, but not that complicated to do. More like taxing. Grab a grass seed, you don¡¯t need any thoughts, actually having your head empty will do better. Your intent is what matters. Just press really hard on the seed with all your might and act as if you were pushing your blood to the seed. You¡¯ll know when you have succeeded.¡±


    Aloe pressed hard on her hand without hesitating, blood vessels instantly showing their relief from the skin.


    She pushed and pushed.


    Her right arm trembled by the sheer amount of pressure she was applying. She gritted her teeth and continued forward.


    It was impossibly tiring, her breathing became ragged as she pushed. How was putting strength in a fist this draining?


    And suddenly, her strength ceased.


    As if the metaphorical strings controlling her body snapped, her arm dropped down.


    Aloe panted heavily as she looked at the seed dangerously hanging in her fingers. Her head fell to the desk accompanied by a scary thud, and with great difficulty, she stretched her other arm to the Aloe Veritas leaf jar and grabbed a sample. As she rubbed the magical plant against the seed, she couldn¡¯t help herself but smile.


    ¡°Evolution...¡± She whispered in an exhausted daze, barely hanging to her consciously.

 27. Cure Grass

    Species: Cure Grass


    Sobriquet: Munchers


    Description: An evolved member of the Poaceae family, a species known for its ability to grow virtually anywhere and restore vitality upon consumption.


    Alignment: Life


    The ink spots on the Aloe Veritas rearranged to form the same description that Aloe saw before with the grown Cure Grass blades.


    ¡°So, it works with seeds too...¡± That was her first controlled reaction. The next one was not so much. ¡°Yes, yes, yes! An evolved plant!¡± Aloe stood up on a brink, tightly gripping the ink-tainted black seed.


    All the doubts she had had about Karaim, the vital arts, and Evolution completely vanished. She had sensed it, and above all else, experienced it.


    Vitality and Evolution.


    The possibilities were endless. If it truly worked like she hoped it did, this meant that any plant could be evolved, and if they were half, nay, a tenth as useful as the Aloe Veritas then she would be set for life.


    Her stomach grumbled, reminding Aloe that she had still to eat. She took a step forward, but her legs faltered, sending her to the ground. She tried to grab the desk to stop her fall, but her arm was even in a worse state after the evolution and it failed to support her weight. Aloe impacted violently against the side of the desk and dropped to the dirty floor.


    ¡°Ugh...¡± She grunted in pain, her left shoulder killing her. A few coughs escaped her mouth. ¡°I feel, ugh... dizzy.¡±


    The clothless girl stood up but failed halfway through. Aloe lay her back on the desk wall, the wood feeling cold as it grazed her burnt skin.


    ¡°Is this starvation?¡± Another cough assaulted her. ¡°No, it doesn¡¯t look like it.¡± She looked at the arm holding the Cure Grass seed and it felt... lifeless.


    That image, that lack of vitality, reminded Aloe of one of the first pages she read of Karaim¡¯s cultivation technique. ¡°I wish I had discovered Evolution earlier in life. Not only because of the time I could have dedicated to the craft, but because I would have enjoyed more vitality to dedicated to the plants if I was younger.¡±


    ¡°Vitality...¡± It was rather obvious in retrospect, but Aloe hadn¡¯t noticed until now. ¡°He wasn¡¯t talking about his actual age, but his vital energy... And it looks like after you evolve a plant your vitality is... spent.¡±


    Aloe tried to stand up once more, but she felt incredibly tired. And it certainly didn¡¯t help that her head was spinning around, and her shoulder was killing her. Not only she had spent her vitality ¨C whatever that may entail ¨C but she was also famished, half-dehydrated even after drinking, bruised, and suffering from a mild insolation.


    ¡°Ugh...¡± Aloe grunted once more. She felt like puking right now, but her stomach was totally empty. Her breakfast had been rather light. ¡°I... I need some food right fucking now.¡±


    A shiver of desperation clung unto her, and whilst her legs and arms were wasted, she wiggled through the floor, sand painfully clinging to her exposed skin as she approached the steaming cauldron.


    She was panting, short of hyperventilation given her stress, once she made it to the hearth. Her body and mind were screaming for her to stop, but also to have some food.


    With great difficulty and a colossal effort, Aloe managed to climb up the hearth and rest her arms and body on the kitchenette counter. Very slowly, and wary to not fall again, she picked up a wooden bowl and with a ladle at hand, poured herself a steaming stew.


    ¡°The spoon...¡± She realized how far away the utensil drawer was and stopped dead in her tracks. ¡°Fuck it, the ladle it is.¡±


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    She let her body fall to the ground with the most grace she could gather, and slowly, began to eat the stew.


    It tasted horrible.


    Not only she wasn¡¯t a good cook, but she had dedicated no thought to preparing the meal. Though that didn¡¯t even matter to her now. She was too tired to even focus on the taste. And her body was still unhealthily hot that even after rushing with a spoonful into her mouth, she almost didn¡¯t feel the boiling hot stew.


    Keyword: almost.


    ¡°Fuck!¡± Aloe panted, cooling down her burned tongue. Tears came out from the corners of her eyes as she looked for water, but the nearest waterskin was on the ground. And it was the one she had already downed. Even if she wanted to pour some water from the amphora, and she wasn¡¯t sure she even could, she was scared of breaking it and losing all the remaining water she had. ¡°Nothing¡¯s going right today.¡±


    She knew it wasn¡¯t true. In half a day she had managed to plant the banana seeds, the potatoes, and the beans, plus learning how to sense vitality and evolved a plant. It was an overwhelmingly productive day, but there was nothing that could soothe her mood now.


    After blowing multiple times, the bowl no longer looked like Sadina¡¯s baths, so Aloe gave it another try.


    Spoonful after spoonful, it didn¡¯t take Aloe long before she finished the bowl. She was far from satisfied, but now she didn¡¯t feel like she was immediately going to pass out. Or away.


    ¡°Ugh...¡± She rested her head on the kitchenette counter, her eyes closed. ¡°Never again using vitality with an empty stomach.¡± She promised.


    It had been an atrocious feeling, and whilst not as bad as her menstrual cramps, it was not something Aloe wanted to repeat. At least she had interiorized her menstruation as something inevitable, she would have to deal with it for all her life. But better to not double down on the suffering.


    Aloe dozed a bit, her eyelids suddenly becoming impossibly heavy.


    ¡°I¡¯m... ah~¡± A yawn bulldozed her way out.


    She blinked, and the next time she opened her eyes the windows showed an orange sky.


    ¡°What?¡± Aloe blinked multiple times in quick succession. ¡°Oh, great heavens, it¡¯s afternoon already.¡± She stood up from her awkward position, her body and mouth grunting in protest. ¡°Ouch! Mental note, never sleep on the floor naked whilst sitting. Ugh, my whole body hurts.¡±


    She dusted her skin off, the many grains of sand had deeply imbedded in her body, leaving ugly marks everywhere. Thankfully her dark skin hid most of them.


    A plethora of thoughts assaulted her mind, whether continue reading the cultivation technique, checking on Fikali, or taking a bath on the oasis. Because, let¡¯s be honest, she was a mess. Her dark skin was a shade lighter from the front with all the dust, and her back still burned. And the thick and slimy layer of sweat covering her didn¡¯t help.


    But no, the thought that rang louder than the rest was...


    ¡°Damn, I need more food.¡± Aloe walked up to the cauldron and refilled her bowl.


    The hearth¡¯s fire had died a while ago, but the stew was vaguely hot still. She put the lid on top to cover the cauldron. That stew would at least last a day more, two if she wasn¡¯t starving tomorrow too.


    She led the ladle to her mouth, too lazy to search for an actual spoon.


    ¡°Yeah, can¡¯t call this crime against humanity a stew, let alone fasolia.¡± The heat had hidden the taste before, cold it was outright garbage. That didn¡¯t stop her from eating it, though.


    A lady had their priorities, and holding off starvation was damn high up on the list.


    ¡°Yeah, curse my pride, I¡¯ll ask Mirah to teach me how to cook. This is foul.¡±


    When she ended, Aloe left the bowl on the counter and reached for the amphora. Her tomorrow self would worry about doing the dishes.


    ¡°Not a lot left, ugh.¡± Aloe groaned and drunk. ¡°Tomorrow I¡¯ll have to start boiling water again.¡±


    Her plentiful waterskins had lasted her two days, which said a lot about her resource management skills. Once again, she let her future self deal with the problem, now her attention was focused on the diary.


    ¡°If you managed to infuse and evolve the seed, firstly congratulations, secondly you should feel lethargic.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s mildly putting it, but yes.¡± Aloe sighed. ¡°And also, I should start reading the whole page before killing myself. That would be useful, yes.¡±


    ¡°Some people have the misconception that vitality is their life force, that using it will consume their lifespan, but this is false.¡±


    ¡°Oh...¡± Aloe¡¯s mouth hung slightly open. ¡°I didn¡¯t even consider that, but that¡¯s a scary thought.¡±


    ¡°You have to think vitality as stamina. It¡¯s not directly that, even if they are connected, but it isn¡¯t a finite resource. If you rest, have a nap, eat, drink, anything that makes your body recover, your vitality will replenish. A healthy and well-built body will also have a greater capacity for vitality, but also a faster recovery. This is why I with my advanced age didn¡¯t get far to explore the incredible art that is Evolution. Any infusion would leave me breathless, nearing a heart attack. If it weren¡¯t because of my high consumption of Cure Grass, I couldn¡¯t have gone with it as long as I did.¡±


    Aloe read the last sentence thrice and then looked at the Aloe Veritas leaf with the Cure Grass seed information still written, specifically the description section.


    Description: An evolved member of the Poaceae family, a species known for its ability to grow virtually anywhere and restore vitality upon consumption.


    ¡°Restore vitality upon consumption.¡± She reiterated. ¡°Oh my... I¡¯m such a colossal moron.¡±


    Aloe grabbed her head in frustration. Hopefully, she wouldn¡¯t cry herself to sleep to forget her subhuman intelligence.

 28. Infusion

    Aloe put on her clothes, her sorry state and dirty body be damned. Tomorrow she would bathe, but today she was too tired to even think about it. What she was not tired to do was investigate a bit more.


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe I¡¯m saying this, but let¡¯s munch some grass.¡± Aloe walked to the oasis, now having footwear to protect her feet.


    As the sun was beginning to set, the oasis looked calm. There weren¡¯t any animals, which was surprising, but she had heard the sounds of bugs from time to time. Fikali was still sleeping under the date tree, so she left her alone. Aloe kneeled before a patch of grass and hesitatingly yanked a handful of blades of grass.


    The vaguely, almost unnoticeable, blue grass looked no different from common grass. Aloe¡¯s hand trembled as she pictured her eating grass, it was just so dumb...


    ¡°Vitality, Aloe. Think of the vitality...¡± She muttered to convince herself.


    Though talking about vitality reminded her to sense the vitality of the grass. She had just learned the skill, but now it felt impossible to forget it. That didn¡¯t mean it was easy to detect the vitality of the plant. As Karaim had stated, each individual blade didn¡¯t contain a lot of vitality. And she was far from an expert on the subject.


    ¡°Alright, concentrate. You need to concentrate.¡± Aloe remembered how much easier was to feel her own vitality.


    Not only she had massive amounts of it compared to the Cure Grass, but it was also hers. Aloe took a deep breath, remembering the scorching sun and draining sands, the lack of life she had experienced in the desert.


    When there was not a single hope of life around you, the measly seed was an expansive farmland.


    A jolt of lighting traversed her arms, it was small, less than a jerk, but it was something. The blades of Cure Grass in her hand felt ever-so-warmer now.


    ¡°They have vitality. A grown blade has more vitality than a seed but still far less than what I spent on evolving a normal seed.¡± Aloe exhaled, the air coming out of her mouth unnaturally heavy. ¡°Karaim was right, they don¡¯t have a lot of vitality.¡± Then she led the blades to her mouth but stopped abruptly. ¡°No, I can¡¯t do this!¡± Aloe cringed. ¡°It¡¯s... it¡¯s too much! I can get behind getting naked in the desert, but eating grass? There I draw the line.¡±


    The absurdity of the situation wasn¡¯t lost on Aloe, even she noticed the strange line she had set. Her banker¡¯s mind whispered to her about the sunken-cost fallacy and how right now it didn¡¯t look much like a fallacy. The gains outnumbered the losses by much.


    ¡°Ehm... he said I just needed to munch it, right?¡± Aloe convinced herself with trembling hands. ¡°I¡¯ll still have grass in my mouth though... But the vitality... Ugh, everything be damned!¡±


    And the handful of grass became a mouthful.


    Aloe¡¯s visage contorted in repugnance. It was awful. She wanted to apologize with her stew and call it a feast of the heavens, the apotheosis of the sun. Because right now, she just wanted to puke.


    But she pushed forward and chewed on the Cure Grass.


    It got worse.


    Bile rapidly gathered on her throat and Aloe spat the grass out.


    ¡°Oh my...¡± She spat multiple times on the ground, trying to get the taste out. ¡°It tastes like acid!¡± Not that she ever had tasted any acid.


    Aloe exhaled and inhaled rapidly, her chest heaving up and down harder than when she had to run after Fikali yesterday. It was a foul taste, but...


    ¡°Damn.¡± Aloe curled into a ball. ¡°It does work...¡± She honestly hoped it didn¡¯t, but her body didn¡¯t feel as heavy as before. ¡°It restores vitality, ugh.¡± Her eyes became watery at the notion of munching more Cure Grass. ¡°How in the heavens did Karaim manage to do this?¡±


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    The taste still lingered on her palate; it just wouldn¡¯t go away. But she knew the suffering wasn¡¯t over yet. The vitality she had restored from munching once on that bunch of grass was not even close enough to restore the vitality she had lost on the Cure Grass evolution. And a quick check on the grass she had spat revealed that she hadn¡¯t gotten all the vitality out of those blades.


    ¡°Oh no.¡± Aloe groaned. ¡°I have to chew multiple times each batch.¡± And then groaned again.


    After a while, Aloe had enough of facing her mortality, though others would call it ¡°cry like a little whimper¡±. Others were far harsher, but we don¡¯t talk about those.


    The first thing she did was rinse her mouth. She knew that her amphora was running low on water and such misuse of water was stupid, but she preferred that to having her mouth taste like a monster¡¯s den.


    Two mouthfuls of water seemed enough to wash most of the grass'' taste away.


    ¡°Alright, I need to find a better way to take the vitality out of the Cure Grass.¡± Aloe sat in front of the desk; her dusty clothes substituted by a nightgown. ¡°Nothing actually forces me to munch it, and by the looks of it, I just need to get the juices out, so what can I do?¡±


    This seemed like an apothecary question, but it wasn¡¯t like she could ask Umar right now for ideas.


    ¡°The obvious option is to make tea, but that won¡¯t solve anything, it will taste like shit, even if I try to hide it with other plants.¡± Aloe played with her curls, deep in thought. ¡°Washing the grass isn¡¯t a bad idea, though. It was kinda dumb on my part to munch grass right out of the oasis. It was probably covered in dust, even if I didn¡¯t notice.¡± That thought made her tongue itch now.


    Aloe read the cultivation technique for ideas, but that led nowhere. Karaim had jumped to another subject, and it was worrying how thin the diary was becoming. He truly didn¡¯t know a lot about Evolution and that troubled Aloe.


    ¡°I could grind the grass, maybe dust would be easier... but I still would consume outright dust... Well... I could but that sounds even worse than the tea. Far worse.¡± She tapped on the desktop repeatedly, hoping for any idea to strike her. ¡°Hmm... How about pills?¡± She said aloud. ¡°That I could consume with a gulp, and I wouldn¡¯t even need to taste the grass... and dust is far denser than singular blades so I could concentrate a lot of grass in a single pill.¡±


    The idea sounded quite solid, but she still had a problem. Aloe didn¡¯t know how to make pills. She had a vague idea, but that required some ingredients.


    ¡°Okay, I need something to keep the dust together. Something sticky. Honey would work perfectly but I don¡¯t have that. Same with gelatin. Hmm, something sticky...¡± She continued tapping, searching for substitutes. ¡°Aloe sap is kinda sticky... will that work?¡±


    Aloe made a mental note, that idea seemed to have some future, but it¡¯s not like she could try today. She also needed to look for a mortar and pestle, she was sure she saw one somewhere, but she couldn¡¯t quite remember where.


    A quick look through the window showed her that the sun had already hidden away, but the sky had yet to darken. And thanks to her nap, she wasn¡¯t exactly sleepy. Aloe continued reading the open journal.


    ¡°Vitality is quite interesting, I have heard that nobles use it for their nurturing, but I am unaware of their methods. But thanks to my research on Evolution I have found another method to apply vitality, I call it Infusion. I won¡¯t say it¡¯s a separate field, more like another branch of Evolution, or a neutral one of the vital arts, but it¡¯s quite simple. Instead of evolving the plant by infusing it with your vitality, you just don¡¯t.¡±


    Aloe sighed. ¡°I don¡¯t know why I keep reading, honestly.¡±


    ¡°I know it sounds quite counteractive, but trust me, intent is key when dealing with the vital arts. In Evolution, you purposely think of a change. If you failed to evolve the Cure Grass, that¡¯s probably the reason, you lacked intent. Emphasis on intent and not thoughts, my bad. An empty head with no thoughts is useful in these fields.¡±


    ¡°I did not fail, but it¡¯s interesting to hear, nonetheless.¡± She mussitated, her chin resting on her palm as she read.


    ¡°Infusion lacks any intent,¡± Karaim explained. ¡°By simply infusing a plant with vitality, it will grow faster. I cannot tell exact numbers as they vary from plant to plant, but a single infusion may be enough to cut the growing period by half.¡±


    ¡°Oh, now that¡¯s interesting.¡± Aloe¡¯s main problem with cultivation currently was that plants took a lot of time to grow. A time that she rather save up. She technically had a deadline with Fikali¡¯s death, but that was still years away.


    ¡°Another factor to take into consideration is that Infusion is way cheaper than Evolution, so it makes sense to at least infuse any given plant once to at least half its growth time. That¡¯s what I did with all the palm trees on the oasis.¡±


    Aloe almost choked on her spit upon reading that. ¡°Damn, Karaim certainly likes his plot twists. Is even the oasis natural? Next thing I¡¯m gonna read is that he made a hole in the ground and nince-damned water just spurted out.¡±


    And whilst she was reading, her mind was on the Infusion. Halving a plant¡¯s growth was a significant advantage. Nonetheless, a yawn escaped her. A peek in the window showed her a starry sky.


    ¡°Damn, I read slow.¡± Aloe stretched her arms with a cute groan and stood up from her chair.


    The bed¡¯s call was potent.

 29. Manure

    Morning hadn¡¯t been pleasurable to Aloe. Night had been gorgeous, she had slept soundly, not too cold yet not too hot. But as she woke up, she felt her body weigh down on her.


    Not only her thighs were killing her from sitting on the sand for hours, or her back aching from her nap on the living room¡¯s floor, but also her stomach. Oh, how much it hurt. It wasn¡¯t anything her body had taken in, quite the opposite in fact.


    ¡°Ugh,¡± Aloe groaned on her way to the kitchen, laying a hand on her stomach. Her bowels and kidneys were stinging her. She knew the reason why. ¡°I should have gone to the bathroom yesterday... two days already without evacuating...¡± She sat on the desk chair and tied her sandals.


    Whilst she had survived her previous stay at the greenhouses without going to the bathroom for three days, those days hadn¡¯t been as painful as yesterday had been. And she certainly had drunk more water in that span.


    Aloe limped across the desert as she made her way to the outside latrine. The building was quite disheveled, and Aloe doubted how it was even standing up, but the alternatives weren¡¯t that much better.


    When she opened the wooden door of the latrine, Aloe was surprised to find no odor. She looked down into the hole and found it wasn¡¯t very deep, but at least it was clean.


    ¡°Now I understand why the shovel in the greenhouse was that big. A bit stupid that he didn¡¯t leave it on here.¡± While Aloe may be incredibly averse to eating grass, she had no problem with cleaning a latrine. She had mentalized herself a long time ago.


    Inside the latrine, there was a bucket filled with sand and a sponge on a stick.


    ¡°Oh, nice.¡± Aloe sat on the throne, not before removing her nightgown, just in case things got messy. ¡°He did have something to clean himself. I was worried I had to rely on sand.¡±


    There was nothing wrong with sand, but depending on the grains, you may do more damage to yourself than it was worth it. Aloe groaned in pleasure as she was finally able to release all the load she had been carrying.


    The lack of smell and the aspect of the stick told her that the old man had cleaned the latrine before he departed, which Aloe was immeasurably thankful for. She grabbed the sponge by the handle and inspected it.


    ¡°Yeah, it could have been really bad if this wasn¡¯t clean.¡± She had heard that commoners, ones with lesser income than her family shared communal sticks, but she wasn¡¯t willing to corroborate that. Sand sounded far more appealing than sharing a stick that had met another¡¯s person bum.


    She was still reticent to use the sponge, but it did look clean. But that wasn¡¯t enough, so she rubbed the sponge along the sand in the bucket. She trusted the sand to be cleaner than the sponge. And besides, that was the exact function of the bucket.


    After a few minutes of introspection and bliss, Aloe stood up from the latrine seat and cleaned herself.


    ¡°Ooh...¡± Evacuating had improved her mood, but the sponge quickly degraded it. ¡°Still better than sand...¡± Aloe whispered to herself, squinting her eyes in pain.


    Once she was over, she left the sponge on the bucket and donned her nightgown again.


    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s going to be tedious to clean that,¡± Aloe said looking down at the latrine hole. ¡°But that¡¯s free manure, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    She knew she couldn¡¯t afford to let her waste... go to waste. She was absolutely repugned by the idea of using her feces to fertilize the plants. But the upsides were too many.


    ¡°If it only was animal fe...¡± Aloe stopped mid-sentence. ¡°Oh right.¡± Then she remembered her dweller. She made her way out of the latrine not before giving a last look at the seat. ¡°Bah, I¡¯ll clean that later.¡± And she grabbed the bucket with the sponge.


    Nothing going on in a latrine could be hygienic, but she was going to make her best effort to do so. She walked into the house to change clothes, not before leaving the sand bucket at the entrance.


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    It would have been easing to wear yesterday¡¯s clothes, but nonetheless, Aloe chose a new set. She had a lot of clothing, and she intended to use it all. It wasn¡¯t like they were new or stylish clothes either.


    Before going out she had a short breakfast consisting of a single banana and a glass of water. The latrine had removed any hunger she may have.


    Next, she made her way to the dweller with a cauldron and a bucket in each hand.


    ¡°Heya, Fikali. How are you doing?¡± Aloe waved at the monster after leaving the heavy bucket on the ground.


    Lazily, Fikali turned to face her. ¡°Huooooo...¡± She grunted weakly.


    ¡°Sorry, have I woken you up?¡± Aloe gazed at the sky, the sun had just come out and the skies weren¡¯t completely blue yet.


    ¡°Wrooo!¡± The dweller confirmed with a mixture of annoyance.


    ¡°What?¡± Aloe retorted. ¡°You sleep all day, it¡¯s not like waking you up a bit earlier is going to do anything.¡±


    ¡°Ruooooh!¡± But Fikali would have none of it and started jumping on the spot, her vicious movements pulling on the lead and the tree she was tied on.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with you?¡± Aloe shouted as she faced the dweller, who was thrashing with her fins and claws at her back. ¡°Oh...¡± The human mussitated in realization. ¡°I didn¡¯t take the saddle off you...¡±


    ¡°Hwrooooooooo!¡± Fikali screamed as if she was saying ¡®Finally!¡¯


    ¡°Alright, call down, I¡¯ll remove it now.¡± Aloe slowly approached Fikali, not fully trusting the monster that weighed four times as her at minimum.


    She didn¡¯t have any knowledge on how to take off the saddle, and much less on how to put it back. But that was a problem for later as the dweller was incredibly irritable, and Aloe preferred a whole lot more to have to ride Fikali without a saddle than have her escape because she was unhappy.


    Sleight of hand was not a skill Aloe could boast to have, but slowly she managed to undo the belts of the saddle. Which ended up being more of them than she imagined. The saddle was an old piece of leather, but it still looked quite expensive. A sane rider wouldn¡¯t use it, but it was more than enough as a gift.


    ¡°Happy?¡± Aloe asked the dweller after she managed to take the saddle out of her. It was surprisingly heavy, maybe five kilos, or a tenth of what she weighed.


    ¡°Wuoooo!¡± And whilst Fikali¡¯s tone seemed one of assertion, her face was still lingering with a frown. She jumped on the spot once more, bellyflopping the grass away.


    ¡°What¡¯s the problem now?¡± Aloe groaned.


    ¡°Huo! Huo!¡± Fikali turned and flopped to a spot behind the date tree.


    ¡°Oh.¡± Aloe quickly noticed the black and smelly spots. ¡°You too do your business, right...¡±


    ¡°Wroooooo!¡± That grunt felt like a ¡®clean that now.¡¯


    Aloe sighed. ¡°Give me a moment.¡±


    She was well aware that Fikali would produce waste, but for some reason in her mind, she just processed it as free manure rather than having to clean her space. Oh, how na?ve she had been.


    The greenhouse was locked by its simple lever lock, a flick of a finger and it snapped open. Aloe grabbed the shovel inside and returned to the oasis. She left the greenhouse open to air it a bit more. The heavens knew that the place needed it.


    ¡°Alright, make room, I¡¯ll shovel now,¡± Aloe told to the dweller, who didn¡¯t understand at first. A slight kick made her realize the human¡¯s intentions. ¡°At least they are tightly packed and solid,¡± Aloe said as she faced elsewhere to not have the smell directly pointing at her.


    She shoveled the dweller''s feces into the sand bucket and took a few steps back.


    ¡°I guess I could already use this as manure.¡±


    Her knowledge of fertilizer was non-existent. As far as Aloe was concerned, farmers just shoved shit on top of the plants, and she didn¡¯t think she was that far off. Maybe there was a bit more nuance that she was unaware of, but overall, it sounded like a solid plan.


    But before drowning the plants in manure, she had to do other things.


    The first thing was to grab the watering can in the greenhouse. She knew that she had to water the plants each day. That much she could tell.


    Then, instead of outright wetting the soil, Aloe walked on where she had planted the two banana seeds and knelt down. Karaim had mentioned a key piece of information whilst talking about infusion in his cultivation technique.


    Aloe extended her hands on the soil, unbothered by the dirt as she had done far dirtier things this morning, she reached for the seeds. The idea wasn¡¯t to unearth them, just to sense the vitality inside of the seeds.


    It took her a few minutes to sense the seeds, there was grass and flowers everywhere messing with her perception. Aloe knew the weeds and others weren¡¯t the seeds out of pure instinct, she couldn¡¯t justify how she made the distinction.


    The banana seeds emitted a pulse weaker than the Cure Grass blades, but not far from the common flowers around them. Once she had a target on an individual seed, Aloe took a deep breath and began channeling her vitality.


    It was like pushing a closet upstairs, incredibly taxing and weighing on her body, even if her posture was comfortable.


    As vitality escaped her fingertips, Aloe started growing dizzy and her breathing became rugged, but it was sustainable. The drain wasn¡¯t as bad as when she had evolved the Cure Grass seed.


    The process was slow, but after a few more minutes the banana seed didn¡¯t take more of her vitality. Aloe could only be thankful that she could stand up after that and wasn¡¯t that spent from the infusion, though her legs did tremble a bit.


    She managed to repeat the same process with the other seed without passing out, then she watered both of the banana seeds and finally dumped the fresh manure on them.


    What will come out of traditional farming combined with vital arts? Aloe asked herself as her sight became blurry.

 30. Emir

    Hassan woke up greeted by the golden rays of the sun and the breeze of the women fanning him. They were two women of his age, but their skin was far darker than his. As far as skin tones went in Ydaz, his was of the fairest. And their clothing was far skimmer than his, even if he was in very loose night clothes. Yet he couldn¡¯t think of their attires as anything sexual.


    I guess that¡¯s what having your mother and sisters walk mostly naked all the time does to a man. Hassan sighed internally, but he showed no weakness to the women.


    As he stood up from his comfortable feather bed, the silk mantles flowing down and revealing his toned body, the assistants didn¡¯t take a single breath before letting the fans on the side and began to undress him.


    The palace of Sadina was specifically constructed to lower the temperatures, so Hassan found himself preferring light clothing and very little of it. I¡¯m slowly becoming my mother. That was not an insult to the Sultanah of Ydaz, but the prospect scared him. He valued his objective way of thinking, and Aaliyah-al-Ydaz was a very biased and volatile person.


    Silks and trinkets accumulated around his body as the woman dressed him. Their cold and soft hands were pleasurable, but Hassan couldn¡¯t enjoy them.


    Once they were done, the assistants took a step back and allowed him to walk forward.


    After living for five years in the palace, he had assimilated a routine, and so did his servants. Hassan directed himself to the dining hall and the lightly-clothed women followed him silently.


    Those steps weren¡¯t out of some subterfuge training, to his knowledge, they were just common noble women. No, that silence was out of respect. A tradition he didn¡¯t fully understand but it was true that the loudest person in the room should be the most important.


    Either way, the first time surprised him, so he investigated just in case they were assassins. Considering that the previous Emir of Sadina had been killed by them, maybe they left some dormant operatives inside.


    That proved to be paranoia talking. Assassins were stealthy, but not patient.


    Silence was not something Hassan had had in his mother¡¯s palace. The servants and guards were far louder than him, a sultanzade, an imperial prince. And that was not a show of disrespect, because the Sultanah was even louder than them. Overwhelmingly so. Even when Aaliyah-al-Ydaz stood still, simply watching down on her subjects as usual, her raw aura deafened anyone else.


    It took Hassan a lot of time to acclimate to the fact that he was now the most important person in the room.


    Or the city.


    The dining hall was glorious, decorated with marble, golden highlights, and plentiful silk curtains, massive colorful pillows, and endless carpets. The main palette of the room was gold, white, and red. Those were the colors of the flag of Ydaz after all, and by default, also the Imperial Crest and the region of Sadina.


    The gold represented the sun, moon, and sands. All golden and bright.


    The white was the purity, whether of the scorching light or their rulers.


    And the red was simply blood.


    Ydaz was a nation built in blood, in more than one sense at that, so it made sense it was represented. Not only they had a history of warfare, but also all of the farmlands were sustained by the one and only Sultanah¡¯s blood.


    That didn¡¯t mean those weren¡¯t the only colors present in the room. Greens and purples were also very sought and used colors.


    Not only green was an incredible contrast to red, but it was also the color commonly associated with vitality, where nobility''s power came from. And unlike other countries where greenery was common, yet here in Ydaz it was considered a luxury.


    As for purple... it was just the prestige. Purple dye was outrageously expensive, so using a single piece of it showed your financial welfare. Aaliyah-al-Ydaz loved wearing such color, even if she abhorred clothing. It also matched perfectly with her violet eyes.


    Hassan was grateful when the copious plates of food arrived, served in trays of silver. Even here I cannot get her out of my mind. Aaliyah-al-Ydaz had a raw charisma but also a wicked way to instill herself in the mind of others, especially her children.


    The trays were loaded with more food than he could be able to eat in a single day, let alone breakfast, but it was true that cultivators ate more than normal people.


    The cooks and maids had meticulously set the meals in such a way that Hassan could pick them up without straining a muscle and elaborately so no cutlery was needed. Never a picky or heavy eater, the Emir finished his breakfast in a few minutes and readied himself for work.


    The passageways of the palace of Sadina were colossal and well-ventilated, with arched open windows in every step. Once it had been considered a glaring defense breach, but with the bountiful guards and his trained power, the only ones who could suppose a danger to him would be able to kill him even if he was encased in a meter-thick cube of lead.


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    Sadina¡¯s audience hall didn¡¯t possess such portentous doors as the one in Asina. It made sense, no one was like Aaliyah-al-Ydaz, able to slide tons of stone with a flicker of their fingers.


    Hassan sat on a pillowed throne. Considering the time he would be spending here every morning, he had removed the golden throne of the previous Emir and sent it to have it cast. His commodity and well-being were far more valuable than needless opulence.


    Everyone already knew who the Emir was.


    Him.


    People quickly flocked to the room once he sat down. Many were servants and guards, both of the redundant. But it was all appearances, as always. He remembered most of their names after half a decade of working with them, but he couldn¡¯t act like it.


    Ugh... He grunted inwardly. I am but a massive sycophant.


    An escort of five scribes approached him, not close enough to disrespect him, but not far enough so he couldn¡¯t hear them. All of them were women.


    Most members in high rankings were women after all. Even if Ydaz weren¡¯t a matriarchy, for the last two centuries only women rested on the throne. And Aaliyah-al-Ydaz made it clear that she didn¡¯t have much affection for men.


    The five women weren¡¯t even near Hassan¡¯s future harem in his plans. They were far too capable to have them waste their time like that, but it wasn¡¯t like they were unique or irreplaceable. If you had a tool, you wanted to use it, not have it lying around. But at the end of the day, it still was a tool.


    The scribes came from diverse backgrounds, only one of them was a cultivator. The others were a scholar from the university, a former merchant, a commoner, and a random noble lady.


    Not all nobles were cultivators, but all cultivators were nobles.


    The last one he had been gifted, her father hoping she would make it to Hassan¡¯s harem. Unfortunately for the power-seeking noble, her daughter was too competent at her job.


    ¡°Debrief, now,¡± Hassan ordered.


    There was a reason to have scribes from different backgrounds, they were tasked with different fields. Efficiency through plurality.


    ¡°The University of Sadina is asking once again for a stimulus, my Emir.¡± Nuha, the scholar, presented with a bow.


    ¡°Have they made any progress or new discoveries deserving such income?¡± Hassan laid his head on his palm with boredom. The scholars of the university always wanted more money for their investigations, but never actually found anything new.


    ¡°No, my Emir,¡± Nuha responded as expected.


    ¡°Denied, then. Next!¡±


    ¡°There have been refugees flocking from Loyata, there seems to have been a dispute between local warlords. A bloody one.¡± Tamara, the merchant, explained.


    ¡°Sadina is far away from the frontier, there can¡¯t be many refugees, can it?¡±


    ¡°No, my Emir.¡±


    ¡°Let them enter if they have money,¡± Hassan said after giving it a vague thought.


    ¡°Of course, my Emir.¡± Tamara bowed and stepped back.


    ¡°My Emir?¡± Asked the noblewoman.


    ¡°Yes, Dana?¡± He was allowed to recall the names of his personal scribes, especially if they were nobles.


    ¡°Regarding the refugees, there have been whispers of a plague as of late.¡± Dana said as she highlighted her bosoms by putting an arm underneath them. Clearly a petition from her father.


    ¡°Is that true?¡± Hassan looked back at Tamara, ignoring the wooing of the noblewoman.


    ¡°If I could be apologized by you, my Emir, the indices of the plague have come from Ydaz, not Loyata. That¡¯s why I deemed it worth not to mention it.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡± The emir scratched his hairless chin. ¡°If a single refugee is detected with this plague, cast them out. Without anything on their person.¡± Hassan added with a vitality-bolstered voice, making the scribes tremble.


    ¡°But of course, my Emir,¡± Tamara affirmed, her legs shaking underneath her open yellow dress.


    ¡°As for you, Dana. Keep me informed of the plague situation.¡± The noble lady only bowed in submission at his statement. ¡°Next!¡±


    ¡°The fields seem to have been recovering, my Emir.¡± Shahrazad, the only common woman besides Tamara, explained. ¡°After the gift of the magnificent Sultanah, the yields of the fields have almost doubled as the crops have been healthier.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡± Hassan didn¡¯t express much interest, even if in reality that was the subject that interested him the most.


    Shahrazad was the oldest of all the scribes, but also the one with the least power and influence. The only reason she could match the rest was because she was competent and had served for decades the previous Emir.


    ¡°Is any help needed, or are you just informing me of the progress?¡±


    ¡°Just a report, my Emir.¡± Shahrazad bowed down. She was also the shortest scribe, and as she did so, Hassan had difficulties almost detecting her with her diminutive presence.


    ¡°Next, then.¡± He added with an iota of boredom.


    ¡°My Emir,¡± The last woman took a step forward. She didn¡¯t bow down like the others, just a hint of respect in her person. That was Rani, the cultivator, and also his brethren. ¡°Assassin activity around Sadina has become erratic.¡±


    ¡°How so, my dear sister?¡± Rani hated him, he did not doubt it.


    Much like their mother, Rani didn¡¯t have a high opinion of men, but Rani¡¯s was in more than one sense. And of course, it didn¡¯t help that the Emir of Sadina was her brother instead of her. But she couldn¡¯t do much about it. It was the decree of the Sultanah that put Hassan in charge, and she couldn¡¯t deny that Hassan was a better cultivator than her.


    ¡°Their supply of drugs has diminished,¡± Rani explained, and she could see a hint of hate on the bronze face of her sister as she lightly bit her lips. Not much, and it was very subtle. Only his trained and superior eyes were able to perceive it.


    ¡°I am aware of that,¡± Hassan replied as a matter of fact. That was what his summon had been all about. ¡°Have you thought of a solution?¡±


    ¡°No, my Emir.¡± She looked at him directly in the eyes, enraged but controlled.


    With his last question, Hassan had partially deviated the blame to Rani. He was the Emir and the one who should resolve such affairs, of course. But by entailing that Rani could have done something beforehand with her position as a scribe and didn¡¯t do so, that marked her as incompetent.


    In truth, it didn¡¯t matter. These were just petty nobility tricks Hassan had learned on the Sultanah¡¯s court, so they were obviously not useful in his court.


    As stated, Hassan was just being petty.


    ¡°I see.¡± That was actually a problem because he neither had a solution. Hassan didn¡¯t just intend to enervate her sister with that question. ¡°Shahrazad has stated that the fields have been yielding sufficient crops. Rani, could a small plot be separated to grow some plants of their liking? As a gift, of course.¡±


    ¡°That arrangement could be done, in theory, yes.¡± The cultivator turned scribe admitted. Truth was, she was the next Emir in line if the assassins killed him.


    ¡°Do so, then.¡± Hassan clapped his hands. ¡°Let the rest enter.¡±


    This had only been the debrief of his scribes, now the real audience with the people of Sadina would begin.


    The job of an Emir wasn¡¯t as glamorous as Hassan once thought.

 31. Tasks

    ¡°Ah!¡± Aloe jolted out of her resting spot as something rubbed her chest. ¡°What¡¯s going... Oh, it¡¯s just you, Fikali.¡±


    ¡°Hwo.¡± The sand dweller pledged guilty.


    ¡°Can you not scare like that whilst I¡¯m sle-resting?¡± The human dusted her clothes off. There wasn¡¯t much sand on the oasis, but there was dirt. And most than not, it was worse for cloth.


    ¡°Wuoo.¡± Fikali added.


    ¡°You know I can¡¯t understand you, right?¡± Aloe straightened her hair as her head had become rather moist and clumped up together because of the heat.


    The dweller responded by showing her an expression between a deadpan and a frown. Quite a masterful work for a monster. Then she pointed at her lead.


    ¡°Oh...¡± She muttered in realization. ¡°Hmm...¡±


    Should I allow her to roam free? Aloe pondered in the closeness of her mind. Fikali had shown an uncanny ability to understand human speech, so rambling around her didn¡¯t feel like the best idea. What¡¯s the chance she¡¯s going to run away? She has food and water here, and she¡¯s old... I¡¯ll... I¡¯ll try.


    ¡°Alright, I guess you need a breather.¡± Then she untied the lead from the date tree.


    ¡°Hroooo!¡± Fikali jumped excitedly and rushed for the dunes.


    ¡°Wait!¡± The dweller did not wait, prompting Aloe to follow her close behind. Fikali stopped once the ground was exchanged from dirt to sand and then started to roll around on the sand. ¡°Oh thank the heavens, you just wanted to... I don¡¯t know what you are doing. Are you playing? Is this how dwellers play?¡±


    ¡°Ruooooo!¡± Aloe didn¡¯t catch the meaning of that grunt.


    ¡°Well, at least it looks like you are happy...¡±


    Aloe stepped back into the shade of the trees at the oasis, but she kept an eye on the dweller. Rolling in the sand wasn¡¯t enough for her, she dived inside and outside of the dunes as if they were measly water.


    ¡°Oh.¡± She added in genuine surprise. ¡°I knew that dwellers did that but seeing it in person it¡¯s... uncanny.¡±


    With a sigh, Aloe sat in the shade of a random tree to think about her action plan. There were a lot of things she had to do, her only saving grace being that it still wasn¡¯t noon. Besides bathing, which she wanted to leave for last, she had to irrigate all the plants, clean the greenhouse, clean the latrine, boil water, and began to infuse all plants. Though the latter would definitely be a multiple-day task.


    ¡°Am I forgetting something?¡± She toyed with her fingers as she observed Fikali dwelling around and soon after groaned loudly. ¡°The pistachios, augh! I forgot to plant them!¡± Her suffering and stupidity were followed by a sigh. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s boil some water and plant the pistachios.¡±


    Whilst the cauldron in the hearth was still occupied by the not-really-a-stew, Aloe hadn¡¯t forgotten to bring the boiling kit with her. And unlike the cauldron in the hearth, this one was thinner and smaller, allowing for faster boiling and easier handling.


    She carried the kit to the shore of the oasis, downed the cauldron in the oasis, and started the fire with a lighter. A straightforward process but she well knew she was going to forget to recover the water later.


    Of course, she hadn¡¯t forgotten to bring the pistachio bag with her, though to plant them she would need the hoe, watering can, and gloves that she had left in the greenhouse.


    Searching for a suitable, unoccupied spot had become impossible. If there was a fertile place, something had already grown on top. Considering that pistachios were dry fruits, simple logic told her that they didn¡¯t need much water, so she opted to leave them on the outside perimeter of the oasis.


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    ¡°Pistachios grow in bushes, right?¡± She handled the nuts with doubt. ¡°I don¡¯t remember...¡±


    After removing the Cure Grass bed by upheaving the hoe and pulling the gloves, Aloe cracked the nuts open and seeded them a few steps apart from each other. More than she needed for little plants, but she didn¡¯t remember if pistachios were little plants. The dweller seemed to have smelled her favorite food because she made her appearance once Aloe started diving the nuts into the soil.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you dare, Fikali.¡± Aloe threatened the monster. ¡°Those pistachios are going to grow more pistachios, if you eat them now, you won¡¯t have more pistachios.¡±


    The dweller didn¡¯t bother to respond, but she approached the mound where the first pistachio Aloe had planted was, her snout close to the dirt.


    ¡°I said no!¡± Aloe jumped out of her crouched position. Fikali, gruntlessly, continued smelling the dirt. ¡°Bad dweller, bad!¡± And she splashed the dweller¡¯s nose with water from the can.


    ¡°Wroooooooo!¡± Fikali run away and started rolling on the sand as if Aloe had exorcised demons out of her, or rather, just put new ones inside.


    ¡°Ehm...¡± She was at a loss for words. ¡°Well, that will teach her to not get close to the seeds. Now I feel a bit bad...¡±


    And with that, Aloe continued burrowing the pistachios on the ground. There were a lot of them, and she didn¡¯t know how big they would grow. She vaguely remembered that pistachios came from bushes, but that¡¯s it.


    After half an hour of plowing, seeding, and watering, the pistachios were finally planted. Aloe removed her gloves and wiped the sweat out of her forehead with the back of her hand.


    ¡°The water, I can¡¯t forget about that.¡± She rushed to the steaming cauldron to find boiling water and no losses from evaporation. ¡°Nice, if I only was this punctual every other time.¡±


    Aloe brought the amphora from the kitchenette to the oasis, not before having two glasses of water and emptying the amphora, and after that poured the hot water inside. Then refilled the cauldron by diving it again into the oasis.


    ¡°Three rounds will do.¡± She doubted she was going to drink more than that in a day, but it made sense to build a stockpile.


    After stretching her arms and enjoying a bit of the sunlight, Aloe went back to business.


    ¡°I¡¯m not done with you guys.¡± She crouched down to the mounds of dirt now populated by pistachios. ¡°I haven¡¯t recovered yet from using my vitality on the banana seeds, should I be using it on the pistachios?¡±


    And the answer was surprisingly no.


    ¡°The pill idea was good, better than chewing grass for sure. Is there a way to make it work though? I need something sticky and edible to keep the powder bunched up...¡± A golden flash of genius struck her. ¡°I got an idea!¡±


    She was quite embarrassed to not even remember the idea she had just had yesterday, instead, she made it pass for a new one.


    Two days of ventilation had made the greenhouse breathable; the air was a bit heavy and musty still, but she could now work inside without a mask. Though before rushing inside, Aloe grabbed a bowl from the kitchenette.


    The glass panels were still absolutely dusty, they needed a thorough job more than just bashing the broom on them, but light entered and left the greenhouse and that was what mattered here.


    Karaim had a pair of colossal pruning scissors, or they seemed colossal to Aloe¡¯s small constitution. She almost needed to use a full hand for every handle. She had picked them up for a reason.


    Carefully, Aloe knelt down on desert-like, cacti-filled parterre. Also known as the one which didn¡¯t reek of death. Today she wasn¡¯t interested in the Aloe Veritas, which had already regrown the leaf she had cut off after more than a week, or the other common cacti. No, she had come for the normal aloe vera.


    Whilst not particularly beautiful, the aloe vera plant did have a striking green color, and no one could deny its multiple uses. Normally medicinal, sometimes culinary, but those weren¡¯t the ones Aloe was thinking of now. Her idea was more primitive than that.


    Setting the bowl below a leaf, Aloe cut down the aloe vera.


    Aloe groaned as she felt the irony of the situation and went back to her job.


    Sap began pouring out of the leaf like a serious hemorrhage, and in a way, it was true. From the aloe vera¡¯s perspective, it was bleeding out. Ignoring this case of etymological fratricide, Aloe snapped the leaf clean out of the main plant and started squeezing it.


    A normal pot-sized aloe vera wouldn¡¯t have much sap inside, but the ones inside the greenhouse easily reached a meter of height, a stray leaf or two equaled Aloe in size.


    The cut quickly drained out of sap, filling half of the bowl, but she knew there was more inside. Pressing the leaf against her body showed her that there was more liquid inside.


    ¡°Hmm, this won¡¯t be enough,¡± Aloe said as she picked up the almost full bowl. ¡°I think I¡¯ll take the leaf to the house, somehow.¡±


    The aloe veras (Verai? Verases? Plainly vera?) were far bigger than the Aloe Veritas, and whilst the latter plant may be hand-sized, the former were arm-sized.


    With both hands occupied by the bowl and the leaf, Aloe opened the door with a light kick. She left the sap bowl on the desk and the leaf laying on the wall, with the cut section facing the ceiling.


    As much as she wanted to get down to business, her bodily functions cried her out. Namely, her stomach and kidneys.


    ¡°Ugh, I should have left the stew heating beforehand.¡± With a groan, Aloe lit up the hearth to reheat from yesterday and then went to the latrine.


    She needed full focus for what was to come.

 32. Pills

    Aloe wasn¡¯t an herbalist nor an apothecary, her only saving grace being that she had done well in school and that her father had a sizeable collection of books she had read since her childhood as there was nothing else to do.


    ¡°Mortar, mortar.¡± Aloe sang to herself as she looked for the mortar and pestle.


    Some would classify her work as some sort of alchemy or witchcraft, and it wasn¡¯t that far of. She WAS working with magical ingredients, but the process she had elaborated in her mind was quite mundane.


    ¡°Ah, here it is.¡± The hardened clay piece had laid hidden in a drawer of the desk.


    But before she could use the aloe, Aloe had to get the base, also known as the grass. Thankfully, after her multiple upheaving efforts to turn the soil arable, there were piles of Cure Grass lying around in the oasis.


    Though the place was awfully silent.


    ¡°Fikali?¡± Aloe shouted at the green and golden landscape.


    ¡°Huoooo...¡± The dweller instantly responded with a characteristic grunt, though the sound¡¯s origin was far away.


    Aloe sighed in relief once she noticed that her inversion hadn¡¯t run away and rushed to her side.


    ¡°Still rolling in the sand?¡± The human said as she placed her hands on her hips.


    ¡°Wuo.¡± Fikali admitted.


    ¡°Well enough for now, I don¡¯t like it to have you unsupervised. Come.¡± Surprisingly, the dweller obeyed. Making it easy for Aloe to grab the lead dangling at her side and tie it back to the same date tree. ¡°We¡¯ll do the same tomorrow or even this afternoon, okay?¡±


    ¡°Oh!¡± The desert dweller jumped in her belly in response, causing a little smile to draw on Aloe¡¯s face.


    She left Fikali to her own devices and gathered a considerable amount of Cure Grass. But instead of outright working with it, Aloe cleaned the blades in the oasis. Not only some of them were covered in dirt, but surely most of them had a thin layer of invisible sand. And besides, she would have to consume them, this was just basic kitchen ethic.


    ¡°I wish I had a basket.¡± Aloe sighed. ¡°I guess I could use a jar though. The heavens know that Karaim had tens of them.¡±


    Even after saying so, Aloe carried the soggy blades of grass by hand. Unlike sand, water wouldn¡¯t hurt her. The first empty clay piece she found on the house, she dropped all the grass into it.


    ¡°Should I dry the grass? Like all, not just the water. Hmm, that would make it easier to mill the grass, but won¡¯t that remove the vitality properties from the plant? Hmm...¡± Truth was that she didn¡¯t have the answers.


    This charade was pure improvisation, but if she wanted to do all the things she wanted to do with Evolution, she would need to consume the Cure Grass. And munching grass was not on her top of favorite activities, but rather on her least favorite activities, and certainly on a high ranking.


    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s begin.¡± Aloe stretched her arms and cracked her fingers like she normally did when she had a long writing session before her.


    Extending her hand into the Cure Grass pot, she grabbed a handful, vaguely smaller than the volume of the mortar, and started milling it.


    She had no experience with the mortar and pestle, but she had seen her mother from time to time use one to elaborate homemade ointments. And it was quite a straightforward process for what she knew, just smashing the things inside until they became flatter.


    So, she did just that.


    Smashing her way through the grass was considerably easier than plowing it with a hoe. Once an arm started to get tired, she switched to the other one. Whilst not ambidextrous, Aloe had a reasonable proficiency with both hands, making the switch rather simple.


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    After fifteen minutes, a green paste remained in the mortar.


    ¡°Yeah, why was I even expecting dust? Grass is wet, if I wanted dust I would need to burn it. Duh.¡± Aloe traced her finger along the corners of the poultice, the substance was sticky but frail as it quickly fell apart after she grab a pinch. ¡°Well, definitely denser than before, but the problem is still the taste. But this is too few, gotta put more.¡±


    She put the mushed grass she grabbed back into the mortar and poured the contents into a wooden bowl. Then grabbed another handful of grass and started milling it. By the time she ended this second round, the cauldron in the hearth began whistling from the steam. Aloe put aside her experiments and removed the lid from the cauldron.


    Before serving herself a ration though, she also visited the cauldron on the oasis on water duty. It wasn¡¯t bubbling, but the steam told her that it was enough, and poured the contents into a new amphora so she had water under boiling conditions to drink.


    ¡°Yeah, awful as expected.¡± Aloe ate from the bowl, her spoon lingering inside. ¡°Let¡¯s forget stew, with this much water it should be considered a soup.¡±


    A single bowl wasn¡¯t enough to satiate her, especially after consuming her vitality on the banana seeds. So, she poured herself another round. It wasn¡¯t like anyone else was going to eat it.


    ¡°Huh, does consuming vitality make you hungry?¡± Aloe pondered between spoonsful. ¡°Karaim mentioned that vitality works similar to stamina, and when someone exercises, they tend to get hungrier faster... And both times I have used vitality I have been hungrier than usual... But I don¡¯t think the first one should count. I was hungry before I even started trying to sense vitality.¡±


    After having eaten and neglecting to do the dishes yet again, Aloe turned back to the grassy mess. It had dried a bit, but it was still relatively wet.


    ¡°Alright, how do I do this?¡± She put the aloe vera sap and the milled grass bowls before her. ¡°Pills are normally small, but how should I make them? Just like baking pastries? Do I grab a bunch of grass and then soak it in aloe? Hmm... Well, I can only see if it works after trying, but first I need a tray to leave the balls to rest.¡±


    Unfortunately, Karaim did not have a tray. It was to be expected because otherwise, what would he carry in this barrel-sized house? Aloe put up with a big wooden plate she found in the cupboards. It wasn¡¯t like she could do many pills currently.


    Before starting, Aloe ripped open the aloe vera leaf and removed all the remaining sap. Not only the one on the bowl was drying up, but she wanted to apply multiple coats to the grass balls. Tasting the powdered grass was something she didn¡¯t want to do. She ended up with one grass bowl to the brim and two other filled aloe bowls.


    She picked up small pieces of grass and made a single small ball with it.


    ¡°Hmm, too big,¡± Aloe commented after comparing the ball with her mouth. ¡°I should be able to gulp it down easily, and in this current state it will tear my throat.¡± She pressed on the green mess with her fingertips. ¡°Okay, not actually, it¡¯s rather soft. But I could still choke on it.¡±


    With a sigh, Aloe threw it back into the bowl and picked up less grass. The next one was the size of her thumbnail, small enough to go down her throat.


    ¡°Though just in case...¡± Not trusting the effect of the mortar on the Cure Grass, Aloe checked for the vitality of the ball. ¡°Oh, it works!¡± Her eyes illuminated; her pessimist self had that nudge on the back of her head that milling down the grass would make it lose its effects. ¡°And it¡¯s also concentrated! This little ball has more vitality than a handful of blades!¡±


    She couldn¡¯t estimate how much vitality actually was on the ball, but she could easily compare it with other values.


    ¡°It¡¯s soaking time, now.¡± Aloe dived the pellet into the aloe sap, the liquid quickly sticking to the ball and her fingertips. ¡°It adheres perfectly, I thought I would have to coat it manually or something, but it just works! It¡¯s almost as if it was meant to be.¡±


    She left the first finished pills on the plate and continued making the rest. It was a simple process, just giving shape to the malleable grass mass and dunking it on the sap. The hardest part of the elaboration was without a doubt milling the grass. But she still had yet to check if the pills were viable.


    It took Aloe another quarter of an hour to shape the rest of the grass and put the dripping pellets on the plate.


    ¡°Hmm... I still have a whole bowl with aloe... I¡¯ll think I just pour it on top, and an extra layer won¡¯t hurt.¡±


    The remaining aloe sap slowly fell upon the covered pellets, the thick liquid traveled slowly. That proved to be quite helpful as it allowed Aloe to apply layers to every single pellet without needing to stop pouring. The slight brim of the plate impeded the sap to flow away from the plate, which could have ended in a significant mess.


    When the sap was finally over, Aloe had applied a fingernail-thick layer to all the pellets, and it didn¡¯t look like it would wash away.


    ¡°Now I think I should leave them to rest like candy.¡± Aloe opened the window door and left the plate on the ledge so the sun could crystallize the sap. ¡°Well, I still have some time to kill before the pills are done.¡± After stretching her arms, she went outside. She still had a lot of tasks remaining and it was already past noon.

 33. Restoration

    As she needed to wait for the sap to settle, Aloe continued with her many tasks. She decided to first water the plants, but without forgetting about another type of water, she poured the boiling water from the cauldron at the oasis and readied another batch.


    ¡°Yeah, one more and this amphora is done.¡± What she now noticed is how she was going to carry the water. Because water was heavy, and there was going to be a lot of water. ¡°Ah, can¡¯t be bothered.¡± In the end, the simplest trick was to dump all her responsibilities on her future self.


    Irrigating her plants didn¡¯t take a lot of time, just emptying the watering can on the soil she had planted the beans and potatoes on. But as she finished with the potatoes, another thought struck her.


    ¡°The greenhouse.¡± She said squinting her eyes as she realized she hadn¡¯t watered any of the plants there, and Karaim had certainly not for over a month. ¡°Ooh...¡± That lapse of thought hurt more than a stab wound.


    Most of the plants in the greenhouse were already dead, so fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on the point of view), she didn¡¯t have much work to do.


    The worst part, without a shred of a doubt, was the multiple trips she had to make to the oasis to refill the can and then give each plant enough water until the soil under them stopped absorbing it. She wasn¡¯t just being petty about it, not fully at least, her thighs still hurt from yesterday and after a while, she felt like her calves had ripped open from the strain.


    With a groan, Aloe sat down on the cobblestone path between the parterres as she observed the plants and the soil.


    ¡°A nince-damned tree on a greenhouse...¡± She was still salty because it had taken five trips before the soil had enough water. ¡°In what fucking moment Karaim said, ¡®Oh I have a perfectly suitable and irrigated oasis soil outside but let¡¯s plant a tree tens of meters away from it so it needs to be constantly manually watered for all of eternity!¡¯ Ugh!¡±


    Her mumblings only ceased because she decided to hydrate herself by drinking from her waterskin.


    ¡°Even the Aloe Veritas says that the ter¡¯nar is a tree! And even if he didn¡¯t check the description it would have been easy for him to transplant it once he noticed it was a sapling and not a flower or a bush!¡±


    Everyone knew that it was easier to blame the dead. At the end of the day, it wasn¡¯t like they could protest.


    Groaning her way up, Aloe left the greenhouse to check the cauldron but still had some minutes before having to pour the water, so she moved to the pill plate on the windowsill. She tapped on the sap at the corners of the plate. It stuck to her fingertips.


    ¡°Still soft, needs more time.¡± And then licked the hardening sap. She squinted her eyes at the bitterness, it was mellow but still bothersome. ¡°Well...¡± Aloe closed her lips in hesitation. ¡°Not exactly good... but far better than the garbage that is Cure Grass. I hope it losses a bit of the taste once it dries though.¡±


    Before getting to work again, Aloe wiped herself with a towel as sweat was beginning to accumulate on her skin and clothes. She would definitely take a bath at nightfall, but currently doing so was meaningless. Wiping the sweat off still refreshed her.


    ¡°How do farmers make compost?¡± Aloe said as she lay her eyes on the decaying pile of plant matter outside of the greenhouse. ¡°I know it isn¡¯t just feces, most of it discarded plants or food, but how do they actually make it?¡±


    It didn¡¯t matter how much she pondered about it; she didn¡¯t reach any solution. Karaim didn¡¯t seem to have any place to make compost, which weirded Aloe, because it seemed like a rather mandatory thing to have in a greenhouse. Reutilizing resources was almost second nature in the desert.


    ¡°Huh, I¡¯ve just noticed.¡± The empty parterres sent a thought to her head. ¡°What did he eat? There are coconuts and dates, but Karaim couldn¡¯t survive just on that, especially with his advanced age... Were there any of the plants I threw edible?¡±


    Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    It was surprising she hadn¡¯t realized such a crucial factor as how her grandfather got his food from.


    ¡°He could have gone to Sa... not that¡¯s not likely. It¡¯s a day away from me, and I surely move faster than him by just walking compared to his top speed. So, resupplying by buying at the market doesn¡¯t make sense, the logistics aren¡¯t just there.¡± Aloe tapped her foot on the ground deep in thought. ¡°Jafar and Umar mentioned he grew cannabis, so at the very minimum one out of the five parterres was occupied with it. And then two others by cacti and the ter¡¯nar, which aren¡¯t edible. Well... not nutritional. Definitely edible though.¡±


    Aloe removed her straw hat and scratched her head viciously.


    ¡°The numbers don¡¯t line up!¡± She grunted. ¡°How did you eat, old man?¡±


    After wasting much of her brain power uselessly, Aloe let the subject slide. She had better things to do than ponder where a dead man got his caloric intake from.


    The greenhouse was still not suitable for replanting, and it was due to some restoration. And she would need a lot of water. Though instead of working hard like before, she worked smarter.


    Taking out another empty amphora from the house (though it was just a large jar), Aloe brought it to the oasis by rolling it down the slight sand dune in between. She wasn¡¯t scared about the jar breaking by letting it roll away as the ground, both the sand and dirt, were quite soft. And she watched out that it didn¡¯t collide against any palm tree. Though after having thought of the possibility of breaking the jar, she did get a bit scared.


    Filling the jar was harder than it would seem because she needed to partially walk inside the oasis to fill it to the top, and then from her submerged feet, heave up the tens of liters of water inside the amphora out of the oasis. And strength wasn¡¯t one of Aloe¡¯s main qualities.


    It took her a bit of fiddling and getting her pants and sandals wet (in hindsight she should have removed them beforehand) to get the amphora out, along with some panting.


    ¡°Fikali, come here!¡± Aloe shouted at the dweller as she rested her weight on the amphora.


    ¡°Hroooooooo!¡± Fikali responded violently in protest.


    ¡°Don¡¯t ¡®hroooo¡¯ me! What¡¯s the problem?¡± She turned her head to look at the tied dweller. ¡°Alright, I see the problem.¡±


    Aloe limped her way to the date tree, her arms and legs were wasted, and it was only afternoon. Once she undid the knot, she guided Fikali to the amphora by the lead.


    ¡°Okay, I want you to carry this to the greenhouse, understood?¡±


    ¡°Wuo?¡± The dweller added with a lack of understanding.


    ¡°Works for me.¡± The human shrugged. ¡°You just walk there, to the greenhouse, once I put the jar on top of you.¡± It took Aloe a lot of effort to heave the amphora fifty centimeters from ground level to put it on top of the dweller as it almost weighed half as much as her. ¡°Alright, go.¡± She held the lead tightly with one hand and the other balanced the opened water container.


    ¡°Uooh...¡± Fikali grunted unenthusiastically as the jar weighed on her back.


    ¡°Careful, just a minute and I¡¯ll leave you free.¡± Having another time of freedom envigored the dweller as she strode to the greenhouse without protesting once.


    After unloading the amphora with great difficulty at the entrance, Aloe let Fikali go her merry way.


    Karaim, in his overabundance of iron (both in tools and infrastructure), didn¡¯t bother to possess any kind of rag. Though he did have a lot of old clothing. Aloe ripped a shirt, soaked it in the amphora, and started wiping the incrusted dust off the glass panels.


    ¡°I hope this wasn¡¯t your favorite one.¡± She added after taking the makeshift rag away when she ended with the first panel and saw that it had gone from white to a yellowy brown. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter if it was though.¡± And then promptly shrugged.


    Her short stature limited how much she could clean, and the old man didn¡¯t have a ladder, so after cleaning all the panels from the lower section, Aloe couldn¡¯t do much more.


    ¡°I guess if I wet the broom I could do something with the upper ones, but the ceiling will still be untouched.¡± She sighed, the skylight standing at thrice her height. ¡°I¡¯ll leave that for tomorrow, I¡¯m beaten and smitten. I¡¯m done for today.¡±


    But before truly calling it a day and having a refreshing bath at the oasis, Aloe checked the windowsill. She tapped on the sap and this time it had solidified.


    She took the plate inside and with a knife cut one of the aloe-covered grass pellets out of the gestalt layer of sap. As she removed it, a huge section remained on the bottom, prompting her to peel it out with the knife as if it was some fruit.


    ¡°This is it,¡± Aloe weighed down the sticky ball in her hand and sighed, ¡°The moment of truth.¡±


    And she downed the pill.


    It was sticky and bitter, still infinitely better than the acid grass.


    Her first thought was that it needed sugar.


    Her second thought was that she didn¡¯t have any sugar.


    Her thought was that she could grow sugar cane.


    Her fourth thought was interrupted as the pill dropped in her stomach. It fell down her throat easily and impacted her stomach with violence giving her cramps. She gagged in recoiled, but a few seconds later Aloe stopped feeling the pill in her stomach, a refreshing jolt of lighting traversing her body. It was not powerful, but her body suddenly felt lighter, or rather, the weakness that was limiting her had disappeared.


    And now her fourth thought manifested through words.


    ¡°The pills work!¡± And her used vitality was restored.

 34. Diminishing

    ¡°Good morning, world!¡± Aloe got out of bed with a jump, her mood soaring. ¡°How glorious is it to have a good night¡¯s rest!¡±


    Even after going to sleep with a beaten body, the long sleep had helped her greatly. Not only was she full of energy, but her calves weren¡¯t killing her! That was a win in her book.


    ¡°Hmm, today¡¯s too pretty to start with a glass of water, I think I¡¯ll have some coconut milk.¡±


    Aloe donned her sandals, and still in her nightgown, got out and collected a low coconut. Not all palm trees were born equal, and there were a few short ones here and there, especially date ones. Fikali was sleeping, so she didn¡¯t bother greeting the dweller.


    ¡°Alright, how do I open this?¡± Aloe set the coconut on the kitchenette countertop. ¡°I¡¯ve heard that coconuts are tough like human skulls, will a knife suffice?¡±


    The only way she had to find answers was to try, so she did. Scarily, Aloe stabbed the coconut, but because of her odd angle she didn¡¯t even make a dent on it and the knife¡¯s tip slipped, almost cutting her other hand.


    ¡°Aloe, don¡¯t mess up this great morning by being a moron.¡± She told herself. ¡°Just grab the coconut tightly and make a hole to then cut through.¡±


    Easier said than done, but after recomposing herself, she managed to make a indent on the surface. And with a bit of finicking, she opened a hole big enough to drink from.


    ¡°Yeah, screw it.¡± Aloe reached for a glass in the cupboards. ¡°Why open it more when I can just pour it.¡±


    The cloudy liquid was less thick than Aloe had thought. She grabbed the glass and smelled the contents. It had a funny yet calming smell.


    ¡°Why do they call it coconut milk? This looks more like water. I guess coconut water doesn¡¯t roll that good out of the tongue.¡± And then she drank it. ¡°Hmm~ Certainly better than water.¡±


    She downed the whole glass and poured herself another one. A single coconut had a lot of juice inside, enough to satiate her petite body.


    ¡°I could have one each morning, but it¡¯s such a tedium to open them...¡± Aloe groaned her way over to the fruit bowl and picked up a banana, it was already half brown. ¡°Last one.¡± She sighed. ¡°What will I do these coming days for breakfast? I have heard that coconut meat... is it called meat? Bah, people do eat the insides of the coconut and it¡¯s still fruit so... I¡¯ll ponder it later.¡±


    With a satisfied sigh, Aloe finished the banana and the coconut milk.


    ¡°What tasks do I have to do today?¡± Still in her nightgown, she sat on the desk chair as she structured today¡¯s timetable. ¡°I should plant the medicinal plants Umar gave me, then water all the plants, also clean the latrine and Fikali¡¯s poops, and... that¡¯s all I think. I should continue to boil some water to have a stash, but otherwise, those are the mandatory things I have to do.¡±


    Aloe stretched her arms and legs, jumped out of the chair (which she couldn¡¯t touch the floor while seating on it), and donned a fresh set of clothes.


    ¡°Oh yeah, also washing and doing the dishes. I should do that.¡± She remembered before making her way out of the house with the medicinal plants in hand.


    Umar didn¡¯t give her a lot of seeds, and they weren¡¯t that uncommon, so Aloe was faced with a decision.


    ¡°Oasis or greenhouse?¡± Whether she should plant them outside on the oasis or inside the greenhouse. ¡°They are inexpensive, but nonetheless, Fikali might still eat them. But space in the greenhouse is few and precious, and besides...¡±


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    That¡¯s where I want to plant the evolved plants.


    That was what decided the final outcome. It would be problematic if a traveler found the oasis and decided to rest on it, only to find magical plants blooming around it. Aloe swayed her head viciously at that thought. The greenhouse provided some obfuscation and better living conditions, if she were to plant evolved plants, they would be inside the greenhouse.


    Though that didn¡¯t mean in the oasis there was exactly free space to plant. She couldn¡¯t seed a place next to the palm trees as they would take all the nutrients, and she didn¡¯t have the tools nor the strength to cut them down. The only thing Aloe could do was to yet again remove more patches of Cure Grass to plant all her new seeds.


    ¡°Well, at least they won¡¯t go to waste. These are just more prime matter to make vitality pills.¡± Aloe piled up all the grass to then stash it in a jar for later use.


    Whilst not exactly a master of the craft, Aloe was getting more proficient with her hoe heaving, she didn¡¯t tire as much and overall was being more efficient with each strike. After uncovering the dirt from the Cure Grass, Aloe began to make spaces for the seeds to grow.


    ¡°Which ones do I have? Thyme, chamomile, sage, and black seeds, hmm... Neither is that big, so I could place them close together.¡±


    Aloe wore her gloves and excavated some finger-sized holes for the seeds. She had opened a sizeable area from the grass, so she was able to use all the seeds Umar gifted her and planted them by lines. First thyme, then sage. Third chamomile, and finally the black seeds. Not that she would remember after they began growing though. She almost forgot their position already.


    Two hours later, Aloe had all the seeds planted, the plants watered, and the water boiled. What remained wasn¡¯t that pleasing though.


    ¡°Ugh, I really put it as back as I could, but it¡¯s, unfortunately, time.¡± A groan wasn¡¯t enough of a word to describe the sheer repulsion that came out of Aloe¡¯s throat.


    Her grip on the shovel¡¯s handle tightened as she wielded it. She slowly moved the shovel down until it hit a dry yet soft bottom. Aloe¡¯s face contorted in a myriad of emotions as she picked up the waste from the latrine and put it in the sand bucket.


    Time seemed to slow down as she shoveled her feces outside of the latrine.


    ¡°The smell...¡± She went outside to have some fresh air and not evacuate her breakfast. ¡°Still far better than eating grass.¡±


    In the end, it just took her a couple of minutes. But the heavens knew it felt way longer. The wastes in the bucket were dry, but nonetheless, she shoveled them onto the soil where she planted the banana seeds as they were the plants that would need more nutrients. She looked at Fikali¡¯s spot, but the dweller hadn¡¯t done her business today, so Aloe let her free as she took a well-deserved rest.


    The shade of the palm trees was sublime, it was incredible how just blocking the sunlight it could get infinitely colder. Aloe took a sip of her waterskin, the water wasn¡¯t cold, but it felt like it.


    ¡°If I only had a yakhchal to cool down the water...¡± But Aloe knew it was impossible for her to have an ice pit. Not only they were big, but also expensive to build. Certainly more so in the middle of nowhere.


    She observed Fikali have fun rolling down the dunes, but quickly she became too restless. After moving nonstop for four days, Aloe was incapable to stay still.


    ¡°I can¡¯t stay like this.¡± After obtaining the pills, it made no sense for her to stay with her vitality full. ¡°A single pill more or less restores enough vitality for an Infusion. So what I should do right now is infuse all the plants I have.¡±


    Her first choice was the pistachios as they shouldn¡¯t take that long to grow, and being on the good side of Fikali would do well for her in the future. She wasted all her vitality in three seeds and dropped to the shade of a random tree in exhaustion.


    ¡°Ugh, how many pistachios did I plant?¡± She counted the mounds on the ground. ¡°Nine? Ugh...¡± And groaned again. ¡°Even if I take multiple pills, it is going to take a lot of time to do the rest of the plants.¡±


    Aloe cleaned her hands on the oasis and refreshed herself by washing her face. Then went back home and cut open two pills from the plate. She down the first one easily, instantly recovering part of her lost vitality but as she went with the second one, she noticed something strange. The vitality replenished her, and her body felt lighter, just like yesterday, but...


    ¡°Huh?¡± Aloe looked at her hand, the second jolt of lightning felt way weaker than the first. ¡°Diminishing returns?¡± She hypothesized.


    But that wasn¡¯t enough evidence, it may as well have been a fluke. Maybe the second pill had less grass or maybe it had dried too much. Aloe tried a third one.


    ¡°Diminishing returns.¡± She groaned in defeat. ¡°Each damned Cure Grass pill restores less than the next one... Fuck.¡±


    That changed her plans. She still had to check if it was a permanent effect, meaning that every pill would become worse to the point of being useless; or temporal, meaning that after resting a new pill would have full power.


    ¡°I think the latter is the most likely, the first pill restored around the same amount of vitality as yesterday.¡±


    And whilst she couldn¡¯t test this just yet, her vitality was now restored, and she still had a lot more plants to infuse.

 35. Technique

    ¡°I really have to hate myself if I¡¯m eating this crap,¡± Aloe said as she ate stew. ¡°And also hate myself for torturing myself this much by living here. I said myself too many times. Myself.¡±


    Aloe had taken a nap before having lunch, but she still felt tired.


    ¡°It¡¯s this food that''s the root of my problems, fuck this.¡± She left the bowl on the desk and took a sip from her glass. ¡°And today it¡¯s getting even hotter. Ugh.¡±


    The sun shone powerfully on its zenith, giving Aloe zero wishes to go out.


    ¡°I¡¯ll just stay inside till the afternoon, I guess it¡¯s a good moment to finish the cultivation technique. Not a lot remains in that book.¡±


    ¡°Infusion took a lot of time out of Evolution.¡± Karaim explained. ¡°Whilst infusing plants is way cheaper than evolving them, I tried to infuse every plant in the greenhouse and then the oasis. I, unfortunately, failed to accomplish such a goal. I know my time is coming to an end, my vitality is regenerating too slowly, and a simple cut has taken me weeks to heal. I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll last more than a few months. I intend to visit my sweet daughter and granddaughter before I kick the bucket, so anything on these lasts page will be my latest discoveries on vital arts. Sorry for only giving you three evolved plants, I may have exaggerated my findings a bit.¡±


    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t be sorry for that, old man...¡± Aloe muttered. ¡°You should be sorry for not telling Mom and me this before, you bastard! You absolute buffoon, if you only told us what you knew we would have fucking understood. Aaaaaah!¡±


    Aloe punched the table and grunted. Karaim had a lot of chances to make it right and he wasted them all. And that infuriated Aloe to no avail.


    ¡°Senile bastard.¡± She took another gulp out of the water glass and continued reading.


    ¡°Plants need more vitality to be infused depending on their future size, so with the same amount of vitality you would need to infuse a palm tree, you could infuse a whole flower bed.¡±


    ¡°Okay, I already guessed this. You better give me better intel.¡±


    ¡°After practicing a lot, and I mean A LOT, I became able to infuse certain properties of the plants. I don¡¯t expect you to do this soon, and I, unfortunately, don¡¯t have any guidelines to give you. It isn¡¯t a process that can be learned overnight like Evolution or Infusion, so you¡¯ll have just to be patient. For example, after the palm trees in the oasis finished growing up, I modified their established infusion so instead of growing faster they were more bountiful with their fruits. You don¡¯t have to fear running out of coconuts or dates.¡±


    ¡°Now that¡¯s interesting!¡± Aloe bit her fingernail in thought. ¡°If I could rewrite the growth of the pistachios to give more pistachios, that means I wouldn¡¯t spend money on spoiling Fikali, and it will also help export products... Hmm, if they grow as fast as Karaim suggested, then I could technically buy another dweller and cart and just constantly sell them. Coconuts don¡¯t sell for a lot, but dates do. Hmm, dates~¡±


    As her meal had been utter garbage, Aloe donned her straw hat and went to the oasis to gather some dates. The trees were absolutely bountiful, so with a single branch she had enough dates for a whole week.


    ¡°Yeah, this is far better.¡± Aloe downed three dates before going back to the cultivation technique. ¡°Hmm~¡± She let out a gormandizing groan.


    ¡°I won¡¯t admit that I have discovered all the modifiable properties, but I can assert that there are a lot of them. They also take on a ¡®shared space¡¯ and ¡®capacity¡¯. I know I¡¯m being vague, but it¡¯s difficult to describe. Accelerated growth and bountiful harvest take the full Infusion capacity, but if you were to give plants resistance against the elements or better taste, then you may apply multiple. Just not these two together, I have tried.


    Aloe frowned her brows as she ate another date. ¡°Resistance against the elements maybe be even better than accelerated growth. I could make them need less water so when I go back to Sadina they won¡¯t die from not being watered. Food for thought, indeed.¡± And she put another date in her mouth.


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    ¡°But this is about normal plants, evolved ones are a tougher nut.¡±


    From here on out, Karaim¡¯s handwriting became more erratic and less orderly. Aloe checked the pages, only two remained. It was clear that he was suffering from coughing attacks, as that was how he had arrived at their home more than a month ago. A coughing mess with a foot on the grave.


    ¡°My first try to infuse an evolved plant was the Na¡¯mul Ter¡¯nar. Evolved plants grow far faster than normal ones, but the Na¡¯mul Ter¡¯nar had only sprouted a little sapling by the time the Aloe Veritas had almost fully grown, so I tried to boost his growth as I did with the palms at the oasis. And oh boy, I almost died.¡±


    Aloe squinted and reread the sentence; she didn¡¯t trust herself to understand the messy writing. But yes, that was what Karaim said.


    ¡°Quite a... jovial way to deal with death?¡± Thoughts of senility swam in Aloe¡¯s mind. She didn¡¯t linger on her thoughts and continued reading. Not before having another date, of course.


    ¡°Not only was the Na¡¯mul Ter¡¯nar a tree, which fair, totally my fault the Aloe Veritas description said that in the sobriquet. Unfortunately for me, I still had to discover the inner workings of these two evolved plants just yet. So, because it was a tree and an evolved plant besides my advanced age, the sheer vitality needed to be infused was colossal. It took me instantly to my knees and left me gasping for breath. It would be easy to attribute my health problems, but I clearly know that it''s just age catching up to me.¡±


    Aloe reached for yet another date but found herself empty-handed.


    ¡°Huh?¡± She looked at the empty bowl. ¡°Did I already eat them all?¡± She was flabbergasted, but that didn¡¯t stop her from grabbing more dates from the branch she had taken and pouring them into the bowl.


    ¡°I have yet to discover all the intricacies of the vital arts and vitality, but I can present you some heavy assumptions, solid theories if you might.¡±


    This was the last page.


    ¡°Evolution is not always successful. I have tried evolving more plants, but not every single one worked. I¡¯m inclined to believe that it depends on the plant rather than having a chance of failure. Evolution also does not work in grown plants; it can only be used in seeds. You aren¡¯t metamorphosing plants; you are evolving them. If I¡¯m fully right with this theory though... I don¡¯t like to imagine what lead to the apparition of monsters.¡±


    Aloe¡¯s breath turned heavy; it was easy to imagine what he was implying. ¡°But what about hu-¡° She quickly cut herself, erasing those dark thoughts from her mind.


    That was the section dedicated to Evolution, two more remained.


    ¡°As I have explained, I don¡¯t consider Infusion a fully-fledged vital art, just a sort of nexus between the others. I can¡¯t tell you much more besides what I already have, except that evolved plants take double vitality to infuse than common ones. Be wary of that. Oh, and before I forget. Yes, you can infuse yourself. But the sheer amount of vitality needed makes it worthless.¡±


    Aloe almost dropped her date to the ground.


    ¡°Infuse... myself?¡± Her mouth was left agape. She couldn¡¯t process it. That was... ¡°This is a game-changer! If I could make myself stronger, everything would be easier! Or taller... or...¡± She looked at her diminutive body but stopped talking. ¡°Well, but if it was as significant as I think, Karaim would have been more enthusiastic about it. Maybe it was because he was so old that he could not infuse himself...¡±


    Her eyes diverted to the last section.


    ¡°Even if vitality is the main fuel source for every vital art and every living being has it, I don¡¯t know much about it. Why is it that we can only detect vitality after training? And why not more people know it if it¡¯s this easy to detect it? I fear that these are secrets not for ignorance or lack of research, but because they are being suppressed. I have my reasons to think why, but I think you¡¯ll be safer without knowing them.¡±


    Karaim seemed to have written something, but it was obfuscated by blobs of ink. It didn¡¯t look like an accident.


    ¡°Tomorrow I¡¯ll return to Sadina, but before that, I have to tell you something. Don¡¯t forget to train your vitality. You aren¡¯t born with a static amount, repetition and exercise will increase it, very much like stamina training. So train it. Use it every day and every hour you can. I know it. I know deep down in my heart that there is far more to Evolution. Aloe, if you want to reach the levels I dreamt of, you¡¯ll need vast quantities of vitality. You are young, you already possess more vitality than my trained reserves, so use that time to grow yours even more.¡±


    A single line rested at the end of the page.


    ¡°I know you¡¯ll be able to reach new grounds, you always had a spark in you. Sincerely, your grandfather, Karaim.¡±


    Aloe looked at the last line, a knot forming in her throat. She laid her back on the chair, her body slopping down, weakened.


    ¡°I...¡± No words left her throat. She only knew one thing.


    She would not be able to go back to her previous life now.


    The vital arts called her.

 36. Respect

    Today was a hot day in Sadina, they always were, but especially so today. That didn¡¯t mean that the activity in the court was going to stop because of a little heat.


    Shahrazad wrote and filed some documents on her desk. Whilst she wasn¡¯t basked in riches or power, she had a fully equipped office that granted her every necessity. She technically possessed servants but never used them. Though she wouldn¡¯t deny that having lunch brought to her office every day was a godsend.


    The emir had petitioned to assign some plantations to drug production, and even if she wasn¡¯t in agreement with such an idea, she did her work to the best of her abilities. Such changes took a lot of paperwork to be dealt with, but thankfully, she hadn¡¯t needed to expropriate lands out of farmers¡¯ hands.


    She had already done that years ago.


    Shahrazad Ayad wasn¡¯t a woman loved by the people or her peers, yet she did her work diligently. This is the lesser evil. If she wasn¡¯t in her position, another person would be. And they would do a worse job than her, and most likely than not, with worse ethical codes dictating their actions.


    After fidgeting through the documents over free lands, the effects of the plague Tamara and Dana, her fellow court scribes, had mentioned became apparent. It hadn¡¯t reached the city yet, but the surrounding counties had been affected, and by proxy, the frontier farmlands.


    ¡°Hmm.¡± Shahrazad pondered over a cup of tea.


    The most affected county is Keyzd, judging by these mortality rates. It wasn¡¯t under her jurisdiction, but Shahrazad enjoyed eying documents and numbers. It borders Loyata, but Tamara said the plague was originally from Ydaz, so I guess it¡¯s just a coincidence. Still, with these numbers, it would make sense to close some roads. Maybe I should... But before she could continue with that course of thought, a figure appeared through the translucid curtains of her office.


    Upon recognizing that figure, Shahrazad stood up from her seat and bowed down.


    ¡°What brings you to my humble office, my Sultanzade?¡± Shahrazad respectfully welcomed the imperial princess.


    ¡°Not much.¡± Rani graciously sat on top of Shahrazad¡¯s desk. ¡°Though there¡¯s no need to address me as such. You can talk to me informally, Shahrazad. Aren¡¯t we workmates?¡± Pearly white teeth hinted through the slight opening of her mouth, a startling contrast with her bronze skin.


    She was, of course, incapable of complying with such demands.


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid I can¡¯t, Princess Rani.¡± Shahrazad bowed down. ¡°The Sultanah would hang me if she knew I had referred to one of their children without due respect.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s better. Not much, but better.¡± Rani stood up from her desk¡¯s countertop. ¡°But you are wrong. Aaliyah doesn¡¯t care about her children.¡±


    Shahrazad gasped at Rani¡¯s statement. Not only because she was partially offended that a daughter would refer to her mother by name, but also because it bordered treason. She had referred to the sultanah as Aaliyah instead of Aaliyah-al-Ydaz. That simplification meant Rani didn¡¯t respect the sultanah¡¯s authority or titles.


    ¡°Your Highness, that...¡± The grown woman tried to argue, but the young one, barely twenty, cut her off.


    ¡°Oh, I know it¡¯s treason, but it doesn''t matter.¡± The sultanzade dismissed the matter as if it was a light one. ¡°It¡¯s my mother, whether I like it or not. She won¡¯t kill me for that.¡±


    ¡°And...?¡± Once again, Shahrazad was interjected.


    ¡°No, not even exile me.¡± Rani sighed. It appeared this wasn¡¯t the first time she let out such blasphemies. ¡°Besides, if she hears it, which she probably has - that witch has ears everywhere - she¡¯ll even like it. ¡®Her little daughter has grown some spine¡¯ or something like that. If I or one of our siblings were to attempt a coup against her, then yes, she would kill us. But at the same time, that¡¯s what she encourages us to do. If she were to die at the hands of her own children, that would only mean she was weak. And weakness befits death.¡±


    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.


    Shahrazad almost fainted at the princess¡¯ words. Not because of the danger that supposed hearing them, but because they echoed through her body. A voice so powerful that pained her to be near to, let alone listen to.


    ¡°I...¡± Shahrazad gasped, having problems speaking after that assault. ¡°I see, Princess Rani.¡± She took a deep breath and recomposed herself. ¡°Can I do something to help you then?¡±


    ¡°That I shall see.¡± Rani finally took an appropriate seat as she sat on the pillow in front of Shahrazad¡¯s desk.


    Her body shifted gorgeously on the pillow, curves appearing everywhere. The princess¡¯ bronze skin was visible through the many seams of her dress, especially her scandalous calves. Shahrazad was a mature widow and a woman, but even she wasn¡¯t immune to the charms of the Sultanah¡¯s offspring and found herself blushing like a maiden. Rani rejoiced in the scribe¡¯s reaction but didn¡¯t comment further.


    The sultanzade gifted her a smile and continued. ¡°What do you think of my brother¡¯s idea?¡±


    ¡°The emir¡¯s idea to use fields to pacify the unrestful assassin population?¡± Rani nodded. ¡°Well, this is only my opinion, of course...¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡± The princess smiled, pearls showing off, and groomed her mane. The jet-black hair flowing down her arm as she rested her face on her palm.


    ¡°...I do believe it can work. There are many empty fields in Sadina right now for a plethora of reasons, so not only assigning some to the production of drugs would not suppose a loss of agricultural output, but it may put more workers in the economy as this will be a government-founded enterprise.¡±


    ¡°I see...¡± Rani¡¯s expression faltered, the smile becoming darker, but still present. That wasn¡¯t the answer she wanted to hear. ¡°That may be in the short term but think in longer.¡±


    ¡°Longer term, princess?¡±


    ¡°Yes. What my brother is doing here is showing weakness. Sure, he may pacify the assassins at a moment of instability, but they aren¡¯t a population to be satisfied or a country to be negotiated with. Assassins do not know the definition of favors.¡± Even as she lay on the pillow, the sultanzade''s grim words struck the scribe deeply. ¡°Once they see that the great Hassan-al-Sadina provides them free drugs, they¡¯ll only want more. And they¡¯ll take more. And more. Until there¡¯s nothing left.¡±


    ¡°I...¡± Shahrazad didn¡¯t know what to say. Right now, she was more scared of Rani than the assassins. ¡°Should I then speak with His Highness to cancel the plans?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t.¡± Rani instantly denied it as she stood up from the pillow. ¡°He doesn¡¯t respect you, Shahrazad. If you go against his wishes, if you are no longer useful nor obedient to him, he¡¯ll throw you out, or worse.¡±


    Then she approached her. The princess lay a finger on Shahrazad¡¯s neck, and she skipped a heartbeat. She didn¡¯t know if it was out of fear or excitement. Shahrazad was partially ashamed as she was around two decades older than the sultanzade. Rani¡¯s lips got close to the scribe¡¯s ear and whispered.


    ¡°But someone in the court respects you, Shahrazad.¡± She felt Rani¡¯s breath caressing her. ¡°Me.¡±


    It took all of Shahrazad''s willpower to stay upright. And even more to talk back.


    ¡°Then what do you suggest me to do... my Highness?¡±


    Rani smiled and looked directly at the poor woman¡¯s face. Her royal eyes shone like amethysts.


    ¡°I want you to support Hassan, to push that plan forward. Make him think his idea is incredible. Make him use even more resources than expected on it.¡±


    ¡°Ehm... didn¡¯t you say that doing so would be a show of weakness?¡± Shahrazad added shyly.


    ¡°Indeed.¡± Rani smiled innocently; she appeared like a saint descended from the heavens. ¡°And mother despises weakness.¡± The smile turned into a twisting nightmare, the face of a monster of the night.


    No, worse. A djinn.


    ¡°Think about it, will you?¡± The princess caressed Shahrazad¡¯s face with her soft hands. ¡°Remember, I¡¯m the only one who respects you. And I reward my subjects... graciously.¡± Rani gifted her one last smile before disappearing into the curtains, her body salaciously swaying as she walked.


    Shahrazad started hyperventilating the moment Rani disappeared from her sight, her heartbeat and mind were a mess. No matter what she chose, she would either become enemies with the emir or an imperial princess.


    Neither option was good, it was obvious she had been trapped in a scheme far bigger than herself. She had to trek carefully and wisely. But even if she didn¡¯t openly support Rani or notify Hassan-al-Sadina of the plot (which would instantly gain the sultanzade¡¯s wrath), it was true that her job was filling those fields with drugs.


    ¡°What a woman.¡± Shahrazad sighed, mostly fearing for her future.

 37. Cycling

    Aloe started her afternoon by infusing the remaining pistachio seeds. She didn¡¯t know how atrocious Karaim¡¯s vitality regeneration was, but after having a nap and lunch, she was topped up again.


    ¡°The old man didn¡¯t lie when he said vitality and stamina aren¡¯t the same.¡± Aloe wiped the sweat off her forehead with her sleeve. ¡°I¡¯m out of vitality, but I¡¯m not truly tired. My body feels heavier than the heavens, but otherwise, I could continue doing tasks.¡±


    Quite ironically, Aloe said this as she sat down on the shade of a palm tree and fanned herself with her straw hat. Ignoring the fact that she had some tasks to do since the first day that she had simply postponed indefinitely.


    ¡°Well, let¡¯s see if the diminishing returns of the pills are permanent or just temporary. Please let it be the latter.¡± She whispered the last part to the heavens. But not the sun, fuck that one.


    Aloe opened one of the many satchels she had in her belt and took out a Cure Grass pellet. They were small enough that she could stash multiple ones in a single satchel, even if the satchel¡¯s volume was of a single fist. She had already cut down and polished the rest of the vitality pills, giving her more than a dozen to work with. And depending on what the results were, she surely would make more.


    With a deep breath, Aloe downed the rather sticky pill.


    She waited for a few pregnant instants as the pellet traveled down her throat to her stomach. Even when it reached its destination, the effects weren¡¯t instantaneous. Her stomach had to first dissolve the layers of aloe vera sap before reaching the Cure Grass.


    Aloe frowned as it took a lot of time for the vitality to appear, but quickly realized the problem.


    ¡°Note to self, don¡¯t take pills after eating.¡± A few seconds later, it finally kicked off. ¡°Note to self, the Cure Grass pills do not possess enduring diminishing returns.¡± She said composedly, before letting all manners go to the shitter. ¡°Let¡¯s fucking goooooo!¡±


    The newbie farmer was more than exalted. She had been fearing for hours that her shortcut to Evolution and Infusion proved to be a fluke. But now she knew it was better than expected.


    ¡°Wait, I still have to check something.¡± Aloe calmed herself and stood up.


    She knelt down in front of where she had planted the pistachios. In reality, she hadn¡¯t managed to infuse all of them before her vitality had run out.


    ¡°Last one.¡± She muttered before infusing the burrowed pistachio and emptying her vitality again.


    Even in her kneeling position, Aloe could feel her legs buckle and lose all their strength. If it wasn¡¯t because she had done this multiple times by now, she would have dropped to the ground. Having no vitality drained oneself a lot. Whilst panting heavily, she grabbed another pill with the hand that hand clawed the soil and swallowed it.


    Aloe waited impatiently as her stomach did its work, it took even longer than before, making her restless. But after a couple of minutes, she had her answer.


    ¡°Yes!¡± Aloe jumped out of her position. ¡°I knew it!¡±


    Even after having her vitality depleted multiple times, Aloe felt energetic as she hopped on the spot. She could vaguely hear the grunt of annoyance from Fikali in the background.


    ¡°Pills don¡¯t get less effective by taking multiples on a short interval. They are only less effective the more vitality you currently have.¡± Being right with her theory made Aloe happier than the opportunities this gave her. ¡°This means a single pill will allow me to do a big infusion if I do it from an emptied deposit! I just need to cycle vitality constantly!¡±


    Considering it only took her minutes to craft a round of pills and then a few hours to dry, this meant she could do tens of them in a single day.


    ¡°I doubt my stomach is big enough to house that much grass, but this means I could theoretically infuse the whole oasis in a single day. Not that I would...¡± Aloe¡¯s bright expression suddenly darkened. ¡°Oh heavens...¡± Her visage contorted in a grimace. ¡°I¡¯m eating grass.¡±


    Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    Only now the gravity of the situation downed in her. Even if it was an evolved plant, it was still grass. And humans weren¡¯t built to eat grass.


    ¡°Oh, I think I¡¯m gonna puke...¡±


    In the end, Aloe did not puke. But considering that she extracted the vitality from the Cure Grass before digesting it, it could technically be possible and feasible to regurgitate the grass to make space for more without having to actually consume it.


    ¡°Ugh... I... I just won¡¯t think about it.¡± Aloe refreshed herself by splashing her face with water. ¡°Yesterday I ate the first pill and I don¡¯t feel ill. But thinking about it now it¡¯s making me ill. Grass... ew...¡±


    It took her a series of long breaths to finally calm herself and dissipate those thoughts from her mind.


    ¡°Let¡¯s just infuse some things...¡±


    As much as she wanted to learn how to infuse different properties into plants, she agreed with Karaim in the fact that it would take her a while to know how to do it. She just knew it was possible but had no clues on how to begin.


    ¡°Let¡¯s see... the pistachios and bananas are done, so before I start with the greenhouse, I should do the potatoes and beans. Ugh... but there are a lot of them...¡±


    She wasn¡¯t being lazy, just emotionally devastated. Aloe stood up and directed to the potato patch without bothering to dust off her pants. But before making it halfway through, she was interrupted by a few grunts.


    ¡°Huo! Huo!¡± Fikali berated her. She couldn¡¯t actually tell that the dweller was doing that, but it certainly felt like it.


    ¡°Oh, right.¡± Aloe sighed and slouched her shoulders. ¡°You wanna have a walk, don¡¯t you?¡± Her expression was that of a corpse.


    ¡°Wrooooo!¡± The dweller added excitedly, bellyflopping repeatedly.


    ¡°You are far too excitable for someone of your age,¡± Aloe muttered as she undid the knot on the lead.


    Fikali responded by puffing out some air, almost seemingly saying ¡®How dare you speak of my age?¡¯


    ¡°Did you just scoff at me?¡± Aloe frowned at the dweller. This time, the monster didn¡¯t respond back. But the hurt expression Fikali put made Aloe think who the real monster was here. ¡°Go, you have the afternoon free.¡± But even after saying so, Fikali stood still in place. ¡°Come on, go. You have the dunes there, play a bit.¡±


    The dweller didn¡¯t move, instead, she rubbed her face against Aloe¡¯s thighs.


    ¡°What?¡± She looked down at Fikali and she responded by grabbing the lead with her snout. ¡°Do you want me to go with you?¡± The dweller nodded in affirmation. ¡°I don¡¯t know... I was about to do some things.¡± Fikali peered directly into her eyes with the small dots she had for hers. ¡°Well... I guess I could go with you whilst I restore some vitality... That¡¯s way healthier than stuffing myself with grass.¡±


    ¡°Ou!¡± Fikali heaved her nose up and down cutely.


    ¡°Alright, lead the way then.¡±


    Aloe followed the desert dweller to the sands. When she was moving on the dirt of the oasis, Fikali¡¯s movement was slow and awkward. More than walking, she was bellyflopping around. But the instant her claws and fins touched the sand, she became like fish on water. Quite literally at that.


    ¡°Slow down!¡± Aloe cried. ¡°You are way faster than me on sand!¡± Especially as she was wearing sandals and not boots. The scorching sand swayed on her feet like a sea of needles, and whilst painful, Aloe had grown used to it.


    Only a bit. It still hurt. It hurt a lot.


    Thankfully, Fikali heard and responded to Aloe¡¯s pleas and approached her. Half of the dweller¡¯s body was submerged in the sand.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know how you do that. If my feet were a finger width deep on the sand, I would be unable to walk.¡± Fikali turned her head to the side in confusion, incapable to understand Aloe¡¯s speech. ¡°You don¡¯t have to stay still, though. You can move, just don¡¯t go that fast.¡±


    Fikali continued to look at her, her ability to understand human language, whilst outstanding sometimes, most of the time she was incapable of making sense of Aloe¡¯s words. The dweller then patted her hind fins on her side. But as Aloe proved also unable to understand her gestures, she rubbed her back with her front claws.


    ¡°You... want me to ride you?¡± Aloe added with hesitation and the dweller affirmed with a short grunt. ¡°I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s a good idea... You aren¡¯t even saddled...¡±


    ¡°Wroo!¡± Fikali grunted in protest, having none of Aloe¡¯s excuses.


    ¡°Alright, alright! I¡¯ll mount you.¡± She raised her hands in defense. ¡°Jeez, what a mood you have.¡±


    Whilst Fikali¡¯s body was deep in the sand, making it easy to ride her, Aloe shyly raised her legs and sat on top of Fikali¡¯s back. No matter that she was wearing trousers, it was still uncomfortable as the dweller¡¯s spine pressed down on her crotch.


    ¡°So how are we doing to this? I don¡¯t have a spot to graaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-¡°


    Before Aloe could finish her sentence, Fikali set off at full speed. And the pace of a dweller swimming on sand wasn¡¯t to be underestimated.


    ¡°Stop! Please stoooop! You are going too fast!¡± Aloe fought for her life as she grabbed the lead tied to Fikali¡¯s neck. ¡°I¡¯m going to faaaaaall!¡±


    Aloe¡¯s heartbeat shot up eleven notches as the dried air of the desert crashed against her face. Her short hair winging on the wind, her humid sweat substituted by dryness incarnate.


    ¡°Staaaaaaahp!¡± Aloe¡¯s pleas for help were muffled by the high winds and the grunts of joy of the dweller.


    Fikali did, in fact, not stop.

 38. Washing

    ¡°Ugh...¡± Aloe groaned as she woke up. Every fiber of her body screamed in pain and exhaustion. ¡°My crotch hurts so baaadly...¡± The girl rolled back and forth on the bed.


    Fikali hadn¡¯t been gentle with her yesterday. Even if in the end they had only ridden for a few minutes, that was enough to make her body sore beyond a night¡¯s rest.


    ¡°Never riding again without a saddle.¡± The words came out muffled as she faced the pillow. Though Aloe was aware of the terminology she had used. She never said she wasn¡¯t going to ride Fikali again. ¡°It... it was fun... I think. But it¡¯s remarkable how it was worse for my body than standing naked in the desert for a few hours.¡±


    And Aloe instantly repented of thinking about it because now her skin itched.


    After Fikali¡¯s surprisingly vigorous ride, Aloe was too beaten to do anything else. She managed to carry her body to the potatoes and infuse them as she had regenerated some vitality, at least enough to infuse a single potato. Or rather a chunk. She had planted three potatoes and broken all of them into four chunks, meaning there were eleven more infusions to be done.


    Aloe couldn¡¯t tell if it was because the potato was fragmented, but it took considerably less vitality to infuse it than the pistachio.


    ¡°Potatoes are way smaller than palm trees...¡± She added with a yawn as she finally stood up from bed. ¡°But I would like to try if a full potato takes more vitality. In theory, it shouldn¡¯t. For what the soil respects, a chunk or a full potato is still just one seed. Both can produce a patch of potatoes... Again, in theory.¡± Aloe wasn¡¯t a farmer, so she couldn¡¯t be absolutely sure about it. Nor an expert on vital arts. But then again, not even Karaim could be called one. He was as blind and perplexed by the subject as Aloe.


    As she made her way to the kitchenette, Aloe couldn¡¯t help but groan as she saw the countertop.


    ¡°Right. No more bananas.¡± She sighed. ¡°Well, the ones I planted are not going to grow for a few months even with the infusion, so I¡¯ll guess I¡¯ll have some coconuts and dates.¡±


    Whilst she was a bit reticent about leaving her house with an empty stomach, Aloe quickly donned a fresh set of clothes. Though another problem arose as she got dressed.


    ¡°Not a lot of clothes are remaining. Oh...¡± She realized what was happening. ¡°Damn, I have yet to wash my clothes. Or do the dishes, for that matter. Oh well, I already know what to do after breakfast.¡± With another sigh, she finished dressing up and got out to the oasis.


    As usual, Fikali remained sleeping during the early morning.


    ¡°She¡¯s energetic, but she certainly values her beauty sleep.¡± Aloe joked as she collected a single coconut and a handful of dates.


    Breakfast was short and fast, but Aloe took advantage of her moment of respite to check Karaim¡¯s cultivation technique. There wasn¡¯t anything new, but she felt like eying it to refresh the contents of her mind.


    ¡°Hmm, he has talked about how it¡¯s harder to infuse evolved plants... I kinda want to try it with the Aloe Veritas now. Or what about the Cure Grass? What is considered grass anyway? The connected roots underneath, or a single blade? Food for thought, but later. I shouldn¡¯t forget about the chores. Because if I don¡¯t do them now, I¡¯ll have nothing to wear in a few days.¡±


    But even before washing or doing the dishes, Aloe had another chore. A self-imposed one. While she wanted to try Infusion with evolved plants, first she needed to clear a bit of her pile of non-infused crops. And she wasn¡¯t procrastinating!


    Absolutely not!


    This was just the most efficient way to use her time. It made no sense lying on a full vitality deposit. Using it up now meant that she would regenerate it whilst doing the actual chores without the need of taking any pills.


    This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    ¡°Yeah...¡± Aloe grunted after infusing the first potato chunk of the day. ¡°It doesn¡¯t need much vitality at all. Maybe a fifth of the vitality needed to infuse a banana seed.¡±


    Because there were only twelve potato chunks in total and she could infuse three banana seeds with a full deposit, it meant that she was able to infuse them all without needing to rest. And she would still have some leftovers!


    She thought about using the last pinches of her vitality on the beans but considering that her body was uncomfortably heavy when she was fully spent out of vitality, she decided otherwise.


    What she needed to do now was wash her clothes.


    Feeling vaguely lethargic after using up most of her vitality, Aloe grabbed the washing board she had taken with her from her luggage.


    With difficulty, Aloe carried outside the massive board along with the pile of her dirty clothes to the shore of the oasis.


    ¡°I¡¯ll need something to leave the clothes on.¡±


    Aloe searched around the house and greenhouse to see if Karaim had a drying rack or something along those lines. He did not.


    ¡°Honestly, I¡¯m not surprised at this point.¡± She added with a groan.


    Thankfully, she did have a lot of rope. Not from her grandfather, but the rope they had used to tie all the bags together on Fikali¡¯s back when she departed from Sadina.


    ¡°Not too long, but I think that with two meters it will suffice.¡±


    Aloe tied the rope on the closest pair of trees to the oasis shore, perfectly making a makeshift drying rack.


    ¡°Alright, down to business.¡± Aloe knelt down on the shore, yet again dirtying her clothes, and started rubbing her clothes against the board. ¡°Hmm. This would be far better than in a tub. I fear that I¡¯m poisoning the waters with all this dirt and soap.¡± That didn¡¯t stop her, though.


    She had to be careful with the washing board as some pieces of clothing were delicate, but most were old pieces of linen, so she mostly went overboard.


    ¡°Yeah, a tub would also help me use less soap. I¡¯m losing too much... Oh well, I have a few bars. But could I use a jar or something to clean the clothes in?¡± She pondered as her hands moved at high speeds. ¡°Nah, not likely. Their mouths are too small to clean effectively, but it would be possible.¡±


    Before Aloe even noticed, she finished with her first set of clothing and hung it on the rope.


    ¡°Alright, four more to go.¡±


    By the end, her hands were hurting enough to worry her.


    ¡°I hope I don¡¯t get any callouses...¡± Maybe not a courtesan, but she wouldn¡¯t like to go brandishing coarse and bruised hands around. She had standards.


    As the only child of the family, Aloe wasn¡¯t inexperienced with washing clothes. As both her mother and father worked when she was younger, the responsibility to clean the clothes of the whole family fell unto her. As a little girl, she had to carry every day a basket full of dirty clothing to the public bath, where there was a section designated to wash clothes, to clean them.


    The memory of her little self trying to wash the clothes on the channel in front of her house flashed before her eyes. She had gotten in a lot of trouble back then; the guards had stopped her because she was polluting the waters. That scared me a lot, Aloe grinned. Water was precious in the desert, even if Sadina had reliable access to the Eyana River.


    Even if her parents scowled her hard that day, Aloe recalled the memory fondly. She valued the moments when they were still a whole family unit.


    Aloe sighed. ¡°I¡¯m done.¡± No matter that she tried to hide her tone with exhaustion, nostalgia still filtered through her voice. ¡°Dishes time, it is.¡±


    Whilst not as acquainted with doing the dishes as no one ate in her home, their kitchen was rarely used, Aloe did know how to do it.


    ¡°Hmm, using soap will be a waste.¡± She looked at the tower made out of bowls and cutlery. ¡°I have an idea.¡±


    Aloe carried all the dirty dishes outside and dropped them on the hot sand. She then buried them deep, allowing the scorching grains to reach every last corner. After that, she unceremoniously threw them to the oasis.


    ¡°There, cleaned and no grease remaining thanks to the sand. And then the water has taken care of the dust. Perfect solution.¡±


    Though she needed to rub them clean because with her poor handling some pieces had come in contact with the dirt inside of the oasis.


    ¡°Clothes and dishes are drying, I¡¯m finally done!¡± Aloe extended her arms to the skies in alation. ¡°It¡¯s infusin¡¯ time.¡±


    Her vitality deposit had yet to be filled, around two-thirds full. As she wanted to try infusion on the Aloe Veritas, and she rather not kill herself, Aloe took one pill just to be sure.


    ¡°Hmm.¡± The pill took effect instantly. ¡°It¡¯s good to know that not having an empty stomach means I can use the pills on the spot, but that didn¡¯t give much vitality. Half of what it should, or less. It¡¯s really difficult to quantify vitality.¡±


    Aloe scratched her head in annoyance after having wasted a pill and filled her stomach with grass for nothing, but mostly because her banker itch screamed at her to measure and quantify the workings of vitality. An ordered ledger where all the values were registered. She left that thought for later.


    ¡°Well, it won¡¯t be for nothing if it keeps me alive.¡± She nervously waddled to the greenhouse, hoping that Karaim¡¯s words on Infusion were but an exaggeration of his old age.

 39. Ink

    ¡°Breath in, breath out,¡± Aloe told herself to calm her shaking hands. ¡°Karaim was being melodramatic with Infusion almost killing him, right?¡± She added with a wry smile. ¡°Besides, he tried the ter¡¯nar, which is a tree and needs more vitality. And he was old. And I am young. And I am full of vitality. And I am... I... I am delaying it, aren¡¯t I?¡±


    Aloe hid her visage with her hands, she couldn¡¯t deny she was scared, but most factors told her that she wouldn¡¯t die. Her grandfather was impossibly old and didn¡¯t die, so what were the chances she would with a full deposit and a healthy young body?


    ¡°Okay, I can do it. I can do it! After refreshing myself!¡± She rushed to the oasis to wash her face.


    It still wasn¡¯t high noon, but it was getting close. Aloe could feel the sun pelting down her hair with relentless force. After she cleared her thoughts with a bit of water and washed away her rather irrational fear, Aloe went back to the oasis.


    ¡°Let¡¯s see. Aloe Veritas is a plant, a big one, but a plant. It isn¡¯t a tree, and it¡¯s a bit smaller than normal aloe vera. This means it should take... double than the pistachios? Huh, that isn¡¯t much vitality. Well, it¡¯s a lot, like two-thirds of everything I have, but it certainly wouldn¡¯t kill me, right?¡± She sighed. ¡°I should stop doing that. I¡¯m just trying to convince myself to not do it. But if I don¡¯t do this, I won¡¯t be able to do more advanced stuff. And I want to do advanced stuff, damn it!¡±


    Aloe sat down cross-legged before the Aloe Veritas, recalling her first experiences when dealing with vitality and Karaim¡¯s account, she couldn¡¯t even trust her legs while kneeling down.


    Carefully and slowly, Aloe put her palms against the parchment-like leaf of the Aloe Veritas, her fingers tracing the ink spots with her fingers.


    ¡°Now!¡± Aloe infused her vitality into the plant. ¡°Huh?¡± Her reaction was instantaneous as the evolved plant did not accept her vitality. ¡°Why isn¡¯t it working?¡±


    She tried to infuse it one more time, yet the results were the same. Fear stilled fast in her mind, thoughts of having crippled herself or having already died and all of this being a deadly hallucination bolstered in her imagination. But before submitting to terror, Aloe quenched those thoughts and tried another thing.


    Sensing the vitality of the Aloe Veritas.


    ¡°Aloe Ayad, you are such a big fucking moron!¡± She jumped out of her spot, crying hysterically as she grabbed her hair. ¡°The plant is already infused! Arghhh!¡±


    Her guttural screams proved more monster worthy than the grunts of the actual monster in the oasis.


    ¡°Why. I. Am. This. Stupid!¡± Aloe bashed repeatedly her head with the side of her fist. ¡°Of course, Karaim would have already infused all the old plants you dum dum.¡±


    Strength left her body, mostly out of stress, and she collapsed on the ground. Her back was being punctured by cobblestone and aloe leaves, but she couldn¡¯t care. Her right arm lay on top of her face, obscuring her eyes, cold sweat dripping on her back.


    ¡°I want my fear back.¡± Aloe mussitated. ¡°I want all the worry and suffering removed from my system.¡± She told no one, maybe the heavens. It wasn¡¯t like they would respond though.


    She stayed there, lying motionless on the ground for a few minutes, before finally deciding to stand up as her back was killing her. Aloe remained sat.


    ¡°What should I do now? Evolve an aloe vera to have an evolved but uninfused plant to mettle with?¡± Whilst it was a valid suggestion, it didn¡¯t make much sense to make another Aloe Veritas. ¡°Nah, the leaves grow too fast, and there are still some in the jar. And it isn¡¯t like there are things like I can identify with them until I make new evolved plants. That¡¯s going to take a while. I guess I could identify some normal plants, I haven¡¯t tested that yet, but Karaim did. There are some descriptions of the palm trees and grass. It would be better if...¡±


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    The next words died in her mouth as a strike of radiance illuminated her mind. Aloe jumped out of the ground and swiftly picked up the knife laying on her hip. Her hands no longer shook from before, instead, they were confidently driven.


    Her knife cut easily through the Aloe Veritas and Aloe herself picked up the leaf, carrying it with care so the ink from the cut section didn¡¯t taint her.


    She had another objective in mind.


    The midday sun of the desert assaulted Aloe violently. Apparently, those few minutes were more than she had thought. Nonetheless, she trekked into the oasis. Trying to hit all the shades along her path, of course.


    ¡°Fikali!¡± Aloe cried out to the dweller who was lazing off, a hint of grass coming from her mouth.


    ¡°Huo?¡± Fikali wondered with the hesitation of drowsiness.


    ¡°You are awake, I see. Perfect. I just need you to be still for a second.¡±


    ¡°Huo?¡± The dweller inquired again, this time out of doubt.


    ¡°Yes, yes. Huo, huo. Stay still for a sec.¡± Aloe knelt down and rubbed the cut section of the Aloe Veritas leaf on Fikali¡¯s cheeks. ¡°Let¡¯s see what it says.¡±


    The senseless arcane scripture of the Aloe Veritas shifted into a cohesive one. A smile drew on Aloe¡¯s face.


    Name: Fikali


    Species: Desert Dweller


    Description: An evolved member of the Talpidae family, a species known for its ability to swim in sand and store high reserves of water and fat.


    ¡°Good, good!¡± Aloe hopped, much to Fikali¡¯s confusion. ¡°This solves a lot of questions, though I guess it brings even more new ones. What¡¯s a Talpidae?¡±


    She inspected every detail of the information the leaf presented her.


    ¡°This is identical to my own identification.¡± She pointed out. ¡°No sobriquet, no alignment. But it does have the presence of a name. Now,¡± Aloe circled her finger around Fikali¡¯s written name, ¡°does this mean that evolved animals are treated like humans, or that humans are treated like animals? Hmm... I don¡¯t feel comfortable being treated like one, even if it¡¯s by a plant. I rather think the first.¡±


    The description and species seemed correct, possessing even more information than what Aloe herself knew. Though the name part raised some questions.


    ¡°What happens if I analyze a dweller that doesn¡¯t have a name? Will they have the same description format as plants or a new one I have yet to see? And once again, how in the heavens does it know Fikali¡¯s name?¡±


    ¡°Wro?¡± The dweller reacted upon hearing her name.


    ¡°No, Fikali. I wasn¡¯t talking to you.¡± Aloe dismissed. ¡°Here, take a stroll whilst I think.¡±


    Aloe left the leaf on the ground to undo the knot as she needed both hands to do so. She had made a strong one just in case Fikali got too playful and undid it by mistake. Or worse, on purpose. But as she turned to face the dweller, the Aloe Veritas leaf was gone.


    ¡°What?¡± Her eyes quickly diverted to the monster. ¡°Fikali, stop!¡± Aloe cried as soon as she realized where the leaf had gone. ¡°Stop eating it! I was reading it!¡±


    But as she yanked the leaf from the dweller¡¯s mouth, it snapped in half, splashing ink everywhere.


    ¡°Are you happy?¡± Aloe scowled at Fikali.


    ¡°Wrooo!¡± Fikali responded happily, which made Aloe¡¯s eyelids twitch.


    A lot of curses were brewing in Aloe¡¯s mouth, but before letting them out, she stopped herself. The leaf was still readable, and she already knew the contents. And she could as easily make another one. The worst part was the ink, but she thankfully had avoided any splashes. Though the same couldn¡¯t be said for Fikali¡¯s face. To say it lightly, the dweller looked like a botched piece of art.


    ¡°Still eating that?¡± Aloe inquired as she saw Fikali¡¯s jaws rise and fall. ¡°I don¡¯t think you should, I doubt it¡¯s... Well, aloe is edible. But what about the in- Damn, squid ink is edible, so this should be extra edible. Ehm... enjoy I guess?¡±


    ¡°Hro.¡± The dweller grunted indecipherably.


    ¡°But you made quite a mess.¡± Aloe sighed looking at all the ink. ¡°Imagine if we were inside. I would have killed you. Ink is impossible to...¡±


    Aloe¡¯s words died out and her course of thought jerked to a sudden halt as another idea blinded her mind.


    ¡°Ink...¡± She led her finger to the section of the Aloe Veritas leaf, specifically where Fikali had bitten. Sap poured viciously in a hemorrhage. Aloe dipped her fingerprint in the puddle of ink and led the tainted finger to her mouth. ¡°It¡¯s ink. It¡¯s ink!¡±


    Her mind¡¯s gears spun at absurd revolutions upon the discovery.


    ¡°Forget about plants... this is... revolutionary. If the veritas wasn¡¯t the best plant, now it certainly is.¡±


    It was ink. Real ink. If not identical, incredibly similar to squid ink. And ink was highly expensive.


    The corners of Aloe¡¯s mouth curved in greed.

 40. Tests

    ¡°Oh, Fikali. I would kiss you if your face wasn¡¯t made such a mess!¡±


    ¡°Huo?¡± The dweller added with characteristic confusion.


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter,¡± Aloe explained. ¡°What I need to do now is do some tests with this ink. I can¡¯t get ahead of myself just yet.¡± She straightened her hair. ¡°If dealing with the Cure Grass and vitality has taught me anything is to not take anything for granted. Nothing confirms that the sap of Aloe Veritas is identical to squid ink, I have to make sure of it first.¡±


    Aloe left the oasis, leaving Fikali to munch on the leftovers of the leaf. It had lost too much ink to be useful for her. She picked up the first bowl she found at the house, in this case, the one she had used to store the Cure Grass paste and had left on the desk.


    ¡°Damn, I forgot to clean this one. Also the mortar, ugh.¡± She took the bowl nonetheless and went to the greenhouse.


    The Aloe Veritas was still bleeding ink, but the dripping was slow, almost already closed. It wasn¡¯t like it would give more ink so Aloe just cut another leaf to fill the bowl with. One thing she had noticed between the Aloe Veritas and the common, unevolved version was that the evolved one bled a lot more. It was smaller but it had way more sap inside.


    She let the ink-like sap slowly drip into the bowl as she held it, but her heart skipped a beat as the parchment of the Aloe Veritas started shifting.


    ¡°What?¡± Aloe gasped as the ink spots of the cut leaf shifted to reveal the description of Cure Grass. ¡°Oh. There were still traces of paste in the bowl.¡± She quickly realized. ¡°That¡¯s... creepy. The leaf never touched the grass, and the ink that did touch the paste was no longer in contact with the leaf. Just... how?¡±


    It was hard to reconcile with such arcane and nonsensical acts even if Aloe knew that she was dealing with a magical plant.


    ¡°Somehow the ink has communicated at a distance with the leaf to tell it which plant has been touching and then the parchment on the leaf has written it.¡± Aloe described what she just saw, and she couldn¡¯t even believe her own words. ¡°This plant will never stop surprising me. Just wow¡­¡±


    After the bowl was full, Aloe carried it and the leaf outside. She left the leaf with Fikali as she had seemed to enjoy the previous one and took the bowl home. As soon as she entered though, her stomach grumbled.


    ¡°Ugh, as much as I want to experiment, I should eat.¡± She left the bowl on the desk. ¡°And a real meal at that, not the absolute garbage I did on the second day.¡±


    She no longer had more of that ¡®stew¡¯. It had run out yesterday, or more accurately, Aloe had thrown it out in a tantrum.


    ¡°I took around a month of rations, so I guess I could be a bit lavish,¡± Aloe suggested. ¡°Not only that trash lasted for four days, but if the accelerated growth gifted by the Infusion works, I may have potatoes before the month ends. Though I still do not know what the growth factor of the infusion is.¡±


    Said rations were mostly composed of vegetables and dried meat. She wasn¡¯t worried about the meat or the legumes, as they would last for a long time. As for fruits, Aloe already had consumed all that she had brought. So her main problem was the potatoes. They wouldn¡¯t spoil in a month, but if not stored correctly they could go bad enough that consuming them would present a problem. Mainly in taste.


    And the heavens knew Aloe wasn¡¯t storing anything correctly.


    ¡°A potato soup sounds really good right now,¡± Aloe said as she carried the hearth cauldron to the oasis, also taking this time to make the first round of water boiling of the day. ¡°Potatoes are incredible. You can boil them, roast them, smash them. They just work!¡±


    This was but Aloe¡¯s own way to convince herself that she couldn¡¯t mess them up as she did with the stew. Even a steamed potato would be a feast in her current state.


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    As she waited for the water on the hearth to boil, Aloe¡¯s attention was directed once again to the aloe ink.


    ¡°Right.¡± She placed her hands on her hips. ¡°So how do I do this?¡±


    It was obvious to her that she needed to check the quality of the ink, but she had no idea how to do so.


    ¡°Damn, Mom would know what to do.¡± Aloe sighed. ¡°She¡¯s a scribe, it¡¯s literally her job to know about inks and such.¡± Alas, Shahrazad was in Sadina and she was in the middle of nowhere. ¡°Bah, I¡¯ll just improvise something. That tends to magically work.¡±


    One of the multiple items Aloe had packed in her luggage was a small pot of ink and parchment. And, of course, a quill. Neither of those items were in copious quantities, she had just brought them ¡®just in case¡¯, and her clothes and rations already took most of the available space.


    ¡°You have brought most things just in case, Aloe.¡± She mumbled to herself as she picked up the small ink flask and two pieces of parchment from her multiple bags.


    She didn¡¯t intend to write many things during her stay, mostly a list of items and problems with the greenhouse. She wasn¡¯t being snobbish, just keeping inventory. And a good inventory wasn¡¯t just a list of items of properties, but also of lacking ones.


    ¡°In Karaim¡¯s words, ¡®Oh boy, do this place lacks a lot of things¡¯.¡± Aloe started writing a short list of items that would improve her life. ¡°Let¡¯s see, there aren¡¯t many things¡­ A bathtub, a smaller bathtub for washing, a composter, a corral of some sort for Fikali, maybe an actual boiling station, an irrigation system for the greenhouse would be nice but I doubt it¡¯s feasible¡­ Did I leave something out?¡±


    Aloe didn¡¯t outright write all of this; it was too coarse and nonsensical. She refined her aloud thoughts into more refined prose.


    The quill and the squid ink flowed without problems in the parchment. She was used to writing, maybe too much. Whilst not a scribe like her mother, coming from an upstanding school meant that she actually had to write, unlike simpler public schools whose families couldn¡¯t afford to have a member of the household not working, let alone buy parchment for them. And her training as a banker ¨C whilst now left a sour taste in her mouth after discovering the truth of her lack of promotion ¨C had made her write for day and night.


    ¡°Alright, this is enough. Let¡¯s now test the aloe-based ink.¡± She put the piece of parchment to the side.


    It vaguely hurt her having to use expensive parchment for tests, but at the same time, she hadn¡¯t paid for those. They had come from her apprenticeship.


    ¡°Unpaid internship is only unpaid if you didn¡¯t steal enough workplace equipment.¡±


    The results were near instantaneous. Not even before writing, Aloe found a problem with the aloe ink. Namely, the viscosity and dryness.


    The sap-ink was too viscous, presenting problems to write on the parchment. It was subtle, but it would lead to the quill slightly deviating from its course. Whilst not life-shattering, such a repeated annoyance could lead to the customers being dissatisfied with it. The major problem was the dryness.


    Or maybe trait.


    Aloe Veritas ink dried too quickly, probably a coagulant agent of some kind as the plant itself had stopped bleeding fast. Now, that was both good and bad. Good because some inks took even up to an hour to dry, making it difficult to reuse pages of parchment. But bad because her bowl of ink was mostly dried already. It was a viscous mess, too clumped up to work as a writable substitute.


    ¡°Hmm¡­ That¡¯s a problem¡­ Fast-drying ink will certainly have a market, even ignoring the writing difficulties that presents its viscosity. But this is just too fast. Will it last longer if I seal it on flasks? Even if I do so, will it even be worth it? I cannot put ink on clay pots, and glass isn¡¯t that inexpensive¡­ I need to crunch too many numbers¡­ Ugh.¡±


    The option of not using glass bottles was not even on the table. Humans were visual creatures, especially the vain ones who were capable of purchasing ink. If you didn¡¯t have your ink in a tidy little flask, no one would buy it.


    Aloe had hoped to escape a bit away from the arithmetics of the economy by enclosing herself like a hermit, but it would seem the banker¡¯s life wouldn¡¯t just leave her alone.


    ¡°A small pot of ink is one fajati, but that¡¯s good ink. If I were to sell this, it should be as a cheaper type of ink with shorter shelf life, let¡¯s just say one drupnari less, so four drupnari per bottle. But a glass flask would be a drupnari by itself. One less drupnari then. Three drupnari currently, but that¡¯s without taking into account expenses like taxes, transportation, or merchant cuts. Let¡¯s just say fifty of that, so a drupnari in a half, so that comes out to fifteen drupnars profit per bottle.¡±


    The numbers were crude, and whilst the profit was on the higher side ¨C a commoner didn¡¯t even make fifteen drupnars per day of work ¨C there were a lot of unaccounted factors.


    ¡°The logistics aren¡¯t there, nor the starting inversion. Going into red numbers is common for businesses, especially new ones, that¡¯s why they take loans. I need to polish this a lot more, even if I get a loan, I need to be able to repay it fast enough so the interest doesn¡¯t catch up for a downward spiral to kick in. Hmm¡­¡±


    Truth was, if she wanted the ink business to work, she would need a lot of opinions and market observation.


    Aloe groaned and freed her mind from numbers as she centered her attention on her cooking. She wouldn¡¯t allow herself to make garbage for food yet again.

 41. Pot

    Truth was, Aloe sucked at cooking. She was better off having dates and coconuts than eating meals prepared by herself. Having postponed her ink tests for the moment, she dedicated the rest of the day to watering every plant in the oasis and greenhouse, plus also infusing the beans.


    As she woke up for her sixth day in the greenhouse, she was grateful for the foresight of routine. She had gathered and stashed some dates and coconuts on the kitchenette, meaning that she no longer had to collect fruit in the morning.


    ¡°After several tests on infusing different plants, I can ascertain that the cost of infusion depends on the final point of growth of the plant.¡± Aloe wrote down on parchment with the Aloe Veritas. She was done with those tests for now yes, but she wanted to try if humidifying the ink with water could recover its properties.


    The results? Mixed.


    The consistency of the ink was too variable, making it so some sections of the text were barely visible whilst others were splashes of ink. That didn¡¯t matter to her right now though.


    ¡°This means that seeds of similar size will require vastly different amounts of vitality as what matters is not the present of the seed, but the future of its growth. After comparing with random flowers, palm trees, and small-sized crops, this hypothesis seems to hold true.¡±


    Her intention wasn¡¯t to make another diary like her grandfather, but it was true that she needed to write over extended periods of time and length to get better data on the aloe ink. She left the quill on its stand and rested her back on the chair.


    ¡°I need to try it on evolved plants. Karaim said that it was double as difficult to infuse them compared to normal ones, but all the planted evolved plants have been infused already.¡± Aloe¡¯s wording was precise for a reason. ¡°All the planted evolved plants, of course.¡±


    Aloe gripped the Cure Grass seed that she had created. The first plant she had evolved.


    ¡°Karaim has somehow substituted all the normal grass in the oasis with Cure Grass, but that doesn¡¯t make sense. Grass is invasive, and you can never be certain it has fully disappeared. Unless¡­¡± She peered into the evolved seed. ¡°Unless its evolved version is even more invasive, meaning that the normal grass has died out so Cure Grass can flourish.¡±


    It was a theory, but it made sense. Aloe had tried random spots around the oasis to check if everything was truly made out of Cure Grass, and she had yet to see an Aloe Veritas leaf show her otherwise. The ¡®Cure¡¯ was always present, never solitary ¡®Grass¡¯.


    ¡°Karaim never bothered to infuse the grass on the oasis, so I could technically infuse any blade of Cure Grass, but I want to run some tests. And besides, I need to infuse seeds. Grown specimens won¡¯t help me as the only type of infusing I can make is accelerated growth.¡±


    That was the main reason why she wanted to use her own evolved seed. And Aloe wouldn¡¯t deny she had a minimal sentimental tie to the small seed.


    Instead of planting the Cure Grass specimen on the oasis or greenhouse, where she wouldn¡¯t remember or distinguish where it was, Aloe grabbed a rather small jar of clay to use as a pot. Grass didn¡¯t need many nutrients, so she expected Cure Grass to work similarly. Until now, she hadn¡¯t found any evidence proving otherwise.


    The first thing in the morning Aloe did, after having breakfast, was to pick up a scoop of dirt and put it in the jar. It sounded simple, but it took her more time than she had thought as she wanted clean, unseeded dirt. And there were a lot of plants in the oasis. It took her a bit of finicking, mostly removing roots by hand, but it wasn¡¯t difficult. She shoved her Cure Grass seed into the jar and readied herself for the infusion.


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    ¡°I wish I had access to normal grass,¡± Aloe muttered as she cleaned her dirty hands on the oasis. ¡°Oh, I do. I guess seeds work just fine.¡±


    Running tests on normal grass wasn¡¯t exactly productive, it was just grass. But Aloe wanted to test Karaim¡¯s claim of evolved plants taking twice as much vitality to infuse than their default versions.


    ¡°Normal grass tests begins¡­ now.¡± Aloe infused her vitality in the small grass seed. ¡°Hmm¡­ that isn¡¯t a lot of vitality.¡±


    She looked at the seed, it was indeed infused, even if there was no outside physical change. Just in case, she checked the vitality of another grass seed, and it was true that it contained less vitality than the infused seed.


    ¡°This supports the future-size theory of infusion. Grass is small, so it doesn¡¯t require a lot of vitality, but this is too few. I almost fainted when I evolved the Cure Grass¡­¡±


    Karaim had stated several times that Evolution worked in greater magnitudes of vitality than Infusion, but that presented a new question.


    ¡°Does Evolution follow the future-size theory?¡± She inquired. ¡°It doesn¡¯t make sense though. If it was like that, how did Karaim manage to evolve the Aloe Veritas and ter¡¯nar? The ter¡¯nar is a tree, and he would have commented about it. Or outright killed him if it works by the same logic as Infusion¡­ Two possibilities then. Evolution has its own vitality cost logic, or¡­ I actually don¡¯t know. That¡¯s the only solution I can think of.¡±


    Aloe sighed and had a glass of coconut milk. Not exactly cold but refreshing, nonetheless. And that was more than enough.


    ¡°Anyways¡­ the workings of Evolution should affect the cost of infusion if the thing he said about evolved plants having a double infusion cost holds true.¡±


    The dirt on the jar was still humid as Aloe clawed her fingers in. She didn¡¯t need to go deep to feel the vitality of the Cure Grass. Unlike when she was trying to infuse crops, Aloe didn¡¯t face any difficulty to find the seed. That was mostly the reason for cleaning the dirt, another test to see how other plants after her ¡®vitality sense¡¯. And the answer was yes, the more living beings there were, the more difficult she found it as their vitality interfered with each other.


    ¡°Cure Grass test begins¡­ now.¡± And she dropped her vitality into the evolved seed. ¡°And¡­ pitiful. Yeah, I can¡¯t even notice if that¡¯s double the cost or not. It¡¯s just negligible.¡± Aloe sighed. ¡°I guess if I want to prove his claim I must need to evolve a new plant.¡±


    Aloe brushed the dirt away from her fingers with a rug. A rug made out of Karaim¡¯s clothes.


    ¡°I think Karaim mentioned the ter¡¯nar came from palm trees, the problem is the description. It¡¯s really weird if I want to evolve it. Let¡¯s see¡­ it must be somewhere¡­¡±


    Considering she hadn¡¯t thrown away the used Aloe Veritas leaves, they had to be somewhere. Where that somewhere was though was a difficult question to answer.


    ¡°Yup, that¡¯s weird.¡± Aloe bit her thumbnail as she read the ter¡¯nar description.


    Description: Member of the Ter¡¯nar species, a species known for their ability to survive with mana alone. Their leaves are high on mana and are considered a delicacy.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t state that it¡¯s an evolved plant, but a new species altogether. What¡¯s the difference between those two? Karaim stated that infusing the ter¡¯nar almost killed him, but it ¡®technically¡¯ isn¡¯t an evolved plant, at least according to the Aloe Veritas. Hmm¡­¡± As she explored the vital arts deeper, more questions drowned her mind. ¡°And still, what in the heavens is mana? No other plant has used that term and I haven¡¯t heard it in my life. Is it a type of nutrient? It says it can survive in mana alone, so maybe?¡±


    Aloe groaned and yet again took a sip out of her glass.


    ¡°I¡¯m getting sidetracked. What matters right now isn¡¯t if the ter¡¯nar is an evolved plant or not, even if it¡¯s an interesting question. No, the question is: what plant should I evolve to test the double cost statement?¡±


    The answer was quite obvious: Aloe Veritas.


    Karaim had only evolved three plants in total and the other two had already been discarded, so it was the only possibility that remained. But.


    ¡°I kinda want to make a new evolved plant,¡± Aloe stated as she peered into the pot of future grass. ¡°Karaim said it was trial and error. Not every plant worked, but I do have several plants in my position that he didn¡¯t.¡±


    Her eyes didn¡¯t separate from the dirt, another thought bud in her mind.


    ¡°Wait, but how did infuse the same plant multiple times?¡± She realized and directed to the cultivation technique. ¡°Yeah, he said he changed the infusion on the palm trees from ¡®accelerated growth¡¯ to ¡®bountiful harvest¡¯ but how? An infused plant doesn¡¯t accept more vitality.¡±


    The seed of thought in her mind started blooming.


    ¡°Unless¡­¡±


    And yet again, Aloe got sidetracked. Her only hope was that it would be a productive type of sidetracking. Probably.

 42. Type

    ¡°Okay, if I¡¯m thinking this right, there are only two options on how Karaim reinfused the same plant and changed its type of infusion.¡± Aloe pushed her hair backward to refresh herself after considerable seconds of silent ponderation. ¡°Either: one, he has changed the properties of the vitality inside of the plant ¨C somehow ¨C or; two, he has taken the vitality out of the plant and inserted fresh vitality with a different ¡®intent¡¯ type.¡±


    She had absolutely no idea how Karaim managed to do that, and he also appeared to have none, but logic dictated that those were the only two possible options. If an infused plant didn¡¯t accept new vitality either you modified the existing one or removed it.


    ¡°I have no idea where to begin, but¡­¡± She said with a coy smile as she looked at the jar filled with dirt and a single Cure Grass seed. ¡°I do have a plant that doesn''t require a lot of vitality to infuse and multiple other infused seeds to try.¡±


    On the desktop lay multiple examples of grass seeds. Normal grass seeds, the one grass seed she had infused, the Cure Grass seed evolved by Karaim left, and the infused Cure Grass seed inside of the jar.


    ¡°I may not have been able to sense a distinction between infusing a normal grass seed and an evolved one because I¡¯m dealing with negligible amounts of vitality, but maybe having them next to one another will help.¡±


    Aloe placed one hand on the infuse normal seed and the other on top of the dirt.


    ¡°Let¡¯s try.¡±


    Vitality sensing, if she was even going to call it like that, wasn¡¯t as straightforward as seeing. She wouldn¡¯t go as far as calling it a sixth sense, it mostly felt like¡­ colorful touch.


    As she closed her eyes, it became easy to isolate her other senses and just concentrate on what she had on her hands. The dirt was humid but the seed was dry. But it wasn¡¯t true sense of touch that she wanted, but the colorful and refreshing energy that was vitality.


    Aloe breathed.


    In a very convoluted manner, vitality was similar to air. A refreshing sensation that filled her with energy, invigorating her. But she wouldn¡¯t attribute smell to that sense. A mixture of sight and touch. Taste, smell, and hearing had nothing to do with vitality. Only her eyes and flesh.


    If the vitality needed to evolve the Cure Grass was a thunderstorm, the infused common seed was a single thunder. Not the best analogy, because it used sound, but it got a bit better when compared to the Cure Grass infused seed. The evolved plant was lightning, the whole package.


    The thunderous explosion and the dashing flash.


    Yet still not as powerful as the complete thunderstorm.


    ¡°I think I need to evolve another Cure Grass to quantify how much vitality I need. I have the feeling that I just fainted because it was my first time using vitality ¨C and also being dehydrated and starving ¨C rather than consuming a lot of it.¡±


    So she did.


    Karaim had a pot full of normal grass seeds, so it wasn¡¯t like Aloe was in short supply of them. And besides, she was more confident in her ability to manage vitality than her first time.


    ¡°Intent¡­¡± She muttered. ¡°Cure Grass evolution test begins¡­ now!¡±


    The muscles on her arm quickly strained as vitality poured into the seed. She had forgotten about it, maybe because she wasn¡¯t in the right place of mind back then, but Evolution was much different from Infusion, even if both basically resumed to pouring vitality into a spot.


    Whilst Infusion was like a fountain, pouring vitality as a fountain did with water, that didn¡¯t accomplish much. Pure vanity. But Evolution¡­ was different. It had a purpose. In very, very small scales ¨C ones she couldn¡¯t even comprehend ¨C Aloe could feel the seed shift in her hand.


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    ¡°It¡¯s like Karaim said, I¡¯m truly evolving the plant, I¡¯m changing its structure¡­¡± Aloe¡¯s voice died out as the vitality was more than she was expecting. ¡°Oh, yeah, this is far more than the bananas.¡±


    Her visage contorted in a mixture of annoyance and fatigue, but not pain. Vitality was not stamina, that was a statement she had read and checked herself, but using a great amount in a short span did make her tired.


    ¡°Oh¡­¡± Aloe grunted between pants. ¡°Well, at least I didn¡¯t pass out. That¡¯s good.¡± She grabbed the newly made Cure Grass seed between her fingertips. ¡°Maybe it¡¯s a little bigger?¡±


    But after putting the evolved grass seed and a normal one next to each other, she couldn¡¯t identify any notable distinctions. If there were, they occurred on the inside of the seed and not the outside.


    ¡°That was around¡­ two-thirds of my whole vitality? It¡¯s really difficult to make out concrete numbers. I don¡¯t even know how much vitality I have myself.¡± Aloe left the seed on the desk. ¡°But that¡¯s infinitely more than what it¡¯s needed to infuse either grass or Cure Grass. If Evolution follows the same logic as Infusion, I cannot fathom how Karaim managed to evolve such big plants as the ter¡¯nar or Aloe Veritas.¡±


    Theory-crafting was interesting, but Aloe was currently interested in the practice.


    ¡°Let¡¯s see how different a normal and uninfused Cure Grass is¡­¡±


    She placed her hands on both evolved seeds, but she failed to detect any major differences.


    ¡°Hmm¡­ maybe I can tell that the infused one has more vitality, but I don¡¯t know if that¡¯s just my mind playing me tricks. These amounts are just so negligible!¡± Aloe groaned. ¡°An infused normal seed and an infused evolved one have a lot more differences between the two because Cure Grass just has a lot of vitality by default, comparing two Cure Grass seeds makes no difference!¡±


    Another theory brewed in Aloe¡¯s head relating vitality usage and swing moods. She wasn¡¯t exactly a tame person, but she quickly realized that shouting after a few minutes of experimentation was rather¡­ childish. Aloe wasn¡¯t a scholar of the university, but she could comprehend that research wasn¡¯t an overnight process.


    ¡°I need a new mindset and a definitive idea. What I want to do is¡­¡± She stopped talking because she realized she didn¡¯t have an actual plan. Another sip of coconut milk ordered her thoughts. ¡°Okay¡­ what I want to do is check how did Karaim manage to infuse different properties in Cure Grass¡­ I think I need a stronger drink for this.¡±


    Maybe not culturally an adult yet, Aloe wasn¡¯t unbeknownst to alcohol. Mainly thanks to the rather negative influences of Uncle Jafar. But unfortunately, or fortunately, Aloe hadn¡¯t brought alcoholic beverages with her. Doing so was an easy recipe for dehydration and quick death because she was too drunk to drink water. And her luggage was already packed full.


    But Karaim did have substitutes.


    The ter¡¯nar leaves were considerably good tasting¡­ and they did present a fresh mindset. Also, Aloe already had boiling water outside of the oasis as part of her routine to purify the water. It didn¡¯t even take her five minutes to make herself a kettle full of ter¡¯nar tea.


    The steaming liquid was¡­ eye-opening to say the least.


    ¡°Yeaaaah¡­¡± Aloe spoke in a half-grunt. ¡°Definitely drugs.¡±


    She added as she took another sip of her cup.


    ¡°I feel a weird energy inside of me¡­¡± Aloe looked at her hands. ¡°Not vitality, but equally refreshing. What¡¯s this¡­ Oh yeah, but the characteristics of the¡­ But I should water¡­ No, no. Think about the growth¡­ Is that profitable¡­ What about¡­ Maybe¡­ Uhhh.¡±


    Aloe¡¯s thoughts quickly devolved into an ever-shifting mess, her mind functioning at astounding speed, what a shame that she couldn¡¯t linger in any thought more than a few seconds at a time.


    ¡°Karaim did say that, didn¡¯t he?¡± Aloe pondered after a few seconds of clarity. Those quickly vanished as she took yet another sip. ¡°Okay, okay, but what if¡­¡± She stopped herself, hoping for her mind to switch to another thought, but it didn¡¯t. Aloe lingered with a frown for a few more seconds before continuing down that path. ¡°Evolution is mindful intent on evolving the plant. Infusion is mindless intent. But that¡¯s the default infusion! What if Evolution is just a side of Infusion and the mindless intent just defaults to accelerated growth?¡±


    She may be tripping, but her thoughts spoken aloud sounded solid.


    ¡°So¡­ in theory¡­ if I were to infuse a seed with ¡®bountiful harvest¡¯ as an intent¡­ maybe¡­ just maybe¡­ it would just simply work?¡±


    There was only one way of knowing it. By trying.


    This didn¡¯t resolve her questions on how Karaim managed to change the type of infusion of an already infused plant, but if she managed to make a new type of infusion, then progress would certainly be made.


    ¡°Bountiful harvest¡­ Bountiful harvest¡­¡± Aloe repeated in a mantra as she pressed the newly evolved Cure Grass seed between her hands.


    Concentration was hard to come by, her mind riddled by the influence of the ter¡¯nar leaves. It also didn¡¯t help that she couldn¡¯t stop herself from drinking, therefore prolonging her euphoria. It became quite obvious that the ter¡¯nar had some addictive properties.


    The infusion ended before she noticed, her head kept elaborating thoughts completely unrelated to the subject at hand.


    ¡°Yes!¡± Aloe fist-bumped as she finally became aware that vitality had left her body and infiltrated the Cure Grass seed. But in her high highs, a new thought made its nasty appearance. ¡°But how do I know if it¡¯s the right type of infusion?¡±


    She didn¡¯t.

 43. Weakness

    Being summoned twice in such a short window of time was unheard of. The sultanah was a volatile person, everyone knew that, but being summoned in a matter of days of difference was mindboggling. That would mean that the sultanah was interested in you. And Aaliyah-al-Ydaz was interested in no one, not even her many paramours.


    Either way, Hassan instantly responded to the summon.


    Unlike the previous one, this time he had to meet with the sultanah in the palace¡¯s baths. The servants were adamant that Hassan went to meet her immediately. The baths were massive, steaming water and perfume loading the air whilst columns of marble and gold littered the room. More of an obstruction than an actual architectural necessity.


    Unsurprisingly enough, every inhabitant of the baths was naked. Their ages also raised a lot of brows, Hassan doubted no one was over the age of twenty-five in the room. That was also, unfortunately, unsurprising. As a paragon of agelessness, Aaliyah-al-Ydaz hated signs of age like wrinkles or grey hair.


    Every maid was a gawking beauty and, more likely than not, a noblewoman. And there were a lot of maids. Considering the sheer prestige of serving the sultanah, Hassan didn¡¯t even doubt the possibility of having a house matriarch as a maid if said matriarch was young enough. And then furthering that it was likely you were welcome on Aaliyah-al-Ydaz¡¯s harem, it was even a sought position.


    Bisexuality was already high enough in Asina thanks to the high concentration of cultivators, but the rumors of increasing lesbianism were running rampant. Hassan didn¡¯t understand it, perhaps because he was the son of the sultanah, but it was said that a single look at Aaliyah-al-Ydaz changed the preferences of women. It was more likely for him to believe that lesbianism in Asina was because of the sultanah rather than a decision independently taken by women.


    Men, on the other hand, just doubled down in their orientation after seeing Aaliyah-al-Ydaz.


    Bisexuality was common for WOMEN. Straight-up homosexuality was basically only present in the female gender, though there were cases of the opposite. Rare ones, but still existed.


    If a look from afar was enough to change the sexuality of women, what would the naked body of the sultanah do? The answer was obvious: the gazes of the maids were all directed at Aaliyah-al-Ydaz, they didn¡¯t even notice Hassan entering the room. For rulers of other nations, or even nobles in Ydaz, that may have been an executable offense. ¡®How dare these low-lives to gaze our queen?¡¯ was something Hassan imagined such monarchies would say. But Aaliyah-al-Ydaz rejoiced in their lusty gazes. Some lucky enough would even be allowed to look closely.


    Closely indeed.


    ¡°Ehem.¡± Hassan cleared his throat as no one paid attention to his arrival, even less the sultanah.


    Said person was enjoying a comfortable bath in a pool of coconut milk.


    ¡°Oh,¡± Aaliyah-al-Ydaz turned her back, revealing not only her bare chest but her company, a young boy.


    He was of age, but judging by his appearance, barely so. Even then, Hassan doubted the boy was that young. The sultanah did not tolerate incompetence or stupidity, the defining traits of a child. Her own children were barely tolerated sometimes. But Hassan believed that boy to be an adult, Aaliyah-al-Ydaz was a debauched woman, but not that far gone.


    ¡°You¡¯ve finally arrived, Hassan-al-Sadina.¡± The sultanah melodiously sang.


    The emir didn¡¯t elaborate further as now that the sultanah had become aware of her presence, his speech was needless until signalized. Especially as Aaliyah-al-Ydaz was amidst her diversion.


    The boy in the sultanah¡¯s arms was truly small in comparison. Not only Aaliyah-al-Sadina was a colossus of two meters of height with highlighted muscles, but the boy was undeveloped for his age. Certainly the reason why the sultanah had chosen him.


    Trapped in bliss, this was truly the highest point in the boy¡¯s life as he was being pampered by the strong and regal hands of the sultanah. If rumors were to be trusted, he would regret it once Aaliyah-al-Ydaz was done with him in bed. Hassan wouldn¡¯t spoil his fun though.


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    The sultanah caresses weren¡¯t affectionate, but dominant. The boy, in more than one way, wasn¡¯t a paramour, but cattle. It was obvious given by the boy¡¯s face and the hidden hands of Aaliyah-al-Ydaz under the coconut milk bath what the sultanah was doing to the poor ¨C or fortunate ¨C lad.


    A few moments later, the boy¡¯s face twisted in indescribable ecstasies, making clear that the bath was no longer composed of a single type of milk.


    Aaliyah-al-Sadina licked her hands in a gormandizing manner, sending a shiver of repulsion down Hassan¡¯s spine. The boy or the maids may have found the sultanah¡¯s lecherous gestures seductive, but for her son, it was truly despicable.


    For a brief instant, Hassan worried for the boy¡¯s life as he lost consciousness and his head dropped into the milk, the sultanah was too mighty to care about his life and too occupied as she calmly made her way out of the coconut milk bath. Thankfully for the boy, one of the many maids in the room took pity on him and saved him from drowning. Aaliyah-al-Ydaz made no comments on the lack of etiquette of the maid by rushing into the bath as her master was getting out.


    But knowing Aaliyah-al-Ydaz, Hassan suspected that she would punish the maid later. Even if ¡®punishment¡¯ wasn¡¯t exactly the right word as he strongly believed the sultanah would deal with the maid alongside the boy later on the day.


    As the sultanah made her way out of the bath, the milk slowly dripped down her naked body. The contrast between the white milk and Aaliyah-al-Ydaz¡¯s bronze skin was jaw-dropping. But ignoring the woman¡¯s beauty ¨C a thing Hassan absolutely wanted to do ¨C what highlighted in her shape was her stomach.


    In the few days since his last visit, Aaliyah-al-Ydaz¡¯s pregnant belly had rounded even more. She was probably due in a couple of months, if not less. He didn¡¯t keep track of his mother¡¯s many children. For other women, the curves of pregnancy may have made them lose their beauty. But we weren¡¯t talking about any women.


    We were talking about Aaliyah-al-Ydaz.


    The gazes of the maids were as lewd on her belly as any other position of the sultanah¡¯s body. Sometimes I feel like I¡¯m the only sane man in a desert of madness. Hassan thought in the confines of his mind as he carefully controlled his body, even he wasn¡¯t immune from the nakedness rules of the bath. It partially offended him that none of the sights of the maids were on him.


    ¡°Do you know why I have summoned you here?¡± Aaliyah-al-Ydaz asked as very enthusiastic maids started drying her with soft towels, clearly enjoying their privileged position to touch the sultanah.


    ¡°I do not, my Sultanah.¡± Hassan directed to her mother by her title, it felt the most appropriate.


    ¡°I see.¡± The cold look of hate was enough for Hassan to know that he hadn¡¯t chosen the right answer. Even if he had no other choice.


    Nothing could have prepared him for the supersonic blast.


    A blur was all he could see before his body was flung around like a piece of old cloth. His back impacted the stone walls of the bath in a loud explosion. A normal person would have died from the impact, if not instantly volatilized in a bloody mist. Hassan was luckily a decent cultivator, his body trained like the best steel. Still, the crash was so violent that it left him in a daze, only the chunk of stone dropping in his head was able to clear his mind.


    His vision, obstructed by dust and blurriness, only revealed the approaching silhouette of the sultanah.


    Slow, regal, but menacing.


    ¡°Do you know why I have summoned you here?¡± Aaliyah-al-Ydaz repeated herself.


    The deadly tone in her voice was enough to liberate the maids of her pink-colored trance, the young naked noblewomen stayed locked in place in dread.


    ¡°I...¡± Hassan wasn¡¯t even able to respond as the shock had puffed the air out of his lungs. And if Aaliyah-al-Ydaz¡¯s presence was able to stop people from breathing in her normal state, in her enraged state it was a hundred times worse.


    ¡°You truly don¡¯t know, do you?¡± The sultanah looked down on him. She was already taller than Hassan, but as he lay stunned on the ground, she was as tall as the heavens.


    Before Hassan could respond, Aaliyah-al-Ydaz put her foot on his leg. A gesture that may ignite the hearts of all men and women only sunken his heart. And she pressed down.


    Hard.


    A soundless scream left Hassan¡¯s mouth as he twisted in pain. He felt his throat tear apart, but that pain wasn¡¯t comparable to that of his femur breaking in half. Not even the insane resilience of a cultivator was enough to compete against the force of nature that was Aaliyah-al-Ydaz.


    Why? Hassan asked in his mind, the pain only presenting more difficulties in breathing, the corners of his eyes presenting hints of water.


    ¡°You don¡¯t know.¡± It was a statement, not a question. ¡°You don¡¯t even realize what you did wrong.¡± The eyes of the sultanah lacked any compassion. ¡°I am disappointed.¡±


    Her last words broke Hassan. Those weren¡¯t the words of a monarch dissatisfied with its subject but of a mother. A mother that wasn¡¯t enraged, for her useless son didn¡¯t even deserve that.


    ¡°You are more stupid than I thought.¡± Aaliyah-al-Ydaz knelt down. She never did that. Even if it was just to whisper in Hassan¡¯s ears. ¡°You tried to appease the assassins. The fucking leeches. You offered damned tribute to the scum of the sands. You showed weakness.¡±


    Aaliyah-al-Ydaz stood up, her skin impervious to the dust that was lingering in the air. That didn¡¯t stop the maids from rushing to their master once they were freed from their stupefaction.


    The sultanah stopped in her tracks, without looking back at him, she uttered a single phrase. ¡°Disappoint me one more time¡­¡±


    There was nothing else to say. Both of them knew the following words.

 44. Progress

    Progress had been severely limited. Aloe had managed to infuse something, but she wasn¡¯t sure if she had managed to infuse a different type of infusion besides the default accelerated growth.


    Attempts at removing the vitality from the seeds or rewriting the established vitality also proved fruitless endeavors. She took her grandfather¡¯s words to heart and decided to let the matter rest for a few days as she would eventually get her results. Grass already was a fast-growing plant so she expected the Cure Grass to show its growth after only a few days if the infusion had worked correctly or not.


    Days hastily passed by, mostly because Aloe used one to take a fully deserved rest. Mostly sleeping, bathing in the oasis, and eating dates. A life that, whilst simple, she couldn¡¯t deny it had its appeal. Free of worry and duty.


    But she did have a duty.


    Every single day she had to water every crop she had planted beside the existing flora of the greenhouse. Watering didn¡¯t take much time, but cooking, shoveling waste, washing clothes and dishes did once she added them up together.


    But there was some fun.


    ¡°Faster, faster!¡± Aloe shouted like a little girl as the dweller cruised through the sands.


    ¡°Hrooooo!¡± Fikali grunted excitedly.


    Sometimes a girl needed a respite, and that respite was mounting a monster several times heavier than her at breakneck speeds.


    Peak of femininity.


    Unlike her first attempt at dweller riding, Aloe was now equipped with a saddle, and that made things infinitely easier. Besides also having appropriate clothing like boots and tight pants. She decided on an open shirt though.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go there!¡± Aloe shifted her body down so Fikali could see her finger pointing at a tall dune.


    ¡°Wrooo!¡± Fikali added in euphoric agreement.


    No matter the heat and dryness of the desert, Aloe was refreshed by the constant air meeting her exposed chest. Her petite constitution made it so it was nonsensical to wear clothing on her breasts. Even then, pieces like bras were more of a nobility thing that noblewomen used to highlight their assets. Quite the opposite of modesty.


    It didn¡¯t take Fikali more than a few seconds to reach the apex of the dune. Despite her advanced age, she was incredibly fast. In fact, she had only gotten faster with every outing they had.


    ¡°Damn, we are high up,¡± Aloe commented as she dismounted the dweller and stretched her arms. ¡°A bit more and I think we could see Sadina. I can¡¯t even see the oasis from here. We have gone far and beyond today, haven¡¯t we?¡±


    ¡°Huo?¡± Fikali tilted her head in confusion.


    Aloe booped the playful dweller¡¯s snoot. ¡°Yeah, I don¡¯t expect you to understand it. You already do a good job by even comprehending some words.¡±


    ¡°Wroo!¡± The dweller vigorously bellyflopped, splashing sand everywhere, as she identified that she had been praised.


    ¡°Yes, yes. Relax.¡± Aloe patted the top of Fikali¡¯s her, prompting her to nuzzle her head against Aloe¡¯s legs. ¡°There, there.¡±


    She is honestly like an overgrown cat. Fikali let out a grunt of pleasure, not that dissimilar to purring, only reinforcing Aloe¡¯s beliefs.


    They stayed up there in the top of the dune, doing nothing else but watching the endless desert, the horizon was an ever-shifting blurry line by the blinding shine of the sun. It didn¡¯t take much longer for Aloe to not be able to tolerate the heat. She didn¡¯t bring her straw hat because she honestly couldn¡¯t. Fikali rode too fast for her hat to stay put on her head. And she was lightly clothed, meaning she didn¡¯t have the defenses against the elements of her desert garb.


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    Much to Fikali¡¯s dismay, they rode back to the oasis. After arriving, Aloe left the dweller to roam free around as she didn¡¯t seem to be satisfied yet. Tying her down would only be counterproductive.


    ¡°Huh?¡± Aloe saw something in the corners of her eyes. ¡°Is that...?¡±


    She hadn¡¯t spent much time on the oasis this morning, or at least, the time she did so was absentmindedly. Mainly gather dates and coconuts and washing them up to have them for breakfast for the coming days. It was still early; noon was closing yet far away.


    It was easy to detect the dissonance as all the surrounding grass had been cleared. It was vaguely visible, but in the clear patch of brown dirt, a hint of green sprouted.


    ¡°The potatoes are germinating!¡± Aloe hoped in enthusiasm as she rushed for the crops. The leaves coming out of the ground were diminutive, but they were, and that was all that mattered. ¡°I cannot believe I¡¯m excited to see plants grow.¡±


    A few weeks back, Aloe would have laughed in the face of anyone who told her that she would be cultivating plants, especially enjoying it.


    ¡°Does this mean that the Cure Grass has grown?¡± She rushed to the windowsill to check as she hadn¡¯t yet watered the plants today.


    Only three days had gone by since she planted them, but the grass grew fast by default. And those only were evolved plants ¨C which Karaim had mentioned already grew faster than normal ones ¨C but also infused ones.


    There were two jars filled with dirt on the windowsill. One had the first evolution Aloe had done with the default infusion, the other was her second evolution with ¨C hopefully ¨C the ¡®bountiful harvest¡¯ infusion type.


    Only one pot had germinated.


    ¡°Yes, yes, yes!¡± Aloe celebrated with all her might, prompting confused grunts from Fikali. She ignored those. ¡°Finally some progress!¡±


    But her pessimistic and realist banker mindset nudged her to calm down. The child-like glee died down for a more noble composure.


    ¡°Do not celebrate yet, Aloe.¡± She told herself. ¡°There may be differences in the substrate that may have induced one to grow before the other. Besides, is the germinated one even with the default infusion type?¡±


    She had left a note inside her house to distinguish which was which, as she knew she wouldn¡¯t remember. Fortunately, her progress didn¡¯t vanish and the Cure Grass that had germinated first was indeed the one with ¡®accelerated growth¡¯ typing.


    ¡°That¡¯s good.¡± Aloe sighed in relief. ¡°But the only way to know if I succeeded will only be when the other pot grows. I don¡¯t know how a ¡®bountiful harvest¡¯ works. Will the whole jar be overflowed with weeds? If the palm trees are to be trusted, that¡¯s how it should work. But it isn¡¯t like there aren¡¯t any trees without this typing on the oasis.¡±


    Even if she tried to calm herself with negativity, Aloe couldn¡¯t hold the smile on her face. The vital arts were incredibly simple, she would as far as to call them rustic, but they were indeed magical.


    And no inner child could resist the call of magic.


    Now that she was on the plants, Aloe took the opportunity to water them. There were a lot of them after all. On the first day, she planted crops; namely bananas, potatoes, beans, and pistachios. But then she added the medicinal plants: sage, chamomile, black seeds, and thyme. And then she had to water the ones in the oasis, even if most were cacti.


    After watering the medicinal plants, none had yet to germinate.


    ¡°I guess they need a few more days to sprout, those were the last ones I planted. Grass notwithstanding.¡± But it was true that she didn¡¯t expect them to take much longer. Those plants were herbs, not crops, so they should grow faster.


    Much to Fikali¡¯s possible dismay, the pistachios had yet to show signs of life.


    ¡°Hmm... I have free time now...¡± Aloe said as she rested on the shade of a palm tree after finishing with the greenhouse. ¡°It feels odd...¡±


    She had been working nonstop for many days, even on her ¡®free days¡¯. She couldn¡¯t just leave the watering or hygiene for later.


    ¡°I could try to evolve plants...¡± She mussitated. ¡°But they should be the seeds I brought myself, and I already have planted them.¡±


    Whilst she felt a bit lazy now, Aloe veritably doubted the efficacy of Evolution in such a scenario. Karaim had explicitly stated that Evolution only worked on seeds and not grown plants. Maybe those she had planted would no longer be effective and unearthing them would just undo the seeds¡¯ progress.


    And it had to be those seeds. Karaim hadn¡¯t talked about this in the cultivation technique, but rather implicitly, he said that he had tried all the seeds in his storage. And he had a lot of them.


    ¡°Besides those, I could use banana seeds or pistachios, but I run into the same problem.¡±


    Aloe absolutely wouldn¡¯t want to undo the progress of the banana seeds, those would already take a long time to grow.


    ¡°There¡¯s also potatoes and beans. Did Karaim have beans?¡± Aloe vaguely recalled the myriad of pots and jars in the closet storage. ¡°He did have some legumes, but I don¡¯t know if some were beans... I guess I could try those first, I have many potatoes and beans still in their sacks.¡±


    With a groan, Aloe jumped out of her resting position and stretched her arms.


    ¡°I doubt it will work; all evolved plants so far haven¡¯t been crops so far. But it¡¯s a rather small sampling pool to give definitive answers to... well, anything. I don¡¯t lose anything for trying, I guess. Just a potato and a single bean.¡± Aloe snickered. ¡°Bean. What a funny word.¡±

 45. Failure

    ¡°Bean test begins... now!¡± Aloe poured her vitality into the single bean on her hand.


    She kept very close to her heart the Evolution mantra. There weren¡¯t any specific words in her head, but as Karaim had said: intent was what mattered. Instead of mindless pouring like she did when she had infused all the crops and medicinal plants, her whole being revolved around the idea of evolving this single bean.


    Aloe didn¡¯t even need to check that she had failed.


    ¡°Fuck.¡± The ex-banker¡¯s apprentice swore. ¡°That was the same amount of vitality needed for the infusion. Beans aren¡¯t evolvable.¡± She chose to believe Karaim¡¯s theory that not every plant could be evolved because otherwise, she had no idea on how to do it. ¡°I would have liked for the bean to evolve on a colossal, sky-piercing plant, but alas, it seems I was daydreaming.¡±


    Whilst the failure demotivated her, she still had a lot of plants to meddle with. And besides, another reason why she chose to follow Karaim¡¯s theory was that it encouraged her. Because not every plant could evolve, that meant she wasn¡¯t failing, she just had chosen the wrong plant. The difference was just in semantics and psychological tricks, but it motivated Aloe to keep pushing forward.


    ¡°Alright, then. Potato¡¯s next.¡±


    Infusion had shown her that a single chunk of potato was enough to count as a full seed, but she didn¡¯t want to risk its evolution because of half-checked theories. Aloe grabbed a full potato from the sack, a smaller one, but a full one, nonetheless.


    ¡°Potato test begins... now!¡± She repeated the same set of actions as with the bean.


    It didn¡¯t take her long to notice that she had failed once more. The consumption of vitality was too few and similar to an infusion.


    ¡°Yeah, that checks out the chunk-seed theory. That or...¡± A new idea bud in her mind. ¡°Or I don¡¯t know anything about Evolution costs?¡± She realized. ¡°Nothing tells me that evolving a plant must be more expensive than infusing it. That¡¯s one of the few possibilities that Karaim managed to evolve the ter¡¯nar and veritas after all...¡±


    Aloe left the infused potato on the desk and grabbed two Aloe Veritas leaves. If the Evolution costs could be lower than the Infusion costs, why not identical?


    The parchments quickly got flooded by ink revealing the information on the bean and potato.


    Species: Solanum Tuberosum


    Sobriquet: Potato


    Description: Member of the Solanaceae family, a species known for its perenniality, growth in harsh environments, and nutritional value.


    And:


    Species: Phaseolus Vulgaris


    Sobriquet: Bean


    Description: Member of the Fabaceae family, a species known for its easy growth, bountiful harvests, and tolerance to droughts.


    Aloe was disappointed, but not surprised to discover to the plants in front of her were infused ones and not evolved ones. Yet curiously enough her first thought wasn¡¯t on the format of the Aloe Veritas¡¯ description, but a random one.


    ¡°Wait. Are beans drought-resistant? I always thought needed a lot of water!¡± World-shattering revelations aside, the description¡¯s format didn¡¯t evade Aloe¡¯s eyes. ¡°Hmm... it¡¯s like a mixture of both. It has a species name and sobriquet, but no alignment. Also, what are these species names? Solanum Tuberosum? Phaseolus Vulgaris? Are these some kind of hexes? These don¡¯t sound like names at all!¡±


    The names of evolved plants were simpler and the soubriquets even more so. But with normal plants, the species names were archaic incantations and the sobriquets were the actual names, confusing the life out of Aloe.


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    She sighed. ¡°Ignoring the plants'' antics, it¡¯s a shame they didn¡¯t evolve. What would an evolved potato even look like? The aloe vera changed a bit after evolving, but not much. And the grass is indistinguishable. The only weird plant is the ter¡¯nar, and the Aloe Veritas doesn¡¯t even consider it an evolved plant...¡±


    Even though she already knew that the two vegetables weren¡¯t evolved plants, Aloe checked the vitality inside of them, nonetheless. And, unsurprisingly, they felt like the other infused beans and potatoes on the oasis. There was merit to checking though.


    ¡°Well, at least I can confirm the chunk theory with absolute confidence. A full potato or just a chunk of it takes the same amount of vitality for infusion.¡±


    As she eyed the infused potato, Aloe¡¯s gaze fell upon the cultivation technique as she recalled something. Opening the thin book confirmed her doubts.


    ¡°Yes, here it is...¡± Aloe mumbled. ¡°Karaim infused plants and gave them a ¡®better taste¡¯ typing. Hmm...¡± Her eyes greedily looked at the potato. ¡°That¡¯s indeed a faster way to check if my infusion with different types worked. But now I¡¯m more concerned with something else... Do infused potatoes taste differently?¡±


    As it was nearing lunchtime, Aloe decided to stop for a rest. Not only she could test her new theory, but also regenerate her lost vitality before trying to evolve the medicinal plants. She hadn¡¯t lost much with the infusions, certainly less than a quarter of her full vitality, but better to take head on such matters with a full deposit.


    ¡°Hmm... how do I cook the potato?¡± Aloe considered it rather dumb to cook the bean as with a single one she wouldn¡¯t notice much difference. A whole potato, on the other hand, was of a different magnitude. ¡°Steam it maybe? Perhaps mash it?¡±


    She wouldn¡¯t like to cut the potato. Cure Grass hadn¡¯t shown signs of vitality loss after she had ground it down, but logic told her that the more she brutalized the ingredients, the more vitality would be lost in the process. Like the jam that stayed in the knife after spreading it on the bread.


    ¡°Oh, jam~ I want some jam~ A jar for my greenhouse!¡± Theatrics aside, it was true that Aloe had spent a while without jam, and she had grown a bit nostalgic for the taste. Even if in reality she hadn¡¯t even had jam a week before going to the greenhouse. She wasn¡¯t an avid jam consumer, just a melodramatic teenage girl.


    Aloe opted for mashed potatoes and beans as her lunch, dinner, and probably tomorrow¡¯s lunch too. That was how cooking for one just worked. You went one cooking session at a time, leaving most for later.


    ¡°Is this how independence feels like?¡± Aloe joked as she readied the kitchenette. Truth be told, she had been independent since she was young.


    She hadn¡¯t depended on her parents for years now. She was the one who cleaned the house, did the dishes, washed clothes, and cooked. And that was without taking into account her apprenticeship that she had been doing for a couple of years now.


    Her life and schedule hadn¡¯t really changed after going to the greenhouse. Sure, now she also had to water the plants and take care of Fikali, but she had less workload than before. Her apprenticeship was a mostly unpaid job and she now only had to take care of one person. Herself.


    ¡°Huh, how will Mom fare alone?¡± Aloe pondered as she stirred the contents in the cauldron. ¡°I think she has some servants in the court, but no one to help her at home. Is she going to contract someone to keep the house?¡± She sighed. ¡°I actually hope she does, she has too much weight on her shoulders to be doing dishes and such now.¡±


    Before long, Aloe finished cooking and pour herself a hearty portion. If she kept eating this much, she would probably run out of provisions before the month ended, but she wasn¡¯t to eat this much always. And if she did, there were a lot of dates and coconuts out there.


    ¡°I don¡¯t taste rainbows on my mashed potatoes. Either I suck at cooking or putting dubious substances on potatoes doesn¡¯t really change their taste.¡±


    Aloe slouched her shoulders.


    ¡°Disappointing, but not unexpected.¡± She had another spoonful. ¡°I guess I¡¯ll have to modify the infusion of the plants first to make them taste better. Oh... will this work with meat too? Karaim said I could infuse myself, so maybe I could make better meat. Or... infuse myself? Sounds kinda scary, I¡¯ll leave it for later. Indefinitely.¡±


    Overall, a decent meal. Not awful like her totally-not-stew she did first, on the potato soup as second, but far from a feast.


    ¡°Ugh, now I¡¯ll need to unearth one of every medicinal plant.¡± Aloe groaned after noticing that little fact as she was putting her dishes on the kitchenette countertop.


    She took the single infused bean from the desk to plant it with the others before making a mess on the farmlands. This one would take a while more to grow, but making the infused bean a plant was better than sending it to her tummy.


    ¡°The banana peels are still somewhere, so I guess I could search them and retrieve the seeds to try,¡± Aloe said as she whipped the sweat off her forehead after planting the single bean. ¡°Only a psychopath eats the black tip of the banana.¡±


    Her first attempt may have ended in failure, but Aloe believed ¨C or at least highly hoped so ¨C that the medicinal plants would bring some results. Infusion had been rather disappointing, immeasurably useful but not bewildering. Evolution was undoubtedly magical, a feast for the eyes and mind, and Aloe wanted to evolve a plant all of her own.


    With her own magic.

 46. Medicinal

    Even though Aloe had watered the plants just a few hours ago, the soil was already dry. Such was the relentless sun of the desert. The plants didn¡¯t seem affected by it, though. They had their water before it evaporated.


    ¡°Which is which?¡± Aloe stood before the farmland where she had planted all the medicinal herb seeds. ¡°I don¡¯t remember.¡±


    She had planted the four types of plants in four different rows, but as expected, she couldn¡¯t recall which was which. And unlike with the grass pots, this time she didn¡¯t make a note about it.


    ¡°Oh, well. I can just remove a seed from each row.¡± Aloe put on her gloves and excavated the dirt until she had four distinctive seeds in her hand. ¡°This is going to take a lot of time to evolve. That¡¯s a lot of vitality needed.¡±


    Her Cure Grass pills still weighed in her satchel, but she was repulsed by the idea of consuming more. In the following days since she took them, Aloe hadn¡¯t had any problems in the latrine, her stomach didn¡¯t seem particularly upset or her evacuations problematic. The possibility of Cure Grass being suitable for human consumption was out there, but she wouldn¡¯t like to bet on it.


    Pill consumption was best left at a minimum. And it wasn¡¯t like she was in any haste. She still had three weeks before her until the month was over, so it made no sense intaking needless amounts of grass when she could just wait for her vitality to regenerate normally.


    Aloe sat down on the desk with the four seeds in front of her.


    ¡°Alright time to begin testing of...¡± Her words died out. ¡°Yeah, I don¡¯t know which is this one.¡± She said grabbing a small, light-brown seed. ¡°Meh, if it evolves the Aloe Veritas will tell me the original plant. Evolution test of unidentified medicinal herb begins... now!¡±


    Aloe stopped breathing, reading herself for the drop in her vitality, but as she tried to push her vital energy into the seed she was stopped. The seed, like a cork in a bottle, didn¡¯t budge. It didn¡¯t accept any vitality inside it.


    ¡°Fu-uh-uck!¡± Aloe cursed, almost throwing the seed to the ground. Dreading her realization, she checked the other seeds¡¯ vitality. ¡°All of these are infused! I can¡¯t evolve them!¡± She groaned.


    If she knew how Karaim managed to remove the vitality of plants ¨C a thing she didn¡¯t know for sure he had ever done, just supposed to be likely ¨C then she would be able to evolve infused plants. But as Evolution required to pour her vitality into plants, she couldn¡¯t do so with infused plants as they had their top vitality limit reached.


    ¡°What in the heavens can I do now then? I have infused all the seeds!¡± She didn¡¯t know plants had an upper limit of vitality or that they even collided with Infusion. ¡°There must be some somewhere. I can¡¯t have used them all.¡±


    Aloe shakily stood up and searched for the jars where she had originally stored Umar¡¯s seeds. Whilst she had cleared a sizeable patch of grass to make place for all of the herbalist¡¯s gifts, there were a handful of seeds in each jar. Considering she had to space the seeds to give them space to grow and then divide the land for the four types, there should still be there some in the jars, even if she didn¡¯t remember that.


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me I have thrown them out!¡± Upon a second thought, which Aloe¡¯s distraught mind didn¡¯t lend, it was obvious that she couldn¡¯t have done so.


    Where would she have thrown them to, after all?


    Any waste that she had produced over the last week was still in the oasis, just somewhere she didn¡¯t remember. After searching for the jars all over the desk, the kitchenette, and her still not stored luggage, Aloe found them on the shelves of the closet storage.


    ¡°Oh, thank the sun, there are still some.¡± The number of seeds left in the jars was laughable, but she only needed a single one to make her tests, so overall, it was infinitely more than she needed.


    Umar had wisely divided the four seeds into two pods. Black seeds which were ¨C obviously ¨C black were put together with brown seeds, which Aloe couldn¡¯t bring herself to remember. The other pot had small traces of light-brown and dark-brown seeds, and once again, she didn¡¯t know which were those. Black seeds were the only ones she was able to recognize, but the simple color classification allowed her to grab all four types easily.


    Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    Aloe picked one at random, it was brown, but after separating it from the other ones it became impossible to discern which type of brown it was. If light, mid, or dark. The difference was very subtle.


    ¡°Random seed evolution test begins... now!¡±


    The seed greedily sucked Aloe¡¯s vitality, much to her content. But her elation was quickly subdued as the amount of vitality absorbed was negligible. But she didn¡¯t lend herself to defeat. It was likely that she had just infused it, but she had yet to decipher the pattern for Evolution consumption cost. If there even was one.


    So, she used an Aloe Veritas leaf, bringing her starting stock to worrying levels. She wouldn¡¯t have enough for the other seeds unless she cut more leaves. It kind of pained her to have already consumed Karaim¡¯s stash so fast.


    The ink spots of the parchment shifted as soon as a single drop of sap caressed the seed. And it read:


    Species: Matricaria Chamomilla


    Sobriquet: Chamomile


    Description: Member of the Asteraceae family, a species known for its many helpful properties such as anti-inflammation and digestive aid.


    ¡°Oh, so that was the chamomile,¡± Aloe said after reading the leaf. ¡°And the description is a bit dry, not gonna lie. Chamomile has like tens more properties. Though I doubt that was able to fit on the leaf... Wait, does leaf size affect the description? Mental note, check that... sometime later.¡±


    She repeated the same steps for the other two brown seeds, thyme and sage respectively. None of them proved any success. Their Aloe Veritas descriptions also proved rather useless, possessing insignificant information besides the arcane curses that it gave for species names.


    Before taking in her inevitable demise, Aloe waited to pour her vitality into the black seed. Each failed attempt hadn¡¯t been that expensive, but now that her vitality had somewhat diminished, she wanted a break. Cure Grass had needed a lot of vitality to evolve, and the words of Karaim¡¯s near-death still beckoned on her mind. Better be safe than sorry.


    Afternoon was dawning on her, but because she already had done her daily tasks, she did a quick stop at the latrine and subsequently took a bath in the oasis. Today¡¯s morning outing with Fikali had incrusted her skin with sand and sweat, but her mind had been so occupied that she hadn¡¯t dwelled on her feeling of discomfort until now.


    ¡°Ah~¡± She let out a non-gormandizing groan of pleasure. ¡°This is life.¡±


    Aloe leisurely floated on the oasis. At first, she had been somewhat intimidated by the body of water, but after a few days, and extensively checking its safety, she finally allowed herself to be at peace in the cold waters.


    ¡°Hro?¡±  A wild Fikali cut through the silence of Aloe¡¯s mind.


    The dweller stayed on the coast as she observed Aloe in confusion. Her face seemed to genuinely be astonished at the fact that someone or something would wet their body. As a lover of the sands and the ground, Fikali was rather repelled by water. Her expression though, was an exaggeration. She had seen Aloe bath multiple times; she was just expressing her distaste.


    ¡°Fikali come on in, the water¡¯s fine!¡± Aloe joked, fully aware of the dweller¡¯s hate, and splashed around. Thankfully for her, Aloe was too far for the water to reach her.


    The monster just ignored her and drank from the oasis. She may have a phobia of water, but Fikali was still a living being.


    Just like a cat. Aloe snickered.


    As the sun began to mercilessly rape her skin, Aloe made her way out of the water. Her body still felt the aches of the meditation she had endured to sense vitality, even if the wounds had long healed.


    ¡°I wish I had a hammock.¡± Aloe groggily commented as she stretched her body. ¡°Therefore, I could sleep, stay naked, and dry at the same time. Nothing but upsides!¡±


    Then her visage reddened after she noticed the indecent words that came out of her mouth. She quickly donned her open shirt and tight pants even if she was still wet. This place is having a bad influence on me. She thought as she made her way inside her house, her blush intensifying.


    To dispel her dirty mind, Aloe focused her effort on the last remaining medicinal herb seed as her vitality had mostly recovered to full.


    ¡°Black seed evolution test begins... now!¡±


    Vitality flowed from her hands into the black spot. She quickly filled the seed to infusion levels of vitality and expected the pouring to end.


    But it didn¡¯t.


    More and more vitality flowed into the seed. Aloe would have been ecstatic if it weren¡¯t because it was draining colossal amounts of vitality out of her body.


    First the dizziness, her mind tumbling around.


    Second the weakness, the strength leaving her body.


    Third... the pain.


    This. Is. Too. Much! Aloe couldn¡¯t even bring herself to speak as the pain assaulted her, unable to fight it as the seed continued to drink and drink. And then... a sudden stop.


    A cough accompanied her surprise, but the second she relaxed, her back lost all her strength and her face crashed against the desktop with a loud thud.


    ¡°No... vitality...¡± Aloe¡¯s sight faded to black.

 47. Flourishing

    ¡°Ugh...¡± A groan left Aloe¡¯s mouth as she woke up. She guided her hand to her head, her thoughts ridden with confusion. ¡°W-what happen-¡°


    Her words were cut off as her stomach and throat decided to protest at the same time as they engaged in a culinary discussion. Or in less eloquent terms, Aloe puked all over the desk.


    ¡°Ughhhhh...¡± She lingered with her eyes looking to the ceiling, her back resting on the chair in exhaustion. ¡°That didn¡¯t taste like beans and potatoes at all, augh...¡±


    The awful taste lingering in her mouth was only making her feel even worse.


    ¡°I have puked twice in two weeks... that must be a record or something... I... I fucking can¡¯t...¡±


    Aloe stayed still, her gaze dead as a fish, for a few minutes. It wasn¡¯t until the stench of the drying vomit woke her up from her stupor. Groggily, she stood up and drank a glass of water. A sensible person would have rinsed her mouth before downing a full glass after puking, but Aloe was not sensible nor in the state to dally around with bullshit.


    Using one of Karaim¡¯s old clothes as a rug to clean the desk¡¯s mess. As much as Aloe currently wished for the sweet release of death, she was immensely thankful that nothing had been ruined by her vomit. Well, everything except one item.


    ¡°Eww...¡± Aloe added with a coarse and dry groan as she took the seed out of the pool of vomit.


    She didn¡¯t even care if the evolution had succeeded or not, she just wanted to sleep again. Looking through the window, it looked like...


    ¡°Fuck is it morning already? Aaaaaaaaaaaaaah...¡± Aloe groaned as her lungs were relieved of all their air. ¡°Fuck all of this.¡± Aloe walked out of the house and jumped into the oasis.


    She couldn¡¯t recall what bizarre decision-making prompted her to do so, perhaps because she felt incredibly dirty ¨C splatters of vomit still lingered on her cheeks ¨C but what mattered is that the cold water refreshed her mind.


    ¡°FUCK THAT¡¯S COLD!¡± A bit more than refreshing.


    Aloe rushed out of the oasis with her sanity regained and hastily removed her shirt, the last thing she wanted was to die of hypothermia. With her sight now clear, she was able to discern the time by looking at the heavens. The sky was mostly dark, with a hint of blue, and the sun made an orange appearance on the horizon. Sunrise was nearby.


    That also meant that old the coldness of the night remained in the oasis, a fact her body had painfully experienced. Aloe hugged her torso as a cold breeze caressed her. She rushed inside her home, her pants dripping wet all the way into the house.


    ¡°Hashish!¡± Aloe violently sneezed as she dried herself with a towel and then covered in her bedsheets. ¡°If get a cold... I swear I¡¯m going to kill someone.¡±


    Choosing to not suffer in the cold, Aloe lit the hearth. The small, contained flame didn¡¯t provide much heat, but it was more than enough. The coziness compensated for it.


    ¡°Oh yeah, I should wash the bedsheets. They must have been... months without getting washed. Ugh, that sounds even more disgusting than the vomit.¡±


    One wouldn¡¯t think of eating sweet things just after puking, but that didn¡¯t stop Aloe from having dates and coconut water. Her main excuse was that she needed to replenish all the lost food, even if such food was likelier to make her feel worse than better.


    Her empty belly was able to hoard surprising amounts of dates, so much so that after Aloe emptied the bowl, she had to go outside for more. At that point, the sun already had come out and Fikali wandered around.


    ¡°Oh shit.¡± Aloe was left agape as she noticed the dweller. ¡°I did not tie her up!¡±


    ¡°Hro?¡± Fikali raised her face from the grass after the human¡¯s cry.


    The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    ¡°Oh, great heavens! That could have gone really bad.¡± Aloe stuffed a date in her mouth to ease the stress. ¡°I mean it isn¡¯t like I could have avoided it. I cannot control when to not pass out.¡±


    As Aloe didn¡¯t elaborate further, Fikali went back to her breakfast.


    Aloe sighed. ¡°I guess I should leash her before experimenting. I wouldn¡¯t like to have a surprise next time I woke up in vomit...¡±


    There was something in her wording that worried Aloe, but she couldn''t exactly point out why. She stopped lingering in thoughts half-naked in the oasis and rinsed the dates. The morning sun wasn¡¯t exactly sundering, but it was better to not tempt the celestial body.


    ¡°You know, the hunger theory has some merit,¡± Aloe told to no one as she had more dates on the desk. ¡°Every time I have depleted my vitality I have suffered from unnatural hunger. Karaim didn¡¯t linger much on it, but this amount of hunger isn¡¯t normal. I don¡¯t even know how my body is able to fit this many dates. But I guess it makes sense. Vitality is some kind of esoteric inner energy, and that energy has to come from somewhere. Meaning that the more I use, the more energy I need to recover.¡±


    Aloe lingered on the date on her fingers and then reached for her satchels and took out a Cure Grass pill.


    ¡°But that means if I consume outright vitality I shouldn¡¯t suffer from hunger. Or at least vitality-spawned hunger.¡± She rolled the spheroid pill around the desk distractedly. ¡°Why must be the vital arts this gross? I don¡¯t want to eat grass just to check some theories!¡±


    After more than half a day of sleep and a legion of dates, her vitality was already topped so it made no sense to have the pill in sight. Aloe stashed it away.


    ¡°There¡¯s some merit though.¡± She realized. ¡°If I experiment with an empty stomach and instantly consume a pill that means I won¡¯t pass out from lack of vitality. If I¡¯m fast enough, that is.¡±


    Before facing the reason for her unconsciousness, Aloe made a trip to the greenhouse and grabbed some fresh ter¡¯nar leaves. After constant watering, the white and coiled trunk tree no longer looked sickly. Its leaves possessed a brighter and darker blue hue.


    Whilst Aloe was opposed to eating grass, she wasn¡¯t to taking drugs. She hadn¡¯t personally taken drugs, besides once or twice when the physician prescribed opium to her parents when she fell ill.


    The opium had certainly worked as she felt great after taking it, though she wasn¡¯t in a condition to verify if it was because it had cured her or for other reasons. Anyways, she wasn¡¯t an assassin. The ter¡¯nar leaves may possess slight psychedelic and addictive properties, but they were far from a hard drug.


    Aloe was careful to grab few leaves, lest she actually wanted to grow an addiction. She mostly wanted to have the ter¡¯nar because it was the only tea she had at hand, and not because she wanted to go on a field trip.


    Her head was still a bit light, so the trip wasn¡¯t exactly undesirable in her current state.


    She thanked her cold dip in the oasis as the hearth was already heated and there had been water from yesterday still inside, meaning she didn¡¯t even need to wait for the tea.


    ¡°Alright~¡± Aloe moaned after taking a sip. ¡°Time to appraise this seed.¡± And then she deadpanned. ¡°Aloe, you absolute moron. There are no more veritas leaves!¡±


    With a groan, Aloe made her way to the greenhouse. She could have brought the seed there, but now that she was there, she decided to trim the Aloe Veritas for restocking.


    ¡°Wait. How do I do this?¡± Aloe faced a conundrum, stopping dead in her tracks bare millimeters before pruning the first leaf. ¡°If I put all the leaves directly on a jar, the ink is going to mix and they are going to identify each other, aren¡¯t they?¡±


    Karaim hadn¡¯t explained any storage method for Aloe Veritas on the cultivation technique besides mentioning that on their extraction she should use gloves and scissors.


    ¡°Hmm... I mean it coagulates fast, so I just need them to dry without touching other living beings.¡±


    Aloe carefully cut the Aloe Veritas leaves, not allowing a single drop to touch her or other plants. It was a nerve-racking endeavor as she was in the middle of a greenhouse and the main plant continued bleeding beside the cut leaf. The fact that she was high also didn¡¯t help. Deciding that taking the leaves to the desert to dry them was too much of a risk (and a chore), Aloe left them on the greenhouse cobblestone path. The path was highly packed, so there weren¡¯t any weeds growing between the pebbles.


    ¡°Good enough.¡± Aloe sighed in relief after laying all the leaves in a row. By the time she finished, the first one was already starting to coagulate.


    The main plant had been left a shadow of its former self as Aloe had cut every single leaf, which honestly, weren¡¯t many to begin with. Aloe took the first she had cut back with her to the house. She sat down in front of the desk and took another sip of her ter¡¯nar tea.


    ¡°Please let it be an Evolution and not some weird Infusion, or worse, a failure.¡± Aloe prayed to the heavens before letting the black seed pouring with vitality touch the Aloe Veritas ink.


    The meaningless ink spots on the leaf¡¯s parchment shifted to coherent writing.


    Species: Flourishing Spring


    Sobriquet: Eversource


    Description: An evolved member of the Nigella Sativa species, a species known for its ability to survive with mana alone and sprout streams of water.


    Alignment: Life, Arcane


    There were many questions in Aloe¡¯s mind. Why Arcane alignment? Why the description was uncannily similar to that of the Aloe Veritas? Or what was mana and why it kept appearing?


    But her first reaction was:


    ¡°Wa-ah-tah?¡± Her confusion and groggy state manifested in an offensive farmer¡¯s accent.

 48. Sprout

    Description: An evolved member of the Nigella Sativa species, a species known for its ability to survive with mana alone and sprout streams of water.


    Many questions bloomed in Aloe¡¯s mind, namely ¡°Wait, how do the streams of water work? Are they pressurized or more river-like streams?¡± or ¡°Does the water come from this ¡®mana¡¯?¡± Unfortunately, she had no way of checking such questions. She had to wait for the Flourishing Spring to grow for her to find any closure.


    As she had decided beforehand, Aloe planted the evolved plant inside of the greenhouse. There were three parterres free, so the single plant had a lot of space to grow. Because she didn¡¯t know if the Flourishing Spring was a tree or not ¨C the Aloe Veritas description didn¡¯t specify it ¨C Aloe played it safe and planted it in the middle of the parterre, so it had enough space to grow.


    She waited impatiently for the evolved plant to grow, but not before infusing it. Unlike when she evolved the black seed, Aloe was very conscious of the danger. She kneeled on the dirt, one hand on the patch where she had planted the seed and another holding a Cure Grass pill.


    If it took more than enough vitality than she could handle, she would instantly down the pill. She had also not eaten anything for a few hours, so her stomach was entirely empty and free to digest the grass as soon as it came in contact with her stomach.


    Aloe inhaled and exhaled heavily, she made herself aware wordlessly in harmony with the pregnant aura drowning the greenhouse. Evolved plants took double the vitality to infuse. If the Flourishing Spring was a tree, she would face a severe drain in her vitality. Lethally so.


    Gripping hard on the Cure Grass pill, at the point that the aloe covering was beginning to crack, Aloe infused the Flourishing Spring.


    Like the wild streams of a river, the vitality flowed potently out of her body. The small seed was able to take amounts of vitality big enough to infuse a patch of crops. But it was doable. Her fingers weren¡¯t locked in the seed like when she had evolved it. It was manageable. Whilst strong, the drainage didn¡¯t put a strain on her body. Evolving the Flourishing Spring had been painful, the original black seed had drunk copious amounts of vitality at a rate that it impeded Aloe to cancel it.


    The infusion, on the other hand, was something she could work around. It took more than any other plants she had infused before, even more than the banana seeds. But it was still far less than her entire deposit.


    After a complete minute of silence, Aloe managed to infuse the Flourishing Spring with the default accelerated growth typing. The vitality¡¯s total consumption?


    Half of her deposit.


    With some quick and coarse mathematics, she discarded the possibility of the Flourishing Spring being a tree. A single banana seed had consumed a third of her entire deposit, and taking into account that evolved plants needed twice as much vitality as they should, the base value of the Flourishing Spring was at a fourth of her entire deposit. Or zero point seventy-five times the cost of infusing a banana seed. It wouldn¡¯t be a tree, but if her calculations were to be trusted, it wasn¡¯t going to be a small plant.


    After having used more than enough vitality for a week, Aloe took the next days slowly. All the plants were infused, so even if Karaim highly recommended Aloe to keep using her vitality, there was nothing else left to be infused.


    Except herself.


    The concept was terrifying. Changing one¡¯s body.


    If infusion with plants almost led to mortal consequences, how bad could infusion on the same body where the vitality came from be?


    Aloe didn¡¯t know the answers, but her prediction was: a lot.


    This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    ¡°How do I even do this?¡± Aloe waited, lying in bed. ¡°Where do I begin?¡±


    She had just woken up and it had only been two days since she infused the Flourishing Spring. The idea to infuse, boost her own body was intoxicating but mostly terrifying. What if something went wrong?


    ¡°Karaim didn¡¯t linger much on it, but he almost made it sound inconsequential, so it can¡¯t be that difficult...¡± Aloe extended her arm to reach the nightstand, where it rested the cultivation technique.


    The idea to infuse herself wasn¡¯t something she had just decided to do after waking up, but she had been already entertaining the concept since yesterday night. The lack of elaboration on the subject and Karaim¡¯s carefree attitude on it made Aloe think that it wasn¡¯t an endeavor as difficult or dangerous as she made it sound.


    ¡°Oh, and before I forget. Yes, you can infuse yourself. But the sheer amount of vitality needed makes it worthless.¡± Aloe read aloud. ¡°He¡¯s so nonchalant about it. It can¡¯t be dangerous if it¡¯s as useless as he says...¡±


    She didn¡¯t believe her own words.


    ¡°Anyways, how do I infuse myself and what are the infusion types? With plants, it was somewhat straightforward, so maybe it¡¯s the same with people? Can I just infuse myself to be taller? But even if I can select the types I want, what¡¯s the default one? With plants it was accelerated growth, is it the same with people? If that¡¯s the case, what does accelerated growth in humans entail? Faster development? Then it¡¯s useless to me, I¡¯m almost an adult. And if that were the case, how it would affect the development of a child? Would it learn faster?¡± Or...¡± Aloe groaned. ¡°It¡¯s too early for this, I need a cup of tea.¡±


    As she waited for the water to boil, Aloe had some dates and watered the plants. In these few days, all the seeds Aloe had planted had germinated. Even the bananas. Most were tiny sprouts, far away from their grown size, only a prick that had dug the earth to see the heavens.


    To Aloe¡¯s surprise, even the Flourishing Spring had germinated.


    ¡°Well, not much of a surprise there. It¡¯s infused and it¡¯s an evolved plant. Did Karaim mention how much was the growth factor compared to normal plants? Was it also double? That means that an evolved plant with accelerated growth infusion should grow four times as fast as its normal counterpart. Woah, that¡¯s fast. Some plants take a full year to grow, with this, they will only take a season! What a shame pistachios or potatoes didn¡¯t have an evolution. Otherwise, I could have a harvest of potatoes every other week!¡±


    Coming back to the house, Aloe found herself with yet another surprise as she checked on the windowsill. Two jars lay there.


    On one pot, a single grown Cure Grass blade. In a few days, it had grown to its full size, more than twice the length of Aloe¡¯s middle finger.


    On the other pot, a wild growth of short weeds, barely the length of Aloe¡¯s rather uncared-for fingernails.


    ¡°Oh, wow.¡± Aloe blinked multiple times as she assimilated the image before her. ¡°Well, the ¡®bountiful harvest¡¯ typing has worked. Definitely. What a shame I don¡¯t have any kind of feedback when I infuse plants. That way I wouldn¡¯t need to wait until it grows to check if it worked. Why do I feel empty upon seeing this though?¡±


    Before her, Aloe had a pure display of magic. She had manipulated the structure of a plant and made it grow in the way she wanted, but the sheer rusticity of the accomplishment rendered all its glamour null.


    ¡°Bah,¡± Aloe groaned and deflated, ¡°however amazing this is, I won¡¯t be able to infuse plants with different types until they finally grow. I guess I could check today on an already-grown potato the ¡®better taste¡¯ typing. Also, mental note, I should standardize the names or something. Or should I? I¡¯m the only one using them after all...¡±


    The whistling of the kettle reached her ears, so she stopped pondering in the middle of the sun, rushed back home, and poured herself a ter¡¯nar tea.


    ¡°Ah, yes. This hits the spot.¡± Aloe relaxed on her chair after taking a sip. ¡°Definitely addictive. I should stop, but it doesn''t seem to have any bad properties. Just mild lightheadedness. Or that¡¯s just me being me. Bah!¡±


    As she had her tea, Aloe infused the biggest potato she had on the sack with the ¡®better taste¡¯ typing. Or so she hoped. The lack of feedback was horrendous, but at least she had gotten proficient enough dealing with vitality that she almost didn¡¯t notice the drain. Potatoes already had a low infusion cost but compared to the monstrosities she had tolerated to evolve and infuse the Flourishing Spring, it was but a tickle.


    ¡°Practice makes the master, or so they say.¡± She said between sips, satisfied with her progress in such a short span of time.


    Her mind jumped from subject to subject thanks to the clearly-addictive, possibly-psychedelic properties of the ter¡¯nar tree. Her wandering thoughts only lowered her self-consciousness and self-preservation instinct.


    Exactly what she needed to apply dubious magic to her body.


    Once she downed the first cup and refilled the second one, Aloe braced herself.


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe I¡¯m saying this, but let¡¯s modify my body.¡± She added with a lethargic sigh, hiding her fear, but above else, her expectation.

 49. Toughness

    Aloe started by meditating. Though this time she didn¡¯t get undressed. Introspection was a useful tool when dealing with vitality as it allowed her to detect it more clearly. Isolating her senses, especially sight, made it easier for her to follow the ebb and flow of her body.


    ¡°Hmm?¡± She groaned curiously as she took a closer look at the internal movement of the vitality.


    It wasn¡¯t static. It was in constant movement, just like blood. Is vitality blood? That was her first thought, but she quickly discarded it. Vitality, whilst tangible energy, had a metaphysical component. It wasn¡¯t matter. Or if it was, Aloe couldn¡¯t identify it as solid, liquid, or gas.


    Giving a numerical value to vitality was complicated, if not outright impossible. So far, Aloe had worked with portions of her total deposit, but that method of calculation quickly showed its flaws.


    It has grown. There¡¯s more vitality than the first time I sensed my vitality. Aloe pondered; her thoughts came slowly to her as she had to be extremely concentrated to keep her current state. It isn¡¯t much, but there¡¯s more than before, that¡¯s without a doubt. Maybe a potato infusion more. Not much, but countable. That gave her an idea on how to elaborate a unit value for vitality as the plants stayed constant, whilst her deposit was dynamic, but she left it for later.


    Now it was infusing time.


    ¡°You can infuse yourself.¡± Aloe recalled the line of Karaim¡¯s writing. She had virtually to no information, just speculation based on how he had written the text. She could only hope it was enough.


    Let¡¯s assume that default infusion, whether on people or plants, is accelerated growth. That¡¯s useless to me, so I need to pour intent into my infusion to give myself something useful. But what? I only know the plant infusion typings Karaim has discovered, so if I want to infuse myself, I need to make my own... I need something visible, maybe even countable. Could I... make myself taller?


    The sheer idea of growing even a few centimeters sent a pulse of energy down her spine. It wasn¡¯t a shiver, but excitement. As she readied herself for the infusion, a grim thought infiltrated her mind. Wouldn¡¯t that be painful? She realized. To grow my bones would need to stretch and... Nope. Nope. Nope. I don¡¯t want to think about it.


    Aloe visibly recoiled at the thought, her body tearing as she grew beyond her control, making her lose her concentration and exit her meditative state.


    ¡°Okay...¡± She added with a sigh. ¡°So much for auto control and concentration.¡± The grotesque images still lingered through her mind, sending shivers down her spine. ¡°What can infuse myself with then? Something that doesn¡¯t twist my body in unpredictable consequences preferably. Ugh, I can¡¯t come up with anything. No thoughts, head empty.¡±


    Aloe scratched her brow in a mixture of disappointment and tedium. As no ideas came to her mind, she forced them inside by drinking from the ter¡¯nar tea. The overthinking induced by its magical properties was incredibly useful in situations like this one.


    ¡°Hmm...¡± The steamy tea filled Aloe¡¯s nostrils, ideas flourishing in her brain. ¡°I still don¡¯t know much about infusion, but instead of changing the body, how about boosting it? Augmenting physical properties?¡±


    It sounded rather dumb, especially because she hadn¡¯t even tried so with plants. She wasn¡¯t sure if ¡®better taste¡¯ could be classified as such.


    ¡°I guess I can try now. There were more grass seeds somewhere if I remember correctly.¡±


    Aloe stood up and grabbed a handful of seeds from the jar. Grass seeds were small and required a very low amount of vitality to infuse.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if this is even gonna work, but it¡¯s stupid to not try it first.¡± Aloe infused a seed with the default intent for testing purposes and then infused another one with ¡®toughness¡¯.


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    Infusion had become somewhat trivial, not by a lot, but the low quantities of vitality needed to work with grass seeds made it easy to correct any mistakes.


    ¡°Alright, ¡®toughness¡¯ test begins?¡± And then Aloe stabbed the shit out of the seeds with a knife.


    Stabbing may not be the right word, but there was an intrinsic violence in Aloe¡¯s cut that certainly gave it that edge of correctness. Grass seeds had a very small surface area, making it difficult to land a cut, but when she managed to do so, the seeds easily bisected.


    ¡°No difference between default infused and normal seed. Makes sense. Okay, but what about the ¡®toughness¡¯ infused seed?¡±


    Aloe let aside her madwoman slashes and did an empirical cut. Whatever that could possibly mean. Her pulse and angle were more... normal as she cut the seed. The infused seed split in half easily.


    ¡°Hmm... Hmm...¡± Aloe mused as she heaved the weight of the knife in her hand. ¡°It felt more difficult? I can¡¯t really tell. Maybe there was more resistance? I need a bigger sampling size.¡±


    And with a bigger sampling size, she didn¡¯t mean more tests, but bigger test subjects. She grabbed two potatoes from their sack, even if she made a mess out of them, they would end up in the cauldron either way.


    Potatoes were considerably more expensive than grass, but even then, the cost was marginal. At her current level, Aloe could infuse a dozen potatoes before running out of vitality.


    ¡°Make it harder, make it harder.¡± Aloe reinforced her mind with a mantra as she infused the potato.


    Even if she had technically succeeded on her first time with the grass seed, she wasn¡¯t sure it hadn¡¯t worked. The difference in effort needed to crack the seed was negligible...


    ¡°Negligible?¡± A thought bloomed in her mind. ¡°Wait... grass needs a negligible amount of vitality to be infused, does that affect the final hardness factor?¡±


    There was only one way to know, and that was by infusing the potato in her hands. She was patient, not wanting to fail even if doing so wouldn¡¯t put her behind. What mattered in such scenarios was morale, not resources. Which were virtually endless.


    ¡°Done.¡± She sighed. ¡°First the normal potato.¡±


    Aloe aligned the edge of the knife with the center of the potato and pressed down. There was obviously resistance, but as soon as she pushed the knife into the potato, the vegetable was sliced into two pieces.


    ¡°And now the real test.¡± She didn¡¯t know why, but her hands were trembling. Aloe pressed down the knife. And pressed. And pressed. ¡°Fuck! It works!¡± Aloe cried as she tried cutting the potato with her whole body weight. ¡°Too well in fact! Aaaaah!¡±


    After a few more seconds of wrangling the potato ceded. Or more accurately, explode from all the force applied to it.


    ¡°I... I didn¡¯t expect to work this well...¡± Aloe said between pants. ¡°I guess I should test now with my own body.¡±


    But how? She left unsaid.


    When she was infusing other plants, she was somewhat sensing their vitality, not as an active effort, but as an unconscious one. She didn¡¯t have an accurate look at the plant''s vitality, she could only know that they had something.


    But to even sense her own vitality, she had to position herself in a meditative state. But sensing vitality wasn¡¯t the only step, she also needed physical contact to infuse something.


    That step was obviously the easiest one, it was her own body after all. But just in case, before sitting and delving into meditation, Aloe grabbed her forearms with her opposite hands, making a closed circle with her arms. This way she would be touching herself. Infusion required physical contact, but until now she had only infused through her hands, so she doubted she could make it with any other body part, if it was even possible.


    She quickly sunk into blackness. The desert was always silent, and the lifeful oasis was far enough that she didn¡¯t hear any noises coming from it. The only thing she could sense was the heat, but even that was mellow. The worst temperatures had yet to come, and thanks to the architecture of the house, she was at a mild temperature in her room.


    The vitality inside her body flowed slowly. When she infused or recovered it through Cure Grass, vitality felt like a jolt of lightning. Powerful, vigorous, fast. But the energy in her body was currently slow, tame, yet lifeful.


    Even in that slowness, Aloe couldn¡¯t deny the energy of vitality. A simple scoop could energize one person. But it was her own vitality that she was looking for, if she used it, she would give away her energy. If she infused herself, no energy would go away. It would mutate, and transform, but not disappear.


    Make yourself harder. Her thoughts echoed in the hollow space. Apply toughness.


    As per command, vitality shifted. It didn¡¯t disappear, her body was but a closed circuit. But the flow changed. It became even slower, harder to shift.


    Tougher.


    As Aloe opened her eyes, she felt slow. All her energy had shifted elsewhere. As she stood up, the movement of her legs was slow, yet firm. That was when she noticed that Karaim had been wrong about infusing one¡¯s body. It didn¡¯t take absurd amounts of vitality to do so.


    It took everything.


    But instead of giving it away like plant infusions or evolutions, the vitality stayed inside. Not consumed, but transformed. It became obvious that she was already more knowledgeable in this field than Karaim had ever been.


    Aloe smiled.


    It was time for more tests.


    And knives.

 50. Strength

    Aloe wielded the knife in her hand with uncertainty. Her inner vitality flow had changed, but she wasn¡¯t sure if to make this.


    ¡°I need more tea before doing this.¡± Drugs, as it would seem, were the solution to all of Aloe¡¯s problems.


    After downing two cups of ter¡¯nar tea, Aloe had shifted into a better state of mind. With better meaning that she had no presence of mind whatsoever. The lightheadedness provided by the magical tree¡¯s leaves made Aloe handle the knife better than before. Better may not exactly be the right word, but there was more confidence behind the edge.


    ¡°Okay, I may be high, but stabbing myself is just too much... Let¡¯s start with prickles and escalate from that.¡±


    With the tip of the knife, Aloe scratched the tip of her own finger. The hesitation meant that she did no damage whatsoever. She took a deep breath and started stabbing it, firstly not applying a lot of force, so little so that not even with a ¡®toughness¡¯ infused body she would have gotten hurt. But slowly, she increased the pressure on the knife.


    More and more, Aloe pressed the metallic point against her finger. Aloe wasn¡¯t that strong, to begin with, and the ¡®toughness¡¯ seemed to be working. That, or she was even weaker than she thought.


    ¡°...This isn¡¯t working,¡± Aloe added after running out of breath. The lack of wounds would have proved that her internal infusion had- ¡°Oh, internal infusion, I like that term.¡± ...that her internal infusion had worked, but she considered a failure on her side, of her lacking strength, rather than proving that the ¡®toughness¡¯ typing had worked.


    The alternative was to inflict more damage on herself, and it wasn¡¯t an alternative, but a mandatory step to check if her internal infusion had worked. And she would do that... not before having another cup of tea.


    ¡°I¡¯m too lucid for this shit.¡±


    Aloe had been lying to herself because that ended up being more than one cup. How many they had been, she had lost count of it. But she was unable to form coherent thoughts longer than a second of concentration, and she wanted that.


    Without any remorse, foresight, or doubt, Aloe cut her palm.


    She knew that people did that stuff to close blood pacts, or something along those lines, so it couldn¡¯t hurt a lot. And it didn¡¯t.


    Because she didn¡¯t cut anything.


    ¡°Leeeeeeh gooooooo!¡± Her speech had degenerated to subhuman levels.


    <hr>


    The sun shone bright, the skies were clear, the grass fresh, and she was free.


    There was nothing better than freedom.


    Freedom to do nothing at all.


    Because that was what true freedom was all about. The choice to do anything at all and choosing to do nothing but lay on a bed of grass.


    She was enjoying a great day, not too hot nor too cold, or at least that was what she had been doing until a monster interrupted her sleep with its grunts.


    ¡°I¡¯M FUCKING INVINCIBLE!¡± The hooman cried with all her might as she wielded a shiny stick in her hand and repeatedly struck herself. ¡°YOU ARE THE NEXT ONE!¡± She pointed the pointy stick at the sun in defiance.


    The hooman walked around on two legs and in an unstable manner, it was hard to tell if that was inherited from their lack of support or if it was an external factor. More than once the hooman almost tripped down, and she actually fell into the pointy shiny stick once. But when she stood up, she was unhurt.


    ¡°Look Fikali, I¡¯m tough as fuck!¡± Fikali reacted upon hearing her name.


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    ¡°Wro.¡± Yes, you are. She added with dismissal and sarcasm, hoping that the hooman would go away with her antics.


    ¡°I think I can make myself stronger now!¡± The hooman shouted and suddenly lay on the grass.


    For an instant, Fikali thought she had collapsed, but upon closer inspection, the hooman was breathing and mumbling some things, too low and unintelligible for Fikali to understand.


    Enjoying once again the silence, Fikali lay on the cold grass, the shade of the palm trees protecting her back. She was used to the heat, and it didn¡¯t bother her much; the hoomans called her desert dweller and they weren¡¯t wrong, she dwelled on the desert, but she preferred lower temperatures, nonetheless.


    After all, when she was diving on the sands, she only felt the heat of the sand underground, not the destructive rays of the sun.


    ¡°Hm.¡± Fikali grunted absentmindedly as she delighted herself in the grass of the oasis, blades pouring into her mouth.


    This was the best grass she ever tasted. She preferred big plants, and fresh ones at that, but back in her wooden house, most often than not she would have dried grass to eat. It was good and edible, but she preferred the fresh stuff. The oasis had very big plants, but the leaves were too high for her claws to reach. She tried to eat the brown stuff off the very big plants but tasted horrible.


    The aftertaste lingered far too long for her liking.


    The hooman was growing new plants, but she forbade Fikali from eating those. In the beginning, she was outraged. So many plants and she couldn¡¯t eat them. But after a while, Fikali decided to concede to the hooman¡¯s demands ¨C clearly not because she wouldn¡¯t stop throwing water at her if she tried so ¨C because the grass was just that good. Fresh grass was enough to content Fikali, but it was even better than the fresh grass she had tasted.


    Fresher, more tasteful, more lifeful.


    The good stuff.


    But there was better stuff: the pistachios.


    The hooman was truly a fool if she thought she could grow those. Fikali remembered the grown pistachios from her youth when she still traveled with a pack. Memories from that time were cloudy, especially after decades, but it was impossible to forget the pistachios. Dwellers loved pistachios.


    It was common for dwellers to burrow underground only for them to spring out of the sands and bite a few pistachios out of the canopy. The alternative was to claw the brown part of the pistachio plant until some fell, but that tended to break the plant, and no dweller wanted that. No pistachio plant meant no more unlimited pistachios.


    Unlike those pesky hoomans, dwellers were great and ingenious foragers.


    The hooman was a fool to think she could grow pistachios. Pistachio plants were very big, and she was very small, so logic dictated that she couldn¡¯t grow them. Simple as that.


    There were big hoomans, and this hooman wasn¡¯t one of them.


    ¡°Uooooh!¡± Fikali¡¯s peace was interrupted once more by the howling of the hooman.


    The small human stood up, her voice far greater than her size, and she walked up to Fikali. There was something different on her steps. Before they were unstable but rooted. Now, whilst still unstable, they had an unexplainable strength behind them.


    ¡°Come ¡¯ere Fikali, I need to try something!¡± The darkness in the hooman¡¯s eyes told Fikali that she shouldn¡¯t come towards her. In fact, quite the opposite.


    ¡°Hroooo!¡± I don¡¯t think so!


    Fikali bellyflopped her way out of the oasis, cursing the rooted and tough ground that impeded her from swimming away.


    ¡°Come ¡¯ere!¡± She shouted vigorously, dropping the shiny stick along the way. The hooman¡¯s steps seemed even more unstable than before as if she didn¡¯t have control of her own limbs. ¡°Come ¡¯ere, Fikali!¡±


    Even then, with the hooman¡¯s pitiful movement, Fikali was unable to outrun her on dirt. Bellyflops weren¡¯t the faster nor most comfortable medium of transport.


    ¡°Hehe, gotcha!¡± The hooman ominously laughed, the corners of her mouth shifting to impossible degrees. ¡°Stay still, I need to try something~¡±


    Fikali struggled her way out, but the hooman¡¯s grip was too strong, far more than someone of her build should be capable of.


    ¡°Now, now. Stop~¡± She sang melodiously with cloudy eyes. ¡°Yar gonna like it, Fikali~¡±


    ¡°Wrooooo!¡± No, I won¡¯t!


    The hooman ignored her pleas as she grabbed Fikali¡¯s hindlegs. Unlike her forelegs, these didn¡¯t possess claws, making it impossible for her to counterattack, she was only able to paddle around. And that was not enough to break the hooman''s grip.


    ¡°Alright, one, two...¡± The hooman tightened her grip around Fikali¡¯s belly, her short arms not even managing to cover half of the circumference of her body. The hooman didn¡¯t care. ¡°And three!¡±


    She shouted with all her might as she tried to lift Fikali!


    ¡°Huooo!¡± Stop it you fool! ¡°Huooo!¡± You are not going to succeed!


    Even after her warnings, the hooman continued to try to lift her. And much to Fikali¡¯s surprise, she had managed some progress as she lifted her backside a few centimeters from the ground.


    ¡°Wrooooooo!¡± Stooooop!


    Fikali pleaded as she felt immeasurably uncomfortable as half of her body was not in contact with the ground, besides the hooman¡¯s grip being outright painful.


    ¡°Aarrrgh!¡± The hooman either did not understand her or couldn¡¯t hear her through her own grunts of exertion. Either way...


    The hooman did, in fact, not stop.

 51. Last

    ¡°Augh..¡± Aloe panted heavily as she fanned her shirt. It was too open for her liking, but she couldn¡¯t care right now. That was her level of exhaustion.


    She whipped the sweat out of her forehead, only to end with a soaked sleeve.


    ¡°Oh, wow. That¡¯s a lot of sweat. I have gone assassin there.¡± She took a deep breath. ¡°How about you, Fikali? How are you faring?¡±


    ¡°Hrooooooo!¡± The dweller grunted with hatred as she frowned. ¡°Huoooooo!¡±


    ¡°Yeah, sorry,¡± Aloe admitted, looking down at her hands. Both her arms and hands were numb. ¡°This is the most I have ever seen you grunt.¡±


    ¡°Wrooooo!¡± Fikali responded with indignation.


    The ¡®strength¡¯ test had been a resounding success, but she had overestimated her increased power amidst her ter¡¯nar-laden stupor. The augment in strength was explosive and significant, but it was a multiplicator. As her base strength was as pathetic as it currently was, it didn¡¯t do much in the grand scheme of things. And the internal infusion did nothing to boost her stamina, actually quite the opposite.


    Because Aloe had shifted all her focus into strength, that meant she had almost no endurance to speak of. Other physical capabilities were also diminished by the shifting of attributes, the most obvious of the affected ones was equilibrium. She had near to none. That also happened when she applied ¡®toughness¡¯ to herself, it became difficult to walk straight without tripping once or twice.


    ¡°Maybe I¡¯m wrong with internal infusion...¡± Aloe questioned as she lay on the grass bed, her soaked hair resting on the blades. ¡°Karaim said that it consumed so much vitality that it was useless, but what I did was use what I had. Nothing was lost, except my other physical capabilities that diminished. Maybe I did a totally different thing to Karaim¡¯s infusion... Arghhhh! Why couldn¡¯t you have explained it with more detail on the cultivation technique, old man?¡±


    Aloe mercilessly assaulted her scalp, scratching it in a mad attack. She was working with many suppositions, the foundation on her feet was flimsier than shifting sands.


    ¡°Hmm... if there¡¯s another way to infuse myself I should explore it. Karaim spoke of insane vitality consumption, so either he managed to infuse a single physical trait without forgoing others, or... or he was wrong...¡± Aloe didn¡¯t discard that possibility. ¡°Maybe he confused the shifting of vitality flow for a massive cost in his deposit... I mean, I still have applied the ¡®strength¡¯ typing, it won¡¯t disappear until I change the flow again...¡±


    As her voice died out, Aloe focused on her breathing. It was loud. Yeah, shouldn¡¯t talk this fast without breathing. That also allowed her to focus on her skin.


    ¡°Ugh, I need a bath.¡± It was still in the morning, and she was sweating as if she had worked for a full day. ¡°Mental note, check if ¡®strength¡¯ infusion has effects on sweating.¡±


    Without caring for her sanctity, Aloe threw her clothes away and dived into the oasis. She had left the soap next to the coast as carrying it up and down made no sense. She left it next to the not-longer-makeshift drying rack with a towel permanently lying there.


    It wasn¡¯t exactly smart leaving a towel out in the middle of the desert, the air carried a lot of sand, but Aloe didn¡¯t care. Having a towel at hand at all times was more important than getting a few specs of dust on her skin when she dried.


    As she tried to swim a bit on the oasis, she was instantly surprised by a colossal splash reaching two meters of height caused by the movement of her arms.


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    ¡°Oh wow...¡± Aloe blinked several times in bewilderment. ¡°I forgot to deactivate the ¡®strength¡¯ infusion. That could have been problematic if I tried to do delicate tasks... I cannot control my strength that well in this mode.¡±


    Aloe sat on the coast, half her body submerged underwater as she meditated. Changing internal infusions was easy, especially once she discovered them, but it was mind-numbingly slow. Normal Infusion was already slow, some taking up minutes, but internal Infusion was even worse. The vitality she saved on the infusion was now paid by an increased time to perform it.


    She puffed a worrying amount of air as she finished shifting her vitality. The flow had gone from a furious stream back to a slow but powerful current.


    ¡°I feel incredibly tired...¡± As soon as she undid the infusion, all the adrenaline left her body. ¡°I need to experiment more with internal infusions. I feel like passing out at a moment¡¯s notice.¡±


    The touch of water was soothing, but the contrast between cold and hot was not. Aloe dived underwater to avoid the melting rays of the sun, her head becoming clearer as her body temperature slowly dropped.


    ¡°Ah!¡± She inhaled after surfacing. ¡°I fear water breathing won¡¯t be possible, but how about increasing my lung capacity? That seems doable... I need to try a lot of things.¡±


    But before doing so she finished rinsing her body and got out of the oasis. There were a lot of tasks still remaining before she could get started with her experiments. Namely, watering the plants and boiling water for her consumption. And most likely, do another washing session. It had been a few days since she had either washed her clothes or done the dishes.


    The rest of the morning was spent quietly doing her daily chores. Boring, but mandatory. By the time she finished, it was already noon, also known as yet another chore time!


    Some people took pleasure in cooking, but Aloe wasn¡¯t some people.


    It was yet another chore, and she wasn¡¯t even good at it, so any time she spent on it was making absolute and barely edible garbage.


    ¡°At this point, I prefer to survive with dates and coconuts alone.¡± Aloe wouldn¡¯t do so, but she couldn¡¯t deny she saw the appeal. ¡°Potatoes and beans only get you so far, and I¡¯m running out of jerky.¡±


    So, her alternative was to infuse the shit out of every food on her plate with the ¡®better taste¡¯ typing. Reasonable? Not really. Functional? More or less. The taste ultimately ended up being decided by how good of a cook she was, and her awful cooking meant that having better ingredients only made the end result remotely better tasting.


    ¡°Fuck it, gonna infuse dates. If the main dish isn¡¯t good, then I¡¯m gonna make the dessert heaven-worthy.¡±


    After having her stew of infused potatoes and normal beans ¨C it was too bothersome to infuse every individual bean as it cost the same as a big potato ¨C and grabbed a handful of dates. The irony wasn¡¯t lost on Aloe, she would infuse really small amounts of food to make their taste barely better. But a person couldn¡¯t exist without their daily dose of hypocrisy.


    Then reality choke-slammed her into the ground.


    ¡°Fuck!¡± Aloe cursed with a date on her hands. ¡°Fuck, fuck, fuck!¡±


    The farmer¡¯s apprentice dropped onto her desk, sadness and desperation overflowing her visage.


    ¡°Why can¡¯t I have nice things? Why heavens?¡± She shouted melodramatically. ¡°The dates are still infused with ¡®bountiful harvest¡¯!¡±


    Karaim had stated several times that the palm trees in the oasis had been modified with the ¡®bountiful harvest¡¯ typing, but ¨C for some reason ¨C Aloe hadn¡¯t expected that infusion to translate to the fruits.


    ¡°Why couldn¡¯t you add to the cultivation technique how to change an already established infusion, old man?¡± Aloe all but rolled in the desk, disappointment and anger visible. ¡°You are the worst writer ever! All my problems come from your inability to redact a comprehensive and complete text!¡±


    Aloe could never thank Karaim enough for introducing her to Evolution and Infusion, quite literally at that, but it was true that the man had several lacking capabilities. Especially on the tutoring side.


    ¡°I need how to learn to change infusion typings, right fucking now.¡± And honorable enterprise, if one ignored that Aloe¡¯s main motivator was having tastier dates.


    After ending her meal, Aloe decided that before doing that she would try her last untouched seed to evolve. She found the banana peels on a side of the kitchenette, and it wasn¡¯t that difficult to find them because, after a few days of lying there, they started smelling awful.


    ¡°I need a composter... There are too many wastes... going to waste.¡± Aloe cringed at the horrendous wordplay.


    She sat on her chair, a banana seed in one hand and a handful of Cure Grass pills in the other. If the evolution worked, she may need more than one pill. She wasn¡¯t as stupid as to try to evolve the seed with a full stomach, she had taken a nap before this because she was beaten after her ¡®strength¡¯ testing.


    ¡°Alright, here goes nothing.¡± She added without much hope for the seed''s evolution and started pouring vitality into the seed.

 52. Contagion

    ¡°What do you mean the plague has spread?¡± Hassan shouted, tapping his foot on the ground. The sheer force prompted him to squint his eyes.


    He had taken his time to arrive in Sadina as his broken leg had taken a while to fix, even with Nurture. Aaliyah-al-Ydaz had applied something to her attack, a broken leg would be painful but easy to fix for a cultivator of Hassan¡¯s level. But after a week, his leg still hurt even if it was technically fixed.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t I tell you to exile those refugees if they presented a problem?¡±


    ¡°T-the contagion started with our own citizens, my Emir.¡± Dana, his noblewoman scribe, explained as she trembled in fear.


    ¡°And what?¡± Hassan cried, his voice lingering with vitality. ¡°I made clear that I didn¡¯t want a plague to scourge my city, didn¡¯t I?¡±


    ¡°Y-yes, my Emir.¡± The noblewoman appeared smaller and smaller by the second.


    ¡°What did my useless sister do? She¡¯s the one in command, in my absence.¡±


    ¡°The first cases had just started to appear yesterday, a quarantine has been put into effect by the university by the order of the sultanzade to minimize the damages, but nothing much could be done in such a short span of time.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t care about what we couldn¡¯t do, I want to hear what can be done. I will tolerate no mistakes!¡± Nor can I afford any. ¡°Where even is my sister?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s with scribe Ayad, planning the repurposing of lands for drug production, my Emir.¡±


    They are still with that? I must stop them yesterday. ¡°Bring them to me at once!¡±


    ¡°Y-yes, my Emir!¡± Dana rushed out of the room in distress.


    This is bad, bad. A plague is awful! If this grows out of proportion, the sultanah will not hesitate to make me out! Hassan tapped with his foot on the ground, yet again sending shivers of pain up his spine.


    ¡°Urgh!¡± He grunted, hiding his pain.


    What did she do? This is not normal! She must have altered my flow of vitality when she broke my leg, but I didn¡¯t detect anything... This must be some art I do not know of... I need to find out what she did to me if I want to erase this phantom pain.


    ¡°Did you summon me, my dear brother?¡± Rani called out, snapping Hassan out of his thoughts.


    The imperial princess wore skimp clothing and held her head high up. Behind her, the common folk scribe shyly followed her behind, her clothing disordered.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Hassan responded starkly. ¡°Mind you telling me how a plague has ravaged my city in my absence? And under your care?¡±


    ¡°My, my brother. You are but exaggerating.¡± Rani calmly walked toward him, not a shed of fear on her person. ¡°Granted, there have been a few infections here and there, but nothing to raise alarms over. I can assure you that the situation is under control.¡±


    ¡°Dana has stated otherwise.¡± Hassan frowned. More annoyed at his sister¡¯s ¨C his underling¡¯s ¨C lack of respect rather than her answers.


    ¡°Oh, that courtesan?¡± She stated, clearly not entailing the polite meaning of the word. ¡°Plagues are not part of her work... or affairs.¡± Yet more double meanings. ¡°I would leave healthcare affairs to Nuha. The university has not been exactly useful, but she¡¯s still a knowledgeable scholar. And after talking the plague subject in great... detail with her I can assure you that the situation is resolved.¡±


    The glint in Rani¡¯s eyes hinted Hassan otherwise. She¡¯s scheming something, I can feel it. But what? Her sister was an insidious critter, not the best cultivator in the family, but she wielded the quill far better than the sword. Or poison, to be more accurate.


    ¡°I care not for words, but actions,¡± Hassan responded. ¡°I better not hear more about this plague in the coming days, otherwise...¡±


    ¡°Otherwise what, my esteemed brother?¡± Rani smiled, cunningly swaying her hips around. Her tactic was not that dissimilar from Aaliyah-al-Ydaz, but whilst that formed part of the sultanah¡¯s inherent charm, it was obvious that Rani¡¯s was fabricated. It was impossible to replicate the charisma of the sultanah after all. ¡°What would you do if I were to fail?¡±


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    Hassan stood silent for a moment, perplexed at his sister¡¯s audacity. She was, unfortunately, right. He could do nothing to her. Rani had been appointed in her position by the very sultanah, and whilst in other circumstances Aaliyah-al-Ydaz would not have cared if siblings killed each other, Hassan was now in her sights. If he were to put a cease to Rani¡¯s light, then the sultanah may take it as a slight.


    ¡°You wouldn¡¯t like to know,¡± Hassan added in a non-committing manner.


    ¡°Oh, please. Do tell~¡± Rani said smugly. ¡°I am quite the curious person. Don¡¯t be cheap with the details. I want to hear. It. All.¡±


    ¡°Do not push your luck.¡± The emir warned.


    The paltry cultivator, unphased by threats, approached him. Her body danced around like a silk cloth on the wind and subtlety grazed Hassan¡¯s leg. A gesture that went unnoticed by the other bystanders in the room but a clear message to him. She knows.


    ¡°Please take care, precious brother,¡± Rani called out as she displayed her naked back to him. ¡°The city is quite in turmoil, so you should linger down your anger and think with a clear head.¡± She turned her head graciously, her smile a radiant flash. ¡°For once.¡±


    It took all of Hassan¡¯s willpower to not pounce on her sister and slam her to the ground, finally snuffing out the life out of her. But he couldn¡¯t. He was playing her sister¡¯s game now, and whilst that would mean her defeat, it would also spell his. The only possible outcome was to win the game.


    Whichever that was.


    ¡°And put a stop to this drug cultivation nonsense,¡± Hassan added before the scribes left the room.


    ¡°But of course.¡± Rani smiled at him and swiftly vanished from his sight.


    {*}


    ¡°Are you sure about... that?¡± Sweet Shahrazad asked once they returned to her office, but now there were far more members inside. The scribe may be in her forties by now, but she looked as feeble as a hare.


    ¡°Quite,¡± Rani responded satisfactorily as she sat on a mound of pillows. ¡°My brother deems himself an intellectual and a strongman, superior to everyone but the sultanah. That lifestyle is flawed, even if he does not notice so. And his sights even more skewed.¡±


    ¡°So, what are going to do now?¡± Tamara asked, she sat in the corner. Her seat was a simple wooden chair, but a comfortable one. Rani wouldn¡¯t have it otherwise. ¡°A wrong step and you won¡¯t be only wronging the emir, but the whole sultanate.¡± The merchant rested with a ledger on her hand, she gave it a few looks as they talked.


    ¡°If you are worried about Aaliyah, don¡¯t.¡± In the few days since the gatherings started, the scribes had become used to the sultanzade¡¯s blasphemy, so no one reacted. At least, strongly. ¡°My contacts in Asina¡¯s palace have informed me of the sultanah¡¯s mood. She¡¯s dissatisfied with the emir, to say the least. If we show her his incompetence, she won¡¯t even doubt our implication.¡±


    ¡°What about the plague¡¯s spread, though?¡± Nuha added. A normal person would have inquired about that from a humanitarian perspective but not her. Her point of view was more... academic. ¡°You must be aware that the outrage and economic consequences will be great. Unrest is never productive.¡±


    ¡°Well, yes.¡± Rani conceded. ¡°But it isn¡¯t like we bolstered its spread. I think we did a great job halting its spread. Even if we fail to convince Aaliyah of Hassan¡¯s incompetence, we can convince her of our competence. Which brings me to our failsafe.¡±


    The princess jumped out of her comfortable position, her breasts almost spilling out of the thin fabric covering them with the sudden movement.


    ¡°Reports, girls!¡± She clapped. ¡°I want numbers, and positive ones at that. We must make this city better in order to make it ours. I cannot tolerate male incompetence to guide us, so we must be superior. I don¡¯t want to see any weakness. Nuha, you deal with the plague. See if it''s curable and study its spread. Even if we cannot stop it, we can direct it to our own benefit.¡±


    ¡°I doubt we can do either of those. Otherwise, one of your kind would have fixed it already.¡± Nuha added calmly, the woman knew more about the arts than she let out. ¡°But I¡¯ll try my best.¡±


    The scholar was the easiest of the scribes to convince, and the one who held the most power, except Rani herself that is. Nuha was the court¡¯s figurehead of the university, an important professor with great connections. Winning over her was winning over most of the university, and it wasn¡¯t a small faction like her brother made it out to be.


    ¡°Tamara, watch out for the flow of money. We are far from a recession, but rumors of a plague will drive traders away. For now, the flow of information is closed, only the university and the courts know that the plague is festering the city. Work your magic with the propaganda.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡± A single word and the merchant made her way out of the room.


    Tamara was only interested in money; ethical questions be damned. She had a lot to win if Rani came into power. And also to lose, but people like her had a scapegoat or two. After all, Rani did too.


    ¡°What about me, my princess?¡± Shahrazad asked shyly, the last scribe of the group and the one who held the least power.


    Dana, the noblewoman was obviously left out. That woman was little more than a lap dog, a bitch in heat awaiting the orders of her master to spread her legs. Including her in their meetings would have only been a breach of secrecy.


    Shahrazad was mundane if it weren¡¯t because she represented the power of the common folk in the court. It didn¡¯t matter that was her who held the position of court scribe, though. Anyone would matter.


    And it wasn¡¯t like she was exactly in favor of the plan. Maybe the smallest member of the group, but the one with greater ethical codes. A peon stuck in a game, not a person striving for power.


    ¡°Oh right...¡± Rani wasn¡¯t that opposed to having her around. The world needed peons to work, especially competent ones. ¡°Stay with me, I need to check some documents.¡±


    Rani was rather hungry as of late, and she loved hare.

 53. Budget

    Progress was slow in the oasis, unlike time. That flew by at impossible speeds. Every time Aloe blinked a day seemed to pass by. Time was but a distorted mess. Much like her vision.


    ¡°Uoooh!¡± Aloe shouted having severe problems keeping herself upright. ¡°This is too faaaast!¡±


    She thrashed her arms around trying to regain equilibrium, but with every step she took she was but a step closer to falling down. Desert terrain was already treacherous with the sand for the ground and the many changes of elevation, but her speed didn¡¯t help.


    ¡°Fikali, heeeeeelp!¡± Aloe cried a few seconds before crashing down. She managed to curl herself into a ball before impacting against the sand, reducing most of the lethality of her fall.


    Similar to a dweller, Aloe found her head buried under sand. She was under no threat of asphyxiation, her fall had been light, but the darkness and the hot needles that were the grains of sand unsettled her. Thankfully, before she even had to unborrow herself, Fikali came to her rescue, biting on the back of her clothes and yanking her out of the ground.


    ¡°Puaj!¡± Aloe expulsed all the sand out of her face. None had made it to her eyes or mouth, but a lot lingered on her forehead and lips. ¡°Thank you, Fikali. That could have been troublesome.¡±


    ¡°Wro.¡± Instead of a ¡®no problem¡¯ or ¡®no worries¡¯ that felt more like a ¡®Why are you diving into the sand you fool? You are not a dweller.¡¯


    The lack of air must be affecting me hard if I even came up with that. Aloe pondered, dusting her clothes. She just grunted once, even if I were remotely right, it¡¯s impossible for her to transmit all that information with a single grunt.


    ¡°I am going to need a bath after this, and not only because of the sand. My whole body is sweating, even parts I didn¡¯t know could sweat!¡± Aloe groaned. ¡°Infusion has really weird effects on the body.¡±


    ¡°Hro.¡± This grunt contained a hint of disdain, but Aloe quickly identified that Fikali¡¯s feelings were directed to the bath rather than herself.


    ¡°Ugh, I¡¯m beaten. Fikali carry me. The ¡®speed¡¯ test has left dry.¡±


    ¡°Wro.¡± The dweller responded with understanding as Aloe laid on her back.


    Riding her without a saddle was painful, and Fikali wasn¡¯t saddled today since this was planned to be a short trip. And it was, but Aloe was truly beaten. She preferred having her legs numb from riding Fikali than from walking. But because the travel was short, and Fikali was big whilst Aloe was small, that allowed Aloe to lay on the dweller¡¯s back as if it were an oversized pillow.


    There was a comfortable feeling to Fikali¡¯s sandy yet soft leather. Aloe would have even fallen asleep if the dweller didn¡¯t sway more around than an imperial procession with all their tambourines, people¡¯s steps, and other strident instruments.


    As soon as she made it to the oasis, Aloe took a quick bath.


    ¡°Life anew~¡± Aloe moaned as she made her way out of the water, grabbing the towel and drying her hair.


    The sun was starting to shine with potency as noon was approaching, prompting Aloe to go inside her home and perhaps start making lunch. She had done all chores before testing her internal ¡®speed¡¯ infusion as she expected to be uselessly tired for the rest of the day, a foresight that rewarded her greatly. Clothes were washed, dishes were done, water was boiled, and plants were watered.


    After getting her clothes changed, Aloe took a look at an Aloe Veritas leaf. It was of a plant she managed to evolve a few days ago. The banana seed.


    Species: Oxalt Doya


    Sobriquet: Myriad


    Description: Member of the Doya family, a species known for their ability to survive with light alone and convert sand into glass as they grow.


    Alignment: Light, Chaos


    Aloe sighed at the description. Even after a few days of having evolved it, the seed had yet to germinate. And the problems didn¡¯t end with Aloe¡¯s lack of patience, the description itself presented a lot of them.


    ¡°Two new alignments, another ¡®survive with something alone¡¯ detail, another ¡®non-evolved¡¯ evolved plant, and a special effect that I have no idea what it does.¡± Those were a lot of reasons to sigh.


    Most of these observations Aloe had already annotated on her parchment.


    ¡°Species: Oxalt Doya, name sounds like an actual name but in a language I don¡¯t recognize. Source? My gut. Sobriquet: Myriad, good sounding sobriquet. I think most of the sobriquets are meant to be the actual name of the plant and the species just some archaic scholar denomination.¡±


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    These were the least interesting notes, and they weren¡¯t that well redacted. This was but more attempts at trying the Aloe Veritas ink. Aloe was slowly trying to shift the concentration of water on the ink to make it more comparable to squid ink. So far, attempts had been met with mixed results. But slowly she was coming to a better product.


    ¡°Description: a lot of interesting details. Like the ter¡¯nar or the Flourishing Spring, it states that can survive with something alone, but instead of mana it states light. Light is more comprehensible to me as plants already mostly do that, this just seems to take up that quality to the maximum extent. Myriad is NOT an evolved plant, like the ter¡¯nar, it does not state ¡®evolved member of X species¡¯. I don¡¯t know if it will be a tree, as this is not an evolved banana tree, but some sort of mutation like the ter¡¯nar. Also, ¡®convert sand into glass¡¯? I don¡¯t know how it will do that, but it seems I¡¯ll have to plant it in the desert instead of the greenhouse.¡±


    The description had taken most of the parchment, almost all of it, as a matter of fact. This one had been one of the most interesting plant descriptions Aloe had seen.


    ¡°Alignment: Chaos and Light. Two new alignments I have not seen. Found alignments so far are: Life, Arcane, Information, Light, and Chaos. Five in total. All alignments have been mostly self-describing so far, but I don¡¯t know what to expect out of Chaos. It sounds too ominous. Light, on the other hand, sounds incredibly simple. I think that alignment comes from the ¡®survive with light alone¡¯ statement.¡±


    Aloe had ended up writing quite the dissertation, but she was happy with it knowing that she didn¡¯t do such a poor job like her grandfather. Even if she didn¡¯t intend for anyone to read her notes.


    ¡°Heavens I hope not, this calligraphy is awful with this ink. I can hardly understand it myself. And don¡¯t let me get started on the redaction. Not bad, but... improvable.¡±


    As Aloe had stated in her notes, she decided to plant the Myriad on the outside. Still, she was a bit scared of someone finding the plant, so she planted it in a small valley between two dunes behind her house. She had yet to water the plant as she wanted to test how veritable the ¡®survive with light alone¡¯ statement was. The ter¡¯nar had done a nice enough job surviving for a month without water, though it''s true that after she irrigated the tree, its leaves gained a nicer shade of blue.


    After having a quick lunch, mostly composed of potato soup with some dates, Aloe decided to check on the greenhouse. She had watered it this morning, but she was bored out of her mind and didn¡¯t know how to spend the rest of her day as she was also tired. And it was impossible to sleep with this heat.


    Naps were the privilege of the lucky.


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s a nice color,¡± Aloe commented as she observed the Flourishing Spring sprout.


    It had been more or less a week after she planted it, and its growth was visible. The plant was infused with ¡®accelerated growth¡¯ halving its growth period, but on top of that, it was an evolved plant. Karaim didn¡¯t state exact numbers on the cultivation technique, but Aloe assumed another factor of two, shortening its growth to a theoretical quarter.


    Overall, the Flourishing Spring looked like a normal sprout if not for a single characteristic.


    ¡°Blue,¡± Aloe added as she lay on the ground, her elbows on the parterre¡¯s dirt, her palms holding her head, and her feet lightly kicking the air. ¡°Are all arcane plants blue or something?¡±


    Her first thought was the ter¡¯nar which sobriquet was appropriately called ¡®Blue Tree¡¯. But she then remembered about the other arcane plant in her possession.


    ¡°Nah, the Aloe Veritas is not blue. Or is it?¡± She pondered, tilting her head to the side. ¡°Perhaps the ink is not black, but just a really dark blue...¡± The plants were already making her question if she was colorblind.


    Aloe lay on the parterre for a while more. The growing sprout was like that of a flower, a blue-colored flower several times its size. She had no knowledge of how tree saplings looked like ¨C maybe they were identical to flowers ¨C but what the Flourishing Spring sprout was showing her was not a future tree. Just a flower, albeit a tad bit larger than most. By some orders of magnitude if the size of the sprout resembled the final product...


    ¡°I have not seen evolved plants grow yet. I need more data on them, but I¡¯m officially out of other seeds...¡± She didn¡¯t count Cure Grass as its growth period was likely to be affected by the already short time it took normal grass to grow. ¡°I guess internal infusion is the way to go until I get more seeds on my hands. What should I do? Maybe buy one of every seed? But how can I even do that? Apothecaries won¡¯t sell ALL seeds, and I guess I¡¯ll also have to try foods on the market...¡±


    Aloe jumped out of her resting position and dusted the dirt out of her clothes as her head was starting to bloom with ideas.


    ¡°Ugh, I¡¯m getting really bored here. I¡¯m just a bit over half a month already so I could wait. But nothing is forcing me to stay here. With just Fikali and me, I guess we could make it to Sadina in half a day. No loads, minimal rests... sounds plausible. Fikali is getting more energetic as the days go on. Somehow.¡±


    Aloe shrugged and closed the greenhouse door, least said dweller was to enter it and destroy her seeds. Even if she had been well-mannered around the crops on the oasis proper.


    ¡°And I could get going the next day... Hmm... I need to ponder this with the pillow, I don¡¯t want to be called a chicken for running away only after two weeks. I guess I could go in and out of Sadina on the same day if I really don¡¯t want to see anyone, but I¡¯m really low on money after buying all the provisions and Fikali... I need to make money somehow if I want to continue trying things with the vital arts. Individual seeds are not going to be expensive, but I want A LOT of them...¡±


    Money was hard to come by. Aloe had left her mostly unpaid apprenticeship, and her mother¡¯s work was grossly underpaid for someone in her position. Sure, both women were living far more luxurious lives than the rest of the common folk, but it hurt to even think of reducing herself to a lower level. This wasn¡¯t going back to humbler roots, Aloe had never known humbler times.


    This was the most humble life she had had. And it included being a landlady, owning a glass house, and an actual house.


    ¡°I think I¡¯ll continue with ink tests, maybe I can make something respectable then I¡¯ll actually consider going back to Sadina. With my current budget, it makes no sense.¡±

 54. Drugs

    Days and days of countless permutations went by. Aloe was far from being an apothecary, or anything, really. She tried every possible mixture of water and Aloe Veritas ink, but nothing worked out. Either it was too diluted, damaging the parchment with the water; or too concentrated, becoming a slog impossible to write with.


    Desperation kicked up just only on the second day, prompting Aloe to try different ingredients to add to the ink. Whether it was aloe vera sap or milled Cure Grass, she added what she could to the ink to create a usable solution.


    At first, she had thought making passable ink would be an easy endeavor, but the more she used the default Aloe Veritas ink, the more it showed how severely lacking it was. Sure, one-or-two-minute writing sessions didn¡¯t present much problem, but after five minutes, the pressure she had to apply on the sluggish ink to write was hurting her wrists. If she endangered to push through the fatigue, her knuckles would end up in pain and most likely develop carpal tunnel.


    That was without talking about the damage on the parchment.


    After going to a full set of Aloe Veritas leaves, Aloe gave up on her ink enterprise.


    ¡°For a cheap substitute it can work... but everyone who can afford to buy ink and wants to write will buy the real deal. What¡¯s ink made of? Is it just squid ink or do they add something else? For sure there aren¡¯t enough squids in the world to produce the amount of ink scribes consume...¡±


    Her original intention was to sell the ink to people who couldn¡¯t afford ink, but for starters, would those people even want to write? A construction worker had no use for ink, only the architect. And that architect wouldn¡¯t buy budget ink.


    ¡°Ugh... what I do now? I need capital!¡± Aloe smashed her desk, rage flowing in her body like vitality.


    The answer was, unfortunately, quite obvious.


    A small pot of seeds lingered on her desk. It had been lying there since the night she had arrived.


    ¡°I...¡± Her fingers slowly crept up to the pot, her sight partially blocked as the side of her head lay on the desk. ¡°Should I?¡±


    There was nothing wrong with cultivating plants, even this kind. Trade was slightly stricter with them, some regulations imposed by the sultanate, but she knew to whom sell it to and avoid such problems.


    The problem wasn¡¯t morality or legality.


    Physicians gave such plants with the same ease as they would do with chamomile or jasmine.


    No, the problem was the barrel of worms that would be opened if she did.


    The attention she would gain.


    An attention Aloe highly suspected her grandfather had already garnered.


    But something cried to her.


    She needed to continue practicing the vital arts, it was a pull on her very being. She couldn¡¯t stop. Infusion, especially its internal variant, wouldn¡¯t need such resources, but Evolution did. And whilst Aloe couldn¡¯t deny the power and endless possibilities of Infusion, what truly called her was Evolution.


    It was magic.


    Not power, not a false promise of superiority.


    No, Evolution wouldn¡¯t make her a figure comparable to the sultanah, but it allowed her to see a different world. A world whose rules didn¡¯t follow the ones she knew. Impossible spontaneous knowledge, invigorating energy at a single bite, alien colors and shapes, and far more that she had yet to even imagine, let alone see.


    That was Evolution.


    The promise of originality, of innovation, of novelty.


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    She wouldn¡¯t gain anything from it unless a magnificent and valuable plant birthed from her hands, nor did she need that to continue.


    It was hard to put into words but... simply striving for new evolutions made her whole. Her apprenticeship had been a slog that only slowly chipped away from her being, denigrating her. But seeing new plants birth could only be described as intrinsically entertaining.


    Seeing something mundane mutate into reality defying life was inspiring.


    And she couldn¡¯t forgo that.


    Aloe¡¯s fingers rested on a porous and dry surface.


    Ceramic.


    And to continue her fantasies she needed income which she didn¡¯t have.


    ¡°Nothing happened to Karaim, so nothing should happen to me,¡± Aloe muttered between rugged breaths. ¡°And I don¡¯t intend to make a whole plantation, just sell some leaves to have pocket money to survive and continue evolving things...¡±


    She almost didn¡¯t believe her words, nor why she was even pondering it, but the prospect of seeing more of Evolution, of learning its secrets, was too enticing to let it pass.


    ¡°It was Karaim himself who said other vital arts were silenced... so why shouldn¡¯t I follow this one that no one seems to have discovered?¡±


    Aloe exhaled heavily; she could almost swear something was leaving her body besides the air.


    ¡°First things first.¡± She took a single seed out of the pot. There weren¡¯t many, to begin with, less than a handful of them.


    The seed was rather round and spherical rather than oval and flat like other seeds. The cannabis seed had a light brown color that may lead someone to confuse it with a nut of some kind.


    A single breath was what it took Aloe to begin pouring her vitality into the future plant. Her intent was clear: Evolution.


    And her response was a near-instantaneous exhalation.


    ¡°I guess it was to be expected.¡± Aloe held a groan poorly before continuing. ¡°That was the first thing Karaim was going to evolve, if he didn¡¯t document it on the cultivation technique, it¡¯s because it doesn¡¯t have an evolution.¡±


    A shame, an obvious shame, but if cannabis had an evolution Aloe would have been able to reduce its growth time to a small fraction.


    ¡°N-not that I need it.¡± She corrected herself. ¡°I just need a few leaves; it doesn¡¯t matter if it takes a lot of time to grow... But depending on how long it takes, I may not have any leaves to even sell before going to Sadina.¡±


    If she didn¡¯t even know how long it took a potato to grow besides the rough approximation of a season, she wouldn¡¯t know how long cannabis would take.


    ¡°Well, I should infuse every seed at least... No, no Aloe, don¡¯t make that mistake again!¡± She slapped herself before thinking twice. ¡°I cannot have more infused seeds lying around uselessly until I learn to uninfuse them!¡±


    That was why she could have tastier dates after all! Or also what almost impeded her from evolving black seeds into the Flourishing Spring before she found the spare seeds.


    She wouldn¡¯t like to repeat the same mistake with... drugs.


    ¡°And it¡¯s not like I¡¯m going to plant them all, there¡¯s more than a couple dozen seeds here, I don¡¯t need that many... Hmm... Nine will be enough.¡±


    She counted them and took them out of the pot. The small quantity was manageable and left her with more than half of her reserves as a backup in case something went wrong.


    ¡°Considering how awful the greenhouse was with those dead cannabis plants, I think they are kinda frail. Though I guess I don¡¯t intend to leave them unattended for a whole month... I think.¡±


    Aloe left eight seeds on the desk and the remaining one she infused. Vitality poured out of her hands into the small brown spheroid. The amount, whilst not negligible, was rather trivial after almost hundreds of infusions.


    ¡°Hmm... potato-like cost of infusion...¡± Aloe blinked for a few seconds, repeating the words that came out of her mouth again in her mind. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s certainly a brand new sentence. Anyways... I guess they aren¡¯t going to be that big if only it takes this amount of vitality to infuse them with ¡®accelerated growth¡¯.¡±


    With her current vitality deposit, Aloe was able to infuse the rest of the seeds without a problem. It was a bit taxing through the end, as it was reaching the middle point of her reserves, but mostly because it took a long time to infuse each individual seed, so her arms and butt had become numb from being sat down a solid half of an hour in the same position.


    Aloe took out to the greenhouse to plant her newly infused seeds, not before having a disappointing gulp of stale water.


    ¡°Ugh, what a shame I have to boil good cold water. I guess it¡¯s that or having diarrhea. The heavens truly face their strongest warriors with their mightiest challenges...¡±


    Leaving her jokes aside with a groan, Aloe planted the nine seeds on one of the two remaining free parterres of the greenhouse. She left a lot of space between each seed, even if it wasn¡¯t really needed as they weren¡¯t going to grow big. But it wasn¡¯t like she was having a space problem, quite the opposite. She owned a whole oasis and had nothing to do with it besides planting more seeds.


    Now that she was standing up, Aloe decided to water the rest of the plants.


    ¡°More plants to water, yey...¡±


    Her chores weren¡¯t but augmenting each day, the only positive was the mastery that came from repetition. After learning the simple trick of filling an amphora up on the oasis and forcing Fikali to carry it to the greenhouse ¨C using the beast of burden as an actual beast of burden ¨C, watering became simpler.


    As she made her way to water the several plants in the glass house, her mind no longer distracted by her future enterprise, a growth captivated Aloe¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°Oh...¡± The watering can fell from her hands, water splashed everywhere, sullying her sandals.


    Yet she did not care.

 55. Flower

    A righteous tall flower graced Aloe¡¯s sight.


    Righteous, the word felt more than appropriate for the straight and blue plant. In just a few hours after she went to sleep ¨C albeit more than normal as she went early to bed the night prior ¨C the blue sprout had fully grown. She had once expected the Flourishing Spring to be a tree judging by the vitality it had needed to infuse it.


    But no, the Flourishing Spring ended up being a gorgeously colossal flower.


    Looking at its base one could already tell it wasn¡¯t a normal plant, if the blue color of the stem wasn¡¯t enough of a clue. From the base of the Flourishing Spring, a bunch of petals bloomed in a shape vaguely reminiscent of a bowl.


    The stem wasn¡¯t as simple as having a different color, though. The stem of the flower was laden with thorns and a few leaves, the build of the plant had a striking resemblance to that of a rose, even if they had nothing to do with each other.


    At the top, the petals shone brightly. The Flourishing Spring was fully blue, but most of the shades it had were dark enough that they could be confused with green. That wasn¡¯t the case with the petals. They donned a beautiful icy blue color, and they were shaped like a typical flower cup.


    The more Aloe looked at it, the more she thought how closely the Flourishing Spring looked like a rose. Sure, the base was different, donning petals of the same color but of a different shape than those at the pistil, but the resemblance overall was uncanny.


    It was as if someone had cut a rose and painted it blue.


    Aloe approached the fully grown evolved plant in pure fascination. Not only the plant was astonishingly beautiful, but its height alone was worthy of admiration. While not quite as tall as Aloe ¨C which wasn¡¯t a difficult task to accomplish to begin with ¨C the flower easily clocked one meter in height.


    If Aloe didn¡¯t get the same mystifying aura she had gotten from the ter¡¯nar with the Flourishing Spring, this fact was enough to make a scholar convinced this plant wasn¡¯t ordinary. How could a flower grow this big after all? Most were barely taller than a hand, and the tallest ones Aloe had seen were maybe the size of her forearm.


    In a certain way, it was terrifying how the Flourishing Spring could stand upright with a stem so thin compared to its size. A simple breeze felt like it would knock it over.


    Adulterated in fascination, Aloe approached the flower and very carefully she caressed the stem with a single finger.


    ¡°Ouch!¡± And her mind instantly cleared. ¡°Nince-damned heavens, those thorns are vicious!¡± No blood poured from her cut instantly, but the skin around it was irritated. ¡°It isn¡¯t poisonous, is it?¡±


    Fear bloomed in Aloe¡¯s mind. Children''s tales filled her thoughts, she recalled how her father would sing of plants used by the assassins to make poisons. And some of them were common ones at that.


    Without doubting it for one second, Aloe treated the wound as if it was a snake bite. She viciously sucked on the cut, opening the shallow wound and making it far worse, but that was preferable to poisoning. Aloe sucked and spat on the ground multiple times before stopping. She didn¡¯t feel any poison, all the pain she was feeling was from her forcefully opened cut that now was pouring blood everywhere.


    ¡°Ugh...¡± Aloe groaned as the color of her finger shifted from pink and brown to a vibrant red.


    With her healthy hand, she reached for the satchels on her waist. Those weren¡¯t just for decoration. Aloe took out an old but clean piece of cloth and swiftly tied it around her finger. The white fabric dyed red in a matter of seconds.


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    ¡°Note, whilst working with Flourishing Spring wear protection,¡± Aloe added as she squinted her eyes. More in annoyance than pain.


    Then a rogue thought infiltrated her brain.


    It wasn¡¯t a bright idea, quite the opposite in fact, but Aloe was nonetheless obliged to try so. She sat down on the cobblestone path and closed her eyes. Even with days of practice, she had yet to accelerate the time it took her to change the flow of her vitality. It felt like doing so would take years of practice, and that made her uncomfortable.


    She had years before her, but she was young, and therefore, impatient. Aloe didn¡¯t want to wait for years to see her progress, she wanted results now.


    After what felt like an eternity of introspection and darkness, though it was closer to five minutes, Aloe shifted the flow of her vitality, changing her internal infusion from ¡®none¡¯ or ¡®default¡¯ ¨C she had yet to assign it a definitive term ¨C to ¡®toughness¡¯.


    ¡°This is like what Mom says, humans are the only beings stupid enough to trip on the same pebble,¡± Aloe commented as she tripped on the same metaphorical pebble.


    But unlike the saying, this time her skin didn¡¯t tear.


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s a funny feeling,¡± Aloe said as she rubbed the prick. ¡°I can feel the thorn clearly, it¡¯s very spiky, but it¡¯s not hurting me. Hmm...¡±


    And then she continued to play with the spiky protuberance more than she would have liked to admit. It was somewhat intoxicating, a normal person would have been bleeding to death by now, but she was impervious. A sense of power and superiority washed over her.


    It was... exciting.


    In her trance, Aloe slid her finger down the stem slowly. The thorns tickled her fingertips, a funny feeling indeed. It was now that Aloe was noticing how wet the surface of the stem was. The greenhouse wasn¡¯t dry, but it wasn¡¯t exactly humid either. And Aloe didn¡¯t water the plants enough for them to waste moisture with trivialities. As Aloe¡¯s fingers reached the base of the Flourishing Spring¡¯s base, she found the source of the wetness.


    Aloe frowned as her fingers touched a cold liquid.


    ¡°Oh.¡± She removed her finger at looked at their tips. ¡°Yep, that¡¯s definitely water. But how...¡±


    The questionable gardener knelt down and inspected the cup that was formed by the blue petals of the underside of the Flourishing Spring. Not only the cup was, indeed, full of water, but also watertight. It wasn¡¯t losing anything.


    Aloe frowned even harder and rubbed her good hand all over the dirt surrounding the plant.


    It wasn¡¯t wet.


    All the water was contained inside of the cup, and not a single drop was spilled on the ground.


    ¡°Where did this water come from?¡± Aloe said as she stood up and dusted her knees. ¡°I surely didn¡¯t water it before it gained this cup, so the plant must have put it there... somehow. Did it take it from the ground or...¡±


    As if the flower had divined Aloe¡¯s thoughts, the Flourishing Spring kicked into motion.


    The evolved plant started jerking slightly, rocking back and forth, and out of its pistil, water spurted. The discharge was sudden and sporadic, Aloe took a step backward as she feared the secretion may splash on her face, but it ended up being more controlled than it seemed.


    All the water, no matter how chaotically was expulsed, ended up on the collected by the base cup of the Flourishing Spring. Not a single drop spilled, Aloe checked.


    ¡°Well, that answers my questions.¡±


    Aloe looked at the puddle generated on the base of the plant. It was perfectly crystalline.


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe I¡¯m doing this, but... oh well, for science I guess.¡± Famous last words, were her last thoughts as Aloe grabbed a scoop of water with her good hand and promptly drank from it. ¡°Mmm... cold. If this proves not to be a poison, then it¡¯s very good water.¡±


    Not only the water was clearer than glass and cold like ice¨C which was blessing-worthy in the desert ¨C but also delicious.


    ¡°Should I boil it before consumption though? I know that you have to do that with oasis and river water, but... does that apply to water that comes from a magic plant? Hmm... that also raises another question. Is the Flourishing Spring reusing water like a fountain or... is it generating it?¡±


    The words that came out of her mouth were stupid or borderline insane, maybe both, but it was true that evolved plants had shown very curious properties.


    To test her ideas, Aloe carefully scooped the water out of the Flourishing Spring¡¯s base cup, not letting a drop inside. And she poured the recovered water into the amphora she was going to use to water the plants in the greenhouse, so now there wasn¡¯t even water in the ground. The last time she watered the Flourishing Spring was a day ago after all.


    ¡°Now, let¡¯s wait.¡±


    It was time to see real magic.

 56. Irrigation

    Aloe considered herself proficient in many tasks, not a lot, but enough. Mathematics, economics, writing, and... well, at least that was something. But waiting and patience weren¡¯t in her skill set.


    As soon as the five-minute mark clocked in, she became restless. Her eyes, hands, and feet wandered around. Standing still wasn¡¯t an approach that worked for her, so she proceeded to water the plants in the greenhouse as she kept an eye on the Flourishing Spring.


    ¡°It may not even work.¡± She muttered as she filled the watering can by diving it into the amphora. ¡°I still don¡¯t know if it can magically spawn water, maybe it was reusing water like a fountain. It¡¯s a spring, not a spring, you know?¡±


    Even if the words sounded stupid aloud, she understood the meaning. Spring as an artificial one with limited water rather than a natural one made by a river or another stream of water.


    Aloe gave the Aloe Veritas an extra of water as the poor plant had yet to recover its leaves. She had left the evolved plant naked once more to extract its ink. And she had used a lot of it. So much in fact that she had decided to stop wasting parchment and wrote several of her tests in fallen thatch from the palm trees. Thatch was, surprisingly, a good substitute for parchment.


    Not perfect of course, but it allowed her to continue her tests with the Aloe Veritas ink without wasting her limited parchment. Even if said tests had all resulted in failure.


    It took Aloe a quarter of an hour to irrigate all the plants on the glass house, but by then, the Flourishing Spring had yet to show any further spurting.


    ¡°I guess I don¡¯t need to be here to see if it can make more water.¡± Aloe sighed. ¡°I¡¯ll just continue with my chores and then check the cup.¡±


    After the greenhouse, her next objective was the crops and the medicinal ¡®garden¡¯. After more than two weeks, and more than one week with infusion, all the plants had considerable sprouts basking in the sunlight. They would not be ready for harvest before she marched for Sadina, but they wouldn¡¯t take long after that.


    The medicinal herbs grew faster than the potatoes and the beans as they were smaller ¨C or so Aloe assumed. Cultivation was a new subject to her, let alone Evolution and Infusion. She couldn¡¯t know exactly how the vital arts were affecting the plants. Just that they were.


    ¡°Grow big and strong~¡± Aloe sang to the crops. ¡°So later may I eat you~¡±


    One of the biggest priorities on her list, besides getting money and understanding how the Flourishing Spring worked, was to learn how to uninfuse plants. Not only because that would allow her to have tastier meals (though she wouldn¡¯t deny it was a powerful motivator), but because after plants ended up growing she could substitute the default infusing for ¡®bountiful harvest¡¯ and then, if they were food, for ¡®better taste¡¯.


    ¡°What a shame that all tests have failed.¡± Aloe sighed and stood up from her half-crouching position.


    Sensing foreign vitality wasn¡¯t as easy as sensing her own. She couldn¡¯t just change the flow of the vitality of plants, and even if she could, it wasn¡¯t as simple as her internal infusion.


    By the time she had even watered the rest of the plants, namely the pistachios and bananas, Aloe was sweating. No matter how suitably clothed she was, fabrics protected every corner of her skin, and slowly she took the work; the high temperatures and the relentless sun would make her drenched.


    The worst part was that she had only been watering, so she wasn¡¯t tired at all. In fact, all her exhaustion came from her sweaty clothes.


    ¡°Why heavens? Why do we even sweat?¡± Aloe prayed and cursed simultaneously as she sat down under a palm tree and removed her straw hat. ¡°Ugh...¡± She groaned as her hand became moist after she passed it through her hair.


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    Wordlessly, Aloe took a knife out of her satchel and readied to stab a coconut she had just grabbed.


    ¡°Hmm~¡± But she stopped herself. ¡°Opening them is really hard, what if I try a bit of ¡®strength¡¯?¡±


    Even if she used such words, she couldn¡¯t just ¡®slightly tap¡¯ on her internal infusion. They were binary, all or nothing. Aloe lay her head and back on the palm tree¡¯s trunk as she drifted into a meditative state. Her breathing slowed down and she let herself be caressed by the dry breeze of the desert. The only situation when being sweaty was comfortable.


    She pushed the flow of her vitality, the normal slow yet powerful stream became more violent, more forceful. In a single word, stronger.


    Aloe exhaled powerfully out of her mouth, more resembling a sigh than anything, and opened her eyes. A few minutes had passed but she didn¡¯t mind much this time, it was a good rest.


    Then she stabbed the life out of the coconut.


    The sheer strength of her grip was enough to tell that the stab would go through the coconut so Aloe had to actually control herself to not stab herself. Which would be, in fact, very bad.


    As her current internal infusion was ¡®strength¡¯ that meant that all her other physical qualities were downgraded, which included toughness. So because she was stronger but also frailer, she feared what would happen if she were to injure herself.


    And no amount of science would convince her to try it this time.


    It only took her a few more minutes to empty the coconut out of its water, and after calling an end to her rest, she found it a good time to empty her bladder out of its water.


    ¡°Well... the Flourishing Spring water doesn¡¯t seem to have affected me in any shape or form.¡± Aloe stretched her arms as she made her way out of the latrine. ¡°And talking about the plant, let¡¯s see if it has done something.¡±


    Truth was, that after cleaning all the dust out of the glass panels, the greenhouse had become quite the feast for the eyes. The sun shone preciously inside, instead of viciously. And the colors were just perfect, not only green and brown but also white and blue.


    Aloe stopped for a second before she remembered how to breathe.


    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s see.¡± She stepped into the parterre, her sandals displacing the dirt, and knelt down. A reflection met her.


    A shine.


    She didn¡¯t even need to check; she already knew the results.


    ¡°Oh... magnificent~¡± Aloe put a hand before her mouth for she was smiling in such a manner a lady shouldn¡¯t. The corners of her mouth elevated to impossible heights, to the point that it was making her dizzy from the pain. ¡°This is good. Very good.¡±


    Aloe applied force to relax her ceaseless smile, only to realize that it was the result of her ¡®strength¡¯ infusion. It would appear that it affected all muscles, those of her face included.


    It took her a few breaths before calming down, but the sheer ideas were exciting her anew. Her excitement was so powerful that it was hurting her.


    She guided her hand down onto the collection cup of the Flourishing Spring. The water flooding her hand was cold and crystalline, allowing her to see a perfect reflection of her visage, only exciting her more with the twisted madness she was putting up. The evolved plant itself didn¡¯t feel dehydrated either, a good sign.


    So this is what truly means to be able to ¡®survive with mana alone¡¯. Aloe pondered as she found herself unable to talk, her mouth muscles still incredibly contracted in a vorpal smile.


    It took far more than a few breaths for Aloe to relax into a meditative state so she could remove her ¡®strength¡¯ infusion. As funny as her smile was, it was making her face numb fast, besides also being unheavenly painful.


    ¡°One plant won¡¯t be enough.¡± That was the first thing Aloe said after recovering control of her mouth and also the last one as she jumped out of her spot and rushed into her home.


    She took out the pot with black seeds and the other medicinal plant that she couldn¡¯t even bother to remember. She poured out the seeds onto the desktop and counted the black spots in the mess she made.


    Nine. She thought before separating eight of them and leaving the last one and the other plant seeds into the jar again.


    Aloe left a single black seed separated just in case she needed an uninfused one at some point. What mattered was the future of these eight ones: Evolution. Adding them up together she could have nine Flourishing Springs, which excited her even more, the corners of her mouth elevating again, but not to such bonerending levels.


    Air puffed out of her mouth with a hint of expectation but mostly fear. A single black seed evolution was enough to drain her whole vitality deposit and knock her out. And that was without taking into account the cost of each infusion, which was already greater than that of trees.


    Such enterprise would not only be straining to her body but also her time. She would need to dedicate days purely to infusing and evolving Flourishing Springs, and that was with her already factoring in the consumption of Cure Grass pills. One for each evolution so I don¡¯t pass out. More if I want to accelerate the process. She calculated.


    And why would she go to such lengths to torture herself, to the point of ingesting grass multiple times?


    Two simple words:


    ¡°Automatic irrigation.¡± Aloe grinned monstrously.

 57. Reserves

    Forty and a half banana trees. That was the vitality cost that Aloe would need to evolve and infuse all of the Flourishing Springs. When translating the cost into potatoes, the numbers became harder to grasp. Eyeballing it, we were talking about five hundred potatoes worth of infusion, half a thousand!


    Those numbers were but approximations, of course.


    Aloe had taken the cost of plants¡¯ infusions out of a portion of her vitality deposit at the time, so there was already a non-negligible decimal difference as her deposit had grown.


    ¡°Either way, this is just too much!¡± Aloe groaned after having evolved her second black seed ever.


    She had followed her trick of shoving a Cure Grass pill instantly after finishing the evolution, and whilst she had managed to not pass out, she was still irritable and tired. Vitality may not technically be stamina, but the effects of running low were the same, if not worse. Rugged breaths assaulted her along with dizziness.


    And this had only been the first evolution, not even with the infusion included!


    ¡°Ugh...¡± Aloe groaned and dropped on her bed.


    The best methods she had found for recovering vitality besides consuming Cure Grass were to eat and rest. Vitality was an unlimited pool of energy, but ephemeral and small. Thankfully it regenerated as fast as it consumed.


    ¡°Is there a fast vitality regeneration infusion?¡± Aloe joked in the bed as she swayed her head from side to side on the pillow to appease her headache, but she quickly noticed the importance of her words and jumped out of her resting position. ¡°Wait. What if there¡¯s one?¡±


    Internal Infusion was a subject of trial and error, basically like all other vital arts, but that meant Aloe didn¡¯t actually know what existed or not.


    ¡°So far, I have only found success on ¡®toughness¡¯, ¡®strength¡¯, and ¡®speed¡¯. These are very obvious physical capabilities. Or rather, properties of the body. But is vitality one of them? I¡¯m using vitality to shift those properties around as I please, so I¡¯m inclined to believe otherwise... But I would be a fool to not try it first.¡±


    Intent was the key to vital arts. Whether it was Evolution with its rigid and clear message to transform a being into something greater, or Infusion with its open-ended and seemingly endless permutations.


    Looking into her body, the cold yet lifeful energy that was vitality, Aloe failed to see a way to boost it.


    ¡°I guess it was to be expected.¡± She threw herself to the bed again and faced the ceiling. ¡°Internal infusion works... neutrally. There¡¯s no gain and loss of attributes, just reshifting. I can¡¯t just empower the same energy that¡¯s empowering me. Shame...¡± A sigh left her mouth.


    Aloe moved on to lunch. Her meal was a potato soup from yesterday, but such low quantities of food variety were making her sick. She would need a lot of energy to ready all the black seeds, and that meant a lot of food.


    Good one if possible.


    ¡°Time to use the jerky.¡± Aloe tied her hair in a braid, a thing she didn¡¯t tend to do as it wasn¡¯t exactly long, but it felt appropriate as she was going to submerge herself into cooking.


    The jerky she had taken as rations was incredibly dry and tough after a few weeks, but it was still flavorful. Aloe cut the long strips of jerky into short ones with the knife and as she proceeded to drop them into the cauldron, an idea bloomed in her mind.


    ¡°If Internal Infusion is a thing and I can infuse plants...¡± She looked at the snippets of meat with expectation.


    This wasn¡¯t exactly a good moment to make infusion tests as she was low on her reserves, and with no vitality in the tank to speak of, but she couldn¡¯t deny she was interested in how Infusion would interact with meat.


    ¡°Infusion cost in plants is based on their future growths and Internal Infusion follows a different logic altogether because I¡¯m treating with my own body, so it doesn¡¯t matter if I¡¯m made of meat or not. So how expensive can be a square of dried meat?¡±


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    Recalling her previous and horrendous experiences with vitality, Aloe took a Cure Grass pill out of her satchel, expecting the worst. It had been a while since she had taken her last one to not pass out from the previous Flourishing Spring evolution, so Aloe wasn¡¯t worried about the pill needing time to take effect.


    Aloe shifted her vitality into her fingertips, just a display of craftsmanship. It would have been impossible for her a few weeks ago to move her vitality without a recipient or destiny in mind, but Internal Infusion had jumped leagues forward in her control of vitality. It was still the same slow and sluggish mess, but she could now redirect that slow and sluggish mess.


    Progress!


    With a dumb smirk, Aloe poured her vitality into a single strip of jerky the width of a fingernail with the intent of giving it the ¡®better taste¡¯ typing she had used with plants.


    Her eyes shot wide open.


    ¡°Fuckfuckfuck.¡± She pushed her arm away with enough force to nearly dislocate it from its socket and shoved the pill into her mouth with her other.


    Aloe dropped to the floor, her legs buckling as they lost strength. Her deposit had been around that of four potatoes worth of infusion. That reserve had disappeared in a single second.


    ¡°If I had not been that quick with my draw...¡± She shuddered, her back falling onto the kitchenette drawer.


    Thankfully Infusion wasn¡¯t as greedy as Evolution. As soon as she noticed the absurd drain on her vitality, she was able to cancel it, unlike when she had evolved both Flourishing Springs. Once Evolution started it couldn¡¯t be interrupted.


    The gravitas of that realization dawned on Aloe¡¯s conscience heavily.


    ¡°One massive Evolution, several times larger than my full reserves...¡± She gritted her teeth in a mixture of fear and shame. It wasn¡¯t difficult to imagine what would happen. It was scary to die, but even more scary to die by a plant you were trying to cultivate.


    Aloe spent the rest of the noon lazily making her soup as she was too dizzy to conjure actual thoughts. Twice in a day she had spent the entirety of her vitality deposit, and that was without a rest between tries.


    The slow cooking of the soup and then her absentminded way of eating it resulted in her taking a few hours before she was finally over with her bowl. There was still a lot more soup in the cauldron, but she didn¡¯t have the motivation to eat more.


    Those previous thoughts had taken the hunger out of her.


    ¡°I need more vitality...¡± Aloe muttered half-sleep whilst resting her head on the desk after finishing her meal. ¡°But Karaim said I need to use more vitality to increase my vitality in the first place... What a vicious cycle...¡±


    With a yawn, Aloe stood up as her deposit was nearing its top. It was still a bit far away, but she needed to distract her mind somehow.


    She donned her work clothes and straw hat and marched to the oasis with the recently evolved seed in hand. With all the revelations and planning, she had forgotten to water all the other crops.


    Once upon a time ¨C or less dramatically, a few days ago ¨C Aloe decided to plant the evolved plants in the greenhouse just in case someone just so happened to find them. The greenhouse would somewhat hide them and save her some questions. But she opted to make an exception with the Flourishing Spring.


    ¡°It¡¯s just basically an overgrown, big rose. That also happens to be blue.¡± That was her excuse. ¡°It looks... normal. From afar.¡±


    But she very well knew that if her irrigation system worked, the oasis would not only be self-sustainable but also fully automatic. She would only need to harvest the plants, watering them was the only process left that required a human hand. So what if she could remove that human factor? She would be able to spend a lot more time in Sadina and just visit the greenhouse from time to time just to check nothing had gone wrong.


    And that idea was very enticing.


    Aloe planted the first seed among the potatoes. She didn¡¯t know how much water a single Flourishing Spring produced, or how far was its range. All of that needed serious testing, but it was a start.


    A testing she would perform with her already-grown specimen.


    After having finished watering all the crops and medicinal plants, she moved into the greenhouse. The amphora from the morning was still there as she forgot to take it out, but she just moved it to the side of the wall for now, so it didn¡¯t get in the way.


    Aloe knelt down on the cannabis parterre and very carefully with a trowel, she picked up the seeds and replanted them on the Flourishing Spring patch, close to the plant¡¯s water bowl. She didn¡¯t need to be this careful, she had just planted the cannabis seeds and they had even to germinate, but the memory of all the dead plant matter from her first visit to the greenhouse still lingered on her mind.


    She treated the cannabis seeds as if they were made out of glass.


    The final plantation pattern of the seeds was a circular one around the Flourishing Spring, but that was not enough. The cup of the evolved plant was in the way of Aloe¡¯s dreams of automation as it wouldn¡¯t allow the collected water to pass through.


    Instead of tearing apart the beautiful underflower, she grabbed the petals and brought them down, slightly burrowing them under a bit of dirt. That way not only the water would flow out of the plant, but it also would flow down directly to the seeds like a slide.


    A simple and crude method but for such high dreams, but most beautiful things tended to be simpler.


    And Aloe expected the most gorgeous of outcomes.

 58. Automatization

    Results were hard to come by. Not because the task itself was difficult, but because it was painfully slow. The cannabis was going to take a lot of time to germinate, days at best, so having a comprehensive effect of the Flourishing Spring¡¯s irrigation capabilities in her limited deadline was impossible as the plant would take at least a month to grow from her estimations based on the infusion cost.


    The next day, Aloe began it by planting a few blades of Cure Grass around the Flourishing Spring at the greenhouse. She infused them with ¡®accelerated growth¡¯ meaning they would grow around four times as fast as normal grass, but she didn¡¯t want to cultivate grass. This was an experiment to see if the water produced by the Flourishing Spring was enough to sustain blades of grass at varying distances from the source.


    She didn¡¯t fear the Cure Grass taking resources from the cannabis seeds as they had yet to germinate, and besides, it was grass. Plants grew on grass, they weren¡¯t needy trees that killed each other for sustenance.


    Even if she passed the next days purely resting, Aloe felt paradoxically more tired than before. This had a clear answer though, she was pushing her vitality reserves to the limit.


    And it was straining her body.


    In three days, she had evolved and infused two Flourishing Springs per day. That meant draining her deposit thrice and consuming two Cure Grass pills.


    Whilst this was the greatest quantity of pills she had ever consumed, Aloe had yet to experience any mishaps with her stomach or the latrine. She was thankful for the apparently harmless Cure Grass, though it was true that she perhaps suffered from more flatulencies than normal.


    As it may be, the continuous strain was affecting her body. Unlike when one reached rock bottom of their stamina, Aloe didn¡¯t feel any ease to sleep, quite the opposite in fact. It was becoming harder and harder to fall asleep. And the sleep she managed to get wasn¡¯t the best. Besides the constant migraines from being at no vitality, Aloe decided to relax her barbaric pace to one seed per day.


    With the five new seeds she had obtained, she planted them in various places. One in the cacti parterre of the greenhouse, one with the beans, one with the medicinal plants, one with the pistachios, and the last one with the bananas.


    It was obvious to her that she had spread the water plants thin, as they didn¡¯t produce a fraction of the water needed to water some spaces. Perhaps with the bananas and the medicinal plants it would suffice, but at the same time, the area of effect was a problem.


    Flourishing Springs only produced water in a short circle around them, just enough so no drop spilled beyond their bowl. So even if the water was somehow enough to satiate the many plants, the water wouldn¡¯t even reach them.


    ¡°I need some sort of... canals where the water could go through. But how?¡±


    Making small trenches for the water to circulate was easy, but then the soil would absorb it. Aloe suddenly found herself overwhelmed, unable to think how to make her dream automatic irrigation system work.


    ¡°I was studying to be a banker, not an engineer!¡± Aloe scratched her scalp maddingly, stress overwhelming her thanks to the lack of answers.


    Being unable to find a solution was something that stressed the life out of Aloe. Sure, she was doing something unheard of and as impossible as automatizing agriculture without the proper background, whether it was that of a farmer or an engineer; but Aloe didn¡¯t tolerate stagnancy.


    Since young, her father educated her on the concept of stagnation.


    ¡°When a noble house falls or a business closes, more than not it¡¯s because they were unable to adapt.¡± Her father explained to her young self, barely ten. ¡°Complacency and corruption are the parents of stagnation. The world changes, but if you don¡¯t, then you¡¯ll end up swallowed in shifting sands. Stagnation is the rot festering the economy.¡± Aloe couldn¡¯t help but ponder what was he thinking when he told that to a child, but alas, the idea endured. So, it wasn¡¯t wrong to say that he had been right.


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    Whilst her father spoke of complacency and corruption, Aloe had found her own form of stagnation: lack of progress.


    Perhaps ¨C most likely ¨C it was that the lack of vitality irritated her, but the second she found herself idle or not progressing, the dread of stagnation latched onto her.


    If she wasn¡¯t getting a constant trickle of results-


    ¡°Constant results...¡± Aloe muttered, opening her eyes. ¡°Just like...¡± And then laughed.


    It was a maniacal laugh, but instead of one of exhilaration like the one she did when she came out with the automatization plan, it was one of hate.


    ¡°Of course it¡¯s his fucking fault.¡± She hit the top of her desk. ¡°Insidious, pesky indoctrination.¡±


    Who she was angry at was no one else than her mentor, Farid. The man who constantly pushed her around during her banker apprenticeship.


    Even when she hadn¡¯t seen the man¡¯s face for almost a month now, his viciousness lingered in her mind. Not only she was unpaid, but the man always expected results out of her!


    If she wasn¡¯t managing ledgers, then she was expected to judge possible loans. And what was her reward?


    Absolutely nothing!


    Not even a nince-damned pat on the back!


    ¡°Oooh...¡± Aloe seethed in pure unadulterated rage. ¡°I haven¡¯t noticed until now, but I was really close to killing that man.¡±


    Aloe looked down at her hands, they were trembling. Not out of fear, but violence. She had been always distracted by work and life, it was impossible to not think about her apprenticeship. It was her future. But now that she was free of it... She just wanted to put her quill into the man¡¯s eyes. Aloe felt the vitality inside of her accelerate, become tumultuous and bloodthirsty.


    ¡°Well... that¡¯s going a bit too far...¡± She retreated shyly. ¡°The mood swings from vitality usage are no joke... I may truly end up killing someone at this point, especially if I¡¯m on ¡®strength¡¯ infusion.¡±


    It took her a glass of coconut water and a few dates to relax, but after a while, Aloe was back to her coolheaded self.


    ¡°I know some kind of pipe system to make the irrigation work, but how? With what materials? I got no clay or stone. And the wood I do have I can¡¯t work with it. If there was only an easy-to-work, tube-like material?¡± Aloe was but jesting, she had an idea of what she wanted, but it was impossible to get her hands on it in a short time. ¡°Sugar cane would be perfect, and I¡¯d like also to plant it, but that would require to go first to Sadina and then carry it to the oasis. And that¡¯s a lot of load I would be putting on Fikali.¡±


    Aloe tapped the desk with her finger in the rhythm of a popular nursery rhyme. She wasn¡¯t as stressed as before after pouring all her devils into her ¡®mentor¡¯.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t something here already that I could use to move the water?¡±


    The answer was: no.


    Or so she thought, but instants before giving up, an idea sprouted in her mind.


    ¡°What about something that moves water... naturally?¡± The idea was quite simple but even more scrappy than her previous ones.


    Aloe put on her straw hat and marched into the oasis. Fikali lay lazily in the shade, mostly bored because she hadn¡¯t played with her these last days. Ignoring yet again her dweller, Aloe approached the shortest palm tree in the oasis, and with a bit of finicking, she managed to cut down a leaf without needing to climb the tree.


    ¡°Rain is really uncommon here, but what are trees leaves but nature¡¯s slanted rooftop?¡± Aloe toyed around with the leaf, it was almost taller than her even if the tree itself wasn¡¯t even twice her length. ¡°The leaf is thick, so it won¡¯t lose water. The problem will be fitting it for the Flourishing Spring.¡±


    She didn¡¯t intend on outright developing the irrigation system, just prototype the pipes. They may not even work in the end. Aloe sat down in the shade and began cutting away the palm tree leaf with her knife.


    What she wanted to make was a long but thin pipe that could move water from one place to another. And the leaf was too wide for her liking, so she stripped a lot of material. It wasn¡¯t as if she was going to run out of palm trees after all.


    After an hour of work, and more elbow grease than she was willing to admit, Aloe managed to make something pipe-like. She cut the tip of the leaf and mainly worked with the back as the more a leaf went from its root, the feebler it became.


    ¡°Need to check first if it works though.¡± Aloe stood up and stretched her arms and legs which had become numb after an hour of straight concentration. She also dusted her clothes from the many leaf filaments, making an accidental green rain between her legs.


    The test itself was quite simple.


    She put one extreme of the pipe on the underside of the grown Flourishing Spring in the greenhouse, and it was almost a match made in heaven as the petal water collection cup of the evolved plant brought elevation to the leaf pipe, meaning water would flow easily with the inclination. On the other end of the pipe, she put a short bowl to collect the water.


    All the water collected in her tests would go to the cannabis seeds to not screw with her other tests, as those seeds were now on a pure Flourishing Spring water diet.


    Thankfully ¨C though rather stressful ¨C as she was reading her setup, the Flourishing Spring began to squirt. The water shot everywhere in a circular area, meaning not a lot of water fell directly on the pipe. But the drops that did fall in resulted in satisfactory collection.


    ¡°Yes!¡± Aloe merrily hoped on the spot as most water collected by the leaf pipe ended on the bowl and not much was lost on the leaf or leaks.


    It would seem that her dreams of automatization weren¡¯t that farfetched.

 59. Myriad

    A week left.


    A month was the deadline that Aloe had imposed herself with. Born more out of physiological need rather than economic or time strains, she just now noticed how small of a margin she had given herself. One couldn¡¯t do anything in a month, even less if that involved growing plants.


    Truth be told, she was hoping to go to Sadina already. She wanted to have a proper bath for once and also buy new seeds to further her experiments into new uncharted territory.


    The problem was that she lacked funds.


    With all her savings, she only had a hundred drupnars to her name. A single drupnarun was her net worth.


    ¡°Money, money, money. I want some money.¡± Aloe muttered as she swam freely on the oasis.


    Today it truly felt like a winter day as the sun was shining dimmer than normal, allowing her to stay in the water for a longer while without fearing to burn her skin. Even then, that did not mean it was cold outside. The star in the heavens desolated the landscape and people alike.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to ask Mom for money...¡± Not only that would be shameful, but that would also raise a lot of questions. And Aloe wasn¡¯t sure if she wanted to share her discoveries just yet. ¡°Just a little more time... I need something... big...¡±


    These last days hadn¡¯t been for naught, even if Aloe¡¯s current behavior may lead to believe otherwise. Her hands had almost grown calluses ¨C something unthinkable for her social standing ¨C from all the cutting and shaping she did with the palm tree leaves. Her irrigation tube system left a lot to be desired, but with luck, she would manage to have something ready before she had to come back to the city.


    As for the cultivation side of things, Aloe had evolved and infused the rest of the black seeds and planted the resulting Flourishing Springs around the oasis. The first one she planted with the potatoes was almost done growing now.


    ¡°They grow so fast... Four times growth speed is no joke. A year-long plant could grow in just a season that way. But if it just takes a month? In a week it¡¯s already done. It¡¯s marvelous~¡± Aloe took a little dive as her face was feeling too dry for her liking. ¡°If only I could apply that to every plant. Alas, they need to be evolved ones... Hmm, that reminds me of something.¡±


    Aloe walked outside of the oasis, water flowing down her olive skin. The sun was so vicious even on a calm day that she almost needed no towel to dry herself with.


    After donning the clothes she had prepared beforehand, a set of linen pants and a blouse that was slightly too big for her (courtesy of her mother), Aloe marched into the desert.


    Her mind had been too distracted these last days, and her body so drained, that she had forgotten that she had managed to evolve a different plant altogether.


    Hidden between two sizeable dunes, in a valley of golden sand behind the greenhouse, a spot of light blinded Aloe.


    ¡°What the-¡° The girl cursed as she led her arms to her eyes. ¡°What was that?¡±


    Even with her eyes partially blocked, it was still hard to look forward. The light coming before her was just too strong.


    ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡± Aloe walked blindingly toward where she had planted the evolved plant, careful to not miss her step and roll down the dune she was standing on.


    Slowly but surely, Aloe made her way down. Even with her eyes closed, she could only see whiteness.


    The slope on her feet suddenly relaxed, letting her know that she had reached the bottom of the valley. Aloe tried really hard to where the evolved plant was, but the light was even reflecting on the sand, so looking down wasn¡¯t an alternative.


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    ¡°Fuck this.¡± Aloe turned around and left the place.


    She wasn¡¯t outright surrendering, she remembered what the description of the plant, Myriad, said.


    ¡°I don¡¯t recall a light show during the night, so not only can it survive with light alone, but it also magnifies it. If I want to take a look at the Myriad my best chance is to come around twilight.¡±


    Considering it was noon and she had already bathed, Aloe opted to take a well-deserved nap. After relaxing her evolution routine, her headaches and mood swings were greatly dampened. Even then she needed her sleep as she had just finished evolving the last Flourishing Spring today.


    A ride with Fikali sounded delightful, but a nap even more so.


    ¡°Sweet dreams, I hope~¡± Aloe added with a yawn before falling asleep almost instantly.


    <hr>


    By the time she woke up, the sky had lost its light blue color and the sun was readying to set down.


    ¡°That was a good sleep, though it would have been better if I remembered to take out my clothes.¡± Aloe made her way out of the house as she stuffed her mouth with dates.


    The dweller enjoyed a little run around the oasis, diving in and out of the sand. By now, Aloe trusted Fikali enough to leave her unleashed, against her better judgment. The dweller noticed her as she began swimming in her direction.


    ¡°Heya Fikali, want some dates?¡± Aloe offered a few as her hand was overflowing with them. And it wasn¡¯t like she was going to run out of them.


    ¡°Wroooo!¡± Fikali accepted excitedly as she bellyflopped on the sand.


    ¡°Relax! You are going to dirty me with sand and I have just bathed!¡± She shouted, making the dweller take a step back. ¡°No, no. No need to be scared.¡± Aloe soothed her. ¡°Just... don¡¯t be so joyful?¡±


    ¡°Hrooo!¡± Fikali acknowledged by raising her snoot high up instead of splashing the sand around.


    ¡°Good girl.¡± And Aloe threw a date straight to her mouth.


    The dweller immediately consumed the small date without hesitating. The poor monster was unable to eat the dates by herself as most were too high up for her to eat them, so whilst they weren¡¯t pistachios, Fikali was excited when Aloe offered them to her.


    One by one, Fikali gorged on the dates. Aloe gave them slowly because she knew the dweller was able to swallow them in a single go. And she highly doubted it could be healthy, especially for a desert dweller of her age.


    Before Aloe noticed, all but one date was gone.


    ¡°Okay Fikali, this is the last one.¡± Aloe swayed the date from side to side, tantalizing the dweller. Fikali panted with her tongue out as she salivated, much like a dog. Aloe readied herself, pushing her left foot backward and gyrating her hips. ¡°Catch!¡± And then threw the date to the horizon.


    Fikali left her position in a mad dash, making Aloe repent her decision as she was swiftly covered with a cloud of sand and dust.


    ¡°Ugh!¡± Aloe closed her eyes and began coughing uncontrollably. Only after the cloud dissipated, she allowed herself to talk. ¡°Damn. Deserved, I guess.¡±


    She didn¡¯t make a fuss out of it as she would bathe tomorrow too, but it was a bit annoying, nonetheless.


    ¡°Eh, could be worse. At least sand isn¡¯t as dirty and troublesome as dirt.¡±


    With a groan, Aloe made her way back to the myriad in hopes that she wasn¡¯t blinded again by a second sun.


    ¡°Okay, this is more promising,¡± Aloe said as she ascended the dune. ¡°No light shows yet and even if the sun is still out, there isn¡¯t a lot of natural light to camouflage the plant¡¯s light as before.¡±


    As she made it to the top, Aloe was pleased to only be greeted by a mild light. Similar to a lamppost but several times stronger. What was more interesting though, was the actual plant.


    ¡°Oh!¡± Aloe exclaimed in fascination. ¡°So that¡¯s what the Aloe Veritas meant with converting sand into glass when they grow.¡±


    The Myriad was an interesting plant because it didn¡¯t have any... plantiness?


    No stem, no trunk, no leaves, no flowers, no petals; nothing that could identify the object before her as a plant. The reason for that was because the Myriad was made out of glass.


    Pure glass.


    Aloe approached slowly, and whilst the light was infinitely dimmer than before, it was still a bit difficult to look at. Squinting her eyes helped a lot and allowed her to discern more details out of the plant.


    It wasn¡¯t made out of vegetal matter ¨C that was for sure ¨C but it did vaguely resemble a plant. The glass grew in shapes vaguely resemblant to that of leaves, maybe petals and vines, but not by much.


    What was more eye-catching was the center of the Myriad.


    ¡°Is that a rainbow?¡± Aloe squinted her eyes heavily, thinking that she was imagining things, but no. What she saw was veritable. A localized rainbow in the middle of the plant. ¡°So that¡¯s where the light came from...¡±


    But even as Aloe basked in the myriad of lights coming from the rainbow, the mysticism of the plant faded in her mind for a more logical question.


    ¡°Is the glass usable?¡± Aloe¡¯s eyes shone like drupnars at the prospect of finding a new useful plant.

 60. Success

    The answer was no.


    The glass was, in fact, not usable.


    Aloe tried everything to make the Myriad work. Maybe approach a bit of fire and the glass would become soft or break a piece of glass and use it as a torchlight or something, but everything failed. The Myriad¡¯s glass was normal if hyperreflective glass.


    ¡°Whyyyy?¡± Aloe groaned from side to side of the bed, the experiments had exhausted her mentally and physically. ¡°It¡¯s a useless plant! I only wanted something remotely usable, but this is outright useless!¡±


    The glass of the Myriad couldn¡¯t even be used as a light when night came by, because it didn¡¯t produce light, just amplify it. And no matter how bright the moon may shine, it only worked to make a piece of grass into a rainbow-ified nightlight rather than a working lamppost.


    ¡°Ugh... I guess this is the first actually useless evolved plant I have found, but damn, it hurts to see it. Especially when I¡¯m in need of something useful.¡±


    Aloe grabbed the piece of glass she had torn apart from the main plant and held it on top of her head. It was morning, but her bedroom was mostly dark as she had all the wooden window doors closed. Yet with the faint trickles of sunlight that filtered through the slits, the glass piece produced enough light to match that of a scribe¡¯s light.


    ¡°I guess if I had a lot of them I could sell the glass to a glassworker to reheat it? Maybe they would buy it, the glass is kinda good, pretty clear, and wouldn¡¯t that save them time?¡± Aloe sighed. ¡°But that would only grant me a few coins, nothing business-worthy. I¡¯ll need tons of glass to make an actual enterprise, but right now, I will take whatever I can. Yet another item on the list of: maybe I can sell it?¡±


    That list was only populated by the Aloe Veritas ink and now the Myriad glass. The greenhouses didn¡¯t produce many exports at the moment.


    After the unfortunate discovery of the Myriad¡¯s usefulness, Aloe¡¯s time continued to be fully dedicated to making a working irrigation system before she had to come back to Sadina, and that day was approaching rapidly.


    Palm tree leaves were strong and rather hydrophobic, so that allowed her to make somewhat long pipe circuits without the leaves collapsing with the weight or losing any water.


    Even if the pipes were important, more so was the water production rate of the Flourishing Spring. Aloe thought it would have been easy to calculate, but after running numbers with her current two grown specimens.


    ¡°There are some serious discrepancies between the amount of water produced between the spring at the greenhouse and the one with the potatoes.¡± Aloe wrote in her notes as a manner to continue her ink tests. ¡°The one in the greenhouse produces a full bowl every three hours, whilst the one with the potatoes does so in just two hours. Reason? I don¡¯t know.¡±


    That had caused her some confusion for two straight days, but the Aloe Veritas came to the rescue. Or at least, allowed her to make some theories on the why.


    ¡°My current hypothesis is this ¡®mana¡¯. At the greenhouse, I have two evolved plants with the same description of ¡®survive with mana alone¡¯, the ter¡¯nar and the spring. I don¡¯t know what mana is, but it seems to be some kind of esoteric energy, perhaps similar to vitality, but I cannot confirm or deny that. My idea is basically that both the spring and the ter¡¯nar are draining the mana on the greenhouse, therefore sharing it. Much like when trees fight for nutrients on the soil, rather than now we are talking about weird arcane shenanigans.¡±


    Her hypothesis was full of holes, as she didn¡¯t even know what mana even was, but it made sense. She didn¡¯t see the ter¡¯nar suffer from the lack of mana, but the tree didn¡¯t seem to use it a lot in the first place. It seemed that the ¡®survive with mana alone¡¯ was quite literal with it. And because Aloe was constantly watering the ter¡¯nar, it didn¡¯t have much mana to survive.


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    ¡°I should focus on the Flourishing Springs at the outside,¡± Aloe commented as she carved yet another pipe. ¡°Two hours per full bowl means twelve bowls a day. Taking into account that the bowls are rather small, around four bowls per watering can, that means three watering cans per day of constant irrigation.¡±


    The simple calculations relaxed Aloe¡¯s mind, she had always found solace in numbers. Her knife steadily chipped away the leaf. She wasn¡¯t a carver, but this was far easier than sewing a button together. Sleight of hand wasn¡¯t her forte.


    ¡°Now, that sounds like a lot, but there are a lot of plants here. And the position of the Flourishing Springs matter. The pistachios and the bananas would have enough with one, but they are far away from each other. Should I replant them? Or rather, do they need water?¡±


    This was something she hadn¡¯t pondered until now, but flowers, grass, and other palm trees were able to survive without water in the oasis.


    ¡°Hmm... Good question...¡± Yet again she cursed herself for her lack of farming knowledge. ¡°I think that is because they have long roots and can get more water, but seeds need more help... And even if the plants in the oasis don¡¯t need help, the ones in the greenhouse certainly do.¡±


    The greenhouse plants always needed more water when Aloe irrigated them. In the oasis, the soil was mostly moist, so after passing by the watering can, the soil wouldn¡¯t take more water than that. Even if she wasn¡¯t a farmer or didn¡¯t have much knowledge on the subject, she could understand that. At that point, giving them more water would be counterproductive. But in the greenhouse, as it was probably because it was further from the oasis, the soil was drier.


    Thankfully, all plants in the greenhouse were rather resilient. The cacti would survive easily without water, and the ter¡¯nar was a tree that technically didn¡¯t even need water to survive, even if it greedily drank several watering cans every day.


    The only weak plant currently on the oasis was the cannabis. But she also had that covered with the Flourishing Spring, and there was no need for complex infrastructure to water those seeds. They were more than satiated enough with the production of the greenhouse¡¯s Flourishing Spring, even if it produced suboptimal levels of water.


    ¡°Ha,¡± Aloe sighed, ¡°now that I think about it, I don¡¯t even need to water the seeds directly, don¡¯t I?¡± In her dreams of self-sufficiency, Aloe had forgotten how plants work. ¡°If the water hits the soil, that¡¯s kinda enough? Bowl per three hours means seven bowls per day, therefore almost two cans. That¡¯s more than enough water to make the soil moist for the seeds to drink, huh.¡±


    Aloe felt rather dumb now.


    She had opted to make her life more complicated than it needed to.


    A sigh escaped her mouth, and she let the leaf fall from her hands.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t hurt me to water the crops and the medicinal plants, though,¡± Aloe told herself to protect her sanity. It would severely hurt her if all her work was for naught.


    The fantasy that the Flourishing Spring offered had blinded her too much.


    Aloe stood up and started to set up the pipe system, the leaf on her hand was the last one she needed to make it work.


    The irrigation system, whilst complex sounding, was rather simple. Aloe used the cut palm tree leaves as pipes for the water to flow, and she put very small holes every few centimeters so the water could trickle in without disturbing the whole flow. The idea was simple, the closest holes to the Flourishing Spring were smaller than those at the end.


    This system needed some elevation to work, so Aloe used discarded coconut shells to give not only the height but also the inclination for the water to flow effectively.


    Overall, she was proud of her ingenuity.


    It was makeshift and unstable, yes, but she did what she could with the tools at her disposal. And a very good job at that.


    More Flourishing Springs had grown whilst she was occupied with the Myriad and pipe tests, but her attention was focused on first making the potato section work.


    From the bowl of the Flourishing Spring, two leaf pipes came out. She had planted the evolved plant in the middle of the potato field, so one went east and the other west. Her system wasn¡¯t perfect, far from it.


    Even if she added more pipes, the system could only water a single stream. It was impossible to cover blind spots with this system.


    ¡°I won¡¯t be able to free myself from watering duty just yet, but at least, this should fend off drought and death from the potatoes and other plants for the days I¡¯m out.¡±


    Automatization was Aloe¡¯s true goal, but right now, what she needed most was for her plants to survive whilst she was out.


    She lay her hands on the soil, it was humid.


    That enough told Aloe that she had succeeded.

 61. Month

    Days had run out.


    In two days the month deadline she had set would be on her feet, and Aloe was already readying herself as she didn¡¯t have much else to do. The irrigation system was set up for the potatoes, beans, medicinal plants, pistachios, and bananas.


    The setup was quite chaotic as Aloe had partially redirected one of the two Flourishing Springs water to the bananas, as she couldn¡¯t justify an entire plant for just two seeds, no matter how important or big those may grow.


    The final organization of the nine Flourishing Springs was balanced, to not let any plant suffer from thirst, but also not be overhydrated.


    At the greenhouse: one with the cannabis seeds and another with the cacti. None of those used pipes, the cannabis seeds were close by, and the cacti could survive easily, so she made it so the water went directly to the soil.


    At the oasis: two for potatoes, two for beans, three for all the medicinal plants and partially the bananas, and the last one with the pistachios.


    ¡°I think that¡¯s all down.¡± Aloe let out a sigh of relief as she sat down on her chair. She had been tying loose ends, quite literally at that, as she reinforced the leaf pipes so no stray breeze knocked them over whilst she was gone. ¡°Fikali has been surprisingly helpful with them, she has not tried to toy with the crops since the first and last time she did so. Not even when I planted new ones. That¡¯s... very comfortable. I would not have liked to make some scare-dwellers or something, if those things even exist.¡±


    Her hands hurt from all the cutting and tying up she did. Aloe had not been unbeknownst to hard work before, the heavens know she had been exploited, but that had been mental work, not hard physical labor.


    ¡°Honestly, I don¡¯t know which I hate the most.¡± She lay her neck on the chair¡¯s back, her sight lost to the ceiling. ¡°One is mind-numbing and the other is just... well, numbing.¡± Aloe groaned. ¡°Pain is pain, physical or mental makes no difference. I hate working.¡±


    It took two deep breaths before Aloe got bored of the silence, she loved her voice too much.


    ¡°There¡¯s a key difference between working for someone and working for oneself, though.¡± She added. ¡°One is fucking bullshit, the other one is somewhat rewarding. Within reason that is. The moment I get calloses I will send this oasis to the nine hells.¡±


    With yet another groan, Aloe raised her head and looked at the desktop. Her most important possessions lay there. A coin purse filled with few drupnars (not many after her shopping spree for provisions and the purchase of Fikali), Karaim¡¯s cultivation technique (a book that had become obsolete fast, and yet Aloe found herself reading time and time again), her straw hat (not really valuable besides protecting her head from oblivion, in which case, it was invaluable), the Aloe Veritas ink, and the Myriad glass shard.


    The value of the two last items had yet to be proven, that was the whole reason why she wanted to bring them to Sadina after all.


    ¡°At least the journey back is going to be light and swift. No load, only rations.¡± Aloe said as she toyed with the localized rainbow. The effect was way fainter without the full plant. ¡°And maybe it¡¯s just me, but Fikali has been getting faster... Maybe it¡¯s because she was tired for days after her first travel and now she has had her fair share of rest, she¡¯s that old after all.¡±


    It pained Aloe a bit to remember that Fikali didn¡¯t have much life expectancy remaining. It was still around a couple of years ago, but in just a few weeks she had become quite attached to the dorky ball of fur and fat that was the desert dweller.


    ¡°I should rest, tomorrow is going to be a long day.¡± Aloe stood up with a sigh, gently leaving the glass on the desk, and swiftly donned her nightgown.


    Stolen novel; please report.


    That night she dreamt swimmingly at the prospect that she would have a softer bed the next night.


    <hr>


    Daylight met Aloe like a sledgehammer as she had brought her Myriad glass to her nightstand for some heaven-forsaken reason.


    ¡°Dunes, that¡¯s bright!¡± She had forgotten to close the windows yesterday and now her bedroom paid the price as it drowned in light. ¡°There!¡± Aloe threw her blanket at the glass shard, instantly reducing the lighting of the room tenfold. ¡°Note, never leave Myriad glass exposed. That¡¯s damning deadly.¡±


    With a mixture of a sigh and a groan, Aloe stood up from bed and did her morning routine.


    Breakfast, latrine, and watering.


    She gave the plants an extra oomph of water as they were going to rely on the irrigation system for, at the very least, three days. And no matter how much effort and time Aloe had dedicated to the project, she couldn¡¯t trust it that much.


    ¡°It¡¯s... rustic. Let¡¯s just say that, to not say anything else.¡± Aloe commented as she finished with the crops. She still had to do all the plants in the greenhouse, but that required someone else¡¯s help. ¡°Hey, Fikali. Wake up. Today you have a lot of work to do.¡±


    ¡°Wroo?¡± Fikali inquired with a sleepy face.


    ¡°I don¡¯t care how cute of a face you put on, come on, up!¡± Aloe gave the dweller a light kick.


    Though considering the amount of fat Fikali had, Aloe doubted the dweller even felt the barest nudge.


    ¡°Hro...¡± With a tired grunt, Fikali woke up from her grass bed and bellyflopped her way to the sand.


    Aloe, meanwhile, had to fill the amphora and carry it outside of the oasis first. Even if she always took the shortest stretch, the amphora was still around twenty liters in volume and half her weight in mass. It didn¡¯t matter if it was a ten-meter hike, it left Aloe devastated.


    After reaching the sands, the whole work was left on Fikali¡¯s back ¨C quite literally ¨C and Aloe¡¯s only task was to watch out so the amphora didn¡¯t spill water or fall down and shatter.


    In two hours, Aloe had completed her morning routine. She had had breakfast, went to the bathroom, watered all the plants on her property, and also took a short bath as she ended rather sweaty by the end. When she finished, the sun had just fully risen.


    ¡°A farmer¡¯s day begins early and ends late.¡± Aloe quoted as she dried her body, even if she always went to sleep pretty early as she didn¡¯t have anything else to do. ¡°Alright Fikali, rest a bit because in about half an hour we are departing for Sadina.¡±


    ¡°Huo.¡± Aloe noticed the lack of interrogation in Fikali¡¯s tone, so she supposed the dweller had understood her. It was hard communicating through grunts, but it mostly worked for them.


    Aloe readied her possessions in a backpack. She didn¡¯t need to carry much, her valuables, rations, water, and the desert garb she wore. She donned boots instead of her sandals for obvious reasons, but she carried them in her backpack, nonetheless. Overall, with all her trinkets added and herself, the load on Fikali¡¯s back would be less than fifty kilos.


    ¡°She surely can make the journey back with a few stops. The luggage I carried before weighed a bit more than that.¡± Aloe let out a sigh. She didn¡¯t know if it was out of relief or sadness, and she locked her house¡¯s door. ¡°How do I feel more nostalgic for this place when I haven¡¯t even left than for the city I grew up in for almost two decades?¡±


    Deprived of answers, Aloe just shrugged and made her way to Fikali, who was gorging herself in the oasis water.


    ¡°Ready?¡± Aloe asked the dweller.


    Fikali hastily turned her head around, splashing violently around as put on a derpy expression. ¡°Wro.¡± Aloe couldn¡¯t help herself but frown.


    ¡°Come on, let¡¯s get you saddled.¡± With great difficulty, Aloe held her groan.


    At least the water doesn¡¯t dirty. She thought. But even if it did, this garb is going to have a strenuous journey before it.


    At first, it took Aloe a lot of time to take the saddle away from Fikali. The damned apparatus had too many belts and was tied up incredibly tight. But after some practice with the many escapades they did once in a while, Aloe obtained some insight and mastery on how to tie the saddle.


    Now it didn¡¯t take her more than five minutes to do so. The problem was rather the strength needed to tie them up. She didn¡¯t have enough. But she had preemptively thought about that. As she asked Fikali for a rest, she changed her internal infusion to ¡®strength¡¯, making her saddling duties ten times easier.


    Removing the infusion, though, was going to be interesting. She would need to do so whilst mounting the dweller, as the increased strength meant that her equilibrium and resistance to heat decreased.


    ¡°Oh, come on don¡¯t put that face,¡± Aloe told to the dweller, whose face was all wrinkled. ¡°You have spent more than a week without a saddle, having one for a day won¡¯t kill you.¡±


    ¡°Hrooo...¡± Fikali added with an unapologetic visible trace of sadness as she bellyflopped her way out of the oasis.


    They were ready. The luggage was prepared, the dweller was saddled, and the plants watered.


    Aloe and Fikali departed to Sadina after being almost a month away.

 62. Home

    At first, Fikali started going slowly, she needed to fully wake up to pick up the pace. Such slowness had allowed Aloe to deactivate her internal ¡®strength¡¯ infusion without any issues, but even then, she didn¡¯t expect Fikali would go that fast. This was a marathon, after all. Speed didn¡¯t make much difference, endurance did.


    But apparently, Aloe had miscalculated.


    And severely.


    ¡°Hoooooow?¡± Aloe shouted as she held for her dear life on the saddle¡¯s reins. Fikali¡¯s speed was vertiginous, especially considering that Aloe weighed more than normal with all her luggage and clothes. ¡°How are you going this faaaast?¡±


    ¡°Wrooooo!¡± Fikali grunted amusedly, ignoring Aloe¡¯s questions and pleads.


    The dweller swam graciously across the sands, with a speed and agility unfit for someone of her age.


    ¡°Ouch! My butt!¡± Aloe shouted as Fikali jumped out of the foot of a dune into an esplanade, making the rider bounce uncontrollably. ¡°Fikali watch out with those jumps!¡± She would have tried to rub her posterior, but at the pace the dweller was going, Aloe didn¡¯t trust herself to leave a single hand away from the reins, lest she wanted to fall.


    ¡°Hrooo!¡± There was a bit of understanding on Fikali¡¯s grunt, but the dweller continued with her breakneck peace uninterrupted.


    No matter how violently the sun thrashed around, Fikali was even harsher. The constant movement alongside the bolstering winds meant that Aloe was considerably cool. For an almost noon desert temperature that was.


    But at this pace we may even reach Sadina before twilight. Aloe pondered, her thoughts to herself as Fikali raised too many dust clouds with her speed. If she can keep at this pace, that is. Which I highly doubt.


    After a few hours of journey, Aloe¡¯s thighs began to hurt hard, enough to make her dizzy. Though that was maybe dehydration talking.


    ¡°Fikali.¡± Aloe tapped the top of the dweller¡¯s head, that hand still grabbing to dear life to the reins. ¡°Stop at that rock, we are gonna take a rest.¡±


    ¡°Hro!¡± Fikali responded in understanding.


    Said rocky formation was still a bit far away, but that was the thing about the desert, if conditions were right, you could see kilometers in the distance. Though at her speed, Fikali didn¡¯t take long to arrive. Most of the way was spent decelerating, which said a lot of momentum the dweller had gained.


    ¡°Ugh, I¡¯m beat!¡± Aloe groaned as she stretched her arms once she dismounted Fikali. ¡°My whole body feels numb. Even my arms!¡±


    ¡°Huo.¡± The dweller rolled her eyes, a hint of sarcasm in her tone.


    ¡°I¡¯m being serious. Do you know how much it hurts to ride you? A lot, because you are damned savage.¡±


    ¡°Wroo.¡± Fikali¡¯s response felt uncannily like a ¡°Sure,¡± with even extra scoops of sarcasm.


    ¡°Whatever.¡± Aloe ignored the bratty monster and took a small stroll. Even if she was thirsty, her legs screamed to be used.


    Moving in her desert garb wasn¡¯t exactly comfortable, or agile for that case, but if she had done the day-long trip twice on foot, she could survive a little walk. Not even after two minutes, Aloe got tired and sat on the rock, taking out one of the two waterskins she had brought and giving it a gluttonous sip.


    ¡°Ah~¡± Aloe let out a gormandizing groan. ¡°Life anew~¡±


    Her exaggerated noises got the attention of the dweller as Fikali approached Aloe, looking at her curiously.


    ¡°What?¡± Aloe asked Fikali, not before bopping her on the nose. ¡°Do you want some water?¡±


    ¡°Wrooo!¡± Fikali grunted enthusiastically.


    ¡°Woah, lower the enthusiasm, you are going to make me think you were dying of dehydration,¡± Aloe exclaimed, even if she knew that dwellers could survive days without water. ¡°Here, open your mouth.¡±


    Fikali did as commanded, and Aloe poured the rest of her waterskin on the dweller¡¯s mouth. She wasn¡¯t worried about running out of water, judging by the landscape, they were around halfway done, and she still had another waterskin remaining.


    ¡°There, there.¡± The human caressed the dweller¡¯s head. ¡°Now you¡¯ll be refreshed for the coming trek.¡±


    Aloe considered taking a lunch rest now as they were already resting, but she wasn¡¯t hungry right now, so she postponed it.


    If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    ¡°Alright, rest¡¯s over.¡± Aloe stood up from the rock with a jump. ¡°Let¡¯s get going, shall we?¡±


    <hr>


    Aloe had totally underestimated Fikali¡¯s endurance. The dweller had managed to stay at constant top speed during the whole journey despite her advanced age. Even if she had had a month filled with mostly rest, during the journey itself Aloe had only called for two stops. Fikali¡¯s resistance was way, way higher than Aloe had ever expected.


    ¡°That¡¯s it. Sadina.¡± Aloe sang with a trace of melancholy in her voice. ¡°We are finally back home.¡±


    The city walls cast a great shadow over the desert, and Aloe wished to be under that shadow right at this moment. As they closed on the city, Aloe prompted Fikali to decelerate, and by the time the dweller stopped, they were shy of a few steps before the sand faded into sandstone.


    Aloe dismounted the dweller with great difficulty as her legs faltered and she let Fikali follow her, who had her share bit of problems as she had to bellyflop her way through.


    ¡°Halt!¡± A guard shouted menacingly, making no shy motion of scouring to his scimitar. ¡°Who goes there?¡±


    Instead of cowering in fear, Aloe frowned at the sudden display of aggresion. ¡°A citizen coming back from a trip? What¡¯s with this greeting?¡± Aloe rested her hands on her hips.


    ¡°Sorry, ma¡¯am. Routine inspection.¡± The guard signaled his partner to check on Fikali.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on? I fear I didn¡¯t hear of ¡®routine inspections¡¯ before?¡± Aloe feared she was getting scammed in some way. Perhaps corrupt guards, or maybe a couple of con artists that acted between guard¡¯s shifts.


    ¡°Do you have permits for that dweller?¡± With a sigh, Aloe took her contract out of her backpack and handed it to the guard. The man didn¡¯t pick it up, Aloe¡¯s undisputed display of ownership proved enough for him. ¡°How long have you exactly been away, ma¡¯am?¡±


    ¡°Nearly a month now,¡± Aloe responded.


    ¡°Makes sense you are unaware then.¡± The guard responded with a sigh of his own, he tried but utterly failed to hide it. ¡°There¡¯s been a recent outbreak of a plague, the emir has the city on high alert.¡±


    ¡°A... plague?¡± Aloe was a bit confused and concerned. Sadina had never suffered from plagues. At least during her life. ¡°How long has this started?¡±


    ¡°Around a week or two ago.¡± The man explained. ¡°Watch out the food and water and try not to meet a lot of people. Districts have already been in quarantine. Hey, Akeem, how¡¯s it going there?¡±


    ¡°Clean!¡± The other guard, Akeem, replied.


    ¡°Alright, ma¡¯am. You can go now.¡± He pointed at the open city gates. ¡°Stay safe.¡±


    ¡°...Thanks?¡± Aloe cautiously replied. ¡°Come on, Fikali.¡±


    The dweller followed her wordlessly, though not silently. Her bellyflops were all but silent.


    Something else is going on here. Aloe kept on her thoughts as she beelined to the city stables. The other guard said ¡®clear¡¯. Clear of what? If there¡¯s an outbreak going on you would inspect a person, not their beast of burden.


    Even when the Sadina stables were less than a five-minute walk from the gates, Aloe instantly saw the aura of pessimism over the city. Night had yet to fall, the sun shone dimly as it tainted the skies pink, and even then, the city felt gloomier than at night.


    It didn¡¯t take long for Aloe to find the stable master that sold her Fikali.


    ¡°Ah, if it isn''t the lass. How¡¯s Fikali doing?¡± The man added mostly unaffected by the gloominess in the environment.


    ¡°She¡¯s fine, could you take care of her for a few days?¡± Aloe asked him. If the stable master had given her his name at some point, she didn¡¯t remember.


    ¡°Of course. Though it''s going to cost you a fee.¡± He added with a grin, and painfully, Aloe held her groan.


    And fist.


    ¡°How much are we talking about?¡± Aloe inquired in defeat.


    ¡°Drupnar a day.¡±


    Aloe rolled her eyes. Most commonfolk daily salary shifted around the four and five drupnar mark. This man was asking for a quarter of a worker¡¯s salary.


    ¡°Fine.¡± Even if she was tight on money, she wouldn¡¯t let Fikali in the stables for a long time. It wasn¡¯t worth the discussion or headache. ¡°I¡¯ll pay you when I return.¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t have it another way.¡± The man said with a grin as she grabbed Fikali by the reins. ¡°Come¡¯re girl.¡±


    ¡°Bye, Fikali.¡± Aloe slightly crouched to the dweller¡¯s eye level. She didn¡¯t need to go that much down. ¡°I¡¯ll pick you up in a few days.¡±


    ¡°Hro.¡± The dweller grunted in casual understanding, dissatisfaction written all over her wrinkled visage.


    As Aloe strolled back to her house, she couldn¡¯t help but feel the aura weighing down on the city. People still walked the streets, merchants still sold their products in the bazaar, but there was something in their eyes. That gravitas...


    The feeling pressed down on her heart, and Aloe put more spring in her steps.


    Aloe''s shaky feet, still unstable from the prolonged riding, made her walk slowly, and by the time she managed to get home, darkness had sifted over the heavens.


    ¡°Hmm?¡± Aloe frowned as she found the door from her house locked. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t be Mom, already home?¡±


    She didn¡¯t mind it much, sometimes Shahrazad got late home. Thankfully Aloe carried keys in her satchels ¨C as leaving them behind would have been moronic ¨C and unlocked the door. The house was dark and silent, deprived of life.


    The first thing Aloe did was to remove her backpack and desert garb and then change into lighter and more comfortable clothes. She was too tired to go to the bathroom, let alone have a bath of any kind. Whether sand or water based. She would have that tomorrow.


    Her next stop was the kitchen, as she had grown somewhat hungry. Her last meal had been hours away, and she hadn¡¯t exactly eaten much. But as she brought a light to the dark kitchen she was met by a weird pot on the top of the kitchen table.


    ¡°What?¡± Aloe almost dropped the light. She recognized the dark colors and artistry of the pot.


    Before she could gather her thoughts, the sound of the door¡¯s hinges made her jump. Aloe quickly turned, her light slower than her as she saw a dark tall silhouette. Her heart skipped a beat.


    Instants later, as the light basked the corridor, Aloe recognized the figure.


    ¡°U-uncle Jafar?¡± Aloe asked, her voice trembling. Her thoughts elsewhere.


    ¡°It¡¯s true. You are back home...¡± The guard said with a low tone, uncharacteristic of his energic and easygoing self. ¡°I would have wanted to have a few more days before having you here...¡±


    ¡°J-Jafar.¡± Aloe stuttered. ¡°What¡¯s the meaning of that?¡± She pointed at the black jar with her light. ¡°Why is there a fune-¡°


    ¡°It¡¯s exactly what you think it is,¡± Jafar responded sharply, cutting through Aloe¡¯s words.


    ¡°You must be jesting,¡± Aloe replied, her heartbeat shaking harder than her hands or the light hanging from them. ¡°You don¡¯t know what I¡¯m thinking. Is this one of your jokes? This isn¡¯t f-funny y-you know?¡± Her voice became more erratic as it went on.


    ¡°It is no joke,¡± Jafar said in striking contrast. A calm oasis against a sandstorm. ¡°Your mother, Shahrazad, has perished.¡±


    Aloe fainted.

 Addendums

    <h2>Evolution</h2>


    Yet again I find myself investigating on the diverse power systems of the Existence. And they say the Records are an easy thing to maintain.


    Anyways, the subject of today¡¯s lecture is the vital arts. These multiple power systems of Khaffat (or at least that¡¯s how the ydazi call the land, no name is never more correct than any other talking about planets) are quite interesting. There are multiple ¡®vital arts¡¯, as they call them, but let me begin with perhaps the simplest one: Evolution.


    Evolution itself is a very peculiar power system as not only does it not follow a set of rules characteristic of power systems but is also end-negative.


    And you may ask, what does a power system being end negative entail?


    Simple, the flow of power.


    Most power systems tend to be either end-positive as they outsource their power (examples of these are superior entities, normally Incarnations, or the land providing for them) or end-neutral where power remains constant (it is not created nor destroyed, just transformed; these systems tend to utilize the power of the very conjurer).


    Now, you have seen how Evolution works and you ask yourself: how is this power system end negative then? Or permutations like: How is power being consumed? What¡¯s the definition of end negative? Or, can you stop with your prediction and move forward?


    To that, I answer: yes.


    End negative, in a very summarized manner, is when power is lost. Slight detour, power is a generalization of any form of energy as all power systems use one, though in this case, the vital arts use vitality. Back to my explanation, Evolution is end-negative because power is lost in the process of evolving, the main function of the power system.


    When a practitioner infuses (i.e. lends their power to other entities) a non-developed living being with their vitality with the intention of evolving them, that vitality is forever lost. The vitality that evolves the living being isn¡¯t now within the being; it has been consumed to transform it. And that exchange may not be equivalent. More likely than not, there will have been a loss of energy.


    This, however, isn¡¯t very problematic.


    Vitality is a regenerating and therefore infinite source of power, so in the end, Evolution being an end negative power system doesn¡¯t truly affect anything permanently. The only problem being that the power comes from the user, and vital arts themselves are on the low spectrum of power output, so even relatively minor power consumption may be atrociously draining.


    One can¡¯t deny, though, that there¡¯s a loss on the practitioner¡¯s vitality deposit. The loss in max quantity is rather small, mostly unperceivable, but there¡¯s a decrease in their potential each time they evolve a being.


    Explaining that logic is a whole rabbit hole I won¡¯t go any deeper, at least, today. The concept of potential and energy involves more aspects than just Life.


    However, Evolution is a taxing process that drives the individual forward, expanding their pool of power beyond their limits each time they try. In the end, unless you are performing very cheap evolutions that aren¡¯t challenging you, there will be a net gain on your total vitality at your disposal.


    Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.


    I digress, talking about vital arts and power systems - finality of power and especially end-negativity excite me - so let¡¯s get back to Evolution.


    Let¡¯s start with the actual definition.


    Evolution could simply be described as the act of modifying an undeveloped living being. This, for all intents and purposes, is not strict evolution but transformation. Plenty of outcomes do lead to the actual evolution of the living being, bypassing years or even ages of evolution in a single step, but just as many other outcomes simply lead to a metamorphosis.


    Metamorphosis isn¡¯t the exact term, however. Species can transform into new ones after subjecting them to Evolution, but they will transform into new or unrelated species. This means that there¡¯s not a metamorphosis from an embryonic stage to an adult one, but from the embryonic stage of the species to the embryonic stage of a different species.


    Evolution is, quite literally, the bane of any upstanding biologist.


    As you may have guessed, Evolution isn¡¯t the most correct term ¨C though it does hold water ¨C the process occurring here is similar to a mutation that can indeed lead to actual evolution. Though the chaotic results, ranging from straight evolution to random species substitution, are very much intended, mind you.


    And talking about mutation. Yes, you may have noticed the similarities between Evolution and Mutation.


    Evolution is, in a manner of speaking, Mutation¡¯s power system.


    The similarities of Mutation¡¯s abilities and Evolution¡¯s workings are uncanny, but there¡¯s a bit more nuance.


    Khaffat and its vital arts are a curious case, as there are multiple and rather unrelated power systems, the only connection being Life. This is not exactly the first time I have seen such a case, but it¡¯s not common at all. It could be considered a remnant of an early Primordial-less Existence. Or you could say that the power systems of Khaffat are a mutation of themselves. If Mutation had something to do with it, I''m not willing to say.


    I¡¯ll get into greater detail when we talk about the other vital arts.


    <hr>


    <h2>Coinage</h2>


    Ydazi coinage may seem convoluted to most, but one must think about the Asayn language before asking oneself about the bartering coin used in the Sultanate.


    Asayn language is mostly composed of the use of suffixes and compounds. Compound words alongside the use of modifiers at the end of words influence the tone and value of any given word.


    This is mostly seen in their use of coins.


    The Ydaz Sultanate has two base coins: the drupnar and the fajat. Both of them are made of copper and have the respective values of one (drupnar) and five drupnar. Subsequent denomination of coins are but permutations of those base coins with the usage of multiplicative suffixes that increase by orders of magnitude.


    There are four levels of coinage:


    Copper (or base level), consisting of the aforementioned drupnar and fajat.


    Silver, consisting og the drupnari and fajati. The ¡®i¡¯ acts as the suffix indicating silver (even if the word for the metal in Asayn is longer) and, indicates a tenfold increase in value. This means that a drupnari is worth ten drupnar, and a fajati is worth ten fajat (or fifty drupnar). The next levels follow the same logic.


    Electrum, comprised of the drupnarun and the fajatun. The ¡®un¡¯ acts as the suffix meaningelectrum (though in the case of the drupnarun it could be considered a compound word as the term for electrum in Asayn is ¡®arun¡¯) and, indicates a multiplicative value of a hundred. This means that a drupnarun is worth ten drupnari or a hundred drupnar. The same logic applies to the fajatun.


    Gold, comprising the drupnarea and the fajatea is the last tier of coins. The ¡®ea¡¯ acts as the suffix meaning gold (which lands the drupnarea in the same category as the drupnarun as ¡®area¡¯ is the word for gold in Asayn) and, has a multiplicative value of a thousand. Gold coins are rarely used in typical exchanges due to their impractical value, as a drupnarea is equivalent to a thousand drupnars and a fajatea to a thousand fajats, or even more ridiculous, five thousand drupnars.


    This is why, even though it may seem complex to foreigners, to us ydazi it¡¯s quite simple to grasp. Eight different coins based on just two, with suffixes that clearly delineate the value of a word. Suffixes we use in our daily life.


    As a curiosity, if I may add, the same multiplicators are being used by the scholars of the country to calculate massive units. It¡¯s not uncommon for architects and engineers to use ¡®kiloreas¡¯ or ¡®golden kilograms¡¯ to measure the weights of buildings, even if there may be more adequate prefixes or suffixes.


    Excerpt of On Language, Economy, and Mathematics by Nuha Chaibi.

 Book 2: 1. Nurture

    The sun shone fiercely golden on Asina, yet a more powerful star outshone it.


    Aaliyah-al-Ydaz stood in the middle of the training grounds, hundreds surrounding her. Against such odds one would expect the sultanah to show some hesitation, ¨C not fear, that was absolutely out of the question for someone of her caliber ¨C some modicum doubt.


    But it was the opposite.


    The ones surrounding the sultanah trembled. Their skin sweated, their arms trembled as they gripped hard on their weapons, and their feet became unstable as micromovements moved sand around.


    They were legion, and yet, they weren¡¯t fighting Aaliyah-al-Ydaz.


    She was fighting them.


    No one dared to move, they were forced into an impasse of fear. The sultanah became more and more bored by their inaction, and they realized how that could be dangerous.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to go light on the first that steps forward.¡± Aaliyah-al-Ydaz blessed them.


    A temperamental and ruthless person she was, but not a liar. The single confirmation of her grace prompted one of the fighters to step up to the match as lighting.


    Her face was covered in fear, but the words of forgiveness gave her strength. The young girl carried a dagger in each hand, their blades pointing downward like a predator¡¯s fangs. She jumped forward with inhuman strength, a cloud of sand forming on her feed as she became a black blur.


    Common soldiers, more bystanders of the test of strength than actual fighters, watched in confusion as they were unable to follow the girl¡¯s movements.


    The movements of the sultanzade.


    The sultanah¡¯s daughter shifted from place to place in small but fast jumps, forming a cloud of dust each time her feet touched the ground. It soon became apparent that it wasn¡¯t a byproduct of her movement, but an intentional tactic.


    And yet, for all her speed and subterfuge, it did not prove enough.


    As the girl lunged for the blow, soldiers and servants were more than surprised to find the young imperial princess struggling still in the air after a single blink.


    Aaliyah-al-Ydaz had grabbed her by her neck.


    ¡°U-ugh...¡± The young princess tried to talk, but her mother¡¯s vicious grip impeded her from doing so.


    ¡°Next!¡± The sultanah shouted as she discarded her daughter throwing her randomly across the arena like a discarded rag.


    A gesture that would have proven lethal to any other person, the sultanzade quickly recuperated from her dazed stated and twisted midair like a squirrel to reposition herself and land safely.


    She was not unharmed though. The princess caressed her neck, still unable to talk, and had difficulty breathing. She was the fastest of the younger offspring but even her speed had proven not enough to face the empress of the desert. The sultanzade doubted she would be able to talk for the day.


    That was what ¡®going easy¡¯ for the sultanah was.


    The princess quickly hid in the shadows, thankful that she would no longer need to participate in combat.


    For what was to come would be a massacre.


    ¡°I said next!¡± Aaliyah-al-Ydaz shouted and stomped her foot once on the ground.


    The earth shook. Rifts in the arena formed from the seemingly inoffensive stomp.


    The rest of the sultanzade attacked all at once.


    ¡°Are you alright?¡± Added a woman as she was looking at the fight. She looked at the defeated but lucky princess.


    The girl tried to talk, but only a cough left her mouth. She swayed her head in defeat.


    ¡°As expected.¡± The woman shrugged and put her arms under her bosom. Not only highlighting her bountiful assets but also letting her shoulders rest.


    The young princess looked at her with a hint of hate, not for her stern words, but for her lack of action. She knew the woman before her, she was but a carbon copy of the one who had just beaten her.


    Princess Rani, her half-sister.


    The woman was barely older than her, five years at most, and whilst she was the most similar looking to the heavenly Aaliyah-al-Ydaz, she was but perhaps one of the weakest sultanzade. Her siblings had told her that her Nurture was lacking.


    Shouldn¡¯t you be fighting? The young princess looked at the older one with a look transmitting that exact emotion.


    ¡°Perhaps,¡± Rani added with an amused grin. ¡°But we all know I wouldn¡¯t be able to get close to Aaliyah.¡±


    The girl skipped a heartbeat at the lack of respect and the familiarity directed at the sultanah. She hastily turned her head to the fight, fearing the sultanah may have heard her and she was out to get them.


    Aaliyah-al-Ydaz fought like a maelstrom, the attacks coming from all directions impeding her from staying still. She jumped from place to place, evading the onslaught of incoming attacks. Not only the sultanah was fast as air itself, but with every sudden move she made, the air cracked. Defeated.


    Most sultanzade specialized in something. Whether it was in physical capabilities, martial arts, or special Nurture abilities. The myriad of sultanzade donned a myriad of weapons and fighting styles of their own, prohibited from being taught those of the imperial family and forced to learn their own.


    Naila herself specialized in speed and a double dagger fighting style. Uncannily useful against normal people, or even assassins, but mostly useless against cultivators. They could either reinforce their senses to predict her or make their skin tough as stone to make her daggers useless.


    Or if your name was Aaliyah-al-Ydaz, both. One had to train individual reinforcements to become competent in, each field of their own. And even then, you could only have one active at a time. In theory, that was. For the blitzing catastrophe tearing through her half-siblings didn¡¯t play by the same rules.


    The sultanah, unlike the sultanzade, didn¡¯t specialize in any field.


    She was competent in all of them.


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    And it showed.


    Khalida and Kareem, the only twins in all of the sultanzade (even if they came from different fathers), approached the sultanah viciously. The female twin wielded a quarterstaff and focused on limiting Aaliyah-al-Ydaz¡¯s movements, whilst the male twin used two scimitars with the dauntless objective to decapitate the woman.


    Aaliyah-al-Ydaz didn¡¯t tolerate hesitation. Not even in training.


    Yet they were instantly defeated.


    The sultanah broke Khalida¡¯s staff in two with a flick of her finger and as she turned to face Kareem, her hair was enough to get him. With her raw strength, a simple turn made her ponytail into a fierce whip. Much like the weapon, Aaliyah-al-Ydaz¡¯s hair tore through the air, and the imperial prince was thrown around with a direct hit to the face.


    Naila shrunk in pain upon hearing the impact on the man¡¯s face. She was happy to have been the first blood. Knocked out in a fast but painless manner.


    ¡°See, completely useless.¡± Rani sighed at her side. ¡°And I value my face, my looks are my weapon. While talking about it, Kareem is probably going to need to wear a mask for a few weeks. Those wounds don¡¯t heal easily, I have an... understanding of the whip.¡±


    Going one by one, or two by two, obviously wasn¡¯t the best tactic whilst fighting the scourge of the sands, so once the fight had kickstarted the adrenaline of the sultanzade, they all shot at once toward the sultanah.


    The sultanzade were relentless, machines of pure violence as they assaulted their progenitor. They were obviously scared of fighting against the sultanah, death chance was non-zero, but the fact that they were allowed to hit her ¨C or at least try so ¨C without consequences motivated them with zealous fervor.


    Naila had one of the tamest nurturing experiences with her mother, and even then, her blood boiled, her heart ecstatic at the thought of ravaging her neck open.


    The youngest royals had no chance against Aaliyah-al-Ydaz. No matter how competent they may be in their fields, they only exceeded at one, if that. Naila was a genius among the youngest, and even then, she stood no better than the rest.


    The only cultivators who had a chance of getting first blood were the oldest. Not only had they fought the Sultanah far more times than the others but some of them had learned Nurture techniques.


    And those were powerful.


    Afar, one of the oldest princes, charged alongside his siblings. The man was already past forty, thrice as old as Naila, and yet he was nowhere close to matching Aaliyah-al-Ydaz.


    What made him different was his weapon choice: none.


    Like the sultanah, Afar¡¯s weapon was his own body. He started by punching the air a few meters away from Aaliyah-al-Ydaz, a gesture that would have been proven useless by a normal pugilist, to him it was a valuable technique.


    Air deformed around Afar¡¯s fist, the sheer power of his muscles sending ripples across the arena as he shot a wind blast toward the sultanah. The few clothes Aaliyah-al-Ydaz wore were threatened by the attack, but the person wearing them was immovable as a tree, deeply rooted in the ground.


    But that wasn¡¯t a Nurture technique.


    No, that had just been a display of simple and ruthless strength. His siblings charged from all the other sides as he readied. Most were instantly repelled but the movements, especially those of the sultanah dispatching her half-sibling around, were almost too fast for Naila to follow.


    She poured vitality into her senses, sound becoming crisper and her sight clearer. Naila felt the crevices of her mouth with uncanny detail, the air flowing between her hair strands, and the smell of sweat, dirt, and blood littering the arena.


    I''ll never get used to it.


    Aaliyah-al-Ydaz was now serious.


    Well... that is wrong. Mother is always serious, she said herself that lowering one¡¯s guard is a fool¡¯s errand. She¡¯s just... taking them seriously in the fight.


    Afar unleashed his ability.


    From the princes¡¯ fists, flames surged. The incandescent fire was nothing like the hearths Naila had seen. It was akin to the shine of the sun. A golden fire that purified everything along its path.


    Until it collided with Aaliyah-al-Ydaz.


    It wasn¡¯t that Afar¡¯s fire was weak, it was one of the greatest techniques Naila had ever seen, but the sultanah was in a league of her own. Naila could sense the fire burning her nostrils even from tens of meters away.


    Immovable as mountains, deadly as the desert, bountiful as a garden, gracious as a river.


    All of that was Aaliyah-al-Ydaz.


    As the fire cleared, the figure of the sultanah shone unharmed. And then, Naila instantly closed her eyes.


    Whilst the sultanah was unaffected by the scorching flames, her clothes were not. She didn¡¯t close her eyes for respect of her sultanah, or mother, but for the woman¡¯s charm. And she did not mean it in a literal sense, but a cultivator¡¯s one.


    The rest of the sultanzade, servants, soldiers, and any bystanders did the same.


    Aaliyah-al-Ydaz charm was a powerful weapon, much like the rest of her body. Most of the time was inoffensive, though Naila had heard of some... shortcomings in the bathhouse. The sultanah kept women closer to her than men because most were partially resistant to her charms.


    Emphasis on most.


    But even then, all of this was in a normal scenario. One where Aaliyah-al-Ydaz wouldn¡¯t be using vitality actively. But she was now in a fight, and her body was a destroying maelstrom of vitality.


    Her natural charms were, quite enough, able to infatuate anyone. Horror stories of people whose enchantment never disappeared lingered through the palace, people whose mind was only filled with the concept of Aaliyah-al-Ydaz.


    And those charms were especially effective if she were naked.


    Which she was.


    The thoughts of Aaliyah-al-Ydaz¡¯s hidden bits of bronze skin filled her mind. She had just seen a blur of them for a millisecond. But the thought endured.


    Naila couldn¡¯t deny she was a bit tempted to look.


    To check if the rumors were true.


    To see how magnific-


    ¡°Ugh...¡± A sigh at her side interrupted her thoughts, clearing her faltering mind.


    It came from Princess Rani, and before Naila had enough time to process what was happening, she heard the woman¡¯s steps on the ground, and from the corner of her eye saw how she assaulted a maid that turned her back from the sultanah.


    ¡°Kya!¡± The maid yelped as the princess stripped her of her clothes with a single pull.


    The maid did not dare to turn her back nor protest.


    ¡°You should work on your modesty, Aaliyah.¡± Rani heretically told to the sultanah.


    Naila heard the sound of clothing brushing against the air. It was obvious what the sultanzade had done. And whilst she was both scared and offended by Rani¡¯s tone, Naila couldn¡¯t help but think how she was immune from the powerful charms.


    ¡°Ah, you are a lifesaver, Rani,¡± Aaliyah-al-Ydaz responded amicably, unfazed by her daughter¡¯s disrespect. ¡°But you should have joined your siblings. You are never going to nurture yourself if you don¡¯t practice.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not going to make much difference, is it?¡± The light-handed nature of women¡¯s voices surprised Naila. They didn¡¯t seem like mother and daughter, but lifelong friends. Friends with a lot of venom in their tone, but friends, nonetheless. ¡°My abilities fall elsewhere.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± The sultanah admitted, sounds of the torn clothes grazing her skin graced Naila¡¯s ears. ¡°Your innate charm is second to me, I wonder where you got that?¡±


    Mother joked? Naila couldn¡¯t believe what she was hearing. The sultanah was a paragon of violence, sexuality, and excellence. She had never seen Aaliyah-al-Ydaz joke. Even if it was a jest as slight as this one.


    ¡°Your talents as a cultivator, shameful as they are, aren¡¯t without their merits.¡± Naila heard the sultanah take a step forward, her bare feet displacing the sand on the ground. ¡°Come, you and I have a lot to talk about. As for the rest, you can already look. Cowards!¡± The sultanah shouted. ¡°Decent warm-up, but you all still have a lot before you!¡±


    Even if she taunted everyone like that, she was the most conscious about her situation. Her charms could lead anyone to madness, even her own descendants, to assault her. Of course, no one would succeed, but it wasn¡¯t madness for anything. Once you were charmed, logic failed.


    Naila opened her eyes and gazed upon the two women, still flabbergasted by her half-sister¡¯s ability to survive the charms, and her eyes only made her redden.


    Princess Rani and Sultanah Aaliyah-al-Ydaz.


    The two women had shining bronze skin and radiant amethyst eyes. It was obvious that they were daughter and mother. Their differences, however, didn¡¯t lay on age. Aaliyah-al-Ydaz, thanks to her perfect cultivation and Nurture abilities, looked as young if not younger than Rani.


    The differences between the two were in their constitution.


    Aaliyah-al-Ydaz was tall, strong woman. At a towering two-meter high, covered in powerful and delicious muscles, she was the symbol of the strength of the Sultanate.


    Rani was the incarnation of what an imperial princess should look like. Tall, but not much. Curvaceous, yet with breasts not as obscenely big as her mother¡¯s. Made up, but not a lot (yet with infinitely more make-up than the sultanah as she was all au nature). And above all else, seductive.


    As the two most beautiful women in the arena walked past her, Naila couldn¡¯t help but land her eyes on Aaliyah-al-Ydaz¡¯s marked abs.


    There''s still a lot of work left to do. Naila thought with a mixture of shame and excitement as she caressed her belly button. She had muscles, especially a lot of them for an underage girl, but not enough to be a menace.


    I need to nurture myself more. The sultanzade gripped her two daggers with the intent to kill.

 Book 2: 2. Pain

    Pain awoke Aloe.


    She tried to move but found herself restricted by a blanket. She tried to talk but found a knot in her throat. She just waited there dazed as the pain returned.


    ¡°Argh!¡± Aloe groaned as her insides burned, kicking away her sheets violently as she spasmed. ¡°Why now?¡± Tears formed in the corners of her eyes. ¡°Did it come early?¡±


    The girl curled into a ball as her stomach ached like a salted wound and her nether regions became hotter.


    ¡°Ah!¡± The next grunt came more powerfully, bypassing any restriction her throat might have had.


    Aloe twisted in pain in bed, unable to recall what had happened to her. She didn¡¯t remember what happened yesterday, just that she had just magically woken up in bed.


    ¡°Ugh!¡± The pain was maddening, destroying any concentration she may have. Her thoughts were as dispersed as sand in a sandstorm. ¡°When will... this... end?¡±


    She asked no one, maybe a prayer to the heavens, but she couldn¡¯t actually tell herself. Her mind was but an incoherent mess, the physical pain striking through with such violence that it transformed into a mental one.


    Aloe started coughing uncontrollably as her head began hurting. She couldn¡¯t even tell if she was suffering from menstrual pains or a cold at this point. Not that it mattered to her. The pain was the only thing she knew.


    As her throat started to spasm, heaving up and down in small jerks, Aloe gathered enough presence of mind as she moved her head to the side of the bed.


    Just in time as her stomach¡¯s contents were forced out of her.


    Vomit poured out of her mouth, falling onto the tiled floor. Only making Aloe even more dazed as she found her stomach fully emptied and her head plummeted on top of the pillow.


    ¡°Ugh...¡± She groaned in mindless pain, her mind a paragon of emptiness.


    ¡°What¡¯s happening here?¡± A female voice rang through the doorway. Aloe tried to raise her head but didn¡¯t find enough strength to do so. ¡°Great heavens! Aloe, are you alright?¡±


    Aloe looked at the figure that had approached her with confusion.


    ¡°Aunty Mirah? What are you doing here? Where¡¯s my...¡±


    And her mind blanked out.


    <hr>


    Mirah''s eyes shot wide open as the groans coming from the other room woke her up. Jafar slept at her side soundly, totally unaware of the commotion happening next door. With a sigh, she stood up from the bed and walked up to the guest room.


    ¡°What¡¯s happening here?¡± Mirah asked their guest only to be greeted by a fetid smell. The faint rays of sunlit pouring through the window slit revealed the pool of puke and the defeated girl. ¡°Great heavens! Aloe, are you alright?¡± She asked, even if the answer was quite clear.


    Aloe slowly and sickly looked up to her. ¡°Aunty Mirah? What are you doing here? Where¡¯s my...¡±


    And she collapsed.


    ¡°Aloe?¡± Mirah asked as she approached the girl. ¡°Aloe! Respond to me!¡± The woman slightly slapped the girl''s face, but she didn¡¯t wake up. ¡°Jafar, help!¡±


    She sought aid from her husband in her distress.


    <hr>


    The blinding sun shook Aloe away from her sleep.


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    ¡°Hey, you. You¡¯re finally awake.¡± She heard a female voice, but Aloe was unable to look at it as the sun blocked her sight.


    Aloe led her hand to her head, not only to cover her eyes but to try to soothe her mind-splitting headache. ¡°Ugh...¡± She groaned.


    ¡°Here,¡± A hand lent her help as it pushed her back upward. ¡°Drink.¡±


    As soon as she was going to ask ¡®Drink what?¡¯, Aloe saw the cup before her. It wasn¡¯t steaming, but it was still hot to the touch. Without thinking twice, Aloe drank from it as her lips were cracked from dehydration.


    ¡°Mirah?¡± Aloe asked after the infusion traveled down her throat, swiftly clearing her mind. ¡°What happened?¡± Then she looked at the surroundings. She did not recognize them. ¡°W-where? Where am I?¡±


    ¡°You are in my house,¡± Mirah said with a sigh of exhaustion as she stood up and closed the annoying window.


    ¡°H-how long have I been sleeping?¡±


    The housewife looked through the window she had just closed before giving an answer.


    ¡°Around three hours from the last time you woke up,¡± Mirah revealed. ¡°You fainted, Aloe. Twice, mind you. Jafar brought you here last night. He went to look for you after one of his mates told him you arrived in the city. But he told me that as soon as he met you, you fainted. Then he took you in as he didn¡¯t trust you leaving you alone.¡±


    ¡°Why shouldn¡¯t he trust me?¡± Aloe confusedly asked, after taking another sip from the infusion. ¡°Why would I even fai-¡°


    Realization dawned on her as the memories poured in. Her mind and visage became a grim twisted mess, and she blamed the clarity that the infusion had brought her. An undesirable clarity.


    ¡°I-is... is it true?¡± Aloe trembled, drops of hot liquid pouring out of the cup as she trembled.


    Mirah looked at her with an equally grim look. They had never had the best relationship. She didn¡¯t hate Mirah, nor did Mirah hate her, but this was without a doubt the wickedest expression Aloe had seen the housewife do, and it wasn¡¯t directed at her.


    ¡°It is,¡± Mirah responded as she looked down in the ground, unable to muster enough courage to look at the girl in the eyes.


    ¡°How!¡± Aloe exclaimed and she tried to stand up from her resting position, but instantly collapsed, ragged breath following her fall.


    ¡°Aloe!¡± The older woman cried. ¡°Watch out, you haven¡¯t recovered!¡±


    ¡°How?¡± The girl asked once more, unfazed by Mirah¡¯s words. Though her own voice was weaker than before. ¡°Tell me Mirah, just... how?¡±


    It was hard to hold back the tears.


    Everything just felt like a bad dream. The pain but a symbol of a nightmare that didn¡¯t just end.


    ¡°The plague.¡± The housewife continued to not meet her eyes, but she talked. ¡°Even if it doesn¡¯t spread far, it kills fast. Before we even knew it, Shahrazad was on her deathbed.¡± Aloe saw through the corners of her eyes as Mirah bit her underlip.


    ¡°But... how?¡± She couldn¡¯t still believe it. ¡°Mom was a scribe under the direct orders of the emir, there must be something that could be done!¡±


    ¡°They tried but there was a breach in the palace. A lot of servants have also died and anyone who has contracted the plague has yet to survive.¡±


    ¡°But... but!¡± Aloe didn¡¯t even know what to say.


    ¡°If you want more details, you should ask Jafar when he returns,¡± Mirah added. ¡°He knows far more than I of the state of affairs of the city as he was stationed on the palace during these days.¡±


    ¡°I...¡± Aloe was at a total loss of words and didn¡¯t know what to say.


    They stood in silence in the room for a few minutes, but as Aloe gathered enough strength and presence of mind to talk, pain assaulted her.


    Vicious and dizziness.


    A familiar yet hateful pain.


    Aloe began hyperventilating as her back fell onto the mattress.


    ¡°Hey! Are you okay?¡± Mirah jumped out of her seat and lunged at Aloe. ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡±


    ¡°N-nothi-¡° Aloe¡¯s words were cut as the pain became stronger. She grabbed her torso as if trying to catch up the pain and stop it from twisting her insides.


    It was, of course, a useless endeavor.


    Mirah looked at where Aloe¡¯s hands were guided and took away the sheets from her legs. She was met by a puddle of dried and new blood.


    ¡°Aloe, drink.¡± She offered the cup once more. ¡°It¡¯s a mixture of jasmine and chamomile, it¡¯s going to make you feel better.¡±


    Aloe tried to comply with Mirah¡¯s directions, but her hands trembled too much from the pain.


    ¡°Ugh...¡± Aloe curled into a ball, the pain darkening her vision.


    She just wished for everything to end.


    To wake up from this nightmare.


    Please, help... Tears flowed from the corners of her eyes.


    ¡°Hey, hey! Stay with me, Aloe!¡± Mirah slapped her, making her regain some consciousness. ¡°Drink.¡±


    And she poured the infusion down Aloe¡¯s throat.


    The liquid, now lukewarm, filled Aloe¡¯s mouth. With great difficulty, she pushed herself to drink. Her mind was a mess, her body a ruin.


    Only after finishing the whole cup and having a handful of deep breaths, she managed to stabilize.


    ¡°Mirah...¡± Aloe said as she gritted her teeth and clutched her stomach.


    ¡°Yes, Aloe?¡± The housewife said with the sweetest and gentlest motherly tone Aloe had ever heard.


    ¡°Am I a bad daughter?¡± She asked, her eyes becoming watery.


    ¡°Of course not. Why would you even say that?¡± Mirah grabbed Aloe¡¯s hands and brought them into her own.


    ¡°Then why do I feel more pain from my cramps than my mother¡¯s death?¡± Aloe broke into crying.

 Book 2: 3. Withstand

    Tears kept pouring, Aloe couldn¡¯t control herself, the pain had left her body totally numb. And even then, she kept feeling it. She wouldn¡¯t even know she was still crying if it weren¡¯t for the constant warm and wet touches hitting her hands.


    ¡°Oh, Aloe.¡± Mirah sang as she hugged her, a hum reminiscent of a lullaby coming from her mouth. ¡°You just need to rest more. Your mind is clouded, your body is aching, and your heart is broken. Let me go fetch you another cup.¡±


    Aloe wanted to tell her that no, that she didn¡¯t want her to go away, but no words came out of her mouth. Only tears out of her eyes.


    Breaths came in and out of Aloe¡¯s mouth as she found herself unable to breathe through her nose. As far as Aloe was concerned, not even nine breaths after she left, Mirah came back into the room with a steaming teacup.


    ¡°Watch out, it¡¯s hot.¡± Mirah left the cup on Aloe¡¯s lap instead of giving it directly to her.


    Which proved to be the right decision as she didn¡¯t know if she could even hold the cup without spilling the contents.


    ¡°Drink and you¡¯ll feel better.¡± Mirah¡¯s words sounded like a heavenly promise.


    So Aloe did.


    Then instantly burned her tongue.


    ¡°I told you it was hot!¡± Mirah exclaimed. ¡°Oh, sorry...¡± And backed out defeated and ashamed for raising her voice.


    ¡°T-there¡¯s no problem...¡± Aloe finally talked, her voice weak.


    Slowly, Aloe blew the steam away from the cup. After what felt like an eternity, she took the first sip. The scalding infusion, whilst painful to drink, alleviated Aloe as if it was purging the evils away from her with divine fire.


    Not even two sips in, Aloe put the cup down and looked at Mirah.


    ¡°Could I be alone for a few minutes?¡± Her voice was still weak, but it now conveyed a hint of presence of mind, of intellect.


    ¡°I... uhm...¡± Mirah wasn¡¯t sure how to respond. It was written all over her face that she didn¡¯t want to leave the girl alone. ¡°S-sure. I¡¯ll leave for a few minutes whilst I gather some water.¡± But in the end respected her wishes. ¡°We need you to get you and those sheets clean. Between the sand, the tears, and the blood, you look like a djinn.¡±


    ¡°Y-yes... that would be great,¡± Aloe added with a fickle smile.


    It was only when the housewife stood up and closed the door behind her that Aloe allowed herself to breathe.


    She wouldn¡¯t cry, she hadn¡¯t asked for isolation to drown in her misery, she was too bad of a person to do that.


    Her body and mind were so tainted by pain that Aloe couldn¡¯t even feel the pain in her heart. She felt dry out of emotions. No anger, no sadness. Just pure nothingness.


    As she looked at the door confused and dazed, Aloe recalled why she had made Mirah out in the first place.


    If I can withstand the pain... Aloe pondered, even her thoughts were sluggish. Then I just need to make myself tougher.


    The vital arts were a practice that relied heavily on concentration and intent. The former, Aloe severely lacked it. She felt as if she was going to pass out, if not away, at a moment¡¯s notice. But the latter... the latter she had in plenitude.


    Her body ached to overcome the pain.


    Her mind wished for the pain to disappear.


    It was difficult and slow. Aloe had never managed vitality under such strenuous conditions, not even when she was suffering from severe dehydration when she sensed and used the arcane energy for the first time.


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    Back then she was committed and focused. Her body didn¡¯t ache, it was just close to death. A subtle but very important difference.


    Even in exhaustion, starvation, and dehydration, it was easier to concentrate than whilst in pain.


    The swirling stream of energy inside her felt odd. It had the same cadence as ever, a slow stream, more akin to mud than water, but it wasn¡¯t strong. Her vitality normally flowed with inexorable strength, an unstoppable yet slow entity.


    It was weakened.


    The pain... Aloe thought with her closed eyes. It¡¯s even affecting my vitality. Even if she would have enjoyed theorizing how one¡¯s state could affect their vitality and other consequences, her mind wasn¡¯t on it. She could barely keep her thoughts stray to withhold her concentration; theorizing was well beyond her current capabilities.


    Concentrate, just... Aloe jerked in pain as yet another cramp assaulted her. They... they aren¡¯t that bad. Shouldn¡¯t be that bad.


    Pushed by a deadline set by her own crumbling body, Aloe rushed herself. Unfortunately, internal infusions weren¡¯t a fast process.


    For the next five minutes, or what she supposed they were as she couldn¡¯t measure them but normally took that much time, Aloe fought against her own body not to only keep her concentration but also wakefulness.


    ¡°Done...¡± Aloe collapsed on the bed, triumphant yet paradoxically defeated, with a heavy groan. ¡°I... think it¡¯s working already.¡±


    She didn¡¯t even know if it would work for starters, but she had to try. Toughness was a... tough characteristic to delimitate and describe, especially when talking about the abstract and archaic description of infused ¡®toughness¡¯.


    ¡°At least... the pain is receding,¡± Aloe said between pants. Her stomach violently raised up and down as air filled her lungs.


    Not even a minute later, Mirah made her way into the room with a bucket and towel at hand.


    ¡°How are you feeling?¡± The housewife asked as she left the bucket on the floor next to the bed.


    ¡°...Better.¡± She was feeling better, but for some reason, when talking to Mirah she had difficulties.


    Perhaps because the motherly figure reminded her of what she lost.


    Aloe gritted her teeth and dissipated those thoughts.


    ¡°Anyhow...¡± Mirah clapped her hands, distracting the girl. ¡°How about we clean that sweat away?¡±


    ¡°...¡± Aloe painfully exhaled as she stood up before coming to the right words. ¡°Yes, please.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s take out this first.¡± Before Aloe could ask what, she grabbed her by the shoulders, slightly raising her petite body up, and removed her nightgown.


    ¡°Oh.¡± The girl mussed as she now noticed the clothes she was wearing. ¡°Em... did you change me?¡±


    ¡°I did, yes.¡± Mirah absentmindedly responded as she left the bloodied gown on the floor. Then her mouth curved into an amused smile. ¡°What did you think Jafar changed you?¡± The glee behind that visage was obvious.


    ¡°No,¡± Aloe responded stoically.


    ¡°Oh, you are no fun.¡± Mirah sighed and dipped the towel in the bucket, then wringing out the excess water.


    ¡°By the way, who¡¯s nightgown is that?¡± Aloe pointed at the discarded gown with a lone finger, not even able to muster enough strength to move the whole arm. ¡°It doesn¡¯t look like my own.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s Aya¡¯s,¡± Mirah said as she brought the towel to Aloe¡¯s back, the girl jerking a bit at the cold touch as the water dripped on her naked back. ¡°You have similar builds after all.¡± Even if she couldn¡¯t see her, Aloe knew the housewife was smiling in derision at her back. ¡°She won¡¯t like to hear what you did to her dress.¡±


    ¡°Was it her favorite?¡± Aloe asked, a bit ashamed.


    ¡°Not really.¡± Mirah dismissed her worries. ¡°But she¡¯s a good girl and values all of them equally.¡±


    ¡°I see...¡± Aloe whispered, not aware of what she was saying. If she let her mind stray for an instant, her concentration greatly faltered. The internal infusion had worked, and she mostly didn¡¯t feel any pain. New pain that was. The echoes of all that she had suffered still lingered in her psyche. Constant bumps, like that of a heartbeat, didn¡¯t allow her to rest.


    ¡°Back¡¯s done, extend your arms.¡± Aloe did as instructed, letting Mirah wash as she pleased.


    But the housewife¡¯s hands touched something Aloe didn¡¯t expect.


    ¡°Eep!¡± The girl yelped in surprise as the cold towel roamed her armpits. ¡°Mirah!¡± She shouted. ¡°You said the arms!¡±


    ¡°And where am I exactly then?¡± The woman responded seriously, even if her visage betrayed her. ¡°But I¡¯m happy of having done so. Some of the gloominess in your posture has leaped away with that jump.¡±


    Aloe turned her back slightly and peered into Mirah¡¯s eyes. Her gaze was truly welcoming and warm. That warmth was truly soothing and...


    Then the door shot wide open.


    ¡°Mirah! I didn¡¯t find you anywhere, how¡¯s Aloe?¡± And Jafar poured in.


    Aloe blinked thrice before processing the loud entrance of the guard. Then she looked down at her uncovered chest.


    The next instants happened too fast for Aloe to even remember, but with one hand she covered whatever modesty she had remaining, and with the other picked up the towel with what Mirah had been cleaning her ¨C and with a deadly aim ¨C landed it perfectly between the man¡¯s eyes.


    That throw had totally spent Aloe, she was already powerless, but with her vitality shifted into the ¡®toughness¡¯ infusion, she was objectively weaker than before.


    ¡°Knock before entering!¡± And even then, Aloe had enough energy to rupture everyone¡¯s eardrums with her scream.

 Book 2: 4. Summon

    ¡°Damn, that¡¯s quite the character,¡± Jafar said from the other side of the room.


    ¡°Character? I¡¯ll give you character!¡± Aloe growled, a vein popping in her temple. ¡°I wish that the towel was scalding!¡±


    ¡°Woah, no need for such aggressiveness. It isn¡¯t like I haven¡¯t seen you naked before, little plant¡± The guard added.


    ¡°That was ages ago!¡± The girl refuted, her arm pressuring against her chest. ¡°And I don¡¯t want your perverted eyes over me!¡±


    ¡°Sorry to tell you this, but you are skinny for my liking.¡± Jafar snickered behind the door. ¡°I like ¡®em meaty ya¡¯ know?¡± Aloe¡¯s eyes wordlessly shifted to the housewife¡¯s voluptuous figure. ¡°Anyways, can I enter already?¡±


    ¡°Give her one second,¡± Mirah responded first. ¡°Here Aloe, cover yourself with the sheets.¡±


    Aloe did as instructed, covering herself with the rather unclean sheets. She would have been repulsed if it were not because it was her own substances dirtying it and the fact that she already felt repugnantly unclean at the moment.


    ¡°Come in.¡± She added after enveloping her tiny frame with the cloth.


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s good to see you with such high spirits after the recent events,¡± Jafar said as he entered back into the room.


    Aloe¡¯s expression turned ever-so-gloomier at the implications of the guard¡¯s words, rage shifting to sadness.


    ¡°Ehem.¡± Mirah cleared her throat, distracting Aloe¡¯s thoughts and attracting Jafar¡¯s attention. ¡°What did you want, darling? It¡¯s a bit rude to blast open the door of a sick person¡¯s room.¡±


    ¡°Sick person?¡± Jafar pondered for an instant before his eyes settled on the bloodied nightgown on the ground. ¡°Oooh. I get it now. She¡¯s on that time of the month.¡±


    ¡°Blunt, but yes.¡± His wife sighed at her husband¡¯s lack of tact. ¡°What did you think the vomiting in the morning was?¡±


    Vomit? Aloe thought, unable to recall ever puking. Though now that she mentioned it, her stomach felt a bit light.


    ¡°Well, considering the circumstances, I believed it was because of Shara-¡°


    ¡°Jafar!¡± Mirah snapped at the man. ¡°You don¡¯t do that!¡±


    The housewife turned back to look at Aloe, whose face had become paler yet paradoxically darker.


    ¡°Sorry, sorry.¡± Jafar apologized. ¡°It¡¯s been now a few days, but for her, it was just yesterday.¡±


    ¡°Just... don¡¯t talk, darling,¡± Mirah responded with a facepalm and a sigh. ¡°Leave us alone, Aloe needs to rest.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid I can¡¯t do that,¡± Jafar added with a sigh of his own.


    ¡°What was that now?¡± Mirah raised her voice and jumped off of the bed, leaving Aloe¡¯s side. ¡°What do you mean you can¡¯t leave the poor grieving girl alone?¡±


    ¡°The emir.¡± The guard responded solemnly.


    ¡°Oh.¡± With those two single words, the sheer mention of the title, Mirah¡¯s temper instantly cooled.


    ¡°The emir has summoned Aloe to the court.¡±


    Aloe blinked thrice before processing the words coming out of Jafar¡¯s mouth. Her mind was working so slowly and her head hurt so much that she thought she had heard wrong, but judging from Mirah¡¯s reaction, she noticed that her ears were working well.


    ¡°W-why does the emir want to see me?¡± Aloe asked weakly, she couldn¡¯t discern if she did so as for the lack of strength or the raw intimidation from the summon.


    Before responding, Jafar looked at Mirah for confirmation. The housewife looked down in defeat, realizing what her husband was going to say, but she didn¡¯t stop him this time.


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    ¡°It¡¯s regarding your mother, Aloe.¡± Jafar explicitly avoided mentioning her name.


    ¡°Oh.¡± Aloe let out the same sound of surprise and acknowledgment that Mirah had done a few seconds before.


    ¡°Must it be now?¡± Mirah pleaded. ¡°Aloe is not feeling well besides her grief.¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t go against the emir¡¯s orders, Mirah,¡± Jafar responded with a sad tone and emphatic expression.


    ¡°I¡¯m not saying to go against them!¡± The woman stated defensively. ¡°Just... give Aloe a bit more time.¡±


    ¡°Sorry, can¡¯t do.¡± Mirah and Aloe knew that the man meant his apology, but that didn¡¯t change anything. ¡°Aloe must present herself on the palace today.¡±


    Mirah looked at Aloe with pity, prompting the girl to sigh. She was suffering and aching from multiple fronts and sources, but that look hurt her more.


    Aloe looked at Mirah.


    ¡°I¡¯ll...¡± Her voice was heavy, rough, and slow. She gulped down saliva and then turned to Jafar. ¡°I¡¯ll do it.¡±


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll give you a moment to change and then we can get on our way, the sooner we end this the better,¡± Jafar said.


    ¡°No.¡± Mirah interjected.


    ¡°No?¡± Jafar was flabbergasted at the negation.


    ¡°I¡¯m not going to let you bring this defeated and dirty girl,¡± Hey! ¡°into the very emir¡¯s palace.¡± Mirah stood up against the tall guard. ¡°It needs to be today, right?¡±


    ¡°Yup, that¡¯s right,¡± Jafar affirmed, unfazed by the woman¡¯s attempts at intimidation.


    ¡°Give us a few hours so I can bring Aloe to the public baths at least.¡±


    Jafar stood impassively for a pregnant moment, his expression showing that she was pondering his wife¡¯s petition. A few seconds later, he responded with a sigh.


    ¡°Alright, get you two to the bath and make Aloe worthy of standing before the imperials.¡±


    <hr>


    Before going to the bath Aloe, or rather Mirah, cleaned her body of traces of blood. Specifically, Aloe¡¯s nether regions. It had been a bit humiliating, but Mirah made no jokes or fuss about it, and Aloe appreciated that greatly.


    As for clothing, Mirah thankfully didn¡¯t need to lend her any clothes as the ones she wore before collapsing were still clean. That had been a lifesaver because, if she had no clothes, it would have been difficult to obtain them. Mirah¡¯s clothes were just too big ¨C especially on the torso region ¨C and Aya¡¯s clothes were too small. Even if Aloe had similar stature to the little girl, her build was that of a child, meaning Aya¡¯s clothes were impossibly tight ¨C especially on the hips.


    The nightgown had been an exception as it was made of loose fabric.


    ¡°How are you faring, Aloe?¡± Mirah asked once they got out of the house.


    Aloe had been offered a few pieces of fruit before leaving, but after a cup of water and half a banana, her stomach couldn¡¯t take more even if she had eaten a miserable meal.


    ¡°Fine, I think?¡± Aloe responded awkwardly, having some unsteadiness in her step.


    ¡°You are one of those, huh,¡± Mirah said.


    ¡°One of what?¡± The girl inquired following the housewife a bit behind, her pace lacking.


    ¡°Of those girls who are devastated by their menstruation.¡± Mirah clarified.


    ¡°Absolutely.¡± Aloe groaned, her face vaguely reddening. ¡°It¡¯s a nightmare. Every month the same torture. Dizziness, cramps, aching, occasional vomiting, mood swings, especially mood swings. How do you deal with it yourself?¡±


    ¡°I haven¡¯t experienced those problems myself, if I¡¯m honest,¡± Mirah responded and Aloe noticed this was the first conversation, a real one without any intermediary forcing them to talk, she had with Mirah. ¡°I¡¯ve seen others suffer like you, maybe not as bad, and that kind of makes me scared. What if Aya is also like that when she grows up? I don¡¯t have the experience, even when I was young I had no problems whatsoever, so I fear won¡¯t be able to help her.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll do well with her,¡± Aloe responded honestly. ¡°You did quite a good job with me. Infusion included. My mo-¡°


    And then cut herself.


    It was really hard to not think about it. It was so sudden. Aloe didn¡¯t believe it, couldn¡¯t believe it. She was well and fine when she left a month ago, and now... now she was dead.


    Suddenly, without notice.


    ¡°Hey,¡± Mirah snapped her fingers. ¡°Do not think about it. Just think about what you have in front of you and how we are going to have a girl¡¯s outing.¡±


    ¡°Girl¡¯s outing? Yeah and the other hundreds on the public baths.¡±


    ¡°Who do you take me for?¡± The woman scoffed and took out a handful of fajats. ¡°I ain¡¯t gonna take us to cheap baths. We are going to have good ones. You are going to visit the emir, after all.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t need to, really,¡± Aloe said, pushing away the copper coins.


    ¡°But I do,¡± Mirah added with that sweet, warm, motherly smile of hers. ¡°Aloe, you have had two losses in a single month. I would be already devastated at one, but two? I don¡¯t know how you are coping with it.¡±


    Two? Before Aloe asked, she realized that Mirah was talking about Karaim. Oh right, the old man died. Even if he left me a whole piece of land and houses of my own, plus some mystical and unknown magical arts, I don¡¯t really feel a bit of sadness. That lack of shame and mourning on Karaim¡¯s death comforted Aloe, no matter how macabre and awful that may be. A lack of feelings was exactly what she needed right now.


    ¡°Anyways,¡± Mirah cut through as Aloe had stayed lingering too much on her thoughts. ¡°Shall we get going?¡± And picked up her hand.


    She¡¯s got it all wrong. Aloe thought to herself. Mirah thinks I¡¯m devastated by loss, too traumatized to even show my emotions. When, in reality, I have none. Aloe walked forward, her eyes empty and deprived of color.


    I¡¯m just a monster that doesn¡¯t feel anything.

 Book 2: 5. Shame

    It took them more time than Aloe would have liked to arrive at the public baths, but unfortunately, her crotch didn¡¯t precisely allow for movement. Forget sudden movements, the ache was so bad that it was difficult to even walk slowly.


    ¡°Do you need help with the steps?¡± Mirah pointed to the massive set of stairs at the entrance to the baths with a nudge of her head.


    ¡°No, thank you.¡± Aloe dismissed her. ¡°I¡¯m bad, but not that bad.¡±


    And then instantly regretted it as she advanced onto the first step.


    ¡°Damnation...¡± Aloe muttered under her breath. That pain went through my damned ¡®toughness¡¯.


    ¡°You doing fine there?¡± Mirah turned back to face her.


    ¡°Perfectly,¡± Aloe responded with a fake grin. ¡°But it¡¯s going to take me a bit to make my way up.¡±


    Fortunately for her, there weren¡¯t many steps to the side entrance. By the time they reached the gateway, Aloe was half-panting, half-tearing up. She was, indeed, worse than she let out.


    ¡°Let me pay for the entrance fee and make your way to the changeroom meanwhile,¡± Mirah told her as walked to the receptionist, the same as the last time Aloe had come to visit the baths.


    Aloe limped her way to the change room, exhaustion weighing down her body. It¡¯s the infusion. She pondered as she moved. It¡¯s making me handle the pain better, but at the same time, it¡¯s exhausting me faster. And I already had no stamina before shifting to ¡®toughness¡¯. Aloe wanted to sigh, but she needed every moment she could save to breathe.


    ¡°Set and done.¡± Mirah came behind her, just as she made it to the change room. ¡°Do you need help undressing?¡±


    ¡°I...¡± Whilst her pride told her no, that same pride had almost made her crotch be split in half, so Aloe thought it out twice before answering. ¡°Yes... I would appreciate it.¡±


    Aloe sat down on a small wooden bench on the side of the changing room with a thud and allowed Mirah to remove her clothes. The housewife¡¯s fingers worked swiftly, removing Aloe¡¯s blouse in a blink of an eye, though she found a bit of resistance when removing her skirt. Aloe tried to raise her butt up but couldn''t manage to muster enough strength in her arms to do so.


    Mirah wasn¡¯t stopped by that as her strength was greater than it seemed and grabbed Aloe by her armpit and raised her small body as if were an amphora, and with the other hand yanked the skirt out.


    ¡°Ehm... I can manage the underwear on my own.¡± Aloe said as she blushed before the woman did it herself. The surprising display of strength had left Aloe ashamed of her own weakness.


    ¡°Alright,¡± Mirah responded, not thinking much of it, and started to undress.


    Unlike Aloe¡¯s petite build, Mirah was dotted with great assets all around. The housewife removed her blouse, spilling her breasts out. Bras weren¡¯t a common occurrence between common folk, but Aloe thought if someone had to wear them, it was the woman in front of her.


    It was impossible to not be jealous of Mirah.


    Not only she was tall, but she had curves in all the right places. It would be easy for her to pass for a noblewoman with a body like hers. People¡¯s gazes would be distracted to check otherwise. For heaven¡¯s sake, they are even bigger without the blouse! Aloe held her breath. They are at least the size of my head! Oh my...


    As her blushing intensified, Aloe distracted herself by removing her underwear. Looking at someone with those eyes wasn¡¯t only rude, but also uncharacteristic of her. But as she removed her ruined undergarments, she lost equilibrium, almost falling off from the bench.


    Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    ¡°Aloe!¡± Mirah dashed toward her, grabbing Aloe by the side and unknowingly smacking her face with one of her breasts. ¡°Are you alright?¡±


    ¡°I... uhm...¡± Aloe mumbled, too stunned to respond. Her mouth felt dry, and her head spun around. Whilst they hadn¡¯t still entered the bath, it was true that the steam coming from it made the dressing room rather hot and humid. ¡°I need something to drink.¡±


    ¡°Right, right!¡± Mirah stood up, covering herself with her blouse as she rushed outward. ¡°Anything in specific?¡± She added as her head poked out of the curtains at the doorway.


    ¡°Juice if possible,¡± Aloe said, her voice a bit raspy.


    Ugh, what¡¯s happening to me? She led a hand to her head. Not just the pain and the exhaustion, these mood swings are just horrible! Aloe breathed in and out, the dry air from the desert mixed with the steam of the baths in her nostrils.


    ¡°Here.¡± Mirah tapped her on the shoulder and Aloe looked up, almost burrowing herself in the woman¡¯s bosom by mistake with the sudden gesture. ¡°They didn¡¯t have juice, but I brought milk.¡±


    ¡°Ehm... works for me.¡± Aloe hastily took up the pot from Mirah¡¯s hands and started drinking, hoping she wouldn¡¯t see the redness in her visage.


    ¡°Are you well?¡± Mirah asked, still looking at her. ¡°You look a bit red.¡±


    Or perhaps not.


    Aloe fought hard against the urge to choke on the milk. ¡°F-fine. I¡¯m fine. It¡¯s just the exhaustion and the heat. Maybe a bit of fever...¡±


    ¡°You should go rest then...¡± Mirah innocently suggested.


    ¡°As I said, not a problem.¡± Aloe refuted. ¡°And we are already here, I¡¯m sure a hot and nice warm bath is going to make me feel better.¡±


    Mirah frowned but didn¡¯t comment further and continued to undress herself. As for Aloe, she downed the rest of the milk cup in a single gulp, feeling instantly better. Ah, that milk hit the spot. And then remembered that she had to get herself naked.


    After finally getting undressed, Aloe predisposed to leave her clothes in a basket, but Mirah got ahead of her taking the clothes out of Aloe¡¯s hand and leaving them for her.


    ¡°Let me accompany you to the cleaning pool.¡± Before Aloe could say anything, Mirah grabbed her hand and guided her into the bathing area.


    Aloe couldn¡¯t be more thankful for the lack of human presence in the baths as she noticed the room was totally desert, she felt like was going to pass out at any moment. Whether it was out of shame or pain, she didn¡¯t know.


    True to her words, Mirah gently guided Aloe down the steps of the cleaning pool. Unlike the main bath pool in the middle of the room, this one was full of cold water. Or at least cool for a desert inhabitant.


    ¡°Do you need help scrubbing yourself?¡± Mirah offered.


    ¡°Icandoitmyself.¡± Aloe hastily responded, too ashamed to keep her composure at this point.


    ¡°Alright, slow down, girl!¡± Mirah said jokingly as she began to clean herself, but she kept an eye on Aloe, nonetheless.


    The girl understood why, she felt like passing out at every step, and she almost did in the dressing room, so Mirah wasn¡¯t that far off.


    With a deep inhalation, Aloe scrubbed her body with the rather dirty water. She was even dirtier though. The heavens had turned against Aloe to make her the dirtiest person in the whole city. Besides the journey to Sadina, which had accumulated a lot of grime, sweat, and sand on her skin, the crusts of dried blood itched in her crotch.


    She gave that region a thorough cleaning.


    It was honestly disgusting that she allowed herself to get this dirty. Yet another boulder of shame dropped on the load I carry.


    After what felt like an eternity, Aloe felt human again. Whilst not squeaky clean, she no longer looked like a homeless beggar ¨C or felt like one ¨C and her mood bettered.


    ¡°You are looking better, Aloe,¡± Mirah told her, the woman had finished up scrubbing herself a while ago.


    ¡°And I feel better.¡± She added with a sigh. ¡°It¡¯s incredible what a simple wash can do to a woman.¡±


    ¡°And we haven¡¯t even started.¡± The housewife laughed, an arm under her breasts to hold them. The notion of the weight of those bags was even more staggering than the real weight. ¡°Come on, let¡¯s get you out and enjoy a real bath.¡±


    As Aloe grabbed Mirah¡¯s hand, she couldn¡¯t help to realize how smooth Mirah''s skin was compared to her.


    ¡°Watch out, don¡¯t slip.¡± Mirah pointed at the steps of the pool with her eyes.


    ¡°Truth is, my mind is only filled with thoughts of warm water right now,¡± Aloe told to the woman with a smile on her face. The first she had managed to do since... yesterday.


    Oh, great heavens, how slow time goes by when you suffer.


    ¡°You and me, girl!¡± Mirah laughed from her lungs, not that dissimilar from how her husband did. ¡°Let¡¯s enjoy ourselves now and forget about everything. The emir, the pain, the loss. Just you, me, and a warm bath!¡±


    ¡°That sounds delightful.¡± Aloe let herself be guided to the main course of the bath, the smile on her expression becoming smoother, shame disappearing, replaced by a boost of strength as the warmth of the motherly figure soaked into her.

 Book 2: 6. Instinct

    The instant Aloe¡¯s feet touched the bath ¨C warm and vaguely white water displacing around her ankle ¨C she felt as if all the devils of the world vanished.


    ¡°Ah~¡± Aloe moaned as her body was consumed by the scented waters of the bath. ¡°This is glory...¡±


    ¡°You are so right~¡± Mirah accompanied her on the pleasure, the adult woman laying her back on the sides of the pool. ¡°It has been a while since I had a bath like this.¡±


    ¡°How¡¯s that?¡± Aloe asked turning her head toward her, yet instantly repented.


    Mirah¡¯s body shape wasn¡¯t a surprise to anyone; Aloe had, for better or worse, delighted with it as she cleaned herself on the cleaning pool. But it was a whole different subject seeing her bountiful assets in the bath.


    Like ships in the ocean, Mirah¡¯s bosoms benefitted from buoyancy. Massive vessels of fair color, unexpected for a desert citizen, showing off erect pink figureheads.


    Aloe deviated her eyes to the tiles of the walls of the bath out of shame, surprised and confused in equal parts by her naval knowledge.


    ¡°Well, I haven¡¯t been able to go to the baths just on my own,¡± Mirah explained, ignorant of Aloe¡¯s staring, much to the girl¡¯s mental sanity.


    Her nape rested on the stone of the edge of the pool, her head pointing to the ceiling with her eyes closed. The rested posture only highlighted more her docked fleet.


    ¡°Any time I needed to clean myself, I had to take Aya with me to the baths.¡± The housewife let out a sigh of exhaustion. ¡°And whilst we are well off, Jafar got promoted not long ago, we can¡¯t just yet afford to have this type of bath on a monthly basis, let alone weekly.¡±


    ¡°Ah, right,¡± Aloe admitted, understanding well her problem, and also trying to remove the twin galleons from her head. ¡°There should be a discount for children or something for the paid bath courses.¡±


    ¡°There isn¡¯t and there will never be,¡± Mirah explained, a chuckle coming out of her mouth. ¡°And that¡¯s actually good. I can¡¯t even think what would happen if children roamed these rooms. I love my Aya, but she¡¯s a handful. And she¡¯s one of the most well-behaved children I have ever seen, yet I know for a fact that she would make a mess.¡±


    ¡°So you are saying that the problem isn¡¯t monetary, but just that people don¡¯t want to have children near them when they pay for a relaxing bath?¡±


    ¡°Right on!¡± Mirah lazily raised her hand in humorous celebration. ¡°I¡¯m a mother, and I can assure you I don¡¯t want children here. Imagine other women.¡±


    ¡°I see...¡± Aloe didn¡¯t have much love for children, so she easily got behind that argument.


    As children had to pay the full price, just like adults, that meant that even if Mirah wanted to take Aya to the normal bath course, it would cost her two fajats. At first, it may seem cheap, but that was asking for ten drupnar for a single bath. A commoner got that much in two days of work if not three. And considering how Jafar was the only one bringing food to the table, it was obvious that they couldn¡¯t justify that kind of expense in bathing, especially when there was a free alternative.


    ¡°Say,¡± Aloe started, not before changing her posture to a more comfortable one, her head barely a finger above the water thanks to her reduced stature. ¡°Do you bring Aya to the public baths or the simple course?¡±


    The sounds of water splashing filled Aloe¡¯s ears and she turned to look at Mirah. Whilst not standing up, her posture was no longer relaxed nor was her back resting on the wall, she looked at Aloe with a tired expression.


    ¡°When she was younger, I brought her to the public,¡± she explained, ¡°but as time went on, I became restless with it. I think Aya did too.¡±


    And then Mirah did something Aloe wouldn¡¯t expected in a thousand years, she grabbed her breasts from below, the great mounds of flesh flowing and escaping out of her hands filtering through the seams of her fingers, and she took them out of the water, the pink areolae fully exposed. Almost shoving them to Aloe¡¯s face.


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.


    The girl didn¡¯t know where to look, or how to look for that matter.


    ¡°But these bad girls attract too much-unwanted attention.¡± Mirah said as she juggled her ¡®bad girls¡¯, a trace of sadness in her eyes. ¡°No matter how many layers of towels I used, I didn¡¯t feel comfortable with the prying eyes. If I were alone perhaps, I could have coped with it, but with Aya at my side it was impossible. What if something happened to her for my fault?¡± She expressed with true worry.


    In Mirah¡¯s mind, her daughter was far more important than herself.


    ¡°So, I told Jafar we would just go to the paid courses. That of course made a slight dent to our income, but we can easily afford a couple of drupnars a week in bathing by going to the simple one.¡± Her expression turned wry. ¡°Are you listening to me, Aloe?¡±


    ¡°Uh? Y-yes!¡± Aloe almost recoiled from the question. ¡°Ehm... your ¡®bad girls¡¯ just cut line of sight.¡±


    ¡°Ugh!¡± The housewife groaned. ¡°I know that look, Aloe. And no matter what you think, I can tell you that you are wrong.¡± Mirah let her breasts fall, causing them to splash around violently and almost blinding Aloe as the scented water splashed into her eyes. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t envy them; they just get in the way.¡±


    ¡°I d-don¡¯t envy them!¡± The girl¡¯s voice trembled, she couldn¡¯t even believe the words that came out of her mouth.


    ¡°Yes, yes, whatever you say.¡± A hint of a grin appeared on Mirah¡¯s face. Whatever she may say, she was enjoying herself.


    ¡°It¡¯s... rather than envy your size... I envy the presence of them.¡± Aloe admitted, wishing to drown herself in the bath at this right instant out of shame. ¡°It¡¯s one thing to have big breasts, but it¡¯s a whole different one to even have them!¡±


    Mirah¡¯s response was... ¡°Ha.¡± A laugh. ¡°Hahaha!¡±


    ¡°What are you laughing at?¡± Aloe¡¯s visage was vivid with rage and shame.


    ¡°You worry too much, little plant.¡± Mirah used Jafar¡¯s favorite moniker to refer to her. ¡°You are still growing.¡±


    ¡°I am going to be an adult next month!¡± Aloe exclaimed in near rage. ¡°I don¡¯t have much time to grow left!¡±


    ¡°Trust me with this, you are going to grow into a fine woman.¡± Mirah rested her hand on Aloe¡¯s shoulder. Her fairer skin heavily contrasted against Aloe¡¯s darker one.


    ¡°And what¡¯s your source?¡± Aloe crossed her arms, a mighty frown forming in her temples. ¡°Bountifulness doesn¡¯t exactly run in the family.¡±


    ¡°Woman instinct,¡± Mirah revealed.


    ¡°Woman instinct.¡± Aloe reiterated, a legendary deadpan on her visage.


    ¡°Yes.¡± The housewife nodded, her ships of war trembling before such a wave.


    ¡°I¡¯m not convinced by your instincts, you know,¡± Aloe explained, trying really hard to land her eyes anywhere but the swirling pink barrage.


    ¡°Ah, that¡¯s because you are not a woman yet,¡± Mirah added with a grin. ¡°Give it a month and you¡¯ll understand what I¡¯m talking about.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think it works that way, Mirah.¡±


    ¡°And I think otherwise,¡± The developed woman countered. ¡°But let¡¯s stop with our boring talk, we came here to have a peaceful and soothing bath.¡± Mirah led her hands across Aloe¡¯s shoulders as she circled around her and then put her mouth next to her ears, almost prompting a yelp from the girl. ¡°So just relax.¡±


    Aloe wanted to counter Mirah¡¯s appetizing petition by the simple fact that the soft cannonballs pushing against her back did the exact opposite of relaxing her. Aloe gently pushed Mirah away, lest she may feel her quickening pulse.


    ¡°T-that will be good. Yes.¡± The girl replied after she got some personal space.


    The magic of the warm waters, the perfumes, and the oils were short of miraculous. Aloe had almost forgotten her pain through her conversation with Mirah, only remembering now the faultiest of echoes as her body drifted on the bath¡¯s surface.


    If there were more people in the room, she may have been ashamed of her display, exposing herself and toying with the place instead of behaving like a lady, but as Mirah was the only observer, Aloe let herself relax a bit.


    She felt the warm, heavy air enter through her nostrils and fill her lungs. A moment later, that air was expulsed, a shade colder than before. The warm yet soothing streams of the bath calmed Aloe down, the cramps occurring inside of her a shadow of what they were.


    For the first time in a very miserable and long day, Aloe felt at peace.


    And sleepy.


    Not a second after losing concentration, her body fell into the water, unable to keep the delicate equilibrium that kept her floating.


    ¡°Oof!¡± Aloe groaned and coughed the few drops of water that entered her mouth and nose.


    ¡°The water doesn¡¯t taste as good as it looks likes, huh.¡± Mirah joked at her back.


    ¡°Yeah...¡± Aloe cleared her mouth by whipping it with her forearm, which then she cleaned by shaking it inside the pool. ¡°The problem is the perfume; it makes the water too acidic.¡±


    ¡°No, that may be my pee,¡± Mirah added dismissively, gaining the furious gaze of Aloe. ¡°Jesting! I¡¯m just jesting! You don¡¯t need to look at me like that!¡± The woman raised up her arms defensively, palms open facing Aloe and arms fully extended.


    ¡°You better be.¡± Aloe frowned, shivers don¡¯t the spine at the idea. ¡°That¡¯s exactly why I don¡¯t go to the public baths. Because that may not be a joke.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m being serious!¡± Mirah desperately defended her honor. ¡°I was just joking! Believe me!¡± The woman pleaded as desperation grew in her expression.

 Book 2: 7. Cayora

    Much to Mirah¡¯s previous displeasure and wailing, she merrily rinsed Aloe¡¯s hair. Aloe had told her that she didn¡¯t need the help, that she felt better now, but the woman adamantly held her ground.


    ¡°I¡¯m used to washing girl¡¯s hair by now with Aya. Just lemme do it.¡± The woman justified herself as she cleaned Aloe¡¯s scalp against her will.


    Nonconsensual hair washing aside, Aloe greatly enjoyed their trip to the public baths. She didn¡¯t notice how dirty and awful she felt until she was liberated from the multiple layers of grime, sweat, sand, and blood, with perhaps the faintest touch of vomit.


    Almost the whole package, basically.


    Aloe left the baths in a far better state than she entered them, both of mind and body, and was able to dress up herself without any help.


    ¡°You are looking healthier now,¡± Mirah commented as they made their way out, the air suddenly shifting from a hot and tangible steam to a still hot but refreshing wind.


    ¡°I feel lighter.¡± Aloe acknowledged. ¡°As if the evils have been washed off my body.¡±


    ¡°And they might as well be!¡± The housewife added with a chuckle. ¡°You left the cleaning pool black!¡±


    ¡°Oh please, don¡¯t exaggerate.¡± Aloe half-groaned, half-laughed at her comment. ¡°I wasn¡¯t that dirty.¡±


    ¡°Then explain to me why the water turned black when your skin touched it.¡±


    It took a few blinks to understand the woman¡¯s joke, as for a brief instant Aloe thought that Mirah was being serious, and after getting it Aloe fought hard to not roll her eyes.


    She resoundingly failed.


    ¡°Shut up!¡± Aloe groaned with the strength of two desert dwellers as she searched the shade of the bazaar canopies.


    ¡°Don¡¯t go far!¡± Mirah said with a hint of seriousness. ¡°My body becomes a bit stiff after bathing!¡±


    ¡°How¡¯s that?¡± Aloe asked after the curvaceous woman reached her.


    ¡°Well... I do have a more sensitive skin than you.¡± Aloe waited for some joke to come out of Mirrah¡¯s mouth, but after a few seconds, she noticed that the woman was being serious.


    ¡°Huh.¡± She added surprisedly. ¡°Anyways, what do we do now?¡±


    ¡°As much as I would like to have you resting, you have heard Jafar.¡± Mirah sighed. ¡°My idea is to raid your wardrobe and make you put some clothes worthy of an audience with the emir.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to disappoint you a bit, but I don¡¯t have clothes of such caliber. It would be far better if we took some of yours.¡±


    ¡°And how you would wear them exactly?¡± Mirah put her arms under her breasts, highlighting the monstrous cleavage much to Aloe¡¯s dismay. ¡°But worry not, I have an idea or two. Come on, follow me!¡±


    Aloe wanted to quip the woman that she should technically go first because they were going to go to HER home ¨C a term that was sadly more correct than ever now ¨C but that was mostly because she was still angry at how Mirah had unapologetically boasted of her figure.


    Before Aloe even knew it, they had made it to her house. The main door, while closed, wasn¡¯t locked.


    ¡°It seems I¡¯ll have to give Jafar an earful after this,¡± Mirah said as her back as Aloe strode forward, yet her mind was elsewhere.


    The house was ominously dark, and of course, unpopulated. Before even thinking about changing her clothes, Aloe walked into the kitchen, a lone black urn waiting in the middle of the table.


    She just... looked at it.


    It was impossible to believe it, even if she knew the truth and that she had to accept it. But it was rough. One moment her mother was there, the next she wasn¡¯t.


    You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    It was awful not knowing what to feel.


    It was even worse not feeling anything. Just an all-consuming void, an eternal coldness, a dry desert of emotions.


    ¡°I¡¯ll give you a moment,¡± Mirah whispered as she walked past her.


    ¡°No.¡± Aloe quickly turned and grabbed the woman by the wrist. ¡°Just... let¡¯s get me changed.¡±


    ¡°Alright,¡± Mirah responded calmly and taciturnly, not adding a single extra word as they made their way upstairs.


    Aloe¡¯s wardrobe wasn¡¯t a paragon of eccentricity or luxury for starters, but after taking most of her clothes to the greenhouse ¨C even if they were the oldest and crappiest ones ¨C the furniture was mostly devoid of content.


    ¡°Um...¡± Mirah was at a loss for words after swinging the wardrobe¡¯s doors wide open.


    ¡°I told you,¡± Aloe said with a halfhearted sigh.


    ¡°Well...¡± Aloe could clearly hear the pieces of the abacus shift in Mirah¡¯s mind trying to compute how much of a fashion freak the girl next to her was.


    The numbers appeared to be too big for the metaphorical machine.


    ¡°I mean, you do have a nice shawl here... And there¡¯s a bit of green over here, which suits you a lot...¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s just raid my mother¡¯s wardrobe,¡± Aloe suggested.


    ¡°...Yeah, let¡¯s,¡± Mirah admitted crestfallen in defeat.


    Aloe had expected for Mirah to be the one suggesting it first, but now she realized the woman had left her mouth shut out of respect. That was what raiding one¡¯s deceased mother¡¯s wardrobe did to someone.


    ¡°Now we are talking about,¡± Mirah said excitedly, but not too much as she read the mood in the room. ¡°Shahrazad had a better sense of fashion than you.¡±


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t say that,¡± Aloe interjected as she shifted through the many pieces of clothing. ¡°I¡¯m just utilitarian, and Mom is...¡± Aloe gritted her teeth and continued shifting her hands through the many clothes, ¡°was an austere person. She had good clothes for events, but mostly it¡¯s just mediocrely common.¡±


    From the corners of her eye, Aloe saw Mirah¡¯s visage turn grim at her lapse, but otherwise, didn¡¯t comment on it. Instead, her aunt reinforced the smile on her face ¨C maybe a bit too much ¨C and helped Aloe sift through the clothes.


    <hr>


    After a few hours and countless attires, Mirah finally settled on one. It was quite simple overall, but between the good silk and the contrast of colors, the final attire was worthy of nobility, if not royalty.


    ¡°How do I look?¡± Aloe asked as she spun around, her long skirt swaying around graciously.


    ¡°Gorgeous!¡± Mirah responded with a wide grin as she clasped her hands.


    The attire was mainly composed of a simple yet clean white dress, along with a pistachio shawl and Aloe¡¯s favorite sandals.


    ¡°Though we should maybe put a bit of haste on our steps,¡± Mirah added after peering through the window. ¡°Noon is long past, and I don¡¯t think the emir will appreciate a visit in the afternoon.¡±


    ¡°You are right!¡± Aloe had become so enchanted by the dressing spree that she had forgotten the reason why she was dressing herself to begin with. ¡°We should make haste!¡±


    Aloe rushed down the stairs ¨C as much as her tidy dress allowed her ¨C but her steps came to a halt as she passed in front of the window, the funerary urn staring at her.


    ¡°One minute,¡± she told to Mirah and grabbed the urn in a tight embrace.


    Many things went through her brain at that moment, but mainly, she thought how lonely her mother was right there.


    Aloe started walking, the urn in her clutches, and went upstairs. Even if her arms were shaky, her mind was resolute. As calmly as she could, she opened the door to her father¡¯s office. After her father passed away, it became her mother''s, and now, unfortunately, it became hers.


    The reason why she came in was because of the significance of the room.


    Whilst Mother and Father had spent most of her time in the palace of Sadina per their jobs, when they were at home, they continued to work here.


    Others may have grown sour to the attention her parents dedicated to their jobs instead of her daughter, but Aloe had always been the stereotypical grown-up kid. She understood why they did it, especially because they had ridiculously high positions for someone of their family¡¯s hierarchal standing.


    That position wasn¡¯t to be resented, but respected.


    And on this office, where all of the family members had spent a lot of their time in, rested her father¡¯s ashes.


    Aloe took a deep breath and walked forward, carrying her mother¡¯s funerary urn with a deadly grip. She didn¡¯t breathe again until she made it to the shelf behind the desk¡¯s armchair. On that shelf rested not only her father¡¯s ashes but also her grandfather''s.


    Mom must have put it up there at some point. Aloe thought with a knot in her throat and carefully made space for Shahrazad.


    Amid, Aloe¡¯s father rested on the left, with his wife and Aloe¡¯s mother next to him in the middle. At the right, Karaim, Shahrazad¡¯s father and her grandfather had his place. The man had been a stranger to her for most of her life, but after he died, Aloe couldn¡¯t help herself but feel connected to him. His work.


    ¡°Now you will be always surrounded by family, Mom.¡± Aloe sobbed under her breath.


    Aloe took a deep breath, wiping her tears away with her hand without dirtying her shawl or dress, and spoke up.


    ¡°You know,¡± Aloe began, her voice weak and trembling, ¡°I¡¯m going to be of age next month.¡± She didn¡¯t know who she was talking to, if Mirah behind her, or her relatives in front of her. It didn¡¯t matter. She just felt like talking. ¡°I know it¡¯s a tradition that mothers put the cayora on their daughters when they are finally of age, but it always seemed like a dumb one to me. They don¡¯t even look that comfortable...¡±


    Aloe added with a wry smile, trying to lighten up the mood. Donning the ceremonial piece of headwear that symbolized a girl passing into womanhood was a long tradition, even if it was hardly used in practicality.


    ¡°But now,¡± Aloe''s voice cracked, her teeth grinding against each other, ¡°now I¡¯m sad you won¡¯t be able to put a cayora on my head, Mom!¡±


    And the floodgates opened.

 Book 2: 8. Palace

    ¡°That¡¯s right, let it all out,¡± Mirah whispered in Aloe¡¯s ear as she patted her back and stroked her hair, the girl weeping lay defeated on her knees. ¡°But try not to make a mess.¡± She added with a smile as she pushed a handkerchief to her. ¡°Here.¡±


    Aloe gladly took the piece of cloth and promptly wiped her never-ending stream of tears. It was only after blowing her nose that she noticed that the handkerchief was made out of fine silk.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t tell you could...¡± Mirah reacted strongly to the mucus-filled silk. ¡°Bah, just let it out.¡±


    The housewife sighed and continued to caress the girl¡¯s back. And stealthily fix her hair.


    After a few minutes, only dehydration being able to stop Aloe as her eyes ran out of fuel, she stopped. As she tried to stand up, she felt incredibly dizzy, her eyes felt as if they were going to fall out of her sockets or turn into stone, if not both.


    ¡°We...¡± Aloe closed her mouth, savoring the air that entered through it, before coughing. She breathed once more, except now through her nose, and cleared her throat. ¡°We should get going.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, we should,¡± Mirah said as she grabbed Aloe by the arm, not only helping her stand up but maintaining her equilibrium. ¡°Making the emir wait is a recipe for disaster.¡±


    ¡°Sounds good.¡± Aloe took a short but fast breath to keep the snot from pouring out of her nose. ¡°But first I need a glass of water.¡± Then her stomach growled. ¡°And perhaps a piece of fruit.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that sounds nice.¡± Mirah smiled at her. ¡°With the bath and clothing, we skipped lunch. Let¡¯s grab a bite first, we wouldn¡¯t like that monster to growl at the emir, would we?¡±


    ¡°Oh, come on, it isn¡¯t that bad.¡±


    ¡°I think otherwise, little monster.¡± Mirah snickered as she made her way out of the office and Aloe groaned after noticing the slight variation on Jafar¡¯s favorite moniker.


    Some fruits had gone bad, even rotten, after a week of being out there without anyone to eat them or maintain the house, but the bananas persisted. They always did.


    Well, until Mirah and Aloe downed them, of course.


    The water was also a bit stale after a week of spending still on an amphora, but it wasn¡¯t bad. Just a bit hot and sour, but still drinkable.


    ¡°What now then?¡± Aloe asked after finishing her second banana. ¡°Should we go straight to the palace?¡±


    ¡°I mean, that can work, guards should know the emir has summoned your namesake, but it will be better to search for Jafar first to save ourselves unnecessary waiting and discussions,¡± Mirah explained. ¡°If he accompanies you, they¡¯ll let you straight into the palace, and judging by the sun, it isn¡¯t like you can afford to waste time.¡±


    ¡°Alright then, let¡¯s do that.¡± Aloe stood away from the kitchen table. ¡°So, where¡¯s Jafar exactly?¡±


    ¡°He should be around the palace perimeters, so we won¡¯t have a problem finding him, but first, let¡¯s make a stop at my house.¡± Mirah stood up with a sly smile on her face.


    That didn¡¯t make Aloe feel very secure.


    <hr>


    In the end, Mirah¡¯s intentions weren¡¯t as nefarious as her smile led Aloe to believe.


    They weren¡¯t pure, though.


    ¡°I think that¡¯s enough, Aunty Mirah,¡± Aloe told with her mouth half-closed.


    Now she realized that she hadn¡¯t been calling her ¡®aunty¡¯ since... this morning. This day is being too damn long for my psyche and well-being.


    ¡°Just a bit more!¡± Mirah added with giddy. Aloe could easily imagine her jumping around, even if she had her eyes closed.


    ¡°What am I, a courtesan or a courtesan?¡± Aloe asked, the implication obvious.


    ¡°Hey! More respect to the ladies of the night!¡± Mirah uncharacteristically shouted. ¡°There¡¯s a lot of work behind the make-up, you know?¡±


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    Indeed, all this time the housewife had been applying make-up to Aloe. They had only been a few minutes in so far, but it felt like an eternity for Aloe.


    ¡°Yeah, but you only need to hide the tear marks, not give me a full body layering.¡± Aloe refuted.


    ¡°Now you are being melodramatic.¡± Mirah scoffed. ¡°Here, open your eyes.¡±


    Aloe did as told and looked at the hand mirror Mirah handed her. Before looking at her reflection, the intricacy of the piece didn¡¯t go unnoticed by her. The borders were made out of painted wood to give it a golden touch, even though the paint itself was a cheap alloy like brass. No, the highlights of the mirror were the single small ruby in the top section of the edge and the mirror itself was made out of a thin but shiny silver sheet.


    It was an expensive piece.


    ¡°Oh,¡± Aloe muttered as she finally bothered to check her reflection.


    She looked... normal. And she meant that as a compliment. After her distressful weeping, her face and eye had been all but ruined. Yet Mirah had managed not only to recover Aloe¡¯s beauty but also amplify it a bit.


    ¡°It looks good...¡± She said at a loss for words.


    ¡°See!¡± The woman boasted proudly, pushing her chest outward, making Aloe¡¯s mood instantly sour.


    ¡°Yeah...¡± The girl didn¡¯t hide her discomfort, but she tried not to frown in front of the mirror to not mess up the makeup. Frowning also made her look ugly. ¡°I expected to look like a marble column with all the layers you were putting in, but my skin still is black.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s gonna take a lot of face dust to turn your skin white, darling,¡± Mirah commented as she stored her tools.


    ¡°No way! I didn¡¯t notice!¡± Aloe opened her face in feigned surprise.


    ¡°Yeah, yeah, stop joking and get ready. We are now really pressed for time.¡±


    ¡°And whose fault is that?¡± Aloe frowned but didn¡¯t elaborate further as she stood up.


    The girls made her way to the palace with a spring on her footing. They didn¡¯t go fast, lest Aloe¡¯s dress or makeup got ruined, but they weren¡¯t slow either. The main avenue quickly passed by ¨C it was uncanny seeing this low amount of people out on the street on the afternoon ¨C as they followed the artificial river to the center of the city, where the palace of Sadina resided.


    By the end, Mirah was panting, the woman showing an atrocious display of stamina. Aloe, on the other hand, felt... fine. She was surprised with herself considering how awful she felt in the morning because of her menstruation, but now she was even normal.


    It was off-putting.


    Normally she would have stayed all day made a mess, with difficulties walking even in the next day, but she recovered in half the expected time without even needing to sleep. And even more, Aloe had her ¡®toughness¡¯ internal infusion still active, meaning she had less endurance than normal. Yet she didn¡¯t feel the effects of their jog.


    I should be far worse. She knew it, and whilst she wanted to meditate on this strange change, alas they had made it to their destination, cutting her thinking time short.


    ¡°Oh, there¡¯s Jafar.¡± Mirah pointed at her husband a stationed a few streets down. ¡°Oi!¡± She shouted at him, the guard instantly recognized them.


    ¡°Oh, Mirah. What a blessing for sore eyes.¡± Jafar instantly lunged for his wife¡¯s lips, his hands lunging also elsewhere. Whilst Aloe felt repulsion as the man grabbed Mirah''s buttocks, his fingers sinking in the soft mounds, the woman only deepened their kiss.


    ¡°Not here, moron.¡± Mirah chastised him as she led a finger to his lips, even if her face said otherwise.


    ¡°And what have we got here, is it the little plant?¡± Jafar smiled at Aloe as he approached her, yet his hand still lingered on his wife¡¯s body.


    Aloe groaned though she didn¡¯t know at what specifically. Everything, probably. ¡°Hello, Jafar.¡±


    ¡°You know, I was going to compliment you on your makeup, but after that groan, I have thought otherwise.¡± The guard joked.


    ¡°Not that I needed it.¡± The girl scowled. ¡°Anyways, are you going to guide me inside?¡±


    ¡°Yes, of course.¡± Jafar posture turned upright and worthy of the status of a guard. ONLY IF HE HAD REMOVED HIS HAND OUT OF THE WOMAN¡¯S ASS. ¡°Please follow, me.¡±


    Aloe was seething at the man¡¯s unapologetic behavior ¨C it didn¡¯t matter if Mirah was his wife and the woman herself didn¡¯t mind it ¨C but nonetheless, Aloe complied.


    She and Jafar found themselves walking up a massive flight of stairs up to the palace. Mirah stayed back and she waved at them as her figure became smaller and smaller by the second.


    ¡°Woah, it¡¯s massive,¡± Aloe commented as they entered the palace.


    No doors were stopping them from going inside, just a massive archway tiled with blue, white, and yellow colors that gave the entrance a refreshing but regal ambiance.


    Aloe turned her head to Jafar, and she saw how the man¡¯s face contorted in pain as he held for his life a ¡°That¡¯s what she said,¡± joke. Aloe knew it. The man was a nince-damned open book.


    ¡°Have you never visited it?¡± Instead, Jafar let out a simple question as he managed to contain himself.


    ¡°No,¡± She added briefly.


    ¡°Huh, curious. Given how your parents'' workplace was this very building.¡±


    Before Aloe could elaborate on her answer, she was cut short as they had made it to the audience room. This specific room did have a set of doors.


    Jafar whispered to the ears of one of the two guards at the entrance, making him move out of his station and open the door.


    ¡°My emir, Aloe Ayad has responded to your summon.¡± The guard announced into the room, even if Aloe could see the place through the half-open door.


    ¡°Let her pass.¡± A voice that confused Aloe announced.


    ¡°You are on your own now,¡± Jafar whispered next to her, not giving Aloe time to think, and pushed her forward into the room.


    Aloe shakily walked forward, cursing the man for destabilizing her step, but also thanking him for pushing her. She doubted she would be able to take the first step. Aloe kept her gaze on the ground as she followed the long red carpet into the throne.


    With every step she grew more confident, looking more and more up. And as she finally had a look at the pillowed throne, Aloe¡¯s face twisted in confusion. Huh?


    The person sitting on the throne, the emir of Sadina, was a woman.

 Book 2: 9. Princess

    The figure sitting on the throne caused so many of Aloe¡¯s brain cells to fry at the sight that the whiplash stunned her. Her eyes lingered across the room, trying to search for answers, but nothing in the surroundings helped her.


    Two women, one at each side of the throne, stood with their sights tired as they held pieces of parchment. That was enough to confirm some of Aloe¡¯s doubts. They are the scribes of the emir. She pondered, her mind still made a mess. But there should be five of... well, four of them. Not two.


    Something had happened.


    As she more carefully inspected the two scribes, she noticed the slight distinction in their shapes of exhaustion. One scribe, who dressed more austerely than the other, had bloodshot eyes of pure exhaustion, overwork, and lack of sleep. Whilst the other, who donned an expensive yellow dress and was somewhat familiar to Aloe, didn¡¯t suffer outright extenuation, but boredom.


    Aloe could make no more details out of the scenery, anything else was flamboyant decorations of the audience hall. This was her first time visiting the palace, so it was impossible for her to know if there was something different.


    ¡°Come forward.¡± The woman on the throne sang. Her voice was authoritative and powerful, yet it was bolstered by a superior seduction.


    The woman dressed in skimpy clothing, alluring but not fully perverted, like some ladies of the night might choose to wear. No, the woman had everything covered, yet the slits in her violet dress were perfectly placed. Exposed shoulders, midriff, and thighs; it was obvious that it wasn¡¯t an unconscious effort.


    Especially those thighs.


    The way the woman sat lazily on her pillowed throne, highlighting her thick bronze-skinned thighs, was strikingly a deliberate attempt to catch people¡¯s attention. In such an obvious and glaring trap, Aloe still fell for it.


    ¡°Is there something wrong?¡± The woman called out; her voice calm, but the annoyance was palpable.


    It was then that Aloe realized she had yet to move since she entered the room, her mind occupied by a mixture of confusion and enthrallment. Hesitantly, Aloe stepped forward, a blush covering her face that she could only hope either her make-up hid it or that the others in the audience hall were too far away to notice.


    ¡°Nothing at all,¡± Aloe explained as she stopped in the middle of the red carpet. Then her mind instantly alerted that she hadn¡¯t used any honorifics. Not even a breath later, she continued talking, as if she hadn¡¯t stopped. ¡°Except one... tiny question, if I might of course.¡±


    She hadn¡¯t used any titles yet, but the woman before her was unknown. Aloe could only hope that the politeness saved her because, after all, nothing confirmed Aloe that the dazzling woman wasn¡¯t the emir. And calling an impostor by that title may be a greater offense than not referring to the titleholder correctly.


    ¡°Hmm...¡± The woman scratched her cheek in a mixture of surprise and ponderation. This was not the reaction she had expected, whatever that may be. ¡°Let it out, amuse me~¡± The woman¡¯s glistering amethyst eyes pierce Aloe.


    She didn¡¯t know if to feel intimidated or appalled by the sight.


    ¡°Em... maybe I am wrong, I have been out of Sadina for over a month now,¡± Aloe added, trying to justify and sweeten her crude question as much as possible, ¡°but isn¡¯t the emir of Sadina, well... a man?¡±


    The room fell silent.


    The scribes, who until now had been focused on their documents, turned to face Aloe.


    ¡°I see... It makes sense you aren¡¯t aware then.¡± The words coming out of the gorgeous woman¡¯s mouth weren¡¯t of offense, but acknowledgment. Much to Aloe¡¯s surprise. ¡°Aloe Ayad, aren¡¯t you?¡± She asked, even if the guard announced her entrance by name.


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    ¡°That¡¯s right, lady...¡± Aloe ended her line smoothly, drawing it over time as she implicitly pleaded for an answer.


    The woman giggled. ¡°Rani. Princess Rani.¡± She responded as she straightened her body, abandoning her lazy posture. ¡°But others know me as the new emir of Sadina.¡±


    Princess Rani¡¯s long ebony hair flowed down as she shifted her posture, her breasts swaying slightly along her hips. The woman, no, the emir of Sadina had a seductive smile plastered on her face. One that was impossible to remove your eyes from.


    Aloe promptly knelt before referring to her again. ¡°Then I must apologize for my words and lack of knowledge, my Emir.¡±


    ¡°No, no.¡± The emir denied in quick succession, her voice was but honey. Aloe heard the fabrics of the pillows chafe as she continued to look down.


    The emir had stood up.


    ¡°Look up.¡± Aloe obeyed. Her eyes were instantly delighted by the tall and curvaceous figure of the new ruler of Sadina.


    Princess Rani was the polar opposite of Aloe. Tall, curvaceous, sensual... The woman was superior to her in every sense. Even her bronze skin, unlike Aloe¡¯s dark and rather opaque skin, shone brightly, giving the most gorgeous of reflections.


    ¡°Do you know why I called you here, Aloe Ayad?¡± The emir¡¯s voice was authoritative, exuding power, but for some reason, it didn¡¯t intimidate Aloe. Another feeling bloomed inside of her instead.


    ¡°I do not, my Emir,¡± Aloe responded holding her head high, just as the imperial princess ordered. However, she couldn¡¯t help but wonder if she was complying for other reasons.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need for such titles, Aloe.¡± The sultanzade took a step forward, the familiarity of the tone she used to refer to Aloe melted in her ears. Her heart skipped a beat. ¡°Your mother was a colleague of mine when I worked as the imperial scribe of the court, a friend if you will,¡± the woman added with a smile, only now Aloe noticed the faintest shade of violet lipsticks in her lips, ¡°so don¡¯t refer to me with such cold titles, just call me Rani.¡±


    ¡°I... I cannot do that, my Sultanzade.¡± Aloe explained. ¡°It would be an offense to you and the Sultanah.¡±


    After hearing Aloe¡¯s words, Princess Rani snickered. The sudden muted laugh scared the girl, causing her to jump a bit.


    ¡°You are truly like her. She also refused to call me by my name. She also used those exact words...¡± The newly appointed emir commented, a hint of melancholy in her voice, plus something else. Rage. ¡°But what if I tell you that¡¯s an order, my citizen? Would you obey?¡±


    ¡°Em...¡± Aloe didn¡¯t know how to respond. Her heart was going faster than it had ever gone before. Her thoughts were becoming clogged by the second, and it wasn¡¯t the fault of any pain. ¡°It... it would still be a defiance of the Sultanah¡¯s authority, who put you in power as the emir of Sadina.¡±


    ¡°Good response, diplomatic but noncommittal.¡± Princess Rani heaved her head up and down in approval. ¡°But you mistake something. Whilst it is true that the Sultanah indeed gave me the name of Rani-al-Sadina, I ask you: do you see Aaliyah here?¡±


    Aloe gasped at the sultanzade¡¯s words. Did she just...? She couldn¡¯t believe what Rani had said. Aloe turned her eyes slightly, looking around the room, but as she saw that no one visually recoiled like her, she got confused.


    ¡°Uh...¡± Have I misheard her? ¡°No, Princess Rani.¡± The emir frowned, her expression souring as she heard Aloe¡¯s referral. ¡°Um... R-Rani.¡± She gulped down saliva, part scared, part ashamed of how she had referred to the imperial princess.


    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s better,¡± Rani responded with a nod and a smile.


    Unlike before, that smile felt genuine ¨C even warm ¨C not like those seductive ones she had used. The sultanzade truthfully rejoiced at Aloe¡¯s words.


    ¡°Come on, stand up,¡± Rani said, yet now it didn¡¯t feel like an order. There was friendliness in her words now. ¡°As I¡¯ve said before, Shahrazad had been a great friend, and especially a helping hand to the court and Sadina. I don¡¯t doubt that the city would have collapsed after the death of the previous emir if it wasn¡¯t for her work. My useless brother didn¡¯t know how to use her talents, and now I won¡¯t be able to do so either.¡±


    The beautiful visage of the princess was tainted by a mixture of rage and hate. Even if Aloe didn¡¯t know where those emotions came from, it constricted her heart seeing such a precious face being tainted by dark feelings like those.


    As she didn¡¯t stand up immediately, Rani went as far as offering Aloe a hand, something unthinkable ¨C even more than calling a sultanzade by their first name as a commoner, but before Aloe even thought of taking Rani¡¯s soft-looking hand ¨C even if their hands were close to touching each other ¨C Rani quickly removed hers away. The darkness in her visage by the lack of Aloe¡¯s cooperation was suddenly replaced by another emotion: shock.


    ¡°Is there something wrong, R-Rani?¡± Even if she had the emir¡¯s explicit order to call her that way, Aloe still had difficulties uttering the princess¡¯s name casually.


    ¡°N-nothing.¡± Aloe lost her breath as she heard Rani¡¯s response: stuttering.


    An imperial didn¡¯t stutter, not in that manner.


    Did I do something wrong? Fear littered Aloe¡¯s thoughts. Am I going to get executed?


    Princess Rani took a step backward as she led a hand to her face, hiding her visage. She turned her back and walked to the throne with the same composure and sensual sway of hips as before, but that look in her eyes still confused Aloe.

 Book 2: 10. Culprit

    ¡°Where were we?¡± Rani said after sitting down on the throne. She had totally forgone the lazy laying position, instead opting out for a dignified straight sitting one. But one couldn¡¯t deny both made her look like an emir.


    Like a ruler.


    As a few seconds happened without the sultanzade saying anything, Aloe opened her mouth with a mixture of doubt and fear.


    ¡°You were asking me if I knew why you summoned me, Pri-¡° Aloe¡¯s spine straightened out instantly as the emir looked at her in disapproval. ¡°R-Rani.¡± She corrected herself quickly.


    A simple tongue slip could spell out my end. Aloe thought, her heart beating faster out of fear.


    ¡°Ah, yes,¡± Rani muttered as if the last exchange had simply not occurred. ¡°And you answered that you didn¡¯t now, right?¡± Aloe nodded in confirmation. ¡°Well, Aloe, I summoned you to talk about your mother, especially about her cause of death.¡±


    At the mention of that subject, Aloe felt as if all the muscles of her body contracted. I may be physically tough now, but not mentally. She joked in the confines of her mind, the shape of her lips turning grim.


    ¡°What did you want to tell me about, Rani?¡± Aloe asked as politely as possible.


    As politely as one could be referring to a sultanzade, a daughter of the Sultanah, by her first name, that was.


    ¡°First of all, some apologies are in order.¡± Aloe frowned at the princess¡¯ words. ¡°As the new emir of Sadina, the death of my subjects, my citizens, fall on my shoulders. Especially one as close in my environment as Shahrazad was.¡±


    Even if her words contained lament, the cadence of an afflicted person, Aloe couldn¡¯t feel the apology in Rani¡¯s voice. The remorse. The emir lamented the death of her mother, yes, but she didn¡¯t feel remorse about it.


    And Aloe didn¡¯t know what to do with that information.


    ¡°This plague is somewhat new, only appearing a few months back in a bordering city near Loyata,¡± Rani explained. ¡°And whilst we tried to hold it back, there were some... unforeseen events. We didn¡¯t calculate well the workings of the plague. Nuha here,¡± she pointed with the palm of her hand to the austere-dressed scribe at her side, ¡°can tell you more about the basic details of the plague. Will you, dear?¡±


    The scribe¡¯s eyes had been all but glued to the parchment before her until now. Aloe doubted she had been even paying attention to their conversation until her name was mentioned.


    Nuha turned to face Rani and slightly bowed down to her. ¡°Of course, my Emir.¡±


    Then she turned back to face Aloe. Her eyes were bloodshot and her eyelids down with exhaustion, yet her voice powerfully echoed through the room with the potency of a teacher lecturing their students.


    ¡°The plague is a type of pulmonary disease, scholars have yet to name it, but the population has been quick to name it ¡®Asphyxia¡¯.¡± The woman dictated slowly but clearly. ¡°Unlike other pulmonary infections, this plague spreads slowly, mainly because of its mortality rate. It kills extremely fast, a couple of days at minimum for more exposed and fragile people, and a week at maximum for the rest of the population. This is factoring in the gestation and development time of the malady.¡±


    Aloe gasped at the mortality of the plague. She had heard of maladies that killed quickly, but for one to kill in less than a week, two days only, was unheard of to her. Death by sickness was usually long and painful.


    ¡°Shahrazad found herself in the middle point, passing away after five days, though I personally estimated her time was extended thanks to the help provided by the university and the emir, here present.¡± The scribe pointed at the woman on the throne with her extended palm.


    ¡°Did... did my mother suffer?¡± Aloe timidly asked the scribe.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Nuha responded bluntly.


    The crude response from the scribe provoked a series of strong reactions all over the room. Her fellow scribe at the other side of the throne looked at her as if she had killed her whole family whilst Aloe let out a strangled yelp, taken aback by the too-sincere answer.


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    The girl felt as if someone had punched her in the gut as the air left her lungs, her eyes began to water up as she gasped.


    ¡°Nuha!¡± Rani shouted at the scribe, her voice making the audience hall tremble. ¡°Have you no tact, woman?¡±


    ¡°I feel I have lost that... quality after being surrounded by too much death, my Emir.¡± Nuha talked with the same slow cadence, unaffected by the emir¡¯s powerful scream. ¡°If it helps you,¡± the scribe directed to Aloe, ignoring her liege, ¡°all infected suffered. The irritation on the lungs is strong, impeding patients from breathing, and forcing themselves to breathe hard enough to make their respiratory system bleed.¡±


    ¡°Uh...¡± Aloe let out a sound out of her mouth, half-groan, half-sob.


    She couldn¡¯t believe what her ears were hearing.


    ¡°Cease this at once,¡± Rani ordered, her voice disconcerted, her tone authoritative.


    ¡°Yes, my Emir,¡± Nuha stated as emotionless as ever. She wasn¡¯t affected by her own words nor by those shouted by the emir.


    The sultanzade facepalmed and sighed, her face filled with regret.


    ¡°Apologies for that,¡± she directed to Aloe, ¡°Nuha doesn¡¯t pull her punches, and I should have expected such a lack of touch and decorum on her part.¡±


    Aloe would have been surprised by having a Sultanah¡¯s offspring apologize to her, if it wasn¡¯t for the dagger she felt twisting in her throat.


    Upon seeing the reaction of the commoner, Rani sighed once more and looked at her scribe. ¡°Take the day off, Nuha. Out of my sight.¡±


    ¡°Gladly,¡± The scribe bowed down and remorselessly made her way out of the audience room.


    As Nuha walked past her, Aloe got a better look into her eyes. Tired, yes, but overflowing with intelligence. Now she noticed that the words she had uttered weren¡¯t by mistake but a neatly calculated risk.


    Anger should have bolstered her upon becoming aware of this, but instead, Aloe became impressed with the unscrupulous scribe. She toyed with me and played with the emir just to check out at an early hour. The pain and anguish she had been feeling disappeared as she realized the sheer nerves of the woman.


    In reality, Nuha never risked offending the emir, only a no-name commoner. And she valued that offense and pain to be less worth than her rest. Aloe truly didn¡¯t know what to feel upon that fact. Namely a mix of adoration and rage. Mostly rage.


    ¡°Once again, I feel like I must apologize for my scribe¡¯s words,¡± Rani said, but it was obvious in her tone and actions that she didn¡¯t feel it. The princess was just being diplomatic.


    Aloe wouldn¡¯t tell that to the emir, of course.


    ¡°T-there¡¯s no problem.¡± The girl responded after taking a deep breath.


    It hurt her ¨C a lot ¨C knowing that her mother hadn¡¯t had a peaceful death, but a part of her was happy that she wasn¡¯t there to see her suffering. Yet another part insulted her for being as monstrous as not wanting to spend the last moments of her mother with her.


    ¡°Back at the matter at hand,¡± Rani continued, briefly startling Aloe, ¡°before Nuha rudely presented her arguments, I wanted to tell you about the death of your mother.¡±


    Aloe gulped down a big drop of saliva as the eyes of the emir settled on her. Whatever she was going to say, it wasn¡¯t going to be nice, as her piercing eyes indicated.


    ¡°Aloe, your mother didn¡¯t suffer a death as natural as others may believe,¡± Rani revealed.


    ¡°What?¡± The words escaped Aloe¡¯s mouth beyond her control, titles, and position be damned. ¡°What do you mean that her death wasn¡¯t natural? Was she assassinated? Did assassins attack the palace again?¡±


    ¡°You aren¡¯t that far from the truth, but unfortunately, the culprits aren¡¯t assassins.¡± The emir calmly explained, yet with every word her tone became more and more enraged. ¡°The true killer of your mother isn¡¯t the plague, but my brother, Hassan.¡±


    ¡°T-the... emir?¡± Aloe expressed with visible confusion, recalling the name of the emir, or rather, the former emir now.


    ¡°Indeed.¡± Rani¡¯s voice was slow, but Aloe swore she could hear the gritting of teeth. ¡°That human scum that is my brother was the nince-damned culprit.¡± All pretenses of tranquility disappeared as rage overwhelmed the sultanzade¡¯s voice and the woman gripped the armrests of her throne, threatening to break them under her strength. ¡°That fucking moron!¡±


    The emir released her grip only to hit the armrest with her full strength, splintering the hardwood as if it cracked ceramic. Splinters flew in all directions, Aloe too stunned and slow to notice how close she had been to being hit by many of them.


    ¡°The man could have gone out with his head high up, but noooo it had to fucking wreck anything!¡± The sultanzade¡¯s eyes shone dangerously, scaring Aloe. ¡°That fucker brought the plague to his own palace through the servants before running away like a rat! He didn¡¯t even deign to come to the capital to be deposed, he just fucking exiled himself! Argh!¡±


    Aloe didn¡¯t know what to be more shocked at, the dangerous violence of the princess that could get her killed or the contrast between the calm seductress and the raging maelstrom.


    Rani breathed.


    Hard.


    Her inhalations could be felt around the room, air pouring towards her with force.


    And she exhaled.


    After repeating the process she finally calmed down.


    ¡°Apologies for my lack of control, that man makes my blood boil.¡± The woman said with unnatural calmness, a stone masquerade on top of her visage.


    ¡°I-I see...¡± Aloe said. ¡°Should I get going then?¡± After noticing the lack of honorifics in her speech, Aloe quickly threw a ¡°Rani¡± as the princess had instructed her.


    ¡°Wait.¡± Rani extended her arm, stopping Aloe in her tracks. ¡°I still have one more petition for you.


    Aloe took a deep breath of her own and bravely asked, ¡°What may that be, Rani?¡±


    ¡°Would you like to work for me?¡± The emir offered with her opened palm.

 Book 2: 11. Offer

    Aloe blinked several times, the emir¡¯s petition totally breaching her thought scheme. She couldn¡¯t believe what her ears had heard. This must be a mistake of some sort.


    ¡°I... uhm...¡± She didn¡¯t how to respond or what to respond, for that matter. ¡°S-surely I must have misheard, R-rani.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so, no.¡± Rani¡¯s honeyed voice permeated the air. The woman had expulsed all the rage from her body and now only her calculated seduction and innate charisma remained. ¡°I am truthful with my offer, Aloe. I do want you to work as my scribe.¡±


    ¡°I...¡± Aloe measured carefully her next words. ¡°I do not believe I am qualified for this job, Rani.¡± Haphazardly, Aloe managed to make a mask of her own, her nervousness traded for stoicism.


    This was a mask she was comfortable with; one she used her entire life. One that she couldn¡¯t even tell if it was her real self anymore. Her expressions were rigid and calm, those useful for a banker.


    ¡°Once again, a diplomatic answer.¡± Rani sighed, yet there was a shed of amusement in her voice. ¡°Noncommittal yet unaggressive. Please, explain why you aren¡¯t qualified for a scribe job at the court.¡±


    ¡°For starters,¡± Aloe began by prolonging her thinking time. It was a common tactic, the use of words devoid of meaning instead of puffs of air like ¡®uhms¡¯ or ¡®ohs¡¯ as it made the speaker more confident and knowledgeable. ¡°I have not been trained in such fields. My competence pales in comparison to that of my late mother.¡±


    It was hard talking about Shahrazad with this unnatural calmness. But what pained Aloe more was that it was simpler to do so than she thought. And that scared her.


    ¡°Shahrazad was one of the most competent scribes in the city and the court, I wouldn¡¯t expect the same experience and expertise from a new recruit,¡± Rani added with a diplomatic smile of her own. She rested her chin on the backside of her hand, which at the same time had her arm resting on the throne¡¯s armrest. ¡°Do better.¡±


    No arguments. Aloe¡¯s mind was blank. Why am I even trying to refuse her offer? This is the best I could get in my life; people kill over such job offers. Then why...


    A new refutation appeared in her mind.


    ¡°My talents would be misplaced and misused.¡± Aloe continued. ¡°All my life I have been trained under the wing of my father as a banker, so taking the position of a scribe would be simply inefficient.¡±


    ¡°Then work as the court¡¯s treasurer.¡± Rani smiled at her.


    The warm gesture melted Aloe¡¯s mind, the sweetness corroding the impassivity, but she stood her ground. Why is she being this hardheaded on having me working for her? It was weird. Even if Rani owed Aloe¡¯s mother, she just didn¡¯t have any qualifications.


    As Aloe turned her eyes around the audience hall to search for answers, her eyes latched onto the last remaining scribe. She wore multiple pieces of jewelry and an expensive-looking yellow dress. But it wasn¡¯t her wardrobe that grabbed Aloe¡¯s attention, but the familiarity of her face. I know her... A straight memory latched into her mind, refusing to let go.


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid that wouldn¡¯t be possible.¡± Aloe countered.


    ¡°How so?¡± Rani asked, a hint of a giggle at the end of her sentence.


    ¡°The woman at your right is the scribe of commerce, isn¡¯t she?¡± Aloe explained. ¡°Granting the position of treasurer would make some overlaps between our jobs, leading to yet another source of inefficiency.¡±


    ¡°Hmm, you are right.¡± Rani scratched her cheek, but something about that gesture irked Aloe.


    The emir isn¡¯t paying attention to my arguments. She noticed. She¡¯s toying with me.


    ¡°But then what?¡± The sultanzade violated Aloe with her predatory gaze, as if she were but a prey. ¡°Sadina is a rich city, we surely can afford some inefficiencies. Isn¡¯t that right, Tamara?¡±


    ¡°Absolutely, my Emir.¡± Tamara, the scribe of commerce, responded without taking an eye out of her parchment. Aloe doubted the scribe was even paying attention to the conversation.


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    ¡°You¡¯ve heard her, Aloe.¡± Rani talked with a slow and candid tone, and it raptured Aloe. Those lips and eyes... She found herself thinking about the emir rather than herself. ¡°We could be here all day discussing valid arguments and dismantling them at the same time. So why don¡¯t you just tell me the true reason you don¡¯t want to work for me? Do you mayhap dislike me?¡± The sultanzade asked, the faintest shade of a whimper in her voice.


    ¡°Of course not, Rani!¡± Aloe let out instantly, her hand guided to her chest.


    Huh? She thought in the confines of her mind. Why have I jumped this fast to an answer? Even if she truly didn¡¯t hate the emir, for she didn¡¯t even know her, and she truly seemed to be a friend of her mother; Aloe didn¡¯t think of her with enough passion to let out such a heated answer.


    Aloe coughed ¨C partially hiding her shame, partially recomposing herself ¨C and continued talking. ¡°Whilst your offer is truly outstanding, I have a two-fold reason to decline it.¡±


    ¡°Tell them then.¡± Rani led her hand before her mouth, covering her rising smile from Aloe¡¯s impromptu reaction.


    ¡°First,¡± Aloe cleared her throat, ¡°is that I do not feel particularly comfortable with the idea of working at the court.¡±


    ¡°Is it about your mother¡¯s?¡± The sultanzade asked and the girl nodded.


    ¡°I am not able to think with my straight mind as I¡¯ve just today found out about my mother¡¯s death. I need more time before taking such an important decision like this one.¡±


    ¡°I see...¡± To Aloe¡¯s surprise, the emir understood her problems. But instead of her eyes showing humanity, they showed cold calculations, like that of a banker measuring risk and losses. A face she knew and understood. ¡°I can wait for an answer after you are done with your mourning,¡± Rani responded diplomatically, too deadbeat for what should have been an emotional matter. ¡°And what about your second reason?¡±


    ¡°Secondly, after my grandfather¡¯s recent death, I have inherited a piece of land and a greenhouse.¡± Aloe also talked with an emotionless cadence. ¡°His last wish was that I took care of the plants on it.¡±


    ¡°Wait, your grandfather¡¯s death?¡± Rani asked, a veritable crack of surprise appearing in her stone mask. ¡°You have also lost your grandfather besides your mother?¡±


    Aloe nodded. ¡°Though his death isn¡¯t as recent, just over a month ago now.¡±


    ¡°I think I can understand better your mourn now.¡± The emir added. ¡°But why does that second reason even factor in?¡± Rani tilted her head, the strands of hair deliciously flowing like the waves of the sea. ¡°Couldn¡¯t you just take care of the plants or, even better, hire someone to do so?¡±


    ¡°I do not possess the money to do so,¡± Aloe explained. ¡°And even if I did, my grandfather asked to personally take care of them.¡±


    Lie. Aloe hid her worries behind a powerful fa?ade. There was no reason to tell that, Karaim hadn¡¯t specified anything like that, this lie was all but Aloe¡¯s own creation. I cannot allow anyone to know of Evolution. They were her discoveries, her meaning. The small steps of her progress in Infusion, and the discoveries of new plants. It all fueled her.


    And after losing everything, the greenhouse was the only thing tying her to the world.


    She couldn¡¯t lose it.


    She couldn¡¯t give it away.


    It was...


    It was all she had.


    Don¡¯t cry. Don¡¯t cry, Aloe. She ordered herself. If you do so, you¡¯ll lose all credibility. Do. Not. Show. Weakness.


    ¡°I still don¡¯t see the problem why you couldn¡¯t take care of them yourself.¡± Rani countered, unbeknownst yet mercifully distracting the girl from her pain.


    ¡°The greenhouse is a day away from Sadina into the Qiraji Desert.¡± Aloe smiled confidently, far from the actual turmoil brewing inside her.


    ¡°Ah.¡± The sultanzade puffed in realization. ¡°I do see why that may present a problem now.¡± Then she stood up, her dress covering her knees and thighs as she did so. ¡°But are you really going to squander such an opportunity for the last wish of a dead man?¡±


    ¡°It is also the last petition my mother gave a month ago. That was the last time I saw her.¡± Rage trickled in Aloe¡¯s voice.


    It was faked, she didn¡¯t feel hostility toward the emir, but using her dead mother ¨C however pitiful it was ¨C as an excuse could work. Maybe Aloe¡¯s tone was faked, but not her words.


    Shahrazad had wished for Aloe to take care of the greenhouse and now ¨C more than ever ¨C she felt truly motivated to fulfill her mother¡¯s wishes.


    It was no longer Karaim¡¯s wish, but also her mother¡¯s, yet most importantly, hers.


    ¡°I see conviction in your eyes,¡± Rani called out. ¡°And I can appreciate at. But that won¡¯t be enough. Let me give you a piece of advice, Aloe. I don¡¯t really like taking a no for an answer.¡±


    As Rani¡¯s words pierced her ears, Aloe got a reality check. The person in front of her wasn¡¯t Farid, an awful mentor that she could dismiss by mail, but the most powerful person in Sadina short of the Sultanah.


    She was talking with Rani-al-Sadina, the head of the greatest trading center in Ydaz.


    ¡°But that will be all for today,¡± The sultanzade suddenly said. ¡°Aaliyah has summoned her children to Asina and I must depart today.¡±


    As the emir spoke her words, Aloe felt as if a very real and tangible weight on her shoulders had been removed. She wisely held her sigh.


    Rani walked across the red carpet, approaching Aloe, and she put a hand on her shoulder. The imperial princess was so tall and Aloe so small that she didn¡¯t need to raise her hand that much.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be waiting for an answer when I return though.¡± The warm voice sent shivers down Aloe¡¯s spine, then the princess continued walking away. ¡°See you later girls!¡± Rani made her way out of the audience hall, her hips swaying harder than the back of a camel.

 Book 2: 12. Commerce

    Aloe and the remaining scribe remained still in the audience hall, still flabbergasted by the emir¡¯s mannerisms (and body movements). The scribe of commerce was the first to come out of their daze as Aloe heard the rustling of cloth and papers as the woman stood up.


    ¡°You give a person too much power overnight and they begin bossing you around.¡± The woman sighed and walked toward the entrance, but as she crossed Aloe, the girl stopped her.


    ¡°Wait,¡± Aloe said calmly, mostly because she was still distracted by... things. ¡°I know you, right?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m surprised you even remember.¡± The scribe snorted and pushed the papers in her arms up, strengthening her lock on them. ¡°Yes, we have seen before, Aloe. I went to your house once or twice to dine whilst Amid was still alive.¡±


    ¡°My father?¡± The girl asked. ¡°What relationship did you have with him?¡±


    ¡°He was kind of my assistant.¡± The woman explained as she continued walking.


    Aloe followed suit. ¡°Assistant?¡± She added with a frown.


    ¡°Alright, that may not be the best word to describe Amid.¡± She corrected. ¡°As you have stated, I am the scribe of commerce of the court of Sadina. But as the title of this position entails, there are a lot of voids where money is related. Whilst I am for all intents and purposes but in title the head of the economy of the city, I require other people to manage all economic-related issues not about trade. Taxation and agriculture are examples of this, but as you know, your father helped me with banking.¡±


    The moment they stepped out of the audience hall, Jafar greeted them. Fortunately, the guard had enough presence of mind to not interrupt the scribe mid-explanation.


    ¡°Though rather than managing the finances of the city and palace like an accountant, Amid was more of a diplomat. Talking with foreign, privately owned banks rather than working with the national one.¡± Aloe could only but be surprised at the lung capacity of the woman as she said all of that without taking a breather. ¡°If that satisfied your curiosity about my standing and that of your late father, I¡¯ll get going now.¡±


    ¡°Wait!¡± Aloe interrupted once more, now with more emergency in her voice as the scribe started to get away.


    ¡°What is it now?¡± The woman turned and added with a deadbeat gaze.


    ¡°Could I interest you in an enterprise? I swear it won¡¯t even take five minutes.¡± Aloe offered.


    Before her lay the scribe of commerce of Sadina, one of the richest cities in all of Ydaz, and she seemed to be an old friend of the family. Aloe would be a moron if she didn¡¯t seize the opportunity at her hands.


    At first, the scribe didn¡¯t respond, simply choosing to approach one of the big and open archways of the palace that functioned as glorified windows. She peered into the sky and sighed. ¡°Five minutes.¡±


    ¡°But of course!¡± Aloe agreed excitedly. ¡°My id-¡°


    ¡°But not here.¡± The mature woman interjected. ¡°Let¡¯s go to my office, I won¡¯t be standing up in the middle of a corridor.¡± Then she subtly approached Aloe and whispered in her ear. ¡°One can¡¯t ever know who is listening.¡± And she started walking away. ¡°Are you following or not?¡±


    ¡°Yes! One moment please.¡± Before she could get a response from the scribe, Aloe turned to face Jafar. ¡°Could you go back with Mirah and ask her to give you my bag? I need something inside it for this.¡±


    ¡°Alright,¡± The guard sighed. ¡°Follow her, I know where her office is.¡±


    ¡°Thanks, Uncle Jafar,¡± Aloe added with a smile. It felt as fake for her as it looked for him.


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    ¡°Now you call me uncle...¡± Jafar turned away from her and muttered as he made his way out. ¡°Just like Aya, only being lovely-dovely when she wants something...¡±


    Aloe ignored the grumpy man and followed the scribe. The palace¡¯s corridors were great in size and decorations. They were so tall and wide, able to fit giants and tens of people walking side by side, that it even gave Aloe a bit of agoraphobia. It¡¯s a bit overwhelming...


    And the decorations didn¡¯t fall short. Every archway had curtains of its own, made of translucent silk of a superior quality than that of Aloe¡¯s shawl, and there were hundreds of archways. And that was without mentioning the tiling. Much like the public baths, every surface of the palace of Sadina was covered with colorful tiles in eye-striking patterns. It didn¡¯t matter if they were the floor, the walls, or even the ceiling.


    When Aloe said every surface, she meant it.


    Soon enough, as her mind was equally amazed and terrified by the display of the palace¡¯s riches, Aloe didn¡¯t notice her escort came to an end.


    ¡°Here, enter.¡± The scribe pointed into the room with her eyes as she held the doorknob.


    ¡°Sorry,¡± Aloe added quietly as her expression reddened in embarrassment.


    The scribe of commerce¡¯s office was littered with shelves. And those shelves were littered with scrolls. And then there were some piles of hardcover books here and there on the ground.


    ¡°Sit wherever you can.¡± The woman offered as she left the papers she was carrying on the overloaded desk.


    Aloe complied, sitting in the only chair in the room that didn¡¯t have parchment on top of it.


    ¡°I see it on your face.¡± The scribe commented as soon as Aloe sat down.


    ¡°What?¡± Aloe replied instantly in confusion as a reflex, not really having listened to the question. Or rather, answering before processing the words in her mind.


    ¡°The room.¡± She elaborated. ¡°You think it¡¯s messy.¡±


    ¡°I do not.¡± Aloe¡¯s words sounded faker than that of drunkards promising ¡®a good time¡¯ at the bazaar at night.


    ¡°Sure,¡± The scribe said noncommittally. ¡°But regardless of what you think, I have a system here. And I know where everything here is.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s that pile then?¡± Aloe pointed at the stack of parchment on the chair at her right.


    A bold move considering she was trying to pitch a sale to the woman in front of her, but sometimes, you had to risk your entire career for the sake of comedy.


    ¡°Uhm, one second...¡± As a slight smile formed on Aloe¡¯s expression, the scribe swiftly responded. ¡°Fish and salt trade contracts with Aramita, plus some ships warranties and titles.¡± The woman added confidently.


    Aloe frowned and quickly grabbed the stack of parchment. She read the first one, her frown deepening as she finished it. Without stopping, she shifted to the second one. Then the next one. And the one after that.


    ¡°Dunes...¡± She muttered in sheer stupefaction. ¡°These actually are trade agreements with Aramita and other concessions with the shipyards of the coastal city...¡±


    ¡°See. I have my system.¡± The mature woman boasted proudly.


    ¡°But these... some of these documents are even a few years old. How do you even remember them?¡±


    ¡°A master never reveals their tricks.¡± The woman chuckled. ¡°Anyways, are you going to tell me about your ¡®enterprise¡¯ now or not, Aloe?¡±


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s easier if I had in hand what I asked to-¡° A knock on the door interrupted her. ¡°Perfect timing.¡± Aloe grinned and rushed for the door.


    ¡°Here¡¯s your bag.¡± Jafar handed Aloe her satchel.


    ¡°Thanks,¡± Aloe responded with a slight bow. ¡°Stay close, I won¡¯t take much longer.¡± And then she unceremoniously closed the office¡¯s door.


    ¡°You already have your things, tell me then.¡± The scribe pointed out, her tone slightly trickling out of patience.


    ¡°Of course.... uhm...¡± Aloe''s mind went blank as she was talking.


    ¡°Wait.¡± The woman interjected. ¡°You don¡¯t know my name?¡±


    ¡°O-of course I do!¡± Aloe denied the accusations. ¡°I just have it in the back of my mind. Um, just... trying to... push the memory... out....¡±


    ¡°I should have expected as much.¡± The scribe sighed. ¡°Stop trying to scramble your brain, you are going to hurt yourself that way. The last time you saw me was like ten years ago, you were but a little brat. If I didn¡¯t even remember your name before Rani mentioned, and that was with me working closely with Shahrazad, it¡¯s impossible that you even remember mine.¡±


    ¡°Em... alright.¡± Aloe expressed with a hint of shame. ¡°So how should I refer to you, scribe of commerce?¡±


    ¡°The name¡¯s Tamara, Tamara Asuleya. You don¡¯t need to use titles, just call me by my name.¡± Tamara added with a wrinkled smile. ¡°Just don¡¯t forget it this time, if you want to have a deal, that is.¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t,¡± Aloe replied and the old scribe frowned at her. ¡°Tamara.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s better.¡± Tamara chuckled.


    What¡¯s with women forcing me to call them by their names today? Is this some conspiracy? A memo I have not gotten? Aloe thought, half-jokingly, in the confines of her mind.


    ¡°With the name matter settled,¡± Tamara began, ¡°let¡¯s see now this enterprise of yours.¡±


    Wordlessly, Aloe took an item out of her satchel and put it on top of the desk.


    It was nothing more than a small jar with a lid tight up with thin strands of rope.

 Book 2: 13. Enterprise

    ¡°And what¡¯s exactly this?¡± Tamara asked unfazed by Aloe¡¯s theatrics.


    ¡°You¡¯ll know if you open it.¡± Aloe smugly said.


    ¡°No, I don¡¯t think I will.¡± The scribe responded, removing the girl¡¯s smile with a metaphorical slap.


    ¡°Why?¡± Aloe asked with true doubt and curiosity, a bit of fear lingering on her expression.


    ¡°You surely don¡¯t know how things work here.¡±


    ¡°No?¡± Aloe tilted her head in confusion. ¡°I have never been in palace before.¡±


    Tamara sighed. ¡°Do you remember how five years ago the assassins killed the previous... well, rather the avant-previous emir?¡±


    ¡°Yes?¡± Aloe added, now realizing where the scribe was getting that.


    ¡°So that.¡± The mature woman responded. ¡°I¡¯m not going to open a random package from a random girl.¡±


    ¡°Alright, alright!¡± Aloe raised her hands defensively, a common ydazi gesture. ¡°I mean no harm! If that¡¯s a problem, I¡¯ll open it myself.¡±


    Aloe grabbed the jar from the table and undid the strings of rope keeping the lid in place.


    ¡°See? No suspicious stuff.¡± Aloe pointed the open jar at Tamara.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. That looks pretty suspicious.¡± Tamara observed the insides of the jar from a safe distance. ¡°What¡¯s even that? It¡¯s dark and... gooey?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s ink!¡± Aloe responded. ¡°One I developed on my own.¡±


    ¡°I see...¡± The scribe of commerce¡¯s face twisted in confusion. ¡°So let me get this right. You refused the offer to work as the personal scribe of the emir of Sadina to sell me ink?¡±


    ¡°No? Maybe?¡± Aloe said unsurely. ¡°This is more of a secondary thing.¡±


    ¡°So that¡¯s what I am, a secondary thing?¡± Tamara added, her eyes half-closed.


    ¡°No, no.¡± Aloe shook her arms around, almost spilling the ink in her distress. ¡°I didn¡¯t express myself correctly. I mean tha-¡°


    ¡°Jesting, jesting.¡± The scribe chuckled. ¡°I get what you mean. This old woman just wanted to get a laugh out of the youth. You meant to say that this is an addition to that greenhouse of yours, rather than the main reason.¡±


    ¡°A bit too stark, but yes, that¡¯s what I meant.¡± Aloe accepted. She couldn¡¯t deny that Tamara¡¯s antics had driven a spike in her heartbeat.


    ¡°So then, tell me why I, the head of the economy of one of the richest cities in Ydaz, should buy your handmade ink instead of the crafted by specialized sellers?¡±


    ¡°Well, when you put it that way it sounds awful... But I don¡¯t intend to sell it to you or wealthy buyers, but rather a more open and untapped market.¡±


    ¡°Oh, do tell.¡± Tamara arched her back, closing her head to Aloe.


    Got her. Aloe grinned in her mind. Merchants can¡¯t resist the words ¡®untapped market¡¯.


    ¡°Basically, this ink is cheap and rather fast to produce,¡± Aloe explained.


    ¡°But,¡± Tamara interjected. ¡°I smell a but ¡®round the corner.¡±


    Aloe sighed. ¡°But the ink is of inferior quality to what you can buy in stores.¡±


    ¡°Judging by the disappointment of that sigh, I suppose its quality isn¡¯t that good?¡± Tamara guessed.


    ¡°You are mostly right. You can try if you want.¡± Aloe approached the ink jar toward the scribe. ¡°Or should I just try it myself? You know, in the case I am some sort of assassin infiltrate?¡±


    ¡°No need to go that far.¡± Tamara chuckled. ¡°I think I can take a risk or two. I¡¯m quite old, so it isn¡¯t like I¡¯m losing much, to begin with.¡±


    Tamara took the pot out of Aloe¡¯s hands, and before leaving it on the desk, she waved some papers to the side to make space as the whole desktop was completely composed of parchment, not a trace of wood visible.


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    Out of one of the drawers, the scribe took a stylized feather. The price and quality of it were astonishing, especially compared to the ones Aloe was used to write with.


    ¡°Em... are you sure you want to use such a good feather for the test?¡± Aloe asked shyly.


    ¡°Why? Don¡¯t you believe in your product?¡± Tamara brandished the feather around, doing tricks with surprising sleight of hand.


    ¡°It¡¯s not that... but I would also not like to have such a good piece go to waste if something happened.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯m not going to bill you any damages, I do this because I want.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not the problem...¡± Aloe added weakly ¨C she truly would hate to see an expensive and beautiful feather go to waste ¨C but the scribe ignored her and dipped the tip on the ink pot.


    The feather¡¯s top danced gracefully as Tamara circled the tip of the pot, making sure the ink stuck. With her other hand, Tamara grabbed a blank sheet and put it on top of her writing lectern.


    Slowly, the scribe raised the feather and scratched the tip against the parchment.


    Her first reaction said it all.


    Nonetheless, Tamara continued to write. Aloe couldn¡¯t know of the contents of the scribe¡¯s writing as the lectern blocked her vision, but she waited restlessly as the woman¡¯s hand moved back and forth. After three lines, she dipped the feather again into the ink yet she continued writing.


    ¡°Tell me,¡± Tamara muttered, her hand not stopping. ¡°Why did you think this would sell?¡± That tone doesn¡¯t bode well.


    ¡°Besides being cheap to produce, this ink has a special property. One that a customer may enjoy and be willing to buy the ink for.¡± Aloe explained hiding her nervousness as best as she could. Thankfully, she was far more comfortable discussing transactions than dealing with imperials.


    ¡°Please, don¡¯t leave me with this suspense here,¡± Tamara said boredly. ¡°What¡¯s this magical property of yours?¡±


    ¡°Drying.¡± Aloe taciturnly responded.


    ¡°Drying?¡± The scribe reiterated.


    ¡°Indeed,¡± The girl nodded. ¡°This ink, whilst a bit tedious to write with, far rougher to the feather, dries quicker than common ink.¡± Aloe put on the best salesman tone she could. Charismatic and assertive, but without being as obnoxious as the stall merchants of the bazaar. ¡°Common ink may take more than a quarter of an hour to dry, but with mine, that time is five minutes maximum. If the conditions are right, you may even have a settled scripture in a single minute. Furthermore, because of its different viscosity, no lectern is needed to write. You can straight up write on a flat surface.¡±


    ¡°Hmm...¡± Tamara left her feather on the pot and shook her hand around. ¡°It¡¯s hard to write with. My wrist is already tired, and I have been writing how long, two-three minutes?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s one of the disadvantages, yes, the main one,¡± Aloe admitted. ¡°With a bit of practice, you can extend that period to five minutes.¡±


    ¡°That isn¡¯t a lot of time.¡±


    ¡°Nor the drying time.¡± She countered with a smile.


    ¡°Good point.¡± Tamara acknowledged her verbal exchange. ¡°Let¡¯s recap. This trashy ink who hurts the one who writes with you wants to sell to the masses.¡±


    Aloe did not react to the scribe¡¯s harsh words. It¡¯s a test, common practice. If you are offended by such words, you are either showing weakness, stupidity, or lack of confidence. Maybe the three of them. Her thoughts were paraphrasing of her father¡¯s lessons, though adapted to her own words.


    ¡°Yes.¡± She simply responded unperturbed. ¡°Production is cheap, and so¡¯s the ink. And the customers.¡±


    ¡°Good, good....¡± Tamara muttered as she scratched the side of her neck. ¡°Removing the lectern from the equation does help. The less a commoner has to spend on writing equipment, the more likely they are to buy ink, for starters. I would, maybe, be interested in this ink, but that depends on how much quantity you can produce. So, numbers. How many jars per week?¡±


    ¡°Um...¡± Aloe executed fast mental calculations.


    I have only one Aloe Veritas currently, and whilst I can plant more and grow them fast, I need to state what I have now. Overdelivering will end up in failure. Yet another failure her mind recited. Her life was full of them recently. The veritas fully regrows each week. Around ten leaves per week, and every leaf being between two and three pots...


    ¡°Twenty-five jars per week.¡± She responded confidently.


    ¡°Hmm... Low numbers, especially when you intend to go to the open market, but I guess it was expected of a singular, unprepared manufacturer.¡± Tamara stood from her chair. ¡°Tell you what, I¡¯ll contact an acquaintance in the ink industry, and depending on their opinion, I¡¯ll give you a definitive answer. Though I¡¯ll need that ink pot as a demonstration.¡±


    ¡°All yours,¡± Aloe responded after also getting up.


    ¡°I¡¯ll contact you through mail at your house whenever I get the news about your enterprise,¡± Tamara explained.


    ¡°Understood.¡± Aloe bowed down and turned to leave the room.


    ¡°Wait.¡± Yet the scribe interrupted. ¡°Here.¡± And threw her a coin.


    Even though it caught her with the guard down, Aloe managed to catch the coin in her hands. Her eyes opened like plates as she looked at the coin. The weight of the coin was big and the color was silver.


    It was a fajati.


    A big silver coin worth fifty drupnars.


    ¡°I... I cannot accept this. This is far more expensive than the ink.¡± Considering her precarious economic state, a fajati was a fortune.


    ¡°Then don¡¯t consider it a payment for the ink, but a funerary gift,¡± Tamara added with a weak yet understanding smile. ¡°It¡¯s truly a shame what happened with Shahrazad. And whilst I didn¡¯t hold her in regards as high as Amid, I should have done more for her. Your whole family. A simple fajati won¡¯t be even enough to pay that gratitude.


    ¡°I-I don¡¯t know what to say...¡± Aloe clutched the coin in her hands, her eyes tearing up like this noon. Death was still recent in her mind.


    ¡°Then don¡¯t say anything.¡± Tamara¡¯s smile became warmer. ¡°Rest, girl. You deserve it.¡±


    With a deep bow and no words, Aloe made her way out of the office of the scribe of commerce. Her heart ached, but her mind was excited with the chances of her enterprise.

 Book 2: 14. Fine

    ¡°Oh, heavens, that was stressful.¡± Aloe led her hand to her heart and sighed after closing the office¡¯s door behind.


    ¡°What was stressful?¡± Jafar, who was resting her back on the wall, inquired at her side.


    ¡°Dunes!¡± Aloe jumped. ¡°You scared me!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t know how, you¡¯re the one who told me to wait here.¡± The guard shrugged, his saber clinking with the wall as he leaped out of it. ¡°Anyways, how did it go? Besides stressful, that is.¡±


    Aloe groaned at man¡¯s incorrigible behavior. ¡°Honestly? The meeting with the emir was more stressful, it was a voyage of emotions. The agitation just sort of carried over this conversation, I was too dazed to notice my emotions until now.¡±


    ¡°So how did the meeting with the emir then?¡± Jafar started walking through the colossal corridors and Aloe found herself following him.


    ¡°Overall good. There have been... interesting developments. Though everything would have been smoother if you told me that the emir was... I don¡¯t know, a woman?¡± Sarcasm spurted out of Aloe¡¯s mouth like a dog with rabies.


    ¡°Oooh...¡± Jafar stopped dead in his tracks.


    ¡°Yeah. Oh.¡± Aloe¡¯s reaction was shorter and more aggressive.


    ¡°I knew I had that nudge in the back of my mind telling me I was forgetting something.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± The girl squinted so hard that it was difficult to tell if she even had her eyes open.


    ¡°In my defense,¡± Jafar said raising his arms with open palms. ¡°a lot of things have happened as of late. And the city¡¯s change of ruler wasn¡¯t as recent as others. How long has it been now, two weeks maybe?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t care if it has been two weeks!¡± Aloe shouted, finally letting out her indignation. ¡°There are still people talking about the previous emir¡¯s death and that was five years ago! How¡¯s it that I didn¡¯t hear anything about this change?¡±


    ¡°The previous was an assassin assassination ¨C for the sake of redundancy ¨C and this one a succession,¡± Jafar explained.


    Aloe frowned. ¡°The emir Hassan wasn¡¯t old, how¡¯s it that he has gotten abdicated? He didn¡¯t die, did he?¡±


    ¡°The matter about this change in leadership is a bit blurry, a lot of hearsay is floating around, but the emir didn¡¯t die nor step down. Apparently, he angered the Sultanah and has been made out.¡±


    ¡°So... he has been disowned?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t tell that,¡± Jafar responded as he started walking again, his footing not as solid as it should be.


    ¡°Can¡¯t or won¡¯t,¡± Aloe asked following closely behind.


    ¡°Can¡¯t.¡± The guard answered, but he performed a curious gesture with his hands. He circled around the corridor, especially pointing to the archway windows and the shadows.


    I see. Aloe realized the hidden meaning behind the gesture. Jafar doesn¡¯t want to talk because he fears prying ears and eyes, though I think he¡¯s telling the truth when he says he doesn¡¯t know. Now that I think about it, Tamara was also preoccupied with others hearing our conversation as we went to her office to discuss business.


    After the nonverbal exchange, conversation between the two died out, and not until they made their way out of the palace of Sadina and reunited with Mirah who waited at the bottom of the stairs did any conversation restart.


    ¡°How did it go?¡± Mirah asked, worry written all over her face.


    ¡°Fine,¡± Aloe responded with a practiced smile. It was getting hard lately to perform a natural one. ¡°The emir just wanted to talk with me about Mom.¡±


    ¡°What exactly?¡± The housewife pried further. ¡°Was it some compensation for her service? You aren¡¯t that well with your finances, right?¡±


    ¡°I... um.¡± Compensation was a rare bonus gifted to workers, especially if they were of lower origins. ¡°No, she just wanted to talk about how she was friends with my mother and how she-¡° Aloe stopped herself midway through the sentence. I shouldn¡¯t tell them about how the previous emir was the cause of her death and the outbreak in the palace. Aloe put force on her fists but continued talking as if nothing happened. ¡°-is saddened by her death.¡±


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    Mirah scoffed. ¡°If she was truly sad by Shahrazad¡¯s death, she would have spared a few drupnars. Or more like a few drupnarun by looking at the place she lives on.¡± The woman crossed her arms, her breasts were highlighted by the gesture. ¡°Whatever they told you, those are lies. If Shahrazad was such a good friend of hers, she would neither have died nor you would have gone out of that palace empty-handed.¡±


    Aloe¡¯s expression relaxed as confusion overtook her. ¡°You are... hmm... rather affected by the fact the emir didn¡¯t give me anything.¡±


    Even if Aloe wanted to be mad at a sultanzade ¨C an ill-advised action course ¨C she hadn¡¯t expected anything when she entered the palace, the fact that Rani even offered her a job was more than she expected. Hmm, I shouldn¡¯t tell them about that. Especially since I didn¡¯t take on her offer, that will raise a lot of brows and questions.


    ¡°For heaven¡¯s sake! She¡¯s an imperial and an emir! She could literally gift you your weight in gold!¡± Mirah continued with her tantrum. ¡°Of course, I¡¯m afflicted! They did you dirty!¡±


    It didn¡¯t go over Aloe¡¯s notice that Mirah had been talking about ¡®them¡¯ instead of ¡®she¡¯ all this time. Nor she asked why. The reason was quite obvious. Her anger wasn¡¯t pointed at the emir specifically but at all the sultanate¡¯s imperials.


    That smells like there¡¯s some story there. Aloe thought as she released the pressure on her fist. But I¡¯m not gonna pry. I want them to do the exact opposite so I shouldn¡¯t encourage them.


    ¡°I mean, it isn¡¯t that difficult to get the little plant¡¯s body weight in gold.¡± Jafar joked to defuse the conversation, but that prompted an automatic reaction from Aloe, who kicked his sheen.


    The man was unfazed.


    Huh. Aloe blinked. That was reflexive. The man is so good at angering me that my body reacts before I do.


    ¡°That¡¯s even weaker than normal, little plant.¡± Jafar continued pestering her. ¡°Maybe we should go to the garrison training grounds and make you gain a bit of muscle.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t say that to poor Aloe!¡± Mirah defended her. ¡°She¡¯s had a rough and long day and she¡¯s devastated. Besides women with muscles aren¡¯t attractive.¡±


    I would like to say otherwise. Aloe kept her thoughts in her mind, lest her words gave them more fuel to shove into the fire.


    So she just groaned. ¡°Are you done?¡±


    ¡°No, not really.¡± Jafar grinned.


    However, it seemed that wasn¡¯t the case for his wife as Mirah slapped him on the back of his head. Even if the sound of the hit was enough to make nearby birds fly away, the man was unfazed, his neck built like a marble column and his cranium like a fortress wall.


    ¡°So,¡± Mirah turned to Aloe, her voice tone sweet and motherly. ¡°What are you going to do now?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Aloe frowned at the question.


    ¡°I was thinking whilst waiting and...¡± She lingered a bit with her words, shaking her body around lightly, but finally ceded. ¡°...maybe you would want to sleep at our house tonight?¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡±


    ¡°You can stay how long you want. I know you had a rough day and you are still mourning so...¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to cut you there.¡± Aloe raised her hand. ¡°I am fine, really. I can comfortably be at my house.¡±


    ¡°But-¡° As Mirah restarted talking, Aloe interjected again.


    ¡°I mean what I¡¯m saying. I¡¯m fine.¡± She forced the fakest smile of the whole day. ¡°I just need a bit of rest and time alone. If I need help you will be the first I will look out for. Alright?¡±


    ¡°I-I guess?¡± Mirah replied, taken aback by the refusal.


    ¡°Let her be, Mirah,¡± Jafar added, his voice calm. ¡°If she says she wants to be alone then just let her be.¡±


    ¡°I... fine...¡± The housewife responded in defeat. ¡°But please, don¡¯t hesitate to ask for help.¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t,¡± Aloe said, her smile ever-so-slightly more sincere than before.


    ¡°Alright...¡± Mirah sighed and smiled back at Aloe. ¡°We¡¯ll leave you alone. Today.¡±


    Aloe sighed but waved at them as they disappeared into the thin crowd of the bazaar.


    ¡°Truth is, don¡¯t feel pain.¡± She whispered to herself, only to leave her mouth hanging as she remembered something. ¡°The ¡®toughness¡¯ internal infusion... I probably should deactivate it. I haven¡¯t seen any side effects of maintaining an infusion for long on plants, but I don¡¯t want to try it now...¡± Aloe took a step forward. ¡°But I want to try something now that I think about it.¡±


    Aloe shifted in a tranced state as she walked with a destination in mind. She moved on autopilot, her concentration on her internal flow of vitality. Every time she had changed her internal infusions, she had been stationary, but nothing stated that she could do otherwise.


    The girl walked slowly, not trusting her ability to do both things at the same time. If she already took five minutes to infuse herself whilst totally still, she expected far worse results in movement.


    Breathing in and out in harmony with her steps, Aloe shifted her vitality flow back into place. It was likely her imagination as the change in time was minimal, but going from infusion to default was faster than going from default state to infused state, or than infusion to infusion.


    There... close... Her thoughts were muted as her concentration lingered on pushing her vitality back into place, and much like the latch of a door ¨C once the push was enough ¨C everything settled to normal with a quick switch.


    Too normal for her liking.


    ¡°Ugh!¡± Aloe clutched her stomach as all her cramps suddenly assaulted her mercilessly, bile swelling up in her throat. Keep it inside. Keep it inside!


    Her head became light and her thoughts blurry as the pain overwhelmed her. Struggling to stay conscious or keep the contents in her stomach, Aloe waltzed over to the nearest bench on the plaza she was currently on.


    Sitting down helped her a lot, most of the pain numbing hastily. But she didn¡¯t hesitate to delve into meditation to restore her ¡®toughness¡¯.


    ¡°Worst idea ever,¡± Aloe muttered under her breath, having difficulties talking from the gag of the bile.

 Book 2: 15. Lesson

    ¡°Ugh...¡± Aloe groaned as she twisted her neck upwards in pain, her nape resting against a slate of sandstone. ¡°Never again.¡± She let out a loaded groan, after exiting her meditation and changing her internal infusion back to ¡®toughness¡¯. ¡°I still feel it... I would say it¡¯s a phantom pain... but it¡¯s very real.¡±


    The girl¡¯s back curved as she curled forward a bit, her hands placed on her stomach. She had felt fine over the last hours, Aloe would go as far as to say that she felt good, but the instant she deactivated the infusion, the pain hit her like a full-speed dweller.


    ¡°My hands are trembling.¡± Aloe chuckled, her voice as faint as a whisper. Better laugh than cry. ¡°It¡¯s good to know that the infusion has a powerful effect, but at the same time, what would I have done without it? I almost puked and fainted, it would have been impossible to meet with the emir...¡±


    A voice whispered in her mind, compelling her to refer to the woman as ¡®Rani¡¯, but her decency kept her at bay. She had only referred to the sultanzade that way because it was a direct order, but she didn¡¯t want to make that into a habit, especially when the woman was nowhere near her.


    ¡°Twilight is near...¡± Aloe stopped an instant to regain her breath. That last sentence she spoke was too much for her fatigued and afflicted state. ¡°I should make haste if I want to do this today... but at the same time, do I really need to?¡±


    The answer was no, she wasn¡¯t in any haste to do anything. Unlike the previous month, there wasn¡¯t a deadline looming over her ¨C if ¡®toughness¡¯ continued to work as well as it did, she could even ignore her menstruation ¨C but at the same time, she didn¡¯t want to stay still. Doing so led to thoughts, and she didn¡¯t to do such a thing right now.


    Her mind worked better whilst occupied, unable to think or feel.


    Aloe passed her hands through her scalp, vaguely fixing her hair, though she did so to refresh herself as a few beads of sweat trailed down her forehead.


    ¡°Let¡¯s just pay him a visit.¡± The girl said after weakly standing up from the bench.


    Unconsciously, Aloe reached for the waterskin on her bag, only to remember that she didn¡¯t carry one.


    ¡°I¡¯m no longer in the desert...¡± As she was inside the city walls, she didn¡¯t think of carrying water with her like she did on the oasis or her treks.


    Aloe sighed and removed her hand from her bag. She was traveling light with her simple white dress and pistachio shawl, but especially so compared to her normal attire back on the oasis. Her desert garb was heavy in contrast to these clothes and far more cumbersome. Even though she was in pain, the agility that this attire brought refreshed her.


    However, it was problematic not having access to her satchels.


    Those little bags had a lot of useful trinkets.


    ¡°I wonder if the vitality pills would do something to soothe my pain...¡± Aloe inquired as she strolled away from the bazaar, turning a corner into the labyrinthic streets of Sadina. ¡°Nah, probably not.¡± She sighed. ¡°I¡¯m at my maximum vitality unlike before, they would do nothing. Unless I found a way to permanently infuse myself like I do with plants...¡±


    The idea fancied her, but she doubted it was possible. For all she knew, internal infusion was the human equivalent of the infusion she applied to plants. Though it was quite obvious that it suffered from the fundamental difference of being self-applied and reliant on her total vitality rather than an external influence like it was with plants.


    Those thoughts didn¡¯t fully form as her mind was both sluggish and she made it to her destination.


    It was a house like any other, except that in the fa?ade hung a sign with a nondescript leaf and instead of a door there was a red curtain. It was a shop, not a home. And the kind of establishment was quite obvious. Aloe pushed the curtains to the side and entered the dimly lit shop.


    ¡°Hello?¡± She asked as there was no one at the counter. ¡°Umar? Are you here?¡±


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    ¡°Yeah! One moment!¡± A muted shout came from the back store.


    The interior of the apothecary smelled like dried plants, even if there were plenty of alive ones. Aloe roamed along the room, looking at the shelves filled with pots, seeds, plants, and trinkets. What the raspy voice called a moment ended up being four minutes.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect anyone at this hour.¡± The man grunted as he entered the shop. ¡°Oh,¡± And then gasped as he saw Aloe, ¡°and especially not such a young beauty.¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you call me ugly the last time we saw each other?¡± The girl added with a frown.


    ¡°No, I did not.¡± He scratched his thin whitened beard in thought. ¡°But that¡¯s a thing I would do, yes.¡±


    ¡°Anyways,¡± Aloe half-groaned, half-sighed. ¡°It¡¯s nice to see you, Umar.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± The old man seemed surprised by her words. ¡°It¡¯s the first time someone told me that.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know wether to feel sad upon hearing that or not.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t.¡± Umar shook his hand around dismissively. ¡°I don¡¯t need the pity of a youngster.¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡± Aloe harumphed. ¡°I was just being polite; it was only an expression.¡±


    ¡°I could say the same thing.¡± The apothecary chuckled. ¡°Don¡¯t get your hopes up, no one is going to fall over your looks.¡±


    Surprisingly, Aloe found herself smiling even if she had been insulted. Today it had been a hard day, and most had just looked at her with pity. Yet the unapologetic man¡¯s behavior felt refreshing, comforting, and normal. She just had the urge to punch him in the face.


    And that felt good!


    ¡°Well, are you going to tell me why you are here or are you just going to stand there looking at me with that bloodlust in your eyes?¡±


    Upon hearing Umar¡¯s words, Aloe blushed. Not because he had read her perfectly, but for the reason she had come here before.


    ¡°Ah, you planted the cannabis seeds, didn¡¯t you?¡± Aloe¡¯s blush intensified and so did the man¡¯s grin. ¡°Well, what are you waiting for, lass? Take them out.¡±


    ¡°Umm, I think there¡¯s a misunderstanding.¡± Aloe cut out. ¡°I¡¯m not here to sell cannabis. Well, not yet at least.¡±


    ¡°Then why in the heavens¡¯ sake are you here?¡± The old man¡¯s mood instantly soured as he discovered he wasn¡¯t going to get any cannabis.


    ¡°To ask you how to harvest it.¡± The girl asked with a straight back as she recomposed her mask.


    ¡°Whilst it bothers me that you have crossed that door without drugs in your hands, I must congratulate your foresight,¡± Umar said. ¡°Not everyone is clear-headed enough to ask the farmer how and when the potatoes are harvested.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll take that as a compliment.¡±


    ¡°It is.¡± The apothecary nodded. ¡°Anyhow, what¡¯s the type of cannabis you use?¡±


    ¡°Wait.¡± Aloe was left agape. ¡°There are different types?¡±


    ¡°Indeed.¡± The old man continued scratching her beard in an old-man manner. ¡°Three of them, in fact. But you kinda can ignore the third, it¡¯s just a hybrid. The main two are Indica and Sativa.¡±


    ¡°How can I know which I have?¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t,¡± Umar stated seriously.


    Instead of worrying about the man¡¯s words, Aloe deadpanned.


    ¡°Bah!¡± The apothecary groaned. ¡°I try to jest and this is what I get as a reward?¡±


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t particularly amusing.¡±


    ¡°Not my problem.¡± The old man harrumphed. ¡°You don¡¯t need to identify them. If it¡¯s your grandfather¡¯s, then it will be Indica.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the difference between the two anyways?¡±


    ¡°Mainly the flowering time. Though the shape of the leaves does change. But that¡¯s the external changes. What actually matters is the inside. The Sativas have a greater kick, ya¡¯ know?¡±


    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, why did my father uhm...¡± Even if she didn¡¯t blush now, Aloe¡¯s words lost her cadence. It was difficult to talk about drugs with a straight face.


    ¡°Drugs with a lesser punch?¡± Umar snickered. ¡°For the first reason I told you, the flowering time. Indicas take around two weeks less to grow, and Karaim had some tricks with his greenhouse to cut that time in half. Never knew how he did it.¡±


    Aloe reinforced her mask to the limit, not letting a single tick escape her. She was not going to reveal any secrets with involuntary expressions.


    ¡°So he chose quantity over quality?¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Umar shrugged. ¡°Which is weird because he has a greenhouse, ya¡¯ know, the place where you plant fragile plants and yield better results at the expense of having a lower seeding area? He probably did it because of assassins. If you had two identical plants but one had more punch, they would go for that one, even if it were less of it.¡±


    ¡°I know, but I can¡¯t answer questions for him.¡± I barely knew him, to begin with. She thought, mostly ignoring the comments of assassins. If they weren¡¯t a problem before, they shouldn¡¯t be now. ¡°Okay, what I do next?¡±


    ¡°Now, here comes the hard part.¡± Umar started.


    ¡°Right.¡± Aloe nodded, paying close attention. ¡°What do I do?¡±


    ¡°You know that the grown cannabis plants are short, and you know what the stem is, right?¡± Aloe nodded to the rather obvious question. ¡°Okay, so you need to trace your finger from the stem to the branch,¡± Aloe nodded again, closely listening to the wise man¡¯s lesson, ¡°and then you cut the branch.¡±


    Aloe deadpanned.


    Her expression was stone, her heart cold, her thoughts daggers, and her feelings void.


    ¡°That¡¯s all?¡± The girl asked with a lot of hesitation, but mainly the unhidden wish to hit something very hard. Namely, old men.


    ¡°Yup.¡± Umar nodded nonchalantly. ¡°You are just the farmer, but I¡¯m the artist. The one who requires actual hands and makes the kush. I just need intact branches to make actual hashish.¡±


    ¡°Return me my worry,¡± Aloe stated annoyed and cross-armed.


    ¡°No,¡± Umar smacked his lips ¡°I don¡¯t think I will.¡±

 Book 2: 16. Office

    As Rani walked behind Aaliyah, she couldn¡¯t help to notice the heat. She wasn¡¯t talking about how hot her mother may be or the restless sun above, but actual heat. The half-naked woman quite literally expelled steam as she walked.


    How¡¯s she not burning alive? The sultanzade wondered.


    The sultanah kept a lot of secrets, so whilst the sultanzade were her children and the heirs of her techniques, only a trickle of the woman¡¯s true understanding reached them. Her most common trick was to give certain pieces of information to a specific sultanzade and then foster competitivity between them, so they kept it to themselves.


    That¡¯s what Aaliyah had done with Rani, after all.


    Others greedily kept their martial arts or cultivation techniques to themselves, but Rani was different. She had innate talent. And charm is certainly the best ability of them all. Whilst the other sultanzade worked tirelessly to reinforce their bodies or sharpen their minds, Rani had just to exist. Ah, it¡¯s hard to be so beautiful. The princess jiggled in the confines of her mind, her expression an unmoving fa?ade, as the sultanah guided her into her office.


    ¡°Huh.¡± Rani gasped as she rested her hand on the doorframe.


    ¡°What?¡± Aaliyah inquired as she lay on a pillowed sofa, her massive breasts almost cutting Rani¡¯s line of sight with the sultanah¡¯s face.


    If I didn¡¯t know she can carry tons of stone with one hand, I would ask myself how her back can even support those hazards.


    ¡°No, nothing.¡± The sultanzade put a hand before her mouth ¨C the long, purple-enameled nails almost clawing into her cheek ¨C and searched for a place to sit. She ended up deciding on a colossal armchair, resemblant to a throne.


    Aaliyah kept a lot of different types of seats in her room. Mostly because she liked to collect them, but also for the rather obvious reason as to why she had a bed more expensive than whole houses inside her office.


    ¡°No, let out it.¡± The sultanah lazily commented, her chiseled abs rising up and down. It¡¯s a rare occurrence to see Aaliyah¡¯s unpregnant belly. Rani thought paying more attention than necessary to the woman¡¯s six-pack. Where¡¯s the critter anyway? ¡°Come on, let it out, I don¡¯t have all day.¡±


    You do. But that the sultanzade didn¡¯t voice out. Her position gave her a lot of privileges, but not that many. It was a fine line to walk around.


    Rani sighed. ¡°I just thought that it was weird to see this room empty.¡±


    ¡°How so?¡± Aaliyah asked as if she was clueless, yet her grin told another story.


    ¡°You know why.¡±


    ¡°Please, indulge me.¡± The sultanah lay on her side, facing her daughter, a predatory smile on her visage.


    Her eyes shone like powerful amethysts, attracting Rani. A common misconception people in the palace had was that she was immune to Aaliyah¡¯s charm. That was simply not true. Charm didn¡¯t work that way. No one had immunity to Nurture-based charm, you could only be highly resistant like Rani was. That meant that even the great Aaliyah-al-Ydaz was charmable, but even if her resistance was lower than that of Rani¡¯s, the princess¡¯ abilities weren¡¯t as potent as those of the sultanah.


    Damned woman. Rani cursed as she broke eye contact.


    ¡°As the snake tongues say, no stranger leaves the sultanah¡¯s room unfucked.¡±


    Aaliyah laughed. ¡°I think they are a bit tamer with their language, they use ¡®unlaid¡¯ perhaps?¡±


    ¡°No, they are quite explicit about that.¡±


    ¡°Oh well, it isn¡¯t like I hide it.¡± The woman stretched her arms and body with a somewhat erotic groan, the gesture making the rags she had wearing fall off. ¡°My reputation is but the consequences of my actions.¡±


    ¡°Talking about hiding things, when are you going to put on clothes?¡± Rani asked, sighing at her mother¡¯s naked body.


    From the arena to the office she had only been wearing the ripped dress that Rani had taken from that poor random maid. Her sacrifice had at least saved the sanity of tens of people.


    A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    ¡°All to its due time, darling.¡±


    Shivers were sent up Rani¡¯s spine as she heard those words. ¡°Ugh, don¡¯t refer to me like that. I¡¯m cringing.¡±


    ¡°A lot of people would kill at my orders with the faint hope of hearing me call them ¡®darling.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but I¡¯m not those people.¡± Rani crossed her arms. ¡°And I¡¯m your daughter if you have forgotten that.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not like that stops people. Have you seen the royal family of Enia? Those don¡¯t have a family tree, but a family circle. That¡¯s funny.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a royal family trying to ¡®keep the blood pure¡¯,¡± Rani gestured the quotes with her fingers, ¡°and not every nince-damned person.¡±


    ¡°And what are exactly we?¡± Aaliyah stood up from her lying position, her breasts swaying around like discontinuous pendulums. ¡°I see a princess, and I am a queen.¡±


    ¡°Ugh!¡± The princess put her hand before her mouth. ¡°Stop! I¡¯m going to puke if you continue!¡±


    ¡°Anyways, there isn¡¯t even a problem with my suggestion.¡± The sultanah dismissed with her hand as she stood up and walked toward the wardrobe. ¡°Oh, right.¡± And then she tolled a little but loud bell.


    Soon enough, maids poured inside the office. Two, to be precise. The women wordlessly opened the wardrobe for the sultanah and started dressing her. Why even bother dressing yourself when you are the most powerful woman in the nation? Rani saw the amusement in Aaliyah¡¯s visage as she looked at the maids. The poor girls dressed the woman with her eyes closed, still wary of the charm of the sultanah.


    ¡°I am going to lament this, but why isn¡¯t it a problem?¡± Rani asked from the comfort of her armchair.


    ¡°Well, the only thing wrong with incest is the risk of faulty offspring, but that won¡¯t be a problem if we are both women.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I lament it already.¡± Rani sighed. ¡°There are a lot of wrong things with that statement.¡±


    ¡°Which? Please, enumerate them.¡± Aaliyah said with a smile on her face.


    The maids, even with their handicaps, finished their job quickly and silently. As they disposed to make their way out of the room, Aaliyah slapped the buttocks of the youngest of the couple of maids ¨C one with surprisingly light hair and skin tone ¨C prompting a surprised yelp from the girl. Blonde? She must be from Loyata. A courtier in search of fame or riches. Probably both.


    ¡°You can stay.¡± The sultanah didn¡¯t give the maid time to respond or react as she yanked her toward her body, her mother¡¯s powerful arms locking the girl in a one-arm embrace as she fondled the maid¡¯s left breast.


    Rani rolled her eyes at the lack of decorum of her mother. She¡¯s doing this to piss me off. Just because I mentioned there wasn¡¯t anyone lying in a pool of body fluids in her office.


    ¡°What you wanted to tell me then?¡± Aaliyah asked nonchalantly as if she weren¡¯t ravaging the young maid with her hands. It didn¡¯t help the girl was close to Rani¡¯s age.


    The maid lewdly yelped, some muted moans coming out of her mouth, and then Rani noticed she couldn¡¯t see Aaliyah¡¯s other hand. Well, I already know where it is now.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± The princess asked, not knowing where to look.


    ¡°No child of mine talks with me out of their own volition.¡± The sultanah explained, taking small steps backward as she guided the defenseless girl to the sofa. Rani doubted she could hear them any longer, her head but a pink fantasy. ¡°So that means you want something.¡±


    ¡°One,¡± Rani started, ¡°you should feel ashamed to feel proud that your children don¡¯t want to talk to you.¡± Aaliyah scoffed at the lecture, preferring to comfort herself on the maid¡¯s tits. Sometimes I think I¡¯m the only sane one. And the only adult. ¡°And two, not really, truth be told. I just wanted to save everyone from a charm-fueled lust craze and I kind of followed you here.¡±


    ¡°Nah, I don¡¯t buy-¡°


    ¡°Ah~¡± The maid loudly moaned as she reached her orgasm, interrupting the sultanah. After three pregnant seconds, the girl freed of her daze and ¨C in her post-orgasm clarity ¨C she became aware of what she had just done. ¡°Oh, I am so so s-sorry. Please f-forgive me, my Sultanah!¡±


    The scared girl tried to bow, her golden locks falling with her erratic movements, but Aaliyah still had her grabbed by the bosom. And she wasn¡¯t happy.


    ¡°Ah!¡± The maid whimpered as the sultanah threw her to the floor, her expression of terror only intensifying at the violent gesture. She quickly gathered into a ground-level bow, her forehead on the carpet.


    She only needs to be licking her feet to be a dog. Rani derisively thought, even if she felt a shard of empathy toward the girl.


    Aaliyah put her bare foot on top of the maid¡¯s head, pushing it slightly and leading it into the floor. The maid whimpered in fear but didn¡¯t have the courage to say another word.


    ¡°Today I¡¯m happy.¡± Aaliyah circled her foot around the girl¡¯s head, putting it under her chin and slightly raising it, forcing the maid to look at her. ¡°Cancel all your plans for tomorrow and the next day. I¡¯m expecting you here at twilight. Come all the way here from your chambers naked. Understood?¡±


    The sultanah¡¯s smile drove more fear into the girl¡¯s heart, but the maid¡¯s expression was of overwhelming gratitude.


    ¡°Now out!¡± As Aaliyah shouted, the maid skittered her way out of the room, falling more than once, and after being unable to walk straight for more than one reason, she crawled the rest of the way out.


    The dark-skinned tall and muscled woman sighed.


    ¡°What a way of spoiling one¡¯s mood.¡± She clicked her tongue. ¡°Anyways, you were saying?¡±


    Rani knew better than to continue with the farse and play games with the annoyed sultanah. When she was in this temperamental state the best thing one could do was to be straight to the point and truthful.


    ¡°I have found a girl.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± That instantly calmed Aaliyah, her face gaining a roguish smile. Her grin was that of a mother who had heard of her daughter¡¯s crush''s existence. ¡°Do tell~¡±


    ¡°Not like that.¡± The sultanah¡¯s antics and mood swings honestly tired Rani, but she continued, nonetheless. ¡°She has double the vitality of a normal person.¡±


    ¡°Oh!¡± Aaliyah¡¯s eyes shot wide open, her pupils shaping into stars. ¡°I want to hear all about that!¡±

 Book 2: 17. Education

    Sunrays met Aloe¡¯s face.


    ¡°Ugh...¡± The girl groaned as she rubbed her eyes. ¡°I still feel like shieeet...¡±


    Truly a poet of her age.


    Aloe blinked thrice and finally opened her eyes. She lay unmoving on her bed; her sight locked onto the ceiling. Her bed, which just a month ago had been her refuge from problems, was now but a coffin. A cage that tied her down. Even if was made of feathers, it felt tougher than the wood slate that Karaim had for bed in the greenhouse.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to wake up...¡± Aloe groaned, a half-sob hiding through the noises.


    After having a... somewhat normal sleep, she felt the world heavier around her. Greyer yet more real. She raised her arm, putting her palm on top of her face, rays filtering through her fingers.


    ¡°I hate reality...¡± Her voice was weak and tired, even if she had just woken up.


    Her arm fell to the side with a heavy thud, her mind bursting with decisions she had to take. The world didn¡¯t even allow her to mourn her mother. She now realized what Shahrazad felt when Karaim died.


    ¡°But at least she cared... I¡¯m just... a void.¡± Aloe muttered, her voice breaking with every word. ¡°Devoid... of... emotion.¡±


    Aloe sobbed.


    <hr>


    Even if she had woken up early, the sun had gone up quite a lot by the moment she sat on the kitchen table. Her finger circled around the fruit bowl, it was full of spoiled fruit, and she honestly should have thrown them away, but she didn¡¯t have the strength nor the presence of mind to do so.


    ¡°Umar added that the cannabis that Karaim planted, the... uhm...¡± Aloe tried hard to remember the words spoken by the old apothecary, but most of yesterday was a blur. ¡°Whatever... he said that it took around eight and ten weeks to grow, low-balling it and applying the ¡®fast growth¡¯ infusion, that¡¯s still a month. When did I even plant the seeds? Two weeks ago? Then I still have two weeks before they finish growing...¡±


    Aloe sighed, the movements of her hands stopping in realization and mental exhaustion.


    ¡°That¡¯s a lot of time.¡± She closed her eyes and slumped her shoulders. ¡°Maybe I should take Rani¡¯s offer...¡± Her exhaustion was so great that she didn¡¯t even notice she had referred to the emir of Sadina by her name subconsciously. ¡°It¡¯s going to be a lot of time without any income...¡±


    Tamara had graciously given her fifty drupnars, and whilst that could easily feed her for two months if she was scarce with her food intake and harvested the crops from her plantations, it wouldn¡¯t allow for other expenses. Like seeds.


    ¡°Even if I wanted to accept, when will she even get back to Sadina?¡± Aloe whispered, her eyes shining ever-so-slightly brighter as she thought of the sultanzade. ¡°If she just stayed one day, which I doubt, that will be at least a week... I can live with that. And there¡¯s also Tamara¡¯s ink proposal, but I don¡¯t even have a date for that.¡±


    There were a lot of sources of income, but she needed to be intelligent with them.


    ¡°Staying far away from the greenhouse for a long time isn¡¯t an option.¡± She mused. ¡°There are other alternatives, like...¡± Her eyes turned dark. ¡°No... that¡¯s out of the question...¡± Aloe talked to herself. ¡°I... I can¡¯t sell anything.¡±


    She admitted in defeated, crestfallen.


    The house didn¡¯t have much to begin with, and selling anything was a disservice. Not only to the dead but also to her memories. She couldn¡¯t do that to her mother and father, and less to herself.


    ¡°There¡¯s enough right now...¡± Aloe said almost whimpering and raised her head. ¡°I should see what I can make out of this though.¡±


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    In her hand lay a piece of Myriad glass. Because the kitchen windows were closed, as were all the other windows in the house, only the faintest sunbeams filtered through the wooden cervices. Instead of the second coming of the sun, the Myriad glass was a dim candle. Though, unlike the flickering light of the flame, it was a constant stream of unfaltering light.


    Like the sun. Just weaker.


    Aloe put strength on her grip and stood up, storing the glass piece in one of her satchels.


    In all honesty, she wanted to leave Sadina. There were too many feelings, memories, and decisions here. So much so that they were overwhelming her. The desire to book it and go back with Fikali to the oasis was strong, but she held her footing.


    Barely.


    With a trembling hand, the girl opened the door to the outside and locked it.


    She didn¡¯t know where to go, her best bet was to visit a glassworker, but even if she did so, she didn¡¯t know any.


    For starters, Aloe strolled down the bazaar. Sunlight and fresh air would only do her good.


    It was an unconscious thought, but Aloe donned her green-laced straw hat. She walked slowly around the waking bazaar ¨C as if she still was on the oasis, free of hardships ¨C and looked at the moving people. Some merchants were just setting up their tents, this just reminded Aloe how early Aloe had woken up.


    And the time she had lost in her mourning.


    Aloe pressed down her hat, hiding her eyes from the world, not because the sun was weighing down on her but because her emotions weighed her down.


    The noises of children caught her attention. They weren¡¯t playing, but helping adults set up their tents and businesses. Those children would probably rush to school in a few minutes.


    Even if with the edicts of the sultanah Aaliyah-al-Ydaz mandated that all children in Ydaz were entitled to education, it was true that said education varied heavily across the regions and economic standings.


    In villages and far away farmlands, small churches had been constructed. The teachers of those remote locations would either be local priests or scholars of the universities on a government-sponsored lease. Most people saw scholars with a stinky eye, yet the sultanah seemed to favor them greatly.


    For some reason.


    That fact didn¡¯t align with her (in)famous reputation, though it was easy to guess why she wanted the children educated besides economic reasons. It was said by the snake tongues that the sultanah spent no day unpregnant. She must really love children.


    People said this education ordeal was about raising the acceptance of the universities and scholars on Ydaz. But at the same time, did that even matter? The sultanah was laying out free education for every child, no matter their background.


    Sure, that meant having one extra hand less helping on the field, but beyond the widespread ¨C and mostly unfounded, in Aloe¡¯s opinion ¨C hate towards the academics, there were no negatives to free education.


    The sultanah just asked for one thing, not even raising taxes or other negative side effects, and that was for every child to get a compulsory education.


    In the beginning, this change was made with hate, but over the years, everyone accepted and praised the sultanah¡¯s edicts as wise and fair.


    Education centers in big cities like Sadina were somewhat better as they were specialized, but the lowest-standing children would go to Churches of the Heavens instead of actual schools. Those sites of oration had become overflooded and partially transformed into lecture halls.


    In less than a few decades, churches had gone from imparting mass gospel to mass lectures.


    Aloe hadn¡¯t been like those children.


    Whilst not a noble, who would probably have either private tutors or directly assist at children-specialized courses in universities, Aloe had attended school.


    And it wasn¡¯t cheap.


    The only reason why her family wasn¡¯t as rich as they should have been with two members of their family formerly working directly for the emir, was because of expenses.


    Aya, Mirah and Jafar¡¯s daughter, attended a normal school. They were just fancy lecture halls where kids were taught by competent teachers and were expected to pay an education fee. Aloe, on the other hand, attended an academy.


    Those were most expensive.


    Parchment, ink, books, tutelage, uniforms... all of those cost a lot of money. Their family hadn¡¯t been done badly economically thanks to their rather high-standing jobs. It spoke a lot of academy fees when they were almost as expensive as a house.


    ¡°Thankfully that was paid soon after Dad died, otherwise...¡± It had left them without money, but Shahrazad and Aloe didn¡¯t have to worry about being homeless in their lives, just being left without savings.


    Aloe looked up finding herself in front of a school as children poured in. It was obviously not an academy as the children wore a myriad of clothing pieces, shouting chaotically, and their backs and hands free of any lecturing and writing equipment.


    ¡°It was all easier back then...¡± Being a gifted and intelligent child, Aloe had been a source of praise.


    Unfortunately, that time was over.


    And even more so, it would never come back.


    Aloe sniffed, keeping the tears and snot in.


    ¡°I... I should get going.¡± Soon enough the city littered with the clinking of bells, whether from churches or schools, as the working day started.

 Book 2: 18. Workshop

    Her eyes were irritated as she walked toward the factory district. It was honestly quite the stretch to say that Sadina had a ¡®factory district¡¯ as it was just a neighborhood like every other except that it had more workshops than normal.


    Blacksmiths, jewelers, carpenters, and glassworkers; those kinds of people populated these streets.


    Columns of smoke were commonplace as the workshops usually had some kind of furnace, oven, or foundry. Aloe shyly stopped in the middle of the street as she wondered about her next step. Alright, one of these must be a glass workshop. But which?


    As an old man dressed in worker clothes walked toward her, she seized the opportunity. This one looks like he knows the place.


    ¡°Um, hello?¡± Aloe asked shyly to the man.


    The old man turned to face her with a scowl on his face. ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°Do you know by any chance where a glassworker is?¡± She put on her banker mask on, not letting herself get intimidated by the stranger.


    The man¡¯s expression softened at the question. Perhaps because she wasn¡¯t trying to sell him any product. It sometimes happened, mostly just in the bazaar though.


    ¡°Uh, lemme think.¡± He scratched his balding head for a second before responding. ¡°Down this street, take the left on the third crossing and you should find Laraib¡¯s workshop. I think...¡±


    ¡°Thank you so much!¡± Aloe thanked the old man without letting doubt filter into her expression upon hearing his final words.


    Wordlessly, the man continued to walk to wherever he was going, leaving Aloe alone. Hum. She pouted. At least he could have said goodbye. No matter. Let¡¯s just go to this Laraib¡¯s. Third to the left. Third to the left.


    Aloe carefully strolled down the street, counting the corners of the street. Most buildings were normal houses, as expected. Even if people referred to this place as the factory district, Sadina had no such organization. Well, that isn¡¯t true. The only ¡®districts¡¯ in the city were the university grounds, the noble houses around the palace, and the emir¡¯s palace itself.


    Everything else was just a mishmash of everything else.


    ¡°Third one,¡± Aloe muttered as she finally reached the third crossing. ¡°This street is rather long.¡±


    Upon taking the turn, Aloe was met with the same homogenous light brown color of sandstone. Sadina already had a labyrinthic street design, if you could call zero organization a design, but the same architecture ever-present on every building, built with the same materials just made it worse. Landmarks or public buildings were the only ones that brought order to the chaos.


    ¡°Which workshop is it though?¡± Aloe was greeted by multiple ones in the new street. ¡°I guess it must be the first to the right if that man hasn¡¯t said anything else.¡±


    Even more shyly than when she asked the man for directions, Aloe walked inside the workshop. It was easy to know it was one as it lacked a fa?ade and from inside came a lot of light from a furnace.


    ¡°Is this Laraib¡¯s?¡± The girl asked weakly at the man working at the furnace.


    It didn¡¯t look like a metalworker¡¯s one as it was closed by the sides ¨C the airflow was too closed ¨C but it wasn¡¯t like she knew much about furnaces, ovens, kilns, forges, or however they were called.


    ¡°Is this Laraib¡¯s?¡± Aloe asked once more but now louder as the man didn¡¯t seem to hear her. No response. ¡°Hello?¡± She added with even more power.


    This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    ¡°Yes, yes! I¡¯ll be with you in a moment, I¡¯m occupied!¡± The man responded with a raspy voice.


    Oh, thank the heavens I didn¡¯t get it wrong, that would have been embarrassing. Imagine interrupting someone¡¯s work and then not even be in the right place. Couldn¡¯t be me. Aloe nervously laughed.


    As the man, Laraib Aloe guessed, didn¡¯t pay attention to her, she wandered around the workshop. There wasn¡¯t much in exposition, that was mainly the reason she doubted this was even a glassworker¡¯s workshop. But now with a keen eye and calm mind, she noticed the little pieces like glasses, glass panels, some bottles, and even pieces of cutlery.


    Huh, these are really small and thin. It must have been difficult to make this. Aloe observed a set of cutleries that, in reality, didn¡¯t have many cutting instruments. There were only spoons and forks of different sizes and shapes, but no knives. I guess it¡¯s difficult to make serrated glass.


    ¡°You fancy some cutlery?¡± A voice inquired from her back, making Aloe jump from the scare. ¡°Watch out, girl! Jumping like that in a place like this is the last thing you should not do.¡±


    ¡°You scared me!¡± Aloe turned to face the man; he was cleaning his hands on a rug. ¡°Oh, how are you that stealthy with that body?¡±


    ¡°Dunno.¡± The tall and muscle-clad man shrugged. ¡°Anyways, welcome to my workshop. What did you want if it isn¡¯t cutlery?¡±


    ¡°First. How did you even make those? Or rather, why did you make them? I doubt they aren¡¯t as good as wood or metal.¡±


    ¡°They aren¡¯t.¡± Laraib snickered. ¡°But I have had enough buyers that I have made some sets in advance to have them at hand. Let me ask again, what do you need? New windows, some bottles? You don¡¯t have a commissioner¡¯s face.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s because I¡¯m not here to commission anything,¡± Aloe explained.


    ¡°You know what type of place this is, right?¡±


    ¡°I do.¡± Aloe deadpanned. ¡°I wanted you to take a look at a piece of glass.¡±


    ¡°Me specifically?¡± The burly man frowned.


    Aloe rolled her eyes. ¡°Any glassworker. You just were the first one I found.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t suppose you are a novice looking for advice or mentorship, are you?¡± Aloe swayed her head in negation. ¡°Oh well, I have a bit of free time. Show me this piece of yours. You carry it with you, right?¡±


    ¡°Yes, but...¡± Aloe turned her head in quick succession looking for prying eyes. ¡°Can we do it in a more private place?¡±


    The man¡¯s natural frown deepened. ¡°I don¡¯t know what you are thinking, but I know better than to lead a stranger in my house, especially in these trying times.¡±


    ¡°Okay, no need to go that far!¡± Aloe raised her arms defensively. ¡°Maybe just a place with a bit of shadow?¡±


    Laraib appraised Aloe with his eyes, and after a few seconds sighed in defeat. ¡°Go to that corner, I guess?¡±


    The glassworker pointed at a section of the workshop that had a wooden wall dividing it from the main room. It was made of sandstone, so it was most likely put well after the construction of the building.


    Aloe nodded and walked nervously to the corner with Laraib walking behind. Once she confirmed it looked like a normal storage and nothing weird was going on inside, she calmed down and guided her hands to her satchel. Her shakes relaxed and she confidently took out the Myriad glass and showed it to the glassworker.


    ¡°This is what I wanted to show you.¡±


    Laraib¡¯s frown exacerbated his eyes laid out on the piece. ¡°This is what you wanted to show me? A chunk of broken glass?¡± The man scoffed disappointed.


    ¡°What? No!¡± Aloe shouted. ¡°Look at it better! This isn¡¯t normal glass!¡±


    Perhaps because of her insistence or because he wanted to take a better look, Laraib inspected the Myriad glass. Once his eyes locked onto the piece, they began to rock back and forth hastily. Those eyes brimmed with interest. Laraib took the piece off Aloe¡¯s hands before she could even protest.


    ¡°Where did you get this?¡± The burly man asked abruptly and seriously, his powerful voice and build intimidating Aloe.


    ¡°Um... well...¡± The petite girl found herself in a conundrum. She couldn¡¯t tell the glassworker about the Myriad plant, which would beckon even more questions, but at the same time, she couldn¡¯t just not respond. ¡°Well... you... know...¡±


    No answers came to her mind. I should have essayed this beforehand.


    ¡°If you don¡¯t know you don¡¯t need to say anything.¡± Laraib snickered.


    ¡°It¡¯s not that!¡± Aloe subconsciously responded, only to promptly shut her mouth. Stupid Aloe, stupid! Damn you and your pride!


    ¡°So what is it then girl?¡± The man crossed his thick arms, still holding the Myriad glass in one hand.


    ¡°I... eh...¡± Aloe¡¯s mind turned blank. It astonished her how a random glassworker was able to intimidate her more than the very emir of Sadina, a child of the Sultanah.


    Then Laraib burst into laughter. ¡°There¡¯s no need for that lass!¡± He slapped his knee. ¡°You don¡¯t need to tell me if you don¡¯t want to. You are entitled to your trade secrets.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, trade secrets...¡± Aloe added weakly. ¡°What do you think about the glass then?¡±


    ¡°Well... at first glance, I can tell it¡¯s different, but I need my tools to ascertain that. Let me fetch them.¡±


    As Laraib turned to the workshop, Aloe¡¯s heart skipped a beat. ¡°Wait!¡± She shouted.


    But it was too late.


    A single beam of sunlight hit the glass.


    Light flooded the workshop.

 Halloween Special

    Night gloomed over Sadina. The twilight crept inexorably to bring with itself a nocturnal mantle of stars. Today was a special day, the harvest festival. Sadina, because it was a big and rich city, performed an enormous carnival instead of the small-scale celebrations that the villages would do at the same time. A carnival at the end of Autumn sounded like a reason for joy for the children, a moment of partying and laughter before Winter, but for others...


    ¡°No! I don¡¯t wanna go!¡± There was a girl who wasn¡¯t as thrilled.


    ¡°Oh, don¡¯t be like that, Aloe,¡± Her mother mussed. ¡°You¡¯ll end up having fun and all!¡±


    ¡°No, no I won¡¯t!¡± Aloe cried as she held to the leg of her bed. ¡°The noise of the drums irks me a lot! They make my stomach tumble!¡±


    ¡°Darling, help me!¡± The mother sought aid from her husband who was passing by the hallway.


    ¡°What¡¯s the problem, Shahrazad?¡± The man asked as he embraced the diminutive woman by her back, apparently unbeknownst to the groaning of his daughter.


    ¡°Aloe does not wish to go on the festival.¡± Shahrazad sighed as she shifted lovingly into the arms of her husband.


    ¡°Hmm, that¡¯s quite the conundrum.¡± Aloe¡¯s father murmured. ¡°Lemme alone with her for a minute, you just give yourself the finishing touches.¡±


    With another sigh, Shahrazad undid the embrace of her spouse and stood up. ¡°Amuse me, Amid.¡± And with that, she left the room; not without giving a peek at the man at his cheek.


    Amid put his hands on his hips and looked at the girl. Small as her mother, but with his character. Whoever had met her knew the bad luck she had had with her genes, since the opposites would have made her a formidable woman. He kneeled before his daughter and with a finger, he booped her on the nose.


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter, Aloe?¡± Amid said with a smile.


    ¡°The noise of the drums unsettles me...¡± Aloe responded with a pout.


    ¡°Aloe.¡± The man added calmly.


    ¡°Yes?¡± The little girl looked up.


    ¡°What have I told you about weakness?¡±


    ¡°That I must not show it?¡± She expressed doubtfully.


    ¡°Exactly,¡± Her father patted her head. ¡°Would you let yourself be defeated by a dumb drum?¡±


    Aloe¡¯s character made it extremely easy for Amid to predict her since it was his own. When he said those words, the face of the girl suddenly filled with motivation. Competitivity, to be precise.


    No more words were needed by either of the two, Aloe followed him cordially the moment he offered her his hand.


    The face of the girl shouted one thing alone:


    I won¡¯t let some dumb instruments beat me.


    <hr>


    ¡°I don¡¯t know how you¡¯ve done it, to be honest,¡± Shahrazad said with a sigh as the family navigated across the crowd.


    Though the bazaar was always bursting with life, today was even more notable. There was almost no room to walk.


    ¡°An economy trick.¡± Amid added with a smile.


    ¡°I see.¡± The woman responded without a shred of expressiveness in her visage.


    Aloe was at the shoulders of her father, and even on top of the towering Amid, she was unable to see beyond the mob. The lack of light also didn¡¯t make it easy. The sun was long gone, only vague purple streaks on the skies marking its past presence. Even on the hundreds ¨C or maybe even thousands ¨C of torches and streetlamps, it was complicated seeing more than a few meters ahead.


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    ¡°I see it now!¡± Aloe pointed at the horizon, her sudden gesture almost making her lose balance. The girl didn¡¯t let the close call faze her. ¡°The emir!¡±


    Even when the lightless realm of the night, the enemy of the sun, made everything hard to see, the emir was a beacon amidst the darkness.


    ¡°He¡¯s so bright!¡± The little girl added excitedly.


    Her mother giggled at her uncharacteristic behavior, even if it was to be expected out of a child. ¡°Indeed, the head of Sadina truly shines.¡±


    Shahrazad was literal and figurative in her wording. The emir not only was a dazzling figure but also quite literally emitted light.


    ¡°The magic of the imperials.¡± Light shone on Aloe¡¯s eyes, the display growing bigger and greater than it was on her childish mind. ¡°Does he always shine when he works with you?¡±


    ¡°Not always, no.¡± Amid explained as he tickled his daughter¡¯s hanging legs, getting an annoyed laugh from her. ¡°But he does that sometimes. I don¡¯t exactly know how it works, but he was one of the most respected cultivators of his age, though that was before when his mother Kyra, the previous Sultanah-¡°


    ¡°Boring! I didn¡¯t ask for a history lesson!¡± The girl protested lightly kicking her father¡¯s chest.


    ¡°But it¡¯s an interesting one!¡± Amid pleaded.


    ¡°Lessons are for school! Today is a free day!¡± Aloe exclaimed in such a tone that it almost seemed as if she was lecturing her father, and she might as well do that in her mind.


    ¡°She¡¯s right,¡± Shahrazad added with a giggle; the woman was so small Amid almost lost track of her even if he was holding her delicate and soft hand. ¡°You should be ashamed to bring the school here, darling.¡±


    ¡°Not you too!¡± Amid wailed in faux suffering, only prompting more laughs from his wife.


    ¡°Hmm...¡± Aloe groaned inquisitively on top of him. She always tended to do that. ¡°There are more people on top of the palanquin, not only the emir.¡±


    ¡°When did you learn that complicated word, sweety?¡± Amid asked as he tiptoed to see what his daughter was talking about.


    ¡°At school! And today is no school day!¡± She shook his head as she protested.


    ¡°Yes, yes, I got that. Now please, you are going to scramble my brain.¡± Aloe did not stop, Amid dedicated a gaze to Shahrazad.


    ¡°Aloe, you shouldn¡¯t scramble your father¡¯s brain. He needs that to make money?¡±


    ¡°Money? Where?¡± Aloe turned her head around to scour for treasure.


    ¡°There goes the little money djinn.¡± Amid snickered.


    ¡°I¡¯m not little!¡± And the girl bonked him in the head.


    ¡°You deserved that.¡± Shahrazad covered her mouth as she laughed.


    ¡°So you admit you are a money djinn?¡± Amid continued, unbothered by the little girl¡¯s punches.


    He got another bonk as a result.


    ¡°And also that one.¡± The mother commented. ¡°Amid, dear, you are so hard-headed. And in more than one sense by the looks of it.¡±


    That got a laugh out of little Aloe.


    ¡°Oh, I see what Aloe was talking about,¡± Shahrazad said as she pointed at the palanquin at the head of the parade. ¡°Yes, there are two kids, a boy and a girl, on top of the imperial platform.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± Amid said amusedly even if his face had become more serious. ¡°If they are up there, they must be of imperial blood.¡±


    ¡°I recognize the boy. He¡¯s one of the children of the Sultanah.¡± Shahrazad explained. ¡°Hassan, I think it was.¡±


    ¡°Sultanzade Hassan then, huh.¡± Amid followed his wife¡¯s steps. Even if she was way shorter than him, she had gotten a good advantage point. ¡°Then the girl must also be a sultanzade.¡±


    ¡°I guess so, but I don¡¯t recognize her.¡± The woman said doubtfully with a hand on a cheek. ¡°I will ask tomorrow at work, surely Nuha will know something.¡±


    ¡°If she doesn¡¯t, I could ask Tamara.¡± Amid offered.


    ¡°Dear, if Nuha doesn¡¯t know, Tamara won¡¯t. That woman is near omniscient.¡±


    ¡°That woman? Is that how you talk about your friends?¡±


    ¡°I doubt Nuha calls anyone friend, but she¡¯s a reliable workmate.¡±


    ¡°If you say-¡°


    ¡°Boring!¡± Aloe interrupted the adults¡¯ conversation. ¡°I¡¯m hungry!¡±


    ¡°Hi, hungry. I¡¯m Dad!¡± Amid instantly responded without thinking twice, getting an equally instantaneous bonk.


    Shahrazad just sighed and facepalmed at the image.


    ¡°Let¡¯s just go to Jafar¡¯s house. This is just too crowded for my liking, either way.¡± Shahrazad offered. ¡°I helped Mirah with some of the dishes and I can assure you it is delicious. All the vegetables and fruits have been recently harvested after all.¡±


    ¡°Yey! Fresh fruit!¡± Aloe clapped. ¡°I want fruit salad!¡±


    ¡°Dessert comes after the meal, darling.¡± Her mother lectured her.


    ¡°And I will eat it too!¡± The girl stated proudly.


    Shahrazad started walking into the empty alleyways, though she was stopped by Amid¡¯s arm which still grabbed her hand.


    ¡°Dear?¡± Shahrazad asked. ¡°Are you alright?¡±


    ¡°Oh, sorry.¡± Amid shook his head. ¡°I was a bit distracted. Let¡¯s go to eat, I¡¯m also hungry!¡±


    ¡°Hi, also hungry! I¡¯m Aloe!¡± It was Amid¡¯s turn to bonk Aloe in the head. ¡°Ouch...¡±


    ¡°Yup, you too deserved that.¡± Shahrazad giggled.


    ¡°Hey...¡± Aloe whispered in her father¡¯s ear.


    ¡°I know...¡± Amid whispered back.


    And then he bonked his wife on the head.


    ¡°Ouch!¡± Shahrazad undid her handhold and grabbed her head with both hands. ¡°Where did that come from?¡±


    ¡°You deserved it!¡± Father and daughter said at the same time then busted in laughter.


    Even as the whole family walked into the empty and dark alleyways to run away from the crowd, Amid still looked back to the palanquin. Something felt off, even if he couldn¡¯t point out why.

 Book 2: 19. Glass

    Even if Aloe was blinded, she knew that Laraib had instinctively enclosed the Myriad glass between his hands. His face told it all. The massive man took a few steps backward in confusion. His mouth was agape, but no words left it. His first action was to search and sit down on a stool.


    Aloe''s mind purely worked on how to justify all of this as the glassworker¡¯s daze still lingered. Her eyes were directed to the streets, but thankfully, this district didn¡¯t have a lot of people passing by. And the workshop just right before Laraib¡¯s had a closed fa?ade, so she doubted anyone had directly seen the Myriad glass.


    At most just a flash of light. Which could be very alarming.


    ¡°What...¡± Laraib started, finally recovering from his stupor. ¡°What was that?¡±


    The sheer confusion displayed on the burly man¡¯s face almost made it worth it to have Evolution¡¯s secrets revealed. Of course, the sake of comedy could only get you so far.


    ¡°Hyper-reflective glass,¡± Aloe responded as a matter of fact. Her voice confident, her visage a sculpture.


    She knew that in these types of situations the best set of actions was to appear confident, to have the situation under control, even if you very much didn¡¯t have it.


    ¡°Hyper-reflective glass?¡± The glassworker inquired, even more confused than before.


    ¡°Exactly.¡± The girl nodded, her mannerism that of confidence incarnate.


    Everyone in Sadina assumed that you couldn¡¯t show weakness, it was something they had all been taught since little, but Aloe ¨C or more exactly, her father ¨C had discovered that it was way better to project strength. It didn¡¯t need to be actual strength, neither of them had been blessed with a strong body, but the feeling of power.


    Amid had told her this on repeated occasions:


    ¡°The thing about people asking for loans is that they are already in a position of weakness, even if they aren¡¯t showing weakness. They need outside help, so they are already playing in an unmatched ground. So, a good banker not only cannot show weakness ¨C everyone already does that by default ¨C but you need to act like someone on the high ground. You need to project strength.¡±


    Such projections of strength came in a lot of ways, her father explained that theirs came from money. Others needed it, so the money became their power. However, the power could come in many shapes and forms. The imperials and nobility used their lineage and authority, whilst scholars their knowledge and clerics their moral high ground.


    Aloe opted for a share of the latter, combining her superior knowledge and her standing as a customer to appear overly confident, even if she was clearly not.


    Her charade, no matter how fast her heartbeat may be going, worked as Laraib undid the clasp on his hands.


    ¡°I see...¡± The man expressed with doubt and started inspecting the piece of glass once more.


    The art of rhetoric involved more than just words, what a shame that Aloe was innately cowardly and that prevented her from using her knowledge and tactics most of the time when she felt intimidated. Her saving grace this time was that Laraib, no matter how many muscles he may have, was just a glassworker.


    Not exactly the most intimidating of professions. She reassured herself, even if she had been very much intimidated only a few minutes ago.


    ¡°Can I...¡± Laraib shouted his mouth, thinking his words twice, but nonetheless decided to continue. ¡°Can I shatter it?¡±


    Aloe¡¯s visage remained unmoving.


    If someone had asked to break her possessions, twitching her brows would be the least she would have done, but this piece of glass was mostly worthless and already broken.


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    ¡°Why?¡± Still, it wouldn¡¯t hurt to hear the reasoning.


    ¡°I want to comprehend it.¡± There was a spark of curiosity in the glassworker¡¯s eyes. ¡°I cannot understand it if it¡¯s whole.¡±


    ¡°Go for it.¡±


    Aloe observed as Laraib grabbed a small hammer and very carefully hit the Myriad glass piece with it. Even though the hit was incredibly shallow, the man managed to cleanly bisect it. That speaks well of his capabilities.


    She wordlessly observed as the glassworker appraised the glass. With his fingers, he traced the cut of the glass, seemingly counting something. Then, when he was satisfied, he brought it to his furnace and stopped as the light of the fire made the piece glow.


    The Myriad glass once emitted a powerful rainbow, but after Aloe separated it that chunk of glass, the inner rainbow became fainter. And now that Laraib shattered it too, it was almost imperceivable. If the glassworker saw it, he didn¡¯t show it. Though it would be easy to mistake it for a normal prism rainbow if he did.


    Laraib turned his face and looked at Aloe, his eyes pointed at the furnace behind him. It was obvious what he wanted to do. Aloe nodded in affirmation.


    The glassworker grabbed the two pieces and placed them in a rock-looking bowl. Then with a pair of big pincers, grabbed it from the sides and pushed the bowl into the furnace.


    ¡°How was this glass made?¡± Laraib asked with a mixture of confusion and curiosity. ¡°This isn¡¯t like anything I¡¯ve seen before. It feels like a... I don¡¯t know actually. Normal glass doesn¡¯t have the patterns this one had. Normal glass doesn''t have really any pattern, it¡¯s like a solidified liquid. Any patterns you may see come from the light refracted by its specific shape or in how it was broken. But this... it honestly feels like a plant, however crazy that may seem. It¡¯s like it has been from layers upon layers.¡±


    Oh, if only you knew. Aloe smugly thought in the confines of her mind. And even if he was uncannily right, she couldn¡¯t disclose the secrets of the Myriad to a stranger.


    ¡°Trade secrets.¡± She added with a smile.


    So she repeated what the glassworker had said before.


    ¡°I know I said that...¡± Laraib instantly regretted his choice of words. ¡°But it¡¯s truly amazing.¡±


    ¡°Is the glass that good?¡±


    ¡°The glass?¡± The glassworker frowned. ¡°I meant the crafting method. The glass is mostly normal... Except for that ¡®hyper-reflectiveness¡¯ you mentioned.¡±


    ¡°You think it has potential in the market?¡± Aloe asked; her arms crossed, and her hips slightly shifted to the side.


    ¡°For sale?¡± Laraib closed his eyes. ¡°No, not really.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± The sound subconsciously left Aloe¡¯s mouth. She hadn¡¯t expected that answer. ¡°How¡¯s that?¡±


    ¡°Well, overall, it¡¯s normal glass.¡± He commented. ¡°Higher-than-average quality, but nothing striking. And whilst that hyper-reflectiveness may be desired in pieces of jewelry or decorations, it will be more of a nuisance than everything.¡±


    ¡°I see...¡±


    Aloe hadn¡¯t had much faith in the Myriad glass since the beginning, those brutal shines were a dealbreaker. Sure, maybe a noble would like to have a really shiny statue, but even if she were to sell the product to a glassworker, she wouldn¡¯t make much from it.


    She was honestly ready to make her way back home, but Laraib seemed to notice her intentions.


    ¡°Wait!¡± He cried out. ¡°At least wait until the glass is cooled.¡±


    As she didn¡¯t have anything to do, she listened to the man. Her desire to go away wasn¡¯t born out of time strains but discouragement.


    Laraib grabbed the rock crucible with the pincers and decanted the melted glowing glass in a bucket of water. The water boiled away and sizzled strongly, but after a few seconds, the glassworker grabbed the remaining product with the pincers.


    The somewhat satisfying Myriad glass piece had obviously not kept its original form after being melted, but its current one was horrendous. An amalgamation of shapes, with holes everywhere, with the main body being a thin strip littered with small cracks that blew occasional air bubbles and steam.


    As Laraib himself was unfazed by the result, Aloe supposed this was the normal outcome.


    ¡°What? Any new insights?¡± She asked at the glassworker.


    ¡°Hmm...¡± He didn¡¯t respond, limiting himself to grunt.


    Wordlessly, he guided the piece before him to the outside of the workshop. Aloe tried to stop the man from doing so, but she was late once again. As she prepared herself for the blinding, putting her arm before her face, the girl was surprised to find no shine.


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    ¡°As expected,¡± Laraib sighed. ¡°Melting it removed its properties. Now it¡¯s just somewhat better glass.¡±


    ¡°Is that good?¡± Aloe approached the glass and it truly had lost the Myriad¡¯s capabilities. It was just regular glass.


    ¡°Depends on what you consider to be good.¡± The burly man shrugged and made his way back to the workshop. ¡°Without the hyper-reflection, it¡¯s just ¨C and I cannot stress this enough ¨C slightly better glass. The quality of glass isn¡¯t the best either way. If we were talking about Asina sands and glassworkers though, it would be average at most.¡±


    In short words, there was no potential for sale. His face said it all, he would have it easier and cheaper to make the glass himself, rather than buy it from her at a higher price.


    ¡°I see,¡± Aloe said defeatedly at walked to the entrance.


    ¡°Wait.¡± Laraib stopped her once more. ¡°Could I have this piece? I would like to try to replicate the effect that it once had.¡±


    ¡°Sure, it¡¯s all yours.¡± She commented absentmindedly.


    Aloe highly doubted the man would get nowhere near close to replicating the magic of the Myriad plant. But above all else, she wanted to leave.


    And she didn¡¯t just mean the workshop.

 Book 2: 20. Girl

    ¡°What do you mean you are going back?¡± Mirah jumped out of her seat and placed her hands on the table with a loud thud.


    ¡°Exactly what I said.¡± Aloe calmly responded as she drank from her teacup.


    ¡°I... why?¡± The housewife fell on her chair defeated.


    The two women were the only ones in the house. Aya and Jafar were long gone, one to the school and the other to work. Aloe was fine with that; she didn¡¯t have the strength nor the mood to see little Aya. Her face was not one she wanted to show to the kid.


    ¡°I can¡¯t stay in Sadina... at least not for now. I just want to be away. As far as possible.¡± The girl¡¯s voice was completely monotone, and her visage was devoid of emotion.


    ¡°Oh, Aloe...¡± But her mask didn¡¯t fool Mirah. ¡°If that¡¯s what you want... then I can¡¯t do anything.¡± The housewife added with a wry smile. ¡°Just be careful.¡±


    ¡°I will.¡± She truthfully responded as she left the cup on the table. It still wasn¡¯t finished.


    Time slowed to a crawl as they stood there. None of them uttered a word, the only noise in the room coming from the occasional sip.


    ¡°When are you going to leave then?¡± Mirah nervously asked as she tried to break the glass. Even if Aloe thrived in isolation and silence, the housewife was far more social.


    ¡°Today.¡±


    ¡°Today?¡± Her eyes shot wide open, almost jumping from her chair again. ¡°Please reconsider! The day¡¯s almost over!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not even noon, Mirah.¡± Aloe sighed. She was just so... tired. ¡°I¡¯m going to run some errands, mainly restocking food reserves, and I¡¯ll make my way to the greenhouse.¡±


    ¡°But you¡¯ll arrive too late!¡± The mother¡¯s hands trembled. Her worry warmed Aloe¡¯s heart, truly. ¡°You¡¯ll be riding well into the night! What happens if a monster finds you?¡±


    Her worries were not unfounded. Whilst most people in the cities feared the assassins and sang to their children horror stories about the drug-crazed killers to keep them in check, more rural people fear something more real and common.


    The creatures of the night.


    Aloe hadn¡¯t seen any monsters herself personally, but everyone knew that the predators left their hiding spots at night, being able to hunt freely as the sun¡¯s blessing ran dry.


    The girl stood up and put a hand on the housewife¡¯s and smiled at her.


    ¡°My dweller is fast.¡± She added as a matter of fact. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I will make it in time before anything happens.¡±


    ¡°I... okay.¡± Mirah sighed. ¡°I¡¯ll trust you, Aloe.¡±


    ¡°Thanks.¡± Not even she knew if that word was truly meant, but she told it, nonetheless.


    <hr>


    ¡°That¡¯s not how any of this works.¡± The old man sighed behind the counter.


    ¡°I mean, why not?¡± Aloe leaned her body forward, hands on the counter.


    ¡°I can¡¯t just give you two of every seed!¡± Umar protested.


    ¡°You can though. You just don¡¯t want to do it.¡±


    ¡°Bah!¡± The apothecary grunted. ¡°Even if I did, why do you even need only two seeds of everything?¡±


    ¡°Gardening.¡± Aloe deadpanned.


    ¡°With two seeds?¡± He frowned.


    ¡°It¡¯s special gardening.¡± She snickered.


    Umar sighed. ¡°Any seed works?¡±


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    Aloe fist-bumped in victory. ¡°Yes! Any seed I don¡¯t already have works.¡±


    ¡°Wait here...¡± Umar disappeared in the back store, an arm behind his back as he walked.


    The girl patiently waited at the main store even as the apothecary took a lot of time.


    ¡°Here, two of each medicinal seed I have.¡± Umar pushed forward a small jar, the size of a hand, on the counter.


    Aloe peered inside the container. It was half empty.


    ¡°That¡¯s all?¡± Aloe frowned.


    ¡°What are you, a tax collector?¡± The old man grunted. ¡°This is an apothecary, not a bazaar. I only have useful plants around. And there aren¡¯t many of those around.¡±


    ¡°Okay, okay!¡± Aloe raised her hands defensively. ¡°Anyways,¡± and instantly dropped them, ¡°how much do I owe you?¡±


    ¡°For this? Nothing.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± Aloe¡¯s eyes glimmered at the idea of free seeds, especially judging how tight she would be after restocking her pantry. Is this the heavens paying me back for giving that glassworker the slug for free?


    ¡°Yes. But get out of my sight fast before I change my mind.¡± The old man shooed her.


    ¡°Thanks!¡± It came out rather merrily, somewhat truthful, but Aloe was grateful to him.


    She didn¡¯t linger a second more on the apothecary though.


    <hr>


    Carrying sacks upon sacks of food around was difficult, especially for a woman of her size and build. But Aloe made it work. She mostly bought dried meat and some other special foods. Nothing remarkably heavy.


    But the many waterskins she carried just in case did weigh her down.


    ¡°You here already?¡± A voice commented derogatorily at her side. ¡°You were here like what, yesterday?¡±


    Aloe, very slowly, turned her face to see the stable master that had sold her Fikali heaving up a haybale into a pen. What was his name again? She thought as no name came to her mind as she looked at his face. Bah, doesn¡¯t matter.


    ¡°Yes, ¡®I here already¡¯.¡± She added with the same punchable tone. ¡°And it was two days ago.¡±


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter.¡± The stable master shrugged as he continued heaving up and down some haybales, putting them on different pens. ¡°So, I guess you are here to take Fikali with you.¡±


    ¡°You would be right to assume that, yes.¡±


    He sighed. ¡°Follow me then.¡±


    It still wasn¡¯t noon, but the sun washed the stables without mercy. If it wasn¡¯t because the man was carrying two sets of haybales on his shoulders, Aloe would have not been able to keep up with him as she carried a load of her own.


    The stable master grunted as he threw one bale into an empty pen and continued walking, only to throw the other one to the next pen. Such finesse, Aloe rolled her eyes at the man¡¯s brutish display.


    ¡°Well, here we are.¡± He picked a keychain from his belt and swiftly opened the pen in front of him. ¡°Come out, girl!¡±


    Inside the pen, there was a monster.


    ¡°Wroooo!¡± A cute monster.


    Still very massive.


    Fikali bellyflopped her way out of the pen. Desert dwellers were curious creatures, whilst they couldn¡¯t move that well on solid ground, they became avatars of wind and speed as soon as their fins touched sand.


    ¡°Hrooo!¡± The dweller grunted again as soon as she saw Aloe and put move spring into her bellyflops, they were still awfully slow even if she was rushing at her.


    ¡°Come here, girl!¡± Aloe greeted Fikali with open arms.


    The short yet massive monster stopped right before the girl and rubbed her snoot along her chest. The dweller had more presence of mind than most humans as she noticed the cargo on Aloe¡¯s back and stopped herself from tackling her.


    ¡°You really missed me, huh?¡± Aloe found herself smiling and giggling as Fikali rubbed the side of her face against her own. ¡°It¡¯s only been two days, Fikali.¡±


    ¡°Huoo!¡± The dweller added, not stopping her playful assault.


    She must have been bored and sad. She cannot swim freely like on the oasis.


    ¡°Here,¡± Aloe pushed Fikali back and put her hand on her backpack, ¡°I have a surprise for you.¡±


    ¡°Hro?¡± Fikali tilted her head in confusion and inquiry.


    The girl smiled at her as she fidgeted the contents in her backpack. She took out her closed hand and put it before the dweller.


    ¡°Pistachios!¡± And then opened it, revealing the nuts inside.


    ¡°Wrooooooo!¡± Fikali powerfully bellyflopped once on the spot before throwing herself at the handful of pistachios.


    ¡°Ah, you are tickling me~¡± Aloe flinched a little as she felt Fikali¡¯s wet tongue glide over her skin.


    ¡°She likes pistachios, huh.¡± The stable master added neutrally as he looked at them.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t know?¡± The girl frowned at his comment.


    ¡°We don¡¯t exactly run a charity here.¡± He shrugged. ¡°We feed hay to every single animal in the stables. Maybe some noble leaving their mount here is gracious enough with their pay and we may feed that one watermelon, but that¡¯s all.¡±


    ¡°I am rethinking on leaving Fikali here coming forward.¡±


    ¡°And where would you leave her then?¡± The odious man added with a knowing grin.


    Aloe clicked her tongue. He was unfortunately right, there was no other place to house Fikali in the city. And it wasn¡¯t like she could bring her home; this wasn¡¯t a stray cat but a two-hundred-something-kilo beast. She didn¡¯t have the space nor the means to feed her. And that would mean she would need to stroll Fikali for a while if she moved it to her house or every time she wanted to leave the city. Bellyflopping didn¡¯t look that comfortable and it wouldn¡¯t be a short trek, but a few kilometers.


    ¡°Are you going to help me load my cargo onto her or not?¡± Aloe grumpily asked as the man had spoiled the mood.


    ¡°Yes, yes...¡± The stable master sighed. ¡°Come¡¯re girl, we gotta saddle you.¡±


    ¡°Huoooo...¡± Fikali unenthusiastically responded once she finished the pistachios, not a spec left on Aloe¡¯s hand. Though she obeyed, nonetheless.


    Fikali was a good girl.

 Book 2: 21. Wound

    Men were a nuisance.


    That was a truth that became apparent as of late. The only men Aloe had seen as a positive influence and helpful were members of her family, and maybe Jafar. But that one was treading on a thin line. Only women had goodwill in their blood.


    Well, even further than that, females.


    It truly made Aloe¡¯s blood boil that the stable master didn¡¯t even know Fikali¡¯s favorite food. But she managed to contain herself from decking the man straight in the face.


    Just barely.


    ¡°That will be two drupnars.¡± The stable master extended his hand.


    Wordlessly, and with a very expressive sigh, Aloe reached into her satchels and took out two small copper coins.


    ¡°Thanks for your patronage.¡± The man grinned. ¡°I¡¯ll see you in the future.¡±


    Aloe ignored him and turned to her dweller. ¡°Come on, Fikali. Let¡¯s go.¡±


    ¡°Wrooo!¡± She was unaware of the conversation and Aloe¡¯s sour mood, plainly overjoyed to see her again. Though mostly because she knew what was to come.


    The dweller awkwardly bounced on her belly, the load on her saddle bobbling up and down as she made it to the main streets of Sadina. Soon enough, the two of them made it to the city doors.


    The guards didn¡¯t stop them, but Aloe gazed back at the city.


    Even though Sadina continued to work as always, animals of burden moving merchandising across the open streets, clerks on the bazaar¡¯s tents, and people living their lives, she still saw it.


    The loom of the death.


    People were like that, even if death was in the city, one had to eat. You couldn¡¯t just not work. Sickness would mean quick death; hunger was different only in that it was slower. They hid it behind their expressions, but they knew it. They could be next.


    Aloe was surprised at herself, even if her own mother had died because of this plague, she hadn¡¯t cared much about getting infected. Mainly because she hadn¡¯t cared about living these last two days.


    ¡°Only two days?¡± She sighed as she turned her head to the desert.


    ¡°Huo?¡± The bobbly monster tilted her head to the side in confusion, not understanding her master¡¯s statement.


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing, Fikali.¡± Aloe forced a smile and patted the dweller on the head. You are a campfire on a desert night. With that thought, that smile became ever-so-true.


    <hr>


    The problem with leaving at noon was that the sun thrashed violently. The dunes became mirrors depending on the angle you looked at them and air the insides of a furnace. Thankfully, Aloe enjoyed a personal airstream.


    ¡°Faster!¡± She commanded as the dunes blurred in the background.


    ¡°Wroooo!¡± Fikali complied with a grunt and put even more speed on her swim.


    The air was indeed hot, but when moving at such speeds, it became cold and refreshing.


    Aloe had expected that Fikali might not be able to move at these speeds considering she had a way greater load on her back than when they came back to Sadina, but those two days had not only been a good rest for the dweller but also a source of boredom.


    The sand monster pushed herself, not because her master commanded it, but because she wanted the speed. Resting on a pen was good for a while, but it was obvious that she enjoyed far more the freedom and speed, even at her advanced age.


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    Aloe tried not to think of it as she held for her life on the reins, but the thought was insidious. You are going to leave me too. It wouldn¡¯t be soon but in a year or two...


    She let those thoughts fly free.


    Swimming across the dunes was an exciting and fun activity, not to be burdened by sadness and loss. Aloe let herself enjoy the speed and the blurriness of the background as the dweller did.


    Fikali was a monster in more than one sense of the word. Aloe was still flabbergasted at the speeds an old dweller could get. How fast could a young one be? It was an equally fascinating and terrifying thought. I guess that¡¯s why they don¡¯t have any predators. Monsters infested the dunes at night, but the dwellers were the only ones who came during the day and were domesticated by humankind.


    The reasons for that were beyond Aloe¡¯s understanding. Karaim did theorize monsters were just Evolved animals, but how? There was an inherent problem with that theory. If someone did evolve them, then when? Dwellers and monsters have been around for centuries if not more. And there¡¯s no mention of Evolution anywhere...


    Nobles, but especially imperials, had special abilities. And some said that assassins had also ones that allowed them to keep themselves hidden in the shadows, but that was more of a rumor, a tale of the snake tongues, than anything else.


    Did one of them do it? Once again, Aloe couldn¡¯t tell. She didn¡¯t know how their abilities and magic worked. She, though, doubted they were like Evolution. Otherwise, the fauna and flora of Ydaz would have been far more different. Far more mystical, far more presence of creatures like dwellers or plants like the Aloe Veritas.


    Whilst incredibly interesting, Aloe knew those thoughts were dangerous. Associating with the imperials was dangerous, a decision that she had to unfortunately confront in the near future, but even more so with assassins.


    These were questions that would go unresolved, for she could not inquire about them.


    She had been so deep in her trance, her mussitations and theories, that she hadn¡¯t noticed the pain in her body.


    Surprisingly enough, it did not come from her calves or buttocks, but her hands.


    Without letting go of the reins, Aloe looked at their hands. Originally black and brown, with the faintest trickles of white and pink, they were now searing red. Traces of bruises that neared purple.


    Aloe lowered her body, her chest pressing against the backside of Fikali''s head, and calmly whispered. ¡°Stop.¡±


    Calmness dictated her voice and body mannerisms.


    The dweller obeyed, even if there weren¡¯t any appropriate places for a stop. It took Fikali a full minute to come to a halt, that was the sheer magnitude of speed she had reached. Once the momentum was totally canceled out, Aloe slowly dismounted her, feeling a bit dizzy in the process.


    She dropped to the ground, the hot sand heating her backside, but she didn¡¯t worry much about it.


    ¡°Yeah, this is bad.¡± Both of her hands were bloodied and incredibly irritated.


    It soon became apparent that this wasn¡¯t because of Fikali¡¯s speed forcing her to grab the reins with such force, but because of more psychological reasons.


    She almost had to peel the leather of the rein strips out of her hand, the blood working as a powerful and gruesome adhesive. Those wounds weren¡¯t symbols of damage or, at least, not of the type one might initially think.


    Aloe stood for a few seconds looking at the clear skies absentmindedly, only snapping out of her trance because Fikali nudged her arm with her snoot.


    ¡°Hro?¡± The amount of worry in the dweller¡¯s face was staggering.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± Aloe patted Fikali¡¯s head with the backside of her hand whilst giving her the fakest smile she had ever uttered. ¡°I just need a moment.¡±


    Before doing anything else, Aloe took a single pistachio out.


    ¡°Here.¡± And feed with her finger the single nut to the dweller.


    With just that, Fikali visibly calmed.


    ¡°Good girl.¡± She patted her again, her smile becoming ever-so-truer.


    Next, she grabbed one of her many waterskins and poured the contents into her hands. The mildly cold water didn¡¯t hurt her, actually, her hands were rather numb. After cleaning the wounds, she took out a set of bandages ¨C those were just a set of boiled old clothing strips ¨C and wrapped them around her hands.


    It doesn¡¯t hurt. Aloe looked at her bandaged hands, hints of blood visible through the cloth. And that worries me.


    Aloe sighed in defeat and took out another waterskin. This one, she drank from. She didn¡¯t trust herself to know if she was thirsty or not. Knowing her, she may not drink until it was too late because she was distracted.


    The water graciously trickled down her throat, making her feel ever-so-lifeful.


    ¡°Here.¡± She offered the rest of the water to Fikali, who happily accepted it as she snapped wide open her jaws. Aloe dedicated to her another smile. ¡°Gimme a few more minutes and we¡¯ll continue forward.¡±


    Noon was long gone; in a few hours, the sunset would show up around the corner.


    And even in her misery, Aloe had enough presence of mind to not spend the night in the desert.


    Rather than resting, even if her thighs and arms were numb from riding, she sat in a meditation position and began circling her vitality.


    She may not feel the pain, but she feared reopening the wounds. That meant making her body tougher. I wish... her mind was a wisp of what it normally was, I wish I could not just make my body tough... but also my soul.

 Book 2: 22. Back

    Light had become scarce when they arrived at the oasis. Even if her hands were wounded, Aloe refused to stop unless Fikali herself wanted to, and the dweller was dotted with seemingly endless stamina, they continued all the way to the greenhouse without resting once.


    Her body was absolutely thrashed after continuous hours of riding, but Aloe was thankful for the little light remaining in the dunes. The sun had long set, but the sky still held some light, enough for her to see the way forward.


    Fikali had a good memory though, she hadn¡¯t needed to pull the reins of the dweller once on the whole travel, so the lack of light wouldn¡¯t have been a problem either way.


    Prevention is better than cure as the saying goes, and staying in the desert even if it was only to pass through, was not a welcoming nor safe time.


    Aloe, very slowly and lazily, took the saddle out of Fikali. The many straps were difficult to remove, and there wasn¡¯t a sliver of strength remaining in her body ¨C not that she had much to begin with after applying her infusion ¨C but she made it work.


    ¡°Have fun, Fikali...¡± She added weakly as she heaved up the bags and let out a groan after she felt the weight on her back and arms.


    Unlike last time, Aloe didn¡¯t tie the dweller to a tree. Fikali had proved trustworthy and reliable to get her freedom, and besides, getting the rope would mean going back and forth from the house and she just wanted to lie down now.


    Forever if possible.


    She took the keys out of her many satchels and unlocked the house, anything she had to do, she would do tomorrow. With that exact same line of thought, she dropped the bags all over the house. It wasn¡¯t as if this was going to damage them more than they were after a full day of high-speed jolting in the desert.


    With eyelids heaving down on her, Aloe managed to take out her desert garbs. A difficult task as they were meant to stay in place and survive the harsh weather of the desert, whether it was the merciless sun or the violent dust storms.


    She didn¡¯t even bother to pick up one of the nightgowns she had left on the hanger before leaving. Aloe had made it back, and she instantly fell asleep in the rough wood slate she had as a bed in just a pair of panties.


    <hr>


    ¡°Wro! Wro!¡± The muted dweller sounds reverberated through the walls.


    ¡°Ah...¡± Aloe groaned half-asleep as she stood up from the bed. ¡°Oooo...¡±


    Her whole body was sore. It was to be expected considering how much she forced herself yesterday, but she had hoped that the ¡®toughness¡¯ internal infusion would have done something more; maybe mitigate the effects, but no. Even though she forgot to turn it off and it worked overnight, her body was thoroughly sore.


    Her legs were numb, and her hands itched. The wounds on her palms had closed, but she didn¡¯t want to look underneath the bandages, even if she ought to change them as soon as possible.


    ¡°Wro! Wro!¡± Fikali¡¯s grunts continued to assault her tired mind.


    Lazily and weakly, Aloe made her way out of her room. It was difficult to walk, and she didn¡¯t have enough presence of mind to don some clothes before she rested her hand on the door handle and pushed it open.


    The sunrays blinded her. It was early in the morning, but even the limited sunlight was enough to make her recoil. It took her a few seconds to grow used to the light, but her daze didn¡¯t end there.


    ¡°Huh?¡± Aloe¡¯s confusion magnified as she looked over where Fikali was.


    The dweller thrashed around where Aloe had planted the pistachios; bellyflopping, screaming, and hacking away with her claws at the air.


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    But those erratic and uncharacteristic movements weren¡¯t what flabbergasted the girl, but the figures next to Fikali.


    ¡°Are those...¡± It was difficult to tell from her position. Not only she was far away, but the light still continued to overpower her eyes. Even with those handicaps, Aloe knew what she was seeing.


    Dwellers.


    Plural.


    Aloe rubbed her eyes multiple times; each time she stopped to look back, blink thrice, and then repeat the process. She didn¡¯t know how many times she repeated this sequence, but regardless of her actions, the outcome didn¡¯t change.


    ¡°What the...¡± She was speechless.


    Fikali also seemed to be distressed, so Aloe hastily rushed back to the house and donned a spare dress. Other clothes like her garb would have been better, but she was pressed for time, and a one-piece dress was easy and fast to put on. As for her footwear, instead of putting on her sandals, she shoved her feet inside her boots and rushed outside.


    Going out naked could have been an option if it weren¡¯t because where dwellers were humans normally followed behind.


    ¡°Fikali!¡± Aloe shouted as she stepped into the sand. ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡±


    The old dweller turned her face around and responded with a ¡°Wrooo!¡±


    That didn¡¯t answer Aloe¡¯s questions, but she managed to get close enough to make an idea of what was going on.


    ¡°Are those wild dwellers?¡± The girl asked, looking from far away at the monsters next to Fikali.


    Even though Aloe had a dweller as a mount, she didn¡¯t know much about them. Everyone knew that they rode the dunes in packs, even managing to travel at night, but she had never seen one that hadn¡¯t been domesticated by humans.


    ¡°Huo! Huo!¡± One of the wild dwellers grunted as soon as they saw Aloe.


    She took a step backward. Even if she was infused with ¡®toughness¡¯, the claws of dwellers were menacing. And that one looked far more than Fikali. Next to them, there was another. It was a couple, not a pack. Aloe didn¡¯t know how only two wild dwellers had made their way here. Had they been separated from the pack, or were they a female and male dweller couple ready to start their own?


    For all the subjects Aloe had been lectured on in school, desert ecology wasn¡¯t one of them.


    ¡°Wro!¡± Fikali grunted in defiance, her claws held up high as if ready to strike a moment¡¯s notice.


    The dweller grunting was far bigger than the other, and it fought Fikali aggressively to a stand-off. Thankfully, none of the three dwellers engaged in combat. Aloe absolutely didn¡¯t want things to escalate into that.


    Based on the bigger size, Aloe assumed it was a female. She didn¡¯t remember if there was a size disparity between dweller genders, but judging how the aggressive dweller was more similar to Fikali¡¯s size than that of their smaller partner, that seemed about right.


    Carefully and non-aggressively, Aloe approached the dwellers.


    Her eyes parsed through the oasis, looking for more, but as she had thought, these dwellers were the only ones.


    ¡°Let¡¯s calm down,¡± Aloe said slowly and sweetly as she kept her arms up. The gesture would work against humans, but she wasn¡¯t sure about that with dwellers. ¡°What¡¯s happening here?¡±


    ¡°Wro! Wro!¡± Fikali stated frenetically.


    ¡°Yeah, I can¡¯t understand that, Fikali.¡± Aloe circled around the dwellers, keeping a solid distance between them.


    The presumed female dweller fixated her pearly black eyes on her. Her gaze wasn¡¯t aggressive, more reminiscent of tension the tension a dog had when they defended their territory. A bit ironic because this is MY territory. Aloe didn¡¯t express her dissatisfaction and instead kept her tender and peaceful mask, something that was far easier to do against monsters than humans.


    Okay, how do I defuse this situation without getting lunged by a two-hundred-something-kilo monster? Aloe was incredibly tense, even if she didn¡¯t show it.


    At some point, all dwellers had stopped grunting at each other, the impasse was only strengthened by Aloe¡¯s presence.


    Aloe¡¯s non-aggressive tactic worked, as the female dweller proceeded to ignore her, instead looking back at Fikali. It was easy to understand that she didn¡¯t consider Aloe a menace. Not only was she small, but dwellers had a thick hide that no unarmed human could penetrate.


    The two female dwellers, Fikali and the wild one, locked themselves into a staring contest. There was frustration in both of their faces. Taking advantage of their distraction, the presumed male dweller slowly edged his way toward where the pistachios were planted.


    Aloe had now a seed of an idea of what was happening, but at the same time, couldn¡¯t understand them. The pistachios had already sprouted, they weren¡¯t trees yet, nor were they nuts anymore. Aloe didn¡¯t stop the smaller dweller as he got closer, but the same couldn¡¯t be said about Fikali. She didn¡¯t take in stride that the dweller tried to steal the pistachios.


    ¡°Wro! Wro!¡± She raised the front of her body in an intimidating posture.


    It worked, and the male dweller quickly backpedaled in fear. Though his partner didn¡¯t share the same cowardness.


    ¡°Huo! Huo!¡± The female wild dweller also raised her forebody in anticipation.


    Well, I already know what I have to do to get them out of here. Aloe thought with a half-groan, half-yawn. Why must these things happen at sunrise?

 Book 2: 23. Dwellers

    She was tired. Yesterday had been an exhausting day. Though she wouldn¡¯t deny the exercise had helped her. It was astonishing how two days of sedentarism could change someone. Whilst she had the energy to make the whole travel without stopping, it wasn¡¯t like she should do it.


    It was still better than traveling at night though.


    She didn¡¯t like the touch of cold sand. It perturbed her.


    There wasn¡¯t a straight answer to what awakened her. It was a mixture of temperature, noise, and smell. As soon as she made it to the grass, she instantly fell asleep, not even bothering to eat out of her sheer exhaustion. But now... now she felt something was different, out of the ordinary.


    She opened her eyes, the grass and dunes were dark, and the sun had yet to fully come out. But she saw it in the distance.


    Movement.


    The sleepiness vanished from her body, easily substituted by wakefulness. Even if she had been between walls most of her life, one just didn¡¯t forget their innate instincts or their early life. If you weren¡¯t fast, if you weren¡¯t perceptive, you would die.


    She rolled to her side. Whilst not as fast as bellyflopping in flat terrain, it was far more silent. A current of energy was sent through her claws. They may not have seen much use, especially on flesh, but they could cut it.


    And very well at that.


    It was only when she discovered the nature of the movement ¨C but most importantly, their intentions ¨C that she abandoned all pretenses of stealth.


    ¡°Wro! Wro!¡± What are you doing? Fikali started bellyflopping like a madwoman, rushing to the invaders.


    The invaders in question turned to face her, the origin of the screams. They were a couple of dwellers: a powerful female, and a diminutive male.


    In dweller society, females had to be powerful, for they protected the offspring. And whilst they were heavier and more massive, they were faster than the males. It made sense; if a pregnant dweller was slow, not only would they die, but also their offspring.


    Males, on the other hand, were the food gatherers. Their function was that of a scout, to search for food and to overwatch for enemies. Whilst smaller and less powerful, they were more agile thanks to their slimmer build and had keener senses, especially that of smell.


    So he had known Fikali was here since the beginning even if he may not have seen her, and decided to steal her nonetheless.


    The audacity!


    ¡°Wro! Wro!¡± She repeated again as she approached the planted pistachios.


    Fikali¡¯s movement finally snapped the female dweller out of her trance, stopping her from sniffing and digging the pistachios out of their place.


    ¡°Huo!¡± What? The youngster dweller asked derogatively.


    ¡°Wro!¡± Cease this at once! Fikali ordered.


    ¡°Huo?¡± Why should I do that? She raised her head high in superiority. The movement prompting the male to slouch his further toward the ground.


    ¡°Wroooo!¡± Because those are my pistachio trees!


    ¡°Huo? Hro?¡± Trees? Are you senile?


    ¡°Wro?!¡± How dare you?! Fikali backpedaled in offense. ¡°Wro wro?¡± Is that how you talk to your elders?


    The female dweller scoffed. ¡°Huooo.¡± You are but a walking corpse.


    ¡°Wroooo!¡± Come here and say that to my face!


    ¡°Huh?¡± But before that unruly could respond, a faint voice interrupted them. It wasn¡¯t a dweller''s voice. ¡°Are those... What the...¡± Her master.


    But as soon as she said that she went back home. Fikali and the dimwitted female stood looking at her last position in confusion. Moments later she made her way out, now covered in cloth and leather.


    ¡°Fikali!¡± Her master shouted as she rushed at them. ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡±


    ¡°Wrooooo!¡± These youngsters are stealing our crops!


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    ¡°Are those wild dwellers?¡± The hooman continued, unable to comprehend her words.


    ¡°Huo! Huo!¡± A hooman! How lowly you have fallen! The defiant female interjected.


    ¡°Wro!¡± Cease this slander! Fikali raised her claws menacingly having grown tired of this foolish female¡¯s insults.


    ¡°Let¡¯s calm down.¡± Her hooman approached them with her hands raised, unlike their claws, her gesture looked harmless. ¡°What¡¯s happening here?¡±


    ¡°Wro! Wrooo!¡± I¡¯ve said it already! They want to steal the pistachios! Fikali replied.


    ¡°Yeah, I can¡¯t understand that, Fikali.¡± Her master acknowledged her incompetence.


    The youngster locked her gaze on the hooman, prompting Fikali to look at the dweller. There was no further grunting, but they were ready to lunge at each other at any moment. Noticing her gaze, the youngest peered at Fikali, locking themselves into a staring contest.


    As impatient as she was young, the male dweller stepped forward toward the pistachios as if Fikali wouldn¡¯t notice him.


    ¡°Wro! Wro!¡± I can see you! Go back now! Fikali raised her forebody in an intimidating move.


    The male, as cowardly as they ever were, backpedaled in fear. Not only was Fikali a female, but also an elder.


    ¡°Huo! Huo!¡± Don¡¯t you dare talk to my man like that, old woman! His female replied in kind, also raising her body.


    ¡°Fikali, keep them entertained, I have an idea.¡± Before Fikali could argue against it, her master rushed back home.


    ¡°Huo! Huo!¡± What a master! The hooman left you alone! The youngster began clacking, laughing at the situation.


    ¡°Wro! Wro!¡± You better shut your mouth, insolent youngster!


    ¡°Huo!¡± I obey no corpse!


    The female dweller slowly approached Fikali, becoming more and more impatient. The male one hid behind her, cowering at the increasing screams and display of claws.


    Fikali harrumphed. ¡°Hro wro.¡± I am way stronger than I look.


    ¡°Huooooo!¡± Then let¡¯s see that!


    The youngster lunged at her.


    That was her first mistake.


    They were on land, solid ground. This meant that for dwellers, their movement was severely limited. So, when she lunged at her, instead of moving like the wind she bellyflopped like a mountain.


    Fikali slapped her midair.


    The impact echoed through the whole dune valley where the oasis was situated. The youngster rolled to the side from the hit, doing two barrel rolls before the ground and weight deprived her of her momentum.


    It didn¡¯t matter that she was younger than her, or that she weighed as much as her.


    ¡°Wro?¡± Don¡¯t you understand? Fikali looked at both young dwellers over their backs. ¡°Wroo!¡± I am stronk! The monster shouted as she raised her snoot to the heavens.


    ¡°What was that?¡± A familiar voice joined the freight. ¡°Did you just... slap a dweller?¡±


    ¡°Wro.¡± Indeed, I did.


    The hooman blinked thrice before coming out of her daze. ¡°Okay, woah. That¡¯s more strength than I thought you had... I guess you are also heavier...¡± The last part was added with a whisper.


    It didn¡¯t escape Fikali¡¯s notice the bag in her hooman¡¯s hand. And especially the smell.


    ¡°Wrooo! Wrooo!¡± I see what you want to do, but don¡¯t do it! These are pests that shouldn¡¯t be fed!


    ¡°You are excited, huh.¡± Her master kneeled down before her and took out a handful of pistachios. ¡°Here, have some pistachios, you deserve them.¡±


    All pretenses of experience and age were thrown out of fat as the hooman shoved the pistachios in her face. A dweller couldn¡¯t just resist that.


    Fikali ate from her hand.


    Ah~ Edible glory!


    ¡°Huo!¡± Sellout! The envious youngster shouted from behind her.


    Fikali continued eating, not minding her. A stupid dweller with less wits than fat wouldn¡¯t stop her feast.


    It didn¡¯t take Fikali much to leave the hooman¡¯s hand cleaner than she had found it first. The pieces of cloth on her hand were left whiter than before rather than reddish and yellowish.


    ¡°Good girl.¡± And then she patted her head, a smile on her visage.


    Her master was right, Fikali was a good girl.


    ¡°And you two,¡± She stood up, looking at the couple of youngsters. ¡°You cannot mess with my crops!¡± The hooman raised her voice but it was all but intimidating, her build was too slim for that. ¡°If you stop doing so, I will feed you pistachios.¡±


    The couple stayed looking at her master dumbfoundedly. They were too dumb and young to understand her speech. Especially dumb.


    ¡°Wrooo.¡± She¡¯s offering pistachios if you go away and don¡¯t come back. Fikali explained to them.


    Her words were a bit more different than those her master had uttered, but there was no harm in that. These two were locusts after all, if not worse.


    ¡°Huooooo?¡± Do you honestly believe we will become sellouts like you? The female dweller turned her face in defiance, keeping it up high.


    The male, on the other hand, bellyflopped his way to Fikali¡¯s master.


    ¡°Ouu.¡± Food. He almost whispered as he put himself in front of the hooman.


    ¡°Here, have some.¡± The master offered him some pistachios in her hand as a smile was plastered on her face. There were significantly fewer pistachios than she had given to Fikali.


    She¡¯s shrewd. Fikali thought with a grin as the male graciously devoured the pistachios.


    ¡°Huo!¡± You moron! The female shouted and started bellyflopping to the male and the hooman.


    Fikali easily intercepted her.


    ¡°Wroooo?¡± Do you want another slap? With that single threat, the dweller instantly calmed down. ¡°Wrooo.¡± Eat and never come back.


    Begrudgingly, the female dweller obeyed. As soon as her partner finished, she started eating from the hooman¡¯s reddened hand.


    And then she bit it.


    ¡°Wroooo?¡± Do you have a death wish, youngster?


    Fikali shouted, worried for her master, but as she bellyflopped to them, she was left flabbergasted. The hooman¡¯s face showed no pain. No, even more curious, the bite didn¡¯t draw blood.


    Then Fikali remembered how this had happened before. How her master had withstood attacks that should have normally hurt a normal weak hooman.


    ¡°Now, now,¡± She added calmly, a grim grin widening in her visage, ¡°you shouldn¡¯t do that.¡±


    The youngster, even more astonished than Fikali, backpedaled in surprise.


    No.


    In fear.


    A hooman couldn¡¯t be unfazed by such an attack.


    ¡°Huooo!¡± Hurry, let¡¯s go! She shouted to her partner, and then the male dutifully obeyed, even if his face showed he didn¡¯t want to.


    ¡°Wrooo!¡± And remember, never come back!

 Book 2: 24. Suitable

    ¡°If what you say it¡¯s true, then it¡¯s quite interesting, yes.¡± Aaliyah laid her back on the plushy sofa, her breasts swaying up and down like a ship upon her drop even if she was dressed unlike before.


    The sultanah had once tried the tailors¡¯ recent invention, the bra, but she textually called that piece of cloth a ¡®jail to freedom¡¯ and ¡®the work of a djinn¡¯. The tailor that came up with the idea wasn¡¯t executed ¨C according to Rani¡¯s knowledge, but her mother could be very secretive ¨C just because a lot of noblewomen enjoy the novelty of the apparel. Or more exactly, the fact that it made their breasts look bigger than they were.


    Those poor women weren¡¯t as well-endowed as Rani, because she never had those thoughts.


    ¡°But even if that were the case, it isn¡¯t that remarkable, truth be told.¡± Aaliyah reached for a set of grapes in a bowl. They were already removed from the branches and unseeded. If she was even more squeamish, she would even have them peeled.


    ¡°And how¡¯s so?¡± Rani just conformed herself with a goblet of wine. The sultanah always kept the best stuff to herself, so it was almost a tradition to raid her reserves. ¡°Twice the total amount of vitality is nothing to scoff at.¡±


    ¡°I mean, it is not, especially for non-cultivator blood to have that base vitality.¡± She downed another grape, her long finger touching the root of her tongue. Why has she to be this sensual when I¡¯m the only one around? ¡°Sure, it may be good breeding material, but the thing is, and always will be, the woman is the better cultivator. It doesn¡¯t matter if we just pair her up with one of the male sultanzade to make babies, it will matter more the ability of the mother, and I¡¯m not going to teach a peasant my Nurture.¡±


    ¡°I mean, she¡¯s far from a peasant. Her family has been a supporter of the emirate of Sadina.¡±


    ¡°You said she wasn¡¯t a noble?¡± Aaliyah asked after eating a handful more of the grapes. That bowl was dwindling fast.


    And, as a matter of fact, Rani had not. She had not once in the conversation mentioned the girl¡¯s social standing, yet Aaliyah just knew. Whilst the sultanah threads tread deep in intrigue, Rani doubted she had known of the girl. Such menial things weren¡¯t of her interest. If she knew, it was because of Rani¡¯s very own tone of speech. Maybe a master of combat, but that didn¡¯t remove the fact that Aaliyah was an experienced orator.


    ¡°Bankers.¡± Rani clarified.


    ¡°Ah. Those.¡± Aaliyah groaned. ¡°They are as much as a pest as the assassins, not going to lie. At least they contribute to the country instead of just starving it.¡± She sighed. ¡°Pass me so wine, darling.¡±


    Rani flinched at being called darling, shivers sent all over her body, but she obeyed and got up from her throne-like armchair. She grabbed a gilded goblet and poured the white wine. How curious that she was now an emir, the ruler of the second richest region of Ydaz, and she was serving wine.


    ¡°Ah, that hits the spot,¡± Aaliyah said after drinking the whole goblet in a single gulp. The woman was, of course, unaffected by the alcohol. She made a lazy gesture for Rani to pour her more. ¡°I¡¯m starving, I should order some found. Do you fancy steak?¡±


    ¡°Always.¡± The wine-pouring emir responded diplomatically. ¡°Why don¡¯t you ring for the maids?¡±


    ¡°Because I haven¡¯t finished talking with you, darling.¡± The hidden message in her words was obvious, she didn¡¯t want others to hear the contents of this conversation. Then the sultanah caressed Rani¡¯s hand, making it extremely difficult for her to keep a straight face.


    Cutaneous-based charm is way stronger than presence-based, you damned woman! Rani quickly removed her hand before she began lusting for her own mother. The sheer thought made her nauseous.


    ¡°Then talk,¡± Rani said rubbing her own hand. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t like to see you hungry.¡± And that was true.


    Aaliyah had spent so much vitality in her little morning demonstration that she could probably eat an elephant. At least her fat reserves were far more efficient than that of common people.


    ¡°I have a few things to comment on, but first. What did you say it was the name of that girl of yours?¡±


    Rani ignored the obvious implication behind her mother¡¯s words and taciturnly responded. ¡°Aloe Ayad.¡±


    ¡°Ayad, huh...¡± The sultanah¡¯s eyes drifted in thought.


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    ¡°Aaliyah?¡± Rani asked out of pure stupefaction. Aaliyah-al-Ydaz didn¡¯t let her mind drift like that. Her mind was as much of a bastion as it was her body.


    That expression was not one that she associated with her, and that scared Rani. Aaliyah was a woman of action; she did not need to think, and she could afford to do so.


    ¡°Oh right, it¡¯s just a familiar surname.¡± The sultanah took a weak sip of her goblet as she gestured for Rani to sit down. ¡°It doesn¡¯t change things, I still won¡¯t let a weakling Nurture themselves, even if they are presented with a desirable mutation. But...¡± She traced her lips with her fingers. Rani didn¡¯t know if it was to taste the wine or more tenacious propositions. ¡°...I¡¯d like to see this girl.¡±


    ¡°Do you want me to bring her?¡± Rani proposed.


    ¡°Is she here in the palace?¡±


    ¡°No, I left her in Sadina.¡±


    ¡°Then it doesn¡¯t matter.¡± Aaliyah dismissed it with a wave of her hand. ¡°Scratch that, I do want to see her, but not now. I¡¯m tired. Maybe in a month or so. Too many things have happened in the last weeks and I just want to rest.¡±


    Says the woman that spends half a day drinking and whoring, and then sometimes decides to beat her children for the fun of it.


    ¡°If that¡¯s your wish, it will be done,¡± Rani responded with a smile. ¡°Was that all?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± She added shortly, a bit annoyed with her daughter¡¯s impatience. ¡°As I¡¯ve said I had multiple things I wanted to talk about with you. This next one involves your scribes. Sadina has lost most of them, hasn¡¯t it?¡±


    Rani nodded. ¡°With my promotion, Sadina has lost its sultanzade scribe; besides losing the noble supporter scribe from Hassan¡¯s departure, and his stupid tantrum causing the death of the commoner scribe.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡±


    Rani saw it in the sultanah¡¯s eyes, she couldn¡¯t care less. But at the same time, it was protocol. A scribe of imperial blood, a scribe dotted with exceptional intellect (now they were from universities but before they used to be clerics), a scribe of noble blood, a scribe blessed with riches, and finally, a scribe of the people.


    Previous sultans saw appropriate the representation of social classes, with minimal action they could reduce a lot of unrest this way.


    ¡°I don¡¯t care about the latter, but you need with haste that sultanzade position covered.¡±


    ¡°Something tells me you have already thought of someone.¡± The emir indulged in her own wine.


    ¡°But of course.¡± Aaliyah copied her daughter¡¯s gesture. ¡°It¡¯s one of my younger children, Naila, who I have in mind.¡±


    Aaliya-al-Ydaz was a horrendous mother, no one would negate that ¨C unless they were in her presence, of course ¨C but it had to be admitted she did remember her every child. And whilst that would be a given with any mother, it was Aaliyah the subject of this matter, and in all fairness, she had more children than most. Her progeny was enough to populate a village. She is a grand-grandmother, for heaven¡¯s sake!


    And whilst Aaliyah could recall the faces of all of her children, Rani could not say the same. She hadn¡¯t even seen some of her half-siblings just because there were so many and so spread around the country.


    ¡°And who is she exactly?¡± Rani asked.


    ¡°Oh, darling. You were talking with her during the spar!¡± Aaliyah chuckled.


    ¡°Oh... her.¡± She hadn¡¯t paid much attention to the young sultanzade. Though Rani wouldn¡¯t deny she had been brave at being the first to try to hit Aaliyah.


    She had heard us talking. The princess sighed mentally. Why doesn¡¯t that surprise me? At least she hadn¡¯t said anything particularly damming in that conversation. Nothing that she wouldn¡¯t directly say to Aaliyah¡¯s face.


    ¡°But why?¡± Rani refuted. ¡°She¡¯s so... young. And a fighter. She won¡¯t do for scribe material.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Naila is young. Fourteen I think, maybe already fifteen?¡± The sultanah twirled her hair around her finger deep in thought. ¡°Yes, fifteen. She shares her birthday with Shal. Anyways. You are right she¡¯s young.¡±


    ¡°Too young.¡± The emir continued. ¡°I have no problem with you forcing children onto me, but I¡¯m running an emirate here. Cities depend on the management of these scribes, and a child won¡¯t suffice.¡±


    ¡°Rani, oh Rani.¡± Aaliyah chuckled. It unsettled her more being called by her name than by monikers, she now realized. ¡°Have you forgotten which type of people are talking about? Naila may be young, and more fighting-focused than anything. But she¡¯s a sultanzade, and I won¡¯t tolerate one of my children to be a dimwit.¡±


    Aaliyah-al-Ydaz hated stupidity.


    That statement was known by everyone in Ydaz. In the end, she had forced education down everyone¡¯s throat. You could be chaste, you could be weak, you could be poor, but if you were stupid? That was something she could not tolerate.


    Some thought that Aaliyah hated children, but she wouldn¡¯t have a legion of them if that were the case.


    No, she just hated incompetence and ignorance.


    It just so happened that children were like that unless you beat some sense into them. More than once, literally. Especially when talking about Aaliyah-al-Ydaz.


    Most speculated that was why she was so favorable toward the scholars and the universities. Aaliyah ¨C sometimes ¨C was as wise as she was strong.


    ¡°Naila isn¡¯t as competent as you are with statecraft, rhetoric, diplomacy, subterfuge, writing, or anything else that may be remotely useful for running a country, but her education is far superior to that of most scribes you may find out there. I made sure out of it.¡±


    Shivers were sent down Rani¡¯s spine with the last sentence. She recalled her education.


    It wasn¡¯t a pleasant one.


    But she survived.


    And, much to her displeasure, thrived.


    ¡°And besides, Naila has potential.¡±


    Rani raised her brows. ¡°With that you mean...?¡±


    ¡°Yes, of course. I won¡¯t live forever; contrary to what other people may think. Her fighting skills are the most promising of her generation, and I don¡¯t think there will be many more future generations. I¡¯m getting rather tired of nursing critters. And don¡¯t make any new ideas. You are not suitable, Rani. Your Nurture is honestly pathetic. But your managing skills are too good to not be used. Naila, on the other hand, shows potential in her Nurture.¡±


    ¡°So you truly mean it...¡± Rani said agape.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Aaliyah boredly smiled. ¡°Naila is suitable as my heiress.¡±

 Book 2: 25. Call

    Aloe was tired.


    Maddingly so.


    After seeing the dwellers rush into the horizon, her legs buckled, and her body fell onto the grass.


    ¡°Wro?¡± Fikali asked nuzzling her snoot against her arm, worry present in her visage.


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing, Fikali. I just need to rest.¡± And she was being truthful, this wasn¡¯t any excuse.


    Her legs hadn¡¯t faltered out of fear from the incursion of the dweller couple ¨C her ¡®toughness¡¯ infusion had proved stronger than she had even thought ¨C but out of sheer exhaustion. Only a sliver of energy remained in her system.


    The sun hadn¡¯t fully come out yet!


    Her eyelids weighed her down as barrels full of wine. A sleep lesser than eight hours wouldn¡¯t magically vanish the numbness of her calves or the irritation of her hands. Nor the pain of the mind.


    Grimacing, Aloe stood up. She didn¡¯t have the strength to check if the whole oasis had gone to the shitter in the span she had been gone. It had only been three days, but worse things had happened to her in a shorter span.


    Aloe gritted her teeth, dispelling her thoughts with each heavy step.


    By the time she made it to the house, she couldn¡¯t almost walk. Forcefully yet simultaneously weakly, Aloe removed her boots and fell onto the hard bed still clothed.


    <hr>


    When she woke up, it was well past noon. Her stomach didn¡¯t protest, surprisingly enough, but she knew better than not to eat. The last time she had had a bite was two days ago. Even if her body didn¡¯t scream for it, Aloe forced herself to eat.


    No one would tell her to, otherwise.


    Even after having slept for more than half a day, Aloe still didn¡¯t have the strength to walk outside. If not for checking the plants, to take a walk and a fresh breath. But she couldn¡¯t be bothered.


    ¡°I need a ¡®recovery¡¯ infusion, or something like that...¡± Aloe mumbled on her bed, a piece of jerky lazily hanging on her hand. ¡°And pillows. Though those will be a pain to get here...¡±


    The only pillowy materials she had were the single pillow of the bed, the sheets and blankets, and her clothes. Maybe Fikali. But she wanted an indoor seat, and the dweller was twice as wide as the main door.


    So much for good ideas as investigating a new internal infusion, Aloe simply didn¡¯t have the strength to continue. And it wasn¡¯t the type of strength ¡®strength¡¯ could resolve.


    ¡°Oh...¡± She groaned in realization. ¡°I should deactivate ¡®toughness¡¯, it¡¯s making me recover slower.¡±


    In her dazed and dusted mind, Aloe had forgotten how internal infusions worked. She hadn¡¯t made herself tougher, she had just made every other quality of her body slightly worse to improve that of toughness. She didn¡¯t have a number or percentage of how much she downgraded her natural recovery, but she didn¡¯t need one currently. Everything she could scrape would be welcomed.


    Aloe closed her eyes, for a second fearing that she would not awaken until tomorrow but ignored the fear and continued. It wasn¡¯t as if having more sleep would kill her.


    It was difficult to shift her vitality flow to normal. It was equally complex to put it into words. This was an approximation of what she felt, but as the vitality inside of her became more rigid and less malleable, it was as if it had grown used to the ¡®toughness¡¯ infusion.


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    ¡°So, there were side effects...¡± She sighed. Her ability to meditate had grown a bit, and she was able to talk without breaking her progress. ¡°At least they aren¡¯t as bad as they could have been. It¡¯s just harder to shift infusions if I have had one up for too much time.¡±


    It took her a lot of time, way more than normal, but she managed to shift back to her default non-infused state without difficulties. She blamed part of this extra time for her exhaustion.


    If she had been in peak condition, this would have not been as much of a drag as it had been.


    ¡°Alright.¡± She stretched her arms as she still sat on her bed. ¡°What now?¡±


    No matter how much energy her body had saved up, her legs still felt like soggy pita bread. She also remembered to change her bandages. An infection was the last thing she wanted.


    ¡®Toughness¡¯ might make her body stronger, maybe even to sickness, but she had no longer that internal infusion active.


    She didn¡¯t have boiled water around, so she sat on the doorway of the house, pulled out her bandages ¨C which made a sickly noise as they slowly peeled away ¨C and poured water from her waterskins onto them.


    It was far from enough to clean the whole wounds, especially since some tough had appeared, so she grabbed nearby sand. Carefully to not let any grain drop into the closing wound, Aloe rubbed the scorching sand against her skin. Not only was it clean, but also hot; and hot things did wonders with wounds.


    After removing most of the grime from her hands, Aloe cleaned her hands with the remaining contents of the waterskin to wash off the dust.


    ¡°Not perfect... but it looks way better than before.¡± Then she took out some more bandages out of her satchels and wrapped them around the clean wound.


    Aloe groaned, stretching her arms as she peered into the falling sun.


    ¡°I¡¯m beat.¡± A sigh filtered through her half-open mouth. ¡°Even though I¡¯m sitting down, and I haven¡¯t used much strength, I almost feel like sleeping again.¡±


    One thing was clear to her now, if she wanted to make a non-stop ride from the greenhouse to Sadina, she needed to ready herself. Or do some stops. That could also work.


    Groggily, Aloe overwatched the oasis. For some reason, it was more beautiful than ever. She attributed that change to the reflection of the sun onto the waters. It gave it a truly mesmerizing look.


    ¡°Now that I think about it...¡± Aloe talked slowly, deep in thought. ¡°I should remove the Myriad. If it¡¯s going to be a useless plant, having it around will only attract attention, and I definitely don¡¯t want that. If wild dwellers are able to find their way here, who is to say that humans won¡¯t?¡±


    And to Aloe¡¯s experience, humans could be way more dangerous.


    ¡°If they only see the oasis, they may mistake the Flourishing Springs for weird roses, but if they see the Myriad ¨C and not gonna lie, that isn¡¯t that difficult ¨C then I might have a problem. I don¡¯t want to get any unwanted guests or questions.¡±


    Aloe wasn¡¯t yet to reveal Evolution to the world. The words in Karaim¡¯s cultivation technique echoed in her mind. I fear that these are secrets not for ignorance or lack of research, but because they are being suppressed. Her grandfather had written in the last pages of the diary he left behind. That was enough to make her paranoid regardless of whether the man was right or not in his suspicions.


    ¡°I may have lost some pistachios with wild dwellers, but they honestly gave me something better,¡± Aloe observed the oasis, it was as if the whole place was sleeping. It didn¡¯t have much activity, not even insects, but today it felt even more tranquil. The main inhabitant, Fikali, was peacefully sleeping under the shade of a palm tree. Aloe smiled, though it quickly turned sour. ¡°A wake-up call.¡±


    The no-longer-banker-turned-cultivator-possibly-future-scribe rubbed her hands together. They itched, but the wounds didn¡¯t hurt. It was number than anything else.


    ¡°It only takes a single stray person lost in the desert to dismantle my secrecy, my investigation, my plants, my magic, my... what I like.¡±


    She had decided to be a banker because her father had been one, and not only she loved her father, but also the drupnars and fajats, the weight of the coins in her hands. And even if that was nice, had she even once had fun as she wrote ledgers or organized loans?


    No.


    She hadn¡¯t.


    What she had here wasn¡¯t just diversion, but happiness. Actual happiness. She was enjoying herself, a feeling that had been alien to her most of her life, especially now.


    And she didn¡¯t want to give that up.


    ¡°The Myriad and the greenhouse... I should do something.¡±


    Before, that one day of travel to get to the oasis had made her think that her veil of secrecy provided by being in the middle of nowhere was enough, but those dwellers had shown her that it was not.


    It wasn¡¯t enough.


    If she wanted to have this slice of paradise to herself, she had to fight for it. It wasn¡¯t enough to pray for good fortune. If she wanted to nurture her happiness, she had to keep everything away from the oasis.

 Book 2: 26. Routine

    She didn¡¯t want suffering to turn into the norm rather than the exception, but when Aloe woke up the next day, she still hadn¡¯t fully recovered. The damage had quite literally inverted. Whilst before her calves ached and her hands were numb, now her calves were numb and her hands ached.


    After waking up, she lingered groggily in her bed. She didn¡¯t have enough strength to wake up nor the sleepiness to go back to sleep. In a random thought, Aloe sniffed her bedsheets.


    She gagged, jumping out of the bed.


    ¡°Dunes!¡± Aloe coughed repeatedly. ¡°What in the heavens is that? It¡¯s as if a drunkard shat on my bed and then passed away on it!¡±


    The realization of her words, the idea she had pushed unknowingly in her mind, only made her gag more.


    ¡°Ugh, I need a bath. And to clean these sheets.¡± She painfully walked out of her bedroom and opened the main door. ¡°Oh, clean air~¡± Aloe moaned in salvation. ¡°How much I needed you.¡±


    Her mind had been elsewhere these last days, and it only showed now. Not only she had ridden Fikali for a full day, which would have surely made her smell worse than the most aged cheese, but she then went to sleep for another full day without even removing her underwear.


    ¡°I feel so dirty...¡± Aloe whispered as she leaned her body on the doorframe, the morning sun caressing her naked body.


    Then her stomach grumbled.


    One would have thought that it was because she was starving, she had after all only had a piece of jerky and some pistachios in two days. But the problem ran deeper than that.


    ¡°Oof...¡± Aloe clutched her stomach and ran outside after donning her boots.


    She hadn¡¯t gone to the toilet in three days.


    <hr>


    ¡°Oh my...¡± Aloe exhaled like she had never exhaled in her life before as she left the latrine. ¡°Life anew!¡±


    It had been a short but intense, mostly messy, experience that Aloe hoped never to repeat it again. She left the door to the latrine open, that place needed some air, and she needed some water.


    Her stomach was emptier than desert, but she wasn¡¯t in any haste to eat. Instead, she decided to replicate her routine by grabbing her boiling kit and refiling her water stocks. She only had one waterskin remaining, and judging by how thirsty she was, it wouldn¡¯t last more than an hour.


    As Aloe set up the kit and kindled the fire, she saw Fikali lying under a tree. She continued sleeping peacefully, unbothered by the recent events.


    After having done the same chores for a month now, Aloe had become quite acquainted with how to light a fire. She was working with flint and steel, so it wasn¡¯t as complex as it would have been with just sticks, but she doubted most people could just kindle embers with a single flick of a wrist.


    Her stomach grumbled once more, reminding her that she was on the verge of starvation, even if her mind whispered that she shouldn¡¯t eat.


    With a groan, Aloe stood up from her clutching position and did some gathering. That was the advantage of the oasis, instead of shopping in the bazaar, she just picked up the freshest fruits. She grabbed two hefty coconuts, packed with their sweet milky juice, and a handful of dates.


    Instead of going back home to eat, Aloe sat under the shade of a tree and started her breakfast.


    Opening coconuts was difficult, especially without her ¡®strength¡¯ infusion, but after some hits against a rock and the butt of her knife.


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    ¡°Ah~¡± Aloe moaned after almost finishing the first coconut in a single gulp. ¡°I needed that refreshment.¡± She led her hands to the dates, but instants before she put the fruit in her mouth. ¡°Whoops, I almost forgot to rinse it.¡±


    With yet another groan, Aloe stood up and brought the cluster of dates to the oasis to clean it.


    ¡°Getting more dates will be a problem in the future.¡± Aloe mussed as she dived the fruits into the water. ¡°I have almost stripped the shorter trees out of dates, the rest are way too tall for me to reach them...¡±


    Palm trees were tall overall, especially the date trees compared to the coconut ones. Aloe wasn¡¯t sure if it was just a coincidence, or that date trees were simply taller. Some of them were beyond a dozen meters tall, a height far too high for Aloe even if she intended to climb them.


    ¡°I guess there¡¯s nothing like a ¡®climb¡¯ infusion.¡± She sighed before getting to her spot. ¡°I mean, I haven¡¯t tried, but my experience so far tells me... no.¡±


    Infusions, especially internal ones, had been amplifications of characteristics rather than abilities. Toughness, strength, and speed. Those had been the only three ones Aloe had managed to find so far. If she were to make a new one ¨C the idea of ¡®recovery¡¯ still lingered on her mind ¨C it wouldn¡¯t be as trivial as climbing.


    Aloe took her sweat time for breakfast. Even if she was no longer ¡®tired¡¯ as such, she was very much still in pain. By the time she was done, the water in the cauldron was already boiling, which she promptly poured on the amphora and refilled it for a new batch.


    Today she would at least do three or four batches at minimum to build sizeable reserves.


    ¡°Alright,¡± she stretched her arms and torso in a half-groan half-moan, ¡°time to check if the irrigation still works and the plants are alive. Damage control, damage control.¡±


    She hoped so, but at the same time, she wasn¡¯t that much worried. Four days without water wouldn¡¯t kill her plants. She thought, or more like, believed.


    Her first stop was the potatoes. Not only they were the closest crops, but also the ones who composed most of her diet.


    Most of the palm leaf pipes remained in place, but a considerable amount had toppled. Either for the wind, the dwellers, or any other factor, Aloe couldn¡¯t know. The only thing that mattered was that in those sections water no longer arrived.


    The damages weren¡¯t as bad as she would have thought after seeing the disconnected sections. Aloe put her thumb into the soil.


    ¡°Hmm, not dry, but not humid either.¡± She whispered in ponderation. ¡°Maybe in a few more days they would have wilted, but they are still fine. I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll water them yet, let¡¯s see if remaking the pipe system is enough.¡±


    The next half hour she spent it fixing all the toppled pipes. But that was not the last of the problems. Some were just misaligned, and that was enough for water to filter through, making it so the outer reaches received less water than they should have.


    ¡°I... I think this is enough.¡± Aloe said as she stood up and dusted off her dirtied hands. ¡°If it¡¯s still dry in the afternoon, I¡¯ll need to come up with an alternative.¡±


    She wasn¡¯t ready to give up the automatic irrigation yet, especially considering the last events in Sadina. She quickly pushed those thoughts aside and moved to the other crops.


    The beans and the medicinal plants suffered from the same problems as the potatoes, which took some time to fix but nothing that was beyond her reach. The bananas and pistachios, on the other hand, were perfectly fine. Aloe wasn¡¯t sure how much water was needed for a tree to grow up, but considering how palm trees were able to do so without being watered, she guessed not much.


    On top of that, the bananas and pistachios had their dedicated Flourishing Springs for each crop type, meaning there weren¡¯t as many parts as with the other more expansive crops.


    ¡°Alright!¡± Aloe sprang out of her sitting position, getting an annoyed ¡®wro¡¯ from Fikali. ¡°Oops, sorry for waking you up, but it was time already, don¡¯t deny it.¡±


    It wasn¡¯t noon yet, but the sun was definitely creeping closer to its apex. Considering the greenhouse still remained, Aloe went back home to fill the cauldron there to start boiling the water.


    ¡°Ugh, I forgot to tell Mirah to give me cooking classes.¡± There hadn¡¯t been much time for that, but she cursed her faltering presence of mind for forgetting that. ¡°Well, it¡¯s time to have more potato and bean soup.¡±


    She lit the kitchenette¡¯s hearth with the same ease as she had started the fire at the outside, though she became worried by the dwindling pile of dry wood.


    ¡°Hmm...¡± She mumbled. ¡°I should collect more thatch and let it dry. Or could I cut down a palm tree? They are big though... I¡¯m scared of what may happen if I cut it incorrectly. It wouldn¡¯t begin to topple all the other trees in a chain reaction, would it?¡±


    Thankfully, she didn¡¯t use much wood. Only for cooking or boiling water, and with thatch from the palm trees she normally had enough. Though she had used a log, or two, from the ones Karaim had stockpiled when the fire wasn¡¯t enough. Her saving grace was that even though it was winter, nights weren¡¯t cold enough for her to light the hearth to heat herself. Even if that was the case, maybe ¡®toughness¡¯ could help her.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t have enough with money being a problem, now wood is too.¡± Aloe sighed, leaving the problem for later.


    It was now time to check the greenhouse. She prayed that nothing had happened to the highlight of the oasis.

 Book 2: 27. Cooking

    As it would appear, the wild dwellers hadn¡¯t thrashed the greenhouse. And for that, Aloe was immensely grateful.


    ¡°Alright, the latch is on, that¡¯s good... that¡¯s good...¡± Aloe whispered to comfort herself. Even if someone had intruded inside it would have been easy to put the latch back on position, but she didn¡¯t tell that to herself.


    The glass panels of the greenhouse had gathered a bit of dust, not only because of these few days she had spent away but also from the weeks that had passed since the last time Aloe had cleaned them.


    ¡°I should at least dust them off once in a while. But at the same time, do I want the interior to be visible from the outside? I mean, if the light filters through, that¡¯s enough, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    With a sigh, Aloe stepped into the greenhouse. She preferred to leave those ponderations for later.


    Changes inside the greenhouse were few and barely noticeable regardless of what Aloe¡¯s paranoia may lead her to think. The cacti remained as normal, she had watered them once before leaving and they were more than satisfied than that. Considering they survived for more than a month without water, yeah, four days won¡¯t even faze them.


    The other inhabitants of the greenhouse were more promising.


    Aloe hadn¡¯t made full use of the greenhouse in her previous stay, because after a month, she had only planted two new plants ¨C and only one of them being an evolved one.


    The Flourishing Spring, the first one she had planted at that, stood as tall and magnificent as she had left it. The towering flower, vaguely resemblant to a blue rose, was truly gorgeous. And the bottom cup composed of light blue petals was even more so.


    ¡°Oh, I came in a perfect moment.¡± As Aloe approached the parterre where she had planted the evolved plant, this one started to jerk.


    It felt somewhat unnatural, plants shouldn¡¯t move. And, in a way, it wasn¡¯t. The small motions weren¡¯t actual movements, but something closer to spasms. A few seconds later, thin streams of water poured from the top of the Flourishing Spring into the lower bowl. However, the water didn¡¯t stay static once it reached the bottom. This was her first attempt at automating irrigation, and she had grabbed some of the petals that composed the cup and put heaps of dirt on top, therefore making a slight slide so the water could flow down easily and infiltrate into the soil.


    That water was of course used by the growing cannabis plants.


    Even though Aloe had just planted them two weeks ago ¨C edging towards three now ¨C they were far more grown than she would have thought.


    ¡°Umar said eight to ten weeks, three weeks times two that¡¯s six, they shouldn¡¯t be this grown by any means.¡±


    Sadina wasn¡¯t abounding in flora, for obvious reasons, but especially not in fern-like plants like cannabis, so Aloe couldn¡¯t exactly tell how much the cannabis plants would take to be fully grown.


    ¡°He said they should bloom, and there are no flowers around, so I guess they need a bit more time.¡± Aloe left it at that because no matter what she thought, she really didn¡¯t have an idea of what a grown cannabis plant looked like. ¡°I should have asked for a drawing or something.¡±


    One thing that surprised her was the size of the plants. She had expected the cannabis to be rather small, as when it was seen on the street it was normally in small quantities ¨C a bit of a leap of thought, but the idea made sense in her mind, few drugs equal small plant ¨C but in reality they were quite big, and they showed no sign of stopping.


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    The cannabis wasn¡¯t as tall as the meter-high Flourishing spring, but they were a good third of the way there. Aloe had thought they would be more fern-like like their leaves showed, but in reality, they were more resemblant to a tall flower like the evolved black seed or a small green tree.


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s a good way of hiding the Flourishing Spring... I think.¡± Aloe sighed as she put her hands on her hips. ¡°And talking about hiding, I should remove the Myriad before I forget...¡± As she turned to make her way out of the greenhouse, the midday sun met her, shining powerfully. ¡°...Or I can leave it for the afternoon. Yeah, better if I do that.¡±


    Uprooting the Myriad now ¨C if it even had roots, the girl had no clue how glass flora exactly worked ¨C would only end in her getting blinded by a second sun that came from the ground instead of the sky.


    As she returned home, the water on the pot had yet to boil, but nonetheless, she readied the ingredients. Aloe didn¡¯t have the best eye-to-hand coordination, but this was by far her first time peeling potatoes. And with all the carving she had done with palm leaves to make the pipes, she had gotten a bit more dexterous with the knife.


    The first days in the greenhouse ¨C when she had already run out of jerky to munch and started needing to rely on potatoes ¨C weren¡¯t exactly messy, but neither were they tidy. Sure, she managed to peel the potatoes, but her consciousness weighed down on her from all the chunks she had wasted with her imperfect and crude peeling. At least those potato chunks and skins weren¡¯t fully gone to waste as she had scattered them out around her crops as compost.


    She no longer saw them lying around, so she assumed they must have worked.


    Only now the notion of that Fikali may have eaten them passed through her head.


    ¡°Oh, well.¡± Aloe sighed as she gracefully peeled the potatoes. The grace of a drunk camel, that was. It still was way swifter than her first attempts at peeling. ¡°¡¯Dexterity¡¯ infusion is sounding better and better by the moment...¡±


    Her sights were still locked into the theorized ¡®recovery¡¯ internal infusion, but to even create them she needed to imagine them. And not all were possible. So coming up with more ideas rather than good ideas was a good thing.


    After peeling the potatoes, she chopped them into smaller pieces, just in time as the water began to bubble. Potato soup, whilst nutritious, was too bland for her taste, so Aloe also added beans and some strips of jerky to give it a bit more flavor.


    ¡°Add spices to the shopping list.¡± She noted to herself.


    Spices wouldn¡¯t feed her, but if they made her food less insipid, that was good. At least Karaim had a sizeable amount of salt still in his pantry, so Aloe wasn¡¯t timid with her ¡®pinches¡¯ of salt. Though they were more handfuls than anything.


    ¡°Now we wait.¡± Aloe stretched her arms for the umpteenth time of the day.


    No matter how many times she did so, she didn¡¯t feel comfortable, as if she had yet to fully wake up.


    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s make a list before I forget everything I have to do today and this week.¡± She said as she sat down in front of her desk whilst keeping an eye on the soup.


    Aloe put removing the Myriad high up on the list because she knew she would forget. It wasn¡¯t a statement; it was a rule of nature. Next was classifying the seeds, Karaim had gratefully gifted her a pot with a myriad of different pairs of seeds, the problem was that they were all together.


    ¡°Couldn¡¯t he at least have separated the most similar ones in similar pots?¡± Aloe groaned as she rolled her eyes.


    Ordering the seeds in pairs would be a time-consuming task she wasn¡¯t looking forward to. Some of them were just straight-up identical.


    ¡°Even if I use Aloe Veritas leaves, it will take me an eternity to just parse them through. And that¡¯s without taking into account that I obviously don¡¯t have enough leaves to go through this many seeds.¡± Aloe groaned once more. ¡°I should evolve an aloe. Even if Tamara doesn¡¯t approve my ink enterprise, I¡¯ve run out more than once of Aloe Veritas leaves. Ugh, I need a tea...¡±


    She decided to leave that for later. Being high wouldn¡¯t help her whilst cooking, that seemed quite the opposite of responsible. And whether Aloe liked it or not, she was now the head of her house. Not in the noble sense, her family name wasn¡¯t that uncommon. But either way, all the properties of the Ayad were now in her name. The house in Sadina and the lands around the oasis, with all their buildings included.


    Normally that would have made her rich, and a noble in some countries, as she possessed not only buildings but also lands. But reality wasn¡¯t as beautiful as it always seemed. Whilst, to her knowledge, the oasis came free of taxes, her house in Sadina did not. Yes, the property had been long paid by her parents, but the land tax was to be paid per annum.


    ¡°Oh, how much I hate the expression now... ¡®per annum¡¯...¡± As a banker¡¯s apprentice, she had heard it to the death, but now that she was the one paying the bills instead of the one that may collect them, it felt incalculably worse.


    Aloe stood up from her seat before she started crying at the fact that she now had to pay taxes and she still wasn¡¯t an adult.

 Book 2: 28. Classification

    The soup was hot.


    That wasn¡¯t to say she hadn¡¯t expected the soup to not be hot, but she meant that there was nothing else highlightable from the bowl of water, potatoes, beans, and jerky. Aloe sighed as she left the bowl on the ground.


    Instead of eating at her desk, she decided to sit down at the doorway to observe the oasis as she ate. The sight was more tasteful than the food. After sleeping for so many hours these last days ¨C even when she was staying in Sadina ¨C she opted for getting as much fresh air as possible. Of course, fresh was a relative word as the sun thrashed the suns.


    ¡°I don¡¯t understand how winter can be cold in Loyata and other countries,¡± Aloe commented whilst hunchback as she rested her head on her hands. ¡°I mean, it does get sometimes actually cold during the night, but they speak of all-time cold during the winter... Figures.¡±


    She stood up and poured herself another serving. The soup didn¡¯t deserve another serving, but her stomach needed that fuel. She had eaten too little for a girl like her that was still growing.


    As she sat back down, Aloe noticed Fikali starting to eat herself. However, instead of indulging in doubtful quality soup, she was having her share of lush Cure Grass.


    ¡°Well, it was time for the sleeping peon to wake up.¡± Then she took a spoonful of her soup. ¡°Ugh, that is looking way more appetizing than this,¡± Aloe added even though the last time she had Cure Grass she gagged and did everything in her ability to not have to taste it.


    She played with the pellets in her satchel.


    ¡°I have a lot of seeds to evolve now, but let¡¯s just hope I don¡¯t need to take any of these bad girls.¡±


    After enjoying of a good rest and a mediocre lunch, Aloe put the lid on the cauldron and left the wooden bowl on the kitchenette counter. She was not going to clean the bowl because a thing called dinner existed and she may as well reuse it.


    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s do this.¡± She added unenthusiastically as she sat down on the only chair in the house.


    There were less than a handful of seeds, but seeds were small, and even this small quantity would take her ages to categorize. The first part of her plan was to play the biggest and most complex game of pairs she had ever seen. Not only most seeds looked alike, but this type of game was normally limited to a dozen cards, not half a hundred of very similar items.


    There were three major ways to distinguish seeds from each other: color, size, and shape. Color was the most visual and easy of them, so Aloe started from there.


    The most common colors were black and brown ¨C regardless of light or dark ¨C but there were some outliers. Some were rather reddish, or just straight-up red. They weren¡¯t few enough to separate them with color enough, but they formed their own tidy group. The easiest to classify was the only pair of white seeds.


    ¡°That¡¯s one less.¡± Aloe expressed with a bit of vigor, even if her voice was dead. Classifying seeds was not fun.


    The result of color separation ended up with five groups: blackish, light brown, dark brown, reddish, and white.


    At first, she decided to go with size next, but as the white seeds ¨C the only pair she had connected yet ¨C differed a bit from the size to each other, she considered it was not a reliable variable to take into account.


    Whilst not as visually striking as color, shapes were still easy enough to identify. The most distinct groups were: spherical, ovoid, flat, and miscellaneous. These shapes would have probably meant something to a farmer or a scholar, but for Aloe, they were just ways to finish this stupid self-imposed game ¨C or rather, forcefully imposed by Umar¡¯s part ¨C as soon as possible.


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    ¡°Oh, cumin!¡± Only now Aloe noticed the very distinctive elongated white and black seeds. Her mind had been autonomous behavior, parsing through colors and shapes like a three-year-old. ¡°That¡¯s another pair less to classify, nice!¡±


    The five original-colored groups now became many more once those colors were also ordered by their shape. She ended up with a total of thirteen groups, and considering there were only around fifty seeds, most of her job was already done.


    ¡°That was way faster and easier than I expected,¡± Aloe commented as she put the cumin and white seeds away from the seedy mess as they were already paired up. ¡°It shouldn¡¯t take much time to pair the rest up!¡±


    It took a lot of time to pair the rest up.


    Because she had worked mindlessly, her sorting methods hadn¡¯t been exactly precise. So even if most groups were composed of two pairs of seeds, maybe those pairs weren¡¯t correct. Size did not help at all because seeds could ¨C rather obviously in retrospect ¨C have any size they wanted.


    The hardest to pair were the browns because they looked identical. Not fully dark, not fully light. Not fully spherical, not fully ovoid. It was a total mess. Even when she left those for later, when she came back after having paired up the rest, her eye which should have been trained by now noticed no differences.


    ¡°Okay, I give up.¡± She pushed the brown seeds in one corner of the desk and forgot about them. ¡°I¡¯ll just deal with them later. I have a deposit full of vitality and it needs to be consumed.¡±


    Aloe didn¡¯t expect to drain her reserves fast. Evolution was a rather chaotic and unexpected field. Some seeds evolved whilst others did not. She hadn¡¯t been able to evolve potatoes and beans but had found no problem with bananas. Even if the end product had literally nothing to do with the original plant.


    ¡°I still cannot come around to the idea that the Myriad came from a banana seed. Talking about the Myriad...¡± Aloe gazed outside the window and looked at the sun. ¡°Hmm, still too early. I¡¯ll go later to pluck out the plant.¡±


    But as she turned her attention to the paired seeds, her eyes locked into another kind of pair.


    ¡°Oh...¡± She smacked her lips. ¡°Yeah, I forgot to water them, haven¡¯t I?¡±


    What Aloe had seen were the pots where she had planted her Cure Grass seeds when she was originally testing how different infusion typings worked. One had been infused with ¡®bountiful harvest¡¯ whilst the other with ¡®fast growth¡¯.


    Nonetheless, both were dead.


    Not only she had not watered the pots for the four days she had been away, but far earlier than that too. She kind of just forgot they existed.


    She sighed. ¡°Well, they held more than I expected. The blades only look dry instead of fully dead and the grass must have been in the sun for weeks without being watered. Kind of impressive.¡±


    Aloe grabbed the pots from the windowsill and then she unceremoniously scattered the dirt on the entrance.


    ¡°Back to business.¡±


    She could have surely done some experiments on the near-dead plants, like if she could infuse them to revive them again or something. But that would have required the skill to reinfuse plants, a skill that she had yet to learn, and Karaim¡¯s cultivation technique showed no light on how to acquire it. Her only thought on the dried Cure Grass was to throw them away so they didn¡¯t stench the house.


    Aloe smelled herself.


    ¡°Yeah, I got enough stench here.¡± She groaned in a mixture of pain and exhaustion. ¡°I¡¯ll take a bath when I run out of vitality.¡±


    She grabbed the white seeds first just for the sheer virtue of being the first seeds she paired up together. Aloe took a deep breath and felt the vitality on her body. These previous days her inner coolness had felt perturbed and weak, but now it refreshed her as always. Her body ¨C and mind ¨C may not be at their peak level, but her vitality certainly was.


    Concentration.


    Intention.


    Evolution.


    That was the only thing she needed to mutate the structure of a common seed into a fantastical being, just to concentrate on the intention to make it evolve.


    Simple as that.


    Aloe poured her vitality and intention on one of the white seeds and...


    Nothing.


    As if her vitality had crashed headfirst against a stone wall, the seed refused her call to evolve.


    Aloe sighed. ¡°As expected.¡±


    The girl didn¡¯t know much about the vital arts, the magic that contained the magics of Evolution, Infusion, and most likely the powers of the royals, but even in that lagoon of uncertainty she was sure of what logic Evolution followed.


    None.


    No matter if she felt like a seed had a great chance to evolve or even tried to guess the outcome of that evolution, the arcane chaoticism of Evolution ¨C if that was even a word ¨C impeded her from developing a flowchart or building some theories on the working of the vital art.


    There was only one way forward.


    Trial and error.

 Book 2: 29. Push

    ¡°Oops, I almost forgot,¡± Aloe said as she took out the Cure Grass pills from her satchels. ¡°That could¡¯ve been bad. Better to have them as accessible as possible.¡±


    She had yet to find a pattern for the evolution costs of the seeds if there even was one, and if one of the new ones ¨C yet again, if there was even a new evolution hiding among them ¨C a vitality cost higher than the Flourishing Spring could seriously mess her up. Those were a lot of ifs, but the was no harm in minimizing her chances of any sort of peril.


    ¡°Alright, what¡¯s the next one?¡± Aloe moved her hand on top of the seeds as if she were some sort of fortune teller. ¡°I guess I¡¯ll go with cumin. This is the only one I¡¯m able to recognize after all...¡±


    It said a lot about her that she owned a greenhouse, a whole oasis at that, and she was not able to recognize most of these seeds. Not that she had ever been tutored on them, but still felt rather dumb.


    She grabbed the two cumin seeds, one she left on the desk as backup and the other she enclosed between her hands.


    ¡°Come on, if I get at least one from this batch I¡¯ll be satisfied.¡± The girl jiggled the seed as if it were a coin she was ready to throw into a wishing well. Not that Aloe would ever do that, that would be a waste of a good drupnar.


    Aloe dispelled her random thoughts to clear her mind and pushed her vitality into the black and white cumin seed.


    No matter how many times she had done it, she still needed focus and a calm mind to infuse things. And whilst the number of times she had infused plants was nearing the hundreds, that couldn¡¯t be said for evolving them. If it weren¡¯t for the Flourishing Springs, that number wouldn¡¯t even reach the two digits.


    Her breathing stopped.


    Not out of concentration, but out of surprise.


    The cumin seed was taking her vitality.


    And fast.


    It hurt.


    It truly did.


    But at least this time she knew it would hurt. Aloe had mentalized, steeled her mind for this exact moment. It was as if the biggest mosquito to ever exist was sucking all her blood, and it was nowhere near full.


    With a steady pulse, she grabbed a Cure Grass pill and downed it.


    Only now, as it took a couple of seconds to quick into effect, she panicked. Fuck. Aloe cursed. I shouldn¡¯t have done this so soon after eating. It had been a while since she had last consumed any pills, so she had forgotten about the little fact that it took them more time to take effect if her stomach was full.


    Her only saving grace was that it had taken her an ungodly amount of time to organize the seeds, so most of the soup ¨C which was also a very light meal ¨C was long digested.


    Still, she shouldn¡¯t have taken this risk.


    The Cure Grass pill almost instantly recovered a bit less than a third of her vitality, just in time as her vitality was reaching critical levels.


    And it wasn¡¯t enough.


    It wasn¡¯t unexpected, Aloe had thought ¨C or more like her paranoia imagined ¨C that an evolution would take far more vitality than she would be able to provide.


    Aloe downed the second pill.


    As before, nearly immediately her vitality reached around a third of her maximum reserve. Fearing for the worst, Aloe put on a third pellet on her tongue. She hoped she would have not needed it, but soon enough, it became apparent that her vitality would once more reach critical unconsciousness-inducing levels as it continued decreasing.


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    The girl swallowed her third pill.


    Aloe breathed hard as she reached for the fourth. Her hands were shaking, she couldn¡¯t even think straight. Even if she was recovering her vitality, the back and forth was too taxing for her body. Migraines littered her mind as the pill fell to the ground. She didn¡¯t even have enough presence of mind to curse, simply mindlessly reaching for another one and putting it in her mouth, ready to down it when the time was right.


    She had her body hurt before from evolving seeds, but never her mind. It was always sudden unconsciousness; she had not managed to stay awake to reach this point.


    The only thought in her mind currently ¨C the only conscious one at least ¨C was that she had to pour more vitality into the seed in her hand.


    Her vision blurred as her vitality reserves yet again neared depletion.


    Fourth pill.


    A dry cough escaped her mouth threatening to end her concentration, and it almost succeeded. Aloe was amazed at how much she was holding up.


    Her throat was swollen from all the pellets she had ingested. The pills were too big for her small constitution, and they scratched the walls of her neck as they fell into her stomach.


    And talking about her stomach, the pill digestion was getting slower. No longer instantaneous or just a few seconds to activate it, but more like half a minute. As soon as Aloe noticed this, she ingested another pill. She no longer had the time nor the focus to calculate how long it would take her to run out of vitality. At this point, she needed a constant intake to keep up with the seed¡¯s thirst.


    Aloe coughed once more; it was no longer dry though.


    Her stomach threatened her with pouring its contents out as bile gathered in her mouth. Aloe swallowed the liquid, making her cringe from the acidity, and reached for yet another pill.


    Her hand trembled too much to pick it up, it was only then that a spasm turned her arm berserk and threw the remaining pills to the ground.


    There weren¡¯t many left.


    Aloe put more strength into the hand with the seed. She could no longer feel the pain, her whole body was growing numb, but she knew her grip was close to drawing blood as her nails dug deeper into her palm.


    As she tried to breathe, more coughs assaulted her. The cumin seed continued to draw vitality, and it may well be her imagination, but the rate of absorption was getting slower.


    She could make it.


    She just needed to hold up.


    The two pills in her stomach burned at the same time, shooting up her reserves to half deposit, far less than she should have obtained considering that she was around ten percent before the pills kicked in.


    Diminishing returns.


    Even with half of her vitality, which was a far greater amount than that she had had when originally initiated in the vital arts, wouldn¡¯t be enough to finish the process.


    She, of course, couldn¡¯t know that. But her instincts told her this battle was not over yet. Soldiers fought with their weapons against their enemies, but Aloe had no weapons beyond her body. And if someone were to be her enemy, that would be herself.


    That lapse in thought costed her ten percent of her reserves.


    ¡°Ah...¡± Aloe tried to swear but not only it was difficult to come up with words in her troubled mind, but also her throat impeded her from using actual speech. In the end, only a dry plead came out of her lips.


    Her vision lost focus as did her mind when she tried to reach for the pills on the ground. Equilibrium was, rather obviously, long forlorn by her body.


    The whimpering girl crashed into the ground, the ruckus of the chair almost leaving her deaf. A wooden crash exploding greater than the rumbling of war drums. But most worryingly ¨C for her, that was ¨C almost ending her concentration.


    It hadn¡¯t even occurred to her that there still should have been some pellets in her satchel pockets, but at the same time, there wasn¡¯t much of a thought going on in her mind any longer.


    It was all an instinctual mess.


    All of this could have stopped long ago, so why she hadn¡¯t?


    Why was she torturing herself this much?


    Was it some macabre exercise of self-flagellation? Or just the lack of realization? No one knew, not even herself, for her mind was a sea of delirium and her thoughts a breached hull.


    Aloe twisted in the ground like a worm, not out of pain, but as a primal and crude method of movement as she found herself unable to move her extremities. She didn¡¯t even think about why was that the case, she just continued to move forward.


    Pushing on.


    The pills lay scattered before her, so close yet impossibly far. Aloe wiggled her head, stretching her neck to the point that it hurt, and so barely reached a pill.


    Even if she was not yet in critical vitality levels, if she didn¡¯t consume the pill right now, she would fully run out of vitality before her stomach had time to digest it.


    In an act of desperation, Aloe stretched her tongue to grab the pellet. Her tongue rubbed the ground, sand and dust sticking to the wet muscle, but she continued unfazed unable to understand any common notions. Her eyes closed; sight was getting too taxing. A bit more, she thought, or at least, she would have liked to think. Everything was a blur.


    Contact.


    She could no longer see the pill, but it was as dusty as the ground as it entered her mouth and promptly into her throat.


    Sixth pill.


    Aloe lay on the ground, panting and whimpering as she waited. Either she would run out of vitality, or the pill would arrive on time. She did not know which one would be first, nor she have the strength to reach for another one.


    And as she exhaled, her lungs feeling drier than the very desert she was on, Aloe realized one thing.


    The seed was no longer draining her.

 Book 2: 30. Grief

    Aloe panted, her breast heaving up and down with outstanding violence. A human torso shouldn¡¯t deform in such a manner. Air went in and out of her mouth audibly, and yet she almost couldn¡¯t hear it as the ringing of her ears was greater than that.


    Her body didn¡¯t obey her, and only now her mind was clearing enough to muster some coherent thoughts. Not words, thoughts.


    It hurt her breathing this hard, but she couldn¡¯t stop. It didn¡¯t matter how much air she got in and out of her lungs, it wasn¡¯t enough. Every instant she felt as if she was drowning.


    There was a coldness that chilled her to the bones as she lay unmoving on the ground. Not the soothing chill that vitality gave her, but more that of being out naked and drenched on a desert winter night. Painfully cold.


    And yet...


    And yet a warmth flourished in her hand.


    Aloe didn¡¯t bother to shift her eyes toward the source, she knew it very well. And it wasn¡¯t as if she could do so. Paralyzed, she continued to look at the ceiling, the light coming through the window slowly ¨C very slowly ¨C growing orange as she recovered her breath.


    It was totally beyond her if she could get frostbite from this cold, maybe it was only in her mind, but the spot of warmth in her left hand put her at ease.


    The evolved seed irradiated warmth.


    The girl couldn¡¯t understand how an item this small could contain this much energy. By all means, it should be impossible. But at the same time, Evolution didn¡¯t play by the rules she understood as reality.


    It was magic after all.


    Illustrious, grandiose, dreamful magic.


    She had consumed six Cure Grass pills to evolve the cumin seed, such an amount was astronomical by previous standards. Even though Aloe needed to take a pill every time she evolved a black seed into a Flourishing Spring, that was only to not fall unconscious. Her vitality reserves were barely below the needed quantity.


    Not only her current maximum deposit had increased by a factor of two since she evolved that grass seed for the first time, but this seed ¨C whatever it was called ¨C took five pills to near maximum efficiency.


    The first three pills were used optimally, bringing Aloe¡¯s vitality to a third each time, therefore capping her whole deposit once. The latter three were less effective in their usage. The fourth and the fifth had been digested at the same time, only restoring her vitality to half, a ten percent decrease because of diminishing returns. The sixth though... she didn¡¯t know if she had even used it.


    Her memory was very blurry, she barely remembered the pain, let alone her inner thoughts.


    But if she did use it ¨C which she couldn¡¯t check nor recall ¨C it hadn¡¯t been a great amount.


    Even then, accounting for the lack of usage of the sixth pill¡¯s vitality, the newly evolved seed had consumed two times and a half of her maximum deposit, or in other words, five times the vitality she had originally possessed.


    ¡°Ah...¡± Aloe exhaled at the scope of the numbers, though it came through her mouth as more of a groan.


    She continued there, fighting for consciousness as her eyelids became heavier and heavier as she lay on the ground until she recovered a bit.


    That ¡®recovery¡¯ internal infusion is looking so damnably appetizing right now... Aloe pondered, moderately surprising herself from the long stretch of coherent thoughts.


    So she tried.


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    It wasn¡¯t as if she had something else to do right now.


    And whilst Aloe would like to gloat how much of an expert she had become on manipulating vitality, soon enough she found out her vitality didn¡¯t respond to her intention.


    Fuck. She cursed with the grace of the greatest poets of her age. This feels like when... Her mind turned gray, her vision blurring as much if not more than when the seed sucked her dry out of her vitality. No... Aloe gritted her teeth, the unconscious gesture tiring her greatly. I cannot stay like this. I just... need to accept it. Do not show weakness. The words commonly spoken by her father cut through her thoughts as they echoed in her mind, though with her own voice instead of that of her late father.


    Aloe was, of course, still grieving. And as much as she wanted to ignore it, technically she was still in her grieving period. Ydazi law decreed that a mourning period lasted from a week to a month ¨C the former for lower-income citizens who couldn¡¯t allow themselves to stop working and the latter for more well-standing ones ¨C with the sole exception of a ninety-nine nights period reserved for the sultanzade, even if that clause had been rarely, to never, used.


    This wasn¡¯t just random trivia in the confines of her memory, but something Aloe had not only studied but also researched after Karaim¡¯s death. She was still outraged that her mother had started to work before her grace period ended, but then again, she was a direct subordinate of the emir, and people of his status ¨C and lineage ¨C could bend the laws ever-so-slightly and no one would bat an eye.


    Aloe¡¯s animosity wasn¡¯t lost when she discovered that Emir Hassan had been dethroned, though she had been too gloomy to celebrate it.


    Since the first time she had seen that man, she hated him. Sadina had started to decline since the moment that man stood up. Whether she accepted Emir Rani¡¯s petition ¨C which she technically still couldn¡¯t because of the aforementioned mourning period ¨C Aloe could only hope that she proved a better ruler than her brother ever was.


    If she kept Sadina¡¯s splendor that was enough for Aloe, she wasn¡¯t greedy enough to hope for more. For the city of her memories to come back.


    I need to... to... Aloe whimpered as she was unable to finish her thoughts.


    No matter what her education had been, the truth was that she was the only member left of her family. That weight alone heavied as much as the death of her mother.


    Especially because she was a woman.


    Not... yet... Tears flowed down to the side of her face as she lay face up on the ground. I¡¯m no woman yet... It was difficult for someone who hadn¡¯t reached adulthood ¨C no matter how close that line may be ¨C to deposit all the hopes of their ancestors in their shoulders to continue the bloodline.


    That was the last thing Aloe wanted to think about in her current state of affairs. The idea, the weight, the hope, the possibilities of that future scared her, and in some small part, disgusted her.


    Aloe cleared her mind.


    She didn¡¯t know how, but she just... did.


    She ignored everything, and as her blurry and wet eyes locked with the stale and darkening ceiling, her mind was free of burden. If this was an aftereffect of the vital arts, then the cultivation shtick made it worth it just for that.


    This feels like when, Aloe continued the thought that led her to the downward spiral of grief, only now her mind was more steeled ¨C though it continued to be as feeble as before, I collapsed, and the menstruation hit me. Still, she avoided direct thoughts of her mother. I was physically weak, so my vitality got equally weaker. Karaim said that vitality was alike stamina, though not the same. So, in the same way as a tired person cannot run well or at all if they are hurt, the same thing happens with vitality. I believe.


    This was a shaky theory at best, and she knew it, but it made sense. There was still a lot of uncharted territory around the vital arts, so the best she could do was be the academic cartographer who could illustrate the lagoons of inconsistency and lack of information on the map.


    Yes... She pondered. When I came back to the oasis, because I was so physically exhausted, I had difficulties changing internal infusions, though not as much as... before. Aloe did her best to push her thoughts back to that, but her mind unconsciously changed the course of her vessel of thought each time she let her guard down. But there¡¯s also a mental factor. It makes sense considering that I need to concentrate to even change infusions...


    Alas, she couldn¡¯t keep herself thinking forever. Her mind had been also tired out by the evolution process but unlike her body, Aloe didn¡¯t allow it to rest. Maybe because she feared what would happen if she stopped thinking, or maybe it was something else entirely...


    The girl, soon-to-be woman, sighed. Unlike before, her breasts just deflated the normal amount. Not too high, not too low. That simple fact calmed her down greatly.


    Aloe gulped some saliva as she got her back away from the ground, only to collapse as she gagged.


    ¡°Blergh...¡± Her voice came out muted as if she was aphonic. She couldn¡¯t confirm it, and she didn¡¯t want to test if such was the case as her throat itched again. Oh, right. Aloe sighed in realization. The sand. She had forgotten how she had rubbed her tongue along the dirty floor, and honestly, she wished that memory had stayed up that way.

 Book 2: 31. Exhaustion

    It took her a while, but after spending a solid half of an hour sitting down on the ground with her back to the wall, Aloe decided to stand up out of sheer boredom. Her head no longer throbbed in pain, but it had been so bad that she wasn¡¯t able to take a nap in the meantime.


    ¡°Ugh...¡± Aloe groaned, her knees and thighs protesting at the ¡®sudden¡¯ movement. She instantly repented as her throat began to itch once more. Ugh... so she groaned in the confines of her mind. I shouldn¡¯t have done that.


    With the grace of a dweller on hard ground, Aloe managed to fully stand up, but she kept her hands on the wall and desk as her knees threatened to topple her.


    The girl panted in exhaustion, a mundane activity like standing up had drained her of her energies. Hot air entered through her mouth, though the temperature was way lower than when she first fell to the ground. Aloe lay all her weight on her hands as she supported her body on the desk. Her arms had more strength remaining than her legs, for some reason.


    Though the motion wasn¡¯t with its cons.


    Aloe snorted and whimpered as the palm that evolved the cumin seed received all the weight of her body. Hold! Hold... Not only did she hold the tears, but most importantly, the screams. She didn¡¯t want to make more of a mess of her throat.


    The reason why her palm hurt so much was because she clutched her hand before with such strength that it was a miracle she hadn¡¯t drawn blood. Nonetheless, the marks and the wounds were still there. And the pain.


    Fuck. There was no subtlety in her cursing, only plain unadulterated pain. I wanna die. It spoke of great lengths about her that this was the first time she said that expression jokingly.


    She may be exhausted, but her body was in a somewhat good state, so slowly she made her way out of the house. The moment she opened the door, she became instantly more refreshed, a weight removed from her being. There were a lot of those as of late. The fresh, albeit dry air poured into her nostrils, lending Aloe newfound strength. Still, that wasn¡¯t enough.


    Aloe eyed her satchels but quickly decided against it as she looked into her body. It wouldn¡¯t do shit, my deposit is almost full. The problem isn¡¯t my vitality... She sighed as her boots pressed against the ground, shyly sinking into the sand. I feel as if I have just done a soldier¡¯s training regime or something.


    Her mind was better than before, far from optimal conditions, but it allowed her to think as she slowly made her way to the oasis, one heavy and deflated step at a time.


    It was definitely the constant refilling of vitality. Aloe theorized. Sure, I¡¯ve used up a lot of vitality, but rather than the consumption, I feel like the problem was that instead of running out I just kept pushing my body by giving it a fuel that wasn¡¯t its own. She tried to come up with an analogy, but nothing came to her head. This cannot be compared to stamina any longer; one can¡¯t just take ¡°consumable stamina¡± to recover themselves.


    Ugh... The girl mentally groaned. Karaim, why couldn¡¯t you have researched more about the vital arts in general instead of writing about plants? And even then, you didn¡¯t do that good of a job.


    Badmouthing a dead man was commonly considered disrespectful, but as she was technically not using her mouth, just keeping it to herself, there should be no problem. Or that was what Aloe thought.


    By the end of the walk, Aloe was panting once more, so much sweat pouring out of her body that she feared she would dehydrate. It had been awful, it had taken five minutes for a path that it didn¡¯t even normally make sense to talk about the time it took to complete, whether it was just minutes or seconds.


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    ¡°Huh...¡± Aloe mumbled weakly as she saw the extinguished campfire of her boiling equipment. The fire has died out... Hopefully, there will still be some water inside, I¡¯m sooo thirsty.


    Fortune seemed to smile at her for once as Aloe found a respectable amount of water in the cauldron. Without thinking twice, she grabbed the metal pot by the handle and started drinking from the brim. Water pushed down her throat audibly, so much so that she had to stop as her throat began to hurt again.


    ¡°Ah...¡± Aloe panted, searching for air as she almost finished the contents of the cauldron in almost one go. I needed that. She didn¡¯t even care that the water was hot from being outside or stale, any dehydrated person in the desert wouldn¡¯t turn away any perfectly drinkable water.


    Whilst her mind remained as exhausted but active as before, her body had benefited from the refreshment.


    Aloe left the cauldron as she had found it, though she didn¡¯t bother to refill it nor restart the fire. Instead, she approached the oasis. The sun reflected on the crystal-clear water with a powerful orange glow, it was already afternoon. If she wanted to do it, this was her last chance before it got cold out here.


    Shamelessly and tiredly, Aloe disrobed. In a time not too long ago, she would have been reticent to get naked outdoors, but as time passed and her mental faculties were found temporarily diminished, she couldn¡¯t care any more.


    Her desert garb was not the easiest piece of clothing to remove as it was made not only to withstand the harsh choke of the sun but also the deadly temperatures of the desert regardless of the time of the day.


    Her satchels fell to the ground audibly with thuds and clinks, Aloe stored a myriad of miscellaneous items inside, from heavy ones to metallic ones. And whilst some may be fragile, she couldn¡¯t bring herself to care any longer. Her exhaustion, both mental and physical, was getting to the point where she had difficulties keeping her eyes open.


    She pranced over to the shore of the oasis, only to be reminded that underwear was a thing as her socks got wet on the water.


    ¡°Ugh...¡± Aloe groaned defeatedly. ¡°Not the wool...¡± The girl painfully removed her woolen socks, and then also her undergarments. ¡°You dumb...¡± She stopped herself as self-deprecation would only lead her to another downward spiral, one maybe even worse than the first one.


    The drenched socks did work as a wake-up call as she moved her clothes from being littered across the dirt into closer to the grass, her underwear protected to not get even dirtier. Now that she was also close, Aloe lazily grabbed the towel that she always left on the drying rack, as it was already getting chilly so she feared for her health once got out of the water.


    Aloe, with lead feet, stepped into the water. Even though the air was dry and hot, the waters were gelid. She found the low temperature surprisingly soothing. Her body was hot from a lot of factors and the cold helped her, especially her migraine. She enjoyed the coldness far better than the hotness.


    The girl walked into the deep parts of the oasis as did the desert travelers from stories enthralled by the whispers of djinns into the sands, submerging herself as did those poor folk did on the sand.


    She stayed underwater for a long time, her body feeling many times lighter on the liquid than on land. The buoyancy overtook her, feeling free from the weight of her body relaxed her. Every second that passed, she felt cleaner than the one before. Grime was being stripped away from her body slowly but inexorably.


    It was then that she noticed that the uncleanness she felt wasn¡¯t only physical.


    There was a darkness in the back of her heart, she was well aware of it. It wasn¡¯t a predator that hid in the shadows pouncing to strike its prey, but a construct of her own devising. She would face it, but not now.


    That was a battle for later, one that she wanted to postpone as much as she could.


    Time ran out as her body craved for air and Aloe resurfaced. She panted as heavily as she did before, but curiously enough, even though she was literally drowning ¨C not a figure of speech any longer ¨C her breathing was more vigorous than before. More lifeful.


    The bath hadn¡¯t resolved the taxation on her body, not even close to it; but like a paved road, it was now easier to walk than on the treacherous sands.


    Aloe looked into her vitality, the chillness of her vital energy recovered, a cadence of life instead of weakness and decay. Perhaps the mental factor is more important than I thought... She swam back to the shore as the breeze exposed her to a potential cold.


    But for the first time, Aloe didn¡¯t feel happy from taking a bath, only plainly invigorated. That should suffice...

 Book 2: 32. Fear

    To say that Rani was flabbergasted was an understatement. She hadn¡¯t expected such an honest and hard-striking revelation out of Aaliyah¡¯s mouth in a million years. But at the same time, that was how her mother worked.


    ¡°You are serious.¡± The words weakly left the emir¡¯s mouth, it was a statement.


    ¡°Indeed.¡± Aaliyah nodded as she stretched her arms. ¡°I¡¯m getting tired and bored of running a country, it isn¡¯t as amusing as some people make it out to be, you know. I may be too old for these things.¡±


    Rani didn¡¯t speak out, but her thoughts were obvious. Aaliyah-al-Ydaz was the most powerful monarch Ydaz had seen, and even at her sixty-something years, she looked twenty-five at most. She would live far longer than most people, and maybe more than Rani herself.


    ¡°Why?¡± The question was sincere. The sultanzade couldn¡¯t understand how someone could leave such authority behind.


    ¡°I¡¯ve told you; I¡¯m getting bored.¡± And that was all. The sultanah was being truthful, there were no ulterior motives whatsoever. She was simply tired from being on the throne for almost nearly half a century. ¡°And I do believe this recent child will be my last. However young I look on the outside, I doubt my body will continue to be able to produce offspring, and that¡¯s a heaven-sent.¡±


    Rani tried to pry her mother''s words and expressions for answers, but she was the one who taught her all the subterfuge she knew. Aaliyah hadn¡¯t become the most powerful person in the world with sheer strength alone.


    Still, there was an alternative probably only open to her.


    ¡°...So you are incapable of having more children?¡± Asking.


    Simple as that.


    ¡°I mean,¡± Aaliyah took a sip from her wine, ¡°not really. There are a lot of things from Nurture you don¡¯t know. Age certainly isn¡¯t a problem when it comes to babymaking, but I don¡¯t have a need to pump out more offspring, do I?¡± The woman busted in laughter. ¡°It¡¯s only advantages, really. There¡¯s no risk of pregnancy so I can go haywire and no more menstruation for me. Just positives.¡±


    A normal person would have dwelled on the fact that Aaliyah wasn¡¯t ¡°going haywire¡± currently with all her sexual prowess as she assaulted not only the denizens of the palace but also Asina. That idea would probably instill fear in the minds of those as they thought about how an unleashed Aaliyah would deal with her lust, but Rani pondered over another point.


    Menstruation.


    It wasn¡¯t just because she was a woman, but because she understood the weight of the sultanah¡¯s blood and had an understanding, albeit simple, of Nurture. Aaliyah-al-Ydaz¡¯s blood was so powerful, so packed with vitality that it was able to turn barren wastelands into farmlands with a single drop. And more blood was lost during the menstruation cycle than a droplet.


    Realization struck Rani¡¯s head like one of her mother¡¯s punches.


    She looked out to Aaliyah dumbfounded; the woman ignored her for the sake of her wine. I may be wrong here... Rani thought whilst maintaining her visage calm, but is that why she has been permanently pregnant during all these decades? To avoid natural bloodletting? The sultanzade had never made the connection between these two factors before, but now... all the pieces clicked together.


    Do female cultivators really lose that much blood whilst menstruating? Rani couldn¡¯t know, her Nurture was pathetic and mostly fostered by innate abilities rather than training. This whole pregnancy ordeal was just about preventing the natural loss of vitality?


    ¡°Oh, you are quite surprised.¡± Aaliyah calmly raised her eyes from her goblet to look directly at Rani even if the princess herself ought to think she had kept quite an unremarkable expression. ¡°You should have paid more attention to your lessons, it¡¯s quite pathetic that as a female sultanzade common nobles have better Nurture than you. I don¡¯t know how that¡¯s even possible with all the advantages I gave you.¡±


    ¡°So... it is true?¡± Rani asked breathless.


    ¡°What¡¯s true?¡± The sultanah nonchalantly shook her goblet around.


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    ¡°Me, my sisters, and my brothers,¡± the sultanzade started, ¡°we all were just a byproduct of your wish to not grow weaker?¡±


    ¡°Oh, Rani...¡± If it had been a true mother, Aaliyah''s voice would have portrayed a shed of sadness, of pity toward her daughter. But Aaliyah-al-Ydaz was not a mother. She was barely human. ¡°Did you really think I cared about you little djinns?¡± The Sultanah¡¯s grin shook her to the core.


    Rani knew it, she knew the figure in front of her cared only about herself, and it still hurt. But beyond the pain of betrayal ¨C though she doubted it could be considered that, as betrayal only occurred from allies never enemies or neutral factions ¨C what shook her further was the fear.


    That vicious, visceral grin.


    The person in front of her was not a mother, she had never been. And she would never have one.


    Aaliyah-al-Ydaz''s only goal was herself. If the country bored her, the country could go to the hells. She didn¡¯t intend to die or give away her power, she had already said it. She was tired. And a person of her caliber wouldn¡¯t tolerate being tired. Aaliyah was not a worker that had to work to survive even if she was sick. No, she was a monarch, if not by authority, by sheer strength alone. And a monarch shouldn¡¯t be allowed to feel boredom no matter the circumstances, the woman¡¯s visage expressed that clearly.


    Might made right, especially when talking about power as obscene as hers.


    ¡°You know, I¡¯m amused you are even afflicted by my words.¡± The cultivator drunk unfazed by Rani¡¯s reactions. ¡°I thought I nurtured you better, even ignoring your lacking Nurture in favor of your acute mind and leniency to subterfuge, but right now you are looking weak.¡±


    The last word sent shivers down Rani¡¯s spine. The newly appointed emir thought that Aaliyah hadn¡¯t killed Hassan because it was her son, but now it became apparent. She was just too lazy to do so. If the stars favored so, she would undoubtedly snuff the light out of her children.


    Aaliyah laughed at the reaction and puffed some air. ¡°You know how my mother died, no?¡±


    ¡°Y-yes.¡± Rani stuttered. She stuttered. As she read the Sultanah¡¯s expression she understood her mother wanted her to say it. ¡°Y-you killed her.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a bit more complex than that, but yes. I killed her. My own mother, isn¡¯t that sublime?¡±


    The unmitigated use of words by the cultivator unsettled Rani even more. Even in the heart of the palace of Asina, the safest place in all of Ydaz, she felt at risk. She can do it. I know it in my soul. Ethics are only a shackle to the weak.


    ¡°It was a powerful woman,¡± the monarch continued, ¡°but she wasn¡¯t ruthless enough. By the time I killed her, she looked old. I was even younger than you, yet she looked like a mature woman. If she had been more enthusiastic with her Nurture, her lifespan or strength would have been greater. But her greatest sin was her lacking rule. Not out of disinterest like me, but out of incompetence.¡±


    Aaliyah stood up and slowly walked toward Rani, making the young woman shift uncomfortably in her seat, pushing her body backward into the throne as she backpedaled.


    ¡°There are many ways to rule, fear, money, knowledge, faith, respect, honor... as many grains of sand there are on the desert, really. But that¡¯s the thing people don¡¯t understand, they are not exclusive. You can use them all, you just need to use the right methods on the right people. Tell me Rani, what method do you think is effective against you?¡±


    ¡°I-I...¡± She was speechless. Her upbringing hadn¡¯t been easy, but she had never experienced difficulties. No matter the beatings or the hard education, she had been pampered. But now, her heart was threatening to escape her chest.


    ¡°I am waiting for an answer, my daughter.¡± Aaliyah¡¯s eyes shone like the most expensive set of amethysts in the world.


    They shone with the cruelty of the sun.


    ¡°F-fear, my Sultanah.¡± Rani responded crestfallen; her body refused to breathe.


    Rani recoiled in fear as she heard the rustling of the Sultanah¡¯s fabric, a shadow cast on top of her as she moved.


    She expected her mother to end her light at this very moment, even though Aaliyah had no reason to. But at the same time, she wasn¡¯t the kind of woman to need any reason to do something.


    Instead of a swift end or a painful death, Aaliyah-al-Ydaz... patted her head.


    ¡°Good girl!¡± Her mother praised her as one would do with a young dutiful child, if not a pet.


    Rani carefully looked up, her eyes becoming water out of pure terror.


    No matter how sweet it may look as her mother caressed her hair in slow and warm motions, it was anything but loving. Humiliation at best, mindless entertainment at worst. The previous off-hand comments of incest, instead of getting a chuckle out of Rani, now terrified her.


    ¡°You should put more emphasis on your studies if you want to manage an emirate correctly, Rani,¡± Aaliyah added with a derisive smile as she toyed with her.


    She treated Rani like a child, and truthfully, she could be considered a child by her standards. The emir was barely in her twenties, but the sultanah was already a great-grandmother.


    Aaliyah-al-Ydaz wasn¡¯t stupid, everything Rani knew had been taught by her. There was no way, absolutely none, that she could outdo her. There was a leash around Rani¡¯s neck greater than simple blood ties. A deadly grip that tightened.


    ¡°Now,¡± Aaliyah removed her hand from her daughter¡¯s head and blessed her with a smile, ¡°be a good child and meet up with your sister. You two will spend a lot of time together in the near future. And I will not allow any familial disputes after the recent last one.¡±


    Rani¡¯s body was immobilized as she looked at the Sultanah¡¯s visage. Her lips smiled, yes, but as she spoke the last sentence, her eyes pierced her being. Aaliyah-al-Ydaz was unleashed, and when you were the absolute ruler, infanticide wasn¡¯t considered a crime, only a social label.


    Rani whimpered as her mother left the office.

 Book 2: 33. Blossomflame

    Aloe woke up feeling... fine. With all that had happened these last days, that was more than alright for her. She could settle with fine if that meant no more problems.


    ¡°Hello, hello.¡± The girl mumbled weakly on her bed. ¡°Alright, it seems I can somewhat talk now. It still hurts, though.¡± She sighed as she got out of bed, she still didn¡¯t understand how her throat got hurt this badly.


    Her previous day''s routine tasks, whilst not sufficient, had provided her with some clean water and cooked food. Even if she wanted to have some dates and coconuts for breakfast, Aloe opted for just a glass of water and a strip of jerky as she still felt drowsy. She wasn¡¯t that far gone to have cold soup for breakfast.


    Whilst her meal was far from satisfactory, she wasn¡¯t feeling especially peckish. Aloe had not exerted herself... physically exerted herself these last days, so her stomach was not feeling quite up to the task, even when her previous encounters with extensive vitality usage had shown that consuming vitality made her hungry. After finishing her breakfast as she stood on the kitchenette ¨C standing still proved to be an exercise she had found herself lacking in her routine as of late ¨C she knelt down beside her desk.


    ¡°Alright, time to see what you are, you bugger.¡± Aloe grabbed the evolved seed that had been left on the ground since yesterday. ¡°Or seeder? Is that even a word? I don¡¯t know how I should insult a seed... That was a sentence, huh? I must be going crazy with all this vitality and... things.¡±


    The girl refrained herself from thinking, lest her mind wandered somewhere she didn¡¯t want to.


    ¡°Hmm...¡± Aloe heaved the seed up and down once she sat on her chair. ¡°It¡¯s warm. I thought I had imagined that yesterday, but the seed is actually warm.¡±


    Aloe opened her palm to reveal no longer a black-and-white elongated cumin seed but a light brown almost-chestnut-like-in-shape seed. She traced her fingers across the ovoid seed, feeling the small crevices of the future plant. It didn¡¯t matter if she used her fingers, nails, palms, or the backside of her hands, she could still feel the heat irradiating from the seed. It was small, barely noticeable against the desert heat even if it was still early in the morning, but it was indeed there.


    The evolved seed had its own temperature.


    ¡°This is curious.¡± Aloe rubbed her chin as her father used to do, but quickly stopped as she found the gesture rather dumb. ¡°All evolved seeds until now have been normal, it was only when they grew up that they displayed their abilities. Even the Myriad wasn¡¯t made out of glass when it was just a seed.¡±


    But as she had commented, this was all that it was: a curiosity. Aloe, whilst well educated for someone of her pedigree, was far from a scholar. She could identify that the seed was special because it was different, but it wasn¡¯t as she could research or dwell on the why.


    Her conclusion simply was, ¡°I guess that¡¯s because it needed more vitality to evolve.¡±


    And her theory ¨C no matter how simple it was ¨C wasn''t without its merits. The seed had a lot of vitality inside when Aloe inspected it closely.


    ¡°I¡¯d say this is more interesting than the warmth,¡± All evolved plants were magical, Aloe had already assumed that, so a plant that produced its own ¡®body temperature¡¯ didn¡¯t sound exactly farfetched. ¡°Every time I¡¯ve evolved a plant, there was a loss in vitality. A Cure Grass seed had less vitality inside than the needed to evolve it, there isn¡¯t much distinction from a normal grass seed, to be honest. And with the Flourishing Spring that¡¯s even more extreme. Even though it takes me a whole deposit to evolve a black seed, the Flourishing Spring seed has barely twice as much vitality as a normal seed, which is to say, not much at all...¡±


    This whole theorizing business scratched an itch in Aloe¡¯s mind that she didn¡¯t know she ever had. It was almost making her feel... happy. Or at least less discontent. She wouldn¡¯t describe herself as curious but rather as analytical. Maybe I chose the wrong profession...


    But now it was no time to repent of her life decisions. She had already been doing that her whole life.


    Now it was time to appraise that seed.


    Aloe shakily reached for the jar where she stored the Aloe Veritas leaves. But this shaking was not born out of exhaustion or pain like before, but giddiness. How amazing must a plant that required this much vitality to evolve be? That was the thought on her as she grabbed a leaf of the magical plant.


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    She took a few breaths before trying to examine the seed because if with her movements she touched the ink before the seed, that leaf would have gone to waste. And it wasn¡¯t like she had many remaining after the ink shenanigans.


    Expectations were high, but with almost surgeon-like precision, Aloe dyed the evolved cumin seed with veritas ink. Like before, the blurry and non-sensical ink spots on the surface of the Aloe Veritas leaf shifted to give place to intelligible text.


    Aloe would never grow used to that unnatural shifting of ink. Nor tired.


    Species: Blossomflame


    Sobriquet: Lifefire Flower


    Description: A member belonging to no family, their species is known for their ability to drown their enemies in flames and heal those they consider allies.


    Alignment: Life, Chaos


    Her expectations were not betrayed. Though there are too many questions in her mind to worry about such trivialities. The main question was of course...


    ¡°No family?¡± Aloe tilted her head in confusion. ¡°This plant can¡¯t stop being the first in a lot of things, huh? Though I guess it¡¯s a flower? I mean, the sobriquets and species haven¡¯t lied yet. The ter¡¯nar was indeed a tree and Cure Grass was... well, grass.¡±


    Aloe felt rather dumb for the last comment, but her mind quickly switched her shame to the question that first plagued her.


    ¡°What do you mean with no family?¡± She asked no one as the Aloe Veritas leaf could not talk. ¡°Is that even possible? I¡¯m no scholar, but I¡¯m quite sure every plant is part of a family of other similar plants. And that¡¯s not even the end of it. It¡¯s not even saying that the seed is an evolved member of anything, so like the Myriad or the... Namul Ter¡¯nar was it? Anyways, of the ter¡¯nar, it¡¯s an independent existing plant instead of an outright evolution like Cure Grass or the Aloe Veritas. But if that were, in fact, the case; why doesn¡¯t it have a family?¡±


    Aloe looked at the dirty seed in her hand. It was still warm to the touch, she had expected the heat to fade away at some point, but no. The Blossomflame seed was still warm.


    ¡°I am veritably confused on this one.¡± She blinked thrice and then groaned out of nowhere. ¡°Ugh, that was an awful pun.¡±


    Aloe would have killed herself for that one if it hadn¡¯t been an unconscious wordplay. Anyhow, she tried to get real numbers from the Blossomflame seed as the questions about its family ¨C or lack thereof ¨C would lead her nowhere.


    Seeds, regardless of if they were evolved or not, didn¡¯t have much vitality inside of them. The amount was more or less equal to that of a single common grass blade for normal seeds and a Cure Grass blade for evolved ones. There wasn¡¯t much difference between the two either way. The amount of vitality she was working with was so small that she had difficulties measuring it. Even if the seeds were infused they didn¡¯t...


    ¡°Argh!¡± Aloe groaned in realization as she led her hands to her head. ¡°Dunes! I have to evolve the nince-damned seed!¡± Strength left her arms; she was left crestfallen. ¡°Ugh, I fear how much vitality will I even need to evolve this monstrosity!¡±


    She revised her mental notes for the vitality costs of previous infusions but found her memories a bit hazy. It was hard to say if it was because of the evolution, other recent events, or just her memory being faulty.


    ¡°I should note all of this somewhere...¡± She sighed in defeat. ¡°But anyways, it shouldn¡¯t take that much vitality. The rule is that evolved plants take double vitality to infuse than non-evolved plants, but... is this even an evolved plant? The definition of an evolved plant is already very convoluted. The Aloe Veritas doesn¡¯t describe the Myriad as an evolved plant, but it did take double vitality to infuse, nonetheless. And even then, if the double cost rule is ¨C as a matter of fact ¨C universal, what¡¯s the baseline for the Blossomflame, normal cumin seeds?¡±


    There were many questions, but no solutions. Well, there was a simple solution, but Aloe sort of wanted to avoid it.


    ¡°I guess I can check on the cumin.¡±


    Aloe grabbed the remaining cumin seed on the desk, but as she was going to infuse it, she had a change of heart.


    ¡°Wait, if I infuse it, I won¡¯t be able to evolve it later...¡± Because infused plants had their ¡®vitality cap¡¯ filled, it was impossible to use Evolution on them as seeds needed to be injected with vitality to evolve. ¡°Meh, it¡¯s not as if I have a time limit or they are expensive.¡±


    And then she changed of opinion again as she would be going back to Sadina rather sooner than later.


    ¡°Yeah, I guessed as much.¡± Aloe sighed as she infused the cumin with the default infusion, also known as ¡®accelerated growth¡¯. ¡°Only five percent of my entire reserves. Not much vitality, but kinda a lot for a common and rather small plant.¡±


    Technically, the Blossomflame would only take around ten percent of her deposit if cumin were just flowers, which didn¡¯t feel right if that was the case.


    ¡°Wait, no. That¡¯s just wrong.¡± Aloe slapped her forehead in realization. She was feeling rather dumb as of late. ¡°The infusion cost isn¡¯t dependent on the previous plant, just on the size of the future plant. Trees took a third of my deposit because they are big, but potatoes only like a tenth. And whilst every Flourishing Spring was around half, they are evolved plants. Flowers, yes, but still bigger than most plants out there.¡±


    Aloe tapped the desk deep in thought.


    ¡°In theory then, the Blossomflame shouldn¡¯t take more than half my reserves... Though I don¡¯t want to test it right now. Instead of losing vitality, I rather lose other weights first...¡±


    It was early in the morning, and she still had yet to visit the least glamorous of the three buildings in the oasis today.

 Book 2: 34. Breath

    Every good morning should start with a visit to the latrine rather than long sessions of brainstorming, or that was how Aloe thought.


    ¡°Ugh, I feel my mind clearer!¡± Aloe groaned as she stretched her arms.


    The sun caressed her skin, it was still somewhat early and it didn¡¯t scrape with much strength. Her whole body bathed in the welcoming sunlight as Aloe had to remove her nightgown lest she wanted to make a mess in the latrine. But after she finished stretching, she donned the piece of clothing back, the concept of embarrassment returning to her mind.


    ¡°I know I¡¯ve just had a bath yesterday, but I kinda feel like having one right now. I just feel a bit dirty.¡± Aloe pondered as she strolled back to her house.


    She picked up some clothes for when she got out and gave the oasis a quick go.


    ¡°This feels nice.¡± The girl commented inside of the water as she scrubbed her dark skin. It was a bit cold, but it was a good coldness. ¡°It¡¯s just so good to be able to wash myself at any time with water without having to pay. I don¡¯t like our... my sand bath.¡±


    There, of course, existed the possibility to go to the option to go to the public baths, the ones that required no entry price. But no matter how many times she got naked in the isolation of the oasis, Aloe was not comfortable being naked around others. Even if everyone else was too.


    Her last slip did sour the mood a bit, so she kept herself quiet for the rest of the bath, but she did enjoy it. She just couldn''t trust her mind. It was hard. It truly was. Every single instance, every single minimal thought, any detour would lead her back.


    Back to what she had lost.


    Aloe dived into the oasis.


    She knew her actions were as physical as metaphorical, her head hidden away from the light, regardless of its tangible or metaphysical illumination.


    Being surrounded by water calmed her. The cold water grazing her scalp, her short hairs flowing like leaves on the wind. Soothing, natural, comfortable.


    But she was not a creature of the water.


    Her breath was slowly running out, and she knew that even if she managed to create a ¡®water breathing¡¯ internal infusion, it wouldn¡¯t end up being enough. At some point, she would need to breathe again.


    The water around her wasn¡¯t just the chill liquid.


    It was so much more.


    As she resurfaced, all the worries disappeared from her system, washed away by the water.


    Aloe walked on the floor of the oasis, dirt against her feet. Water flowed down her body, the sun already starting to dry her. Her hair was the source of most of the water, and it caressed her shoulders. That was new, her hair had never been able to reach that far.


    She stepped out of the water, her body finally fully out on the dry land. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She held her breath for a while, as if she was back on the water again, only to release it slowly a few seconds later.


    Only after she got all the air out of her lungs did she open her eyes.


    Her expression remained emotionless for a second then Aloe smiled.


    ¡°Feew~ That felt great!¡± The dark-skinned girl stretched her arms, more water splashing around with her gesture. ¡°The last bath was a bit sad and it had left me a bit down all this time. I needed to right the wrongs and make this one count.¡±


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    Words died from there out and Aloe went to get her towel. There wasn¡¯t much of a breeze at this hour, but the wind was as dry as always, so even as she dried herself, she only needed to focus on her hair. Aloe donned her favorite sandals, a summer dress, and her straw hat before departing from the oasis.


    Fikali, ever the lazy peon, still slept under the shade of a palm tree even though the sun had come out a while ago. Aloe did her best to stay quiet as she returned to the house. And just as she thought so, her stomach grumbled.


    ¡°Oof.¡± She whispered. ¡°Why do I even think...?¡± Her words died out as her body protested.


    The cries for sustenance in her stomach weren¡¯t enough to wake up the dweller, but it did wake up Aloe¡¯s appetite.


    Carefully and silently, Aloe went to the other side of the oasis and grabbed a handful of dates. She rinsed them in the oasis before finally coming home.


    The seeds, especially the Blossomflame one, still waited for her on top of the desk as she had left them. But as her stomach continued to protest, she made her way to the kitchenette to grab a bowl for the dates.


    Aloe removed the dates from the branch and placed them in the bowl, then she directed herself to the desk where she sat down.


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ve been thinking about this in the latrine,¡± Aloe mumbled to herself as she put a date in her mouth, ¡°but the Blossomflame infusion shouldn¡¯t be that expensive. I doubt it¡¯s going to be bigger than the Flourishing Spring, so it should cost less than half my deposit.¡±


    Reticently, the girl extended her hand to pick up the warm seed. And after having yet another date, with the other hand she reached for her satchels to have some pills at hand.


    ¡°Huh.¡± Aloe was left flabbergasted as she didn¡¯t find any satchels. ¡°I don¡¯t have my garb on, duh.¡±


    She had forgotten about her discarded clothes after bathing, and she had left them on the oasis.


    With a groan, Aloe made her way out and walked where she had left her garb. Instead of taking it back home, she just knelt and searched inside her satchels as that garb needed a good washing and it was better if she didn¡¯t infest the house with her sweat.


    ¡°Huh.¡± She mumbled like before, but even though her hands weren¡¯t empty like previously, the results weren¡¯t to her liking. Aloe looked at the Cure Grass pellets in her hand. ¡°Just three? Have I already used all of those up?¡±


    She had only ¡®baked¡¯ pills a single time, but ¨C in that batch ¨C she had made so many that she doubted she would need any more soon. That was before she had obtained the Flourishing Springs and spent most of her pills on evolving and infusing them. And the six she used on the Blossomflame also made a dent in her reserves.


    ¡°Yet another item to my ever-growing list of tasks.¡± The girl sighed in exhaustion. ¡°At least it isn¡¯t that time-consuming to make them. They should last me for another month. Hopefully.¡±


    Aloe made her way back home and downed a handful of dates before doing anything else.


    ¡°Alright, here we go. Don¡¯t take more than three pills please.¡± She whispered the last part to the Blossomflame seed in a prayer.¡±


    She left the three remaining pills on the desk, if anything happened, she would have them at hand.


    Infusing evolved seeds was always curious. Whilst she couldn¡¯t evolve infused seeds because they were unable to take more vitality into them, evolved seeds lost most of their vitality after evolving so they could be infused. Where that vitality went was beyond Aloe¡¯s understanding. Her best theory was that the energy was used to modify the seeds.


    If infusing common seeds was like swimming in water, infusing evolved seeds was like swimming in sand. More difficult and tiring ¨C and rather foolhardy ¨C but not impossible. There was a pushback that didn¡¯t exist in common seeds, but it wasn¡¯t big enough to prevent her from infusing them, it just added a bit of a challenge to an otherwise mundane activity.


    The main reason why she had feared infusing the Blossomflame seed was because it possessed more vitality than any seed she had seen before. She hadn¡¯t inspected the amount of vitality a grown tree had, but she could surely say the Blossomflame seed was around those levels.


    Still, there was no difference between infusing a seed or a grown tree as what only mattered was the grown state.


    Aloe took a deep breath and shoved her vital energy into the warm seed.


    The resistance was present, but it was as minimal as passing through a string bead curtain. Soon enough it became apparent that Aloe¡¯s fears were unfounded as the seed drank her vitality far less egregiously than it had when evolving.


    Her intent was null, mostly because she had forgotten, but for the infusion she wanted to apply she didn¡¯t need one. Instants later the Blossomflame seed stopped drinking from her vitality reserves and with a quick check of its inner vitality, it became clear that it was now infused with the ¡®accelerated growth¡¯ infusion. The most basic of all, but also the most useful.


    Aloe sighed in relief as she almost didn¡¯t notice the strain in her reserves.


    ¡°Ten-ish percent. That¡¯s good.¡± She had honestly thought she would have needed to put those three seeds to use. For once in her life, she couldn¡¯t be happier to be wrong about something. ¡°This means it won¡¯t be big, maybe a bit bigger than a normal flower, but not by much.¡±


    Her heart threatened to pour out of her chest despite her calm tone.

 Book 2: 35. Company

    The fact that the Blossomflame seed had been so cheap to infuse had removed a strain from her heart. Not only did this practically verify the theory that infusion costs solely depended on the final or mature ¨C there was a bit of a definition void there ¨C size of the plant, but also removed the fear of running out of vitality by infusing plants. Only an evolved tree could truly present a danger to her reserves at this point.


    ¡°Evolved trees, huh.¡± A thought wandered into Aloe¡¯s head. ¡°How did Karaim infuse the ter¡¯nar if he didn¡¯t have pills like me? He did mention that it had been quite taxing to him in the cultivation technique, but... hmm...¡± She gave it another moment to think. ¡°A tree is around a third of my previous deposit, so it should be half of that now, around fifteen percent. Let¡¯s just say twenty for safety. So, because the ter¡¯nar it¡¯s an evolved plant that doubles back to a third, but let¡¯s just keep it at forty percent.¡±


    Better safe than sorry, she pondered.


    ¡°And because my total vitality reserves doubled... that¡¯s doubling again to compensate for the increase. The final percentage is eighty percent then. Quite a lot, but nothing unfeasible. Though I guess it had to be rather painful for someone of his age.¡±


    If she had fallen unconscious, puked, and hurt herself whilst evolving and infusing plants when she was basically at the apex of her life, Aloe had it clear that Karaim had more difficulties practicing the vital arts than her.


    ¡°I guess I can forgive you for your lackluster notes, old man.¡± She would never forgive Karaim for basically abandoning them and then dropping dead at their feet, but she could sympathize with the man¡¯s efforts.


    Aloe stood up from her seat and stretched her arms for the umpteenth time in the day. A groan accompanied her gestures.


    ¡°Alright then, time to plant this little guy.¡± She juggled with the warm-emitting seed in her hands.


    She could have continued to experiment with the rest of the seeds, but she wasn¡¯t willing to continue until her vitality was topped again. The infusion hadn¡¯t been costly at all, but she needed every spec of vitality she could save up, and it was way better to recover it normally instead of with pills.


    After growing used to dirt in the past month, Aloe hadn¡¯t used the gloves much. A shame because they were basically brand new after she bought them from that retired farmer, but she was no longer grossed out by the wet dirt and plants. The only uses those gloves saw now was when she was harvesting veritas ink ¨C though depending on Tamara¡¯s acquaintance¡¯s response there might not even be a reason to continue with that endeavor ¨C and whilst shoveling feces.


    That was one of the few things she didn¡¯t like about living in the oasis, but it was inevitable.


    ¡°Now, where should I plant it?¡± The answer was clear to her, next to the parterre with the first Flourishing Spring and the cannabis plants. ¡°Hmm...¡± But as she knelt down she came upon a realization. ¡°The Aloe Veritas said that the Blossomflame drowns its enemies in flames... but what is considered an enemy?¡±


    As much as Aloe feared being burned alive, she doubted that would kill her or even harm her if she had her ¡®toughness¡¯ internal infusion active. Her worry was actually placed on her plants rather than her well-being. Her well-being was left as an afterthought as of late.


    ¡°I would not like to have the cannabis reduced to ashes now that they are this close to blossoming. Or the whole greenhouse for that fact.¡±


    She doubted flames could burn the place, it was made out of glass, iron, and stone; the only wood around was that of the shelves and tools, and the ter¡¯nar, of course. Any fire would hurt more the plants than the building itself. And in an enclosed space like the greenhouse, the fire would make a lot of bad air.


    ¡°Can plants die from bad air? I mean, I can suffocate. But can plants? I guess not, they don¡¯t have lungs.¡± She realized what she was doing and sighed. ¡°Rambling won¡¯t change the situation at hand, Aloe. You need to make a decision.¡±


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    It was a bit weird that she referred to herself in the second person, but not enough to believe the isolation was making her insane. For better or for worse, she had had a plentiful dose of social interactions these last days.


    ¡°Okay, I¡¯m set!¡± Aloe raised her voice confidently after having given it some thought. ¡°The Blossomflame is too valuable to be left outside on the oasis and it will also need to be watered daily, so I¡¯ll just leave it here.¡±


    The conclusion ended up being a roundabout of emotions and logic, but Aloe was satisfied with the result. The problem here would have been that she hadn¡¯t acknowledged that there was a problem, but if she was conscious of the possibility then she could plan around it.


    ¡°Though it¡¯s better if it doesn¡¯t burn any plant. Or me, for that matter.¡±


    Aloe made a hole on the parterre ¨C away from the Flourishing Spring and the cannabis just in case ¨C with her trowel and after placing the Blossomflame seed inside, she covered the hole back and patted the dirt with the trowel to level soil. She didn¡¯t know if that step was necessary, but it felt adequate to do so.


    ¡°I do need to get the water from the Flourishing Spring to here, though.¡±


    The separation wasn¡¯t that big, enough for the Blossomflame to not interfere with either of the already grown plants and also giving it some space to grow, but the water would be long used up by the cannabis before the moisture of the soil reached it.


    ¡°I guess I¡¯ll need to carve another palm pipe.¡± Aloe half-sighed half-groaned as she made her way out of the greenhouse, but in reality, she wasn¡¯t bothered by this.


    After having carved several pipes, she had gained some proficiency in leaf carving, and whilst she was far away from the mastery of woodworker, she could manage the knife well enough. And the repeated strokes of the edge against the hard leaves were a rather soothing activity.


    As she disposed to get a leaf for her project, Aloe was greeted by the only other resident of the oasis.


    ¡°Wroo!¡± Fikali greeted her.


    ¡°Heya, Fikali. Finally up?¡± Aloe replied in kind with a knife in hand.


    ¡°Hro.¡± The old dweller affirmed, or at least that was what Aloe felt she had done.


    ¡°If you excuse me then, I have a leaf to cut.¡± Aloe turned her back to the monsters and started climbing the tree.


    She picked a short one on purpose because the best sections of a palm tree leaf, the most durable and straight ones, were on its base. And no matter how short the tree she had picked was, it was still a palm tree. And Aloe was still Aloe. Which was to say short.


    The palm tree¡¯s bark pressed against her hands, but the climb itself wasn¡¯t difficult. Palm trees, unlike other kinds of trees, had a lot of places where to grip oneself. With a bit of stretching and groaning, Aloe cut from the root the closest leaf to her, which then unceremoniously hit her face and fell to the ground.


    ¡°Ugh!¡± Aloe groaned, resisting the urge to caress her head so she wouldn¡¯t fall, and made her way down. When she was close enough to the ground, she hopped out instead of continuing to press her battered and still unhealed hands against the thatch.


    ¡°Wro?¡± Fikali tilted her head to the side as she smelled the leaf on the ground.


    ¡°I need this to make more pipes to water another plant in the greenhouse,¡± Aloe explained, putting her imagination to use to guess what the dweller had asked.


    ¡°Wroo.¡± The dweller¡¯s response was beyond Aloe¡¯s comprehension, but she patted her on the head, nonetheless.


    ¡°There, there.¡± She accompanied her gestures with words. ¡°Good girl.¡±


    Learning from before, Aloe had taken the satchels out of her garb and carried them with her on top of her summer dress. Thankfully this piece of linen was old because between the planting and the climbing, she had made quite a mess on the fabric. To congratulate the dweller, she took a handful of pistachios out.


    ¡°Here.¡± Aloe threw a single pistachio at Fikali¡¯s closed jaws. Not even halfway through the nut¡¯s flight, the dweller had already opened her mouth. ¡°Good girl.¡± She petted Fikali once more as she fed her another pistachio.


    ¡°Wrooo!¡± The dweller grunted happily as she waved her claws around nonchalantly but non-threateningly.


    Aloe started working on the leaf, firstly cutting most of the tip away as the pipe she needed was more on the short side and she only needed the base for that. Every cut or two, Aloe fed a pistachio to Fikali to keep her around so she could make her some company.


    Company was good, even if she had run away from it.


    Non-human company was good.


    ¡°Have the wild dwellers appeared again around the oasis?¡± Aloe absentmindedly asked Fikali as she trimmed the leaf, the pistachios slowly dwindled even though she was handing them out slowly. The old dweller was also patient enough to not snatch them up.


    ¡°Hro,¡± Fikali responded in what seemed to be a negation.


    ¡°I see.¡± The girl handed the monster another pistachio. ¡°I know I made them leave, but it¡¯s quite the shame they have not reappeared. Free workforce is always welcome.¡±


    ¡°Wroooo! Wrooo!¡± Fikali began to bellyflop on the spot out of nowhere.


    Apparently, she didn¡¯t think the same.

 Book 2: 36. Monster

    It didn¡¯t take Aloe much time to set up the leaf pipe after she carved it. Unlike the error-prone system she had on the oasis to irrigate somewhat expansive crop fields, for the greenhouse she just needed to relay a bit of water to a solitary seed.


    ¡°Okay, my vitality has been long topped up. I guess it¡¯s time to go back to check all those seeds for an evolution.¡± Aloe whipped the sweat out of her forehead as she talked. Most of that sweat was just from climbing a while ago rather than her current activities.


    It spoke at great length about her that she had only managed to evolve and infuse a single seed on her third day back. She was far from her optimal state ¨C whether that was physical or mental ¨C but Aloe didn¡¯t care for that. She just wanted results, and results she hadn¡¯t gotten.


    The lure of magic and the impossible called for her. And she yearned for it.


    She sat down on her chair, almost collapsing on the wooden seat as her bottom rested on it.


    There were many seeds at display, thankfully her antics and spasms hadn¡¯t shuffled them back together. It would have been torture to have to classify them again. Boring torture rather than traditional torture, but torture, nonetheless.


    Aloe grabbed a random pair of black spherical-ish seeds as she no longer recognized any of the remaining ones and went down to business. She left one on the desktop and the other one she clasped in her hands.


    Before pushing vitality into the seed, Aloe checked her insides. The flow of her vitality looked far better than when she arrived at the oasis, but the damage dealt by the taxation to evolve the Blossomflame was obvious. If she hadn¡¯t done such a foolish act, she would have been recovered by now.


    But she didn¡¯t repent her decision, far from it.


    In and out, the girl took a deep breath and let it out, the air flowing like the vitality in her body. Though unlike the vital energy traveling through her vessels, the air was hot instead of chill. Aloe focused on that soothing chill.


    An ice cube on a desert trek.


    A refreshing bath after being covered in dried mud.


    That was what her vitality was, a calm breeze in the harshest of moments.


    However, that breeze had been somewhat perturbed by Aloe¡¯s abuse of drugs.


    ¡°Evolution test number two, starting...¡± she prolonged the last syllable to add some dramatism, ¡°now!¡±


    Aloe pushed her vitality into the seed with one single unified intent: to evolve it.


    What a shame a wall instantly blocked her off.


    The cultivator sighed. ¡°I guess it was to be expected. I just got lucky the first time. I hope I at least get one more evolution out of this seed batch though.¡±


    The unknown black seed hadn¡¯t refused her vitality, for she would have been able to infuse it with ease, but the intent that accompanied the vitality. Aloe didn¡¯t know why intent was so important and prevalent in the vital arts ¨C both Evolution and Infusion used it continuously ¨C but she knew the intent was mandatory to perform the respective magics.


    Whilst she would not actively go around chasing answers, Aloe wouldn¡¯t deny she wanted to know them.


    ¡°Time to continue, I haven¡¯t even lost a percentage of vitality with that, if I even lost something.¡± Aloe left the black seeds where she had picked them up and grabbed another pair of black ones, though these were more elongated. ¡°Oh, these ones have hairs!¡±


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    Aloe excitedly caressed the hair-like protrusions that the seeds had in one extreme. Even though she had organized them beforehand, she had been so idle-minded that she kind of forgot about what the seeds even looked like.


    ¡°Are these called hairs? Scholars always like to give weird and complex names to everything. Maybe its filaments, or something like that.¡± Aloe stopped brushing the seeds and left one on the table. ¡°Focus, Aloe.¡± She took a deep breath. ¡°Evolution test number three, starting now.¡±


    She kept her calmness unlike the previous test as she wanted to go through the seeds as fast as possible because she had a thousand chores to do today, and the sun was also threatening her to reach its apex.


    That calmness instantly vanished from her visage, composure thrown out of the window, as the seed started drinking her vitality.


    Yes! Aloe mentally fist-bumped whilst keeping her concentration strong. The last thing she wanted now was to lose the seed. Wait, does it even happen something to the seed if I fail an evolution? It hasn¡¯t happened before so I kinda just assumed it was bad, but I actually don¡¯t know if the process cancels or just gets halted.


    As much as curiosity itched her to know the answer, Aloe knew better than to lose her concentration on purpose, no matter how cheap the seed in her hands was.


    The drain on her hands was stronger than that of infusions, but far weaker than that of the Blossomflame. Instantly, Aloe knew he was dealing with a way cheaper evolution cost.


    It was easy to recover her composure after that, but there was a giddiness in every evolution that she couldn¡¯t just concentrate through.


    Before she even noticed, the evolution process ended. Her vitality reserves had been drained but after the arduous and frenetic drain of the Blossomflame, it even felt light on her body although half her deposit ¨C or her entire pre-vital arts capacity ¨C though it should have shaken more than it did.


    Aloe didn¡¯t know how to feel about that. Nevertheless, she left the evolved seed on the desk ¨C no magical warmth this time ¨C and reached for an Aloe Veritas leaf. With the same care she dedicated to every seed appraisal, she dripped the new seed in ink.


    The arcane sigils on the surface of the parchment-like leaf shifted into legible scripture and they revealed the following:


    Species: Centaurea Secare


    Sobriquet: Thousand Cuts


    Description: An evolved member of the Centaurea Diffusa species, a species known for its ability to pursue any moving living creatures to lacerate it.


    Alignment: Life, Death


    ¡°That¡¯s... a bit worrying?¡± To say that there were several eye-opening problems with the text was an understatement. ¡°What do you mean with lacerate moving creatures?¡± Aloe looked down at the seed in her hands. It had changed a bit but not much. ¡°Are you just gonna...?¡±


    She couldn¡¯t bring herself to finish that thought. The plant seemed too...


    ¡°Dangerous,¡± Aloe mumbled. ¡°I cannot plant this. This is just a menace to everyone and everything. What if the seed grows bigger than a tree and starts walking around with the only purpose of terrorizing people?¡±


    Aloe couldn¡¯t know if that was the case, but there was no reason to even check it, not even curiosity. The Blossomflame still presented some useful details that made her consider planting it like its size or ¡®healing allies¡¯ part.


    The Thousand Cuts, on the other hand, appeared to be purely negative in its actions.


    ¡°Yeah, and the death alignment doesn¡¯t inspire much... of anything, really.¡± Aloe carefully set the seed on the desk, treating it with the respect that inspired. ¡°I¡¯ll keep a note of this new alignment... but I hope no more of them appear in the future. Death sounds... not good. Not good at all.¡±


    Aloe rested her back on the chair only to realize how badly her hands were trembling. What the plant had truly inspired was fear.


    Fear of possibilities.


    Other plants had positive possibilities like the ter¡¯nar with the tea or the Flourishing Spring with its water, but this one... if Aloe used its possibilities, the outcome couldn¡¯t be good. If Karaim¡¯s theory that monsters were just evolved animals was true, then what Aloe had made here was a new type of monster.


    And no matter how she was interested in Evolution and new magical plants, she wasn¡¯t that crazy to let this seed grow. Or that was what she wanted to believe.


    She walked outside, struggling for fresh air. Of course, the desert didn¡¯t provide her that air, but it was air, nonetheless. And that was all she needed.


    Aloe moved toward the oasis and automatically started doing some chores like setting up the boiling kit. She didn¡¯t want to think.


    The possibilities were obvious to her. If the Thousand Cuts worked as she thought, nay a fraction of that, then the potential would be colossal.


    The potential of warfare.


    The potential of terror.


    The potential of death.


    This plant seemed like a line she didn¡¯t want to cross. If it grew and truly functioned like the Aloe Veritas described, everything would change. Mostly her, but also the world. Nobles and imperials had a lot of martial power, but what about a legion of weaponized plants?


    The boundary between what could be classified as a magical botanist or apothecary into something else.


    Something like the assassins.

 Book 2: 37. Exaltation

    Whilst tedious, chores brought peace to Aloe¡¯s mind. And it wasn¡¯t like she could go instantly back to evolving plants, she needed to recover her reserves before.


    She started by boiling water from the oasis as she was running out of drinking water, so she was back to endless sessions of water purification. Taking advantage of her position, Aloe gathered all her dirty clothes together and moved to a spot far from where she normally bathed to clean them.


    Karaim didn¡¯t have many possessions beyond his gardening tools, but washing was made infinitely easier with soap, a washing table, and some buckets. Her clothes weren¡¯t in poor condition, except her desert garb which had seen some battlefield judging by its looks, and her socks.


    For living in a desert, they were way muddier than they had reason to be.


    That was basically why she didn¡¯t wear them. Not only was it too hot most of the time to wear them, but it also meant more clothes for the laundry.


    And as the youngest member of her family, she had had a lot of laundry to take care of.


    Soon enough, Aloe went through the few pieces of clothing she had to wash. However, she also took the time to clean her sheets as they became quite dirty after sleeping on them whilst being dirty and clothed herself.


    By the time she had set all the textiles on the drying rack, she had already gone through two rounds of boiling water ¨C which she poured into the amphora ¨C and topped her vitality deposit.


    ¡°Ugh.¡± Aloe groaned as she cracked her neck. ¡°Alright, evolving time it is.¡±


    Her arms were tired and her hands numb from all the repetitive movement, but thankfully, Evolution and Infusion weren¡¯t demanding to the body unless the vitality costs were greater than the ones she could naturally provide.


    ¡°Evolution test number four, starting now.¡± Unlike before, Aloe¡¯s voice was deadbeat. The Thousand Cuts had something to do with her current mental state, but the actual cause was more simple and rather physical.


    She was simply tired.


    And it wasn¡¯t like the seed had given her any reasons to be excited about. As she had expected, the infusion of vitality with the intent of evolution brought no results, no changes. The seed answered by walling her off.


    Aloe sighed, leaving the last black seed pair of the collection and passed to the dark brown ones.


    ¡°Two out of four black seed evolutions have worked; I shouldn¡¯t be this negative,¡± Aloe commented with two new seeds in her hands. ¡°Who knows, maybe Evolutions prefers black? Just kidding... unless?¡±


    Aloe chuckled softly and left one of the seeds on the desk next to the three remaining Cure Grass pills.


    ¡°Yeah, I should do more next. I don¡¯t wanna have another Blossomflame scenario again.¡± Her voice was soft and weak, she wasn¡¯t yet in peak conditions, but she continued to push herself, making her rather sleepy. ¡°Evolution test number five, starting now.¡±


    Intent was all that mattered when evolving a seed, yet even then, Aloe couldn¡¯t overcome a seed¡¯s own intent if it decided that it didn¡¯t want to evolve.


    Her vitality fizzled out as a fundamental wall stopped her.


    Wordlessly and ¨C more surprisingly ¨C sightlessly, Aloe grabbed the other seed and left the pair together on their spot. Her hand shifted a few centimeters to the right and she picked up the next pair. Dark brown and ovoid, these new seeds had nothing special to themselves.


    ¡°Evolution test number six, starting now.¡± Nevertheless, she tried them.


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    Not two seconds later, Aloe left them on the desk, it had refused her vitality. She went to the next pair.


    ¡°Evolution test number seven, starting now.¡±


    Nothing, next pair.


    ¡°Evolution test number eight, starting now.¡±


    Same results. None at all.


    By now her tests had left a dent in her samples, sixteen seeds were already used, and whilst she was thankful that she had gotten two evolutions in such a small pool, Aloe was greedy in her core. She wanted more. She could never be satisfied, no matter what she told herself.


    ¡°Come on, nine¡¯s the lucky number.¡± But also the damned one. She left that unsaid.


    Aloe shook the seed clasped in her hands. This one was bigger than the rest, almost nut-sized, and more chestnut than dark brown.


    ¡°Evolution test number nine, starting now.¡± As it would seem, nine was indeed the lucky number.


    Vitality started to be sucked away from her hands toward the seed. It was a greedy suction, not as absurd as that of the Blossomflame, but it instantly became obvious to Aloe that she would need external help. She reached for the Cure Grass pills, holding one in her hand just for the right moment.


    She hadn¡¯t eaten in a while, so her stomach would digest right away the pill, providing her swift vitality. The more she waited, the more efficient the pill would be and the more vitality she would get out of it as a result.


    Her hand remained steady as her reserves slowly dwindled. Seeds had sort of a reverse consumption of vitality rate; the emptier they were, the faster they absorbed vitality. But this also meant that after the first few seconds, their absorption slowed significantly. This was what allowed Aloe to consume pills with a full stomach when she was evolving the Blossomflame without running out.


    Evolutions were normally measured in seconds, but the Blossomflame ¨C always the outlier ¨C was better measured in minutes.


    After half a minute, she made it to a tenth of her reserves, and as that number approached five percent, Aloe downed the pill.


    The reaction was instantaneous, her deposit almost brought to two-fifths of its total in a blink.


    And as the rate of vitality consumed slowed further on, it was clear that no more pills would be needed.


    At half of what the pellet had recovered her, the seed finally stopped drinking from her vital energy. Aloe was way calmer than with the Blossomflame and the Thousand Cuts, and she reached for the Aloe Veritas leaf jar. Only two leaves remained now.


    Her movements were confident as she dyed the newly evolved seed with ink, and the cut leaf responded to her desires. It read:


    Species: Grace¡¯s Exaltation


    Sobriquet: Her Divinity¡¯s Ecstasy


    Description: An evolved member of the Acanthaceae family, a species known for its ability to bring daylight and take creatures into bliss.


    Alignment: Life, Light


    ¡°This... this is just a straight-up drug, isn¡¯t it?¡± Aloe commented as she held the evolved seed in her hands. It had forgone its chestnut tone for a black with golden accents. ¡°And the name, both of them actually... they don¡¯t... well... they sound weird.¡±


    Many thoughts formed and vanished in Aloe¡¯s mind like clouds, but a core idea remained. Still, she wasn¡¯t wholly against it.


    ¡°If it works like I think it does...¡± she added with a blush, ¡°then this may be the very first true medicinal plant I evolved.¡±


    Even though all of her test seeds ¨C not only the current ones but also the first she used when learning the vital arts ¨C were medicinal in origin, this was the first time she saw one of them keeping that property, that idea.


    Without wasting more time as noon approached quickly, Aloe continued to do some chores. She wanted to infuse the Grace¡¯s Exaltation, but it would be dangerous to do so without at least being full deposit. And she wasn¡¯t precisely close to that metric.


    First thing in order was to rekindle the hearth to heat the soup, she was already growing hungry, especially after having consumed almost two whole deposits of vitality when the day was only at its half point.


    Next, Aloe made another boiling batch, not before refiling her waterskin with some water from the amphora.


    Taking advantage of her location, the girl uprooted a handful of blades of grass. Cure Grass, obviously. If Karaim was to be trusted, common grass no longer existed in the oasis.


    Once she sat back down on the desk, it was time to process the grass. The first step was to remove the roots of some blades she had pulled too hard as she didn¡¯t need them. She had already rinsed them beforehand, so now it was as simple as mulling the grass into a paste in the mortar.


    She wasn¡¯t as skilled with the pestle as with the knife, but there wasn¡¯t much mystery to smashing grass until it turned mushy.


    ¡°Oh, right,¡± The knife reminded her of something. ¡°I guess I need to make another pipe for this new seed.¡±


    Thankfully she still had some material lying around, so she wouldn¡¯t need to gather more leaves, but she sighed nonetheless at the prospect of more work.


    Chores kept piling up.


    By the time Aloe managed to get a good consistency with the Cure Grass mush, the water in the cauldron started bubbling audibly, so she allowed herself to rest for lunch.


    She still had half a day before her and a thousand tasks she wanted to do.


    There was no time limit, no deadline pushing her forward, but she continued anyway. Until exhaustion, until she dropped asleep; working was better than thinking.

 Book 2: 38. Streak

    The soup was passable. Somehow, it had aged wonderfully, the flavor being better than when she had cooked it. The taste was mostly salt though. Not to say that salt didn¡¯t taste good. Aloe liked her salt and potatoes, but she would prefer something better.


    It didn¡¯t take her long to have her meal, even though she ate two servings.


    As she couldn¡¯t continue infusing even if she had her deposit full because her stomach was also full, Aloe decided to continue manufacturing her Cure Grass pills.


    Thankfully, in the time she had taken to eat, nothing had happened to the Cure Grass paste. She mulled it for a few more strokes just to be sure.


    ¡°Hmm,¡± She pondered over the mortar and pestle. ¡°I need the sap.¡±


    With a soft groan, Aloe stood up as her knees protested and walked to the greenhouse with a big bowl in hand. Extracting sap from Aloe Vera, whilst easy, was messy and tended to leave everything covered with a coat of sticky liquid. She hoped that a big bowl would be enough to make the process tidier.


    There was no shortage of Aloe Vera as unlike with the Aloe Veritas, there were multiple plants and Aloe didn¡¯t constantly deprive them of their body.


    The joke was not lost on her.


    The process was slow and tedious, but it was enough for her that it wasn¡¯t painful. That was how low the bar had fallen. Some leaves had more sap than others on them, so it wasn¡¯t a linear endeavor, but after cutting by half all the leaves of two plants ¨C she remembered hearing somewhere that such pruning was actually better for future growth ¨C the bowl was filled to the brim.


    The midday sun slapped Aloe as she walked back home, having gained much strength as she collected sap. She internally cursed for leaving her hat at home, but the stroll was short-lived.


    As before, Aloe formed the Cure Grass paste into small pellets and then soaked them in Aloe Vera sap. First, she dipped them in the bowl and left them on a tray, and after she was done with all the paste, she poured the sap on the tray, covering all the pellets in a second layer.


    Her medicine-making skills were pathetic, and she knew it; every apothecary in Sadina would probably cringe at Aloe¡¯s attempts, but what mattered was that her pellets worked and nothing else.


    ¡°I guess I could ask Umar about it, maybe he can give me some pointers,¡± Aloe mumbled as she left the sticky tray on the windowsill, no longer occupied by pots with rotting Cure Grass. ¡°Yet another person to ask so they can train me in their life skills goes into my list.¡±


    Her stomach was feeling much lighter as an hour had already passed, but she was not comfortable with continuing the evolution tests with just two pills so whilst she waited for the new ones to settle, Aloe opted to infuse the Grace¡¯s Exaltation.


    Even if the newly evolved seed ended up being a tree ¨C and unless it was bigger than a banana tree which she doubted as the plant sounded a lot like a flower drug by its description ¨C it shouldn¡¯t take more than her whole deposit, probably just two-thirds.


    ¡°The sobriquet with this one is really weird,¡± Aloe commented with the golden-trimmed seed in her hand and the Aloe Veritas leaf with its information at the side. ¡°¡¯Her Divinity¡¯s Ecstasy¡¯, I mean, what does that even mean?¡±


    She hated how many questions the Aloe Veritas always brought when she read its leaves, especially the archaic alignments. But at the same time, she would have had more questions if she didn¡¯t have them. She would have planted the Thousand Cuts if she didn¡¯t have access to the Aloe Veritas, and whilst she could never know for certain what the plant truly did, she surely didn¡¯t want to risk it.


    Anyhow, the Grace¡¯s Exaltation drank her vitality easily. It wasn¡¯t much vitality, between thirty and forty percent of her reserves, so it was easy to assume that it was around the size of a big flower like the Flourishing Spring.


    For the next ¡®rest¡¯, Aloe cut another palm leaf pipe. This one was for the newly infused evolved seed.


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    Therapeutic was the perfect word to describe the occasion. As she sat under a palm tree herself, the sun just barely caressing thanks to the protection of the canopies, and the slow repetition of the cuts, Aloe was comfortable. So much so that she had to fight against the urge to sleep.


    The temperature and the breeze were just right for a midday nap, and even if she should have taken such a golden opportunity, she continued dutifully cutting down the leaf.


    It didn¡¯t take her long.


    After cutting it, she planted the Grace¡¯s Exaltation next to the cannabis plants. As she inspected the distance from the Flourishing Spring to the newly planted seed, it became apparent that no pipe was needed.


    ¡°Why did I even make a pipe if there was still space around the spring?¡± Her face tilted toward the placed pipe. ¡°Oh, right. The Blossomflame. I put it away from the group because I feared it would set everything into flames. Damn.¡± She smacked her lips in ponderation. ¡°My memory is getting faulty, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    She compensated for her flawed memory by cutting some leaves of the Aloe Veritas as she did remember that there weren¡¯t many left. Aloe donned her leather gloves, giving the poor ignored pieces a bit of use as she didn¡¯t want any drops of ink to fall into her hands whilst she was cutting them.


    Like before, she cut a handful of them and left them to dry in the greenhouse¡¯s cobblestone walkway. The Aloe Veritas had some coagulant properties, and those extended even to its cut leaves. It didn¡¯t take them long to stop bleeding ink and close the cut section.


    Carefully, Aloe brought the leaves home and placed them in their jar.


    ¡°I guess it¡¯s time for more tests?¡± She added unsure of herself.


    Her vitality was topped again, and her stomach had already digested her lunch, so she went on with it and picked a new seed. This one was light brown and had a little tail at its back. It only had a single ¡®hair¡¯, unlike the seed that evolved into the Thousand Cuts, which had something that could be considered a mane.


    ¡°Alright, evolution test number...¡± Aloe struggled for a moment to recall the number, ¡°...ten, staring now.¡±


    And to her surprise, it was hit.


    The seed eagerly drank her vitality, the intent of evolution had been accepted but... the surprises didn¡¯t end there. As soon as she poured her vitality into the seed to evolve it, it stopped intaking more vitality.


    ¡°Huh?¡± Aloe tilted her head in confusion. ¡°What?¡± She tried pouring more vitality still with the evolution intent. ¡°It¡¯s no use... What¡¯s happening here? Did I lose concentration? No... I don¡¯t think so, it was too fast for that to happen, and I did lose like a tenth of my reserves. But then what went wrong? What if...?¡±


    Aloe decided to infuse it again without intent. If she had truly lost concentration and the evolution had failed, she wanted to check the question she had earlier in the day. If botched evolutions affected the seed in any way.


    Her fears were partially swept away by the wind as the seed took her vitality once more. And it wasn¡¯t shy with its consumption. The cost of vitality swiftly passed a fifth of Aloe¡¯s reserves, but it quickly decreased from there.


    It¡¯s either a big plant or it¡¯s an evolved one. Aloe kept to her mind, not trusting her concentration to keep up if she talked. If it had even been a problem of concentration.


    After a few seconds, the seed stopped drinking Aloe¡¯s vitality. It has consumed something, but not that much. She mussed then groaned. ¡°Anyways, let¡¯s see what the veritas has to say then.¡±


    Aloe grabbed one of the old leaves ¨C not wanting to reopen the recent wound of the new ones ¨C and dyed the strange seed with its ink. As always, the dark spots on the leaf¡¯s surface changed into human-esque writing.


    Species: Taraxacum Luna


    Sobriquet: Moonlight¡¯s Tooth


    Description: An evolved member of the Asteraceae family, a species known for its ability to send its seeds airborne and innate bioluminescence.


    Alignment: Life, Arcane


    ¡°So it was an evolved seed!¡± Aloe exclaimed. ¡°It was so cheap that I almost didn¡¯t notice! Now I want to know if the same will happen if I try to evolve Cure Grass again...¡±


    As she fell into random thoughts, Aloe looked back at the leaf and reread the description.


    ¡°Moonlight¡¯s Tooth? Why does that sound familiar?¡± The girl looked back and forth at the evolved and unevolved seeds. Both had that tail on top. ¡°Wait... are these lion tooth seeds?¡± She caressed the little tails. ¡°Hmm, well. They do look like lion teeth that don¡¯t have those white things on top...¡±


    There was no reason to be this surprised by the revelation, but in her mind, she didn¡¯t think the things on top of the lion teeth were their seeds.


    ¡°This Moonlight¡¯s Tooth must not be that big, around the size of the Flourishing Spring judging by the cost.¡± In total ¨C Evolution and Infusion combined ¨C Aloe had only lost half her deposit, way cheaper than the Blossomflame had been. ¡°Neither the description nor the alignments show anything outstanding. I can''t deny I¡¯m a bit curious about the bioluminescence statement. Depending on the amount of light that it produces, this could be a very useful plant. Or downright useless.¡±


    Aloe put her hands on her hips as she thought what to do next as she recovered the rest of her vitality reserves, and sighed.


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s another successful evolution. I¡¯m on a streak!¡± Aloe shouted as she held her closed fist high in the air. ¡°Though I doubted that will last long.¡± And finished her statement sheepishly.

 Book 2: 39. Timeline

    It soon became clear that there wasn¡¯t much left to do today. Regardless of Aloe¡¯s thoughts of incompetence, she had managed to do more chores than ever before in a single day, and the sun had yet to set.


    But there still were some tasks left to do. And some weren¡¯t the prettiest.


    ¡°Ugh...¡± Aloe groaned, moving her head upwards as she held the bile. ¡°I need a ¡®smellless¡¯ infusion like right fucking now!¡±


    She coughed multiple times, facing away, as she carried the shovel to the oasis.


    One of the last chores was, unfortunately, shoveling waste.


    ¡°This has no right to smell this bad!¡± Her visage was contorted in a grimace, the smell making it difficult for her to walk. ¡°I haven¡¯t eaten anything this foul!¡± And that was the worst part, she was shoveling her own waste. ¡°I could understand it from Fikali¡¯s poops, but what in the hells has been brewing in the latrine?¡±


    Even though she found herself nowhere near the excrement, Aloe wore her gloves zealously. As she made it to the oasis, the girl started to carefully and sheepishly scatter the wastes around the crops.


    Aloe knew that feces and such helped plants to grow, but she didn¡¯t know the best way to administer the manure, so she poured it on the crops however she could without dismantling the pipe system. Ane even if she didn¡¯t want to use her waste as fertilizer, it wasn¡¯t as she had a spot to dispose of it. Though I guess no one will care if I just throw it in the middle of the desert.


    Her suffering at least was short as the shovel was big and there wasn¡¯t much waste on the latrine, to begin with.


    ¡°Now with Fikali¡¯s...¡± She added deadheartedly.


    Even though the dweller was basically a beast of burden, she kept herself clean. As clean as an animal that hated water could, that was. Fikali had decided on a spot to do her business the first day she arrived at the oasis, and she gave it a visit every time nature called, always that spot and nowhere else.


    That made it easy for Aloe to shovel the monster¡¯s feces.


    And if her own were already pungent, Fikali¡¯s were a hazard. Her only saving grace was that the dweller¡¯s poops came in a set of small and compact balls and were already at the oasis, meaning that Aloe could shovel them around into the crops without needing to breathe.


    Though unlike with her wastes, she smashed Fikali¡¯s because otherwise, they would stay always in the crops without degrading, a lesson she had learned the hard way.


    ¡°Alright, that¡¯s all,¡± Aloe said gasping for air as shoved the head of the shovel into the sand. ¡°I hate doing waste disposal, but it is inevitable...¡± she sighed and rested her chin on the handle, ¡°can¡¯t I get a shit-eating plant or something? I would be immeasurably thankful.¡±


    She prayed to the heavens, the sun overwatching her with its might as it descended on the horizon. Neither of them answered her prayers. At least in an audible manner.


    ¡°It¡¯s all a conundrum.¡± The tired girl shook the shovel around so the hot sand cleaned its waste-laden head. ¡°If I shovel more frequently, I will have to spend more time with shit on my hands; but if I shovel only once in a while, the shit will be smellier.¡± Aloe sighed. ¡°Truly a conundrum that not even the scholars can solve.¡±


    Once she had the impression that the shovel was clean enough, Aloe departed to the greenhouse, where she planted the newly acquired Moonlight¡¯s Tooth seed with practiced ease.


    ¡°Heh, that rhymes,¡± Aloe smirked as she patted the soil. ¡°But this parterre is getting a bit crowded. Hmm, that¡¯s not right.¡± She looked at the almost empty parcel and reworded her statement. ¡°It¡¯s mostly empty, but a lone Flourishing Spring won¡¯t be enough to provide for all these plants. I guess I¡¯ll have to make a new one. It will be a rest from all the tests.¡±


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    Her mind hammered her to keep evolving all the seeds she had in her desk, and the arguments it presented weren¡¯t faulty ¨C like some she normally had. It whispered the logic of ¡°the sooner the seeds are evolved, the sooner you will plant them, and the sooner they will grow¡±. And whilst logical, the truth was, Aloe almost couldn¡¯t lift a finger.


    She had reached her limit.


    Her arms were shaking, her breathing was rugged, and her sight was blurry.


    Even if she wanted to, she couldn¡¯t move her body to do so.


    Resigned, she went to the kitchenette, where a whistling kettle waiting for her. She wasn¡¯t unaware that she had to rest, at some point she would just collapse, so before she reached that point she lit the hearth and prepared a ter¡¯nar tree.


    With heavy steps, Aloe carried the kettle and a teacup to the entrance and then sat down. The sun was going to disappear in a few minutes, an hour at most.


    ¡°Dunes, I love the twilight in the desert,¡± Aloe mumbled with the cup on her lips as her eyes locked on the horizon. Splotches of orange, violet, and pink painted the skies. ¡°Hot.¡±


    She almost burned her tongue on the hot brew, the sight making her forget that she had just taken the teapot out of the fire.


    Aloe looked on her left where a half-empty pot with black seeds lay on the ground. Karaim had many plants and seeds, so it wasn¡¯t strange that he had a sizeable amount of black seeds in his pantry as they were used as seasoning in many meals.


    ¡°But that¡¯s weird...¡± Aloe weakly said, her mouth mainly focused on blowing away the steam of the tea. ¡°If he had this many black seeds, how is it that he hadn¡¯t discovered the Flourishing Spring before? Did he not have enough time to experiment with all the seeds?¡± She turned to face the pantry with tens of pots filled with seeds. ¡°If that¡¯s the case... then it changes things. There are a lot of seeds that I haven¡¯t tried, and if Karaim hasn''t either...¡±


    There was a lot of potential in play.


    ¡°The timeline is a bit funky, though.¡± Tea washed down her throat. ¡°He spent a lot of time and years on the greenhouse, but if he only managed to evolve three plants in total, how long ago did he discover Evolution?¡±


    Three plants wasn¡¯t much, especially considering that on this day alone she had managed just that.


    ¡°The only thing that comes to my mind is Infusion.¡± Aloe drank more tea, allowing the ter¡¯nar trees to clear her mind. ¡°If he discovered Infusion before Evolution ¨C which makes sense as you need to infuse seeds to evolve them ¨C then he spent most of his time infusing plants before he ever evolved his first one.¡±


    Thanks to the clarity of mind that the ter¡¯nar leaves bought, Aloe recalled one of the earliest passages of the cultivation technique.


    ¡°By mistake...¡± She mumbled. ¡°He couldn¡¯t have known what an evolved plant was before the Aloe Veritas,¡± Aloe said in realization, not a new one, but the viewpoint was. ¡°He did manage to evolve the Cure Grass before the Na¡¯mul Ter¡¯nar and the Aloe Veritas, but because it didn¡¯t need much vitality to evolve and the grown version was almost identical to normal grass, he didn¡¯t know what he had done until the veritas showed him its abilities.¡±


    The timeline was making more and more sense. Karaim had spent a lot of time and vitality infusing the trees in the oasis. There were many of them and they weren¡¯t cheap to infuse. Only after having expanded her vitality deposit through training could Aloe infuse several in one go, but for an untrained and old man... it made sense he needed more time.


    ¡°Then the veritas and the ter¡¯nar had to grow before he noticed. So at the very, very minimum, Karaim managed his first evolutions a couple of years ago to get a tree of this size, even when factoring in the ¡®accelerated growth¡¯ infusion. But two years is still a lot of time...¡±


    The timeline didn¡¯t line up.


    ¡°He was old, yes, but the moment he saw that white tree growing from what used to be a palm tree seed... why he didn¡¯t push himself forward more?¡±


    Aloe looked down at her empty cup and refilled it, the teapot was still boiling and so was the tea. She also picked a black seed from the jar.


    ¡°Am I the problem?¡± The steam filled her nostrils. ¡°But why wouldn¡¯t he push himself? It¡¯s magic what we are talking about! Magic no one else in the world knows about! Karaim, you were the progenitor of magic in all Khaffat and this is all you did?¡±


    For some reason, that angered Aloe a lot. Even more than the old man abandoning his family.


    ¡°Magic, for heaven¡¯s sake!¡± Aloe scratched her head violently, almost spilling the tea in the process. ¡°I... I don¡¯t understand. You had years, grandpa. Years to make more, to create more, to cultivate more... and three plants is all you leave me behind? There¡¯s gotta be something else...¡±


    Aloe drank the magical infusion, ignoring the burning sensation on her tongue. Soon enough, the extraction stopped.


    ¡°You are done, huh.¡± Aloe sighed tiredly as she looked at the seed in her hand.


    It was a Flourishing Spring seed.


    No longer vomiting or collapsing, Aloe evolved a seed into magical status whilst she drank from her cup and looked at the twilight sky.

 Book 2: 40. Wind

    Her hands trembled.


    Whilst others would have thrown themselves at the ground and pleaded for mercy, Rani just stood silent. But staying silent for someone of her status was still a lot.


    She was now alone in the office, the Sultanah was long gone, probably to attend in a celebration of her debauchery, but Rani still remained sat. The sultanzade could feel the pressure of her mother still lingering on her body.


    Only people like her could know the might of the Sultanah of Ydaz, and knowing that not even being her direct subject nor her nince-damned daughter could save her...


    Rani now understood why Hassan ran away.


    The man was a spineless rat, but that was one of the few occasions where cowardice was the best trait to have.


    She understood the unbridled violence that was her mother. Unstoppable, undefeatable. Fear was a powerful tool.


    The emir downed the whole open bottle of wine in one gulp.


    It was powerful stuff, almost able to afflict mild dizziness to a cultivator of the status of Aaliyah-al-Ydaz. But Rani didn¡¯t have that much Nurture. Just strong enough to not puke her stomach inside out, but weak enough to make her drunk.


    Her cheeks reddened and her mind clouded.


    In moments like this, it was better to not think at all.


    Rani made her way out of her mother¡¯s den of lasciviousness and corruption, instantly being met by powerful rays of sunlight that oppressed her drunk body. Asina palace was composed of open corridors, light drowning the place, but that wasn¡¯t the case with the Sultanah¡¯s office. It was closed, with no windows and just a single small door to enter. It was probably built to discourage assassin attacks, but at the same time, what assassin would be foolish enough to fight that walking disaster of a woman?


    Even in her drunk state, Rani knew how to manage herself. She was a master of lies and fa?ades, a product of her mother¡¯s training.


    Servants bowed down to her, acknowledging her status as an emir, even when the Sultanah wouldn¡¯t do so. Unlike other countries, Ydaz royalty employed both maids and manservants, the reason was quite obvious.


    Both could be fucked.


    Whilst bisexuality wasn¡¯t as common with the male sultanzade, it was almost mandatory with the female sultanzade. If not by personal choice, by Aaliyah-al-Ydaz¡¯s choice. The Sultanah¡¯s stance of males being the inferior gender wasn¡¯t a hidden one, nor a wrong one.


    Women did make better cultivators.


    But she did not put a leash on men¡¯s necks as the northern patriarchal countries may do on women. As someone who had had multiple children, Aaliyah-al-Ydaz knew the importance of men.


    Born a princess, educated as a diplomat, and turned ruler, Rani knew more about childbearing and foreign relations than most other sultanzade. Even though Aaliyah-al-Ydaz¡¯s reign was one of isolationism, Rani feared being married to an outsider monarch in her youth. The common destiny of princesses was one mostly unknown to female sultanzade.


    The daughters of the Sultanah would either become the administrators of her land ¨C if not emirs, at least sheiks ¨C or soldiers. Because that was what Aaliyah-al-Ydaz was doing, breeding soldiers. In the outmost literal sense of the word, even if she admitted that children for her were only a byproduct of her Nurture.


    With some exceptions, the Sultanah did allow her daughters ¨C especially her sons ¨C to become scholars. It would be a waste of their Nurture, but she was pragmatic enough to put a brilliant mind to work. That may have also been one of Rani¡¯s destinies if she weren¡¯t so politically competent.


    The emir¡¯s thoughts came to a halt as she reached her destination.


    Asina Palace was humongous, bigger than some small cities, so it could afford to have in its interior multiple training fields instead of patios. Surrounded by corridors from all sides in a delightful ceilingless clearing, a girl trained in a circular arena surrounded by a pit of flowing water. Even the sparring arenas of the palace exuberated with luxury as there were multiple benches, flowers, and vines growing on the corners, and even a dedicated spring for the patio alone.


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    The girl moved with the swiftness and grace of the wind, never staying still in a place for long, in constant movement but unpredictable, nonetheless. She was young, but if Rani were to fight against her, she would have no chance of winning.


    The speed was the most impressive factor. Not only she was cutting the air like a dust devil, but the fluidity of her movements with such momentum was logic-defying. Dissimilar to other reinforcements, the speed stance didn¡¯t grant you the mental capabilities to keep up with the boost in physical ability. It was normal for cultivators who didn¡¯t have practice with such reinforcement to break their necks because they were moving too fast for their own eyes to even process.


    Everyone could make themselves tougher and stronger by shifting vitality, but speed required a more hands-on approach. Only those who focused on it and trained it could reap the benefits, their bodies becoming quicker than the wind itself.


    Rani churned her vitality, the movement of energy burning the toxins from her body for she would need her mind to be active. Still, her execution was imperfect and slow, in the time that she became mostly liberated from the effects of the alcohol, the sultanzade noticed her.


    Maintaining an air and presence of superiority, Rani walked forward, slowly clapping as her sandals met with the fresh grass of the green section of the patio.


    ¡°Superb.¡± She congratulated her.


    ¡°Sister Rani?¡± The girl mused as she sheathed her daggers. They were sharper than the wind of a sandstorm. A simple movement as it was sheathing was so practiced that Rani had even difficulties processing the fact that the daggers were no longer in her hands.


    ¡°I guess it was expected from the one who dared to attack Aaliyah first.¡± Rani feigned noncompliance to her mother. Even when her heart trembled with fear at the thought of the Sultanah, she didn¡¯t allow herself to show that to her half-sister.


    For she was going to be her liege.


    ¡°To what I owe the pleasure of being greeted by your presence?¡± Naila slightly bowed down, more of a nod than anything.


    She¡¯s far shrewder than I thought. Her manners nonetheless surprised the emir. She started the conversation by acknowledging me as her sister instead of her half-sister and then maintained a diplomatic approach. Maybe she is right...


    ¡°Not much, not much.¡± Rani walked to one of the benches and sat down with a grace that would put the best of prostitutes to shame.


    Naila followed suit as she sat down next to her, albeit keeping a distance. Unlike her half-sister, Naila was dotted with muscle. Not too many to be unattractive or put her at a disadvantage as she preferred a nimbler build with her fighting style, but still more than most soldiers. Not many women had accentuated knuckles and a six-pack, especially at the sweet age of fifteen.


    If Rani was the beautiful and insidious side of Aaliyah-al-Ydaz, Naila was the fighter and straightforward one.


    ¡°Is it because of the events of this morning?¡± The young sultanzade asked with a hint of worry in her voice.


    Like Rani, she was terrified of her mother. But unlike her, a fire of defiance flared in her eyes. Maybe that¡¯s why she wants her to be her successor.


    ¡°Oh, no. You don¡¯t have to worry about that.¡± Rani dismissed with a sway of her hand. ¡°In any case, Aaliyah would reward you for being brave enough to strike first.¡±


    ¡°Would she?¡± Naila refuted the statement with rightful doubt.


    ¡°Indeed,¡± The emir responded with a smile and a finger next to her lips. ¡°You could even say you got promoted.¡±


    ¡°Promoted?¡± The warrior child stood composed, though her eyes flashed with eagerness.


    ¡°From now on, Naila, my dearest half-sister,¡± Rani lied through her teeth, she didn¡¯t even remember she existed until today, yet the words came out as truthful, ¡°you will be the new imperial scribe of Sadina.¡±


    Instead of ovation, Rani was met with dejection.


    Naila deflated upon hearing those words. ¡°I guess I cannot decline the offer, right?¡±


    ¡°It is no offer.¡± Rani clarified, though the statement gained her a hostile gaze from her half-sister. ¡°For your information, I had no voice in this regard either. It¡¯s a decision solely made by Aaliyah.¡±


    The truth, the simple usage of the Sultanah¡¯s name, was enough to vanish the hostility from the sultanzade¡¯s visage. She was young, but she knew better than to antagonize her mother by going against her orders.


    ¡°I see...¡± Naila responded resigned, like a child who had been sold to pay off a debt. And in a convoluted way, it was true. Though Rani wouldn¡¯t tell her the truth of why Aaliyah-al-Ydaz had decided this path for her. Giving her hope would make her unruly. And she just wanted the opposite.


    ¡°I know you prefer the way of the warrior,¡± Rani put her hand on Naila¡¯s shoulder to comfort her. Dunes, she harder than a rock. ¡°I¡¯ve seen how you manage the daggers, but you¡¯ll value the experience. Whether you think so or not, administrative skills are good to have. Believe me, it will be useful to you.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± It was fascinating how weak the girl who gathered the courage to attack Sultanah looked. She truly preferred the sword to the feather.


    ¡°Really.¡± Rani¡¯s smile was more genuine than ever. As she looked into Naila¡¯s eyes, she saw herself.


    Not a weak version that was unable to Nurture herself like her siblings, but a powerful and courageous one. She might be more useful than I thought. Rani thought as she sensed the vitality flowing through her half-sister¡¯s body. A sword is only as mighty as the hand that guides it after all.

 Book 2: 41. Date

    She had fallen asleep, there was no shame in admitting it. Her body hurt from being sat in the doorway all night long and the rest she had gotten out of it was awful. The first light woke her far, earlier than she used to wake up. Even if she had gone to sleep earlier, she hadn''t appreciated the longer sleep.


    ¡°Ugh...¡± Aloe groaned as she hugged her body. Her hands were cold, and so was most of her body. ¡°Uh... it¡¯s a miracle I haven¡¯t gotten a cold when I¡¯m only wearing a dress out here.¡±


    Desert nights were brutal, especially in the winter, so to say Aloe was flabbergasted to find herself fine was putting it lightly.


    She stretched her arms as more groans, and partially yawns, escaped her mouth. ¡°I didn¡¯t think it was possible to get even worse sleep than the ones I have having lately.¡±


    The girl stood up and walked away from the doorway, closing the flimsy yet solid door behind her.


    ¡°I guess I¡¯ll go to sleep again, but first...¡± Her stomach cut her off with a groan of its own. ¡°First, I need to get some food. I didn¡¯t even have dinner yesterday.¡±


    A plethora of yawns assaulted Aloe as she grabbed the date bowl from yesterday. She had been so focused on the seeds, that she had not finished it.


    ¡°Ugh... need water.¡± Aloe groaned and yawned her way to the amphora and poured herself a glass of water. Not because she was thirsty, but because she tasted more her mouth walls than the dates as she ate them.


    Once she finished with the bowl and her stomach was satisfied ¨C and it needed a lot of food after evolving that Flourishing Spring before falling asleep ¨C Aloe undressed, dropping her dirty dress to the ground, and fell asleep nearly instantly in the comfort of her bed.


    <hr>


    ¡°Huh,¡± Aloe grunted after seeing the light pouring into the house. ¡°I guess it was to be expected.¡±


    The sun shone powerfully.


    It was already noon.


    ¡°Oh, well.¡± Aloe stretched and donned her dirty dress before going outside. ¡°There are more chores to be done.¡±


    She could have worn fresh clothes, but as the following activities were going to be a bit dirty and she also wanted to take a bath today, Aloe decided to go with the dirty ones.


    First thing she did was to reignite the fire at the oasis to boil more water. It only took her a couple of tries to start the fire.


    Next, Aloe planted the new Flourishing Spring in an empty parterre of the greenhouse. Not before infusing it with ¡®accelerated growth¡¯, of course.


    ¡°What a shame it will take a bit to grow up.¡± The novice cultivator mumbled on her way out of the greenhouse. ¡°I know that I can get plants to get twice as fast than any other farmer ¨C even frice as fast if they are evolved ¨C but dunes, it really makes a girl lazy to just have to wait weeks on end to get some results.¡±


    Aloe sighed, even if there was nothing she could do. ¡®Accelerated growth¡¯ only did so much, and if Karaim ¨C who had been practicing with Infusion for years ¨C was not able to modify the factor of growth speed from two to a greater value, then Aloe doubted she could manage it. At least not soon, that was.


    ¡°Wait, talking about Infusion...¡± A thought that itched her on the first days she had been reading the cultivation technique resurfaced. ¡°How did he manage to change infusions?¡±


    Aloe found herself entering again the greenhouse, her eyes set on the biggest piece in exposition. Her hands caressed the ter¡¯nar¡¯s white bark, they slid easily, the bark presenting no resistance whatsoever.


    The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.


    ¡°This won¡¯t do...¡± She was able to sense the vitality of the plant, but that information wasn¡¯t enough. ¡°What part is the natural vitality of the tree and what part is the infusion?¡± Aloe supported her body in the trunk, easily capable of supporting her light weight. ¡°If I want to investigate this, I need to check two specimens of the same plant, one infused and the other not, to make a comparison. But do I have them?¡±


    Aloe went through all her plants mentally. All the ones Karaim had planted were already infused, so that already only left hers. But at the same time ¨C like Karaim ¨C she believed leaving plants uninfused was a fool¡¯s errand. Doing so was an avoidable sacrifice in productivity.


    ¡°Ugh...¡± Aloe groaned in defeat, her head lying on the trunk. ¡°I need grown plants, seeds won¡¯t work... or will they?¡±


    At the end of the day, she wasn¡¯t lacking in seeds. She still had some medicinal plant seeds from her first visit at Umar¡¯s apothecary, and not even accounting for the ones she still had to evolve, Karaim had reserves of common seeds from before the vital arts.


    As she made her way out, she realized the sheer magnitude of seeds at her disposal as her eyes landed on the oasis. Every tree out there, with its fruits hanging on its leaves and branches, was a seed.


    ¡°Yeah... I should try this first.¡± Aloe rushed home with almost child-like giddiness. For the first time in a while, she felt ecstatic. Joyful enough to overpower her fatigue. ¡°A rest from all the evolution tests.¡±


    Before losing her mind in more vital arts business, Aloe rekindled the hearth. It was already noon and she had to eat at some point, not now, but she would forget otherwise if she didn¡¯t start preparing lunch right now.


    She didn¡¯t even need to go far to get seeds, she had a bowl full of discarded date seeds on her desk from this morning.


    There was no internalization, no meditation, no need to concentrate. Aloe picked up a seed ¨C the seed of a tree at that ¨C and infused it. Now she realized she had underestimated a bit her reserves as the date seed took two-fifths to become infused.


    ¡°Oh, right.¡± She grunted after blinking thrice. ¡°I have never infused dates nor coconuts before, have I? I guess dates are bigger than banana trees.¡±


    All her assumptions on tree infusion costs were based on the several banana seeds she infused. And, as a matter of fact, Aloe had never seen a grown banana tree in person. She just knew that they came from trees.


    ¡°Okay, forty percent isn¡¯t thaaaat much, just almost all my vitality pre-vital arts.¡± The infusion hadn¡¯t left her exhausted; she was just shocked by the increased cost. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s check the difference.¡±


    Aloe put a date seed in each hand ¨C uninfused in the left, infused in the right ¨C and then checked their vitalities. The difference was obvious, and that was the root of her problems. Forty percent of her vitality wasn¡¯t something to scoff at, the small seed in her right hand had as much vitality as an adult person; the difference with the one at the left was abysmal.


    ¡°Yeah, this is why I wanted to experiment with grown plants, I need closer values...¡± A spark of sunlight lit her mind. ¡°Or do I?¡±


    Studying in an academy hadn¡¯t made Aloe a scholar, far from it, but the logic she had been taught told her that if two seeds weren¡¯t enough test subjects, she just needed more of them.


    Common seeds weren¡¯t enough though, no matter how many of them she had.


    She found herself infusing a new seed, this one with a different intent in mind, therefore a different resulting infusion. Considering she wasn¡¯t going to plant these seeds, or at least wouldn¡¯t see them grow any time soon, she decided to perform some other tests. How about waterless seeds? Is that possible?


    Logic dictated that no, it wasn¡¯t possible. But Infusion was magic, and bedtime stories had told her that magic could do everything. Of course, she was a child no longer, her analytical mind reasoned that there were obvious limits, but trying would cost her nothing.


    ¡°Okay, waterless infusion. Surprise me.¡± Aloe poured her vitality into the date seed and accepted it. That wasn¡¯t enough confirmation, as it was an infusion it could fail and simply default to ¡®accelerated growth¡¯, so she kept thinking of the result she wanted.


    Less water. Waterless. No need to be watered. Her brain circled around these permutations hoping one would stick.


    Soon enough the infusion ended, and Aloe exhaled as no more vitality left her body. It was a heavy exhalation; she had used almost all her reserves in a short span which made her tired. And hungry.


    ¡°I hear the soup bubbling already, so that won¡¯t be a problem.¡± She cracked her neck before inspecting the seed. ¡°It¡¯s a shame that I cannot check the specific infusion and only see if it''s infused or not... Or can I?¡± Her head turned to the Aloe Veritas¡¯ leaf jar. ¡°I mean... I never tried to check an infused seed before, have I?¡±


    Aloe reached for a leaf ¨C the last one, not counting the ones she put in yesterday ¨C and rubbed the newly infused date seed, the Aloe Veritas instantly changing to reflect the information.


    Species: Phoenix Dactylifera


    Sobriquet: Date Palm


    Description: Member of the Arecaceae family, a species known for its sweet fruits and size once fully grown.


    Infusion: Drought Resistance


    She was pleasantly surprised, to say the least.

 Book 2: 42. Infusions

    ¡°Oh.¡± The muted sound coming out of Aloe¡¯s mouth was but the pure expression of surprise. No words were needed except... ¡°I knew it.¡± Her lips curved into a devilish smile, there was no feeling more intoxicating than being right.


    However it may be, Aloe read the leaf in front of her fearing it may have been an illusion induced by heat.


    Species: Phoenix Dactylifera


    Sobriquet: Date Palm


    Description: Member of the Arecaceae family, a species known for its sweet fruits and size once fully grown.


    Infusion: Drought Resistance


    ¡°No, it¡¯s quite real.¡± Her dark fingers caressed the weak parchment color of the leaf, the ink was cold to the touch. ¡°So it can tell infusions and their names, huh.¡±


    Whilst it was good to have more cards at hand, the truth was that it didn¡¯t change things much for her. She already knew the infusions of all the plants in the oasis and greenhouse, both Karaim¡¯s and hers, the only instance where using an Aloe Veritas leaf to check for infusions was if she was trying new ones. Which, coincidentally, was what she was doing right now.


    ¡°How did the veritas decide on the ¡®drought resistance¡¯ name, though?¡± Aloe scratched her right cheek in pondering. ¡°I¡¯ve thought about making it so it wouldn¡¯t need water, not that it could survive droughts. I guess it¡¯s kind of the same thing? This is a bit weird. Hmm...¡±


    She reread the leaf, trying to look for synonyms or double meanings, but unless she had forgotten how to read ydazi, the Aloe Veritas only specified resistance to droughts and not needing less water to survive, even if in practice it meant the same.


    ¡°About names... what happens with something I have already named?¡± Aloe left the leaf and seed on the desk. ¡°I don¡¯t have a precursor for ¡®drought resistance¡¯, this is the first time I¡¯ve made the infusion, but what about ¡®accelerated growth¡¯ or ¡®plentiful harvest¡¯? Are they going to appear like that, or will the Aloe Veritas give them a new name? If that¡¯s the case, where does it get the knowledge from?¡±


    Questions, questions, and more questions. Even though Aloe reiterated constantly she was no scholar, she couldn¡¯t help herself from questioning the world when every new corner was uncharted territory. She wasn¡¯t an intellectual, but only a fool would not ask questions given the situation.


    ¡°Well, I guess I have an idea about the knowledge though...¡±


    Aloe shifted through the notes she had left littered on the desk, one of them containing the type of alignments she had discovered so far. Most were self-descriptive like Life, Death, Light, or even Arcane. The plants that had such alignment were magical, even more so than normal. But other alignments had more obfuscated names like Chaos and, most importantly, Information.


    She had absolutely no idea what the Aloe Veritas meant with that. And it wasn¡¯t like the plant couldn¡¯t answer those questions. It also didn¡¯t help that in ydazi the word ¡®information¡¯ had many meanings, even if she could suppose it meant the definition of ¡®knowledge¡¯.


    ¡°Whatever Information is, it¡¯s the thing that gives the veritas the knowledge to write on the leaves. Somehow.¡±


    It was magic she was dealing with, and it still sounded downright moronic as it came out of her mouth.


    ¡°But beyond seeing the name of named infusion...¡± Aloe reached for a new leaf, ¡°...I¡¯m more interested if it can tell the infusion of a non-plant.¡±


    Though before that, she needed to shift into an internal infusion first. She went with ¡®toughness¡¯ as it was the one she was most used to; and the more mastery she had over internal infusion, the easier it was to shift in and out of them.


    In the beginning, when she discovered internal infusions after going through Karaim¡¯s notes, it had taken her five minutes to activate ¡®toughness¡¯. In a few weeks, she had managed to reduce that long and agonizing meditation process to a single minute.


    The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    Still long and not practical for fight-or-flight decisions, but she knew for a fact that time would only go lower.


    And for the first time since she used the Aloe Veritas since she opened the cultivation technique more than a month ago, Aloe dyed herself with the ink. The dark blue ink easily hid in her dark skin, but the spots of ink in the leaf shifted into words regardless.


    The Aloe Veritas wrote Aloe¡¯s information on its leaf. And Aloe held a groan from the possible jokes that may arise from the sentence.


    Name: Aloe Ayad


    Species: Human


    Description: Female member of the human species, a species known for their ingenuity, high adaptive capabilities, and societal structure.


    Infusion: Toughness


    ¡°I¡¯d be damned nince, it does work. Woah.¡± Her signs of exclamation were shy but enthusiastic. ¡°And it does say ¡®toughness¡¯, and that¡¯s a name I made myself so... can the veritas read my mind?¡±


    Having a person reading her mind would be one of the most harrowing experiences of life, but a plant doing so... it didn¡¯t feel nearly as abusive. It still taxed her mind thinking about it.


    ¡°Better not to think about it, not a comfortable thought...¡± Aloe added with a whisper. ¡°Anyways... this doesn¡¯t change anything, I can know my current internal infusion unlike with plants, but it¡¯s nice to have the option to see the name. I guess.¡±


    Aloe sighed and left the leaf on the desk. Maybe she would come up with some ideas in the future. She didn¡¯t hold many hopes in that prospect.


    Her hands reached for the newly infused date seeds. ¡®Accelerated growth¡¯ and ¡®drought resistance¡¯ in the left and right hands, respectively.


    ¡°The issue with an infused and uninfused seed was that the difference in vitality was abysmal, but now it will be non-existent, right?¡± The girl sighed again, thoughtlessly cursing her stupidity. ¡°If there only was a way to infuse seed with less...¡± Aloe slapped her forehead so hard that the desk vibrated. ¡°Of course!¡±


    In all her time on the oasis, Aloe had applied many infusions, but not many different typings. Karaim had already solved this problem for her in the cultivation technique.


    ¡°Heh, at least you solved one, old man.¡±


    Aloe snickered, but instead of going directly for an infusion, she took a rest to lunch. She poured herself a bowl of hot soup before sitting on the chair. It was only when she downed the first spoonful that she realized that the soup was hot. Or that it should be. So ¡®toughness¡¯ also protects against burns, noted.


    ¡°Yup, awful as always. At least it¡¯s salty.¡± Aloe degusted the insipid soup in the comfort of her old creaking wooden chair. ¡°Maybe I could add some dates. Or coconut water. Mayhap also black seeds... I have a lot of spices and I have used only salt...¡± She lingered with a full spoon before her lips. ¡°This... this says a lot about me.¡±


    After finishing her bowl, or rather two, Aloe stretched her arms and legs. They still felt numb from sleeping outside even if she had had a good rest on her bed later.


    ¡°Okay, no more soup. I should try throwing things at the cauldron tomorrow. It can¡¯t get worse than that.¡±


    Her vitality had partially regenerated, and whilst she had enough for her experiments, it was a good time as any other to visit the latrine. By the time she finished, she could already see the moon in the sky.


    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s so obvious is winter,¡± Aloe commented, her eyes fixated on the clear blue skies. ¡°The sun¡¯s still up but so is the moon.¡±


    Before restarting her tests, Aloe grabbed a handful of dates ¨C or more like a whole tree branch ¨C and rinsed them.


    ¡°Alright, now I¡¯m ready.¡± The girl said as she cracked open a date and shoved it into her mouth, the corners of her lips twisting in delight. ¡°Hmm~¡± Aloe moaned gormandizingly. ¡°Nothing better than a sweet after lunch.¡±


    Whilst eating her weight on dates, Aloe searched for the cultivation technique. Her desk was a mess, but at least she trusted everything to be on the desktop. Soon enough she found it and quickly opened the book by the page she wanted.


    Instead of depositing the extracted seed into the bowl with the others, Aloe infused it with an infusion she wasn¡¯t as familiar with as the likes of ¡®accelerated growth¡¯. Taste better, better taste. Aloe chanted in her mind to make her intent as clear as possible for the seed and the infusion.


    As expected, the seed took her vitality.


    Half the cost of ¡®accelerated growth¡¯.


    ¡°Nice!¡± Aloe fistbumped the air with the hand holding the seed. ¡°Only a fifth of my reserves instead of two. Karaim had left on his cultivation technique that plants had a sort of ¡®infusion buffer¡¯ but I¡¯ve never checked it until now.¡± She commented as she parsed through the pages of the thin diary. ¡°¡®Better taste¡¯ only takes half of that buffer, i.e., half of what ¡®accelerated growth¡¯, ¡®bountiful harvest¡¯, or now, ¡®drought resistance¡¯ cost.¡±


    She smiled at the discovery, or more exactly, the confirmation of the discovery. As time passed, she found herself more accepting of Karaim¡¯s actions and words. He had abandoned them, but he had left so much behind that Aloe had no reason to stay mad at the dead man.


    Regardless of what the world may throw at her, Aloe could always find relief in the vital arts.


    ¡°I should find more ¡®half-cost¡¯ infusions to not let the buffer go to waste. There are some more on these pages, but they don¡¯t seem much useful to me. But before even trying that, I need to check another thing. How to change infusions.¡±

 Book 2: 43. Change

    The thing with seeds was that they didn¡¯t have much vitality. Aloe had yet to check it to make an actual solid theory, but every living organism was born with low vitality and only got more as they grew older. She hadn¡¯t checked for humans, but the difference between date seeds and grown palm trees was staggering.


    Whilst one only had the vitality equivalent of a blade of Cure Grass, the other had as much ¨C if not more ¨C vitality as an adult human. And she doubted babies had only the vitality of a single blade of grass, so the increase was colossal.


    So as she inspected the infused date seeds, the ¡®accelerated growth¡¯ and the ¡®better taste¡¯ seeds in each hand, Aloe found it difficult to find that sliver of innate vitality.


    ¡°Hmmmmm...¡± Aloe¡¯s ponderation grunts weren¡¯t dissimilar to that of a dweller. ¡°No, can¡¯t do.¡±


    She groaned, leaving her weight fall on the chair. It was a miracle the old seat still stood up with all the mistreatment Aloe made it go through.


    ¡°I can fill the distinction between the ¡®better taste¡¯ and the ¡®accelerated growth¡¯; the former has half the vitality of the latter, but it shouldn¡¯t be like that. Why can¡¯t I feel that nail of vitality?¡±


    Aloe grabbed a date seed from the bowl and sensed its vitality. A little coldness tingled on her fingers. Diminutive.


    ¡°If it¡¯s only the seed, I can sense it; but the instant you add more vitality into the mix, especially this much vitality, it¡¯s impossible to tell one from another. Innate and infused...¡± She sighed; the hard thinking was making her head spin. ¡°Fuck it, I need some tea.¡±


    The addictive properties of the ter¡¯nar lingered on her mind, but the effects were so trivial that Aloe couldn¡¯t care. She just thought better under the influence. At least the tea was way lighter on the body than opiate.


    ¡°How about trying on plants that require less vitality to infuse?¡± Aloe mumbled between sips. ¡°Cure Grass feels perfect for the job. It has more innate vitality than normal grass, but the amount of vitality needed to infuse is so small that I almost don¡¯t feel it.¡±


    The cultivator grabbed a pinch of grass seeds, even if the pot where they were stored was small, the seeds themselves were so small that in the grip of her fingers were around a dozen of them. They were only normal grass seeds, of course.


    ¡°I wonder if I...¡± Aloe didn¡¯t finish the phrase as she pushed her vitality into the seeds, the intent of Evolution clear.


    She evolved all the seeds.


    ¡°Oh, yes. Yes, I can.¡± She looked into the vitality of all the seeds, and whilst alone it didn¡¯t seem that anything had happened, with only a quick look at a normal seed it became obvious that the seeds on her hand were no longer grass seeds, but Cure Grass seeds. ¡°I doubt I¡¯ll go evolving seeds, or infusing, seeds in bulk, but I¡¯ll make a note that it¡¯s, indeed, possible.¡±


    Her reserves were barely taxed. Cure Grass was downright insulting in how cheap it was to evolve. Aloe dropped half of them on the desk and focused on the ones left on her hand. Then she infused them with no intent. Her deposit barely shook as the infusion ended.


    ¡°Had to check if it also worked on infusions. It would¡¯ve been moronic to just assume that it was possible when it was just a flick of hand to check.¡±


    Aloe left the seeds on the desk and picked an uninfused Cure Grass one. It didn¡¯t take her more than a couple of heartbeats to give it the ¡®better taste¡¯ infusion.


    ¡°I¡¯m getting used to it.¡± She mumbled heaving the seed up and down. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s test the vitality differences.¡±


    Considering the sheer number of seeds at her disposal, Aloe wasn¡¯t satisfied with testing two. She grabbed a normal grass seed, an uninfused Cure Grass seed, and then the ones with ¡®accelerated growth¡¯ and ¡®better taste¡¯. Even though the four seeds couldn¡¯t be heavier than a single bean, they weighed on her hand.


    For what they could mean.


    Before doing anything, Aloe downed a cup of ter¡¯nar tea and poured herself another one. The effects of the magical tree appear hastily, her mind becoming numb but paradoxically free of fog.


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    Using this newfound peace of mind, she focused inwards. Sounds became muted. The heat of the desert, the fabrics of her clothing, and the back of the chair no longer pressed on her skin. Smell disappeared. And her eyes were engulfed in darkness.


    Perfect concentration.


    The seeds were all cobbled up together in her hands, but even with her eyes closed, Aloe could tell which were which.


    The ¡®accelerated growth¡¯ Cure Grass seed was the easiest to identify as it shone like a lighthouse in a dimly lit coastal city. Parting from that, she only needed to go lower on the vitality emissions of the seeds to identify the rest. The next one was the ¡®better taste¡¯ seed with a third less than the ¡®accelerated growth¡¯ one. You¡¯ve heard right, a third less.


    Yes! Aloe almost jumped excitedly, but quickly regained her composure to not break her concentration. The amount of vitality needed to infuse Cure Grass is so trivial that the innate vitality actually makes a difference.


    A fast inspection of the uninfused Cure Grass seed confirmed her suspicions. The ¡®accelerated growth¡¯ and the ¡®better taste¡¯ had thrice and twice as much vitality than the uninfused one, respectively.


    This is far easier to work with. Aloe also checked the normal grass seed, but the difference between it and the Cure Grass one was minimal. It held barely more vitality.


    Alright, now I have three seeds that I can work with. Her thoughts changed after pushing a bit of vitality into the seeds. Okay, two seeds I can work with. The ¡®accelerated growth¡¯ Cure Grass seed wouldn¡¯t accept more vitality, after all.


    Let¡¯s see... I know that changing infusions is possible, Karaim did and said so. But how? How do I shift an infusion to another?


    Her mind wandered to the most obvious solution: internal infusions.


    Aloe wasn¡¯t a stranger to changing infusions; only if the target was her own body, that was. But she wasn¡¯t that dimwitted, she had already tried changing the plants'' vitality using the same logic that she used to change her flow of vitality.


    And it was impossible.


    The reason why she could change her infusions was because she affected her own vitality, and it was simply not possible to do that to another living being.


    How? The question permeated her mind. IT IS possible... The ter¡¯nar tea guided her, shifting her mind from one place to another, never staying too long in one place, always showing her other and new perspectives.


    If Infusion is about inserting vitality... Aloe pondered under the effects of the tea, ...then how about removing vitality? She took a deep breath. I mean, I¡¯ve never tried it. I cannot modify vitality that it¡¯s inside of a plant, but maybe I can remove it?


    There was only one way to see if it was possible.


    By trying.


    There was resistance when one was dealing with vital arts. The greatest resistance Aloe had found was when she altered the flow of her own vitality. Now it was slow and dense, like a sludge, but normally it had more of consistency and flow of a stream of water. That was her current internal infusion affecting her: toughness.


    Seeds and plants also showed resistance to change, but not as much as her body. The intent of the infusion greatly affected the resistance the plants presented. Evolution¡¯s intent was met with minimal struggle, and if the vitality was accepted, quite the contrary happened as the seeds started to seek change and vitality instead of denying it.


    Normal intents, like the ones on the seeds on her hand, presented far more fight. Not enough that it was difficult to overcome, but enough that she had to care. The more vitality the seeds needed to be infused, the more they fought against her.


    So the Cure Grass¡¯ fight was pitiful, to say the least.


    Even then, taking away vitality wasn¡¯t as straightforward as putting it inside the seed. Instead of pouring vitality out of her arms without any regard or thought, Aloe had to be more precise.


    It was more an exercise of imagination than an actual process.


    Aloe visualized a pair of fingers pinching on the ¡®accelerated growth¡¯ seed. They weren¡¯t her real fingers, yet nonetheless, she could feel the vitality of the seed with them.


    Then she pulled.


    For a brief moment, the seed fought against her pull, but Aloe overpowered it easily, effortlessly. A mote of coldness enveloped on the tips of her imaginary fingers, it was her very vitality, the vitality she had lent to the seed to infuse it.


    It was akin to a string, unfurling as she pulled it. But something else resisted now. It wasn¡¯t the seed itself, but its vitality. It was knotted with her vitality.


    Her dazed yet active mind guided her to somewhere else. Instead of pulling harder on the string, she pushed. Not the string, but fresh vitality coming from her body. The intent? Bountiful Harvest.


    And most surprisingly, the seed accepted her push.


    As she poured more vitality into the seed, she pulled the string. Ebb and flowing, Aloe performed something that could only be referred to as weaving as she pushed one string out and pulled another one in.


    The ¡®accelerated growth¡¯ string soon arrived at its limits, with no more vitality remaining in that infusion. Then as Aloe introduced the last spec of ¡®bountiful harvest¡¯ vitality, the string snapped off clean.


    Aloe shot wide open her eyes and grabbed an Aloe Veritas leaf, impregnating the seed with its dark liquid.


    Species: Cure Grass


    Sobriquet: Munchers


    Description: An evolved member of the Poaceae family, a species known for its ability to grow virtually anywhere and restore vitality upon consumption.


    Alignment: Life


    Infusion: Bountiful Harvest


    ¡°Finally...¡± Aloe celebrated with a steaming cup of tea and smiled from side to side of her face. ¡°Infusion changing!¡±

 Book 2: 44. String

    Aloe was ecstatic. After more than a month, she had finally made it. She had changed the infusion of an already infused seed. The possibilities... there weren¡¯t many, to be honest, but those that did exist held so much potential.


    ¡°Oh dunes...¡± Then the gift of afterthought fell on Aloe¡¯s shoulders. ¡°Now I have to reinfuse every grown plant I planted!¡± She let out a groan that could be mistaken for the last breath of a dying man.


    The situation was not as bad as it could seem. As Aloe had said, she had only to change the infusion of the plants she had planted and were already grown, not the whole oasis nor those Karaim had planted as he had already reinfused those.


    That didn¡¯t leave many plants in need of infusion. Basically just the cannabis, the Flourishing Spring, and the...


    ¡°Fuck!¡± Aloe cursed in realization. ¡°The Myriad!¡±


    She grabbed her head in exasperation, barely holding her instinct to pluck out her hair. Logic prevailed, just by a hair¡¯s width.


    Quite literally at that.


    ¡°How long has it been that I said to pluck it out?¡± Days, but she didn¡¯t want to think about it. ¡°I have to remove it now, or else I¡¯ll forget again.¡± Then as she gazed at the shining sky, she thought otherwise. ¡°Once it¡¯s later. But I can¡¯t just not do it. Today is the day.¡±


    To force herself to comply, Aloe stood up and situated herself in the doorway. She leaned on the frame, not sitting down for fear of forgetting.


    ¡°And now we wait.¡±


    She didn¡¯t last two minutes until she sat down and began thinking about the applications of her newly acquired ability.


    ¡°So what would happen if I infused the Flourishing Springs with ¡®bountiful harvest¡¯? Would they produce more water? Logic dictates yes, but these plants and the vital arts are quite far away from common understanding...¡± Aloe scratched her head and moved away from the sun, which was burning her mane. ¡°What about the Myriad? Would it make it even more light? Dunes, that would be horrendous.¡±


    The infusion¡¯s name was bountiful harvest, but it was different applying that to a fruit tree than a magical plant that summoned miscellaneous resources out of seemingly nowhere.


    ¡°I do want to change the cannabis plants to ¡®bountiful harvest¡¯, I want to see more flowers appear, that¡¯s more money. But at the same time, isn¡¯t the plant already grown?¡±


    The only way to know that it worked was, of course, by trying. Aloe stood up from the doorway and walked to the greenhouse as she repeated the ¡°Don¡¯t forget about the Myriad¡± mantra in her head over and over.


    Anyway, it wouldn¡¯t do her any good sitting on a full deposit.


    She had taught herself that not using vitality was bad, regardless of whether it was true or not.


    ¡°Okay, time to repeat it.¡± She knelt before the cannabis plants, her filthy dress getting dirtier as her legs pressed on the humid soil. ¡°You can do it, Aloe.¡± She mumbled. ¡°You¡¯ve done it once already, and with an evolved plant at that.¡±


    Aloe dived into a meditative state, her hands placed on a cannabis stem. After waiting for so long, her body had partially cleared of the effects of the tea. It was mostly her brain that felt it, and nonetheless, calmness overtook her thoughts.


    The vitality of the cannabis plant felt cold on her touch, it was far more than the Cure Grass seed she practiced on, but still far less than an infused date seed. Before doing anything else, she pried on the vitality, trying to differentiate what pertained to the infusion and what to the cannabis.


    It was hard.


    This was a new sense she wasn¡¯t used to, and now she had to distinguish where the consistency of a metaphorical string changed by touch alone when she didn¡¯t even know what the original consistency of that string was.


    It would have been easier for an assassin to abstain from drug consumption for a day.


    And that was saying a lot if the stories and the snake tongues were to be trusted.


    In and out, Aloe breathed trying to handle the vitality of the plant. Prodding it by touch alone proved slow. I can¡¯t believe Karaim did this for every plant. There has to be a better way. Of course, she didn¡¯t know if there was another way. And if there was one, she had too much on her plate with the new and only one she knew to search for more.


    Stolen story; please report.


    Unlike with the tests she ran on the seeds, there was no easy way to check where one vitality ended and the other started. Well, there is ONE way... Aloe groaned mentally at the idea as her finger moved alongside the stem, a useless endeavor, though it helped her guide herself. That way was none other than planting a cannabis plant without an infusion.


    That or removing the ¡®accelerated growth¡¯ infusion on one of them, but doing so would defeat the whole purpose as she would still need to find the infusion cut point.


    ¡°Ugh...¡± Having grown tired of the prodding, Aloe left behind the slow but so far reliable method and tried something a bit more drastic.


    She pulled the string hard, like a fisherman may do after finding a fish with a fighting spirit.


    ¡°Uhk!¡± The cannabis resisted Aloe¡¯s advances with equal force, making her collapse on the ground. ¡°Okay... that was unexpected.¡±


    The plant didn¡¯t hurt her, far from it. It was more similar to the overextension one may feel after moving a heavy set of furniture. Neither her hands nor back hurt, but she was left out of breath and overall tired. Though her butt was a bit sore from the fall.


    ¡°Note to self: these plants got hands.¡± Aloe looked at her hands, they were unaffected by her vicious pull, yet she could feel them tremble under the strain. ¡°Maybe I shouldn¡¯t be that forceful.¡±


    Having been agitated too much for her liking, Aloe went back home and brought with her the teapot to the greenhouse. The place wasn¡¯t that bad to have tea, especially considering the tranquil and soothing sights of the ter¡¯nar and the Flourishing Spring.


    There was something special about those plants beyond the obviousness of their alignments.


    Even though the ter¡¯nar tea was beginning to cool down, Aloe took it slow with her cup as she sat down on the white tree¡¯s parterre, her back lazily reclined on the curving trunk. She managed to see the Flourishing Spring sprout its produce as she finished the cup, blessing the soil with its water.


    ¡°Alright, round... three?¡± Aloe would never admit having been defeated by a plant thrice. ¡°Thrice the charm?¡±


    That wasn¡¯t the saying, though if she tried sice more, she maybe would have luck at the ninth try.


    Her drug-laden mind guided her into being concentrated. Though that wasn¡¯t difficult considering how cloudy her emerald eyes had become.


    She quickly found back the string on the cannabis plant, her fingers caressing the sprouting flowers.


    And she pulled again.


    The lesson had been learned, so she didn¡¯t pull as forcefully as before. And the resistance from the cannabis was also expected, so it didn¡¯t affect her as much as before.


    Slowly, unconfidently, but constantly, Aloe pulled on the vitality string, the resistance growing with each push forward.


    Now, she didn¡¯t stop there. Aloe infused the cannabis with vitality charged with the ¡®bountiful harvest¡¯ intent. The insertion was forceful, the plant even fighting more against her advances, and yet she pushed forward.


    If Aloe was one thing, it was hard-headed.


    Panting, she continued infusing and pulling. Both activities were taxing whilst separated, but together the load on her body multiplied. Her only saving grace was that the cannabis didn¡¯t have much vitality to its name.


    Her head spun around, threatening to end her concentration and lose her progress. She couldn¡¯t know if it was because of the tea, the physical exertion, or a combination of the two. But she stayed with her feet rooted down.


    She wouldn¡¯t back down to a plant.


    Beads of sweat poured from her temples, her scalp becoming a marshland. Aloe¡¯s chest heaved up and down and her hands trembled as she gritted her teeth.


    I. Won¡¯t. Lose. To. A. Plant.


    A blade of vitality at a time, Aloe pushed and pulled infusions from the cannabis. It was close, she knew it. The cannabis could only take so much vitality and she had almost pushed enough of ¡®bountiful harvest¡¯-charged vitality to replace the established ¡®accelerated growth¡¯ infusion.


    A blade or two more... It was difficult to do a task as trivial as thinking. That¡¯s all... that it takes. By blade she referred to the vitality equivalent of a single blade of Cure Grass. Not the most accurate method of measurement, but it worked for her.


    Go... go... GO! Aloe did a last push-slash-pull with all her strength, not fearing any longer the resistance of the cannabis. As soon as the last blade of new vitality substituted that of the old infusion, the string holding the infusion snapped clean as if it never existed.


    Aloe collapsed on the ground with momentum, as if it had been a physical rope she had been pulling before it was cut.


    She laid waiting on the soil for long time, her hair brushing the humid dirt, her chest heaving as violently as when she evolved the Blossomflame. This wasn¡¯t healthy for her body, she knew, but nonetheless, rejoiced at the feeling of her hands.


    Coldness, a comforting chill.


    During the whole exchange, she had lost no vitality whatsoever. She fully infused that cannabis plant, yes, but she also recovered the vitality from the previous infusion.


    Her head spun around, making her unable to stand up, her legs feeling weaker than when the dreaded time of the month came. She had a lot of things to do, like for example uprooting the Myriad or...


    ¡°Ugh...¡± She groaned, the exhalation of air heaving down on her overexerted lungs. ¡°I have to reinfuse all the other cannabis too.¡±


    She almost cried, she truly did.


    It was painful.


    But a comfortable pain. In a very distorted and morbid way.


    The Blossomflame had been torture, but this felt like a finished day of work. Satisfying even.


    However, there was a limit to how satisfying a body-crushing day of work could be.


    But beyond all those thoughts of work, as she lay on her pool of sweat, the soil making her smell horrible as it came in contact with her bodily liquids, Aloe had only one thought.


    ¡°I wanna bath soooo badly.¡±

 Book 2: 45. Spree

    Yesterday had been a hectic day. Mainly a pain-ridden one, but for Aloe, that had become the bare minimum requirement as of late.


    After reinfusing the cannabis plant ¨C and almost collapsing, Aloe took a bath on the oasis. Some days she just dipped in water, yesterday wasn¡¯t one of those days. Her skin had been incrusted with layers upon layers of sweat and dirt, meaning that even soap had difficulties scrubbing the dirtiness away.


    And let¡¯s not talk about the dress. That piece of clothing was ruined. Fortunately, it was an old one intended for these purposes in the first place, so she would still get some utility out of it whenever she needed to roll in the dirt again.


    Because the day had been so exhausting, and her mind was dazed from the extreme consumption of ter¡¯nar tea, she ended the day after the bath. Having her body torn to shreds wasn¡¯t new, but dealing with mental fatigue was more difficult.


    And no, she did not forget to uproot the Myriad.


    ¡°I still don¡¯t know what I expected, though,¡± Aloe mumbled between dates as she had breakfast.


    She had left the Myriad under the desk yesterday, the plant wasn¡¯t that big, so she just carried it into home. As for the current location, it was the spot that got least light in the house.


    ¡°I mean, yes, plants have roots. But if the leaves are glass, why not the roots too?¡±


    To her disappointment, the Myriad¡¯s roots were made out of... whatever material normal roots were made of. In other words, the Myriad had normal plant roots. Which was at the same time an extreme clash in contrast. On one extreme, glass. On the other, roots. Both sections joined senselessly as if a random person had just glued glass and roots together.


    ¡°Magic.¡± Aloe sighed, lost in thought. ¡°But I need to do something with the Myriad because it¡¯s still very much alive.¡±


    Indeed, after being uprooted, the Myriad showed no degradation whatsoever. No decay, no dryness, no falling pieces of glass as if they were leaves. Simply static, unfazed by the change of scenery.


    ¡°I guess it makes sense?¡± She downed another date. ¡°It was planted in the desert, there was no water nor any nutrients whatsoever to take from the soil. Where do I have it...?¡±


    Aloe stood up and began looking around for her desk for her notes.


    ¡°Here it is.¡± She read the rough writing of the Myriad¡¯s description done with the earliest tests of her Aloe Veritas ink.


    Description: Member of the Doya family, a species known for their ability to survive with light alone and convert sand into glass as they grow.


    ¡°Yup, light alone.¡± Aloe degusted another date as she read the note. ¡°This plant ain¡¯t dying any time soon then.¡±


    Which was a problem. She didn¡¯t have any usage for the Myriad. It was only dead space and an eyesore.


    Quite literally at that.


    ¡°What should I do? Bury it somewhere?¡± Aloe ate a date. ¡°Throw it on the oasis?¡± Then another. ¡°Wait that might not even be that bad. Maybe I could use the light from it to dive down and it shouldn¡¯t emit much light. Not at day or night, so no random passerby would find it. Dunes, I think I might do it.¡±


    The idea of free diving around the bottom of an illuminated oasis floor was too tantalizing to pass up.


    After making her mind up (and having her arm¡¯s worth in dates), Aloe carried the Myriad outside her home.


    ¡°Fuck.¡± She cursed taciturnly as soon as the load in her arms blinded her. ¡°I haven¡¯t thought this through enough.¡±


    Aloe dragged the Myriad behind her, and even then, that was not enough. With great difficulty, she made it into the oasis. She had to look at the sky all the way there as even looking forward blinded her. Yes, looking at the sun was less painful than looking at the Myriad.


    Once her feet met water, Aloe unceremoniously heaved the Myriad on top of her head and threw it as far as she could into the oasis.


    ¡°Welp, one problem less.¡± She dusted her hands and made her way to the greenhouse.


    The place looked as always, the only changes were minute like the Aloe Veritas that was still leafless and nothing more.


    ¡°Are there more flowers in this cannabis?¡± Aloe approached the cannabis she reinfused, prodding the plant¡¯s buds, counting for flowers. ¡°Maybe? I can¡¯t tell. Does this mean the ¡®bountiful harvest¡¯ infusion is working?¡±


    She wasn¡¯t that motivated to reinfuse the rest of the cannabis, but this discovery gave her enough of a push to cross the line and do it.


    ¡°Ugh, I don¡¯t wanna do it.¡± Though more than crossing the line, she just barely stepped over it.


    The day was still young and she had already done her business, so nothing was stopping her from a reinfusion session. Aloe had originally estimated that the emir would take a week to be back at Sadina, and she unfortunately had already blown more than half of that estimate. If she didn¡¯t want to beckon her ire, she should get back as soon as possible.


    And that meant getting finished with the cannabis plants.


    What followed was a very taxing and thoughtless day. After being able to reinfuse a cannabis plant for the first time, she had acquired the vague idea of where the string ends met ¨C that of the innate vitality and the infusion vitality ¨C so it was far faster and vaguely easier to reinfuse each consequent plant.


    It still was absolutely taxing.


    Reinfusion may not drain her vitality, but it did put pressure on her body. So Aloe compensated for that fact by also putting pressure on her vitality.


    After one or two reinfusions, Aloe made her way back home to rest and continue with the seeds¡¯ evolution. There weren¡¯t many remaining, so with luck, she would be done with both tasks on this day.


    The only moments of respite she knew were lunch, tea break, dinner, and bathroom breaks.


    ¡°Evolution test number eleven, starting now.¡± Aloe chanted after having reinfused her first two cannabis plants of the day. Her hands trembled and her body protested in fatigue, but weaving vitality was thankfully a painless activity.


    Most of the time.


    Unsurprisingly, the seed refused her advances. Contrary to her previous disheartenment, Aloe took the failure well. She had more than enough evolutions by now. Four new plants were a lot, and two of them looked promising. Still, greed was a good trait to have, so she pushed forward.


    ¡°Evolution test number twelve, starting now.¡± Failure. ¡°Evolution test number thirteen, starting now.¡± Another failure. ¡°Evolution test number fourteen, starting now.¡± And another. ¡°...test number fifteen, starting now.¡± And another one. ¡°...number sixteen, starting now...¡± And another one. ¡°...seventeen, starting... now...¡± Aloe bit the sand once more.


    If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    One failure doesn¡¯t deflate the heart, it only bolsters it. Now, seven failures in a row were a whole other subject. In this case, failure wasn¡¯t what was bolstering the heart, but spite. Pure, unadulterated spite.


    If people could do one thing, it was pushing their bodies and minds beyond all sane limits in the name of spite.


    ¡°Evolution test number eighteen! Starting now!¡± Aloe added with impetus. Her passion was promptly rewarded as the seed started siphoning her vitality. ¡°Yes! Yes!¡± She jumped excitedly. ¡°Aloe, relax yourself.¡± And quickly regained her composure lest she was to lose her concentration.


    She had no fear in her mind as the seed drained her. Before her lay a bowl filled with Cure Grass pills up to the brim. She had sort of forgotten about them yesterday, leaving them on the windowsill and when she separated them from the tray, it had been difficult as the sap was far more hardened than she had expected.


    This time there was no need for a pill, though.


    Her hands were swift to pick up an Aloe Veritas leaf.


    Species: Pilgrim of Mutations


    Sobriquet: Chlorotrophy


    Description: An evolved member of the Fabaceae family, a species known for its ability to change into its surroundings or unrelated flora.


    Alignment: Life, Chaos


    ¡°Weird?¡± Aloe didn¡¯t give the Chlorotrophy much thought ¨C besides calling it that instead of Pilgrim of Mutations because it was too long ¨C because she wanted to finish with the seed batch and the cannabis today.


    Even though the Chlorotrophy hadn¡¯t taken much vitality she went back to the greenhouse and continued to reinfuse whilst she waited to regenerate the vitality she had lost.


    Once she had recovered after another two cannabis reinfusions, Aloe had lunch and gave the evolution tests another go.


    Nineteen, twenty, twenty-one, twenty-two, and twenty-three all proved failures. She struck the water again with the twenty-fourth, though.


    ¡°Oh? I¡¯m on a spree!¡± Happiness was swiftly overtaken by seriousness as the seed greedily drank her vitality. Without doubting, Aloe already put the first pill in her mouth.


    Remembering her previous attempts, Aloe waited to try again her tests after having had lunch. She wouldn¡¯t like the evolution to fail because the pills took too long to digest.


    The consumption rate was high, but a far cry from the Blossomflame. The first pellet went down fast, and so did the second. Using her vitality made her vitality reserves grow, ever-so-slightly. As the Cure Grass paste filled her up, she noticed how it didn¡¯t restore as much portion of her reserves as before. These last days of continuous pressure had made her deposit grow far more than she had expected.


    That didn¡¯t mean anything for the evolution, though. She hadn¡¯t increased her vitality threshold enough to not need copious amounts of pills. In this case, three.


    It spoke a lot of how she treated herself that after draining her deposit twice, she didn¡¯t feel any nausea or headaches. Only a mild hunger, even if she had just eaten.


    ¡°At this rate, I¡¯m going to run out of veritas leaves again,¡± Aloe said once the evolution process had ended. ¡°Maybe I should plant another one.¡±


    This evolution was quite curious because the seed had grown significantly from its initial state. The seed had triplicated in size. There had been some changes before in seeds, but nothing so highlightable.


    Aloe didn¡¯t even need to be careful to dye the seed as her fingers were not even close to the cut on the Aloe Veritas. Ink splotches turned into words she could understand.


    Species: Nature¡¯s Bounty


    Sobriquet: Thick Stump


    Description: An evolved member of the Malvaceae family, a species known for its ability to spread its roots in a wide area and boost the growth rate of nearby flora.


    Alignment: Life, Time


    Boost the growth rate of nearby flora.


    ¡°Ah~¡± Aloe shrank as she read the description, her body reacting as well as her mind. ¡°I almost peed myself.¡± Her body reacting far more than her mind.


    Her mind collapsed with thought, it took her a full minute and ten readings to understand what she had herself.


    It didn¡¯t take her a single second after that to rush to the greenhouse and plant the seed.


    Thankfully, logic returned to her mind before trying to infuse it.


    ¡°Wait, its sobriquet is ¡®Thick Stump¡¯ so maybe it¡¯s a tree?¡± Not wanting to collapse on her puke, or most likely her urine considering how the situation was unfolding, Aloe waited for her vitality to regenerate.


    Meanwhile, taking advantage of her location, she reinfused a few more cannabis plants. With each new reinfusion, she got a little bit faster. Not only she was growing used to the reinfusion technique, but also acquainted with the cannabis as she was reinfusing the same plant time and time again. It was a matter of seconds to find the string intersection point now instead of minutes.


    Despite the fact she was bursting with the giddiness to plant the Nature¡¯s Bounty seed, Aloe didn¡¯t take any more pills and let nature run its course. Pun intended.


    If she had done so, her stomach would now be filled with more pills, and that would mean that subsequent seeds would take more time to be digested.


    ¡°Almost done.¡± Aloe wiped the sweat out of her forehead as she finished with yet another cannabis reinfusion. Only one cannabis plant remained, but now it was time for an infusion, no prefixes this time.


    The Nature¡¯s Bounty seed accepted Aloe¡¯s vitality and intent easily, she felt less resistance than normal. Instead of inquiring why, Aloe¡¯s mind was filled with thoughts like: If this plant truly accelerates other plants'' growth, how will stack with ¡®accelerated growth¡¯? Additively or multiplicatively? Does it even affect itself? Will this plant grow in days even if it¡¯s a tree?


    She was so excited that she even forgot the fact that trees usually took years to grow.


    It didn¡¯t take long for the first Cure Grass pill to go down. So the second. And the third. And the fourth. And the fifth.


    ¡°Ugh...¡± Aloe moaned, though she couldn¡¯t know if it was because of the pain of the absorption, because of her exhaustion, or because her stomach was filled up with not easily digestible grass paste.


    Aloe did her best to keep the pills inwards, puking would only make its slow digestion even slower.


    It pained her, but the seed¡¯s absorption speed was slow enough that it didn¡¯t physically hurt her like how it happened with the Blossomflame. The strain mostly came from fatigue.


    In and out, she breathed. Her throat was becoming swollen from all the pills she was shoving down, but she kept at it. Her well-being wasn¡¯t high enough in her priority list to care.


    Vitality continued pouring, pills continued going down.


    It got bad.


    It was so bad that she realized why was she even consuming the Cure Grass in the first place. She didn¡¯t need to, she was just being childish. Munchers, said the veritas. Aloe thought as coherently as she could. No need to eat, only masticate.


    She forwent her repulsion and chewed on the Cure Grass pills. As if they were candy, the hardened Aloe Vera sap crushed under her teeth, revealing the grass paste inside of it. Vitality instantly flowed into her body.


    Few. Not enough. It immediately became clear that the digestion method was far more efficient than chewing, but what she needed now was speed not efficiency.


    ¡°Blergh!¡± Aloe spat out the grass and sap shard, barely holding her desire to puke.


    Without thinking twice, she crushed another pellet with her teeth. This method had around half of the efficiency of normal digestion, besides being more gross, but its quickness couldn¡¯t be denied.


    It was straight-up instant.


    Though it was making her puke.


    And so she did.


    Aloe was surprised she managed to hold for so long. But even when her mouth was filled with grass and bile, she needed to continue pouring pills into her mouth. The flavor was vomit-inducing, and the actual vomit didn¡¯t help in that regard.


    Fifteen pills.


    It took twelve nince-damned pills to infuse the nince-damned seed.


    Seven at full efficiency, around a third of her reserves; eight at half of that, so, fifteen-percent. That was all counting that she had taken them efficiently to reduce the diminishing returns, which she hadn¡¯t. So that made her take more seeds than she would actually have needed.


    Eyeballing it, adding all the pills together plus her initial deposit, it had taken four whole vitality reserves to infuse the Nature¡¯s Bounty seed.


    ¡°Dunes... that¡¯s eice my staring pooooi-¡± She added before puking again.


    If her thoughts weren¡¯t this hazy, she would worry about how tedious it would be to wash the greenhouse and her clothes. In the sludge that was her consciousness, what Aloe thought instead was: how big is this plant?


    She didn¡¯t even want to think about it. Aloe planted the infused Nature¡¯s Bounty seed alongside the new Flourishing Spring and then Chlorotrophy in the parterre next to the cannabis one.


    Then she groaned, recovered the three seeds, and replanted them in the parterre where there actually was a grown Flourishing Spring. Those seeds wouldn¡¯t be able to sustain themselves once she went back to Sadina after all.


    Her mind, body, and morale were at rock bottom, but Aloe managed to somehow keep moving. First, she cleaned her mouth with clean water, then had a bath to clean the splotches of puke on her skin. Finally, she made her way back to the greenhouse and washed the vomit. She noticed that she should have done that first as it was now crusted and it smelled foul from the closedness of the greenhouse, but there was nothing she could do about it now.


    It didn¡¯t take her long after that to reinfuse the last cannabis plants. Aloe wasn¡¯t a workaholic ¨C she believed that if someone loved work, they were mad ¨C but work did keep her going, nonetheless. She preferred physical pain to mental far more.


    Twilight soon greeted her.


    It had been a long day, even though it was almost a blink of an eye for her.


    The soup was nearly gone by now, she only had one serving left for dinner, but considering how her body was being dragged down by its own weight, Aloe wouldn¡¯t have cared if there was no more left.


    Before eating the soup, she tried to evolve the last pair of the fifty seeds Umar had gifted her.


    ¡°Evolution test... number twenty-five... starting now.¡± She was tired... so tired.


    Unfortunately, but expectedly, thrice was not the charm.

 Book 2: 46. Adult

    She couldn¡¯t believe it, but it was true. She had had a good night¡¯s rest. It almost felt nature-defying. To celebrate such an accomplishment, Aloe slept until noon.


    There weren¡¯t many daily tasks remaining at the oasis, most could be done weekly like cooking, washing, and shoveling waste, so for once in a long time, Aloe had the day to herself.


    Which unfortunately started with cooking.


    Cooking didn¡¯t run in her blood, neither her mother nor father were great cooks, and she had barely seen them cook in almost two decades.


    ¡°How did Karaim scrape by? I guess he must have cooked.¡± If the grandfather survived with food just like the granddaughter did, it didn¡¯t surprise Aloe he kicked the bucket. She could feel it slowly, specifically in her stomach, that she was slowly dying. ¡°It¡¯s time to do something... decent.¡±


    Her master plan was to throw every spice she could find into the cauldron.


    Flawless planning, flawless execution.


    Aloe refilled the cauldron with water straight from the oasis, she also started boiling some water now that she was there. As the hearth took its time to heat the water, Aloe peeled some potatoes and opened some dates, taking out the seeds.


    ¡°Hmm, maybe I could put some coconut water inside too.¡± When she said that she was going to put everything in the cauldron, she meant it.


    Her culinary knowledge and intuition were abysmal compared to the average housewife, but thanks to her parents'' standing, Aloe had had a lot of exotic and expensive foods, so at the very minimum ¨C very, very minimum ¨C she knew how good food had to look like.


    Some black seeds here, a pinch of salt there, a handful of beans all around, and a healthy dose of potatoes as the main body with dates as the finisher.


    People would have puked just seeing her create that abomination. Aloe just thought it would be more flavorful than water with potatoes. She sat down on the doorway, as she had been doing as of late, and picked up the bowl filled with steaming soup.


    ¡°Moment of truth.¡± Aloe nervously handled her spoon as she neared her head to the bowl.


    The spoon reached her lips, the liquid hot but not burning, then Aloe realized with a deadbeat thought, I haven¡¯t deactivated my ¡®toughness¡¯ infusion, haven¡¯t I?


    ¡°Oh...¡± She groaned in understanding. ¡°So that¡¯s why I didn¡¯t collapse in a pool of my vomit yesterday, noted. So much for not keeping internal infusions up, though.¡±


    Aloe left the wooden spoon back in the bowl and deactivated her internal infusion before doing the taste test. This was because she didn¡¯t want to pressure her body even further, who knows what consequences the prolonged use of internal infusions on the body, and it totally wasn¡¯t an excuse to push back as much as possible eating the soup. On the heavens, she swore.


    Perhaps it was her heightened understanding of vitality after the many reinfusions, but Aloe had an easier time switching her ¡®toughness¡¯ infusion back to default. In a way, internal infusions and reinfusions were the same, the only difference being that one was internal and the other external.


    Slowly but surely, scrapping seconds at a time, Aloe had a better time switching her infusions, even if it was just between the default and ¡®toughness¡¯.


    Her body felt heavier now, all the damage she had accumulated came back to her. Thankfully, it was long mitigated and healed. Only a phantom wave of pain washed over her. She shuddered a bit and let it pass.


    ¡°Alright, now¡¯s the real test.¡± Aloe shoved the spoon in her mouth before she could protest about other things. ¡°Hm.¡± She grunted. ¡°Not bad. Not bad.¡±


    It was official, pain had numbed her sense of taste. That or grass.


    ¡°Way more flavorful.¡± She took another spoonful with gusto.


    The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.


    One had to imagine Aloe happy. And one had to realize she had mixed one of the sweetest fruits in the country with literal pinches of salt. Of course, Aloe only cared about herself and her non-existent palate right now, the opinions of others were the last of her priorities.


    After enjoying her surprisingly edible soup, Aloe did what every responsible person should do after having slept for twelve hours. Taking a nap.


    The rest of the day was uneventful, she gathered a bit of water, dates, and coconuts to restock her reserves, but beyond that, she just waited for the day to end.


    Tomorrow was going to be a special day.


    <hr>


    ¡°Happy New Year, Fikali!¡± Aloe shouted as she stepped into the oasis, greeting the dweller early in the morning.


    ¡°Hro?¡± Fikali grunted still half-sleep.


    ¡°Yeah, I guess you don¡¯t care much about the new year, truth be told, neither do I normally.¡±


    Ydaz didn¡¯t have traditions over the change of year, it was just like another day. There was an important celebration at the start of Spring, but that still was a solid month away. The new year only marked the start of a new fiscal year, meaning people had a deadline of a week to pay their yearly taxes.


    Aloe doubted her mother had filled her taxes, so that meant that she had six days at most before going back to Sadina. It was well within her time frame as she only wanted to wait two or three days more to let the cannabis plants fully bloom.


    But no, taxes weren¡¯t the reason why Aloe was excited. Though excited was a bit of a misnomer.


    ¡°Come on, Fikali,¡± Aloe said with the dweller¡¯s saddle in hand. ¡°Let¡¯s take a ride.¡±


    ¡°Wroo!¡± Even if it was early in the morning and she had no idea of the special occasion, Fikali was nonetheless elated by the prospect of a ride.


    Fikali may have been in her twilight years, but she had seemingly limitless energy. Even if she spent most of her time sleeping twenty-five hours a day. Maybe it was just because of that.


    It took Aloe more time to put the saddle on Fikali than it took them to make it to their destination.


    The place had nothing remarkable to its name, a random spot in the desert, far away from civilization. The only highlightable trait was the rocky ground that stopped Fikali from cruising forward. However, that was only worth mentioning because this section of the Qiraji Desert was more sandy than rocky, seas of dunes for kilometers without end. Aloe had heard of desert zones with more rocks than sand, even if she hadn¡¯t seen it for herself.


    The spot held no value whatsoever to her, and probably neither to any other person. Aloe had only picked it because it was deserted. Pun, unfortunately, not intended.


    As she dismounted Fikali and walked on the rocky floor, dry air filled her nostrils. The sun had yet to fully rise, so the coldness of night still lingered in the air. After walking for a few minutes, Aloe sat down on a random rock and looked at the horizon as the sun slowly shook off its drowsiness.


    It was both beautiful and dreadful.


    New year.


    That meant one thing.


    Lethargically, Aloe reached into a linen bag she carried in her chest. Inside the bag there only was a single piece of clothing. It was made from white silk, and it was mostly translucent. As a piece of clothing, it was practically useless. It wouldn¡¯t protect one from the sun or the elements, its value was purely symbolic.


    It was a cayora.


    Shahrazad¡¯s cayora.


    Her mother¡¯s cayora.


    Aloe held it painfully in her clutches, she wanted to forcefully grip on it, but logic whispered in her mind that doing so would destroy the fabric.


    In Ydaz, mothers would put on the cayora on their daughter''s head once they came of age. Yet Aloe had no mother to do that for her. With a bit of acumen, it was obvious why Aloe had the clothes in her hands now, though it was not as easy to see that today was not her birthday.


    Life was not easy or forgiving. Aloe hadn¡¯t been born in the middle of Winter at the change of year, but in autumn the day before the harvest festival. Another tradition in Ydaz, more born out of necessity rather than culture, was that all birthdays were celebrated during the new year, if they were even celebrated.


    So even if Aloe had been an adult by over a few months now, the country only now recognized the legality of the statement.


    And so did she.


    ¡°Why couldn¡¯t we have celebrated it during the actual day of my birth?¡± Aloe mumbled between sobs. ¡°Why couldn''t you be the one wrapping it?¡±


    The thin and light silk weighed in her arms more than a cauldron full of water.


    Aloe muted her cries and enveloped the cayora around her head, imagining it was her mother performing the deed. Though comfortable, it didn¡¯t protect her even against the unrisen sun.


    She had said she would not show weakness again, but just for today, Aloe allowed herself to cry. Just a shedding of a tear.


    ¡°Wroo?¡± Aloe turned her head at the source of the worried grunt only to find Fikali at her side.


    ¡°Fikali? When have you gotten here?¡± Even if she had chosen the location for its rocky floor so the dweller couldn¡¯t access it easily, so not even a monster could see her, Aloe hadn¡¯t noticed Fikali bellyflopping her way here as she drowned in her misery.


    ¡°Wro?¡± The dweller asked again.


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing, Fikali. I¡¯m fine.¡± Aloe lied as she wiped the tears on her garb¡¯s sleeve.


    Fikali, on the other hand, didn¡¯t respond back. Instead, she approached Aloe and nuzzled her snoot on the girl¡¯s side. As Aloe caressed the dweller¡¯s head, she noticed she had lied twice.


    She hadn¡¯t only teared up. Aloe let out a primordial bawl filled with suffering as everything she had accumulated over the last week flowed free.


    For better, but mostly for worse, Aloe was officially an adult.

 Book 2: 47. Requirements

    Disregarding the events of her coming of age, Aloe felt good. These last days she had been feeling horrible as she told herself that it all had been her fault, that she had abandoned her mother, even if she had never uttered those words to herself. The cruelest of thoughts were those that came without words, those made from only raw instinct and pain.


    But as she cried her loss, Aloe finally saw reality for all that it was.


    Life.


    She wouldn¡¯t have liked anything to come at this point, but Shahrazad¡¯s death was but an accident. But most importantly, out of her control. Even if she hadn¡¯t stayed at the greenhouse and instead helped her mother, Aloe doubted she could have done more to save her than the emir¡¯s physicians.


    Still, it hurt not being with her mother in her final moments.


    Scars may not heal, but they build character. Aloe was a changed woman, and instead of running away from it, she decided to embrace it. She was now alone, but she wouldn¡¯t let that fact scare her away.


    What scared her more were taxes, anyway.


    ¡°Yeah... I will need the money from the cannabis.¡± Before she had thought of planting cannabis for an extra coin, but now, it was a necessity. ¡°If I only had the house¡¯s ledgers, I could have a better estimate of the situation.¡±


    Considering her unstable mental state when she departed from Sadina, she didn¡¯t even blame herself for not thinking about it, even when a person in her current state blaming themselves was the first and easiest option at their disposal. There were multiple taxes to be paid, but city land property tax was the one that scared her the most.


    ¡°There are three alternatives to keep being able to pay the bills.¡± She accounted for not only taxes but also food and necessities as she scribbled with her veritas-soaked feather. ¡°First, marrying a rich old man.¡± It took all her might to hold her laughter. ¡°Haha, not possible. Even if I wanted to, that¡¯s the hardest of the possibilities. I hate to say it, but I don¡¯t have the skills nor assets to seduce anyone.¡±


    Though it was true not many people would find Aloe attractive, that was more of her inferiority complex speaking. Inferiority in more than one subject.


    ¡°Second, keep growing plants.¡± That was desirable if she wanted to keep practicing the vital arts, but there were some inconveniences. ¡°The two things that I can sell are veritas ink or cannabis, but I still don¡¯t know how profitable either of them can be. Normally drugs come from huge plantations, so I may not even dent a significant profit. As for the ink, it may be worthless until Tamara¡¯s contact tells me otherwise.¡±


    Aloe scratched off some text in the parchment. There was another alternative with the plants, but that required some of the newly evolved seeds to work as she believed, and that was pulling the string and hopes a bit too much for her liking.


    ¡°Third, becoming a scribe.¡± Even though it had been her mother¡¯s profession and perhaps a direct upgrade from her forgone job as a banker, Aloe couldn¡¯t help but feel uncomfortable. ¡°I... why does the idea of becoming a scribe scare me this much?¡±


    The reason was obvious, even if she didn¡¯t want to utter the words. Being at the mercy of the emir, at her range and claws, didn¡¯t make her comfortable.


    ¡°It¡¯s not like I have to keep the house, right?¡± That was true. If Aloe decided to do so, she could live in the oasis without problems or taxes.


    Karaim owned her lands, and by his will, they passed down to her when he died. And per Ydazi desert land-ownership law ¨C full ownership, mind you ¨C she had no need to pay taxes. Such laws were made so nobles didn¡¯t have to pay taxes, but if a nobody managed to acquire land, then the country couldn¡¯t tax them as the law applied to everybody. Even if she had studied law during her education and training as a banker and such knowledge told her that was the better alternative, forgoing her home in Sadina was out of the question.


    ¡°I can¡¯t do that to them.¡± Aloe caressed her cayora, she still wore it since yesterday. She tried to sniff the scent of her mother, but the brutality of the desert ¨C with its dryness and heat ¨C had eroded all of Shahrazad¡¯s traces. ¡°I can¡¯t sell the house.¡±


    If that meant becoming an emir¡¯s fiddle or even selling drugs straight to the assassins, that was fine by her. Family meant a lot more to her now that she had none to hold onto, honoring their memory was the best Aloe could do.


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    Since she steeled her resolution, the days quickly passed by. There was nothing else she could do now besides rest, and even herself knew she needed it. Her body and mind had been in constant strain even before her mother¡¯s death, so whilst three weeks of little to no labor didn¡¯t resolve everything, they helped greatly.


    However, there was one remarkable event in that rather uneventful period. It started with her lack of Aloe Veritas leaves.


    ¡°I¡¯m almost again without leaves.¡± Aloe sighed as she looked inside the jar where she stored them. ¡°I should plant another one, if not for the leaves, for the possibility that the ink business plan goes through.¡±


    She wasn¡¯t that sure about the last point, but she regardless searched for Aloe Vera seeds.


    ¡°I recall seeing Aloe Vera seeds somewhere...¡± Aloe mussed as she stood up. That place was none other than the pantry. ¡°Yup, here¡¯s a pot full of them.¡±


    Aloe didn¡¯t give it much thought and brought the whole pot to the desk, though as she sat down, a sense of dread ¨C mostly nervousness ¨C overtook her.


    ¡°I... I¡¯ve never evolved an Aloe Veritas before.¡± She stated the obvious. ¡°It¡¯s not going to take a lot of vitality, right?¡± Even if she had evolved several other plants right after, the Blossomflame incident still lingered in her body. ¡°Let¡¯s think it logically... If Karaim was able to evolve an Aloe Vera seed, it couldn¡¯t have been more than twice my vitality, right?¡± That second ¡®right¡¯ came with a bit more exasperation.


    Logically speaking, Aloe was right. She had already guessed Karaim didn¡¯t have much vitality, otherwise, he would have bitten the sand earlier. And neither did he mention passing out nor vomiting because of strenuous vitality usage, so that meant he was dealing with low-cost plants.


    There also existed the possibility that he had tremendous amounts of vitality so he had never passed out or experimented anything close, but Aloe didn¡¯t allow that thought to even fully bloom.


    Just in case, Aloe left the new Cure Grass pills close at hand.


    ¡°Alright, time to make some magic plants.¡± Aloe pushed vitality into the Aloe Vera seed in her hand. ¡°Huh?¡± And then she instantly got blocked off.


    Before any more sounds left her mouth, Aloe blinked thrice and tried to pour vitality into the seed once more. The result is the same.


    ¡°Am I stupid?¡± That was her first thought. ¡°Have I drunk a bit of dumb juice?¡± And that her second


    Instead of denigrating herself even more, she left the seed on the table and picked up another one from the pot in the weird case that some random unevolvable seed had shuffled its way inside the pot even if it looked identical to the rest of Aloe Vera seeds.


    The new seed declined her advance again.


    ¡°Uh...¡± Aloe opened her mouth to speak but closed it before a word left it. She waited for a moment to reflect and ponder. ¡°It can¡¯t be... right?¡±


    She had the faintest idea of what was happening. It had to do with Karaim¡¯s cultivation technique. In the earlier pages, Karaim mentioned how he had managed to evolve the Aloe Veritas and the Na¡¯mul Ter¡¯nar in a curious manner. Back then she dismissed it as the exaggeration of an old dying man, but now...


    ¡°Uhm...¡± Aloe reread the passage aloud. ¡°Alike every other Evolved plant, I began affecting an Aloe Vera with my vital energy but it wasn¡¯t until I dropped by mistake a recently cut aloe vera leaf and some seeds into an old tome. Most of the seeds became inert and lifeless, but a single seed pod had changed. Though the leaf in question had also mutated.¡±


    Even though she had just spoken the worst and had read this quote multiple times before, yet only now processed the meaning of it all.


    ¡°It cannot be... can it?¡± The idea sounded so ridiculous that it did a full loop and then half more to appear true. ¡°Are there evolutions blocked behind certain requirements?¡±


    Instead of feeling excited by the possibilities offered by this discovery, Aloe only felt dread.


    ¡°Oh heavens...¡± Her eyes shot wide open. ¡°Are you telling me that all the seeds I haven¡¯t been able to evolve have some cryptic requirements so they can actually evolve?¡±


    That emotion that she was feeling, that was making her tear up with dread, was called anxiety.


    ¡°Just kill me.¡±


    That was how Aloe was. Even if this discovery only presented positives ¨C there were more evolutions than she thought, after all, which meant more opportunities ¨C she could only feel the pressure of all the possibilities she had thrown at the window and the paths she had torched behind her because she didn¡¯t know everything was evolvable.


    ¡°I...¡± Aloe stopped talking, lest she was going to stress herself out. Alternately, she opted for trying if the Aloe Veritas evolution worked.


    ¡®Old tome¡¯ was a vaguely defined concept, and whilst Karaim did have some books ¨C which she hadn¡¯t even touched ¨C Aloe grabbed one of the parchments she had used to test veritas ink in lieu of wasting a good book.


    ¡°How do I do this?¡± Her best idea was to wrap the Aloe Vera seed on the parchment and just infuse it.


    And it worked.


    ¡°It fucking works. Of course.¡± She cursed as the seed drank her vitality with the same greediness that accompanied Evolution.


    She sounded like a tired storyteller by now, but the seed¡¯s eagerness paled in comparison with that of the Blossomflame. The Aloe Vera took around half of her vitality to evolve. And Karaim was right, the seed had mutated. It looked far differently than it did when it was a normal aloe, no longer a Vera, but a Veritas.


    There was a joke there, but Aloe ignored it.


    ¡°Dunes...¡± The discovery of the requirements for evolutions opened a bigger playing field, but what should have been only positives ended up taking a huge toll on Aloe¡¯s mental health.


    What followed were two days of extreme paranoia as she thought about what items could make the failed seeds evolve.

 Book 2: 48. Product

    ¡°Are you ready, Fikali?¡± Aloe stood up after tightening the last straps holding her belongings on the dweller¡¯s saddle.


    ¡°Wroo!¡± Fikali raised her claws and head high, though instead of intimidating, it came as a rather cute gesture.


    ¡°Good to hear that.¡± Aloe knelt and patted her head. ¡°Here, have a treat before we depart.¡± She offered her a handful of pistachios which the dweller accepted delightfully.


    The sun had yet to come out and the girls were already ready to set off.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Aloe jumped on the saddle. ¡°The sooner we march the sooner we arrive. Go forth, my stead!¡±


    ¡°Wrooo!¡± Inebriated by Aloe¡¯s words, Fikali grunted with all her might as she kickstarted into movement.


    ¡°Woooah!¡± She had mounted the dweller for tens of times now, yet she hadn¡¯t grown accustomed to Fikali¡¯s speed.


    Aloe held for her dear life as Fikali trod the desert. She was far more ready than all the other travels she had done. Not only was she infused with ¡®toughness¡¯ ¨C making it easier for her to tolerate the bumps, which mercilessly thrashed her bottom, and the overall fatigue of the travel ¨C but she had also charted the travel.


    In every instance of her travels between the oasis and Sadina, Aloe had always taken the same path. So after dedicating a bit of time to think and prepare the travel schedule, she had planned for the best and most efficient rest stops. The rest was mostly for her, as Fikali had seemingly endless stamina, but both of them would appreciate the time off as she had picked either deep valleys or rocky formations to stop, meaning they would get a short rest from the sun from time to time.


    And even if Fikali was a native of the desert, a monster of the dunes, she didn¡¯t like the sun that much. Just look at her on the oasis, always under a palm shadow. Aloe thought, there wasn¡¯t much to do during the trek as Fikali didn¡¯t need any directions or corrections as she knew the way by memory. Though maybe that¡¯s only because of her advanced age.


    Beyond that instance of thought, the rest of the travel ended up being quite silent, both in her mind and the outside world. The only moments of conversation ¨C if talking through grunts with a monster could be called a conversation ¨C were during the short stops.


    It wasn¡¯t even afternoon when Aloe made it back... home. She had lived in Sadina all her life, almost two decades, but now it felt alien. Not only did it have an oppressive aura with the aftermath of the plague, but it was no longer as comfortable as it once had been. It may be her home in name, but Aloe felt restless as they approached the city gates.


    There won¡¯t be another tribulation waiting for me, right? Aloe¡¯s heart was still scarred, the memories of her mother weighing down on her.


    Procedure on the gates was standard, more secure than normal, but less stressed and charged than when she came a week ago. Only a week... It feels longer... Aloe stepped inside the city. She had left a girl a week ago, yet she came back as a woman now.


    The stable master was as repulsive as always, and up to a point it hurt Aloe to leave Fikali closed there, but there was nothing she could do. I need to do something though. She thought as she strolled into the bazaar, her body overloaded with her luggage. One drupnar per day doesn¡¯t seem like much, but if I spend a year in Sadina that will amount to three drupnaruns and a fajati. Way more coins than I bought Fikali for will just go to upkeep expenses...


    After arriving home, Aloe collapsed at the entrance once she closed the door.


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    ¡°¡¯Toughness¡¯ might have kept me healthy, but damn, my calves hurt!¡± Aloe groaned on her way to the kitchen where she began unpacking. ¡°There isn¡¯t any notice anywhere, so at least I¡¯m not evicted.¡± She said jokingly as she undid the straps of her luggage. ¡°Not any tax notice nor news from Tamara. Nor the emir...¡±


    The last part worried her far more. The last words of Rani-al-Ydaz reverberated in her mind. ¡°I don¡¯t really like taking a no for an answer.¡± The emir¡¯s words disordered Aloe¡¯s heartbeat, she didn¡¯t know if it was out of fear or something else.


    Before doing anything else, Aloe went to the bathroom and dusted herself off. It may not seem it, but when one was cruising across the desert faster than the wind, sand tended to accumulate on the skin and clothes. With a lack of fresh and clean water in the house, Aloe did the best she could with towels and then changed into a thick dress. It was still winter, and the sun would go away in a few hours, after all.


    ¡°I do have a few days still before the deadline for the taxes, so I¡¯ll leave it for tomorrow.¡± Some may call Aloe lazy, but those people hadn¡¯t ridden a mount for half a day in their lives. She was amazed at how she managed to keep herself standing. ¡°I think I¡¯ll pay Umar a visit.¡±


    The most space-hungry piece of her luggage was none other than the jar where she had decided to store all the cannabis she had collected. Aloe did not have much idea of how cannabis should look when harvested, but she believed she did a great job as she followed Umar¡¯s instructions to the letter.


    As she made her way to the streets of Sadina, Aloe couldn¡¯t help herself but feel a bit nervous. She wasn¡¯t carrying any coin on her person, but she knew for a fact that some would kill for the contents of the jar, and these weren¡¯t the safest streets in the city.


    Aloe walked with a sure footing, not showing any worry. She was good at using masks. No one would doubt her as she carried a jar across the alleyways. And they surely wouldn¡¯t smell the cannabis as she had made sure to seal the jar well with a cloth.


    Soon enough, but way later than she would have liked, Aloe made it into the apothecary. As she pushed the curtains to the said, the smell ¨C or rather, pestilence ¨C of plants and incense hit her.


    ¡°Oh? Back already?¡± The old man left his pipe at the counter. It wasn¡¯t incense. ¡°I guess you¡¯ll have the product now.¡±


    ¡°As a matter of fact, yes I do.¡± Aloe walked to the counter and put the jar on top. ¡°But please, do not call it ¡®product¡¯, Umar. It makes me... feel weird. As if we are making something illegal.¡±


    ¡°Not gonna lie, girl, you are the first person ever to tell me to say cannabis straight up. Others prefer more subtlety.¡±


    ¡°But cannabis isn¡¯t illegal?¡±


    ¡°Of course not. But those who consume it aren¡¯t exactly well seen.¡± From Umar¡¯s tone, Aloe knew he wasn¡¯t just referring to the assassins but also the hashishiyah, those addicted to hashish. ¡°However that may be, let¡¯s see what you have brought, gal.¡±


    Umar stood up from his pillow and began unwrapping the jar. As soon as the seal went off, the pestilence of the pipe was substituted by the aroma of the cannabis.


    ¡°Cloth?¡± The apothecary asked.


    ¡°Yes?¡± The girl added shyly. ¡°Did I do something wrong? I thought this was better to preserve it than to leave it in the jar. Especially during such tumultuous travel.¡±


    ¡°No, no. You did well. The cloth will preserve the leaves and flowers far better than being left in the jar alone. The cloth removed most of the air in the jar so that only makes it better.¡± Umar explained. ¡°I¡¯m just not used to dealing with people with this much foresight.¡±


    ¡°Thanks?¡± Aloe tilted her head to the side, unsure of how to respond.


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t a compliment.¡± The old man snickered. ¡°It was an insult to all the morons I work with.¡±


    ¡°You called?¡± A voice shouted from the back store.


    ¡°No, you idiot!¡± The old man shouted back, his head turned to face the sound¡¯s origin. ¡°I was just talking about how brainless you are!¡±


    ¡°Fuck you!¡± The voice ¨C young and masculine, Aloe noticed ¨C cursed.


    ¡°I wish someone would fuck me! Come here if you are brave enough!¡± Umar didn¡¯t possess much flourish either. The voice scoffed and made himself silent again.


    ¡°Who was that?¡± Aloe asked. ¡°Or rather, what was that exchange?¡±


    ¡°Nothing to worry about.¡± The apothecary dismissed with a sway of his hand, bringing the pipe back to his lips. ¡°It¡¯s just my... grandson. Yes, my grandson. A stupid youngling that helps me with the store. I wish he had a tenth of your intelligence. Anyways, where were-¡° Before Umar could continue talking he was brought to his knees as a coughing fit assaulted him.


    Aloe backpedaled instead of thinking about assisting him. ¡°You haven¡¯t got this plague I heard so much about, haven¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°This?¡± Umar coughed a few more times and stood up. ¡°Nah, the plague is under control, or so I''ve heard. This is just a life of vice catching up to me. Kinda pathetic that Karaim bit the sand before me with all the stuff in my body.¡± The old man puffed again on his pipe as if the previous fit hadn¡¯t happened and let out a chuckle. ¡°Anyhow, let¡¯s see your drugs, girl.¡±

 Book 2: 49. Transaction

    Umar took the cloth out of the jar and unfolded it to reveal a mound of leaves and flowers. They were still green, but some sections had begun to dry becoming slightly brown by the withering.


    ¡°Looks good so far.¡± He commented not a second before literally eating one of the flowers.


    ¡°Umm...¡± Aloe didn¡¯t know how to react to that.


    ¡°And that¡¯s a solid taste. Yup, that¡¯s quality stuff right here. Far better than some of the trash I get.¡±


    ¡°Is it valuable?¡± She did her best to keep her fa?ade up, but the situation was too uncomfortable for her to be stone-faced. Who eats flower buds?


    ¡°I mean, it is more valuable as hashish, but yes. This is worth its weight in gold, girl.¡± Aloe was alleviated to hear that. ¡°This is why I bought your grandfather¡¯s stuff. Yes, it¡¯s not much, but sultanah-blessed lands only give for so much. His greenhouse¡¯s soil is far better than the sands touched by the blood of that woman.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡± Aloe didn¡¯t know Karaim¡¯s lands were that fertile. Though there were a lot of basic things about botany and horticulture she straight up didn¡¯t know. ¡°And how valuable are we talking about?¡±


    ¡°Hmm...¡± Umar didn¡¯t give her a straight answer, instead, he picked up the cloth and weighed the cannabis with his own hands as he inspected it closely. ¡°A lot.¡±


    The non-committal response made her nervous. ¡°How much is ¡®a lot¡¯?¡±


    ¡°Tareek, come here you dimwit!¡± The apothecary shouted at the back store before giving her an answer.


    A groan responded and soon a figure appeared from the bead curtains. It was a young man, older than Aloe but not by much, five years at most. His skin, however, was far more highlightable. It was just too fair for these lands.


    ¡°Wha¡¯cha won?¡± Tareek spoke roughly even if his looks and physiognomy were sophisticated. The timing and the pronunciation were so off that Aloe was led to believe that maybe he was, as a matter of fact, a dimwit.


    ¡°Taste this.¡± Umar pointed at the cannabis on the counter and hid his arms in his sleeves.


    The young man didn¡¯t doubt it and also took a flower, chewing on it as if it were a piece of lamb. The noises coming out of his mouth were unnervingly wet, and so was the time he dedicated to savoring it.


    ¡°Gud stuff,¡± Tareek said.


    ¡°How much would you buy all of this cannabis for?¡± The old man asked him with his eyes closed.


    ¡°This quality? Lots.¡± He answered, his tone becoming ever-so-sharper.


    ¡°Well, the taste test was certainly successful.¡± Umar opened his eyes. ¡°You can go back to whatever you were doing, Tareek.¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡± The young man sighed and made his way to the back store not before turning to face Aloe. ¡°I hadn¡¯t had such good material for a while now, keep at it, woman.¡± He added with a smile before disappearing into the shadows.


    His reaction agitated Aloe. Not only she didn¡¯t want to get the attention of people of his type, but there was also wrong with him. His voice. She realized. It wasn¡¯t only his tone, but his voice became far crisper and intelligible after eating the cannabis flower. There was something in that sudden change that unsettled her, even if she couldn¡¯t put the why into words.


    ¡°So, price?¡± Aloe added before Umar noticed something was wrong with her reaction.


    ¡°Well, we have verified it is a quality product,¡± Aloe frowned at him, ¡°What? The meaning is literally proper, gal. It is fucking grammatically correct. There are no euphemisms at play.¡±


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    ¡°I didn¡¯t say anything,¡± Aloe responded without showing any reaction whatsoever.


    ¡°You surely did, just without needing words.¡± The old man grunted and tapped the counter with his pipe. ¡°As I was saying, this is good stuff. People will pay hefty coin even for such meager quantity.¡±


    ¡°Hefty being?¡± The girl continued pressuring for a price.


    ¡°Two drupnarun.¡± Umar said.


    Now, Aloe¡¯s reaction was worthy of a theatrical play. First, she blinked ¨C just once, there wasn¡¯t enough time for more actions in such a short span ¨C then her body slightly recoiled backward, and finally she ended up with a coughing fit.


    ¡°Wha-?¡± Her voice was cut by coughs and dropped to the ground as air didn¡¯t reach her brain.


    ¡°Are you sure you aren¡¯t the one with the plague?¡± Umar smugly puffed his pipe.


    After a few more coughs, Aloe grabbed the ledge of the counter and weakly stood up. ¡°I think I heard it wrongly.¡±


    ¡°No, you definitely heard right.¡± He continued puffing the pipe.


    ¡°Two drupnarun.¡± She repeated with a tone so stale that she could have been a masterclass storyteller with the sheer clarity her tone conveyed.


    ¡°Two drupnarun,¡± Umar repeated nonchalantly.


    ¡°Do you even have that money?¡± Aloe frowned, still thinking this was a joke.


    ¡°I assure you I possess the finances to support such a transaction.¡± He set the pipe on the counter again. ¡°Are you going to take the money or not, lass?¡±


    ¡°Em-yes?¡± She was too stunned to respond coherently.


    ¡°Here then.¡± And he did it. He dropped two drupnaruns on the counter as if nothing. Nince-damned drupnaruns.


    Aloe looked at the two small electrum coins with delusion and paranoia. Where¡¯s the trap? Am I going to get assaulted and kidnapped? She looked around through the corner of her eyes for any movement. Are those the payment of the kidnappers? It couldn¡¯t be said that Aloe wasn¡¯t an imaginative person. A few breaths in, Aloe calmed herself, mostly by telling herself that no one would want to buy her. This was one of the few occasions where a lack of self-confidence and logic were equivalent.


    Two drupnarun, two hundred drupnars. Even then, she couldn¡¯t believe it. That¡¯s way more than the monthly workers¡¯ pay. Though that was exactly the time it had taken her to grow the plants. Aloe hyperventilated as she grabbed the coins. They were small, electrum was way more expensive than silver and copper after all, yet they seemed way heavier than any drupnari or drupnar.


    ¡°Relax a bit, lady. Otherwise, you might pass out.¡± Aloe unceremoniously stored the coins in her coin purse. ¡°No one¡¯s gonna still you. Well, no one here. That¡¯s a lot of money, some may be tempted. At least people can¡¯t smell coins. Well, they can but not easily. Electrum¡¯s rather unreactive as a metal. Not a smith, though.¡±


    ¡°Could... could you stop saying those things?¡± Aloe added nervously.


    ¡°Whatever you want, girl.¡± Umar raised his hands defensively, the pipe already between his fingers. ¡°You can go now, I ain¡¯t gonna stop you. And you should rest, you look like a mess.¡±


    ¡°I know that,¡± Aloe said sourly. She walked backward, not fully trusting him right now with all the money she carried in her person.


    ¡°The jar.¡± The apothecary pointed at the piece of ceramic with his pipe.


    ¡°Right, right.¡± The girl returned to the counter and picked up the jar, all whilst maintaining eye contact.


    ¡°I fully understand your lack of trust, but worry not, you have a friend in me.¡± Umar always seemed to be joking, every word as light as air, but now there was a seriousness in his tone that Aloe couldn¡¯t ignore. ¡°Your grandfather and I met half a century ago, I won¡¯t allow anything to happen to you. You can trust this promise.¡±


    The words were devoid of meaning to her, she had only known the man a bit more than a month and had only seen him frice, yet ¨C for some reason ¨C Aloe believed those words. As a liar, especially to herself, Aloe knew that man was being sincere.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be waiting for more cannabis,¡± Umar said as her back met the curtains leading to the streets. ¡°There have been a few problems with the farmlands and the price of any hallucinogen has skyrocketed, notably those of high quality. You have a lot to win with these transactions.¡± His last words felt like a barbed offered.


    ¡°I¡¯ll.. think about it.¡± Aloe held her breath for a moment as the twilight-colored sun rays caressed her back. ¡°I¡¯ll be occupied for an indefinite amount of time, so I don¡¯t know if I¡¯ll be able to take care of more cannabis.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a bit of a shame, you can¡¯t bring these few leaves and leave me hanging.¡±


    ¡°Sorry.¡± She added instinctively, though she didn¡¯t mean it.


    ¡°Bah, no problem, no problem.¡± Umar waved his pipe around. ¡°I¡¯ll take whatever you can give me. Just take a good rest. I¡¯m led to believe such commodities are few in order at the moment.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯d be right,¡± Aloe whispered. Her voice was so weak, so tired that she didn¡¯t think Umar would hear it, yet he smiled, nonetheless. ¡°See... see you later.¡±


    ¡°But of course, until our threads cross again.¡± As she walked outside the apothecary, the last Aloe saw of Umar was his wrinkled smile, but the last she heard was his loud coughs, a violent and raging fit that lingered in the street.

 Book 2: 50. Taxes

    The day ended before Aloe noticed. She was tired from the journey, so even if the sun had yet to set, she went to sleep. Her house felt empty when she woke up. With the shack at the oasis, that was fine, it barely had three rooms, more than enough for a person; but her two-story house with more commodities than entire commoner families could afford, she felt more alone than in the middle of the desert.


    ¡°Maybe I could get Jafar and his family to move here...¡± Their family had no economic problems, but company was all Aloe wanted. ¡°I could even become a landlord, that would also become a boost to my depressing financial status, and they would pay way less...¡±


    Aloe left that thought fly free. Even if it was a logical decision, it was far from sensible. Their pride ¨C both Jafar¡¯s and Mirah¡¯s ¨C wouldn¡¯t allow them to move out, even if it was cheaper for them. And Aloe knew very well that pride let people make suboptimal decisions, for she was one of them.


    Without stressing herself more, Aloe made her way out of the house after having some of the leftover travel rations as breakfast.


    ¡°Huh.¡± She looked at the rising sun. ¡°I guess living in the middle of nowhere messed with my schedule. I didn¡¯t notice it was this early.¡±


    Like a farmer ready for a day of hard work, Aloe had woken up before the sun had even fully risen. First light hadn¡¯t awakened her, but her instinct saying the sun was going to come out.


    ¡°Not enough time to dwell on my messed sleep, I¡¯m afraid. Today¡¯s gonna be a long day.¡±


    Her first destination was none other than the public baths. She had so much sand encrusted in her skin even after thoroughly dusting herself off that it had formed layers of dust.


    No matter how early of an hour it was, the baths were open. They had to keep the boilers running all day to keep the water hot, so it only closed for about eight hours. Not letting the money get up to her head, Aloe paid for the cheapest bath option. There would probably be nobody in the free access bath at this hour, but Aloe was too shy to let others see her body.


    Even if she wanted to experience some luxury, the most expensive course was a drupnarun, half of what she had gotten yesterday. She had heard from patrons in the bank she was training and even her school who had visited such a course that it was life-changing. One ended up pampered in more than one way after paying such a price, but Aloe doubted she would pay that even if she had the money.


    The simple course baths were obviously empty, if you could afford to waste a drupnar on a bath, why waste a fajat and go with an even better bath? Aloe enjoyed herself for a long time in the pools, cleaning her body and cleansing her spirit in the warm waters. The public baths had something that the oasis could never recreate. Though she lamented the fact that she couldn¡¯t swim here.


    Well, she could, no one was stopping her. But she was now a woman, no longer a child. If someone saw her doing that, she would pass out from the shame.


    ¡°Water truly washes everything away~¡± Aloe moaned as warmth drowned her body.


    A few hours later ¨C you heard it right ¨C Aloe made her way out of her bath, now it was time to do something less entertaining which soured the mood she had barely managed to recover.


    Yesterday, she hadn¡¯t gone to sleep immediately, instead, she stayed awake for a few hours in the afternoon revising the ledgers of the house and family.


    Good news, they weren¡¯t in any debt. If her life were a piece of fiction ¨C especially those found in the university archives where only women went and even though they were classified as ¡®history¡¯ it was just a collection of cheap smut ¨C she would be now drowning in debt left by her late family and would have to resort to selling her body to keep by.


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    That was when fiction also normally failed. There were better ways to get money that didn¡¯t require selling one¡¯s body, though not as engaging for a story. Jobs that people don¡¯t want to do and that they are well remunerated for that exact same reason. They weren¡¯t easy jobs by any means, but they were far more dignified, if a little bit dangerous.


    Selling one¡¯s body also entered that category, though it was ¡®selling¡¯ in a more literal sense.


    And thankfully for her, there wasn¡¯t any bad news. Well, bad news she didn¡¯t know and hadn¡¯t accounted for. Taxes were, of course, a dent in everyone¡¯s budget. A normal commoner in Sadina won around one hundred and one hundred fifty drupnars per month. Now, those commoners normally didn¡¯t own their houses, they normally rented a whole house between all the members of the family, and there could be as many as a dozen in a unit.


    The rent of a house would probably float around a whole drupnarun per month, basically all the income of a single commoner. But they were free of any taxes associated with the property. And that meant that with a partner also working they could scrape by. A third one would allow them to live modestly. Perhaps.


    One hundred drupnars per month was the ideal salary, not the median. Some people gained far less than that. That was why families were at the very minimum composed of three generations. However, the later generations were also a dent in the income.


    Aloe knew she was lucky to be in her current position, but she was also greedy, and she knew she could be in an even better position.


    ¡°Next!¡± A man shouted, more like berated, making the line advance a step forward.


    Aloe¡¯s current location was in an office next to Sadina¡¯s palace. The taxation office, to be precise. The man at the desk looked tired even though the day had barely started. Not a lot of people owned property, even if Sadina was the second richest city in Ydaz, but there was only one office, two desks, and a single week margin to file the taxes. Property and land taxes were taken far more seriously than any other type of taxes where you could just drop the money by. Or even get it collected.


    People tended to hate tax collectors, but if they had to make you wait in line to then pay them money, people would hate them even more. They weren¡¯t saints, but tax collectors could be even worse than they were.


    Once it was her turn, there weren¡¯t any complications. Of course, there weren¡¯t. Her family had close ties with the ruling of the city and they had been always precise with their payments. Aloe wasn¡¯t suddenly notified of a forgotten debt that didn¡¯t even appear on her ledgers, though there were some instances of taxes she hadn¡¯t been aware that she would need to pay now.


    No matter how thorough her training as a banker had been, this was her first time filing taxes. She had filled ledgers of strangers with their debts, commissions, and gains, but it was a new other world doing her own numbers.


    And there were a lot of taxes that they didn¡¯t teach in schools or bank apprenticeships. Most were rather obvious like guild circle or customs taxation ¨C both that Aloe didn¡¯t need to apply or had used but her father had been part of, and therefore the numbers still were in the ledgers ¨C but she found the plethora of ways the country had to drain the money out of its citizens a bit disgusting.


    At least war taxes hadn¡¯t been invoked for decades now thanks to Aaliyah-al-Ydaz¡¯s isolationist rule.


    Instead of comparing numbers in a counter ¨C yes, she had brought the ledgers with her as she feared the people at the taxation office may try to fool her as this was her first time ¨C she was led to an office where she calmly talked and compared numbers with a mature woman. Aloe hadn¡¯t asked her name as she was evidently pressured for time, but the lady had been helpful enough to introduce her to basic contents about Ydazi tax law that she may require in the future, especially if she started working.


    Regardless of the goodwill of the good woman, she still took Aloe¡¯s money with the wretched claws of a djinn. Two hundred and fifty-seven drupnar. Yes, far more than she had won with the cannabis transactions, but she had also paid for other taxes and... deals that would make it so she wouldn''t need to worry about a tax collector knocking on her door for at least the first quarter of the year if not half.


    Banker was her middle name, and the middle name of banker was the word bribe. There was no corruption nor debauchery in her acts, just... intelligent usages of economics that were meant to alleviate one¡¯s taxation percentage.


    Others called it tax evasion.


    Aloe knew this since the very beginning and hadn¡¯t hoped it would be different from what she expected, but the world of the adults was boring. She wasn¡¯t sure of many things as of late, everything appeared fleeting and going for her throat, but after this enlightening ¨C and surprisingly entertaining, though she would never admit that ¨C session of tax filling, Aloe had reached a conclusion in her sea of confusion.


    There were only three certain things in life: death, sand, and taxes.

 Book 2: 51. Anxiety

    Noon was drawing near, yet hunger felt like a stranger to Aloe, so she did the first thing that came to her mind. She knocked thrice on the door in front of her.


    ¡°Coming!¡± The muted voice of a woman responded, her steps far louder than her voice. ¡°Who¡¯s the- Oh.¡± Mirah opened the door and met her gaze.


    ¡°Hello.¡± Aloe saluted shyly.


    ¡°You¡¯re back!¡± Before Aloe could react, Mirah locked her in an embrace. The height difference was ever-so-perfect for the housewife to suffocate her in her bosom.


    ¡°Uhk!¡± Aloe pushed her back as she struggled for air. ¡°Yeah... Sorry for going out again as suddenly as I did.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t need to apologize, Aloe,¡± Mirah said heartfeltly. ¡°You were wounded, both physically and mentally. I understand that you needed time alone, and even then, it¡¯s your life to live. Your mistakes to make.¡± She smiled welcomingly, and then her eyes illuminated. ¡°Oh! I didn¡¯t notice you were wearing a cayora. You look dashing!¡±


    ¡°Well, I wouldn¡¯t say dashing is the most adequate of epithets.¡± Aloe toyed with a lock of hair, a faint blush appearing on her visage. She blamed the lack of air.


    ¡°Nonsense!¡± Mirah denied. ¡°I feel so bad for grabbing you like I did, I messed it up! Here, lemme straight it up for you.¡±


    Mirah didn¡¯t give Aloe the choice to respond as she assaulted her with her hands, fixing the position of the cloth and aligning it with her head in a matter of seconds.


    ¡°Way better!¡± The housewife puffed her chest proudly with her hands on her waist. ¡°But let¡¯s get you inside, you surely have a lot to tell me.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if I have a lot to tell you, but I¡¯ll take your offer nonetheless.¡±


    And, indeed, Aloe didn¡¯t have much to tell Mirah. She spent the noon in her house, but they didn¡¯t talk much. That was until the word ¡®cooking¡¯ left Aloe¡¯s mouth.


    ¡°You¡¯ve eaten that?!¡± Mirah cringed; her expression growing visually sick as Aloe told her about her new ¡®recipe¡¯. ¡°We have to correct that!¡±


    In the end, she hadn¡¯t even needed to ask her for cooking classes, Mirah imposed herself before that. Considering her family was out the whole day ¨C Aya arrived first in the afternoon ¨C Mirah followed the classical dining scheme. Depending on the social standing and the family unit, people would have lunch or not. Instead opting for throwing copious feasts at night. Mirah, as she was always home alone and loved cooking, preferred more to prepare for a big meal.


    Having said so, she didn¡¯t hold back any food as she taught Aloe. They were basic things by any standards, but there was a huge difference between seeing someone cooking and being lectured on how to do it. Mirah and Aloe prepared herself a light lunch, and then the housewife gifted all the leftovers to Aloe.


    ¡°I... Thank you, a lot, Mirah.¡± Aloe had felt a one-sided sense of petty rivalry and envy all her life, but these last weeks, she was only thankful for her presence.


    ¡°It¡¯s only leftovers, Aloe. That¡¯s barely worth mentioning.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not only that.¡± She swayed her head in negation. ¡°You gave me a bed, treated me, encouraged me, and then taught me. To that, I can only say thank you and offer nothing in return.¡±


    ¡°You need to offer nothing in return, you dummy.¡± Mirah chuckled. ¡°That¡¯s what family is for.¡±


    ¡°I...¡± Aloe was left speechless. She had lost her family, there was no one else living with her blood anymore. But perhaps... perhaps there were other ties other than blood. ¡°Of course, Aunty Mirah.¡± She smiled at her.


    Mirah smiled back. ¡°You are welcome.¡± Those words held more meaning and weight than she was aware of.


    <hr>


    Aloe quickly said her byes to Mirah and departed her house, mainly because she was about to cry, and she didn¡¯t want to show any weakness. However, that raised the question of what weakness was even. A question that Aloe didn¡¯t stop to ponder or doubt.


    It was time to fight her djinns. The insurmountable tower in a tale, the fear that made her heart beat erratically.


    Aloe stepped onto the stairs leading to Sadina¡¯s palace.


    There were guards at the foot of the hill where the palace was situated, but they didn¡¯t stop nor inquire Aloe. Even the ones at the entrance once at the top let her pass, which paradoxically made her far more anxious than if they had stopped her.


    She practically tiptoed as she nervously walked across the decorated hallways. Audiences were normally reserved for the mornings, but there were some cases where they extended to noon. If she remembered correctly, today was one of those weekdays. Her nerves screamed at her that she was incorrect, constantly second-guessing herself, already imagining the embarrassment she would go through if she was wrong.


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    But of course, she wasn¡¯t.


    Anxiety was an insidious torturer. Logic was oblivious to it, only passion mattered. A senseless and idiotic feeling that ceaselessly knifed her heart with each beat.


    Aloe¡¯s breathing was rugged by the time she made it to the audience hall even if she had simply walked in a straight line. She was thankful for her dress that covered most of her skin, lest others may see how badly she was sweating.


    The audience hall gates were guarded by a couple of female soldiers. Not exactly rare under Aaliyah-al-Ydaz¡¯s rule, but certainly not common. Even if the Sultanah pushed a matriarchal agenda, funnily enough, she didn¡¯t hide that she preferred to have men as soldiers instead of women. This was a second-hand fact spoken by the snake tongues, so it probably wasn¡¯t true ¨C or at least not word for word ¨C but Aloe had heard that the Sultanah said that if someone had to die, it was better if those were men.


    Aloe didn¡¯t have any insight into that comment. She only knew that she was babbling, ignoring the reality before her eyes.


    Her idiotic fears had been wrong, the audience hall was open to the public. Then why do I feel more nervous? Paradoxes upon paradoxes, Aloe couldn¡¯t answer them as she was pressured by some gazes ¨C she couldn¡¯t even remember whose ¨C to step into the room and join the supplicants.


    The conversations were trivial, or at least trivial for a royal audience hall. Some trade deals, some street crime reports, an update on the farmlands, et cetera. Normal business.


    The woman sitting at the pillowed throne looked tired from a day of work, her expression lacking any real energy. Yet even then, no one could deny Rani-al-Sadina looked beautiful as the orange sun rays grazed her bronze skin. The lack of energy only made her more regal, as her laying position ¨C her head laying on her hand, which arm was resting on the throne arm ¨C made her look like a statue.


    Her eyes turned to Aloe¡¯s direction, her sun-shone amethysts locking into her as her lips drew into a djnnish smile.


    Her breath stopped. She couldn¡¯t know why. Was it the mystical sight of the sultanzade basking in the twilight? Or the sheer terror she felt by having an imperial¡¯s attention set on her?


    Against her desires, Aloe stepped forward as one petitioner made his way out, scribe Nuha calling for the next one to attend. Aloe was still deep in the queue, it would take at least one hour more for her to be listened to, maybe only half of that if the queue moved fast.


    Rani-al-Sadina made no motion to accelerate the queue or to take Aloe out of it, she just observed patiently with a smile drawn in her visage. Is she getting a thrill for making me wait? Because I¡¯m not tired... Correct, Aloe was not tired, she was nervous. She wasn¡¯t sure if the emir knew that as Aloe was putting on her greatest mask: that of indifference.


    It was easy to see when one had a mask on their face, especially when they were playing cards. Or in Aloe¡¯s case, when they were lying about their finances. But a mask that was impossible to interpret, no matter how proficient one may be at expression queues, was that of pure apathy and lack of care. Indifference was an emotion so truthful that people didn¡¯t even question themselves if someone was faking it.


    Her default expression was indifference.


    The problem wasn¡¯t what was printed on her face, but her breathing. She could easily fake her expression, but her breathing was more complicated. If it weren¡¯t for Nuha¡¯s powerful voice ¨C echoing through the chamber with her practiced and projected tone ¨C someone would have surely heard Aloe¡¯s erratic breaths.


    She coped with her anxiety by ignoring the outside world, mindlessly prancing forward when the queue moved, not even bothering to check on the room¡¯s inhabitants.


    At some point, her internal clock had long stopped working, there no longer was a person in front of her. She was the first in the queue.


    ¡°Name and purpose of visit?¡± Nuha announced with a cutting voice, awakening Aloe from her self-imposed slumber.


    It took a lot of might and control of her body reflexes to not jump scaredly as her mind kicked into activity once more.


    ¡°Aloe Ayad,¡± She stated surely, ¡°I¡¯m here for... work?¡± then lost it all.


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid that¡¯s not a valid purpose of visit,¡± Nuha responded in what seemed to be an automatic manner. Her tired and dead eyes reflected no light. She hasn¡¯t even recognized me...


    ¡°I¡¯ll make an exception for this case.¡± Rani-al-Sadina¡¯s voice cut through the room, snapping Nuha out of her work-induced trance.


    ¡°I...¡± Nuha blinked several times, only now realizing who was before her, ¡°of course, my Emir.¡±


    ¡°And what work would you be interested in, Aloe Ayad?¡± Rani-al-Sadina revealed a smile that countries would have waged wars for.


    ¡°Uhm... scribe, my Emir,¡± Aloe added with a bow, struggling to keep her breathing steady.


    Not even an instant later she remembered how the emir had ordered to refer to her last time she saw her. Aloe raised her head ever-so-slightly, but thankfully the princess was still smiling from side to side. If she cared about Aloe¡¯s offense, she did not show it.


    ¡°Well, it is true that we have a scribe position open, yes.¡± The sultanzade looked at her nails uninterestedly. ¡°But what makes you think you are worthy of such a position?¡±


    Upon hearing such a shattering statement, Aloe¡¯s heart dropped. If she had been thinking more straightly, she would have realized that the princess was playing with her as she was the one who had offered the work to her.


    But her mind wasn¡¯t working straight.


    Before Aloe could utter a response, which she would have honestly messed up. Another person interjected the conversation. Aloe hadn¡¯t noticed her presence before, but she walked from one side of the throne and stopped right in front of her, cutting her line of sight with the emir.


    What she could only assume was a scribe ¨C though it was difficult to say as her clothes were basic and utilitarian rather than colorful and expensive ¨C was a young woman. Barely a girl looking at her face, yet her build told another story. All of those characteristics faded into obscurity as one of them outdid every other.


    Her eyes shone like ambers.


    A bewitching sight that captivated people, though they were incomparable to the amethyst gaze standing above them.


    Then she unfortunately spoke. ¡°Who¡¯s this virgin?¡±

 Book 2: 52. Object

    ¡°Excuse me?¡± Unfiltered confusion flooded Aloe¡¯s thoughts. Though her visage was overrun by embarrassment as she violently blushed, she had never been so thoroughly undermined.


    ¡°Don¡¯t fret, you are excused.¡± The girl, no, the child said to her face. ¡°Though you should be ashamed of being a virgin at your age.¡± Then any rage Aloe had managed to build up was slapped out of her being, her blushing intensified.


    ¡°Hahaha!¡± The emir meanwhile laughed in the comfort of her throne, her voice echoing through the whole hall.


    Rani-al-Sadina did not stop the girl.


    ¡°Ehm...¡± Aloe quickly recomposed herself as soon as she noticed no one was going to aid her. ¡°Ignoring the slander¨C¡°


    ¡°What slander? That¡¯s an objective statement.¡± The amber-eyed girl interjected.


    Aloe continued as if the girl had not spoken. ¡°¨Cagainst my person, who are you to interrupt the audience of the Emir of Sadina mid-speech?¡±


    Diplomatically but not too aggressive, that was Aloe¡¯s preferred style. With her question, she had made an honest inquiry whilst sounding somewhat derisive, but not too much. Because she was right. Whoever the girl was, she had indeed interrupted the conversation of an emir.


    The girl grinned dangerously, her eyes turning into knives. ¡°You are addressing Naila Asina, forty-second child of Her Majesty, the Sultanah Aaliyah-al-Ydaz.¡± The girl curved into a bow, the stretched clothes marking her build. A constitution that wasn¡¯t of a child.


    Aloe paled.


    The ex-banker¡¯s apprentice contained her breath, as the lack of blood in her face wouldn¡¯t be detectable in her dark skin, she had better things to worry about. I haven¡¯t been too antagonistic, right? Her mind worked furiously to recompose her and to assess a response.


    The situation was far from unrecoverable.


    Children were malleable, young people could be misled easily. The imperial child wasn¡¯t much younger than Aloe, but besides her head, there was also her pride at stake. And some may say the latter was far more valuable than the former.


    Aloe smiled, straightening her back as she did so. Diplomacy was one of the first subjects she was taught to be a banker, only second to Economics.


    ¡°With all due respect, Sultanzade Naila.¡± Aloe bowed deeply, far more than the sultanah¡¯s scion had done but far from enough for a formal apology. ¡°Whilst your standing as a princess of Ydaz is far higher than my position, you still have interrupted my Emir, Rani-al-Sadina, who not only outranks you as your older sister but also in titles. In this current moment, you have disregarded the authority and rule of the Emirate of Sadina.¡±


    Aloe didn¡¯t sound smug, she didn¡¯t smile, nor she exhaled in any way that could be considered offensive. She was now only a vassal whose liege had been thoroughly disrespected. Not even Naila knew how to react.


    That was the issue at hand, no matter how lowly Aloe¡¯s blood and social standing may be, she was right. And everyone in the audience hall knew it.


    So Naila did the most sensible thing and turned back. Aloe didn¡¯t know what the sultanzade was imagining, perhaps she thought that as she turned her head an irate sovereign would yell at her after all the ideas Aloe had put into her head.


    Whatever she was imagining, it certainly wasn¡¯t her sister holding her laughs, almost in tears, as she twisted and jerked around in her throne.


    ¡°Sister?¡± Naila asked with veritable confusion.


    ¡°Sorry, sorry.¡± Rani-al-Sadina hid her lips with her hand as she talked. ¡°I¡¯m still processing the first thing you said. Oh, heavens, my stomach is hurting.¡±


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    It didn¡¯t suit well with Aloe that the ruler of her city laughed at her misfortune, but her thoughts were mostly placed on where to look. Rani-al-Sadina was lightly clothed, and the clothes she donned were loosely fit. As she jerked around, so did her bountiful cleavage. Aloe... she didn¡¯t know what to do with that image.


    ¡°Ah~¡± After a solid minute, the emir exhaled in a way that could only be classified as a moan. ¡°It has been a while since I laughed, I needed that.¡±


    Least to say, no one reacted to the sultanzade¡¯s words, nor did nobody interrupt her. The only person that may have the right to do so also abstained from talking.


    ¡°Having said so,¡± Rani-al-Sadina restored her composure in a blink as if her laughing fit never happened, she continued talking, ¡°I have no qualms with you interrupting me, Naila. Only Aaliyah or the fucking moron of Hassan would impose themselves over such trivial matters.¡±


    There were many hidden meanings in the last sentence, Aloe had that feeling. However, she willingly decided to not worry about it and let it pass.


    ¡°I see, sister.¡± Naila shallowly bowed to the emir and then pointed at Aloe. ¡°So who¡¯s this virgin.¡±


    ¡°Oof.¡± The older sultanzade curved into a ball as she coughed into her fist. She needed a few more coughs to process the statement.


    Much to Aloe¡¯s dismay and her liege¡¯s entertainment looking by her amused gaze, she blushed again. It wasn¡¯t even controllable. That was what getting called a virgin in the middle of a room full of people, strangers all of them, did to a person.


    ¡°Ooooh...¡± Rani-al-Sadina reclined her head on the back of the throne as she exhaled, her exposed belly rising up and down uncontrollably. ¡°It¡¯s getting hard to breathe.¡± She added in a whisper, Aloe herself had difficulties catching her words even if she was close to the throne.


    Aloe heard a deep breath coming from the emir as she regained her composure once more, but her skin tingled as the sultanzade did so. There¡¯s a... chillness? She couldn¡¯t understand what she had even felt, but as soon as the sensation appeared, it vanished without a trace. Before she could dwell on it, the emir talked.


    ¡°Oh, Naila. You spent too much time at the palace.¡± Rani-al-Sadina said with the tone expected from an older sister. ¡°I do believe some apologies are in order for your public humiliation, Aloe Ayad.¡±


    The emir faced her, though the younger sultanzade twisted her visage as if to say: ¡°I won¡¯t apologize to this woman.¡± It would seem her sister also thought that as she spoke her next words.


    ¡°Not from you, Naila. But Aaliyah.¡± Both Aloe and Naila frowned at the emir¡¯s words. ¡°This is not a well-known fact for outsiders, but in Asina palace, sultanzade don¡¯t tend to stay virgin for a long time, nor do they guard their virginity as others may do.¡±


    ¡°Wait,¡± Naila interjected, ¡°are you saying that this behavior is normal?¡±


    ¡°Well, I wouldn¡¯t say normal, sister. People do as they please with their intimacy, but it is common for women to protect their virginity, if not to find a definitive partner, certainly as a political tool for marriage.¡±


    Aloe cringed and felt nauseated as the emir lectured her sister in front of her. Not only wasn¡¯t this a subject to be taught in public but also not when they talked about a person in specific. Aloe had been looked down multiple times before, but this was the first time she truly felt like an object, a pot decorating a room. And... she didn¡¯t know what she was feeling as her hands trembled. Nothing good, she knew. But she couldn''t point exactly the words, only that it made her nauseous to be presented like a possession.


    ¡°I comprehend,¡± Naila added with a rather scholarly tone. ¡°I guess virginity is not as much of an identifying trait as I thought.¡± Aloe couldn¡¯t know this, but there weren¡¯t any virgins in the heart of the capital. At least beyond the age of fourteen.


    ¡°Yes, there are virgin people out there. It¡¯s not as identifiable as saying ¡®they have jet-black hair¡¯, or something along those lines.¡± The young sultanzade nodded in understanding at her sister¡¯s words. ¡°That also reminds me, don¡¯t tell people if they are virgins or not.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± Naila inquired.


    ¡°People can¡¯t tell virginity by sight alone.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t tell someone¡¯s virginity by sight alone.¡± The princess corrected. ¡°Maybe the sexual prowess, but not the virginity.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not about if you can or not, that¡¯s how it feels for others. You surely use more senses, but non-cultivators wouldn¡¯t understand it.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I get it.¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± Rani-al-Sadina dismissed the subject with a wave of her hand, then snapped her fingers. ¡°Where were we before all of this?¡±


    ¡°I was asking you who was this woman you were referring to so casually.¡± Naila pointed at Aloe with a nudge of her head, this time thankfully not mentioning her lack of sexual prowess, much to her dwindling sanity.


    ¡°Right, right.¡± The emir clapped lightly twice; the sound was weak, but it filled the whole room.


    The echo snapped everyone out of the trance from the weird conversation. Even Aloe, who hadn¡¯t noticed that she had stopped paying attention, mostly out of shame.


    ¡°Aloe Ayad?¡± Rani-al-Sadina asked with a warm smile in her visage.


    Dunes. Aloe cursed; the sweet touch of the smile almost made her forget how badly the princess had talked about her.


    ¡°Yes, my Emir?¡± She kneeled upon being referred by her ruler.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t I tell you to speak to me by my name?¡± Rani¡¯s grin accentuated.


    Not only she had failed now, but looking at the sultanzade¡¯s overjoyed expression, she also had noticed the other times Aloe had done so during the conversation. She did remember... Dunes.

 Book 2: 53. Scribe

    ¡°I... of course, Rani,¡± Aloe responded submissively, doing everything in her reach to not irate the ruler of the city.


    ¡°Good.¡± The emir clasped, a smile written on her face, her eyes closed in amusement. ¡°Going back to the subject at hand, you want to be my scribe of commoners. Right, Aloe Ayad?¡±


    There was something in the woman that it made Aloe impossible to be mad at her. It wasn¡¯t only her unparalleled beauty, able to leave men and women breathless alike, but also her speech. Words flew from her mouth with the cadence of a river of honey; a sweet taste, and a soft texture that drove people mad. Her gentle, albeit seductive, gestures only exacerbated her charisma.


    ¡°T-that is i-indeed my intention, Rani.¡± Aloe found herself stuttering as the gaze of both sultanzade set on her. Though it wasn¡¯t the youngest one at fist range that afflicted her.


    ¡°Tamara, what do you think?¡± Rani-al-Sadina turned her face towards the scribe of commerce.


    Aloe was surprised to notify her presence. She had been so distracted with the imperial sisters that everyone else in the chamber faded into the deep confines of her mind, even if she very much felt their gazes scratching her back, inquiring and vicious. Her embarrassment resurfaced.


    ¡°As you are aware, my Emir,¡± Tamara started, ¡°there¡¯s a severe lack of staff in the palace. Not only with the scribes, which we are only working at three-fifths of our normal manpower but, overall, every possible position due to the previous emir¡¯s poor management.¡±


    ¡°So you are saying that she would fit other positions in the palace better than the highly-coveted scribe position?¡± The older sultanzade rested her head on the back of her hand as she gazed at the mature scribe.


    ¡°I am not saying anything, that would be unbecoming of my position,¡± Tamara responded with a diplomacy that was all too familiar to Aloe. ¡°I am just stating the possible options and open workspaces at the palace. Nothing else, nothing more.¡±


    ¡°I see. I see.¡± Rani-al-Sadina ruminated. ¡°Then the destiny of this girl¡¯s job is at my hands, that¡¯s what you are entailing?¡±


    Aloe¡¯s eyes shot wide open as the words reached her ears, her heart dropping to the sands.


    ¡°Your decision-making capabilities were never in question, my Emir.¡± The scribe responded. ¡°You alone are the one with the power to decide how the free jobs at the palace are filled.¡±


    It was hard to contain her mask upon hearing such arguments. Aloe had come for the job as an emir¡¯s scribe, not only it would allow her to continue living her life as normal, but it would allow her to form a lot of connections. If the emir decided to give her the job of a common scribe or worse, a maid, then she would be in no position to refuse because she was the one that petitioned for a job. If the emir accepted with a job ¨C any job ¨C then refusing it wouldn''t be different to denying her grace, her authority. Her strength.


    Aloe¡¯s fate, in all senses of the sentence, was in the hands of the woman lazily sitting on the throne mindlessly inspecting her nails.


    ¡°Those are good points, scribe Tamara.¡± Aloe skipped a heartbeat as Rani talked. ¡°But you are a scribe for a reason, so tell me. Is the petitioner qualified for the job as my personal scribe of the commonfolk?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Tamara nonchalantly responded, almost making Aloe faint on the spot.


    ¡°Oh~¡± Rani-al-Sadina let out a smile that alone lowered the temperature of the audience hall by a significant mark. ¡°Do elaborate.¡±


    ¡°This woman is certainly learned in many subjects, basic qualifications like knowing how to read and write are already given for granted, but her knowledge of Mathematics, Economics, and Language are far more suited for the position of scribe of commerce rather than the scribe of commonfolk.¡±


    ¡°Are you suggesting she should take your position?¡± Whilst before the emir only appeared entertained, now Tamara had piqued her interest.


    ¡°Heavens know I don¡¯t intend to leave my position yet, my Emir.¡± Tamara swayed her head. ¡°I was suggesting a position under my wing.¡±


    ¡°Given your arguments, that¡¯s understandable. But the decision is mine alone to take.¡±


    ¡°I have never stated otherwise.¡±


    Rani-al-Sadina squinted her eyes as if saying, ¡°Yes, you never did say so,¡± but no words came out of her mouth. The whole audience hall fell into a pregnant silence broke, no one dared to speak before the emir said so.


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    ¡°I accept your petition.¡±


    The emir spoke those words so casually that it took Aloe a few seconds to process it. The next voice she heard wasn¡¯t as welcoming.


    ¡°Haven¡¯t you heard? The emir accepted your query, now remove yourself from the queue. Next!¡± Scribe Nuha shouted tiredly, bags hanging under her eyes. She couldn¡¯t care less about Aloe, she just wanted to finish her workday.


    Stunned, Aloe moved to the side. She remained in the hall as she didn¡¯t know what to do now, no one gave her any orders nor made her out, so she stayed next to the throne in silence as the petitioner¡¯s line slowly diminished.


    Naila, the emir¡¯s sister, looked at her as they waited in silence. Rani-al-Sadina didn¡¯t speak again to the remainder of the audience. Aloe did her best to ignore the sultanzade¡¯s gaze, both of them, but especially Naila¡¯s. Saying that her eyes contained aggressiveness was falling short.


    The line of people seeking aid and knowledge from the emir stopped growing a while ago; the guards at the entrance of the audience hall stopped letting them in. Yet those that remained sometimes peered at Aloe, their gazes making her blush. She did her best to contain her emotions, impassivity was her game, but the embarrassment was overwhelming. I should have left. Aloe thought time and time again as the shame became unbearable.


    Before she even noticed, all the petitioners were gone, the first thing she heard was the loud steps of Nuha¡¯s heels as they rushed out of the room, not wanting to remain a second more inside. Those were followed by the emir¡¯s groans.


    ¡°Aaah~¡± Rani-al-Sadina stretched her arms and let out a rather suggestive groan. ¡°That was a charged day, for sure.¡±


    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t groan like that, it is unbefitting of your new position.¡± Tamara corrected her.


    ¡°Are you lecturing the emir on how to behave?¡± Rani squinted her eyes at the scribe as she stood up and also stretched her legs, the loose robes of her attire swaying with the gesture.


    ¡°I am lecturing a young woman who has forgotten what manners are.¡± The scribe smiled at her with a derisive smile and a tilt of her head.


    ¡°I could order you killed for this.¡± The emir¡¯s eyes shone in animosity.


    ¡°Do so, it¡¯s not like I have much time remaining. At least I will have put an unruly girl in its place whilst doing so. Quite the profitable transaction.¡±


    ¡°You are saying that I have become unruly after coming into power, but I feel you are the one who¡¯s smugger about it?¡±


    ¡°Me smug? No way.¡± Tamara added smugly, the expression exacerbating the wrinkles in her visage.


    Rani-al-Sadina sighed. ¡°Guards, begone. Your presence is no longer needed.¡± The guards in the room looked at her as if saying that she wouldn¡¯t be safe if they went away. ¡°Do not fret for my security, Naila here could beat you all before you could even blink.¡±


    The guards, not only in the audience hall but also at the doorway, squinted her eyes in doubt. Instants later a breeze swept the room. Aloe yelped as her dress thrashed around, only after her hair settled down, she noticed what had happened.


    W-what? Her blood froze as she saw that Naila was no longer next to her but instead behind a duo of guards. With daggers in front of their necks. When?


    ¡°Have you understood it now?¡± The emir smiled warmly.


    The guards didn¡¯t even react to the daggers, probably because there wasn¡¯t even time to do so. They just walked out of the room; their movements stiff as a door that needed a bit of oil. Rani-al-Sadina bid them goodbye with a sarcastic sway of her hand.


    Once the guards were out, Naila relaxed her position and sheathed her daggers which had been hiding under her robe with a flick of her fingers. The movement was so fast that Aloe barely registered that there were no longer weapons in her hands.


    ¡°You should get better security, sister,¡± Naila commented nonchalantly, the bloodlust and the endangerment of the guard¡¯s life only fiction by now. Aloe almost flinched as the sultanzade¡¯s eyes laid on her, only barely managing to hang on her mask. Mostly because, like the guards, she was too stunned to react.


    ¡°I have you, don¡¯t I?¡± The older sister walked up to her and caressed her hair. ¡°We should do something with your looks. This monk attire and vibe doesn¡¯t suit your status as a sultanzade.¡±


    ¡°Fashion is useless.¡± The young sister sighed.


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t say so. There are some uses. People would be less on guard if you wore more attractive clothes. They would think something like ¡®There¡¯s no way this cute girl could eviscerate me in half!¡¯ or something like that.¡±


    ¡°I doubt people have those thoughts. But it could work...¡± Naila scratched her lip, ignoring Rani¡¯s playfulness with her hair. ¡°But if I wore revealing clothes then my muscles would be obvious. That would put them alert.¡±


    ¡°Then we must do a careful examination of every possible attire in the city to check which is the most suitable for you.¡±


    Aloe was at a loss for words. How can they be so casual? Not only Naila had put knives on guards¡¯ necks a few seconds ago but had also been overtly hostile these last few hours. Tamara looked at her with a hint of sympathy, almost like she had the same thoughts.


    ¡°What shall we do with her?¡± Tamara asked the emir as she pointed at Aloe with her eyes. ¡°If she is going to become a new scribe, then she¡¯ll need an office and some training.¡±


    ¡°Right, I had forgotten about it.¡± Rani-al-Sadina removed the hands from her sister¡¯s hair. ¡°Tamara, please show Aloe the commonfolk scribe¡¯s office. Everything should be already prepared for her to work tomorrow, so just arrange for her the basics and tell the scribes who previously were under Shahrazad¡¯s command to teach her anything she needs.¡±


    ¡°They are not going to be exactly cooperative. To them, they have been stolen from a promotion after the green daughter of the previous scribe inherited the position by her connections.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not the case and they know it.¡±


    ¡°People are rarely that logical.¡±


    ¡°Oh, tell me about it.¡± The emir snickered. ¡°But they will comply. For those are my orders.¡±


    Aloe hadn¡¯t seen the previous emir¡¯s much even if both her parents had worked under them, but as that smile met her eyes, she clearly knew Rani-al-Sadina outmatched them in regalness with ease.


    ¡°But of course.¡± Tamara bowed to her and then turned to face Aloe. ¡°Come on girl, we have a lot of stuff to set you to date and there are only a few hours of daylight remaining.¡±


    ¡°Y-yes.¡± Aloe snapped out of her confusion and followed Tamara as the gazes of the sultanzade pierced her back.

 Book 2: 54. Training

    First light vanished the coldness of the night. The caress was light, a probe more than anything, but in a few hours, the low temperatures would be substituted by an appalling heat. She liked it better that way.


    Heat made it better to train.


    Swoosh, swoosh. Her blades broke the air with each strike, she imagined that was how painters made their works, wild slashes that manifested their creativity. Though hers were all but wild. Calculated wasn¡¯t the right word, it was more instinct than anything, but there was a control, a finesse that guided each stroke.


    Naila stood that way for a whole hour, a maelstrom of cold violence.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it a bit early for training?¡± Rani appeared from her back, though she had known her sister had been looking at her for a while now.


    The emir still wore her nightgown as a couple of maids waited behind her in silence. Her smile was even more manufactured than her servants.


    ¡°Precisely because it¡¯s early that I must train.¡± Naila threw her daggers up in the air, turned to face her half-sister, then the daggers perfectly landed in their scabbards, sheathing themselves.


    Rani clapped at the display, surprisingly it wasn¡¯t sarcastic. ¡°I don¡¯t get it; you will tire yourself out.¡±


    ¡°It awakens the mind.¡±


    ¡°My point still stands.¡± Rani walked beside her and put a thin blanket over her shoulder.


    Considering she had been wearing it before giving it to her, it was a piece of clothing with a name, but Naila didn¡¯t know what that name was. She had always considered clothes unworthy of her time, if she didn¡¯t wake as early as she did, she would let others dress her for all that she cared. That was one of the few points where she could agree with her mother.


    ¡°I understand that you are anxious¨C¡°


    ¡°I am not.¡± Naila denied.


    ¡°¨Cabout living in a new place and city.¡± Her half-sister continued talking unbothered by her sharp words. ¡°But you will find that bureaucracy is far more tiring and daunting of a task than you had thought.¡±


    ¡°I have survived these days just fine.¡± She refuted.


    ¡°Doing the bare minimum.¡± Rani continued smiling, though now it had a hostility to it. ¡°And still, it¡¯s a cumulative work. The more days that go on, the more weakened you will feel. A day or two won¡¯t do much, but after a few months, you won¡¯t be that enthusiastic about anything. Nor duties, nor training. So, temper yourself, and don¡¯t burn away your energies.¡±


    Naila didn¡¯t bother to respond, she simply stared looking at her half-sister until she departed into the corridors of the palace.


    There was still time until she needed to confront those duties.


    <hr>


    The sun had barely risen yet the audience hall was already ignited with life. Naila didn''t have the best understanding of how to rule a country or a court, but after seeing how many people had requested an audience yesterday, she expected to see fewer people today.


    She was deadly wrong.


    A queue had already begun forming at the entrance. She couldn¡¯t see it as the gates were closed, but she could certainly feel the people outside. Her detection prowess wasn¡¯t anything mystical though. Whilst her mother could detect people¡¯s vitality with proximity alone ¨C she didn¡¯t even require sight to do so ¨C Naila was just employing the sense stance.


    All her senses became sharper and louder while in this stance. Her sight was pristine, her ears could hear clearly muffled sounds, and her smell allowed her to distinguish different people like a dog could do. Not everything was advantageous with the sense stance. In reality, there were more disadvantages than otherwise.


    Not only her brain was heavily taxed by the increased influx of information, but it wasn¡¯t always good to boost one¡¯s senses. Her touch was too sharp, she could sharply feel the clothes rubbing against her skin, irritating her. Her taste was too delicate, even her own palate felt incredibly sour. And needless to say, increasing the sense of smell was a negative more often than not.


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    ¡°Alright, girls!¡± Rani clapped, snapping everyone¡¯s head to her. ¡°I want reports and I want them fast.¡±


    ¡°The spread of the plague has been totally halted and all infected remain in quarantine at the university hospital.¡± The scribe of scholars was the first to inform.


    ¡°Any progress on a cure?¡± The emir asked but Nuha denied it with a sway of her head.


    ¡°Trade has somewhat returned to normalcy.¡± The scribe of commerce continued. ¡°We expected some bumps still, but the news of a plague hadn¡¯t spread beyond the emirate, so the long-distance trade routes have been unaffected.¡±


    ¡°Those are good news.¡± Tamara nodded to her half-sister¡¯s words.


    As no one spoke for a few seconds, Naila jumped next as the imperial scribe. ¡°The garrison protests for the increased hours from the quarantine guard.¡±


    Whilst she hadn¡¯t had much time to prepare for her duties, imperial scribes had way less workload than the other scribes, allowing her to even do a report.


    ¡°They are being paid handsomely for it, remind them so.¡± Naila nodded to the emir.


    Everyone¡¯s head turned to the new scribe. Naila found herself smiling as she looked at the Ayad woman. She didn¡¯t like her. There was no reason to hate someone, but Naila did so either way. Not only she was disrespectful to the emir, bold enough to personally ask for a job that would put her in the same standing as her, but she also didn¡¯t respect her.


    And Naila couldn¡¯t tolerate that.


    The only people who couldn¡¯t afford to respect her were her mother or her older siblings, but a commoner doing so? Naila hadn¡¯t driven a dagger through her neck just because she wanted the woman to personally have respect etched on her body and mind.


    So she smiled, knowing that she would expose herself as a fraud. A useless and ungrateful commoner unworthy of their time. Ayad inhaled and firmly gripped the papers in her arms.


    ¡°Fields still continue to yield poor results, making the population grow restless as well as the assassin cells. Whilst nearing villages haven¡¯t been struck with the plague, Sadina is experiencing severe unrest from the aftermath. Some are voicing a cry for help on the farmlands, not only for a lack of manpower but also for the quality of the soil. Farmers believe that a revitalization of their lands is needed.¡± The scribe of commoners explained.


    How? Naila gritted her teeth in silence. She has become a scribe barely half a day ago, how¡¯s she able to even make the simplest of reports, let alone an actual one? Naila hated how superior the commoner believed herself. Since the first time she saw her, she acted with confidence, not even paling as she, a sultanzade, talked to her. She even decided to antagonize her in front of the emir!


    Naila carried the blood of the Sultanah! A commoner girl couldn¡¯t talk to her like an equal!


    Even the other scribes knew better than not to refer to her with utmost respect.


    ¡°So you are saying that they need the blood of Aaliyah?¡± Rani inched her back forward on the throne.


    ¡°They believe that the blessing of the Sultanah would eradicate the poor harvests, yes,¡± Ayad added calmly.


    Blasphemy! Treason! Naila wanted to pounce at her, but after yesterday¡¯s interjection, Rani had made it very clear she didn''t appreciate how she had cut her off. Her legs still hurt from that. The emir wouldn¡¯t take a second offense lightly.


    ¡°You are not aware of what you are asking,¡± Rani stated. ¡°You are demanding the very blood of Ydaz.¡±


    ¡°I am not demanding anything, nor are the farmers.¡± The scribe of commoner¡¯s expression was tarnished in indifference. ¡°It is simply the belief that they voice. I have checked and the last time that the fields were blessed was during the rule of Emir Yusuf, almost two decades ago. Sadina¡¯s lands are more fertile than average, but compared to other regions, this has been the longest an emirate has gone without a blessing since Sultanah Aaliyah-al-Ydaz¡¯s coronation.¡±


    ¡°I see you¡¯ve done your research, Aloe.¡± Rani looked at her with interest and surprise.


    ¡°Thanks for your kind words, ...Rani.¡± Ayad bowed to her.


    Then it was that, the way she casually referred to an emir of the Sultanate. It made Naila¡¯s blood boil. She found herself reaching for her knife. A single cut was all that it took...


    A clap cleared her mind.


    ¡°That will be all for the reports,¡± Rani announced. ¡°The fucking snake of my brother made this city into a mess, but I believe we will take it to greater heights in a blink with our combined work. We need to push a bit more whilst the storm still rages on, and also to get a scribe of nobles on the meanwhile, and with this new year we will make Sadina into a city that even Asina lusts after.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s for granted, my Emir,¡± Tamara said with a smile.


    ¡°Of course, my Emir.¡± Nuha was more conservative with her expressions.


    ¡°I-I¡¯ll do my best, Rani,¡± Ayad added with a quickened heartbeat that didn¡¯t go unnoticed by Naila.


    ¡°Yes, sister.¡± She added unenthusiastically, hoping to get as soon as possible back to training and let these tedious duties go.


    The emir nodded at the scribes¡¯ words.


    ¡°Open the gates!¡± Rani shouted at the guards with an extended arm. Her pose was as regal as one might expect of an emir of Ydaz. ¡°Oh, and before I forget.¡± She added in a whisper. ¡°You should work on your reports, Naila.¡±


    Naila¡¯s eyelids twitched. Of all the people the emir had scolded, it was her, a sultanzade, and not the nince-damned disrespectful commoner. With her improvised report, Ayad had made a fool of her. I am going to kill her.

 Book 2: 55. Luxury

    Aloe hadn¡¯t slept. And this wasn¡¯t an exaggeration or a hyperbole, no, she hadn¡¯t had the time to sleep. Tamara had vaguely instructed her on everything her mother had been doing, and it soon became obvious that it was a lot.


    As a child, she had never been a crybaby who resented her parents for not being present. She understood since little that they had obligations, but only now the weight of those obligations was visible to her.


    And it certainly didn¡¯t help that the palace had been without a scribe of commoners and nobles for two weeks now.


    There were minor scribes, they were most of the workforce in the offices, but only a scribe with the permission of the emir could authorize any paperwork.


    So she spent ten straight hours doing so.


    The sun had begun to hide when she started, and only when she finished it reappeared.


    ¡°Ugh...¡± Aloe groaned; a massive headache induced by the lack of sleep throbbing in her mind. ¡°This is horrible.¡±


    As the newly appointed scribe of commoners, Aloe hadn¡¯t thought twice ¨C not a shed of doubt in her mind ¨C of making use of the palace servants to prepare her some coffee. But even the insane amounts of caffeine couldn¡¯t help her concentrate for ten hours straight without sleeping. She didn¡¯t even care that coffee was a luxury she could not afford on a daily basis, even less ten cups of it.


    Well, coffee was cheap. Everyone could buy a sack of it in the bazaar, but these specific grains were almost as expensive as the cannabis she had sold to Umar by weight.


    Which was bollocks, but considering food and treats weren¡¯t discounted from her salary, Aloe didn¡¯t hold back.


    If her mother could participate in every palace feast, then she would drink all of the coffee in the emirate¡¯s pantries. Refusing the perks of the job was moronic, especially when required her to spend ten straight hours signing papers under candlelight.


    The problem with Aloe was that she was responsible, or at least more so than the average braindead person. That wasn¡¯t an insult, she considered herself to be in that select group composed of the vast majority of the population. If she had been less responsible, she could have just signed every paper that passed through her table, but that would only led to either losing her job or getting executed depending on what she had agreed to.


    Or in the worst case, a bigger headache.


    It said a lot of her mental state when being beheaded sounded a way easier way to ease her migraines. At least that way her head wouldn¡¯t hurt.


    Be as it may, Aloe had read every document, treaty, offer, petition, and whatever more synonyms were to describe the parchments.


    ¡°There¡¯s going to be an audience soon, ugh...¡± She mumbled as she watched the sun filtering through the scribe¡¯s office.


    Her office.


    She should be happy about her promotion. She went from an apprentice of a banker to one of the five scribes of one of the most important cities of Ydaz. But she had grown sour after inheriting so many things. People would rejoice after getting a sizeable inheritance, but for that to happen, they would have had to lose other things before.


    And Aloe had lost too much to be happy about her current position.


    That and the headache.


    ¡°No... more... coffee... Uhk-¡± She held the bile threatening to pour out of her mouth.


    Aloe swallowed it, her body jerking in response to the foul taste and giving her enough energy to stand upright. With her regained height, her eyes lined with a mirror in the wall. Ignoring that the piece was more expensive than some houses, Aloe stood up and had a better look at her reflection.


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    ¡°Not good, not good...¡± Her fingers touched the deep bags under her eyes, this time not even her dark skin could hide it. ¡°Umm... they are not going to execute me for being unsightly, right?¡±


    With they being the emir. But most likely the imperial scribe, considering how much of an entitled kid she was.


    The scribe slapped her cheeks to wake her up. ¡°I need to look more presentable.¡±


    Aloe left her office and started looking for servants, preferably maids. She didn¡¯t know the layout of the palace, she barely remembered how to get to her office from the main entrance, but it wasn¡¯t hard to find servants pullulating on the corridors at this hour. Early morning was far busier than late afternoon, let alone midnight.


    ¡°Excuse me.¡± She cried for the attention of a maid.


    The woman turned to her with a confused look. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, miss, but the audiences have yet to start.¡±


    It took Aloe a few blinks to understand the misunderstanding.


    ¡°I¡¯m not a petitioner, I work here.¡± She explained.


    ¡°Oh, ehm... I haven¡¯t seen you before?" The lightly dressed servant stated with doubt. "Are you new? Where¡¯s your uniform?¡±


    ¡°Uniform? Do scribes wear uniforms?¡±


    ¡°Scribes?¡± The maid blinked slowly.


    Aloe and the maid looked at one another sharing the same visage of pure bewilderment. Apparently, she wasn¡¯t the only one with a lack of sleep.


    ¡°Oh, you thought I was a maid.¡± Aloe realized, and then she looked at her clothes. ¡°Honestly, I can understand it, I look horrendous.¡± She added with a sigh. ¡°No, I am not a maid, though yes, I am new to the palace. I am the new scribe of commoners.¡±


    ¡°Oh!¡± The maid instantly paled, blood draining from her visage in horror. ¡°I am so sorry for my transgressions, venerable Scribe!¡±


    ¡°No offense taken, please calm yourself.¡± Aloe raised her hands defensively in typical Ydazi fashion. But instead of raising both hands as it was common, she only raised her right one. The gesture held the same meaning, but it was considered more formal. ¡°I started working little more than half a day ago, I doubt most of the people in the palace know I even exist.¡±


    ¡°Thanks for your understanding, venerable Scribe,¡± The maid bowed in true gratitude. ¡°To what intent may you require my services, then?¡±


    ¡°Right, right.¡± Aloe scrubbed her eyes trying to fend off sleepiness. ¡°As you may see, I¡¯m far from presentable in my current state.¡± She pointed at her bags. ¡°So I was inquiring where I could get access to a makeup artist or someone providing that kind of service. Also, a change of clothing would be appreciated, though I have even less of an idea on how to get that.¡±


    ¡°I am qualified to do your makeup if needed, venerable Scribe.¡± The maid bowed slightly. ¡°Though I would need to get the necessary equipment first.¡±


    ¡°But of course.¡± Aloe sighed in relief, she needed to hear those positive words, no matter how minuscule they may be. Like war, victories were cumulative.


    ¡°If you want to have a fresh set of clothes, I will need to ask the head maid for that. There are attires in the palace wardrobes, but I do not have the clearance to pick them up on my own.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be waiting on the scribe of commoner¡¯s office then.¡±


    ¡°If you excuse me, venerable Scribe.¡± The maid bowed again and disappeared into the corridors of the palace.


    As Aloe walked back to the office, her whole body crying in protest, her stomach was way louder than any other part.


    ¡°Augh...¡± She groaned, ¡°I forgot to ask her about food.¡±


    She went right back to the corridors to ask another maid for food but also to find the restroom. No matter how rich the palace was, private restrooms were so logistically demanding that it made no sense to have them. There were segregated restrooms by hierarchical standing, of course, but that meant Aloe had to walk a bit to reach the toilet.


    And she was kind of running out of time.


    Fortunately, she didn¡¯t find herself involved in any setbacks, so she could empty her bladder without any accidents. That was how low her bar was. Aloe truly expected everything to go wrong at every turn. The whole situation was unbelievable, and her paranoia was at an all-time high.


    Whilst the restroom was just that, a restroom, it was worrying how the nince-damned toilet seat was made of wood more expensive than her father¡¯s desk.


    She didn¡¯t even take more than five minutes to ask where the restroom was and come back to her office, but when she arrived, the office was already populated with a selection of plates and maids.


    ¡°We can start whenever you are ready, venerable Scribe.¡± The first maid Aloe had asked said with a makeup box hanging in her hands. ¡°I can even do the makeup whilst you are eating if you are pressured out of time.¡±


    ¡°We should also need to look which attires do suit you.¡± A second maid added; this one she hadn¡¯t seen before. ¡°Audiences will start in less than an hour, and a good dress should never be donned in a short span.¡±


    Other people may have claimed to be overwhelmed by the attention and the pressure, but not Aloe. She had had a hard education and apprenticeship, both ridden with difficult challenges, so she knew how to thrive under pressure. It was almost a requirement to not get swallowed by the work tide. But the attention... oh, the attention. As the maids laid her hands on her, she could never understand how those princesses in stories ¨C not those in that section of the archives, absolutely not ¨C could even dare to say they hated that lifestyle. I could get used to this... Aloe¡¯s tired eyes became intoxicated with luxury.

 Book 2: 56. Alike

    No one paid attention to Aloe. Well, they did, but no one congratulated her on her dress or makeup. Being an adult is hard... It was worth mentioning how she selectively erased the memory that she hadn¡¯t made the makeup herself nor did she own the dress, but those details were not worth even mentioning.


    The morning audience went well, or so she would like to assume. Aloe fulfilled her duties, she reported to the emir before starting and then assisted her when any petitioners¡¯ inquiries fell on her field of expertise. Though that was too strong of a word. Aloe had no expertise whatsoever; she was only barely more informed than Rani on the subject. Stop Aloe. You can¡¯t think that way. She chastised herself. If you keep thinking of her as Rani, then you will refer to her as such. And getting executed by misnaming an imperial is a common cause of death. So don¡¯t. Don¡¯t become familiar with her.


    The only hiccup on the long and tedious audience ¨C besides almost falling asleep multiple times, and besides her massive headache ¨C was the other sultanzade. Princess Naila Asina, the imperial scribe of the court of Sadina. Not the longest title I have seen. She knew that sultanzade didn¡¯t have family names because, well, no one could know who the father was. And the Sultanah herself didn¡¯t have a family name because she was Ydaz itself. So like commoners without an established family name, sultanzade had their place of birth as their surname, which obviously was the capital city of Ydaz, Asina.


    Naila Asina wasn¡¯t a social person, or that was the impression Aloe got from her. Besides being oblivious to the outside world from her protected upbringing, she was also uptight. Aloe could cope with Rani... -al-Sadina; the emir was a dominant yet playful person, and she could work around that. But as a commoner on shaky ground and with no experience whatsoever, an uptight person could bring her demise.


    Especially after seeing the gazes the sultanzade had dedicated her during the whole audience. Those eyes are like knives... Aloe couldn¡¯t deny that she was scared, but at the same time, the emir did appoint her in her current position. Whilst technically equals ¨C even if everyone knew that in practice that wasn¡¯t the case ¨C Aloe and Naila were both under the jurisdiction and whims of Rani-al-Sadina. Unless the emir herself wanted her gone, Naila couldn¡¯t do anything to her.


    Or so Aloe hoped.


    The audience came to a halt at early noon, Aloe didn¡¯t even dare to move as her legs were unhealthily shaky. She felt as if she were to collapse at the first step she took.


    ¡°That will be all for the day,¡± Rani-al-Sadina said with a bored sigh. Whilst lazy and carefree, the emir had an aura of elegance that no number of rude acts could dispel. ¡°You are all free to go.¡± Before she ended her sentence, the scribe of scholars was already halfway through the room.


    Having prepared herself for that message, Aloe had shifted her internal infusion to ¡®toughness¡¯ with the hope that her legs wouldn¡¯t falter her. But as she was about to take her first step ¨C an endeavor that took her a lot of willpower ¨C she was interrupted.


    ¡°Not you, Aloe.¡± The emir ordered. ¡°I need to talk with you.¡±


    ¡°I...¡± Aloe trembled, both in exhaustion and in fear. I haven¡¯t messed up, have I?


    The scribe could see through the corner of her eye how Naila smugly delighted herself in her suffering, only dropping her heart even more on the sands. Her brain went through the last hours trying to search for any offense or misstep she had done but found none.


    Realizing that she hadn¡¯t replied to her, Aloe quickly formed a response. ¡°Of course, Rani.¡± It was becoming easier to speak the emir¡¯s name, and that scared her.


    A pregnant silence filled the room once everyone left. Before departing, Tamara gave Aloe a sympathetic look, whilst Naila¡¯s was filled with scorn. In a few seconds, there weren¡¯t any guards, petitioners, or scribes left, just Aloe and her liege.


    A few shy breaths cut the silence; she almost didn¡¯t dare to breathe in the emir¡¯s presence. Her smile embraced her, but her eyes devoured her. It was not possible to not feel like a prey stalked by a predator.


    Her eyes shone like amethysts.


    Her skin had the luster of bronze.


    Her body was curved like dunes.


    Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    The more Aloe gazed at Rani... -al-Sadina, the more she was pulled into a downward spiral that didn¡¯t let her escape, just like the moving sands that fiction authors loved to use so much even though everyone in Ydaz knew sands didn¡¯t work that way. She knew that she needed to look away, but at the same time, she couldn''t stop. Not out of compulsion, but obedience.


    If the emir had requested her presence, then she could only address her when questioned, not a moment before.


    So Aloe looked in silence as she lost herself in the curves that defined the magnificence of the person that was Rani-al-Sadina.


    ¡°You did a good job.¡± The emir said out of nowhere.


    ¡°Uhm... t-thanks, R-Rani?¡± Aloe responded out of reflex, though her embarrassment still went through.


    But then her paranoia soon kicked in, bringing fresh winds of logic with it. Good job. A boss didn''t say good job to their employees, only teammates said so to each other. Not great, nor wonderful. Good job. That was not different from saying ¡°decent job¡±. Aloe had been average, and whilst that would work for an average job, she currently was the scribe of commoners, representative of the people in all of Sadina, organizer of cultivation and crops, the welfare of the whole emirate.


    Decent wouldn¡¯t cut it.


    Even if she was already steeling herself for the worst, Aloe kept her fa?ade straight. She couldn¡¯t collapse, not now. She had experienced worse physical and mental pain; whatever the emir could say she could take it on.


    Then Rani-al-Sadina started walking away.


    Eh? Aloe¡¯s fa?ade collapsed in sheer confusion.


    ¡°W-was that all you wanted to inquire, Rani?¡± Aloe added after recomposing her expression, a task that only took her fractions of a second.


    ¡°But of course.¡± The sultanzade responded after turning from her hips, her whole body rocking salaciously with the movement. But what was the worst offender, the hardest-hitting soldier, was that smile. That all-knowing seductive smile that toyed with her, the purple of her eyes partially hidden behind a squint.


    Rani left the room soon after that, she didn¡¯t add more words that made her twitch, instead choosing to simply walk out. No firing notice or swift execution came to her.


    Aloe stood still in the audience hall alone, not only were her breaths erratic, but so was her heartbeat. She didn¡¯t know what she was feeling. If stress, or panic, or dizziness, or fear, or... or something else.


    Her headache only worsened from there.


    ¡°I...¡± There was no one to listen to her, yet she still had difficulties talking. ¡°I need to rest.¡±


    To say her mind was done would be an overstatement, her mind was far from having any coherent thought currently. Her steps were lazy and heavy, basically just like her mind. Even the simplest of actions was simple.


    Her confusion was so great that she couldn¡¯t even put two and two together; it was noon, she should have been eating right now. And even if she wasn¡¯t having lunch, there were many duties she had to attend to like talking with the other scribes under her wing, those who had previously been under her mother¡¯s wing and actually knew how the job of a scribe of commoners worked.


    But instead of walking to her office or the feast hall, she unconsciously followed her feet. Which was a bad idea as her feet were as lost as her. Huh? There was no muscle memory whatsoever tying her to the place, and soon she found herself lost in the palace¡¯s corridors. Where am I?


    No voice responded to her, but a few swishes filled her ears.


    What¡¯s that sound? It was unlike anything she had heard before, a short and muted but constant series of swishes. No. She had heard this before, once. It¡¯s like that time with Uncle Jafar. Yes, like that time when she was taken with her father to the soldier¡¯s garrisons and training ground when she was little. That¡¯s the sound of a sword cutting the air.


    With caution, Aloe approached the source of the sound. Columns passed before her view to reveal a garden in a clearing surrounded by open corridors. It wasn¡¯t as breathtaking as the gardens on the university or the noble veranda, and certainly not magical like her greenhouse, but the green touch of nature was welcomed in the colorful yet overtly brown corridors of the palace.


    In the center of the clearing, a figure danced. Blades snapping the air as if they were whip tails. She danced with methodical and brutal beauty. It was, of course, Naila.


    Aloe hastily hid behind one of the columns, pressing her back against the cold stone in panic. She hasn¡¯t noticed me, right? The scribe inched her head to the clearing where the sultanzade kept slashing the air in a trance, her eyes closed as she swayed like the wind.


    The scribe hadn¡¯t hidden because she didn¡¯t want to see Naila, though that was a very valid reason. That kid wasn¡¯t exactly... talkable. Better to not think bad words about the sultanzade. If one escapes my mouth... better to not think about it. No, the reason she had hidden, the reason behind her accelerated breathing, lay on the imperial scribe¡¯s movements.


    That speed... She had seen it yesterday in the audience hall as Naila threatened the lives of those two guards with her hidden blades, but only now the familiarity of that movement struck her. Aloe opened and closed her hand, there was a rigidity to her skin. It was because of the current flow of her vitality that made her slightly weaker but massively resilient. She had no proof, not even a solid theory, but she didn¡¯t need that. Because there was only one possible explanation to her. That speed wasn¡¯t natural, it was... An internal infusion.


    Aloe hadn¡¯t practiced much with the ¡®speed¡¯ internal infusion, but she knew how it felt. The body became so fast that it was impossible to control. And Naila¡¯s speed was even greater than Aloe¡¯s. She¡¯s like me, we are alike... An even greater realization hit her. Or I am like her? Like a sultanzade?

 Book 2: 57. Rest

    It was hard to keep her concentration after staying for more than thirty hours, but Aloe had a trick up her sleep: drugs.


    Lazily, she poured ter¡¯nar leaves on her recently heated teapot, courtesy of the palace maids. Whilst the leaves weren¡¯t a stimulating substance, they managed to keep her focused. There were many papers she needed to go through, and the more time she took, the harder the responsibilities would later fall on her shoulders. She couldn¡¯t allow herself to even think about the previous events of her day.


    Two knocks on the door interrupted her work. ¡°Excuse me. Are you there, venerable Scribe?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s open. You can enter, Lulu.¡± Aloe responded tiredly.


    She had recognized the voice; it was the maid that had made her makeup. During that time, she managed to ask all the present maids their names, though only Lulu¡¯s stuck in her mind. She was also the youngest of them all, barely over Aloe¡¯s age.


    At her prompt, Lulu opened the door. She carried a silver tray on her other arm.


    ¡°Venerable Scribe!¡± She raised her voice horrified ¨C not shouted, because that would have been unbefitting and irreverent. ¡°You should rest! Your expression is that of a living dead!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m doing fine, Lulu,¡± Aloe added with a deprecative smile. ¡°It¡¯s not the first time I have pulled an all-nighter. Anyways,¡± she put her feather aside, ¡°what are you carrying there?¡±


    The maid clearly wanted to protest, but she held her commentaries. ¡°Scribe Tamara didn¡¯t see you on the feast hall, so she was worried you didn¡¯t eat. This is the meal she commanded me to bring to you.¡± She left the tray on a corner of the desk.


    Lulu was rather fair-skinned by Ydazi standards, though her skin was more like a coffee someone had spoiled with too much milk rather than the white of Loyatans. She was way taller than Aloe, and that was especially accentuated by her maid outfit. Ydazi maid outfits were... revealing. All of them were a one-piece white dress with a skirt too short to be sensible and uncovered shoulders.


    As revealing attires went however, Sadina¡¯s maid outfits were more on the conservative side of things. What made the attire actually indecent was the leather belt that highlighted Lulu¡¯s waist and then a very outlined chest zone. As someone who preferred loose clothing, Aloe would certainly not feel comfortable in such attires.


    ¡°I see,¡± Aloe said with a hazy gaze, her eyes falling on the maid¡¯s undressed knees. ¡°Leave it on the desk, I¡¯ll eat at some point.¡±


    ¡°You should rest, venerable Scribe.¡± Lulu reiterated.


    ¡°You can call me Aloe, Lulu. There¡¯s no problem, we are both commoners.¡± She returned to her papers, though she didn¡¯t fully believe the last statement. Aloe had never considered herself an actual commoner, for better or worse.


    ¡°You are trying to change the subject,¡± Lulu added less formally.


    Aloe groaned. ¡°I am the first that would like to sleep, but I can¡¯t. Someone has to do all these papers, and that someone is me.¡±


    ¡°How about if you take a nap? There are no audiences this afternoon, so you could take a little rest.¡±


    ¡°I...¡± Aloe¡¯s eyelids weighed down on her. ¡°Let me have something to eat first.¡±


    ¡°But of course, venerable Scribe.¡± Lulu lightly giggled, but Aloe responded with a scowl not that dissimilar from what Rani-al-Sadina had directed to her once. ¡°Aloe.¡± Then both shared the same smile.


    The tray contained chicken breasts oozing with sauces so colorful and elaborate that looked like poisons. Only now that Aloe paid attention to the food, she could smell the glorious smell. Intoxicating. Her stomach grumbled in agreement.


    After eating her self-cooked trash, the simple tray looked like a never-ending feast of kings.


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    ¡°Is that...?¡± Aloe pointed at the silver goblet, the words dying in her mouth.


    ¡°Is wine not to your taste?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not that, I¡¯m a...¡± An adult. She realized.


    There were no rules against underage drinking in Ydaz, only regulations on how strong alcohol taverns could offer to underage customers. It was only her father who had prohibited her from drinking even the lightest wines as a child, and she had respected his decision. The argument that alcohol rotted the mind was solid enough, and Aloe had her mind in high regard, so she preferred it if it didn¡¯t rot. An image like that stuck deep in a child¡¯s mind.


    But she was now of age.


    She took a shy sip. Hm... Her visage contorted in a grimace. ¡°I guess it¡¯s an acquired taste.¡±


    ¡°I can bring something else if you¡¯d like to.¡± Lulu offered with a bit of nervousness.


    Aloe raised a hand to stop her. ¡°Do not fret, I have my own tea here.¡±


    She calmly ate the chicken as Lulu watched her. Aloe couldn¡¯t understand how the maid had such a pleased expression when she was standing up whilst someone else was eating. As she ate, Aloe kept giving some sips of the wine, trying to understand how so many people liked it but utterly failed to comprehend it. The first caress was alright, but the aftertaste was foul; that was without mentioning how her throat burned from the alcohol.


    Her cheeks reddened slightly.


    After she finished with the chicken, not a pinch of meat left on the tray, Lulu offered her a towel and basin to wash herself.


    ¡°Thanks.¡± Aloe appreciated the gesture, her voice weaker than before. Lulu simply responded with a nod. ¡°Alright, I¡¯m going to take that nap, but only two hours, have you heard me? Two hours.¡±


    ¡°Understood, Aloe.¡± The maid acknowledged with a roguish smile.


    ¡°I am being serious here. Two hours.¡± She added with a scowl.


    ¡°Two hours.¡± Lulu nodded, though Aloe still wasn¡¯t convinced. ¡°Let me guide you to your resting chambers then.¡±


    Lulu guided her to a contiguous room. It wasn¡¯t overly decorated like most other instances of the palace, only a colossal wardrobe built like a tower, a padded bench longer than a sofa, and a full body mirror composed the room besides the bed. But what bed it was. The bed alone was bigger than her bedroom back at the oasis, and the sheer volume of cushions on top made her want to jump on it already.


    ¡°Oh heavens...¡± She let out an ovation of surprise. ¡°I wish I could live here.¡±


    ¡°You can do so.¡± The maid responded behind her as a matter of fact.


    ¡°Wait, what?¡± Her surprise shifted from one meaning of the word to another.


    ¡°You are the scribe of commoners, Aloe,¡± Lulu explained. ¡°The palace does not only offer you an office, but a bath, and a bedchamber. You are free to use them as you please.¡±


    ¡°B-but my mother didn¡¯t do so?¡±


    ¡°Was the previous scribe of commoners your mother?¡± Lulu herself seemed surprised now. Aloe responded with a nod. ¡°My condolences then, Shahrazad was everything a scribe should be and more. She made Sadina a better place.¡±


    ¡°I...¡± Aloe was going to say that she didn¡¯t need her condolences but shut her mouth as she saw Lulu¡¯s visage.


    The maid truly thought what she had said. She was grateful for her mother¡¯s contribution to the city, she wasn¡¯t just trying to be polite. Aloe knew that her mother¡¯s job was important, but this, this... gratefulness was an aspect of her and her job she hadn¡¯t seen.


    ¡°Thank you, Lulu.¡± Aloe¡¯s words also rung true. ¡°So this was my mother¡¯s bedchamber?¡±


    ¡°Indeed, though she rarely used them, if she even did.¡±


    ¡°Do you know why?¡±


    Lulu shook her head in negation. ¡°I do not, but if I were to guess, it was because she had people waiting for her at home.¡±


    The maid¡¯s honest smile hurt alone more than any knife could. The mixture of sadness and happiness inside of Aloe was tearing her apart. And tearing her up.


    ¡°Two hours,¡± Aloe repeated seriously, mostly because otherwise she may frankly cry.


    ¡°I¡¯ll measure the time up to the second.¡± Lulu bowed dutifully. ¡°Oh, and before I forget. You have various sets of attires in the wardrobe. I selected them personally so they should fit you and suit you perfectly!¡± Her eyes shone in childish giddiness.


    ¡°I see.¡± A yawn escaped Aloe¡¯s mouth, the call for rest growing stronger. ¡°I¡¯ll remember to change my clothing then. Can I get a bath prepared in two hours?¡±


    ¡°The bath is always ready in the palace, Aloe.¡± Aloe partially hated how Lulu used her name as an honorific title, but she was too tired to make a fuss out of it. ¡°Now if you excuse me, I¡¯ll take my leave.¡± The maid made her way out of the room, leaving Aloe in a bedchamber bigger than her grandfather¡¯s old house.


    Aloe laid her back on the bed with a muffled thud, her body weighing her down. The softness of the fabric and the mattress absorbed her in a madding manner. None of the beds she had slept on could compare to this one, it was like a cloud.


    ¡°No...¡± She whispered, her consciousness faltering. ¡°I need to deactivate the infusion...¡±


    It took her a lot of concentration that she didn¡¯t have to focus on her vitality flow. Thankfully, it was always easier to switch any internal infusion back to her default state. It was as simple as latching a door.


    ¡°Oooh~¡± As soon as ¡®toughness¡¯ left her body, all the stress on her muscles was liberated. Her bones and skin felt massively more fragile than before, but they also didn¡¯t weigh on her any longer.


    It was as if her body weighed...


    Blackness consumed her before she could finish that thought.

 Book 2: 58. Clothes

    Two dry knocks rippled into the unconsciousness, causing consciousness to shift into motion.


    ¡°Nine more minutes...¡± Aloe weakly mumbled, more a reflex than a coherent thought.


    ¡°Venerable Scribe, the two hours have already passed.¡± The voice sent a clear message through the air, though she decided to ignore it.


    Instants later an explosion woke her up. Aloe jumped out of her sheets in alert, turning her head from side to side expecting destruction, but instead only found a maid at her bedside.


    ¡°What in the hells was that?¡± Aloe shouted.


    ¡°Just a snap,¡± Lulu responded as she snapped her finger in a swift bang.


    ¡°It sounded way louder than that.¡± The scribe refuted, but the maid didn¡¯t elaborate further.


    ¡°Noon has already passed, you should depart to the baths if you wish to keep your original planning, Aloe,¡± Lulu explained with composure ignoring the scribe¡¯s claim, however, a smile on her visage betrayed her professionalism indicating that she was enjoying herself.


    Aloe groaned as she stood up from the bed.


    ¡°You¡¯ve gone to sleep with your clothes on?¡± The maid added with a slight shock, her brows raised.


    ¡°I kinda collapsed...¡± Aloe responded shyly.


    Lulu sighed in response. ¡°There are pajamas in the wardrobe if you were to need them.¡±


    ¡°Noted.¡± The petite woman stood up and stretched her arms, a yawn escaping her mouth.


    ¡°Will you need assistance dressing yourself?¡± Lulu asked in a manner that revealed it was more of a practiced line rather than an actual question.


    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t be first taking a bath?¡±


    ¡°You will need to get dressed at some point.¡±


    ¡°True.¡± Aloe shrugged. ¡°But no, I can dress myself.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡± Lulu half-nodded, half-bowed. ¡°Let us then pick an attire before going to the baths, shall we?¡±


    Aloe walked behind Lulu as the maid opened the wardrobe. Whilst not as big as her bedroom on the oasis, it was certainly equally as long.


    ¡°What would be of your liking?¡± Lulu asked as she stepped aside to let Aloe see the contents inside.


    Now that she was a woman, Aloe had thought that she had experienced most emotions that life had to show to her, but as she looked into the endless ¨C it was barely three meters wide ¨C wardrobe, she found a feeling she had never felt before.


    Decision paralysis.


    The sheer number of dresses, attires, and footwear left her mind blank. And that was without mentioning the accessories. Never in her life, she had been presented with this many possibilities.


    ¡°Uhm...¡± A braindead mumble filtered out of her lips. Newborns had more coherence than that. And they didn¡¯t drool as much. ¡°What... why don¡¯t choose for me, Lulu?¡±


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t be able to make a decision worthy of a scribe, Aloe.¡± The maid responded with perfect composure.


    She¡¯s enjoying this. Aloe wasn¡¯t a maid, but she could understand how one like Lulu could get a giggle out of toying with a fellow commoner out of their expertise and comfort. I mean, I would also do that. That¡¯s hilarious. Of course, only when it happened to other people.


    ¡°I insist, chose for me.¡±


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    ¡°I do not believe that I-¡°


    ¡°Consider it an order.¡± Aloe was still too sleepy to play this game now.


    And two hours of sleep didn¡¯t compensate for more than thirty of wakefulness. At least her head was no longer throbbing. It was simply rocking.


    ¡°Understood, Aloe.¡± Lulu knew better than to press on the issue after her superior¡¯s outburst.


    The maid looked at Aloe from head to toe, taking seriously her task of choosing an attire for her. After a solid minute, she selected a set of clothes from the wardrobe and a pair of sandals. Aloe almost rebutted that she needed no footwear but after gazing at her sandals, she noticed they were a tad too dusty. As for the clothes, they were conservative as things went on in this palace. Conservative being a one-piece pistachio dress with a knee-length skirt, and exposed shoulders, but a cream shawl that could allow her to keep some modesty.


    On top of that, Lulu threw some accessories from a drawer.


    ¡°Are... are those emeralds?¡± Aloe almost fainted as she saw the necklace on Lulu¡¯s hands. ¡°I-I can¡¯t wear that.¡±


    ¡°Of course, you can.¡± The maid added softly understanding the scribe¡¯s refusal. ¡°It is but the duty of a scribe to not embarrass their liege. Aloe, you are the scribe of commoners of Sadina, you are expected to look wealthy. Otherwise, you may reflect incorrectly the fortune of Sadina.¡±


    ¡°But my mother didn¡¯t wear such accessories!¡± She exclaimed in disbelief.


    ¡°Scribe Shahrazad was a special case,¡± Lulu said. ¡°I didn¡¯t work at the palace at the time, but I heard from the snake tongues that the previous scribe of commoners did use to wear jewelry, though that stopped once her husband died.¡±


    ¡°I...¡± Did she? Aloe¡¯s expression palled in confusion. I... I can¡¯t remember...


    The voices of her subconscious started screaming and berating her, revealing how she was an awful daughter who couldn¡¯t even remember how her own mother dressed barely a few weeks after her death. No... She almost sobbed, holding herself by a string before the maid.


    ¡°We should be getting to the baths if you want to continue with your job.¡± Whether by chance or because she had read the room, Lulu cut through Aloe¡¯s thoughts. ¡°Please follow me, venerable Scribe.¡±


    Wordlessly, she nodded, not even bothering to protest at the maid¡¯s usage of the title.


    Sadina¡¯s palace was big, that wasn¡¯t anything new, but it became painfully obvious when it took them five minutes to walk straight from her office to the palace¡¯s baths. Lulu guided her into a hall decorated with marble everywhere, steam filtering through the curtains leading to the actual bath.


    ¡°Umm... are there not more private baths? Like a tub, for example?¡± Aloe asked shyly, her shoulders shrinking into her body in embarrassment, as she stepped on the marble floor.


    ¡°Private?¡± Lulu blinked as if she had been asked a stupid question. ¡°These baths are only for the highest-ranking members of the palace: personal scribes, hosted diplomats, and the emir herself. You can¡¯t get more private than that.¡±


    ¡°I... see...¡± Whilst the chance of encountering someone on the bath was minuscule by what Lulu had just said, far lower than even the fajat course at the public baths, the idea still terrified Aloe.


    Not only was she not comfortable with the idea of someone seeing her, but more with the idea of who might see her. The fact that only the people who could access the bath were currently women didn¡¯t reassure her in the slightest.


    Her fears were cut as she heard the sound of clothing rustling. Aloe turned to face Lulu.


    ¡°Huh?¡± Only to find her removing her maid outfit, her breasts spilling out of the clothing. ¡°What are you doing?¡±


    ¡°Undressing myself?¡± Lulu stated matter-of-factly.


    ¡°I can see that. I mean why.¡±


    ¡°To service you in the bath, of course.¡± Aloe didn¡¯t linger much in the possible interpretations of those words. Much.


    ¡°I thought maids weren¡¯t allowed in the bath.¡±


    ¡°They aren¡¯t allowed to bathe themselves," She nodded. "But we need to accompany the bathgoers to wash them.¡± It was worth studying how composed Lulu was with her upper torso discovered. Aloe could never.


    ¡°I do not require your assistance in the bath,¡± Aloe ordered half-annoyed, half-embarrassed. ¡°You are to either wait here or return to your tasks.¡±


    Once again, Lulu did not make a fuss out of it, the maid simply did as commanded.


    ¡°Understood, venerable Scribe.¡± She calmly put her dress back up, her visage that of indifference as she covered her breasts. Unfortunately for the maid, that was a mask Aloe was too acquainted with. She couldn¡¯t fool her. ¡°I¡¯ll leave your fresh clothes in this basket.¡±


    Aloe nodded at the servant¡¯s words and Lulu proceeded to walk away.


    ¡°Wait.¡± The scribe commanded and the maid replied in kind. ¡°What did I tell you about titles, Lulu?¡± She sent her a weak smile at her.


    The maid turned to face her. ¡°My apologies. Aloe.¡± Then she returned one of her one, far brighter and more beautiful than Aloe¡¯s.


    ¡°Good.¡± Aloe nodded, trying to make the most authoritative and scribe-like act she could do. ¡°You may depart now.¡±


    As she was left alone in the changing room, Aloe undressed herself, leaving her used clothes on another basket. Even if it was a private bath, it looked eerily similar to the changing rooms of the paying courses of the public baths. In a fit of wisdom, Aloe picked up and wrapped a towel around her body as a precaution. The pearly white of the fabric contrasted greatly against the coffee black of her skin.


    Calmly, Aloe made her way to the bath, the cold stone brushing her naked feet. When she crossed the curtains though, that calmness turned into turbulence.


    There was a person in the bath pool. Aloe¡¯s face petrified; her heartbeat stopped.


    ¡°Who goes there~?¡± She chanted sweetly.


    It was the emir.

 Book 2: 59. Naked (and Afraid)

    Dread would have filled Aloe¡¯s mind but another more prominent thing occupied her thoughts.


    Boobs.


    Rani-al-Sadina looked at her with all her mighty and exposed body, the emir did not flinch nor blush at her presence. In any case, the buxom woman only appeared more comfortable now that Aloe had stated her presence.


    ¡°I... uhm... wrong bath...¡± Aloe said shyly as she clutched the towel enveloping her body. ¡°I-uhm will r-remove myself from here now.¡± Even as she said so, the scribe didn¡¯t turn her body, her eyes fixated on the emir whilst she walked backward, as if her gaze had been glued to the person in front of her.


    ¡°You will not go anywhere,¡± Rani stated sharply, her voice cutting through the steam and room.


    Aloe instantly halted on the spot. That wasn¡¯t a statement, but an order. One that terrified her.


    ¡°Prance forward.¡± The sultanzade spoke softly, her finger gesturing Aloe to approach.


    In any other scenario, she would have run away; no thoughts pondered, no questions asked. But now her feet moved alone without even having time to think. Slowly and shyly, Aloe approached the woman lazily sitting in the pool, her hands unconsciously letting pressure go away from the clutches holding the towel around her body.


    Aloe¡¯s chest raised and fell heavily with each step; her breathing was hard, yet the sounds of her heartbeat overcame it. Her ears rang with the wet thuds of her heart.


    The instant her feet met a hint of water, consciousness returned to her, as if it had been on a long sleep. When her mind kicked into thoughts, Aloe flinched, but soon she met gazes with Rani. Even through the steam, no matter that she was a pool away, she saw her purple eyes.


    Oh, her eyes shone like amethysts.


    Quite literally at that.


    Aloe was bewildered by the glow, she couldn¡¯t even focus on the far bigger assets in her field of view, the gemstones took all her attention. She didn¡¯t even notice she was walking in the water until it was too late.


    ¡°What¡¯s with the towel anyways?¡± Before she could react, Rani grabbed her by the waist and pulled away Aloe¡¯s towel ¨C prompting a reflexive yelp from her ¨C and leaving her naked to the emir¡¯s eyes.


    It was a single moment, but as Aloe lay there unmoving in Rani¡¯s arms, it seemed to linger for an eternity. Her purple eyes embrace her with the caress of the softest velvet, her mind so overloaded that she couldn¡¯t process the feeling of their skin touching. Even though she was the one with the accelerated breathing and a hot bath enveloped her, Aloe could only focus on the warmth of Rani¡¯s breath.


    Slow and methodical.


    Enticing.


    The emir¡¯s lips curved into a djinnish smile.


    Aloe jerked, common sense returning to her as she struggled free from the woman¡¯s clutches and covered her exposed chest and femininity.


    Instead of being offended ¨C far from it ¨C Rani thrived in Aloe¡¯s antics. The scribe felt dizzy as the emir¡¯s eyes shone in elation.


    ¡°W-where are y-your servants, Rani?¡± Aloe managed to muster in order to change the subject away from her with all the decency one could have whilst naked. Especially as she felt devoured by the amethysts overlooking her.


    Those eyes unsettled and excited her in equal measure.


    ¡°Oh, well. I do not need them, do I?¡± The emir put her arms under her chest, making it difficult for Aloe to keep looking at her eyes.


    Even if she didn¡¯t want to lose herself in the desert of purple, it would be very bad etiquette to look... elsewhere. And it certainly didn¡¯t help that Rani was more than a head taller than her.


    Rani-al-Sadina was not a tall person, but she was definitely a tall woman. A simple estimation would put her at one meter and eighty, and compared with Aloe¡¯s one and a half, it was a challenge to not look at the woman¡¯s bosom as she highlighted them. Those breasts weren¡¯t ships, they were a whole armada.


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    The sultanzade¡¯s eyes glowed and her smile twisted in giddy as she saw the challenge Aloe was trying to overcome.


    ¡°I-uhm-this-uhm...¡± It was hard coming up with words. Coherent ones at least. Even though she had barely spent a few minutes in the pool, and she hadn¡¯t even submerged more than her legs in the hot water, Aloe felt a dizziness unlike any other she had ever experienced in the public baths. ¡°A w-woman of y-your station shouldn¡¯t bathe by herself.¡± It was the first thing that came to her mind, an unconscious babbling more than a conscious thought.


    ¡°You are right.¡± The emir admitted.


    ¡°I¡¯m... right?¡± Aloe flinched from the backlash of the words, dumbfounded by Rani¡¯s straightforwardness.


    ¡°Yes,¡± She nodded, her crispy yet dry hair swaying with the gesture. ¡°I should get someone to wash my body. Though I don¡¯t see any servants around...¡±


    Aloe backpedaled. ¡°I c-can go search for them.¡±


    ¡°What did you say to Naila back then when I hired you?¡± The sultanzade¡¯s tone was even sharper than her sister¡¯s blades. ¡°You talked about how I was your liege, right?¡±


    ¡°Yes...¡± Aloe added silently; her voice weaker than a whisper, her body trembling despite the warm water.


    ¡°And you said that before I hired you, so now I am your liege and your employer. There isn¡¯t much difference between that and being a servant, right?¡±


    ¡°...yes...¡± Her voice almost didn¡¯t even reach her own ears.


    Aloe¡¯s eyes became watery. She was scared. She didn¡¯t know what the emir was capable of, or perhaps she knew too well what the sultanzade was capable of, and that unsettled her to no end.


    ¡°Then serve me.¡± It didn¡¯t matter if Rani spoke an order or not, if she had the authority for her to do this in the first place, her hostile tone pressured Aloe into obeying.


    The emir walked out of the pool with a single stride of her long legs, water dripping down copiously. Aloe followed behind her wordlessly, too shy to muster a sound. Soon it became obvious to her the sultanzade¡¯s intentions as she sat on a bench next to a smaller pool and a plethora of buckets.


    ¡°Use the pink one, the white one does not deal well with my hair.¡± Before Aloe could ask what the woman was talking about, she noticed a bowl of soaps and other bath paraphernalia on a clay stand.


    Her hands shook as she grabbed the pink soap and made foam with a water bucket. Aloe breathed deeply before landing her soap-covered hands on Rani¡¯s hair. Whilst not a maid, familial bathing was common in Ydaz, and she had washed her mother¡¯s scalp from time to time.


    ¡°Mmm~¡± Rani moaned in satisfaction, making Aloe blush and stop. ¡°Why did you stop? Keep going. Those fingers are heavenly.¡±


    Aloe didn¡¯t respond to the emir¡¯s quip and continued rubbing her scalp. She highly doubted her fingers felt that good, she was just toying with her. Surely.


    ¡°Mmm~ Ah~¡± The sultanzade continued to moan suggestively, the scribe¡¯s concentration constantly wavering.


    Even as Aloe emptied her mind like she did when infusing plants or herself, her heartbeat kept accelerating, a lump forming in her throat. After a few minutes, the foam diminished from all the rubbing.


    Unprompted, Aloe grabbed a bucket and slowly dropped the water on Rani¡¯s head, making sure that no foam remained. Once the hair was done, Aloe waited in silence, holding her breath as much as she could in an attempt to make the emir forget about her existence.


    That plan didn¡¯t work out.


    ¡°What are you waiting for?¡± She asked. ¡°My body still needs some rinsing.¡±


    To say that Aloe¡¯s heartbeat went haywire upon hearing those words was an understatement. She almost fainted.


    ¡°I... I s-shouldn¡¯t do that, R-Rani.¡± Her voice trembled as much as her hands. ¡°I a-am not w-worthy.¡± Aloe didn¡¯t even know what she was talking about. She just said the first excuse that came to her head.


    The emir turned around, now that she was seated their eyes met face to face on the same level. That purple glint was intoxicating. Corrupting.


    ¡°Nonsense.¡± The sultanzade responded. ¡°If a maid can touch my body, then my scribe of commoners can. And besides, that was an order.¡±


    There was not enough time to refute as Rani grabbed Aloe¡¯s hand and brought her to her body. Her tit. The chest of a princess. Rani put pressure on her hold, driving Aloe¡¯s digits to sink into the flesh, black meeting bronze. The softness was indescribable, any comparisons wouldn¡¯t do justice or were too overused to not sound ridiculous.


    ¡°Now, wash.¡± Rani let Aloe¡¯s hand fall to the ground, and she nodded at a loss of thoughts and words.


    The lost scribe soaked a towel in soap and water and started to carefully brush it against the emir¡¯s skin. As a sultanzade, it was highly unlikely that Aloe could hurt Rani¡¯s skin, but she didn¡¯t take risks. She calmly took her time to luster every inch of the bronze of her skin.


    Aloe soaked the towel in the bucket every time the foam ran out, and whilst Rani wasn¡¯t moaning like before, she instead was looking at her attentively as she washed her from the front. That was even worse. Please don¡¯t notice it. Please don¡¯t notice it. The young adult chanted the mantra in her head, praying that the woman wouldn¡¯t notice her blush, or at least mistake it with the flush of the hot bath.


    Once every section of the emir¡¯s body was done, Aloe stepped backward, making the most distance possible from the sultanzade. Partially wanting to run away.


    ¡°Wait.¡± Rani cut her attempt with a neutral yet melodious voice.


    Is there something else? Fear filled Aloe¡¯s mind. Yes, that was what she currently was. Afraid. Is she going to make me wash... there? Or maybe wash... Her blush intensified; she stopped those thoughts from blossoming.


    Rani didn¡¯t talk, she remained in silence on the bench, the suspense was killing Aloe.


    Without a previous warning, the sultanzade stood up, her skin shining far more than before from the deep scrubbing. She turned to face her, Rani¡¯s eyes looking over her shoulder.


    ¡°Well done.¡± The woman added neutrally; no sultriness nor playfulness was present in her voice, and made her way out of the bathroom.


    The moment Aloe no longer heard her steps, her legs gave out and she fell to the floor. What? Her heartbeat slowly came back to normalcy, and her mind cleared. She couldn¡¯t believe what had happened, where had all the lasciviousness and eagerness gone? Have... have I imagined all of that?

 Book 2: 60. Assistant

    Aloe had no way of knowing how much time she spent on the bath floor, the cold stone caressing her calves, but when she left, the sun was already coming down.


    ¡°You look radiant, Aloe!¡± Lulu greeted her as the scribe entered her office. The maid made no mention whatsoever of the time she had spent in the bath. ¡°I knew that dress would suit you like a fiddle!¡±


    ¡°Thanks for the praise, Lulu, but I have work to do.¡± All the energies she had managed to recover from her nap were lost with the stress from serving the emir. ¡°Would you be so helpful to make me some coffee?¡±


    ¡°As you order, Aloe.¡± The maid bowed and left the office.


    Aloe couldn¡¯t even bring herself to think how much time Lulu had waited for her in the office and how rude it was to immediately push her out, her head was a mess. She clutched her heart, no matter how much she meditated and tried to calm herself, her heartbeat was tangled. What... what should I do? She didn¡¯t even know what that question meant.


    The desk wasn¡¯t in the best of conditions, but it didn¡¯t take her long to organize the highest priority papers and ready her lectern and writing equipment. Whilst doing so, Aloe shifted her vitality in a trance, going from default internal infusion to ¡®toughness¡¯ as she felt unwell. She didn¡¯t know the extent of the abilities and effects of ¡®toughness¡¯, but it couldn¡¯t be denied that she felt better under the effects of the slow yet inexorable stream of vitality.


    The scribe didn¡¯t have time to soak her feather in the ink flask as the office¡¯s door swung wide open, letting multiple people inside.


    ¡°I am sorry, venerable Scribe,¡± Lulu said with a tray in hand, eyes locked on the newcomers, ¡°but they insisted on seeing you.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡± Aloe gazed at the people who had entered her office. They were well-dressed and didn¡¯t have the most amicable of faces, but at least they were neither of the sultanzade. ¡°You can leave the coffee here, Lulu.¡±


    Wordlessly, the maid left the tray on the desk and filled a cup before departing with a bow, closing the door behind her. Aloe took the cup of coffee and its saucer, taking a sip from the steaming hot coffee. She instantly thanked her foresight for infusing herself beforehand, otherwise she would have burnt her tongue badly.


    ¡°So,¡± she took another sip, ¡°who are you?¡± The question was accompanied by a slight sigh, the scribe couldn¡¯t support her own weight. She was not in a condition for conversations.


    ¡°You are a bit cocky, aren¡¯t you?¡± A mature woman with her crossed arms said.


    ¡°That is not the way to talk to the scribe of commoners.¡± Aloe settled her cup down on the desk, a frown drawn on her face.


    If she had had two more hours of sleep, she wouldn¡¯t have acted as she did, but in her current state, Aloe couldn¡¯t care less about these people. She only knew that they were not other personal scribes or sultanzade, so the only people left that could talk to her that way were diplomats, which she highly doubted they were.


    ¡°And that¡¯s no way to serve guests.¡± The woman continued, a smug on her face, unable to read the room. And most importantly, Aloe¡¯s mood.


    ¡°Guests? The people that barged into my office uninvited? Not even bothering to knock?¡± Aloe narrowed her eyes. Power was corrupting, but the main source of her lack of decorum was her lack of sleep. And stress. There was a lot of stress in her petite body.


    Upon hearing her words, the two other people behind the woman shyly backpedaled. She was right, it was an intrusion. If not of property, of courtesy.


    ¡°Your office?¡± But the mature woman had none of it. Oblivious to Aloe¡¯s indifferent and lackluster gaze. ¡°This is the scribe of commoners office, a prestigious place that few can reach, and even fewer are qualified for. You? You are barely a woman; I don¡¯t care you were Shahrazad¡¯s daughter. Actually, I am mad you were Shahrazad¡¯s daughter, this is not an oligarchy, you should have not inherited that title!¡±


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    The woman ended her outburst with a heavy inhalation, she had clearly been holding onto that for a while. Even with the clear aggression, Aloe couldn¡¯t just care. Neither her mind was on the state of dealing with it, nor she could be scared into submission. Not after she had experienced what true submission was barely a few hours ago.


    And what if she had an irate woman in front of her? With her current internal infusion, she could kick her, punch her, or whatever else and Aloe would probably feel mild pain. Nothing that she hadn¡¯t done to herself before, for sure.


    Aloe pushed her armchair backward and stood up. The three people before her were taller than her, if not by a head, at least a finger. Yet she didn¡¯t feel small. That was the thing about authority, physical prowess or build didn¡¯t factor in intimidation.


    She hated being afraid, but now she felt exactly the opposite.


    ¡°State your name and occupation,¡± Aloe commanded in the most dry and stale tone possible, resemblant to that of Scribe Nuha.


    ¡°You don¡¯t even know who I am?¡± The woman put her hand on her chest, shaken aback by the offense.


    ¡°State your name and occupation.¡± Aloe reiterated; unmoving, unfazed.


    Truthfully, she just wanted to get done with the workday and return to the bedchamber. That room-sized bed was the only thing she strove for right now. Two hours of sleep didn¡¯t cut it.


    The woman frowned, Aloe couldn¡¯t know if it was because her intimidation had worked or because she noticed Aloe would just repeat the sentence over and over again, so she ceded.


    ¡°Shula Sadina, assistant to the scribe of commoners.¡±


    In a single statement, Aloe had obtained every piece of knowledge she needed. Not only that the woman was a commoner, meaning she had no power over her, but she was also her underling.


    ¡°Alright, you are fired,¡± Aloe said calmly.


    ¡°Eh?¡± A muted whimper escaped the woman¡¯s mouth, her body physically shaken by the words. It took her a few more blinks and random babbling to process the words. ¡°You can¡¯t do that! I am the one who kept this place afloat when there was no scribe!¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll find that yes, I can do this.¡± Tyrannical? Absolutely. Practical? Also true. ¡°Also, the one who kept this place afloat? Woman, Sadina has only been two weeks without a scribe of commoners.¡±


    During her days at the public desk when she was still working as an unpaid banker¡¯s apprentice ¨C she was still sour about that detail ¨C Aloe had seen her fair share of unhappy customers. Though it was a great misnomer to call loan seekers ¡°customers¡±.


    People tended to be aggressive to clerks ¨C probably due to poor education or a high presence of sibling-cousins on their family trees ¨C especially when the clerk in question was a small defenseless girl. At the sweet age of fifteen, Aloe had been cursed, insulted, denigrated, and anything a desperate man could do without getting physical. She was even spat on once. Since those three years ago, things only got worse as she sometimes was mistaken by a grown woman, and people were a lot more savage when they weren¡¯t shouting at a child for their mistakes, but a fellow adult.


    Even if their intellect showed otherwise.


    Just thinking about it filled Aloe¡¯s tongue with venom.


    So she didn¡¯t purely base her decisions on emotion, but also experience. The few yet valuable experience she had. These types of people, customers, or however you wanted to call them, didn¡¯t surrender because they always believed they were in the right. They would just continue shouting until their throats gave out.


    The decision was crystal clear to Aloe. If she didn¡¯t make that woman out now, she would stab her in the back. There was no loyalty to these people. They only thought of themselves and would never be satisfied, there was only greed, envy, and pride in their hearts. And Aloe had enough with her greed and pride.


    ¡°What are you waiting for?¡± Aloe raised her voice. ¡°Out.¡± Her eyes ignited with authority and hate.


    ¡°You cannot fire me!¡± The woman stomped on the ground like a child throwing a tantrum. ¡°I have worked here when your mother was still changing your diapers!¡±


    ¡°I see how it is...¡± The scribe of commoners sighed in disappointment. ¡°Lulu, are you still here?¡±


    The door promptly opened, and the maid stepped in. ¡°Yes, venerable Scribe. What are your wishes?¡±


    ¡°Please call the guards, there¡¯s an unwanted guest trespassing in my office.¡±


    The mature woman gasped at the use of words, but she got the gist of the situation. Has some sense finally beaten inside your thick skull? The assistant scribe walked toward the door, almost pushing wonderful Lulu to the side, but she turned to face Aloe.


    ¡°This will not be the end of it.¡± She was frothing like a rabid dog; more than intimidating, it made her pathetic in her eyes. ¡°You will regret your decision.¡±


    ¡°Do not fret, I will not,¡± Aloe added calmly, indifference her defining trait.


    The scribe closed the door behind her with an unpolite slam that probably left a mark on the frame.


    Aloe sighed; she couldn¡¯t even gather enough strength to groan ¨C she was more worried about the weight of her eyelids than anything and sat down in her armchair, more collapsing than anything else.


    ¡°So, what business did you all have with me?¡± Aloe asked after taking a sip of her still-hot coffee, unbothered by the curses of the woman whose name she didn¡¯t even remember.


    Honestly, that was one of the weakest curses she had heard, and also very common. At least she didn¡¯t make a childish comment like mentioning genitalia or Aloe¡¯s constitution. If that were the case, well, the coffee would be on that woman rather than inside of Aloe¡¯s mouth.

 Book 2: 61. Imagine

    ¡°I am Idris,¡± the man started, though his voice trembled slightly, ¡°and she¡¯s Fayruz. As you may have guessed, we are the assistants of your predecessor, the scribe of commoners, Shahrazad.¡±


    Idris bowed slightly and Fayruz followed suit. Their eyes were filled with doubt, fear being too strong of a word. They were certainly not comfortable, the firing of the other assistant fresh in their minds, but it was not a death sentence. No one wanted to lose a high-paying job, but it wouldn¡¯t be the end of their lives, especially their working lives.


    ¡°Please take a seat,¡± Aloe responded as she motioned to the chairs near her desk. ¡°Would you like something to drink?¡± The man refused by raising his left hand and the woman swayed her head. ¡°I assume you are here for scribe business.¡±


    ¡°We would like to talk with you... venerable Scribe.¡± Fayruz explained diplomatically, hastily adding the title at the end. Even if she was way older than Aloe, she could read her easily. Better to be polite for no cost, than to be impolite and lose everything. It was quite a common trail of thought. ¡°Whilst your approach to work so far is totally valid,¡± the assistant shallowly raised her palms defensively, ¡°we would like to take a similar approach to what we had with your late mother. A back and forth between personal scribe and assistant scribe.¡±


    Aloe instantly liked Fayruz. She was probably more than a decade older than her, yet she treated her with the appropriate respect. That skill alone was hard to come by. She knew that, because she didn¡¯t have it. But she mainly liked her because it reminded her of herself, choosing diplomacy and kind words to reach a win-win scenario. That methodology that she had learned on her apprenticeship was what guided her life.


    ¡°But of course.¡± Aloe nodded. ¡°I always intended that. It¡¯s just that I¡¯ve had too much workload to even contact with you. I suppose the papers I went through have already reached your desks, haven¡¯t they?¡±


    ¡°Well yes, we have partially gone through the papers you have signed, but we would prefer more feedback on our work and your decisions.¡± Fayruz slowly became more fluent with each word, wariness vanishing from her voice.


    ¡°Feedback, you say?¡± Aloe asked rhetorically, though her words devoid of meaning caused expressions of rebuttal on the assistants. ¡°Sorry, I am not refusing your proposal, I am just used to talking alone.¡± Maybe too much. ¡°I am not used to working with others, all my education and jobs have focused on enduring my assignments alone, so I may not be exactly suited to this line of... collaboration. But if you say my mother did work like that with you, I will give you the benefit of the doubt and try this back and forth of yours.¡±


    ¡°We are so grateful for your understanding, venerable Scribe,¡± Fayruz vowed, her eyes shining. Aloe had never seen an adult being that happy about a work matter. Then she took a stack of papers out of her satchel. ¡°We would like you to revise these documents as we feel that they are more urgent than you may have thought when you denied them.¡±


    The next hours were spent in a back and forth as Fayruz had said. The assistant scribe presented a paper she valued that had been misunderstood then the scribe of commoners presented her defense and stated her ground.


    Sometimes Aloe was in the right, sometimes Fayruz was in the right. They both shared different areas of experience and expertise. Whilst Aloe had been educated more like a merchant, Fayruz felt more like a military logistician. She knew how things worked and how to get them from one place to another.


    Idris, the other assistant scribe, maintained himself to the side valuing himself unnecessary to the conversation. But that didn¡¯t mean he remained still. He first asked Lulu for tea and then began doing paperwork. Not only his own but also removing part of Aloe¡¯s workload. Whilst it was she who needed to sign the documents, not all of them were contracts, some were petitions that instead of being presented through the audience, had instead arrived through her desk.


    The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    The job of scribe of commoners was loosely defined, after all; meaning that she had a lot of responsibilities, from agriculture to dealing with the opinions of the people. Only know could Aloe understand how much different the job was from what she expected.


    <hr>


    Soon enough, it turned dark. However, it wasn¡¯t late, just one of the traits of winter. Even when the sun was no longer there, they continued to work under candlelight. And they would have continued for longer, if it wasn¡¯t because Aloe collapsed.


    ¡°Aloe!¡± Fayruz stood up and ran to assist her as she hit her head on the desk. Like Lulu, she had told them to call her by her name. ¡°Are you well?¡±


    ¡°Ugh...¡± Aloe groaned and led a hand to her head. ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± It became obvious to the outside observers that she wasn¡¯t well as she grabbed the opposite side where she had gotten hit.


    ¡°When¡¯s the last time you slept?¡± Fayruz grabbed her by the shoulders, fearing that the woman might fall again.


    ¡°What¡¯s the word for before-yesterday?¡± The scribe of commoners added dazedly.


    ¡°Ereyesterday,¡± Idris responded nonchalantly.


    ¡°Oh heavens!¡± The scribe assistant added in a panic as picked Aloe up by her armpits, ignoring her partner¡¯s antics. ¡°Lulu, help me bring her to bed!¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡± Lulu, who had patiently waited on a chair on the other side of the room all these hours, stood up and assisted Fayruz.


    ¡°Girls, I¡¯m fiiine.¡± Aloe tried to shrug Fayruz away, but the odds were stacked against her. Besides being smaller, younger, and sleep deprived, Aloe had also still her ¡®toughness¡¯ infusion active, meaning that the little strength she could muster was slightly diminished.


    ¡°Do you have narcotics, Lulu?¡± Fayruz asked whilst fighting Aloe¡¯s thrashes.


    ¡°You want to drug her?¡± The maid gasped at the suggestion.


    ¡°You have better ideas? Come on, it can be a tea! She just needs to sleep!¡± Lulu bowed and rushed outside the office. ¡°Idris! Stop with the paper and help, man!¡±


    The male scribe sighed and stood up. Maybe it was because of the dim light of the candles, but Idris seemed way taller than on the day. He grabbed Aloe by her legs ¨C prompting a drowned yelp from the drowsy woman ¨C and pulled her into a princess carry.


    ¡°Put me down at once!¡± Aloe cried in a mixture of rage and shame. Her struggles became even weaker with time.


    ¡°Open the door for me, Fay,¡± Idris said between grunts as he held Aloe¡¯s pathetic yet annoying movements.


    <hr>


    The scribes and company moved through the sleeping corridors, but because Aloe wouldn¡¯t stop whining, Idris had to put his hand on the mouth of her boss. He doubted she would remember any of this if what she had about her lack of sleep was true. And he was right, she wouldn¡¯t remember anything of these last hours.


    Fayruz opened the door to the scribe of commoner¡¯s bedchamber and lit the candles in the room as Idris himself disposed to throw her boss on the bed like a sack of potatoes.


    ¡°Idris!¡± Fayruz shouted upon hearing the muted thud; Aloe meanwhile twisted on the bed groaning, too groggy to realize what had happened. ¡°Treat her with care! Do you want to be fired?¡±


    ¡°Honestly, Fay? I think we will get fired anyway.¡± The man responded with a sigh. ¡°Haven¡¯t you seen what she did to Shula?¡±


    ¡°I...¡± Any remark she could have uttered died in her mouth after hearing that. ¡°I didn¡¯t like Shula either way.¡±


    ¡°Enough to instantly make out a scribe with decades of experience?¡±


    Fayruz''s expression soured further on. ¡°She had been disrespectful to her superior, no matter if she was right or not.¡± She looked away. ¡°Shula could have said things differently.¡±


    ¡°Shula could have said worse and would have still been right.¡± Idris countered. ¡°That girl there,¡± he pointed at the laying Aloe who was rolling and groaning in the bed, ¡°is power-hungry and short-fused. She¡¯ll make us out in a week.¡±


    ¡°That woman there,¡± Fayruz reiterated, ¡°is a girl who lost her mother only a week ago. And remember what happened a few months ago too? Shahrazad¡¯s father died, and Aloe¡¯s grandfather. That''s without even mentioning Amid. I cannot even begin to imagine what that girl has gone and is going through, and by what I see, you did neither.¡±


    ¡°I...¡± Idris swallowed his saliva, it felt sour.


    He didn¡¯t have time to refute as Lulu made her way into the room with a tray in hand.


    ¡°Is something wrong?¡± The maid asked as she saw the anxious expressions of the scribes.


    ¡°Nothing at all, dear.¡± Fayruz greeted her with a motherly smile. ¡°Is that the narcotics? Please serve it to Aloe, we will make our way out. Right, Idris?¡± She threw two half-metaphorical daggers to the man.


    He just nodded and they left the bedchamber, leaving the sleeping princess at the hands of the maid.


    ¡°You are right,¡± Idris said once they were far away past the palace gates.


    The wind swayed slightly his robe, the same happened with Fayruz''s long hair. Sadina shone lightly from the light of the street, few and weak, but on a moonless night, they felt like miniature suns in their own contained cosmos.


    ¡°About what?¡± Fayruz frowned.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t imagine.¡± The man sighed; his gaze locked on the starry sky.

 Book 2: 62. Undress

    The sun greeted Aloe like a cold slap of water.


    ¡°Auuuugh!¡± The woman groaned like a dweller going into labor.


    Whilst she lingered on the warmth on her sheets, Aloe raised her back from the soft mattress. Her vision was blurry, and her head pounded down on her, but her number one question was:


    ¡°When did I get here?¡± She brought a hand to her head. ¡°Damn, I... fuck.¡± Politeness wasn¡¯t the strong point of the scribe when drowsy. It took her a bit of time to get used to the light. ¡°I can¡¯t recall shit.¡±


    Aloe tried to stand up in the middle of the bed, but her legs betrayed her, and she tumbled down. Thankfully, the bed was softer than a cloud and she barely felt the fall.


    ¡°Dunes...¡± Aloe sighed, leading a hand to her eyes as the light from the window beamed directly at her face. ¡°I¡¯ve never felt so sleepy...¡± Nor I have been awake that much time. Though she left that part unsaid.


    She trusted that the maids would look for her if she didn¡¯t show a sign of life before the audience, especially Lulu ¨C she doubted the young maid would allow Aloe to fail her duties ¨C but that was no excuse for lingering inert like a rock. Glancing around, Aloe found a glass of water on the nightstand, and even if it was rather stale and hot, she nonetheless drank it greedily as if she had been stranded in the desert for days.


    ¡°How ¡®bout clothes?¡± Aloe said after jumping out of bed and stretching her arms. Only then did she realize what she was wearing. ¡°Oh.¡± It was a silk nightgown. ¡°Oh?¡± A green one. ¡°Oh!¡± A translucent one.


    Aloe embraced her torso, no matter that she was alone in the room. Her visage turned into a blush.


    ¡°Who changed me?¡± Even if she knew the answer, that didn¡¯t make it less embarrassing.


    The newly woman was too embarrassed of her body to let others see it, even if it was to change her into comfortable sleeping clothes after she collapsed.


    ¡°At least she didn¡¯t remove my underwear...¡± Aloe sulked her way to the wardrobe.


    She would have survived the shame of being exposed that way. Some people may like to highlight that more people had seen her naked before, that had been exactly the case yesterday, but that was in the bath. Where bath rules applied. And everyone knew people were nude in a bath, that was the place of nudity. Her own bedchamber on the other hand...


    Her gloom disappeared like night on the day once she saw the wardrobe''s contents.


    ¡°Oh!¡± She had seen them yesterday, but she hadn¡¯t had the time to process it between her mental exhaustion and the fact that she ordered Lulu to ready the clothes for her. ¡°Should I wear the same clothes? I¡¯ve barely used them... Just for a few hours... Normally I would do so, but what if someone comments on it? I no longer need to do laundry, and there are a lot of dresses.¡±


    Aloe wasn¡¯t a vain person, but when you were exposed to more clothes than you could try and then told that they were yours, well, it would have been stupid to not try them out.


    Considering how she had clutched her sheets during her sleep, Aloe opted for thicker clothes as it looked like a cold day was brewing. However, thicker clothes in Ydaz just meant long sleeves and no opening for air to flow around. She picked up a long-sleeved-and-skirt dress that looked fabulous. The emerald velvet not only was soft to the touch but also far more expensive than anything she could have afforded before her current job. She may not technically be the proprietor of the dress, but the fact that she could wear such clothing made her unbelievably happy.


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    She still had woken up early, so Aloe decided to get a feel of every piece of clothing whilst she had time.


    A mirror, a myriad of clothing, and free time did wonders for one''s mood.


    <hr>


    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t be awake!¡± Lulu shouted alarmed as she opened the door, tray in hand.


    ¡°Good morning to you too, Lulu.¡± Aloe gave her a sarcastic smile with a gaze devoid of emotion.


    In a rush, the maid left the tray in the first place she could and rushed to the scribe.


    ¡°Are you feeling well, Aloe?¡± She kept her hands to herself, but it was obvious that she wanted to touch as if to check for wounds.


    ¡°I can assure you I am perfectly fine,¡± The scribe affirmed. ¡°Maybe a bit lacking in the sleep department, but you don¡¯t need to be this jumpy.¡±


    ¡°You should have slept more. I was going to let you sleep late, waking you barely before the audience.¡±


    ¡°Well, there¡¯s no need for that now. And it isn¡¯t as if I did that intentionally, the sun woke me up.¡±


    ¡°Oh, heavens!¡± Lulu placed her hands on her cheeks, her expression was mortified. ¡°I forgot to close the curtains. I am so sorry, venerable Scribe!¡±


    ¡°No titles, Lulu. Or else you are going to make me mad.¡± Aloe frowned.


    ¡°I... of course.¡± The maid bowed in acknowledgment and then changed the subject. ¡°I was going to select your clothing like yesterday, but it seems you already did that.¡±


    ¡°Indeed,¡± Aloe smiled in content and performed a twirl, the tail of her dress¡¯ skirt slightly waving. ¡°The selection is quite delectable.¡±


    ¡°I am glad to hear that,¡± Lulu responded diplomatically yet actual satisfaction could be seen in her expression. Her posture was relaxed as she situated her clasped hands before her crotch.


    ¡°Though talking about clothing,¡± Aloe¡¯s visage darkened a bit, ¡°what¡¯s the matter with that nightgown?¡± She pointed at the piece of clothing lying on the bed.


    ¡°Is... it not to your liking, Aloe?¡± While not as mortified as before, there was repentance in the maid¡¯s expression.


    ¡°Ehm...¡± Aloe hadn¡¯t expected that question, but she proceeded, nevertheless. ¡°I do not partake in such... revealing outfits.¡± She explained in the most sterile way possible.


    ¡°I see.¡± Lulu did not make a fuss out of it, simply understanding that Aloe hadn¡¯t liked the outfit. ¡°I¡¯ll select more opaque clothing for the future then. You intend to sleep in your palace bedchamber, right?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the idea, yes.¡± She nodded. ¡°And less translucent clothes are exactly what I wanted. However, that raises another question. You were the one who changed me into my nightgown, am I right?¡±


    ¡°Yes?¡± The maid stated in confusion, not understanding the scribe¡¯s point. ¡°There weren¡¯t more people to do so.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not the point.¡± Lulu tilted her head to the side still not understanding the question. ¡°Alright, ehm... I would not like to be dressed or undressed without my express consent, is that clear?¡±


    ¡°Oh!¡± Lulu¡¯s eyes shot wide open and bowed apologetically. ¡°I am so sorry, Aloe. I... I honestly didn¡¯t think about that, you had no problems when the head maid dressed you for your first audience, and nobody else does in the palace so...¡±


    ¡°I get your logic,¡± Aloe raised her hands defensively to calm the maid down, ¡°but if were to fall unconscious again, I¡¯d honestly prefer if you just left me in my clothes.¡±


    ¡°I understand.¡± The fair-skinned woman said whilst maintaining her bow. ¡°But what if you are unconscious and dirty? Or worse, drenched? You could get sick that way!¡±


    As Aloe peered into Lulu¡¯s eyes, she saw veritable worry. Her paranoia led her to think of the worst possible outcomes for herself, but as it would appear, the maid¡¯s paranoia did something similar. A sister in paranoia was the last thing she had hoped to find in the palace.


    ¡°Uhh...¡± The scribe was at a loss for words. ¡°I guess that in that case, I could accept being undressed... But only if it¡¯s you, Lulu! Only you! I won¡¯t accept any other maid, do you got that?¡±


    Her embarrassment was far from gone, notably after such shameful words, but her trail of thought led her to believe that if she had already seen her naked, then at least if the occasion that someone had to do that again, then it should be Lulu to do so. That didn¡¯t make it better, but Aloe dealt with her shame as best as she could. If Lulu had been far less lovely it would have been way easier, or older. The maid was too radiant, unlike her.


    ¡°Absolutely!¡± Lulu responded ever-so-suspiciously excited but rapidly calmed down. ¡°There¡¯s still a bit of time for the audience, but the breakfast will get cold if you don¡¯t eat it soon.¡±


    ¡°Oh, breakfast?¡± Now it was time for Aloe¡¯s eyes to shine.

 Book 2: 63. Step

    Even though it was just her second audience as a scribe ¨C she had just one more under her belt as a spectator ¨C Aloe had already grown used to them. They were slow and tedious, not a lot of things happened unless the emir accepted a petition, which seldom happened. The most stressful part was the beginning when the emir would ask her personal scribes for brief reports. Thankfully, Aloe had been blessed with copious amounts of information after she met with her assistants, Fayruz and Idris.


    This audience was also lighter on her body than her first one by virtue alone of having had sleep.


    Who would have thought that not staying awake for more than thirty hours would do wonders for one¡¯s focus?


    Scribe Nuha was the director of the audience, her voice ¨C though lethargic and tired ¨C carried the potency and authority of the emir perfectly. Aloe believed that she was granted that position because she had no hairs on her tongue and wouldn¡¯t doubt throwing people out if she thought their petitions were stupid.


    Rani could have done that herself, of course, but the ruler of the city cussing at her subjects would have hurt her image. Why do so when another person was happy to do so for you? Yes, Nuha may be permanently tired and not exactly amicable, but Aloe could see that the woman enjoyed her little dried outbursts. I guess people get their enjoyment where they can. Considering she enjoyed herself by passing out by thinking too hard about plants, she had no right to blame her.


    Before she noticed, the petitioner queue dried up and the emir called the audience off. Nuha was the first to go, but curiously enough, Naila departed with a bit of gait under her step. Tamara was the last one, bowing a farewell. Aloe remained last, not because she had been ordered so, but because the last petitioner involved her, and she was still redacting some notes on her parchment.


    As soon as she was finished, she took a step forward to finally visit the feast hall, but like clockwork, the emir called her out.


    ¡°Wait.¡± The sultanzade sang, her voice ever-so-melodious.


    Aloe¡¯s heartbeat stopped and she turned to face the buxom woman at the throne. Is it about the events of the bath? She thought with a knot in her throat.


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard that you¡¯ve fired an assistant.¡±


    Oh. Aloe instantly deflated inexplicably. Why did that disappoint me?


    ¡°Indeed, I have done so, Rani.¡± She kept her composure and tone diplomatic.


    ¡°Can I ask why?¡± The sultanzade leaned to an armchair of the throne, her body resting on her hand, her hair and regalia pulled down by gravity.


    ¡°The assistant I sent away had defied your authority, of course,¡± Aloe added as a matter of fact. There could be another reason for her to do so, or at least she wanted to make it appear as such.


    ¡°Continue.¡± Rani smiled at her, the expression sending shivers down her spine. That was not a reaction she had planned for or was prepared for.


    ¡°First, she intruded my office. Now, that is an offense, but nothing punishable, a remainder would be more than enough. But that was the first of many offenses. Soon she removed her veil of pretense and acted with aggressiveness against my person. That, I can tolerate, it is not the best of working environments to have a rebellious subordinate, but if she did her job well, it could be easily overlooked. Yet the was a worse offense.¡±


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    ¡°She defied my authority.¡± The emir reiterated amusedly.


    Aloe nodded. ¡°She argued ¨C in a very irate tone, may I add ¨C that I should not be the scribe of commoners. If it were to point out my inadequacy in the position, that would be understandable. Scribe Tamara did the same thing when I petitioned for the job. But her tone and words were such that implied that my simple presence in the position was denigrating. And...¡±


    ¡°...Therefore, she undermined my authority because she stated that my decision to put you in such a position was incorrect. Yes, yes.¡± Rani swayed her hand around derisively. ¡°I have already heard speeches like that before, sweety.¡± Even if it was an off-hand comment, the usage of the word stopped Aloe¡¯s trail of thought for a second. ¡°I honestly do not care if you fire one or all of your assistants. I only care about results. If you can make all their jobs alone, perfect. Less wages to pay. Otherwise...¡±


    The emir¡¯s eyes turned into daggers, the amethyst reflection skewing deep into the scribe¡¯s body. It took a lot of willpower to keep her mask straight. She couldn¡¯t falter, the weaker she appeared, the more she would look like prey. And there was an apex predator in front of her.


    ¡°I assure you our output will not be hindered,¡± Aloe assured, a hand on her chest. A gesture with more than one reason behind it. ¡°If I become aware of any diminish of results in my department, I will make sure to search for more manpower.¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡± Rani clasped her hands together and gifted her a smile as she partially occulted it with her hands. ¡°But be careful, you do not possess unlimited funding. I would not like to see that the spending of the scribe of commoners has surpassed its limit.¡±


    ¡°Rest assured; I know how to manage my money.¡± That sentence sounded way more truthful than any other Aloe had spoken in this conversation.


    Aloe remained in place. The silence reformed in the hall, the emir looked at her attentively.


    ¡°What are you waiting for?¡± The sultanzade asked.


    ¡°To be dismissed.¡± The scribe responded politely.


    ¡°Are you?¡± Rani looked at her over the shoulder ¨C a gesture that wasn¡¯t that difficult ¨C and squinted her eyes.


    Am I? Aloe blushed. Maybe there was another thing that she wanted to inquire about, even if it wasn¡¯t sensible to do so. But it wasn¡¯t like she had a choice now that she had piqued the emir¡¯s interest.


    ¡°Ehm...¡± Aloe tried to speak but the words died in her mouth, a red tinge growing in her visage. ¡°...Rani?¡±


    ¡°Yes?¡± The sultanzade inched forward, her body contorting deliciously in a movement too delicate to be spontaneous and unintended.


    ¡°You use maids, right?¡±


    ¡°Yes?¡± Her djinnish smile turned ever-so-slightly confused at the weird questions.


    ¡°Even in the bath, ...right?¡± Aloe¡¯s blush intensified so did Rani¡¯s smile as she understood where the scribe was going with her question.


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°T-then...¡± Her heartbeat duplicated. I shouldn¡¯t have doubted. I shouldn¡¯t have humored her. I shouldn¡¯t have asked her anything! And her head was a mess. Nonetheless, Aloe pushed forward with her question, there was no turning back. ¡°Then why were you yesterday alone in the bath?¡±


    The emir leaned her back forward even more, the looseness of her clothing revealed as her bosom hung free. Her eyes devoured her, the intrigue had been hammering Aloe¡¯s mind. And now the waited tortured her.


    That gaze and smile weren¡¯t of a human.


    Rani didn¡¯t instantly respond, instead, she stood up. She calmly strode toward her, it didn¡¯t matter how long her legs were, the pace was slower than a crawl. A slug in a path of salt would have moved faster. Each step resonated in the room as the sultanzade¡¯s heels hit the ground. Each step reverberation growing slightly stronger with each consequent step.


    Even if Aloe wanted to look elsewhere, she couldn¡¯t. Their gazes met and she couldn¡¯t shrug off those paired gemstones.


    Tac. Tac.


    Tac. Tac.


    Her breath may not have sped up, but it certainly grew heavier as the steps echoed louder in her mind. It could have been a few seconds or five minutes, she didn¡¯t know. In her mind, there was only one thing: Rani.


    Then they met.


    Shoulder to shoulder, or rather, shoulder to chest as the sultanzade was way taller than her. Rani arched down lightly until her lips met with Aloe¡¯s ear. The scribe did not dare to turn her head as the warm breath caressed her lobe.


    Then she whispered in the most melodiously weak tone possible. ¡°Because I knew you would come to the bath alone.¡±


    Aloe¡¯s mind collapsed, not even processing that the emir was already gone. Only she and her thoughts remained in the room. And she would have preferred to be trapped with hungry snakes before that.

 Book 2: 64. Feast

    Oh. It was a miracle that she held herself up, or that was what Aloe was inclined to believe. She hyperventilated as the words of the emir reiterated in her mind, the caress of her breath still lingering in her body and memory. Oh no.


    Even if she was not one for gossip and politics, the scribe had heard stories of the sultanzade and the palace. Everyone had. If something had more reach and perseverance than tax collectors, it was the words of the snake tongues.


    Now, it wasn¡¯t good to take at heart the words of the snake tongues, but when so many of them spoke of the same, it was difficult not to take it as fact. And the fact was that sultanzade ¨C much like her mother ¨C were lecherous.


    ¡°...and those eyes...¡± Aloe whispered once she managed to calm herself a bit, though her breath was still ragged.


    She knew it since the beginning, working for the imperials was a dangerous prospect. She may not lose her life, but there were still bad things that they could do. She had taken Rani lightly, mainly because her mother had been safe and she had never said anything about the sultanzade antagonizing her, only now it occurred to her that maybe they didn¡¯t touch her because she was a married woman. There were many ifs, but... it was undeniable, Aloe saw it in the emir¡¯s eyes, the desire.


    ¡°She...¡± The words died in her mouth.


    It was early to speak, mostly because Aloe had no experience whatsoever on the subject ¨C whether it may be sentimental or carnal, but those words couldn¡¯t be ignored.


    ¡°That was practically a confession...¡± Aloe clutched her heart. ¡°I¡¯m on her sights...¡±


    Why was she, an unattractive young girl with a barely noticeable family that contained no noble blood, in the sights of a princess of the most powerful nation in the world, was beyond her understanding. Aloe had nothing notable, most ¨C nay ¨C all maids in the palace were far more beautiful than her. Whilst shrewd, Aloe was neither a scholar; and any banker or merchant could provide better services than her.


    This wasn¡¯t anxiety and self-hate talking ¨C it partially was ¨C but a fact.


    Aloe wasn¡¯t an equal, nor she could ever be, and that was what scared her.


    If it was for sexual pleasure, not only there were several laws that allowed imperials to visit brothels without spending a coin ¨C curiously enough those laws weren¡¯t enacted by the Sultanah Aaliyah-al-Ydaz, but her predecessors ¨C and the fact that many people would throw themselves at the feet of the sultanzade, especially the Sultanah, as the snake tongues said their sexual prowess put the best of courtesans to shame; but direct servants ¨C keyword: servants, not employes nor vassals ¨C had stipulations on their contracts about carnal satisfaction and intercourse.


    So why, with all of those privileges and benefits, would Rani set her eyes on her?


    The lack of answers didn¡¯t only baffle her, but it downright scared her. It terrified her to the core.


    The ruler of one of the richest regions of Khaffat looked at her.


    And when someone had it all, when it fixated on someone, it could not be anything good.


    As Aloe stood there in the audience hall, alone and paralyzed, the thought of running away did honestly go through her mind. That was the sheer horror that filled her mind. To just let it all go and not look back. It was a stupid thought, if she did so, she wouldn¡¯t be able to run far, and less without money. After paying taxes, Aloe had to scratch some money from her mother¡¯s stash. She may have two houses and a plot of land to her name, but in liquid assets, she was poorer than some commoner families.


    Even if the plan was viable, there was still a saving grace. A reason to stay. Whilst her mother hadn¡¯t mentioned Rani, she hadn¡¯t badmouthed any of her personal scribe companions, and Aloe was aware that Rani had been the imperial scribe before her promotion to emir. So, even if it wasn¡¯t much, Aloe deposited her trust in the sentence Rani spoke the first time she saw her.


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    ¡°Your mother was a colleague of mine when I worked as the imperial scribe of the court, a friend if you will,¡± She had spoken. Aloe could only think of her as a friend of the family, even if it was out of desperation.


    <hr>


    No matter how addled her mind may be, Aloe knew that she had to eat. Well, or at least her body did, she didn¡¯t have that much of an appetite currently.


    A conundrum arose in her thoughts as she walked toward the feast hall. She wanted to see how the place looked, yes, but at the same time, it was likely that Rani would be there.


    Be as it may, Aloe decided to continue on, she couldn¡¯t avoid the emir when she was literally working directly under her command. After following the directions of the maids, she made it to her destination.


    There was only one word to describe the feast hall: copious.


    Aloe had never been hungry in her life, she had never experienced true starvation, the only time her stomach had been empty was because she had been too lazy to cook. But as she stood in the doorway leading to the hall, she felt like a ravenous hyena. Long tables, way longer than whole houses, were filled with plates of food. Fruit, vegetables, meat, even fish. Everything was fair game.


    Of all the sins she may boast, gluttony wasn¡¯t one of them. But the sight made her think so twice.


    There was a main table, so to speak, where the people with actual influence and status ate, but it wouldn¡¯t be called a feast hall if only a few people indulged in the food. Yes, even servants ate the food. The difference in quality was obvious, especially with the meat products, but the quantity was the same if not greater.


    There were five tables in total, a long one parallel to the doors at the back of the room on top of an atrium where the high-standing palace inhabitants ate, and four other shorter ones perpendicular to the main one where the servants gorged.


    Even if the servants ¨C regardless of their position and standing ¨C were allowed on the four tables, that didn¡¯t mean that there weren¡¯t ones working. Maids walked up and down filling cups and carrying trays, and there were multiple cooks on-site to reheat the meat that had grown cold from being exposed for long on open stoves.


    If Aloe had been a more commoner-born and raised person, she would have cried and flinched in disgust at the sheer amount of wasted food, no more than a display than an actual meal. But considering that the food the ones at the top didn¡¯t touch slowly trickled down to the servants, it almost seemed fair. Of all the despotic nightmares she could have imagined, she instead saw a crude approximation of a very big family.


    She was happy to not see Rani anywhere in the hall, which lightened her mood a bit, but the other sultanzade still feasted on the table.


    To say that Naila Asina was a voracious person was an understatement. When people said that they were hungry enough to eat a cow, everyone knew they were exaggerating. But as Aloe approached the table and plates kept coming in and out, she thought how she would believe such a statement if it came out of the imperial scribe¡¯s mouth.


    How can she fit this much in her tiny body? That was a perfect example of selective reasoning on Aloe¡¯s part as the sultanzade was slightly taller ¨C and far bulkier ¨C than her. Scratch that, how is she that small if she eats this much?


    Although the girl was shoving enough food to feed a whole family of nine down her throat, Naila didn¡¯t fail to notice Aloe¡¯s presence.


    ¡°What?¡± The sultanzade asked with a mouth full and a stylish yogurt sauce lipstick.


    ¡°Nothing at all.¡± The scribe of commoners responded with a slight bow.


    ¡°I do not like your gaze, woman.¡± Naila protested.


    Now, Aloe had a lot of reasons to protest. Mainly on why a princess was eating with worse manners than a pig, but she was wiser than to throw wood to the fire. Or her head.


    Aloe sat down at the table; unfortunately, the extremes were taken by low-ranking scribes and what she¡¯d written off as nobles, so she was forced to sit somewhere near the sultanzade.


    ¡°Excuse me,¡± Aloe raised a hand to cry for the attention of a nearby maid.


    ¡°Excuse me?¡± Naila interjected before the maid could talk and puffed out air derisively. ¡°If you are going to keep that position, act like it, woman. A maid shouldn¡¯t excuse you.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s called ¡®common courtesy¡¯, Scribe Naila,¡± Aloe explained calmly, her voice neutral like a mother who was teaching her child. ¡°It costs nothing to speak nice words, and it¡¯s a requirement of someone in my position.¡±


    The sheer number of double meanings and coated poison in her words astonished Aloe, even if she was the one who had uttered them. She couldn¡¯t wrong the sultanzade, but at the same time, her dumb pride didn¡¯t allow her to be stepped on by an entitled child. She lacked a bit of height and age before she even thought of letting her step on her.


    She turned to face the maid. ¡°Is there falafel somewhere?¡±


    Whilst not a cooking prodigy, Aloe knew her food. And she would kill for some imperial chef falafel.


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid not, venerable Scribe.¡± The random maid bowed as if it was her own fault, her expression mortified at the incompetence.


    Dunes. Now she felt bad.

 Book 2: 65. Vitality

    ¡°Here only basic food or ingredients are served,¡± The maid continued talking, but she barely kept an ear on the woman¡¯s words. ¡°If you want prepared food, we can order the chefs. Would you like us to do so?¡±


    ¡°No, thank you,¡± The scribe of commoners replied as she slightly turned her head to look at the imperial scribe from the corner of her eyes, a shallow smug drawn in her visage. Politeness, she had said.


    Damned woman. She bit on the chicken leg harder, the bone snapping under the pressure. The crack made the maid jolt by reflex, but the scribe remained impassive, unaffected. No reaction? That surprised Naila more than it should have, but the crack was loud and the commoner woman looked like the easily-scared type.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take note of it for the future,¡± The minuscule woman said unfazed. ¡°Are there beverages, though?¡±


    ¡°There is quite the selection of wines, venerable Scribe.¡± The plump maid nodded in agreement.


    ¡°Uhm... I was thinking of something a bit lighter,¡± Hmm... Naila reacted to the shift in the woman¡¯s expression, it didn¡¯t seem as unwavering now. Weak to alcohol? She theorized. ¡°Tea or something along those lines.


    ¡°There¡¯s coffee and dates if wine is not to your liking.¡± The maid maintained an unwavering and serviceable expression. Hmm... maybe. Naila thought to herself.


    ¡°That would be delightful, yes.¡± The scribe smiled at her and sent the servant away.


    As the maid walked away, the scribe focused on the food before her and she... was paralyzed? The scribe of commoners looked at the food with confusion as if she didn¡¯t know what food even was. It took Naila a solid half a minute to understand what was happening.


    ¡°What? You can¡¯t decide what to eat, Ayad?¡± She scoffed at the woman.


    ¡°No,¡± The scribe affirmed politely. ¡°No, I cannot.¡± Her voice was serene and calm, even if her mannerisms said otherwise. ¡°There¡¯s plenty of food here and I was just thinking what to eat.¡±


    ¡°There won¡¯t be plenty of food if you keep stalling.¡± Then Naila snatched a steak that was before the commoner, and then she unceremoniously shoved it inside of her mouth.


    Hmm... Juicy. After outpouring so much vitality, she had grown hungry. Ravenous. Not only she was practicing her kata and stances, but she was also preparing herself for more advanced Nurture techniques. Those required to expulse vitality, and whilst she was nowhere near ready to use them, or even knew how they worked, it was clear to Naila that she needed to practice her vitality flow. It also didn¡¯t help that the speed stance was one that taxed the body the most.


    ¡°Ehm...¡± It looked like the scribe wanted to say something but ended up keeping the comment to herself. ¡°Yes, the steak looks delightful, I think I¡¯ll try it.¡± She added with a smug and reached for the plate with the beef.


    That, of course, annoyed Naila. She was the one toying with her, not the other way around.


    She was the sultanzade!


    So she snatched the piece of meat the scribe was going to pick up. In her mind, such movement was rightful ¨C she was the one with the higher standing after all ¨C and not a childish move.


    But she miscalculated her speed. After having done a short training session, her mind still remembered the speed of the stance, but her body couldn¡¯t match it. So instead of stealing the food before the scribe could notice, their hands met halfway through.


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    Bronze met black.


    ¡°Ouch!¡± Ayad retrieved her hand and caressed the part that had been hit as she groaned in pain.


    Normally, Naila would have laughed at her for getting hurt from that minute graze, but instead, she stayed still, confusion littering her mind. What...? She looked at her hand in pure bewilderment. The sultanzade turned aggressively to face the scribe and grabbed her shoulders, her visage collapsing into a panicked mess while she recoiled from the sudden movement. Naila didn¡¯t let her escape her clutches.


    ¡°What are you?¡± Her voice was powerful and sharp, her grip far stronger than any person of her age.


    ¡°W-what do you mean?¡± There was no longer smugness in the scribe¡¯s face, only fear.


    Fear. That wasn¡¯t the reaction she had expected, but it was intoxicating, nonetheless.


    ¡°What. Are. You?¡± The sultanzade reiterated. ¡°Do not lie to me?¡±


    ¡°I d-do not un-nderstand the que-stion...¡± The woman hyperventilated at her aggressiveness.


    Naila didn¡¯t know if those breaths were an act, but she could recognize the feelings in her eyes.


    Confusion.


    Ayad had no idea what she was talking about. Naila was not an expert on reading others or human emotions in general but saw how there were no thoughts in the scribe¡¯s head. She was paralyzed, no longer resisting her grab, as she was unable to understand why she was being attacked and interrogated.


    Even her sense stance was incapable of detecting foul play. No sweet smell came from her.


    She let her go, liberating her from her clutches, as she fell also in confusion. Then how... It made no sense to her. How does she have nearly as much vitality as me?


    <hr>


    It wouldn¡¯t be an exaggeration to say that Aloe almost shat herself. She was already scared of the sultanzade¡¯s presence and what they could do to her, but as Naila grabbed her, she almost fainted.


    She had been cursed, insulted, and degraded, but no one ever before had gotten physical with her. She nearly cried as the sultanzade¡¯s digits clawed into her shoulders.


    Aloe Ayad was not used to physical contact.


    And an aggressive one was too much for her mind.


    As the imperial scribe¡¯s eyes shot daggers ¨C which may as well have been literal ones ¨C into hers, Aloe¡¯s mind was left blank. She couldn¡¯t react to such hostility.


    She was always taught that diplomacy was the way to go, violence was unbeknownst to her. Her shoulders hurt and she couldn¡¯t respond. The sultanzade herself had been overtly hostile to her before, but those had been words. And no matter how many words they threw at her, they wouldn¡¯t be able to draw blood. Not directly.


    Aloe responded automatically and unconsciously to Naila¡¯s questions, and as the pain worsened, she was thinking of shifting her vitality to apply the ¡®toughness¡¯ internal infusion. But before she could do so, the sultanzade let her go.


    Just like that.


    As soon as she had grabbed her, she let her go.


    Confusion was the game.


    It was hard to understand what even happened as everything had happened so fast. Aloe looked at the sultanzade, trying to decipher anything at all. Their gazes met for a split second before Naila decided to look away, but in that small window, Aloe saw something.


    Was that... shame?


    It had been too fast, and her mind was still addled, but the sheer implication of what she felt shook her to the core. She could only guess that the shame came from grabbing her out of nowhere, but even then, sultanzade didn¡¯t feel shame. Or at least not from people like her. Just like when Rani exposed her naked body to her when she was close to passing out from embarrassment.


    Unable to tolerate Aloe¡¯s gaze further, Naila stood up loudly as she slapped the table. The imperial scribe grabbed a blood apple from a nearby bowl and with a single bite ate half of it before removing herself from the feast hall with loud and long strides.


    ¡°Uh...¡± Aloe smacked her lips, unable to process what had happened in the last two minutes. Only the maid returning with her coffee broke her of her stupor.


    ¡°Here¡¯s your beverage, venerable Scribe.¡± Her voice was calm, but judging by the rigid visage, she had seen their interaction.


    With a quick check of the rest of the hall, it became clear that everyone had seen the spectacle. Though they did hide their gazes well. Not well enough for Aloe¡¯s paranoia to not catch them.


    Aloe thanked the maid, almost in a whisper, and focused back on her food. Only now she realized that her stomach was growling; the fear had suppressed her hunger well, but with the sultanzade¡¯s departure it came swinging back with full force.


    Her hands trembled as she tried to reach for food. She still felt Naila¡¯s clutches on her shoulders, not the pain though. She wished it was just the pain.


    No, what still reverberated in her body was the impotence.


    The scribe looked at her palms. No matter how much she could hide her surprise under a mask, she couldn¡¯t hide the fear to herself. It was clear to her.


    If Naila had wanted, she could have snapped her in half like a twig.

 Book 2: 66. Sultanzade

    ¡°Sister!¡± Naila pushed the doors to the emir¡¯s room wide open with a swing.


    What was instantly revealed as the door came to a strenuous halt against the walls was how her half-sister was being eaten. In a sexual manner of course.


    The maid who was savoring the ruler of the land jumped at the noise, turning herself to face Naila, her mouth completely wet.


    ¡°I would appreciate it if you didn¡¯t do that, Naila,¡± Rani responded with a frown, her diversion being impolitely disturbed. ¡°You can go, sweety.¡± She referred to the fair-skinned maid who was hugging herself in pure embarrassment.


    The maid nodded absentmindedly and shyly, and as she passed next to Naila with her clothes half-removed, the sultanzade noticed how the servant¡¯s eyes were clouded in charm. She wasn¡¯t much experienced in that stance; her status didn¡¯t require such tactics if she wanted sex, she could just ask for it and many people would be happy to oblige.


    And if they weren¡¯t, well, they would do it either way.


    ¡°Poor girl, you may have traumatized her for life.¡± The emir sighed as she fixed her clothes. ¡°And I certainly don¡¯t enjoy edging.¡±


    ¡°You could have continued.¡± Naila expressed matter-of-factly. ¡°I do not care about you reaping others.¡±


    ¡°Oh, Naila.¡± Rani facepalmed. ¡°You really need to understand a lot of things. I guess that¡¯s the actual reason why Aaliyah made me bring you here, you are just oblivious to the outside world.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean oblivious? I¡¯ve been performing my job well.¡± She crossed her arms, a pout sprouting on her visage.


    ¡°Oh, poor girl, I¡¯m not talking about your scribe duties.¡± The emir stood from her bed and stretched her salacious body, her curves flowing like water. Even if she was clothed, Rani gave the sensation of nakedness as she moved. It amazed Naila how there could be someone more naturally sensual than her mother. But at the same time, she was the daughter of the Sultanah. ¡°Even then, there¡¯s a lot of room for upgrade there. No, I¡¯m referring to how you are getting in fights with everyone over the most minute details. Life isn¡¯t like in palace. You are not in your cradle anymore.¡±


    Naila¡¯s frown deepened at those words. ¡°I¡¯m not a child.¡±


    ¡°Legally speaking, yes. Yes, you are.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you make the rules here?¡±


    ¡°The rules of the land, things like that only Aaliyah can touch.¡± Rani shrugged. ¡°And I¡¯m fine with the current age limit, otherwise we would have even more stupid adults running around.¡±


    ¡°Eww.¡± The young sultanzade cringed, taking her tongue out in a puking gesture. ¡°You sounded like mother there.¡±


    ¡°Aaliyah is many things, most wrong, but she has her good moments. She isn¡¯t called the Mother of Knowledge and the Patron Saint of Education for nothing.¡±


    ¡°She is called that?¡± The amber-eyed girl squinted in doubt. ¡°Who?¡±


    ¡°People.¡± The amethyst-eyed woman responded. ¡°Just outside of your reach. Especially scholars, they love Aaliyah after making them relevant to the country''s eyes. This is just another point as to why you are blind to the outside world and inexperienced. You don¡¯t even know the titles that people whisper about the Sultanah. Let alone the names.¡±


    ¡°And what names do they call her?¡±


    ¡°Whore, mainly.¡±


    ¡°Fair.¡±


    The young sultanzade had once heard a foreign diplomat call her mother ¡®The Whore Queen of Ydaz¡¯ at her face. Aaliyah-al-Ydaz laughed at his face in amusement. The man hadn¡¯t been wrong.


    Rani sighed and pointed to a tea table in front of her colossal silk-laden bed. Naila, being closer than her half-sister, sat down before. Moments later, her technically-liege poured tea on both cups and sat down. It was cold.


    Naila drank it either way.


    She may have been blind to the lives of the commoners, but she knew better than to refuse a drink poured by an emir. And it wasn¡¯t like the tea was bad, the quality alone would make some commoners faint in bliss. This was just a lesser-grade tea for her.


    ¡°Did you know that people peregrinate to Asina from all corners of Ydaz just to see Aaliyah?¡± Rani said out of nowhere, she hadn¡¯t still touched her cup.


    ¡°Yes?¡± Naila expressed doubt after putting her cup on the porcelain saucer. ¡°I mean she¡¯s the Heavenly Descendant of Sulnaya, even though I¡¯m not much into religion ¨C mother herself considers it a waste ¨C I do know my lore and traditions.¡±


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    ¡°Well then, you are wrong.¡± The younger sultanzade frowned, refusing to ask questions, instead waiting for her older sister to elaborate. ¡°People do go to Asina as a ¡®pilgrimage¡¯, but not because Aaliyah is the Heavenly Descendant and they want to present their respects to the heavens and the sun, but because they want to see her.¡± Naila almost interjected but decided against it and decided to let Rani continue. ¡°There¡¯s no religious motivation behind their actions, but two other far more mundane. Do you know which one of those are?¡±


    ¡°Hum...¡± She tried to, but nothing came to her mind. She was more of the stab first, stab questions later type of girl. ¡°No. Please, enlighten me.¡± She didn¡¯t mean the words; it was drilled courtesy that spewed out of her mind automatically.


    ¡°Two words: debauchery and prestige.¡±


    ¡°Go on.¡± She said amusedly.


    ¡°So, let¡¯s make the setting. You are a farmer in a backwater, heaven-forsaken, dried farmland. So you make your way to the capital, maybe to search for opportunities, but mostly because you want to see the Heavenly Descendant. The goddess among men, the human touched by the heavens. But you¡¯ve heard the rumors, she will fuck anyone. Anyone at all. And everyone says she¡¯s good at it. Very good at it. Worth leaving it all behind for such an opportunity. But even then, it¡¯s not about the pleasure.¡±


    ¡°It is not?¡± Naila inquired like a child mesmerized by a storyteller¡¯s tale.


    ¡°Well, it is, but there¡¯s more. Now, if you do get that chance to get a night ¨C or more like a few minutes with the Sultanah, I doubt a normal man can hold a night, women only have a chance ¨C then you could boast about having fucked the ruler of the lands. But this is Ydaz, thousands of people also share that achievement, so it isn¡¯t exactly special. Boast-worthy to a far-away land, but not by much. But there¡¯s a special chance for something else. If you are a man.¡±


    Naila finally realized what Rani was getting at. ¡°But it¡¯s impossible to tell who the father to sultanzade is!¡±


    ¡°I mean, it can be estimated. Moreso if you¡¯ve been the only man the Sultanah has been for the few days she hadn¡¯t been pregnant.¡±


    ¡°Has that ever happened?¡±


    ¡°No!¡± The emir slapped her thigh and burst out laughing. ¡°But imagine. This is all an exercise of imagination. The sheer prestige of, maybe, being the father to a sultanzade. And even more maybe, to the future ruler of Ydaz.¡±


    ¡°But there¡¯s no reward? Aren¡¯t they brought to the palace or something?¡±


    ¡°For those people, the boasting alone is the reward. Some people just live for the thrill and the prestige. I believe you can understand them well.¡±


    Whilst not fully agreeing with her half-sister, Naila couldn¡¯t deny that the mantra on training was mostly about that. Superiority over others and oneself, growing stronger with each new step. More rewards could come out of it, sure, but the notion of improvement alone was enough.


    Either way, she was not going to admit that. ¡°Is this just a lecture to teach me how blind am I to the outside world?¡±


    ¡°Basically,¡± Rani nodded and finally drank from her tea. Naila held a grunt of dissatisfaction upon the woman¡¯s smugness. ¡°Aaliyah has... high hopes for you. But at the same time, I believe she thinks you are just a child; no matter the origins and contents, a gemstone will only be valuable until it is polished by expert hands.¡±


    ¡°And you believe yourself to be those hands?¡±


    Her half-sister nodded.


    ¡°Aaliyah¡¯s orders were to fill the gaps in your knowledge and behavior. Fields you can easily assume.¡±


    ¡°Is there going to be a training or something?¡±


    ¡°Not really, these things should be taken slowly. With the years you will blossom beautifully, but above else, hardy.¡±


    ¡°Years.¡± Naila deadpanned.


    ¡°I have been in Sadina for a decade now.¡± Rani smiled. ¡°I¡¯ll guess I can mold you to my liking in half that time, even less if you are cooperative.¡±


    There was a difference between being stupid and dull; Naila could clearly see the stick holding that carrot. It was an exchange of hidden, softly spoken words. You don¡¯t mess with me, I make it easy on you. That was what the emir really meant to say.


    ¡°I¡¯ll try.¡± Of course, Naila¡¯s response was uncommittable and defying, but with a chance of understanding.


    That was how conversations in the palace and between sultanzade always were, a spar.


    She had always been taught since little that the tongue was as much as a weapon as a blade, and a conversation wasn¡¯t different from a combat where everyone had poisoned daggers. But if everything ended in a fight no matter what she did, why not straight up go to the physical one? That was Naila¡¯s philosophy.


    ¡°That¡¯s good enough for me.¡± Rani¡¯s smile softened, her back slightly reclining to the back of her chair. ¡°So then, can you tell me why you rudely intruded into my chamber?¡±


    ¡°Oh, right.¡± She had almost forgotten about it from the nearly one-sided lecture. ¡°You know about the new scribe?¡±


    ¡°I hired her, Naila. Of course, I do.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t mean about her existence.¡± The young sultanzade softly growled. ¡°I meant about her vitality!¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± The older cultivator nodded in understanding. ¡°So you finally noticed. I can¡¯t decide if it took you a lot of time, or too little.¡±


    Naila frowned. ¡°How can you be this relaxed? That woman has thrice the vitality of a commoner!¡±


    ¡°Huh, so I didn¡¯t imagine that yesterday...¡± Rani talked in a low whisper ¨C almost inaudible to Naila¡¯s heightened senses ¨C as she caressed her right breast, slowly as if she was recalling something. ¡°It¡¯s thrice now. This may be problematic. Or interesting...¡±


    ¡°Did you know about that all this time?¡± Naila asked, ignoring her half-sister''s whispers.


    ¡°I do.¡± Her expression swiftly rebuilt into confidence. ¡°Do not worry about Aloe, she¡¯s not an assassin or another cultivator if that¡¯s what you are thinking. I knew her mother personally, and she also had her sheer bit of vitality.¡±


    ¡°So it¡¯s a trait of the family?¡± Her brain started concocting thoughts. Vitality was mostly equal to everyone, even sultanzade. Some people had more, some less; but those differences were minimal, inconsequential.


    Ayad¡¯s vitality was not.


    She only knew two ways of acquiring vitality: training and reaping. And she didn¡¯t believe that noodle-thin woman had done any physical activity in her life so that only left reaping. But that was also impossible. She was a virgin. How could one reap whilst being a virgin?


    It took her Naila years of training and reaping to get to her current vitality level. And suddenly someone had similar base vitality to all that endeavor by the sake of her birth? She couldn¡¯t believe it, or more correctly, she refused to believe it. The irony of that envy was wholly lost on her.


    ¡°I do not know,¡± The emir admitted, Naila¡¯s thoughts only lasting a couple of seconds. ¡°But be as it may, you are not to mess with Aloe Ayad. She¡¯s mine.¡± Her eyes flared purple. Whatever Rani¡¯s plans were, they were hers alone. The charm began heating Naila¡¯s body. ¡°Understood?¡±

 Book 2: 67. Coffee

    To say that Aloe had grown used to her job fast, was an understatement. Routine quickly set in; and before she knew it, she was reading parchments, signing missives, performing audiences, and going into meetings. Free time was scarce during her apprenticeship, but after having had more than a month with what could only be called free time, not even having an hour to herself felt stressful.


    Two days passed by since she met Fayruz and Idris, and whilst it wasn¡¯t much, Aloe found herself yearning already for the greenhouse. She had spent so much time with plants as of late that it felt weird to not have any around her. And it isn¡¯t like potted plants will make the cut. She sighed, stopping her feather mid-stroke. I need to work with evolved plants, but any of them will raise a thousand alarms. Hmm...


    ¡°Lulu?¡± Aloe called for what appeared to be now her personal maid. There hadn¡¯t been any announcement nor an official notice, but the last three days the fair-skinned maid had spent all the time with her.


    ¡°Y-yes?¡± Lulu jolted into motion, her voice trembling.


    Aloe frowned. ¡°Were you sleeping standing up?¡±


    That didn¡¯t surprise Aloe, it was almost dark already. It wasn¡¯t that late, but Fayruz and Idris had already gone away ¨C she didn¡¯t know if it was to their homes or offices ¨C after a day of work. Unfortunately for the scribe of commoners, she had still some unfinished business to attend to in the shape of accumulated work.


    ¡°Of course not.¡± The maid reassured. ¡°That would be unpolite and unbecoming of my po-¡°


    ¡°Just sit down next time.¡± The scribe interjected before the woman would say something stupid.


    ¡°Understood.¡± Lulu¡¯s tone was formal, but she was smiling in gratitude. ¡°May I ask what you wanted from me, Aloe?¡±


    ¡°Could you bring some coffee?¡±


    ¡°Will that be all?¡±


    ¡°Actually, no.¡± Aloe had been waiting for that confirmation. ¡°Could you also bring a coffee bean?¡±


    ¡°A bean?¡± Whilst her voice expressed doubt, Lulu¡¯s visage remained as serene as always. She has a good mask.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Aloe nodded.


    To her surprise and the maid¡¯s merit, Lulu didn¡¯t question it and left the room. Aloe cracked her neck and returned to her paper, a tally on the deaths of the plague in a nearby town ¨C or so she assumed as it was within the emirate of Sadina ¨C and a call for supplies. The subject made her sour, it hit too close to her heart to be comfortable with it, though that didn¡¯t mean she could ignore it. It was comforting that the death toll in that town, Selen, was low; but not by much.


    She sighed, out of both exhaustion and lament and decided to forward the petition to Tamara. This subject fell more into the area of the scribe of commerce. And after listening to Rani¡¯s advice ¨C if it could be called that ¨C Aloe preferred not to use much of the coffers pertaining to the scribe of commoners.


    By the time Lulu returned to the office, Aloe was on a new parchment, but she pushed it aside as she had only begun reading it.


    ¡°Here¡¯s your coffee,¡± the maid put the saucer and cup on the desk, ¡°and here¡¯s your coffee bean.¡±


    Now, there weren¡¯t many reasons for a person to ask for a coffee bean, but Aloe didn¡¯t want to make Lulu suspicious ¨C even though the concept of Evolution was so convoluted and random that it couldn¡¯t be guessed ¨C so Aloe did the most logical thing after someone asked for a coffee bean.


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    She tasted it.


    ¡°Eek!¡± The scribe instantly cringed and pulled her tongue out at the foul taste. ¡°It¡¯s so bitter!¡±


    Lulu didn¡¯t comment on it, but her face shifted in a meaningful deadpan stating: ¡°What did you expect?¡±


    Whilst her reaction wasn¡¯t an act, the motion was premeditated. In the time that it took her to lick the bean, Aloe had pushed her vitality inside. Luck hadn¡¯t been on her side with that one. Dunes. She had expected it, but it hurt, nonetheless. Well, I guess I should try with different seeds whenever I have the opportunity. A lot of seeds were used as condiments on many plates, so if she asked for them to the cooks, she could get them.


    I can¡¯t forget that maybe there¡¯s some requirement I haven¡¯t met yet. That was, without a shadow of a doubt, the worst discovery Aloe had made. She didn¡¯t know if every plant could be evolved but knowing that some needed more materials than just the seed and vitality made her eyes twitch in paranoia. The sheer quantity of possibilities was overwhelming.


    The scribe of commoners sighed in defeat and proceeded to taste her coffee. She liked it black with just a bit of milk, but she couldn''t deny that a bit of honey helped. Not much though, she didn¡¯t want to spoil the coffee.


    ¡°You can have coffee if you want, Lulu.¡± Aloe offered her the kettle.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine, thank you.¡± The maid bowed politely.


    Aloe loved how Lulu pampered her to no limit, but she couldn¡¯t deny that the woman¡¯s formality and humbleness irked her a bit. There was a point where one could be too humble, and Lulu was constantly getting there.


    She kept her musings to herself. Lulu was a lovely person and Aloe didn¡¯t want to offend her with petty critiques that highlighted more of her own problems rather than the maid¡¯s. Her ponderation ended when someone swung the office door wide open. Has no one gotten the memo from the other day? Aloe frowned at the interruption. Who dares to-


    It was the emir.


    Aloe¡¯s heart jumped out of her chest. I kept that to myself, haven¡¯t I? Paranoia was louder than logic in her juggled mess of a brain.


    ¡°To what motif may you present yourself in this humble office, Rani,¡± Aloe said humbly as she slightly bowed down.


    ¡°I don¡¯t really need a reason to visit my personal scribes, do I?¡± Rani smiled warmly, her eyes squinting yet some purple made it through.


    That visage tells me otherwise. ¡°Of course not.¡± The scribe of commoners also smiled, against her inner thoughts. ¡°Please take a seat then, I can offer you coffee if you want. It¡¯s been just brewed.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll gladly take on that offer.¡± The emir pranced forward, yet her pace stopped the moment her eyes lay on the maid. ¡°Could you leave us alone, Lulu?¡±


    ¡°Understood, my Emir.¡± Lulu bowed and made her way out, her reaction and mannerisms perfectly gelid.


    Aloe frowned at the interaction.


    ¡°You know the name of every single servant of the palace?¡± She asked once the emir sat down and she began pouring coffee for her.


    ¡°Heavens, no.¡± Rani giggled softly behind her hand. ¡°But I¡¯ve been here long enough to at least know all the maids intimately.¡±


    The sheer sultriness of the last word sent shivers down Aloe¡¯s spine.


    ¡°I see...¡± Aloe downed her response and worries in a cup of coffee, not bothering to think what the sultanzade meant with those words.


    Rani followed suit and drank from her cup. But she didn¡¯t enjoy the warm beverage as much as the scribe did.


    ¡°Mm.¡± The emir grunted; her eyes squinted. ¡°A bit of milk and sugar would do wonders. This is a bit too bitter for my taste.¡±


    If it had been another person, Aloe would have laughed at them and told them to tough up. Unfortunately, she couldn''t do that to the ruler of the lands and the one who was paying her salary.


    ¡°I am so sorry. Please let me fetch some milk and sugar.¡± Aloe pushed her armchair backward and made a motion to stand up.


    ¡°Stop.¡± Yet the sultanzade interrupted her before she could.


    Trembling slightly, Aloe obeyed her orders and rested her slightly risen bottom back on the armchair¡¯s cushion.


    ¡°Ehm... so, why did you come to visit me, Rani?¡± Aloe tried to make the situation less hostile than it was. ¡°If it¡¯s about work, I can assure you that me and my team have it all under control and things should already start going back to normalcy.¡±


    ¡°That is nice to hear, but no. I am not here about your work efforts, though I won¡¯t deny they are commendable.¡± Rani pushed her hands on top of the desk.


    Her fingers were long and delicate. Aloe hadn¡¯t known physical labor before the greenhouse inheritance, but her hands weren¡¯t as nearly as tidy as the emir¡¯s. Her fingernails were especially impeccable as they were coated with a shining purple paint. Instead of feeling like gemstones comparable to how it happened with her eyes, however, they felt like poisonous claws.


    Their gazes met, sending more shivers down Aloe¡¯s spine, bursting her heart into faster motion. There¡¯s something about those eyes... The scribe of commoners blinked and cut direct line of sight, otherwise she felt like she would lose herself in those eyes.


    ¡°What I want is way simpler.¡± Rani smiled warmly at her reaction. ¡°You.¡±

 Book 2: 68. Ambition

    Aloe almost fainted. Frankly, she thought she had already fainted and all of this was a mirage, a delusion formed by her sickly mind.


    ¡°W-what do you m-mean?¡± Her fears were exacerbated. ¡°T-that y-y-you want me?¡±


    Nothing in that line meant anything good.


    ¡°What else could it mean?¡± Rani leaned forward, her smile the imitation of a night lurker. A djinn of the sands. Even though they were far away ¨C a desk separating them ¨C Aloe could feel her warm breath clearly. It didn¡¯t help that with her movement, her silky hair and bountiful breasts swayed hypnotically. The scribe¡¯s breath became rugged, almost collapsing entirely. Then the emir opened her succulent lips. ¡°To see you, of course.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± A dried, soft, and mute groan escaped Aloe¡¯s mouth.


    Her whole trail of thought had been thrashed by a sandstorm. She had been pushed into a cold water well. Someone had slapped her in the cheeks hard enough to pop her eyeballs out.


    The scribe of commoners blinked several times as she replayed the emir¡¯s last words in her mind, a task that was difficult as she could only see the woman¡¯s smile slowly rising in pleasurable torture.


    It took her half a second to notice that she had been played, hoodwinked, bamboozled, led astray, run amok and flat-out deceived. Not only by the serpentuous woman before her but mainly by her own hyperreactive imagination and paranoia.


    ¡°Uhm-but of course!¡± Aloe clapped her hands together, mostly in order to focus herself. ¡°So then, Rani, you do not need a reason to see me, but I guess you have one, am I right?¡±


    The sultanzade hid her smile behind her hand. ¡°You might be right. Perhaps I have a reason to visit you. Or perhaps not.¡± Rani¡¯s eyes unlatched from Aloe and then swept the room. ¡°Tell me, have you left the palace¡¯s premises in the last days?¡±


    ¡°No, I have not. I have dedicated myself fully to completing the leftover work.¡± Aloe answered carefully. She didn¡¯t know if the question was a test, but she certainly didn¡¯t enjoy the tone of how it was uttered. ¡°Is that a problem?¡±


    ¡°No, not at all.¡± The emir leaned forward even more, to the point that she put her elbows on the desk and rested her head on the back of her hands. Even with her arched back, her eyes were on the same level as the scribe. ¡°It has just nudged me a little. Shahrazad always insisted on going back home, no matter how much work she had. Yusuf ¨C my before-predecessor as you may know ¨C allowed her to do so because she knew her personally. But even the wormrot of Hassan even permitted her that luxury, just because she was competent. That would be one of the words I would use to describe Shahrazad, competent. She was so competent that three whole emirs admitted her talent. But even then, she didn¡¯t make much noise. That is the second word I would use, silent.¡±


    Aloe had no idea where the whole monologue was going, but as she heard Rani, she realized something. She truly knew her mother. It was no act; she had spent time with her and there was some underlying appreciation.


    ¡°Shahrazad Ayad was a competent yet silent person. It was easy for her to slip unnoticed, even if she was one of the people who shaped Sadina¡¯s course the most in these last decades.¡± The emir squinted slightly. ¡°I have mixed feelings there. On the one hand, I hate people who have no lust for power, no ceaseless hunger, and strive. I believe that is what makes people human, and Shahrazad did not have that. On the other hand, if it was not for that hiding attitude, she could not have been as influential as she had been. In a way, she was powerful, hidden in plain sight without anyone noticing. If she had only been greedy, she could have been a mighty opponent. Not just for the emirate, but the whole sultanate.¡±


    The sultanzade sighed apparently thinking about what could have been. Aloe detected no lies in her actions or words, but at the same time, it was impossible for her to distinguish any truth. Rani-al-Sadina wasn¡¯t a readable person.


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    ¡°A waste, if I might say. But when I look at you, I see a different shade of Shahrazad. If she was pistachio, you are emerald. Not to undermine pistachios, everyone likes them. Alike Shahrazad in a way. But emeralds... they need polish and the right hands. Not everyone needs an emerald, and I do not say that because a street urchin may not wear them correctly, but because some people are just better off with rubies, ambers, or amethysts.¡± Rani¡¯s eyes, like the gemstones she mentioned, settled on her own. Though the sultanzade¡¯s glittered. ¡°And when I look at you, Aloe Ayad, I see a lifeful radiance, a greed that Shahrazad didn¡¯t possess and ¨C in my mind ¨C makes you way tougher than her. Ambition rides people to surpass themselves.¡±


    There were a thousand thoughts trailing in Aloe¡¯s mind, a myriad of words being pondered but not spoken. She couldn¡¯t react, not in a way that convinced her. With Rani, every step seemed a trap. If she wasn¡¯t light-footed or identified the trap, then she would set it off.


    ¡°That is an interesting meditation.¡± She started assertive, pleasing to the emir. ¡°But what does that have to do with me?¡± Then she appealed to her.


    Her education had been extensive, any good could-be-scholar needed to be educated in every field, but rhetoric was never a strong point of hers. However, interaction and diplomacy were a masquerade, and she knew about masks.


    ¡°Not much, I fear,¡± Rani admitted, or so she would like to push it like so.


    There was no truth in her statement, it was a sentence devoid of meaning. A random string of words meant to calm Aloe, rather than inform her. She could see that far and even read her, but that didn¡¯t eliminate the fact that she feared the woman. Stepping out of line could cost her a lot.


    ¡°But I won¡¯t deny I have high expectations of you.¡± The sultanzade¡¯s expression was tender, the scribe would almost as far as to say caring. ¡°However, they diverge greatly from the ones I had with Shahrazad. My sights on you and your mother are quite different.¡±


    A statement that should have been neutral, an off-hand comment, weighed down on Aloe. Those words had something she didn¡¯t like, though she couldn¡¯t identify what.


    ¡°Let me ask you one thing,¡± Rani looked at her straight in the eyes. ¡°You are the last member of your family, is that right?¡±


    Aloe was going to respond, but she held herself off for a second as she felt she was going to stutter. She didn¡¯t suffer from a stutter, but when she was with Rani, that was almost a given.


    ¡°Yes,¡± A short answer, until she was able to calm herself. ¡°Up to my knowledge, I am the last member of my family. There are no branches whatsoever as it started with my grandfather.¡±


    ¡°I see...¡± The sultanzade caressed her bronze cheeks with her purple nails. ¡°Would you like your family name to disappear?¡±


    The scribe of commoners frowned. She couldn¡¯t identify if that was a rhetorical question, a threat, or an actual question.


    ¡°I would not like so, no.¡± Aloe chose to interpret it as the latter. ¡°Are you suggesting I should marry soon, Rani?¡± She used the emir¡¯s name as more of an honorific than anything else, as the question came out rather aggressive.


    If it was a threat, then the best case of action was to ignore it. Threats only had power when one felt menaced by them. Replying with another question would make the threatening interlocutor lose their footing.


    ¡°Quite the opposite.¡± She revealed, her mask indescribable. ¡°Marriage is a transaction. I know that well. I would have been married to a foreign country because of my lacking Nur... abilities. But I proved far more resourceful and useful than what Aaliyah had expected. Enough to not be disposable. So marrying yourself now would be a waste. It is too soon, some products gain value with time, like wine.¡± What she didn¡¯t mention was how some others lost value, like fruit, which easily spoiled. ¡°Hold yourself on those thoughts, grow a bit older and more powerful before marrying. Otherwise, your family might die even if you birth to an heir. Unless the transaction is way more profitable.¡±


    Her words were obvious, someone needed to marry into her, not the opposite. But her final statement betrayed all of that, it left the window open in case an offer more valuable than her own family name presented.


    ¡°Anyhow,¡± Rani straightened her back and clasped her hands. ¡°I did have a reason to pass by it wasn¡¯t all just random babbling.¡±


    Out of nowhere, the emir¡¯s posture got more authoritative. In one moment, it seemed like a familiar one not dissimilar to a friend, and in the next, it was that of a boss.


    ¡°Some... things need to be reported into the palace, back at Asina.¡± The sultanzade¡¯s eyes shone in intellect. ¡°This means that in about a month I¡¯ll go to Asina to visit Aaliyah.¡±


    As she didn¡¯t continue with her speech, Aloe interjected, almost out of peer pressure. ¡°And that concerns me... in what manner?¡±


    ¡°I want you to come with me to Asina and see the Sultanah.¡± Darkness formed in the sparkling gemstones.


    ¡°Excuse me?¡± The words left Aloe¡¯s mouth without her being conscious, a reflex.

 Book 2: 69. Demand

    ¡°I want you to come with me to Asina and see the Sultanah.¡± The emir¡¯s words reverberated in the scribe¡¯s mind.


    Aloe could have protested, but she didn¡¯t. Not only she was already in a shaky position after having fired that assistant, but what Rani had said wasn¡¯t a petition, but an order. It also wasn¡¯t as if she had much time to protest because as soon as she dropped that statement, the emir made her way out of the office.


    ¡°So she said that?¡± Tamara commented with a pistachio on her fingertips. ¡°Hassan and she were always coming up and down to Asina ¨C if not one, the other ¨C so it doesn¡¯t surprise me that she needs to come back in a month, but this is the first time I¡¯ve seen a sultanzade bring a companion to the capital. Oh well, it¡¯s not the end of the world.¡±


    ¡°Is it not?¡± Aloe¡¯s visage was meddled with doubt, she resisted the urge to crease the parchment in her hands. ¡°It¡¯s Asina¡¯s palace that we are talking about. A true den of debauchery!¡± She barely held her voice from trembling.


    ¡°Sure, a lot of horny sultanzade and, of course, Her Majesty, but it¡¯s not like they fuck the first person they see.¡± The scribe of commerce rolled her eyes and continued reading the documents. ¡°I¡¯m more worried about Sadina. The city will default to Naila¡¯s reign for a week or so, and that girl is inconsistent at best.¡±


    ¡°Can we worry about me and not the city?¡±


    Tamara frowned. ¡°Girl, I understand you are fidgety, but I¡¯ve been to Asina before, and no one laid a finger on me.¡±


    Aloe frowned back at her. ¡°And when did you go exactly?¡±


    ¡°Fair point.¡± The old woman closed her eyes and shrugged. ¡°A few decades ago, but by that time I was already married and had children. Those with imperial blood prefer people more... untouched.¡±


    The scribe of commoners shivered, hugging her body searching for warmth even though the daylight was strong enough to fry an egg.


    ¡°You are not helping!¡±


    ¡°Sorry, sorry.¡± Tamara let the parchment away and giggled. ¡°You are just so teasable. I guess that¡¯s one of the reasons Rani wanted you. She certainly owed one or two to Shahrazad to recruit or at least not leave you emptyhanded, but that certainly helps.¡±


    Aloe would have inquired about the relationship between the scribes in general, not only between Tamara and her mother, but she was currently scared shitless at the prospect of going to Asina.


    ¡°I still don¡¯t understand why you are this scared.¡± Tamara implied with a tone indicating that she should be somewhat scared.


    ¡°Have you heard the snake tongues?¡±


    ¡°Ha!¡± The old scribe slapped her thigh. ¡°The snake tongues, really? Pure rumors, people never tell the truth, or they warp it as much as the snickering of a snake. There¡¯s a reason why we call them snake tongues.¡±


    ¡°When there¡¯s this many words out there, I no longer can believe it¡¯s just nonsensical gossip,¡± Aloe explained with a wry smile.


    ¡°Shh, child.¡± Tamara stood up from her office armchair and walked next to Aloe, then she patted her head. ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about the sultanzade, in a way, you are under the protection of one. And besides, if you have to worry about someone, that¡¯s Rani herself. Though I doubt she will do anything to you, up to my knowledge, she hasn¡¯t done anything to a scribe.¡±


    Aloe had never had a grandmother; one she could remember at least. Her father wasn¡¯t from Sadina but another emirate, and she had never met his family. Not that she could contact them anymore. So that only left one possible grandmother, her mother¡¯s mother, but she had died before she could form a memory of her. Her memory was hazy, but she was already born, though just young enough to not remember. All of this was to say that Tamara¡¯s touch felt grandmotherly-like. Whatever that may mean.


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    She removed her wrinkled hand from her head.


    ¡°A pat on the back would have been enough.¡± No matter how much she enjoyed it, Aloe still had a pride to protect, a weakness to avoid showing. And it was becoming smaller and smaller by the day, making the last traces ever-so-precious to her.


    Tamara didn¡¯t answer, simply deciding to dedicate her a snicker.


    ¡°Well, it seems you are recovered enough.¡± She walked back to her armchair. ¡°Shall we get back to business, girl?¡±


    ¡°Wait,¡± Aloe put the papers from the scribe business aside for a moment. ¡°Talking about business, what about the ink proposal I offered you? Have you gotten any news?¡±


    ¡°You still want to go ahead with that?¡± Tamara frowned. ¡°Even after becoming the scribe of commoners, one of the most prestigious positions of the city and the whole emirate?¡±


    Both of them knew that wasn¡¯t the truth as the scribe of commoners was the least wanted of the five personal scribe positions. The most overworked and the least paying one. Prestigious? Perchance. Glamorous? Not a chance.


    ¡°Well, what better than a scribe to deal with inks?¡± Aloe added smugly.


    ¡°Can¡¯t argue against that logic.¡± The scribe of commerce cackled. ¡°But I must disappoint with bad news.¡±


    ¡°Why doesn¡¯t surprise me?¡± Aloe deflated but didn¡¯t protest beyond that.


    ¡°My contact, which is another scribe, has told me that after running several rigorous tests, the ink is just not that good. It dries fast, and that¡¯s nice, but for any non-casual writer ¨C which fair, you stated you wanted to sell the ink to commoners ¨C is rather useless. The strain that is caused by writing is bad. And I¡¯m not just talking about the hand, but also the feather.¡±


    ¡°Wait, are you saying I got denied because of feathers?¡±


    Tamara scoffed. ¡°It¡¯s obvious that you haven¡¯t been a scribe for long. Some scribes out there that value their feathers more than their lives.¡±


    Aloe squinted at her; the claim was far too dramatic to be taken seriously.


    ¡°I¡¯m being serious.¡± The old woman raised her hands defensively. ¡°You haven¡¯t seen what some people get. I have seen feathers more expensive than ships and houses.¡±


    ¡°What do they put in there, gems?¡±


    ¡°Between other things? Totally.¡± Tamara admitted. ¡°There¡¯s also a liking to gold. You know, if you have money, you will end up putting gold on everything. Just look at our dear sultanzade with all their jewelry. All of their trinkets are pure gold.¡±


    The scribe of commoners sighed; the sheer display of wealth wasn¡¯t beyond her. The thing with sultanzade was that they were so radiant and loud that the gold in their person was outshined.


    ¡°This needs to be mentioned,¡± Tamara grabbed a balance that was on the desk. ¡°I do think cheap ink would be valuable for a greater scope market, but the quantities you can produce are just not enough.¡± She put a silver coin on one of the scales, and ten copper ones on the other one. ¡°There¡¯s demand, like these ten drupnar. But the offer is scarce, like the single drupnari. Now, a merchant would tell you that¡¯s good. This means you can inflate the price at your command. But you don¡¯t want to do that.¡±


    ¡°Because I want to sell to the masses.¡±


    ¡°Exactly.¡± Tamara dropped another drupnari on the lighter scale. ¡°So making the price higher would be counterproductive as less commoners would be able to afford it. The more people you are able to sell, the more you will win, but also, the more people you will be able to sell to.¡± Aloe frowned at the repetition of words. ¡°No, I have not grown senile. Not yet.¡± The scribe read her expression easily. ¡°I¡¯m talking about publicity. If you want everyone to buy it, then do it. But the best way to do it is with people talking about the product. The more ink there¡¯s on the street, the more people will know about it.¡±


    ¡°And then the more people will buy it.¡±


    The scribe of commerce smiled at her. ¡°But there¡¯s one obvious problem that I have already stated.¡±


    ¡°Offer,¡± Aloe muttered with an exhalation. ¡°There¡¯s no way I could provide enough ink for Sadina, let alone other cities.¡±


    ¡°And selling three pots won¡¯t be enough. That¡¯s why no one goes to the market of masses, Aloe. Production is often handicapped at the hands of the artisans. Everything must be local, and a manufacturer can only produce one piece at a time. I believe there will be a future where commerce will not be limited by the output of the artisan and the trader but by the demand of the market. How many people can I get my limitless product to?¡±


    Aloe thought she was greedy, and she was, but as she heard Tamara talk, the cunningness of her voice was obvious. This was a master merchant at work.


    ¡°So what you are saying is that there¡¯s no future for my fast-dry ink business.¡±


    ¡°Not quite,¡± Tamara smirked. ¡°There¡¯s another option.¡±


    ¡°By all means, do tell.¡± Aloe shrugged, she didn¡¯t have much hope left, so why not trample on it entirely?


    The merchant picked up a few more drupnars and then dropped all of them with all the other copper coins, overflowing the scale with the quantity.


    ¡°Easy, I¡¯ll buy you the recipe.¡±

 Book 2: 70. Control

    For a moment, Aloe thought Tamara was joking. But she soon became aware that wasn¡¯t the case. It makes sense. She told herself. From her understanding, I¡¯m just a girl messing with normal plants and found a recipe to make ink from them. There¡¯s nothing wrong with that. So I shouldn¡¯t act disturbed. Aloe thought disturbingly.


    ¡°I think I will refuse the offer.¡± The scribe of commoners said calmly.


    ¡°You sure?¡± Tamara raised her brows. ¡°You have nothing to lose, only gain.¡±


    She¡¯s already suspecting... Selling her ¡°formula¡± ¨C if it could even be called that ¨C would equate to revealing the Aloe Veritas. Maybe she could find some way to keep Evolution and Infusion to herself, withholding the vital arts as much as possible, but if that worked, it wouldn¡¯t take that long for the secret to come to light. Karaim said it, Evolution is based on another vital art... and I have an idea where it may come from.


    If she showed the world the existence of the Aloe Veritas, Evolution wouldn¡¯t take long to be discovered. The amount of knowledge that it gave was astonishing, too expensive to be revealed or shared. It was the token on her sleeve that contained all her power, her only real playing card.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure about it,¡± Aloe told as diplomatically as possible, but instead of neutral, she said it with a voice of indifference. ¡°You¡¯ve said it, the market of masses isn¡¯t just there. No matter how cheap it may be to produce the ink, it would get nowhere.¡± She knew this wasn¡¯t enough of an excuse, a merchant like Tamara needed more to desist. ¡°And besides, I¡¯m afraid the problem will be the logistics.¡±


    ¡°Logistics?¡± The old woman raised her brow.


    It wasn¡¯t a word a trader wanted to hear. Mostly because they were tired of it.


    ¡°You know how my greenhouse is on an oasis, right?¡± She nodded. ¡°Well, let¡¯s say the plants require a lot of water.¡±


    ¡°Meaning that doing a plantation on a big enough scale in Sadina is unfeasible.¡± Tamara continued.


    ¡°Exactly.¡± It was Aloe¡¯s turn to nod.


    This was, of course, a lie. The Aloe Veritas were cactuses, so they were extremely resilient to the harsh environment of the desert. And compared to some of the plants in the greenhouse, the veritas didn¡¯t require nearly as much water.


    ¡°Well, it wasn¡¯t like I had many hopes. It was just a nudge on the back of my mind.¡± Tamara sighed. ¡°It¡¯s a knack I have from my younger years as a trader, I can¡¯t let go of an enterprise. It doesn''t matter if it¡¯s profitable or not, I need to at least investigate it.¡±


    ¡°It seems like a rather bad knack for a trader to have. How were your businesses even profitable?¡±


    ¡°It isn¡¯t like I started every enterprise, girl.¡± She scoffed. ¡°It¡¯s more like a hobby. I do like to theory-craft about future business and see if they are potentially profitable even if I don¡¯t even invest in them.¡±


    ¡°That sounds like a very taxing hobby, I think gardening is quite lighter on the mind.¡±


    ¡°Not everyone can choose their hobbies. Some grow onto you like a pimple and won¡¯t let you alone, and others are just forced into you.¡±


    ¡°I can get behind that.¡± Aloe sighed. ¡°I certainly didn¡¯t think about botany, gardening, and farming until my grandfather died.¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t deny gardening sounds lovely.¡± Tamara chuckled. ¡°Being a scribe is a job that takes too much mental power to have a mentally draining hobby. A physical one sounds much better.¡±


    ¡°Indeed.¡± Aloe took a pistachio for herself after remembering that there was a bowl filled with them on the desk. ¡°A laborer should have a mental hobby, whilst a scholar a physical one.¡±


    This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.


    ¡°That would be the perfect world.¡± Tamara followed suit, grabbing pistachios for herself.


    ¡°You know, it¡¯s a luxury to have all the pistachios pealed already.¡±


    ¡°I believe it removes a bit of the charm. Sometimes I want to peel my own pistachios.¡±


    ¡°...That sounded rather deep.¡±


    Tamara cackled. ¡°Listen to your elders, wisdom comes from every word.¡±


    ¡°I would cheer to that, but I don¡¯t have any beverage. Should we ask for tea or something?¡±


    ¡°Aloe.¡± The scribe of commerce interrupted her as she was going to stand up.


    ¡°Yes?¡± The scribe of commoners asked innocently.


    ¡°I know what you are doing.¡±


    ¡°And what that may be?¡±


    The old woman sighed. ¡°Sit down and stop evading work.¡±


    ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am,¡± Aloe replied with an almost military response.


    Truth was, she wasn¡¯t trying to avoid work. Maybe a bit, but she knew it needed to get done. No, what she was doing was fooling the scribe. By making her think she had pressured her into menial conversation and a tea break, Tamara would forget about the ink recipe proposition. Aloe wasn¡¯t a master of subterfuge, but she certainly could be sneaky.


    <hr>


    It didn¡¯t take long for the two scribes to finish their conjoined work. Aloe mostly left the work to Tamara; instead of writing herself, she asked the experienced scribe for notes and advice.


    And also finances.


    The treasury of the palace was regulated by Tamara, so after prodding around a bit, Aloe got a solid idea of what spending margin she had for her scribe of commoners¡¯ tasks. Most of the budget mostly went to public works, either way.


    Yes, the scribe of commoners¡¯ budget and the public works¡¯ budget were one and the same. She may have a lot of money to spend, but in practice, she only got a small fraction of that. Roads are nince-damned expensive to maintain. Aloe groaned as she made her way through the palace¡¯s corridors. Maids were already lighting some candles as the only light coming through was that of twilight. At least highway security doesn¡¯t form part of that. Anything military-related was the duty of the imperial scribe.


    Talking about the imperial scribe... The sound of supersonic slashes came to Aloe¡¯s ears.


    Aloe didn¡¯t know where the young sultanzade¡¯s office was, but she was sure as the heavens existed that she didn¡¯t spend much time there. One could find Naila Asina in many parts of the palace, though she tended to orbit the enclosed patios.


    After their weird meeting during the feast a few days ago, the imperial scribe became... tamer. She still didn¡¯t accept Aloe¡¯s presence, but she hadn¡¯t attacked her in any way and if she directed her words toward her, they tended to be less combative.


    That didn¡¯t mean Aloe took advantage of that. She knew better than to pull the knots of an imperial.


    And if she was wiser, she would have walked away as she noticed Naila¡¯s presence. But...


    The strongly built girl danced as if she was way lighter and thinner than she truly was. Her steps didn¡¯t perturb the grass, though that didn¡¯t matter as the sways of her blade did. There was grace in those fast movements, but above all else, control.


    Maids would suppose that the sultanzade was only being fast, but Aloe knew how hard it was to control one¡¯s body after being infused with ¡®speed¡¯. The body became impressively faster, but the mind remained unchanged, easily lagging behind. It wasn¡¯t only the wide movements like strides that were affected, but also the minute ones like finger movements or hand rotations.


    Everything involving a muscle was just faster.


    What impressed Aloe wasn¡¯t the dance ¨C though it was noteworthy ¨C but the control needed to even perform it without tumbling.


    She remained there in a trance, looking at the sultanzade dancing with the orange sky in the background. Minutes passed, enough for Aloe to shift her internal infusion to ¡®speed¡¯, a task that took her far more than expected as she wasn¡¯t used to this infusion.


    How? She had approached a wall beforehand and rested her back on it to not tumble to the ground once the infusion¡¯s effects kicked in. How can she move her body like that? Aloe tapped on the wall with a single finger. The most minimal of movements was enough to send her digit straight to the wall. She tapped fast, nince a second, even if in her mind she was going slow. How much training does one require to control a whole body if I can barely keep up with a finger?


    She knew that the sultanzade were special, every imperial was. They were stronger, faster, and more fertile than most so she wanted to attribute the control to... Wait. She stopped tapping as realization hit her. What if all the stories of the sultanzade being strong, durable, fast, and such, didn¡¯t refer to all at the same time? Maybe... only one at a time? For others, it would not make much distinction, but for Aloe, it was world-changing. Oh... I knew it.


    The seed of doubt had been planted long ago since she read Karaim¡¯s cultivation technique. Then it spurted when she saw Naila training for the first time. It was the ¡®speed¡¯ infusion, but she didn¡¯t want to jump to conclusions. But after watching her for many minutes, there was no denying it. The sultanzade can use Infusion.

 Book 2: 71. Archives

    A blurry deadline was the only thing that really mattered in Aloe¡¯s future. Work had gone from tricky to menial in a matter of days. Tamara had been right when she said she wasn¡¯t qualified for the job.


    She was overqualified.


    The role of the scribe of commoners, especially common scribes, was so simple that Aloe doubted anyone had real problems with it. She was not gifted, nor excellently taught. Yes, her mother had been a scribe and a very competent one by what she heard from the other scribes, but she didn¡¯t teach her much. Aloe honestly believed that people were being slow and having a hard time at being a scribe either out of pure incompetence or they were faking it.


    Other possibilities didn¡¯t compute in her brain.


    And it made sense they faked it, that meant less work. Because in the glorious world of the workplace, being optimal and competent wasn¡¯t compensated with increased wages, but more work.


    So now, a week deep into her job, she found herself faking incompetence to not be overworked. Her job had quite literally become fighting boredom.


    Working, as it would seem, was odious.


    A scribe of commoners had a lot of documents and treatises to go through, but unlike a scribe of commerce who needed to do advanced mathematics for every part of the local economy, Aloe was a glorified diplomat. And local at that.


    Diplomacy wasn¡¯t her strongest, but she was not unbeknownst to it. Her education had partially focused exactly on that. Diplomats would get to go to cool places and travel a lot, and the scribe of commoners would sit her ass on a chair and read documents, and sometimes, sign them. Wooooah!


    Aloe was going insane.


    A whole month deprived of human contact affected her way less than having to repeat the same tasks ad nauseam whilst having to conceal her capabilities and do them worse than she actually could.


    SHE WAS BEING PAID FOR MAKING THINGS WORSE.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to kill someone...¡± She muttered, almost snapping her feather for the umpteenth time.


    Her attacks of insanity had become some common that she had permanently shifted her internal infusion to ¡®toughness¡¯ so she was weak enough to not, in fact, snap her feather.


    ¡°Did you say something, Aloe?¡± Lulu asked from the other side of the room as she dusted a scroll holder. Her mother had a knack for using scrolls instead of books. That also meant the office got rather dusty, rather fast.


    ¡°Nothing.¡± Aloe sighed. ¡°I guess I¡¯m becoming tired of the job, the routine kicked too early and hard for my liking.¡±


    ¡°Well...¡± The maid left the duster aside and approached her. ¡°You have been in the palace for ten days now without leaving, only working. I haven¡¯t stayed myself that long inside, as maids are normally sent to do errands around the city. Even the sultanzade have left the palace once or twice during this period, and the palace is quite literally their home.¡±


    ¡°Ten days? Huh.¡± The scribe rested her head on her palm. ¡°I guess I could go out or something. It¡¯s not like there a pile of jobs to be done any longer, and the pending tasks are more of a day-to-day basis.¡±


    ¡°If you want to go anywhere, I could accompany you.¡± Lulu offered with a bow.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need for that. You could take this as a day off or something.¡±


    ¡°With all due respect, Aloe,¡± She continued bowing whilst speaking, ¡°I am a maid. Even if I have acted as your personal maid, my duties to the palace still remain. I am afraid there is no ¡®day off¡¯ for me.¡±


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    ¡°Oh.¡± Why do all maids in the palace have the secret skill of making me feel guilty for every word I utter? ¡°I guess that in that case, you could accompany me. It could be a... extracurricular business trip.¡±


    ¡°I would love that.¡± Lulu finally undid her bow, a smile was plastered on her fair visage. It was only then that Aloe realized that she had been played.


    <hr>


    There were many things Aloe could do. She was unrestrained and had more resources than she ever had at her disposal, but the world was far from being her sandbox.


    ¡°It¡¯s a bit weird that you are following me with your maid outfit,¡± Aloe said as they walked out of the palace.


    ¡°I¡¯m still on duty, Aloe,¡± Lulu explained courtly. ¡°And the outfit blends quite nicely like a normal dress, I don¡¯t see the problem.


    ¡°I guess...¡± The scribe wasn¡¯t as enthusiastic about the idea as the maid.


    With the maddening amount of clothing in her closet, Lulu had selected the best gowns possible. Even though she didn¡¯t do any makeup, Aloe felt like nobility. The clothes were just so beautiful and expensive that they made her feel beautiful. A feeling she didn¡¯t experience normally.


    ¡°We are we going then, Aloe?¡± Lulu followed dutifully behind her.


    If her dress wasn¡¯t going to catch gazes, the maid surely would. For more than one reason.


    ¡°To the archives,¡± Aloe responded.


    ¡°The university?¡± Lulu exposed her confusion.


    ¡°Yes.¡± She couldn¡¯t see the maid¡¯s expression, but the scribe certainly delighted on what that may be right now.


    ¡°Can I ask why?¡±


    ¡°You already asked, so I guess yes.¡± Aloe chuckled. ¡°It¡¯s a joke.¡± She added, already imagining Lulu¡¯s reaction. ¡°Anyhow, it¡¯s not ¡°scribe business¡± if that¡¯s what you are thinking.¡±


    ¡°It is scribe business if you are doing it.¡± Lulu joked alongside her.


    ¡°True.¡± Aloe smiled more. ¡°What I meant it¡¯s more about a personal affair.¡±


    ¡°Some errands?¡±


    ¡°Not quite. I just want to search for some books.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a library in the palace if you want to read.¡± The maid explained, mostly out of reflex judging by the dry voice.


    ¡°Wasn¡¯t this whole ordeal about stepping out of the palace for once?¡± Aloe turned to face her with a turn of her heel.


    ¡°You are right,¡± Lulu said comely with her eyes closed. ¡°May then I inquire what books are you looking for? If it¡¯s for personal affairs, may I guess romance? Mayhap erotica?¡±


    Aloe blushed and turned away from the maid, putting a spring in her step as she continued her way to the university.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be silly,¡± She knew Lulu was toying with her, but that couldn¡¯t be said out in public. Aloe felt as if she was going to die from the embarrassment. ¡°I have no need of such things.¡±


    She didn¡¯t.


    ¡°But of course.¡± The maid followed suit.


    Her tone implied she didn¡¯t believe her.


    ¡°Ehem,¡± Aloe cleared her throat. ¡°No, the reason why I want to go to the archives is to search for botany books, anything farming, or herbalism related.¡±


    ¡°Oh right, I heard you talking about a greenhouse with the scribe of commerce. Are you a botany aficionado?¡±


    ¡°I... we could say so.¡± Aloe chose her next words carefully. ¡°I inherited a greenhouse a day away from Sadina from my grandfather, and I didn¡¯t want the place to go to waste. So I started cultivating plants there. Mostly medicinal plants and flowers.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡± Lulu didn¡¯t press on the issue as always, though in this case there wasn¡¯t much else to see.


    Soon enough, the two women had arrived at the university grounds. Under the government of Aaliyah-al-Ydaz, every academic institution was expanded, this mostly affected universities. Whilst before there was a single unified institution for all fields and subjects ¨C or so Aloe had heard, all of these reforms had taken place way before she was even born ¨C now every field commendable of investigation enjoyed a building of their own or at least a wing.


    However, what came on top of this reform, wasn¡¯t the center of investigation. But public installations like the archives of Sadina.


    ¡°Woah...¡± Lulu expressed upon seeing the monumentality of the archives building.


    ¡°Speechless?¡± Aloe asked smugly.


    ¡°Quite so, yes.¡± Unfortunately, the maid didn¡¯t leave her any playing field to toy her with. ¡°I¡¯ve lived all my life in Sadina, but I had never seen the archives in person.¡±


    Aloe frowned at Lulu¡¯s words. It wasn¡¯t strange that she hadn¡¯t seen or entered the scribes; even if it was a public building, it made no sense to do so when most commoners had the most basic of reading capabilities. Aaliyah-al-Ydaz mandated a minimal literacy to the citizens, but that minimum was not enough for commoners educated in mass to understand whole books.


    No, what surprised Aloe was the statement about Lulu¡¯s nativity. Foreign parents or inherited skin fairness? People in Sadina didn¡¯t tend to be this fair, but at the same time, Lulu wasn¡¯t white. Just extremely diluted coffee.


    The scribe was polite enough to not ask such questions, especially because the maid was not in a position to refuse them, and she didn¡¯t to impose herself. Aloe knew how bad it felt to pressure others into answering questions they would like to keep to themselves.


    ¡°Well then,¡± Aloe smiled at Lulu, her visage free of all the pondering and worry of her mind. ¡°Shall we take a look?¡±

 Book 2: 72. Abuse

    Lulu tiptoed behind Aloe as if her movements were about to disturb the archives. It was surprising for the scribe to see this aspect of the maid. Until now, Lulu had almost been the perfect idea of what a maid should be, the role model, so seeing the actual person behind the job comforted her.


    ¡°Calm down, Lulu,¡± She told her. ¡°Your presence alone won¡¯t volatilize the books.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t know that!¡± The maid responded with a strained whisper.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I do.¡± Aloe contained the sigh forming in her mouth, though she let her eyes roll. ¡°The scholars don¡¯t keep sensitive documents at everyone¡¯s display. There are ancient documents that even daylight can damage them, but I assure you none of them are here. You may only find somewhat useful rolls or books here.¡±


    ¡°Why somewhat useful?¡± Lulu dashed behind her as the distance between them grew because she lagged behind.


    ¡°Well, you are not going to offer your best knowledge for free. Are you?¡±


    ¡°No?¡±


    ¡°It was a rhetorical question but correct.¡± Aloe pointed at the shelves surrounding them. ¡°I¡¯m not saying all of this is wrong and not useful, but if you want the best knowledge on the subject, you are better off attending a conference or buying a book.¡±


    ¡°And why don¡¯t you do that?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t have the time to attend conferences. And I doubt there are botany conferences. Hmm...¡± The scribe swayed her head from side to side, deep in thought. ¡°Maybe... there are a lot of weird scholars out there. But...¡±


    ¡°I was talking about the books.¡± Lulu stepped into her trail of thought.


    ¡°Oh.¡± Aloe opened her mouth in an ¡®o¡¯ shape in realization. ¡°I don¡¯t have money to afford that.¡±


    ¡°You are the scribe of commoners.¡± She responded as a matter of fact.


    ¡°The newly appointed scribe of commoners.¡± Aloe deadpanned. ¡°I have yet to be paid. And I don¡¯t have exactly a lot of liquid assets. Books are expensive, an unnecessary expense I¡¯d rather not take.¡±


    ¡°Then what are you going to do? Haven¡¯t you said the books here are not that useful?¡±


    ¡°Well... I haven¡¯t planned that far? You are the one that said to come here, after all.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± It was now Lulu¡¯s time to be surprised by realization. However instead of open-mouthed, her visage became of stone. ¡°Sorry for inconveniencing you.¡± And she bowed down.


    ¡°That¡¯s not a problem. Wasn¡¯t this outing just an excuse to... you know, go out?¡± Aloe scratched her hair trying to hide her embarrassment. ¡°Let¡¯s just search for botany-related documents and if we don¡¯t find anything, then there¡¯s no problem. The palace¡¯s library still remains for us to search for.¡±


    Aloe was far from a scholar, her visits to the archives had been few and far between, but most of her life had been nurtured through paper so the endless shelves didn¡¯t confuse her in the slightest. The same couldn''t be said for Lulu who seemed to have a hard time comprehending the existence of the archives in the first place.


    ¡°So where should we look?¡± Lulu asked, her eyes jumping from one shelf to another. ¡°Are there any labels that can guide us?¡±


    ¡°Not that I¡¯m aware of, but finding a certain shelf isn¡¯t the difficult part. It¡¯s usually more about finding the right documentation. Just look around and if we don¡¯t find anything in a while, we¡¯ll ask a scholar for directions.¡±


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    The archives lacked any imagery or guiding system that could allow newcomers to guide themselves through the many stored parchments. The only way to know one¡¯s path was through sheer memorization. And Aloe herself wasn¡¯t acquainted enough with the archives to do so.


    Whilst the scribe methodically looked around, maybe opening a book or two to localize herself ¨C wings were categorized by disciplines, so the first plant-related book they found would mean they were in the right place ¨C the maid took a more free-willed approach. It was dead obvious that Lulu was not versed in letters, if it weren¡¯t for the Sultanah¡¯s education edict she probably wouldn¡¯t be able to read, so she just paced around. Aloe had no idea what her strategy was if she even had one, but judging by the maid¡¯s expression, it was likely she was simply looking for plant images.


    Academical records did tend to have detailed drawings of plants, especially if it was for an herbalist who needed to find them in the wild, but it would seem Lulu hadn¡¯t fallen on the idea that to see those images she would need to first open said records.


    Aloe followed the maid closely behind her as she checked on the occasional parchment, partially out of amusement, but really because she didn¡¯t want to lose her in the archives. It wouldn¡¯t do good for her nonexistent reputation that she lost a maid.


    Her eyes shot wide open as she saw Lulu approach a certain corridor.


    ¡°Stop!¡± Aloe raised her voice, crying for the maid¡¯s attention.


    The normally calm maid jumped on the spot scared and turned to face her master. ¡°Is there something wrong?¡±


    ¡°Uhm... Well, no.¡± She responded shyly. ¡°But it¡¯s better to not go to that concrete wing.¡±


    ¡°Why not?¡± Lulu innocently asked.


    Aloe blushed. ¡°Just not.¡± She stated harshly.


    The maid tensed upon hearing the strong tone of the scribe¡¯s voice, not out of surprise, but of reflex, as if she was used to it.


    ¡°As you command,¡± Lulu replied obediently, her own tone deprived of emotion as she tucked her shoulders and arms into her body.


    ¡°I...¡± Aloe didn¡¯t know what to say. Dunes... She felt incredibly bad for raising her voice, especially in a way that abused her power and authority. ¡°You did nothing wrong, Lulu.¡± She tried comforting the maid. ¡°But I know what that wing is and there¡¯s nothing of value there. Let¡¯s just ask a scholar where the documents we are looking for are, shall we?¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡± The maid affirmed with the same trained dead and polite tone, albeit ever-so-slightly sweeter and livelier than before. That was enough for Aloe.


    <hr>


    After some fiddling, they managed to convince a passerby scholar to guide them to the wing they wanted. Aloe didn¡¯t mention she was the scribe of commoners, mainly because she didn¡¯t want to abuse her power again, but it wasn¡¯t needed. A scholar would have shooed away a commoner for stealing their time, but Aloe didn¡¯t look like one. Her dress was made of the finest silk and jeweled trinkets loitered her body. Right now, she didn¡¯t look like a commoner, but a noble. The maid following behind her helped sell that image too. And a scholar could spare a minute to guide a noble. Most of them were only commoners after all.


    ¡°What are we looking for?¡± Lulu asked with a book at hand. They currently sat on a table looking at a myriad of scrolls, documents, and anything vaguely related to horticulture.


    ¡°I¡¯d focus on plant biology. More about how to keep plants alive and their medicinal uses rather than how to find them in the wild.¡± Aloe explained as she gawked at a book of her own. She doubted she would bring any of this home, but it could help her once she searched the palace¡¯s library.


    ¡°Understood,¡± Lulu replied dutifully.


    Her tone had regained her normal energy, though Aloe couldn¡¯t help herself but feel bad for her previous childish outburst. Lulu didn¡¯t deserve that. Aloe would never be damaged by words, but she knew other people could, so the best she could do was to not say anything offensive.


    As predicted, they didn¡¯t find anything noteworthy between the shelves. Ydazi flora was vaguely interesting, but not something Aloe could spend her time studying. Time was a thing that was lacking at the moment. When will I go back to the greenhouse? I only have a month before I need to accompany Rani to Asina, so I¡¯d better pay a visit before that... But there was not enough time for that. If she wanted to go to the greenhouse, she would need three days a minimum of three days for that. Assuming she only dedicated one to her stay.


    I guess I should ask Rani... That scared Aloe. The emir already held a lot of power over her, she was her employer and her liege, but if she were to petition her ¨C again, unfortunately ¨C that would tighten the collar around her neck even more. Why did I accept this job? The answer to that was simple: coercion. Since the moment Rani offered a job when she first summoned her, there was no way out.


    When someone in her position offers something, nine times out of ten it is not an offer but a demand. And a commoner cannot deny the demand of a sultanzade emir.


    As the light of the sun began to dwindle, darkness closing onto the candleless archives, Aloe sighed and closed her book. She stood up, her body weighing down on her.


    ¡°Shall we get going, Lulu?¡± She asked the maid.


    ¡°Of course, Aloe,¡± Lulu responded with a smile. At least I can count on her.

 Book 2: 73. Clearance

    To say that her feather danced across the parchment would be an overstatement. Even though her dreams of ink monopoly had died as quickly as they spawned, Aloe still had some ink pots that someone had to use. Aloe Veritas ink was practically indistinguishable from normal ink, the main difference being that the vegetal ink was blue rather than black, but it was a hue so dark that under certain lighting it was indistinguishable from the true deal.


    Aloe was happy with how things were going. Work was tedious, but it wasn¡¯t as exhausting as before. The plague had basically been eradicated by now thanks to the quarantine imposed by the emirate, meaning there were fewer logistic headaches for her.


    It pained her a bit to think of her mother¡¯s killer as a nuisance, but she was mostly desensitized by now. She knew death loomed on the horizon, but she hadn¡¯t seen it personally, so it was hard for her to assimilate it.


    Thanks to her and her supporting scribes'' combined efforts, the department of the scribe of commoners didn¡¯t have much work on their hands.


    ¡°I guess this is what a normal day in my position feels like,¡± Aloe commented offhand, her focus on the paper. It was the only one of the day, she had tied any other unfinished business beforehand. It surprised her greatly how ruthlessly efficient she was with scribe work, her mother seemed always pressed for time. ¡°Maybe I am better than her.¡±


    ¡°Did you say something?¡± Lulu stopped dusting the scroll shelves to look at her.


    ¡°Ugh, nothing.¡± Aloe groaned. ¡°Antics of mine. I¡¯m too used to talking alone.¡±


    ¡°You mentioned that before.¡±


    ¡°I surely did.¡± The scribe left her feather on the ink flask and rubbed her eyes. ¡°Incredible how in a single month I have developed a knack that I may not get rid of for my entire life.¡±


    ¡°Knacks tend to be like that.¡± The maid dotted a smile on her face whilst she dusted graciously the shelves.


    Aloe rolled her eyes, refusing to entertain more Lulu with her suffering. ¡°Talking about this, I just remembered that I should talk to Rani about getting to the greenhouse before-¡°


    The door to her office swung wide open, cutting her sentence.


    ¡°Did someone mention my name?¡± The intruder was none other than the emir.


    The faces of both the scribe and the maid instantly became solemn upon registering the sultanzade¡¯s presence. Aloe forced a smile, whilst Lulu faded into the background. A shadow of what she usually was.


    ¡°I did that, yes,¡± Aloe explained diplomatically. ¡°Would you care for a tea?¡± She pointed with her open hand at the teapot and then at the unoccupied chair in front of her desk.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so, I was just passing by and suddenly heard my name, so I thought of making an appearance. I have a good ear, you see.¡±


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t doubt that.¡± Aloe smiled with the veracity of pyrite.


    ¡°Anyhow,¡± Rani approached her desk, her body swaying around in such an exaggerated fashion that could only be manufactured. ¡°What did you want from me?¡±


    The emir¡¯s eyes flared purple. There was something about the woman that impeded Aloe looking away from her, and it wasn¡¯t the curves. Though that did contribute.


    ¡°I...¡± She had mentalized herself, but no matter how much willpower she gathered, the scribe always found herself faltering in the sultanzade¡¯s presence. ¡°I would like to visit my greenhouse before we depart to Asina in a few weeks. If you would be so kind.¡±


    ¡°A vacation? Only a few days after beginning work?¡± Rani squinted at her, her mouth contorting into her typical djinnish smile.


    If she wouldn¡¯t have interacted with the emir before, Aloe would have lost her cool. What she had just said was the stuff that got people fired. But she now knew better. It was crystal clear that Rani was messing with her. That didn¡¯t mean she would give her permission, though.


    ¡°More like a welfare check,¡± Aloe explained calmly. ¡°There are a lot of plants in the greenhouse. Although I have readied the place to last a while without human attention, I¡¯d prefer to check on my plants before we have to leave the emirate.¡±


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    ¡°I see, I see...¡± Rani closed her eyes, deep in thought.


    The sultanzade purred like a cat as she meditated, but instead of cute, it came out as salacious. Aloe almost blushed as Rani continued to make the suggestive sounds. Before working at the palace, she believed her masks were unbreakable, yet the emir always found a way to dent them with ease.


    ¡°Lulu?¡± Rani asked out of nowhere.


    The maid jumped upon hearing her name being called out. The gesture was accompanied by a dry yelp.


    ¡°Yes, my Emir?¡± Lulu asked cautiously, furiously trying to return to the background as if she were just another piece of furniture.


    ¡°How would you rate the scribe of commoner¡¯s work? Aloe, not the position.¡± Rani turned to face the maid. And if before she wanted to disappear, now Lulu was melting.


    ¡°I... uhm...¡± Aloe knew Lulu was weak to Rani ¨C everyone in the palace was ¨C but she hadn¡¯t noticed it affected her this badly. ¡°I-I believe Scribe Aloe is doing a great job!¡± Her voice came out a pitch too high.


    ¡°Details, Lulu. Details.¡± Rani locked gazes with Lulu, the maid was of course incapable of unlatching hers. ¡°I need more details.¡±


    ¡°Well...¡± She paused for a moment to search for the words. ¡°I am not exactly qualified to judge a scribe¡¯s job, but Scribe Aloe is quite effective and efficient. Not only did she quickly put to work her subordinate scribe, but she worked in tandem with them in harmony. That is not something I would expect from a newbie like I heard she was. She has been so effective, in fact, that she does not have any more work to do.¡±


    A good master would break a tear upon hearing such heartwarming words coming from their maid. Aloe, on the other hand... You moron! She was mentally pulling her hair. Why had you to say that? She¡¯ll now dump more work on me! Aarghhhhh!


    Let¡¯s say she didn¡¯t enjoy the prospect.


    ¡°That¡¯s quite interesting to hear...¡± Rani caressed her cheeks, vaguely hiding the contours of her mouth. Her eyes focused on Aloe.


    She knows. The scribe wanted to sigh but did her best to hold off the urge. She knows I have underperformed in purpose to do less job. It wasn¡¯t like she hid it, she did do her job; but as the sultanzade¡¯s gaze scried her, it became apparent she had discovered that Aloe was slowing her pace to shove as much work as possible away from her. The emir didn¡¯t comment on it, in a way, she seemed amused by the idea with that look of hers.


    ¡°I might need to revise the scribe¡¯s workloads, especially whilst I am still searching for a new noble scribe, but your opinion on Aloe¡¯s work is quite interesting, Lulu.¡±


    Rani was unreadable. Sometimes Aloe managed to get a snippet into the woman¡¯s mind, but most of the time, she was an impenetrable fortress. Most people were, but there was always a backdoor to be exploited. Aloe wished to find Rani¡¯s, then again, the sultanzade had already hers.


    ¡°How about the own scribe¡¯s opinion?¡± The emir turned to face her. ¡°How would you grade your new job so far, Aloe?¡±


    This is a trap. Aloe didn¡¯t know where the trap was or what it was, but she knew there was one. She may not be the best herbalist out there ¨C if she could even be considered that ¨C but she could recognize a poisonous flower when she saw one.


    ¡°This is my first job, so I may not give the most educated opinion,¡± Aloe stated humbly. Always undermine yourself before people of power. Her father had said that once.


    ¡°No matter,¡± Rani responded. ¡°Just say whatever you feel like.¡±


    This is not a trap. The scribe realized. This is a nince-damned execution!


    ¡°I...¡± Dunes. She thought she had her stutter under control, but Rani always got the best of her. ¡°Considering the jobs of both my parents and my own education, there has been enough overlap that I have not found myself in any difficulties. I would not dare to say I am good enough to have gone through a ride without bumps, but I have accommodated myself well to the position.¡± Something more, appeal to her power. ¡°The luxuries provided by the palace have been superb and helpful on the procedure.¡±


    ¡°Hmm~¡± Rani grunted melodiously in affirmation. Or so Aloe would like to believe.


    The sultanzade approached her desk, her steps were silent yet potent. The scribe¡¯s heart almost jumped out of her chest. Aloe didn¡¯t know if to close her eyes, waiting for a possible strike, or keep looking.


    The sways of... her trinkets forced her to keep looking.


    ¡°Is this the handmade vegetal ink I have heard about?¡± Rani asked out of nowhere.


    ¡°Ehm... yes?¡± Aloe responded with uncertainty, too stunned by the sultanzade¡¯s actions to react appropriately.


    Following the impromptu pattern, the emir extended her finger and put it inside the ink flask. Aloe was too confused to comment on it. The next action didn¡¯t help with that.


    Rani soaked her finger on the flask thoroughly, circling around the round opening slowly. It was a simple motion, but Aloe couldn¡¯t deny there was something... sexual about it as the finger rocked up and down into the flask.


    Then the emir put her ink-soaked finger on the mouth.


    Aloe skipped a heartbeat at the image.


    She wrapped her pink tongue around the digit and drank greedily, her throat heaving up and down in a swallowing motion.


    Aloe skipped more than a heartbeat at the image.


    ¡°Hmm...¡± Rani grunted looking dissatisfied. ¡°When I heard about vegetal ink, I thought it could be a good ingredient, but I would not put this on any plate.¡± The emir said as if her whole salacious charade hadn¡¯t happened.


    ¡°Uh...¡± Aloe didn¡¯t know what to say. She was truly and utterly at a loss of words.


    The sultanzade left her desk and walked toward the office¡¯s door, and as her hand lay on the doorknob, she talked again.


    ¡°Three days, next week.¡± And then left the room.


    Aloe puffed all the air out of her lungs once the emir¡¯s steps no longer could be heard. She had held her breath since the woman had put her finger on the flask. Even in her astonishment, she had understood her departing message.


    She had gotten the clearance. However, she didn¡¯t know how to feel about it...

 Book 2: 74. Work

    The promised week quickly passed by. Whilst mentally demanding, the position of the scribe of commoners wasn¡¯t a difficult job. Aloe¡¯s memory was constantly being challenged as she was forced to remember the names of multiple individuals related to the city¡¯s upkeep and management, plus her own management of districts, cities, and villages. There were a lot of scribes to help her besides her personal scribes, so the end problem lay in its difficulty rather than quantity.


    Thankfully, she wouldn¡¯t have to deal with that the next three days.


    ¡°Alright!¡± Aloe stretched her arms as she jumped out of her office¡¯s armchair. ¡°Lulu, I¡¯m going to go to sleep early, I want you to wake me up tomorrow early.¡±


    ¡°As you wish, Aloe.¡± The maid responded obediently.


    <hr>


    As promised, Lulu woke her up the next day even before the sun came out.


    ¡°Won¡¯t you need luggage and provisions for the journey?¡± She asked with a hint of worry.


    ¡°Fret not,¡± Aloe responded while changing into the original dress she brought to the palace. ¡°I have everything I need for these few days at my home, and I¡¯m not going to need much luggage. There¡¯s food already in the greenhouse, so I guess I¡¯ll just go lightweight.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s foolish to trek the desert without appropriate amounts of food and water.¡± The maid said sensibly.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll bring something at least. Just in case there¡¯s a sandstorm or something.¡±


    ¡°Wise.¡± Lulu bowed. ¡°Then I bid you farewell.¡±


    ¡°You are so dramatic, Lulu.¡± A chuckle escaped Aloe¡¯s mouth. ¡°See you in three days.¡±


    <hr>


    The activity on the bazaar¡¯s streets was astonishing. Even at this time of the day, life unraveled with hasty breaths and long strides. First light loomed on the horizon as Aloe made it home. Not only she had to save up as much time as possible because she only had three days, which had to include the round trip, but she also needed to prepare her travel equipment.


    First things first, she donned her desert garb. She wouldn¡¯t need much baggage, neither provisions nor clothing, so a satchel was more than enough for her needs. This would also mean that her ride would need to carry less weight. Aloe filled three waterskins and left home.


    Soon enough, she found herself in the stables where she met with the despicable stable master. She didn¡¯t allow him to utter a single word, just shoving the necessary drupnars on his face for the maintenance payment.


    The man counted the copper coins and grunted, then he made a motion with his hand indicating Aloe to follow him. Funnily enough, the first one to speak wasn¡¯t even human.


    ¡°Wrooo!¡± Fikali grunted excitedly as they approached, somehow having sensed her.


    ¡°Hello, girl!¡± Aloe talked with a silly voice, the one people used for babies or pets. ¡°How have you been?¡±


    ¡°Wrooo!¡± The dweller tackled the woman with expectation.


    Thankfully for the petite scribe, Fikali was gentle, more of a weak headbutt than a tackle of an animal with the weight of a dromedary.


    ¡°I also missed you!¡± She patted the dweller¡¯s head vigorously. Even though it had only been a few weeks, she had truly missed the company of the dweller after being permanently around her on the oasis. ¡°Now, stay still and allow the man to put you in the saddle. We are pressed for time and we gotta go as fast as we can. Got that?¡±


    ¡°Hroo!¡± Fikali affirmed, swaying her snoot up and down vigorously.


    Obediently, the dweller stayed in place and allowed the man to put his filthy hands on him. Aloe wasn¡¯t being derogative here ¨C at least not totally ¨C the stable master did have his hands covered in soot.


    In less than five minutes, Aloe and Fikali were already in the city gates. The guards ¨C who were severely sleepy as their night shift had yet not ended ¨C did not stop them, allowing them to pass without a question.


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    Once the coarse sandstone ended and the desert opened up, Aloe mounted Fikali and they continued to go on a slow-ish pace for a quarter of an hour.


    ¡°Here should be okay,¡± Aloe commented, her neck turned back to look at the minuscule Sadina behind them. ¡°Fikali, stop.¡±


    ¡°Wro,¡± Fikali grunted shortly, obeying the woman without making a fuss.


    After the dweller stopped, Aloe dismounted her and stretched her limbs. However, that wasn¡¯t the reason why she had stopped.


    ¡°Alright Fikali, do you remember how I told you that we needed to go fast?¡±


    ¡°Hroo!¡± The dweller affirmed, unable to understand the concept of rhetorical questions.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to try something. Something to make you faster, I don¡¯t know if it will work, it¡¯s the first time I¡¯m trying it, but it should ¨C in theory ¨C make you faster. Though it may hurt a bit, I¡¯m not sure. You got that, Fikali?¡±


    ¡°Wro.¡±


    ¡°Let me rephrase it.¡± Aloe sighed. ¡°Are you fine with me doing things to your body?¡±


    ¡°Wro!¡± The dweller reiterated in agreement.


    ¡°Okay... I expected a bit more doubt, but if you are so sure... then let¡¯s get to it.¡±


    Aloe took a deep breath, her hands on her heart. As she had told her, this was her first time doing this, she doubted if it would even work, but if it did...


    ¡°Ready?¡± The woman knelt on the ground and pressed her hand against the dweller¡¯s torso.


    Fikali grunted with her mouth closed in affirmation, sounding less sure than before as Aloe¡¯s nervousness carried over to her.


    ¡°Let¡¯s hope it works,¡± Aloe muttered to herself.


    The woman took a deep breath, her hand pressuring on the pelt, and exhaled. The previously latent vitality on her body exploded as it flowed directly into her hand. A wall impeded the vitality from flowing outward. I expected that much. It was a different wall from everything she had seen before. Infusion presented resistance, whilst Evolution was greedy, and internal infusion was more of a switch that was difficult to push but easy to pull.


    Aloe instinctively understood it.


    What stopped her was a wall of sapience.


    It wasn¡¯t like plant Infusion where the plant didn¡¯t actively resist ¨C such a case was more of the innate resistance of the materials ¨C but here that was what the dweller was doing. She was pushing against her. Not only her latent vitality, but also her consciousness.


    ¡°Relax...¡± Aloe whispered with her eyes closed. She could feel it, Fikali had understood that she was going to do something to her, but she hadn¡¯t comprehended that it meant not putting resistance.


    ¡°Huo...¡± Fikali complied in a half-whimper.


    ¡°Does it hurt?¡± The woman asked calmly.


    ¡°Hro.¡± The dweller negated, her body still.


    ¡°Nice.¡± Aloe smiled and continued pushing her vitality.


    It took a bit for her vitality to actually go through as first Fikali had to relax, but once she made it inside, Aloe found it way easier to manipulate her vitality. What she was doing right now was the perfect mixture of plant Infusion and internal infusion. She redirected the flow of Fikali¡¯s vitality but also poured her own.


    A third down. Aloe mumbled as she continued to work on Fikali¡¯s flow. This was the most complex infusion she had done; it was like infusing a plant and herself at the same time.


    She placed her other hand on the dweller¡¯s stomach as she focused on the flowing vitality. One controls mine, the other hers. That was what she told herself, a solid image helped her a lot with her first infusions and evolutions.


    The left poured vitality in, draining her deposit in order to infuse the dweller. The right one controlled the existing vitality, shifting the default infusion into another one.


    Doing it in the middle of the desert wasn¡¯t the most comfortable thing, the sun was already starting to heat the dunes, but there wasn¡¯t a better option. If she was right, the moment she finished, Fikali would raise a lot of questions if someone saw her.


    Two-thirds down. Aloe was ready for this, she reached into her satchel and took one of her many Cure Grass pellets. She let it rest on her tongue. Nine-tenths down. Now.


    She swallowed.


    Instantly her stomach and throat burned with life, and less than a third of her vitality recovered. I¡¯m outgrowing the vitality pills... Her expression soured as she readied another pellet.


    ¡°Wro...?¡± Fikali grunted weakly in confusion.


    ¡°Shh, don¡¯t worry, everything will be fine.¡± She didn¡¯t say that just to comfort the dweller, judging by the flow of vitality, she truly believed it. In any case, she told that to comfort herself.


    Second down. Aloe shifted the vitality with her right hand to accommodate for the incoming vitality.


    Third down. The amount of vitality inside the dweller staggered for a moment, she contained enough vitality inside to infuse a field of potatoes. An actual farmland-sized one.


    Fourth down. The woman took a breath as the vitality inside the monster stabilized, no longer taking vitality as she herself reached her low tenths. It only remained to put the flow correctly on the dweller.


    She focused her both hands on the tasks.


    The default flow of any living being was a potent yet slow flow; a filled river, a burning candle. She now wanted an explosion; a rapid stream, a fanned flame.


    And she did.


    It worked.


    Air left her lungs, sweat trickled down her back.


    ¡°Wroo!¡± Fikali grunted at her with excitement.


    And rushed flying forward.


    She had done it.


    She had infused another sapient living being with ¡®speed¡¯.

 Book 2: 75. Discovery

    Aloe felt exhausted, that was what using up twice one¡¯s maximum vitality did to a girl. But this wasn¡¯t her first time, far from it, so instead of passing out, she was just a bit tired. Unfortunately for her, she didn¡¯t have time to rest.


    ¡°Fikali!¡± The scribe shouted at the blitzing dweller. ¡°I know you are excited but come right here! I gave you ¡®speed¡¯ for something!¡±


    ¡°WROO!¡± Fikali roared with the full force of the Ydazi war machine. But she was a good girl and promptly came back to her.


    Albeit with a bit of sand following her.


    A bit too much sand.


    ¡°Bah!¡± Aloe coughed and dusted the sand away, her whole body covered in a thin layer of dust. ¡°Thanks for that.¡±


    ¡°Hro.¡±


    ¡°I... I don¡¯t know if you are sorry or smug about it.¡±


    ¡°Hro!¡±


    ¡°Smug it is.¡± The woman sighed and took a gulp out of her waterskin. ¡°Now wait a moment, I also have to infuse myself.¡±


    Last time she rode out of Sadina, she burned her hands off from the abrasion of the reins; and whilst that was because she was in a bad state of mind, Aloe didn¡¯t want to repeat that. First, she donned her farming gloves, which she barely used for actual farming, but they were perfect for this scenario.


    Gloves weren¡¯t enough, though. Riding a dweller took a toll on the whole body, her calves always killed her every time the journey ended, so the next step was to infuse herself with ¡®toughness¡¯.


    Unlike with Fikali¡¯s infusion, she had way more control over her own vitality. And besides, she was more used to ¡®toughness¡¯ than ¡®speed¡¯, meaning she was way faster with the change of flow.


    When it first took minutes to turn her skin into something as tough as bark, now it only took seconds.


    ¡°Done!¡± Aloe stretched her arms, already feeling the increased rigidity of her skin. The scribe strode over the dweller and lowered her bottom on the saddle, intertwining her protected hands with the reins. Once she was readied, she shouted. ¡°Go!¡±


    And all hell broke loose.


    The sudden acceleration took a toll on her body. In the first instants, her lower body moved at a greater pace than her upper body. The motion disoriented her, but it soon became clear that if she hadn¡¯t had ¡®toughness¡¯ active, the whiplash may have been fatal.


    Once the dread of the unnervingly trivial possible death faded, Aloe was faced with the strong winds. Their speed was monumental. I doubt anyone has moved this fast before! She thought as it was quite literally impossible to talk. It was difficult to even keep her eyes open as they instantly dried. Well, any non-imperial. I guess. Considering how much Naila mastered ¡®speed¡¯, Aloe was scared of how older sultanzade could move.


    Is Rani even faster? The thought alone made her skip a heartbeat. She swayed her head, dispelling the idea. It¡¯s not the time to think about that.


    Fikali kept moving at vertiginous speeds, and as Aloe held to the reins for her dear life, she didn¡¯t have much time to think. She opened her eyes from time to time to see where they were, but the wind didn¡¯t allow her for much. And turning her head around was out of the question as she had trouble even staying mounted. At least the reins won¡¯t sear my skin this time around. Not only did the gloves protect her hands, but ¡®toughness¡¯ helped her too. And it wasn¡¯t limited to her hands, she appreciated more the protection that the infusion brought to her buttocks. The ride was far from without its bumps after all.


    The trek seemed eternal as she had her eyes closed, but then out of nowhere, the dweller¡¯s speed decreased.


    ¡°Is something wrong, Fikali?¡± Aloe opened her eyes and looked at the dweller. The monster was panting. ¡°Stop, stop!¡± The woman ordered, pulling on the reins with all the force she could muster.


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    Fikali reduced her speed significantly and gradually came to a halt. Aloe dismounted her and walked in front of the dweller, putting a hand on her face.


    ¡°What happened?¡± She asked with worry in her voice.


    ¡°Huo...¡± Fikali grunted, but her voice was weak, almost like a whimper.


    ¡°Are you hurt? Feeling unwell?¡± This was the first time she was dealing with infusing a moving living being, so she couldn¡¯t be sure if she had done something wrong. And that worried her.


    ¡°Hro...¡± The dweller denied with a sway of her head.


    ¡°How about a bit of water?¡± Aloe offered and Fikali responded with a weak nod.


    The human took a waterskin out of the saddle and gestured the dweller to open her mouth. Fikali opened her mouth and Aloe slowly trickled the contents of the waterskin inside, fearing the old dweller may choke on it. The monster greedily took the water, her throat making power sounds. In no time, the water on the waterskin was gone.


    ¡°Better?¡± Aloe asked.


    ¡°Huo.¡± Fikali¡¯s voice was still weak, but it no longer dragged on like a whimper.


    ¡°How about a rest? Should we take fifteen?¡± Fikali didn¡¯t answer verbally, instead choosing to close her eyes and lay the underside of her head on the sand. ¡°Rest well.¡±


    Has ¡®speed¡¯ been too much for her? A wrong reaction because of foreign vitality? Maybe she was just dehydrated? Aloe kept asking herself questions, wondering what the cause of Fikali¡¯s malady was, but unfortunately, the dweller couldn¡¯t answer her. Nor the answers would come to her.


    Aloe stood up and walked away from Fikali, taking this rest to stretch her legs.


    ¡°Hmm...¡± She grunted in ponderation. ¡°It¡¯s all sand, but this spot looks familiar. I guess we are halfway done, and the sun...¡± She looked up to the sky, the star barely risen on the horizon. ¡°We have been moving for only an hour or so... This is a really good pace. But I worry about Fikali. If this always is going to happen, then it doesn''t matter if I can make it to the oasis in two hours or three. Last thing I want is driving her to...¡±


    Aloe refrained from speaking any further. There had been too much death in her life recently to speak about it. She gritted her teeth and rubbed her eyes.


    ¡°Something entered my eyes, dunes...¡± Or more exactly, something got out.


    Once she had calmed down, Aloe took a sip from her waterskin and walked back to Fikali.


    ¡°How are you doing, girl?¡±


    ¡°Wroo!¡± She responded excitedly.


    ¡°Woah!¡± The human was taken aback by the monster''s enthusiasm. ¡°That rest did wonders on you, huh? Let¡¯s get going then.¡±


    Aloe hopped on Fikali and they rode into the desert, though this time Aloe made sure Fikali took some rest. This made the journey significantly longer, but when they arrived at the oasis, that didn¡¯t really matter.


    ¡°Yup,¡± Aloe said with her eyes fixated on the sky. ¡°That¡¯s about four hours of travel. I think we have hit the sweet spot of traveling, Fikali. We can make the round trip in a single day and have time to spare!¡±


    ¡°Hroo!¡± The dweller responded with enthusiasm, even if Aloe doubted she understood what she had meant by that.


    ¡°Anyhow, we cannot forget to take rests.¡± She talked whilst removing the meager luggage mounted on the saddle. ¡°¡®Speed¡¯ is taxing on the body, not only does it tire you, but it also seems to dehydrate you. Though I blame that on the desert. We¡¯ll have to run tests someday, don¡¯t you think.¡±


    ¡°Wroo!¡± Fikali nodded in agreement.


    ¡°For now, you are free. Drink, eat grass, sleep...¡±


    ¡°Wroooo!¡± The dweller''s cries of enthusiasm echoed through the oasis valley, her snoot pointing to the heavens.


    ¡°...I don¡¯t care what you do, but we go back in two days.¡±


    ¡°Wro.¡± Then she responded with less energy.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry we can only be three days out, but that¡¯s how life it is. I¡¯ll try to make it better for you in Sadina, but I don¡¯t promise anything.¡±


    Fikali answered with one of her iconic grunts and beelined for the oasis. Dwellers may survive days without water, but she looked like she hadn¡¯t had a drop for weeks.


    ¡°Now,¡± Aloe sighed once she was alone. ¡°What should I do now?¡±


    Her first instinct was to carry all the luggage back to the shack and change into comfier clothes. Her garb was quite comfortable for being an attire meant for desert traveling, but an open dress suited her far better.


    ¡°Ah~¡± Aloe groaned in pleasure as the dry air grazed her exposed skin. She stretched her arms in delight. ¡°I really want to check on the greenhouse to see if the plants have grown, but dunes, I need to sit down for a minute. I guess I¡¯ll prepare, the veritas leaves for the moment.¡±


    There was no reason to use Aloe Veritas leaves on grown plants, well, not until recently. Seeing the current infusion on plants was useful, but with her new increased understanding of external vitality flows thanks to Fikali¡¯s infusion, she doubted it was as useful as it once had been. She just wanted to check if her ¡®speed¡¯ infusion had worked on Fikali rather than checking the plants¡¯ status.


    ¡°Hmm?¡± Aloe raised her eyebrow as she fidgeted the leaves in the jar. ¡°Why is this leaf used?¡±


    She reused her leaves from the ink extraction, so a drop might have fallen somewhere in the process. She sighed as she put the big leaf on the desk to read it, annoyed at having one leave wasted.


    The text on the natural parchment, however, wasn¡¯t anything she had expected.


    Name: Rani-al-Sadina


    Species: Sultanzade


    Description: An evolved member of the human species, a species known for their ingenuity, high adaptive capabilities, Nurture affinity, and societal structure.

 Book 2: 76. Fake

    ¡°Uh...¡± Aloe didn¡¯t know what to make out of the leaf. ¡°Rani... She¡¯s... not human?¡± Air cycled in and out of her mouth in a fast motion. Her head turned dizzy.


    She was hyperventilating.


    A myriad of voices whispered in her mind. Some asked how, others reaffirmed themselves saying such a person couldn¡¯t be human, then others were plainly terrified. But there was one voice that overshadowed every other.


    ¡°Do they know Evolution?¡±


    It was a voice of fear. A voice of confusion. A voice of despair.


    ¡°No...¡± Evolution was the only thing that made her different, the only thing that made her carry forward. The thing that was conferred to her by a mostly unknown yet unequivocally grandfather. The thing that... allowed her to distract herself. ¡°I...¡±


    She didn¡¯t know what to do if Evolution wasn¡¯t her secret. That it was something the imperials long possessed. It shouldn¡¯t have affected her as much as it did, she knew it, yet as she sat on the chair, her body slumped down without any strength.


    The imperials knew some vital arts, she had known that since the beginning, but not Evolution. Evolution was hers.


    Aloe didn¡¯t know why, but she downed a Cure Grass pellet. The motion was meaningless, a waste as she wouldn¡¯t recover any vitality from it, but it calmed her down. And that was all she needed.


    ¡°I...¡± It was hard to come up with words. ¡°I cannot talk about this with anyone...¡±


    Hardly a revelation, she had no one to speak with about the vital arts. If the imperials were not human... she couldn¡¯t do anything about it.


    ¡°But... to evolve a plant it needs to be a seed, and Karaim theorized that was also the case with animals...¡± She distracted herself with other questions. ¡°So how have they evolved? Someone has had to evolve every imperial when...¡±


    The answer was so obvious that she didn¡¯t have to speak it.


    She shoved that matter in the corners of her mind. Regardless of what she did, she would get closure soon.


    Her current status was too scatterbrained for her liking, so Aloe doubled down on her lack of concentration. If I have to be a scatterbrain naturally, I prefer to be it willingly. She prepared herself a tea of Na¡¯mul Ter¡¯nar leaves. The infusion difficulted her concentration and acted as a soothing agent, just exactly what she wanted.


    Aloe rested on the house¡¯s entrance, sitting on the sandstone step taking a sip every few seconds. She didn¡¯t know how much time she had been there, but her tea had grown cold and she could see Fikali sleeping under a palm tree from her position. If she could see herself, Aloe would see a pair of dilated irises.


    ¡°Enough rest.¡± Aloe groaned as she stood up. ¡°The clock is ticking and there¡¯s a lot of things to do.¡±


    Her first objective was, of course, the greenhouse.


    Aloe walked to the glass house and warily unlatched the door, a blade of grass falling with the movement.


    ¡°Alright, no one seems to have entered...¡± It was mainly paranoia speaking, but Aloe didn¡¯t want anyone to discover the plants she had in the greenhouse. Even though there were a handful of Flourishing Springs spread across the oasis. ¡°That¡¯s goo...¡±


    Her words died as she was struck by the color of the greenhouse. She had expected some of the newly planted evolved plants to grow, but...


    ¡°All of them?¡± She mussed awestruck.


    The woman pranced forward, almost scarily. The description of the Blossomflame flared back into her consciousness. It can burn ¡®enemies¡¯...


    Her eyes were focused on the vibrant red flower because of that. She couldn¡¯t know which plant was which, but the warm color was a dead giveaway. Well, or she was focusing on the Blossomflame. That all changed when she shot a glance at the neighboring parterre.


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    ¡°Wait...¡± That parterre was supposed to be empty except for the newly evolved plants she had seeded. ¡°Wait a moment...¡± There only it was supposed to be the Nature¡¯s Bounty and the Chlorotrophy, plus the Flourishing Spring to water them. ¡°Why in the hells there are two nince-damned springs?¡±


    Aloe rubbed her eyes, fearing the ter¡¯nar tea had made her hallucinate a bit too hard. But no. There were, in fact, two Flourishing Springs in that parterre.


    ¡°Uhm...¡± Aloe circled around the Flourishing Springs, mostly ignoring the sapling next to them. ¡°What¡¯s happening here?¡± She looked at their bowls of water. ¡°One has an open bowl, I did that, but the other one is just accumulating water...¡±


    She walked backward, not taking her eyes away from the shadow copy of the Flourishing Spring, and approached the Aloe Veritas. She could have grabbed the leaves already on the jar back at the house, but the whole sultanzade revelation made foresight impossible. Plus her high from the tea. That also influenced a bit.


    Aloe cut two Aloe Veritas leaves. She was careful to not let a single drop of ink either touch her or another plant and made it back to the parterre.


    ¡°Alright, first you.¡± She rubbed the tip of the spring at the center with thick ink. ¡°You should be the real Flourishing Spring.¡±


    The recently cut and bleeding leaf began shifting, the surface turning nonsense into coherent information.


    Species: Flourishing Spring


    Sobriquet: Eversource


    Description: An evolved member of the Nigella Sativa species, a species known for its ability to survive with mana alone and sprout streams of water.


    Alignment: Life, Arcane


    Infusion: Accelerated Growth


    ¡°So far so good...¡± She dropped the leaf on her right. ¡°Now for you.¡± Aloe drenched the second spring with the other leaf. The parchment surface creating order out of chaos.


    Species: Pilgrim of Mutations


    Sobriquet: Chlorotrophy


    Description: An evolved member of the Fabaceae family, a species known for its ability to change into its surroundings or unrelated flora.


    Alignment: Life, Chaos


    Infusion: Accelerated Growth


    ¡°I knew it...¡± The words silently flew out of her mouth. ¡°This plant truly changes into its surroundings...¡± Even though she cultivated magical plants here, it was difficult to understand it. ¡°How can a totally different plant, being evolved from a totally different plant, transform into a totally different plant? Totally different?¡±


    Aloe blinked thrice ¨C at unequal speeds between each eyelid ¨C and blamed her grammatical lapse on the ter¡¯nar tea.


    ¡°I... I¡¯ll never cease to be surprised by these plants.¡± Aloe sighed in disbelief. ¡°So how does it work? Does it change constantly or is it a fixed change? Once has it become a different plant does it stay that way? And is it a perfect copy?¡±


    Discovering new plants always did that to her, asking questions that she probably wouldn''t get an outright answer, or never. It was mildly stressful to have that many doubts, but also entertaining. The sense of discovery was one of liberating dread.


    ¡°I have ¡®toughness¡¯ on so... taste test?¡±


    Aloe knelt and put her hands on the bowl of the fake Flourishing Spring, filling her hands with water. She brought her hands to her mouth, not before losing most of the water on the way there. In a mixture of dread and expectation, Aloe drank the mysterious water.


    ¡°Hm.¡± She grunted. ¡°Yup, tastes exactly like Flourishing Spring water. I don¡¯t know if that¡¯s good or bad...¡± She wanted to run more experiments first but the evolved plants in the other parterre called for her. ¡°Mental note, transplant the Chlorotrophy elsewhere to check if it does change into another plant.¡±


    If that was indeed the case, then... Well, it didn¡¯t have many uses. Why would one want to duplicate a plant instead of growing a second...


    ¡°Wait...¡± An idea blossomed in her mind. ¡°Can it copy trees?¡± Aloe gazed at the adaptive plant with predatory eyes. ¡°A grown tree? A tree that takes years to grow?¡±


    The sheer absurdity of the question yet the undeniable advantages that it implied made her forget about everything else.


    ¡°Dunes...¡± Aloe salivated with possibilities. ¡°I have to try it.¡± She added with determination.


    It seemed appropriate to hold her desire to check on the newly evolved plants to do some manual labor instead. She had been sitting around for more than an hour on her limited time because she couldn''t cope with not being unique, after all. An appropriate punishment.


    Aloe grabbed a shovel and an empty potato sack ¨C not hers, but an old one from Karaim ¨C and uprooted the Chlorotrophy. She wasn¡¯t savage enough to uproot the flower with a shovel, instead clearing the space with her hands and then pulling the butt of the plant up with the shovel.


    ¡°This is the real one, right?¡± She asked with sudden anxiety. ¡°Right?¡±


    She hoped so, she had the idea that it was the right one, but both plants were identical, making her doubt.


    ¡°I...¡± The woman exhaled. ¡°I can uproot it again if not, I guess.¡±


    The oasis was open, and every spot seemed as good as any other, so selected a spot between a coconut and a date palm tree to plant the Chlorotrophy. With enough distance for a possible future tree to grow, of course.


    She dropped the sack on the ground and dug a hole big enough for the fake Flourishing Spring. Aloe removed the plant from the sack ¨C she didn¡¯t have many spare sacks lying around ¨C and patted the earth on the foot of the Chlorotrophy.


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s done.¡± She wiped a bead of sweat with her forearm. ¡°You better meet my expectations, have you heard me?¡±


    The evolved plant made no motion how having done so.


    Aloe stretched her arms, grunted, sighed, and finally cleaned her dirty hand in the oasis. She had more plants to check.

 Book 2: 77. Healing

    After having washed her hands on the oasis, Aloe returned to the greenhouse, her body tumbling in a mixture of giddiness and worry.


    ¡°Please don¡¯t catch fire. Please don¡¯t catch fire.¡± She muttered in a mantra, her mind set on the Blossomflame.


    Foresight wasn¡¯t exactly her strong suit, but after the effects of the ter¡¯nar tea dissipated from her body, she mustered enough brain power to fill an amphora with water and have it at hand. Of course, she hadn¡¯t gathered enough brain power to realize that a blanket was better than water to deal with localized fires.


    Step by step, Aloe approached the red flower, tunnel vision making her ignore the rest of the parterre. Please don¡¯t catch fire. She continued on with her thoughts; too scared words may incite the evolved plant.


    ¡°Uhh...¡± She exhaled lightly, her hand drawing close to the Blossomflame.


    She didn¡¯t know why but she believed she had to touch it. In her mind, if touching the plant didn¡¯t make it summon flames, then everything else would be fair game. What she feared wasn¡¯t getting burned. With ¡®toughness¡¯ she was way tougher than a normal person, and with her increased vitality, she had reasons to believe that no flames could hurt her badly. Most deaths by fires were actually caused by bad air and smoke rather than flames. No, what Aloe feared was that the Blossomflame burned the greenhouse down.


    Once started, she doubted she could stop a fire and, in a blink, she could lose everything. The chance of repair and recovering minimal.


    Was it all paranoia? Perhaps. But a healthy dose was called foresight. Or anxiety.


    But anxiety wasn¡¯t healthy.


    I¡¯m rambling. Aloe realized. Focus. She told herself. Inhale, exhale. Aloe gulped saliva down and centered herself.


    She touched the orange-red petals of the Blossomflame.


    And...


    Nothing caught on fire.


    ¡°Phew...¡± Aloe exhaled enough air to fill an amphora and wiped her forehead. ¡°I was really scared for a moment.¡±


    Then the flames blossomed.


    ¡°Ah!¡± The woman fell on her butt as embers sprouted from the pistils of the flower.


    And as soon as they appeared, the embers disappeared. Aloe waited for a moment on the ground, her hands pressed against the soil, hoping for the worst. But blessed her fortune be, normality reigned supreme.


    ¡°Why did I have to talk...?¡± Aloe sighed and groaned her way up.


    Aloe squatted, hands resting on her knees as she attentively observed the Blossomflame. No matter how many deathly stares she gave to the flower, no more flames came out.


    Warily, Aloe touched it again. She touched a petal with a finger and instantly removed it. After nothing happened, she went with a longer test and caressed the petal.


    ¡°So far so...¡± Aloe waited for something to happen, but nothing did. ¡°...good. Huh, I was almost sure it would interrupt me. I guess I¡¯m really paranoid.¡±


    For a plant, the Blossomflame¡¯s petal was soft. It even felt more so when she caressed it with the back of her hand instead of her fingers. The red petals were soft as velvet, yet she highly doubted she could use that quality for something useful.


    ¡°It¡¯s also warm.¡± Aloe was almost tempted to bring her face to the petals to taste that warmth with her cheeks, but she knew better than to do that. ¡°Cozy warm. I like it.¡±


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    Cold countries could take advantage of the innate warmth, but even winter nights were survivable without a fire in Ydaz. Cold, yes, but nothing a blanket couldn¡¯t solve.


    ¡°I wonder about the fire...¡± She mumbled as she circled her finger around a petal. ¡°I don¡¯t remember the exact words, but the veritas said something about healing allies and setting fire to enemies. Considering it didn¡¯t set me ablaze....¡±


    Aloe took her pocketknife out and cut herself.


    She failed to scratch her skin.


    ¡°¡¯Toughness¡¯, right.¡± She clicked her tongue.


    Now, she could have turned off her internal infusion, but considering how that was the only reason why she felt this comfortable around the Blossomflame, she opted instead to constantly cut herself for five straight minutes to draw blood. She mainly blamed the reduced strength from the shifting of physical attributes rather than blessing the increased toughness of her body. Pessimism at its finest.


    ¡°Ugh, finally.¡± This was, perhaps, the first time in history that someone cutting themselves was bored instead of in pain.


    Aloe pressed on the cut to make the blood pour out a bit, mostly to see that it was a genuine cut and not just irritated skin.


    ¡°Alright, Blossomflame. Heal me! Somehow.¡± Aloe¡¯s petition was met with silence. She waited and waited, thrashing around her barely bleeding finger. ¡°Come on, plant! Do your magic!¡±


    Still nothing.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what I expected.¡± Aloe sighed. ¡°How about...¡±


    And she touched the Blossomflame.


    The change was instantly recognizable. The petals began heating up, their mild warmth transforming into the heat of the summer desert, and its pistils flared up.


    ¡°Woah!¡± She almost removed her finger by instinct, her mind didn¡¯t like the fire enclosing her. But she pressed on. If she was about to get burned, then so be it. It couldn¡¯t be bad thanks to her internal infusion.


    From the heart of the Blossomflame, embers spurted, almost like they were prodding her. It itches. Aloe thought as the fire raged further on, what was measly embers increasing into true flames. She stopped breathing out of shock, but she kept her finger still. Aloe closed her eyes, feeling the fire enveloping her digit.


    It¡¯s not hot. She realized. Only warmth... The fire felt imaginary as if everything was a product of her mind. Something is happening... the itch... is going away?


    Aloe opened her eyes revealing meager flames, akin to that of a candle, enveloping her finger. She slowly rotated the hurt digit, slowly revealing what should have been the bloody scratch. What it should. Instead, there was only a pink patch of skin, and it was slowly regaining its color.


    ¡°Holy...¡± Aloe lost all her words. There was no vocabulary right enough to describe her thoughts. ¡°I... dunes...¡±


    She only knew one thing. This plant was useful.


    It didn¡¯t matter if it could only heal cuts, even though she had the suspicion it could do more, that was more than well enough. The instant healing of small wounds was invaluable.


    ¡°I... we have a winner, that¡¯s for sure.¡± The flames kept caressing her as she spoke, still working on her skin. ¡°Dunes, this may be on the same tier as the Aloe Veritas. I need to test it more.¡±


    Aloe wasn¡¯t exactly enthusiastic about cutting herself, but she was about healing herself. To test the limits of the plant, and maybe her body.


    A few seconds later, the Blossomflame ceased its fire, the flames retreating inside of the plant. Aloe looked at her finger from all angles, and no matter what point of view she tried, she couldn¡¯t see a trace of the wound.


    ¡°This healing... a cut like this would take at least two days to heal, maybe even more, but in two minutes it¡¯s already gone...¡±


    Quick calculations told her that was at least a factor of a thousand. The number was so big that it lost its meaning.


    ¡°More tests,¡± Aloe told herself, her expression steeled. ¡°Don¡¯t get your hopes up yet, Aloe.¡±


    She didn¡¯t want to get more failed ideas like the veritas ink.


    ¡°Though this time I don¡¯t know how I could even market this... A magical plant that heals with fire it¡¯s worlds away from vegetal ink. Too on the nose...¡± Aloe sighed. ¡°Why do I even want to market it? I will have the money soon enough...¡±


    Money was important, if she was successful with an enterprise, Aloe knew she could gain more money in a single month than all her life working as the scribe of commoners, let alone a normal banker.


    No, the reason was more... humane?


    If the Blossomflame could heal more than wounds... the possibilities were endless, maybe she could eradicate sickness from Khaffat. And get rich in the process, of course.


    But the idea of eradicating sickness and wounds from the world was too precious, it felt bad trying to hide it. It should be known.


    ¡°Tests.¡± She told herself that.


    Until she proved the efficacy of the Blossomflame, she wouldn¡¯t get her hopes up. And even if her expectations were met, she wouldn¡¯t reveal the flower¡¯s existence just yet.


    ¡°I need more time... consolidate more power... stay ground...¡± She mumbled as her mind was filled with thoughts.


    There were many obstacles on the horizon and many challenges to overcome. A seed of a dream spurted in her mind.


    A possibility.


    ¡°If I¡¯m going to do this, not even the sultanzade should be able to stop me first...¡±

 Book 2: 78. Itch

    A lot of ideas and half-baked plans had been concocted in Aloe¡¯s brain, but she left them on the back burner for now. These weren¡¯t things she could apply in a single day, maybe not even a year. A whole lot more planning would be needed to even start.


    For now, she returned to the shack, drank a bit of cold tea, and prepared herself a bit before returning to the greenhouse.


    ¡°Alright, two plants remain, don¡¯t they?¡± Aloe looked at the two evolved plants in question.


    One was white and blue; the other was yellow and green.


    She first approached the white one, only because she could recognize its original form.


    ¡°This must be the Moonlight¡¯s Tooth.¡± She guessed, slowly circling around the plant. ¡°It¡¯s just a lion tooth, isn¡¯t it? A big lion tooth,¡± she put her hand on its peak, barely reaching her chest, ¡°but a lion tooth nonetheless. So tell me, do you have anything special?¡±


    That was a rhetorical question as she pulled out her ¡®diary¡¯. It was a great misnomer to call it that, it was mostly an almanac with all the descriptions she had gotten out of the Aloe Veritas. And even calling it an almanac was wrong because it was just a pile of parchments that weren¡¯t even tied together. She shuffled through the papers ¨C of course, written in the characteristic blue ink of the Aloe Veritas ¨C and searched for the Moonlight¡¯s Tooth one.


    ¡°Two characteristics: airborne seeds and innate bioluminescence.¡± Aloe read aloud. ¡°The first one... I mean, lion tooth already does that. Nothing new here. But innate bioluminescence, huh.¡±


    Aloe approached the Moonlight¡¯s Tooth, the plant looked like a scaled-up lion tooth. There was no visible difference besides the size and the fact that the stem¡¯s color was blue. Not an egregious blue, though. Alike the Flourishing Spring, it was a hue green enough that it could pass like a normal, non-magical plant.


    ¡°Yeah, I see no light.¡± The woman said with her eyes practically glued to the white pom-poms. ¡°Is it that weak? Perhaps it only works under the moonlight? That would make sense. Evolution sense... I should test it at night.¡±


    Aloe sighed, her gesture voicing aloud: Yet another useless plant.


    ¡°Lemme try something first.¡± She straightened her back, hands on her hips. ¡°Evolved plants tend to have magical things, and those things are on the description, so... is the ¡®airborne seeds¡¯ part referring to another mystical quality instead of normal flying seeds?¡±


    So the most logical next step was to slap the top of the Moonlight¡¯s Tooth like a cat. Fast and filled with malice.


    The slap wasn¡¯t that strong considering Aloe didn¡¯t intend to harm the plant, plus the fact her strength was diminished from the internal infusion. Be as it may, the seeds started gliding in the air like their unevolved counterparts.


    ¡°Nothing special so...¡± Then she noticed the movement of the seeds. ¡°They aren¡¯t descending...¡±


    Instead of flying around like lion tooth seeds, the Moonlight¡¯s Tooth seeds maintained a constant altitude, moving in a pre-established pattern.


    ¡°They are orbiting the flower.¡± Aloe was amazed by the movements as the seeds glided around the main plant in perfect circles.


    There was a mathematical beauty to it that she could appreciate, no matter how simple the movements may be. A perfect dance of coordinated orbits, a latent synchrony that prevented the seeds from intersecting. Simplicity at its finest.


    ¡°But why?¡± She tilted her head in confusion. ¡°Lion tooth seeds fly around to seed themselves, why would a plant want its seeds to, well... not touch the ground?¡±


    Aloe remained still for a few minutes looking at the dancing seeds. The movements were hypnotic, near enticing. But alas, if the gliding seeds were losing altitude, it wasn¡¯t perceptible by her senses.


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    ¡°Bit of a stretch, but maybe they only leave the plant with moonlight?¡± Aloe made a doubtful grunting noise, already knowing that her theory had no foundation to stand on. ¡°Oh well, I already had to check on the night, so let¡¯s see then if I¡¯m right. And unless the plant glows brightly under moonlight, I guess this is another: beautiful but useless plant. At least they are beautiful...¡±


    The woman sighed, the air leaving her body so hard that she became hunchback and lost a few fingers of height for a moment as if truly deflating.


    ¡°Final one, what was it?¡± Aloe consulted her notes, too lazy and exhausted to think for herself. ¡°Grace¡¯s Exaltation, huh.¡±


    She stopped reading and approached the plant. It was a bit different from the others; it looked more like an herb than a flower. The stem was thick and rigid, similar to that of a sugar cane, but thinner. What intrigued Aloe was the glow.


    Yes, unlike the self-proclaimed bioluminescent plant, the Grace¡¯s Exaltation glowed. It wasn¡¯t powerful, the sun overcame the shine with ease, it was barely brighter than a candle.


    ¡°That has some application, yes.¡± She observed the cane-like formations.


    The glow didn¡¯t just come from the top of the plant, which was bowl-shaped, but from the stem too. From the ground, rising up through the stem ¨C or maybe even trunk ¨C and culminating on the bowl, the Grace¡¯s Exaltation glowed with a yellow hue as if someone had replaced its sap vessels with liquified sun.


    ¡°Talking about liquified sun...¡±


    Some sort of nectar gathered on top of the bowl like in a big drop. The yellow glow made it look delicious, a miniature dim sun. Liquified light.


    ¡°I know I shouldn¡¯t... but...¡± The liquid sun was too enticing to her. She wanted to touch it. ¡°Please, heavens protect me, because I have been born with severe stupidity.¡±


    And she touched the sun.


    ¡°Huh.¡± Aloe pried on the drop with her finger, bobbing it up and down. ¡°It¡¯s like syrup. Gooey and thick. Not even hot.¡±


    She removed the finger, and alike syrup, some remained in her fingernail. She pinched it with the tip of her fingers and once she separated them, the liquified sun stretched like honey would.


    ¡°Hmm... I want to try it. I mean... what could possibly go wrong?¡± Besides agonizing slow death, nothing came to Aloe¡¯s mind, so she took the plunge and licked the gooey glowing syrup. ¡°Hmm~ Sweet!¡±


    Aloe brought her hands to her cheeks, delighting herself in the flavor of the Grace¡¯s Exaltation. She traced her tongue back and forth on her palate, the nectar got stuck in her mouth and refused to be consumed without a bit of help and saliva.


    ¡°Also a bit spicy? Why are you spicy?¡± The woman frowned, mad at the fact her possible substitute for sugar cane resulted in being a spice rather than a source of free sugar. ¡°Hmm, maybe that¡¯s better. An already prepared sauce that is sweet and spicy has a lot of potential. Heavens know my cooking needs a bit of help.¡±


    She continued tasting the sweetness and spiciness in her mouth, slowly caressing every corner of her palate with her tongue. Aloe panted.


    ¡°I like my curry and spices, but I prefer sweet and salty before spicy.¡± She let out a hard exhalation. ¡°Maybe this is a bit too spicy for my liking.¡±


    Her tongue exploded with taste, she couldn¡¯t stop licking her palate and teeth from the taste, but she knew better than to put another finger. This spiciness was already too much for her, a second finger would knock her out. Her breathing accelerated, her eyes watering.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it getting a bit hot here?¡± Aloe fanned herself with her hand. ¡°Maybe I should rest, it¡¯s almost noon and I haven¡¯t had anything to eat and have been mostly riding Fikali...¡±


    She grabbed her old dress by the collar and started thrashing it around to get some air inside.


    ¡°I... I need some water.¡± Aloe rushed to the shack and grabbed one of her waterskins, taking a hearty gulp out of it. ¡°N-not... en-ough...¡±


    Aloe panted more.


    ¡°I... am getting dizzy.¡± She finished the waterskin and grabbed the last one, throwing a bit of the contents on her face to cool down herself a bit. ¡°It¡¯s hot here.¡±


    She continued fanning her dress and sat down on the desk chair, unable to stay on her feet any longer.


    ¡°Dunes, what a hot day...¡± Forgoing breathing from her nostrils, air poured in and out of her mouth. ¡°All this heat is making me sweat...¡±


    Aloe rubbed her nape, which had been covered in a layer of sweat. Stretching her arm as much as she could without getting up from her seat, she grabbed a towel and began drying her body. First her nape, then her arms. Her armpits became swamps, so she dried those too. Her legs started sweating like crazy too. She turned the side of the towel, already being drenched from the previous sweat.


    She started low on her feet and slowly made her way up.


    ¡°Ugh, my body is itching from all the sweat.¡± With one hand she scratched her neck, with the other she dried her legs.


    Slowly, her hands shifted from position to position. Her scratching hand made her way downward to her chest which itched like crazy, and her drying hand made her way upward to her pelvis which was as moist as a river.


    Aloe bit her lip, irritated from all the itching, and put more force into her movements. No matter how much she scratched, her nipples didn¡¯t stop itching. And from all the drying, her pelvis began to itch too. She discarded the towel and started scratching her pelvis. Aloe was careful, knowing better than to be rough around those parts, but all the heat made her dizzy, unable to control her strength and messing with her coordination.


    Before she knew it, she started scratching the itch inside of her body.

 Book 2: 79. Addled

    ¡°Hmm~¡± Aloe bit her lip with all the strength she could muster. ¡°This... itches... are...¡± She panted; words stopped coming from her mouth as she was out of air. ¡°I...¡±


    At some point, she removed her dress. She couldn¡¯t recall when, but it was too drenched and gave her off too much heat. Her body itched like never before. She felt a heat that refused to be satiated, only growing with each moment... with each stroke. Aloe continued panting, the itches refusing to relinquish.


    No matter the spot, no matter how much she tried to satiate the itch, it wasn¡¯t enough. Her palate was crisp with the flavor of spiciness, but the undertone of sweetness was ever-present. As if her whole body was drowning in sweetness.


    Aloe led one hand to her mouth, caressing her tongue in order to alleviate the irritation, as her other hand dug deeper. But the dryness of her mouth was obvious, even in her addled state she could recognize that.


    ¡°I¡¯m... thirsty...¡± She grabbed the kettle on the kitchenette. The tea inside had long grown cold, but she was so dehydrated she would drink muddy water in her current state. ¡°Ugh~¡±


    No matter how awful it was once cold, Aloe groaned in pleasure at the tea, trickles of the liquid pouring out of the corners of her mouth as she shoved it all in one go. However, instead of making it difficult to think and concentrate, the properties of the ter¡¯nar tea brought consciousness to her addled mind.


    From the corner of her eyes, she saw the daylight pouring into the house through the windows, and her eyes latched on the glass. More concretely, in her reflection.


    Reddened cheeks, dilatated irises, hanging jaws, drenched hair, and exposed body.


    All of those characteristics sent a spark directly to her mind. Her misty consciousness, a sea of mist and heat turning into an illuminated pathway.


    Her eyes opened like plates, her gaze refocused, and her visage blushed harder.


    Realization struck true.


    Without thinking twice, Aloe shoved her body on the main door ¨C swinging it wide open ¨C and rushed to the oasis. The hot sand burned the soles of her feet, but she didn¡¯t care. For better or worse, this was not the first time she had run naked in the desert.


    She almost tripped multiple times on her way there, her body moving sluggishly from the lack of water and her mind even more so, as it was bustling with several agents.


    Her gaze was blurry, but she instantly noticed when she made it to the oasis. Hot sand replaced by humid grass. That made her tumble to the ground in surprise, a muted groan of... many things escaping her lips. Aloe stood up with difficulty ¨C almost crawling ¨C and continued forward. Before she realized it, grass gave way to dirt, and dirt to water.


    Aloe almost sank to the bottom of the oasis.


    Cold water caressed her sore body and refreshed her addled mind. What was blurry now became crystal clear.


    Though not as clear as her rapidly dwindling air.


    Aloe grunted; a wrong gesture that pushed water into her mouth and thrashed her arms around pushing her body to the surface.


    ¡°Ugh...¡± She knelt on all fours on the coastline, puking out all the water she had swallowed.


    Her naked chest heaved up and down, sweet air filling her lungs, and collapsed on the muddy dirt; water and dirt caressing her back. She looked up to the heavens, the sun blinding her, for a few minutes. Only she recovered her breath she talked again.


    ¡°What in the name that all is holy is wrong with me?¡± Aloe raised her back out of her lying position, air bustling out of her lungs in a mighty roar. ¡°Oh my... what... what have I done?¡±


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    Aloe now panted from exhaustion rather than suffocation, her awakened mind comprehending the flawed logic that had dictated her previous thoughts as clarity reigned supreme.


    ¡°Ugh...¡± She groaned, grabbing her face in shame. ¡°Aaaaahhh!¡± Her hands muffled the scream, but that didn¡¯t stop the inhabitants of the oasis from noticing the noise, mainly the monster.


    ¡°Wroo?¡± Fikali bellyflopped her way to Aloe and caressed the human¡¯s hands with her snoot.


    Aloe opened her eyes, looking through the slits of her fingers, and sighed. She removed her hands from her visage, one dropping to the ground and the other caressing the side of Fikali¡¯s head.


    ¡°Everything¡¯s alright, girl.¡± Aloe mused tiredly, her hands prodding under the monster¡¯s head. Fikali responded with a cat-like purr, only if a bit more guttural. ¡°It¡¯s just me being stupid.¡±


    ¡°Wro!¡± The dweller grunted in agreement, making Aloe frown.


    ¡°Why are you so committed to that? What did you mean by that?¡± Aloe jumped out of the ground and looked down on Fikali.


    ¡°Hro?¡± Fikali tilted her head from side to side.


    ¡°Don¡¯t act as if you don¡¯t understand. Did you just call me stupid?¡± The woman pouted, hands on her hips.


    Instead of responding, Fikali bellyflopped and made her way out.


    ¡°Hey! Where are you going? You know I can outrun you on solid ground, right? Come back here!¡± The dweller didn¡¯t obey her and hid in the vegetation. ¡°I can¡¯t be bothered.¡± Aloe sighed. ¡°I¡¯m so... beaten? Ugh... I guess I¡¯ll bathe now that I¡¯m here. I still feel sweaty. And dirty. Especially dirty...¡±


    Even though Aloe didn¡¯t have access to soap, she swam into the oasis and scrubbed herself to the best of her extent.


    ¡°I guess nothing will happen from a suboptimal bathing experience once in a while.¡± She said before diving her hair into the water, popping out a few seconds later looking for air. ¡°I¡¯m lucky I have been able to take hot baths with oils and perfumes on a daily basis. That costs a fajat on the public baths. Fajat per day... dunes, that¡¯s more than most people get paid. I may have not been paid yet, but I cannot deny I¡¯m in love with the perks of the job.¡±


    After rinsing her hair, Aloe looked at her hands. Especially the one that had... She hadn¡¯t done anything, but she couldn''t help herself but feel guilty. Between the gap of her hands, a beam blinded her.


    ¡°Whuh?¡± She covered her eyes with said hand. ¡°Where¡¯s that light coming from?¡± Then her two brain cells activated simultaneously. ¡°Ohhhh, riiiight...¡± She clicked her tongue. ¡°Yeah, I kinda forgot about it. Well, it doesn¡¯t damage anyone, the Myriad can stay there.¡±


    With that, she got out of the oasis and made her way to the shack.


    ¡°Ouch, ouch, ouch!¡±


    Not before having to walk a path filled with sun-scorching sand.


    The scribe donned her clothes, especially her favorite sandals, and went back to the oasis with her notes in hand.


    Species: Grace¡¯s Exaltation


    Sobriquet: Her Divinity¡¯s Ecstasy


    Description: An evolved member of the Acanthaceae family, a species known for its ability to bring daylight and take creatures into bliss.


    Alignment: Life, Light


    ¡°Oh, right... right... right.¡± Aloe repeated in numbed succession. ¡°I should kill myself right now.¡±


    The amount of shame she felt for forgetting what this specific plant did of all the ones she had was insurmountable. Having drowned in the oasis felt out of a sudden like a peaceful ending. She grabbed her head, pressing it with all her might as the embarrassment overtook her. It wasn¡¯t painful. No matter how much strength she put on her grip, her skin and body were too tough and her arms too weak. For better or worse, Aloe couldn¡¯t hurt herself in her current condition.


    The scribe sighed in defeat and analyzed the plant.


    ¡°I suppose that ¡®bringing daylight¡¯ makes reference to the nectar. It¡¯s not exactly luminous, certainly not as much as the Myriad. That¡¯s a second sun. But it makes some light. Maybe around candle level? Not sure.¡±


    She approached her hand to the cane-like steam of the Grace¡¯s Exaltation and, as expected, it was illuminated like when someone brought their hands close to a fire.


    ¡°That part of its abilities isn¡¯t that useful. The second one, on the other hand...¡± Aloe flushed, her face becoming red as a radish. ¡°I...¡±


    The itch still remained there. It urged Aloe to keep going. And Aloe still wanted. Perhaps. The debauchery knocking constantly knocking without mercy.


    ¡°I can¡¯t deny it¡¯s effective. Without a doubt, it¡¯s a powerful aphrodisiac. Though ''bliss'' isn¡¯t exactly the word I would use, veritas.¡± She pouted at the fact that a plant lied to her. ¡°There¡¯s a bit of sweetness at the beginning, but it¡¯s mostly suffering if you refuse to... refuse to...¡± Aloe blushed even harder. ¡°Ehm... refuse to... Dunes! Aloe, you are a fucking adult! You cannot be embarrassed by these nince-damned trivial things! What are you, a fucking child?¡±


    As logic dictated, if she couldn¡¯t beat her embarrassment, Aloe opted for the route of self-flagellation and self-deprecation.


    She took a deep breath and tried to talk again, finishing her thoughts.


    ¡°The beginning is good, but if you refuse to... to... masturbate... it¡¯s only pain...¡± She grabbed her heated cheeks in shame. ¡°But if you cave in... well... it¡¯s p-pleasurable...¡±


    From this moment on, Aloe swore to not let anyone see her notes in the future.

 Book 2: 80. Night

    After having a simple lunch consisting of the leftovers of her previous lunch ¨C because why cook for three days when you had imperial-level cooking that only needed to be reheated ¨C and drinking her weight of water, Aloe was ready to continue working. She had barely two days and a half left and she hadn¡¯t done anything beyond checking the growth of her newly evolved plants.


    What followed were slow and mind-numbing hours of checking if the water pipes were all standing ¨C which not all were ¨C and seeing if the other plants were in a healthy state. After practically two months, the oasis was livelier than ever. Not only the pistachios and the bananas showed promising saplings, but the rest of the plants were basically fully grown.


    Aloe was ecstatic at the medicinal plants¡¯ growth. Sure, she couldn¡¯t sell them, or at least it didn¡¯t make sense doing so for the small margins, but that meant she would have a solid supply of medicine in the greenhouse if she ever fell ill.


    ¡°Though...¡± The woman sighed, her hands rubbing the medicinal plants'' leaves to smell them. ¡°Does this even make sense now?¡± No matter how fragrant their smell was, Aloe couldn¡¯t bring herself to be enthusiastic. ¡°I won¡¯t be ever to spend much time here now; I doubt Rani will allow me to.¡±


    She knew that was the price to pay for being the scribe of commoners. On the one hand, money and a luxurious life. On the other, doing what she loved but a simple life.


    ¡°You brought this on yourself, Aloe.¡± She whispered deflated. ¡°You¡¯ll have to deal with it.¡±


    What made her even less enthusiastic though, was the prospect of having to harvest all of her crops. She had mostly forgotten about them once she set up all the Flourishing Springs and the irrigation system, but she now had the equivalent of multiple parcels of potatoes and beans.


    ¡°This is going to take a while.¡± Aloe sighed, a sack in hand.


    Far from a farmer, Aloe wasn¡¯t knowledgeable on how to harvest the crops. She decided to harvest them because who knows when she would have the next chance and wasn¡¯t all that certain that they were even fully grown. Especially with the potatoes as they hid underground showing few leaves.


    Her best attempt was to put her gloves on ¨C for the first time using them for their intended purpose ¨C because she would rather not touch the weeks-old excrements she used as fertilizer. With the potatoes it was easy, simple as unearthing them. With the beans, she found a bit more problems, but she believed she made it out fine. Not that she had any idea what fine meant in this context.


    ¡°Phew...¡± Aloe whipped her brow and stabbed a coconut, her back lying on a palm trunk. ¡°That¡¯s a lot of food though.¡± She gazed at the two sacks full of crops. ¡°There¡¯s still more in the pantry. What am I going to do with it? Should I just sell it?¡±


    Aloe thought it for a while. She tried to think about all of the possible ramifications. A sack of potatoes and beans could be sold for a considerable amount, maybe a fajati if she got the haggling right, but that would require her to bring the sacks back to Sadina. Not only that would slow Fikali down, but she also doubted the food would survive the travel. Fikali was a menace with her current speed.


    In the end, she decided to plant all the old potatoes and beans she had bought, which may or may not be already rotting. Or even growing, in the case of potatoes.


    ¡°Dunes,¡± She swore as she deposited the old contents of the sack on the oasis floor. ¡°Flowers here need water, the sun, and perfect soil, and the nince-damned potatoes decided to sprout on a musty sack in a dark pantry. What¡¯s wrong with them?¡±


    Aloe began breaking the potatoes into pieces like the farmer who sold her the gloves told her a while ago. But that brought a question as she arrived at the more ¡®sprouted¡¯ potatoes.


    ¡°Should I plant them? Aren¡¯t they toxic or something? I¡¯m not sure I want them nowhere near my stomach...¡±


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    Taking the cautious route, Aloe threw them into the desert. She was so bored that shifted her internal infusion to ¡®strength¡¯, and from the middle of the oasis, quite literally threw them into the desert.


    ¡°Woah, that¡¯s a new record!¡± Aloe said as the greenish potato disappeared from her line of sight as it left the valley. ¡°What a shame that there are no more of them. I was getting quite good at it.¡±


    She tried throwing the worse-looking beans, but it wasn¡¯t the same as they were too small to throw them far. The scribe spent the rest of the day infusing the suitable potatoes and beans. Whilst before it took her days to do so, Aloe now could do so in hours, and without resting. It wasn¡¯t that her vitality regeneration was good, she doubted that had increased with all this time, but her deposit was big enough that by the time she infused a handful of them, she recovered enough to infuse one more.


    Unlike Evolution or infusing trees, potatoes and beans were trivial to deal with. A single one of them was almost a fiftieth of her maximum vitality. She did take rests though, mainly because she was still tired with... the Grace¡¯s Exaltation business. From time to time, she would get a cramp-like itch urging her to be appeased. But as more time passed, and the more coconuts and dates she had to eat through the temptation, the lower the urge became until finally disappeared.


    A part of her hoped she fell into it.


    Be as it may, the day quickly gave in to the night and Aloe was unable to plant all the infused plants.


    ¡°This is also going to take a while.¡± She commented as she hugged her arms. The night was far from frigid, but it was getting cold by the minute. Her eyes were drawn to the starry blanket of the heavens. A myriad of luminosity and darkness. ¡°I should check on the Moonlight¡¯s Tooth. Now that I have a chance.¡±


    Slowly, Aloe made her way to the greenhouse. She had been sitting all day long, no matter if it was on Fikali, her chair, or the oasis¡¯ ground; yet she felt uncomfortably tired. She had ignored it, but without noticing, she had consumed multiple times her vitality deposit over the day. No matter how much rest she got, Aloe felt like she had finished a marathon every single waking moment. She groaned her way to the oasis, almost tripping more than once because she didn¡¯t have a source of light.


    ¡°Wait, why it was so lit on the oasis?¡± Aloe turned back to look at the oasis and noticed the place was a bit brighter than the rest of the desert. Not by much ¨C only twice as bright as the moonlight allowed ¨C and the light mainly concentrated on the water. ¡°Oh, right.¡± She sigh-groaned. ¡°I keep forgetting about the Myriad.¡±


    Without giving it a second thought, she opened the door to the greenhouse.


    ¡°Oh...¡± Aloe wouldn¡¯t dare to call herself an art lover, not even someone who could appreciate it, but the sight revealed to her was inspiring, to say the least.


    The greenhouse was never dark. The ter¡¯nar had a fairly low glow on its leaves, though most days it was overpowered by the moonlight. But now, there was another competitor. On the right parterre at the back, lights danced. A waltz of perfect movements, calculated down to the smallest decimal, as the glowing seeds orbited their plant.


    She had been right, the Moonlight¡¯s Tooth did indeed shine under moonlight.


    Hesitantly, the scribe approached the plant. The light emitted by every source was far from blinding, but a comfortable glow that soothed her. Her mind divagated, thinking how comfortable it would be to sleep under this light.


    After looking at the movements of the luminous gliders, almost bewitched by the perfect movements, Aloe extended her arm and captured one of the seeds. It didn¡¯t do anything. Like the seed of a lion tooth, it remained inert on her hand, albeit an infinitely tad more radiant.


    But there was also something different about the seed. It wasn¡¯t the properties of the Moonlight¡¯s Tooth, but something she did to the plant. She focused on the white and blue seed, channeling her vitality on her hand, and sure enough, the Moonlight¡¯s Tooth seed refused her vitality. It was, of course, already infused with ¡®accelerated growth¡¯.


    ¡°I guessed that an infused plant would result in infused fruits, but this has a lot of potential, doesn¡¯t it? If it wasn¡¯t because the other potatoes and beans would expire, I could have replanted the newly harvested ones, meaning I would never need to reinfuse them. Crops that are passively faster to grow...¡±


    The potential, whilst not limitless, was incredible. Civilization-shattering even. How much the world would change if crops took half the time to grow? Would hunger be eradicated? Or the surplus would result in more people therefore in a net zero gain? Population, very much like inflation and markets, tended to regulate itself in some way or another.


    Those were big questions she was not ready to tackle. Not yet. She needed more time to plan.


    In a passing thought, she released the seed in her hand above the Moonlight¡¯s Tooth, and sure enough, it started orbiting it. But instead of around it, over it. In a smaller orbit, forever locked on top in a horizontal spin.


    Tired but excited for the future, Aloe walked back to the entrance, only to turn around and look back at the dimly lit but cozy greenhouse.


    ¡°If the Myriad is a second sun during the day...¡± Aloe muttered, her mind distracted by the sight. ¡°Then the Moonlight¡¯s Tooth is a second moon during the night.¡±

 Book 2: 81. Aphrodisiac

    Aloe caressed her neck as she juggled the waterskin with the other hand. ¡°Ugh, I got used to the bed in the palace... My body is killing me after sleeping in that wooden slate Karaim had for a bed.¡±


    The scribe¡¯s breathing was slow, almost painful. She exhaled with exhaustion. With her free hand, she rubbed her eyes.


    ¡°I slept like utter garbage.¡± And she groaned. ¡°I shouldn¡¯t have planted all those beans and potatoes first thing in the morning.¡±


    As she had grown used to being woken up by Lulu, Aloe had forgotten to wake up by herself, meaning that she ended up waking up way later than she wanted and throwing away a lot of her previous hours. To compensate for the loss, she decided to plant all the newly infused vegetables, but now her body screamed in suffering.


    ¡°I guess I have been rough with my body.¡± Aloe grabbed a spoon and churned the liquid. ¡°No matter how tough ¡®toughness¡¯ may make me, Fikali is just that fast, I still won¡¯t come unscathed from a ride. Ugh, now I don¡¯t even want to go back. I feel I will turn into dust.¡±


    Aloe yawned but continued circling the spoon, mixing the contents of the bowl together.


    ¡°I think the smell is making me dizzy...¡± She stopped her hand and thought for a moment, moving her eyes from sight to sight. ¡°Only dizzy and not... horny.¡± She bit her lip and continued mixing.


    Her current experiment was none other than the nectar of the Grace¡¯s Exaltation. Unlike other produce of the plants, this could be sold easily. And whilst she may not need to sell any of her plants thanks to her new job, it felt like a misuse to not try it first. What if she had a gold mine in her hands and never exploited it?


    ¡°Talking about gold...¡± Aloe removed the spoon and left it on top of a towel, carefully not letting the liquid drop anywhere she may touch. ¡°After diluting the nectar with water, it loses its glow, which makes it actually feasible to commercialize without raising questions. Right now, it only looks like... yeah... There aren¡¯t many golden liquids out there.¡±


    Aloe examined her urine concoction. The density was barely higher than water, which made sense because the grace¡¯s nectar was similar to syrup in consistency and she hadn¡¯t used much.


    ¡°Now...¡± She exhaled, dread in her breathing. ¡°How much lesser the effect is?¡±


    Instead of using the previous spoon, Aloe grabbed a suspiciously small silver spoon that was on the kitchenette and scooped a drop of the concoction with it.


    ¡°Why there can¡¯t be an infusion against this?¡± Aloe protested before downing the small quantity of golden liquid.


    The day was well past its midpoint by now, she had waited until lunch to try this as she thought a full stomach would be less affected by the aphrodisiac. In the previous hours, mainly when she was planting, she tried to find new internal infusions to counteract the effects. Alas, no ¡®anti-horny¡¯ or ¡®celibacy¡¯ infusions existed as much as she tried. ¡®Toughness¡¯ was the best weapon against any form of damage, even if it was caused by the consumption of the wrong foods.


    A few seconds later, the effects of the Grace¡¯s Exaltation nectar kicked in.


    ¡°It¡¯s slower than the first time... but what matters is the strength.¡± Aloe didn¡¯t consider herself a sexually active person, and if the nectar could bring her to that depraved state, it meant it was powerful. And that was with ¡®toughness¡¯ already active. She feared it may be too powerful for common people with more normal sex drives.


    Whilst she had found no way to counteract the nectar¡¯s influence, the less she thought about her body, the better she managed it without falling into temptation.


    Throwing herself into the oasis was always an option.


    A bath of cold water was way better than a bucket after all.


    ¡°This concentration feels... good?¡± Aloe blinked thrice. ¡°Nope, not good. Not good. We are already going wrong if that¡¯s the first word that comes out of my mouth.¡± The scribe crossed her legs, not trusting herself.


    Her palate was bursting with flavor, like always. Part of her was scared, that maybe this substance was addictive, but all things were up to some degree. The urge she felt wasn¡¯t to intake more nectar, but rather to intake herself. If that was even a thing.


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    ¡°But I guess it¡¯s not strong, maybe I should try without ¡®toughness¡¯...¡± She exhaled slowly, vapor coming out of her mouth. ¡°...¡± She slammed her head against the desk, the bang echoing through the whole house. ¡°This needs more water. Not diluted enough.¡±


    Thanks to her current internal infusion, she didn¡¯t even feel the headbutt, though she was already stunned, so to speak.


    ¡°What if I added ter¡¯nar tea?¡± Aloe mused whilst slowly adding water, unfazed by her concussion. ¡°Hmm, that may not be good... When someone takes an aphrodisiac... I guess they want to have straight and focused thoughts. Not that I knew. I¡¯m not a person who takes aphrodisiacs.¡± The woman said as she took the aphrodisiac.


    The moment she unconsciously started scratching her neck, Aloe knew she had too much nectar on her body. With a sigh, she slammed the desk with her open hands and stood up, deciding to do something else with her time.


    Truth be told, there wasn¡¯t much more to do. She had underestimated her speed and the self-sufficiency of the oasis by a lot. Plants didn¡¯t need that much human handling when they were in their perfect growing environment.


    ¡°Is there something else to do?¡± She checked her notes and then noticed she hadn¡¯t made a checklist. ¡°Let¡¯s see... I have checked the bananas, pistachios, and medicinal plants; harvested and replanted the crops; and the greenhouse is fine as it is. Hmm...¡±


    Aloe went to the oasis with her notes in hand and looked at the parterre with the least number of evolved plants. Namely, a Flourishing Spring and the Nature¡¯s Bounty.


    ¡°Yeah, the sobriquet mentions a stump, and considering it¡¯s only a sapling, I guess it¡¯s fair to say that it¡¯s a tree.¡± The scribe added with disappointment. ¡°You wouldn¡¯t manifest your abilities whilst growing, won¡¯t you?¡± She asked the sapling.


    The greenhouse remained silent.


    The novice cultivator sighed.


    ¡°How long will you take?¡± She pouted; her eyes fixated on her notes.


    Species: Nature¡¯s Bounty


    Sobriquet: Thick Stump


    Description: An evolved member of the Malvaceae family, a species known for its ability to spread its roots in a wide area and boost the growth rate of nearby flora.


    Alignment: Life, Time


    ¡°It¡¯s a shame if not... I really, really want to see how the speed from ¡®accelerated growth¡¯ and the Nature¡¯s Bounty stack. Is it additive? Multiplicatively? Or do they negate each other in some way and only the greater one takes effect? I hope not, but if that¡¯s the case, I could infuse plants with other traits...¡±


    Her next stop was to check the Chlorotrophy to see if the plant had checked in any shape or form, but upon arriving at the spot, she was met with a Flourishing Spring.


    ¡°No change, huh? I¡¯m slowly decanting to the ¡®permanent transformation¡¯ theory, but to be fair, I¡¯ve only given you a day. Let¡¯s see if a month from now you are a grown tree or something.¡±


    Aloe sat down on a random spot of the oasis, her eyes lazily locked on the slightly shining water.


    ¡°I think nostalgia hit me hard.¡± She commented with a coconut in hand. ¡°There¡¯s nothing to do. And no commodities to be had... Or it¡¯s just that I¡¯ve grown used to being spoiled. Could be that too...¡± The cold coconut water traveled down her throat. ¡°But I can¡¯t deny it¡¯s good to have no responsibilities whatsoever... Just sloth around doing nothing...¡±


    Aloe jumped out of her spot, throwing the coconut to the ground. Truth was, Aloe could not remain still for long. She was too used to working, whether it was actual work or labor to do nothing. Her body felt fidgety if she wasn¡¯t doing anything. Though she couldn¡¯t deny that may also be for another reason.


    ¡°Hey, Fikali!¡± The human saluted the lying dweller. ¡°What¡¯cha doin¡¯? Lazing around?¡± The farmer''s voice came out of her unconsciously, it was almost as if it was necessary.


    ¡°Hro.¡± The monster responded unenthusiastically, loafing sleepily.


    ¡°You feeling up for a ride?¡± Aloe offered.


    ¡°Wroooo!¡± Fikali jumped out of her position as if she weren¡¯t half-sleep barely five seconds ago and bellyflopped excitedly.


    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s get you the saddle.¡±


    Practice made the master, but that only meant Aloe was slightly faster at getting the saddle tied up on a rather unruly dweller.


    ¡°I don¡¯t understand you, Fikali.¡± Aloe patted the monster on the head. ¡°Why are you always so good but then so stubborn when it comes to the saddle?¡±


    ¡°Huoo.¡± Fikali grunted in response.


    ¡°Surely that has a meaning, but I can¡¯t get it.¡± The human led the dweller outside of the oasis from the lead, and once they were on the sand, she jumped on the saddle. ¡°Anyways, let¡¯s get going.¡±


    ¡°Wroooo!¡± In a blink, the shot at breakneck speeds.


    Literally.


    Bless ¡®toughness¡¯. Aloe preferred to thank the internal infusion rather than think about what would have happened if she hadn¡¯t been using it yesterday. Dunes, she¡¯s so fast, the ride is bumpy even on flat terrain. She shifted up and down on the saddle, trying to find a comfortable position. Hmm~ It¡¯s so itchy... Aloe moved her hips trying to appease the itch, but soon her body grew hotter despite the fast winds.


    ¡°Stooop!¡± The woman shouted as she put strength on her legs to notify the dweller.


    Fikali slowly decreased her speed, a process that took almost a minute because she had already reached maximum speed in the small window they had traveled. The moment movement stopped, Aloe threw herself off Fikali, tumbling on the ground.


    ¡°Hroo?¡± The dweller grunted curiously.


    ¡°Oh~¡± Aloe panted, holding her body on all fours, as she led her hands to her crotch. ¡°E-everything is f-fine, Fikali. I... I just need a breather.¡±


    Aloe bit her underlip and rolled in the sand a bit more, trying to turn her lower body back into control. Note, never ride under the influence.

 Book 2: 82. External

    Whether she wanted or not, her time in the oasis quickly ran out. There wasn¡¯t much she could do, and even if there was, a day was not enough. The rest of her time was spent on trying different concentrations with the Grace¡¯s Exaltation nectar, barely managing to make something she was pleased with. In the marketable sense of the word. Not the bodily sense.


    In the end, she tried more than simple dilution. Boiling, mixing, smashing, and maybe adding a bit of salt were a few of the things she tried. For her, the aphrodisiac was not that different from a recipe. That said more about Aloe¡¯s cooking than anything else.


    She didn¡¯t have much time to test many aphrodisiac results, her body needed a lot of time to clear the effects, but she ended up going with a simple recipe.


    Mix water and Grace¡¯s Exaltation nectar in a ratio of 1-to-50, or one glass of water for every teaspoon of nectar. Stir the contents for fifteen minutes until the nectar has dissolved with the water and has lost its glowing properties. A finished mixture will have the color of pineapple juice, though lesser ratios will have a color more resemblant to urine. Pour the mixture into a kettle and leave it hitting just before boiling. The heat will mix closer the nectar and the water, whilst removing the innate spiciness of the nectar, only leaving behind its sweetness. Consumption shouldn¡¯t surpass two spoons per head.


    Whilst Aloe wasn¡¯t an apothecary ¨C her knowledge of plants pathetic compared to the average housewife ¨C she couldn¡¯t help but feel proud of the recipe. Regardless of whether she commercialized it or not, it was something easily replicable and useful. Like a recipe, a mother would pass down to their children.


    She readied everything she could so the greenhouse and the oasis could survive the longest possible time without her intervention. That meant reinforcing the leaf pipes so they didn¡¯t tumble again ¨C luckily no plant had died from lack of water in her absence ¨C among many other things. Most of the time was used in doing that and developing the recipe. Boiling water also took a bit of her time. She didn¡¯t even have time to bathe, but she wasn¡¯t pressed to do so. The way back would already make her sweat like crazy, so the first thing she would do upon arriving at the palace was take a calm and long bath.


    That thought was what carried through her last task.


    Shoveling waste.


    ¡°Ugh, if there¡¯s one thing I haven¡¯t missed, is this.¡± Even if she had only spent barely three days on the oasis, waste quickly gathered. She couldn¡¯t hold her bladder for that long, and Fikali would do her business regardless of what she wanted, so she went freely to the latrine. That meant shoveling her and Fikali¡¯s waste before leaving.


    ¡°Wro?¡± The dweller approached her with her saddle already equipped.


    ¡°You know, for three days you poop a lot, Fikali.¡±


    ¡°Hroo!¡± Fikali grunted back.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if that''s an affirmation or a complaint, girl.¡± Aloe spread the fertilizer along the newly planted crops. Even if there wasn¡¯t much, now fewer plants needed it as the medicinal plants were already grown.


    Once she was done, Aloe whipped her sweat and left her straw hat back on the shack. She downed a full glass recently filled from the amphora and made her way out not before locking the house, where Fikali waited for her with the saddle and the few luggage they carried. Wordlessly, Aloe mounted her and nudged the monster with her feet.


    ¡°Whenever you want, girl.¡± As soon as she said that, Fikali shot free like the wind.


    Ah, I should have made her walk a bit further. Aloe partially regretted doing that, because even though the shack was surrounded by sand instead of hard ground, now the whole fa?ade was covered with sand. Oh well, I guess I can clean it... Whenever I come back.


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    She had only ridden Fikali twice with her augmented speed, but she grew accustomed fast. It¡¯s not that different from my own ¡®speed¡¯ internal infusion, so I can kinda keep track of the surroundings. I would be better off if I had practiced more with it though. The movements of the imperial scribe came back to her. A memory hard to forget. If I trained, could I be as graceful as Naila? The sultanzade was normally coarse and crude when it was related to other people, but her own body was so refined that Aloe couldn¡¯t help herself but long for it.


    This time around, Aloe didn¡¯t push Fikali hard, being careful to take rests every half hour. That foresight paid well as only five minutes were needed every rest as Fikali was in a better state than their first ¡®speed¡¯ travel. A breather and a gulp of water was enough for them to keep going.


    ¡°Wroo!¡± And, of course, Aloe indulged the dweller with pistachios at every stop.


    Considering how she has spent this many weeks without tasting one, I think she deserves it. In the end, the travel ended up being slightly faster than their first one, only because they stopped less time than before and were in a healthier state overall.


    However, they stopped before arriving at Sadina.


    ¡°Alright Fikali, I need to undo your internal infusion,¡± Aloe said in clutches.


    ¡°Wro?¡± The dweller tilted her head to the side in confusion.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, just like a few days, I need you to remain calm and let me do all the work.¡±


    Truth was, Aloe didn¡¯t know how to undo the infusion. But she knew that if the stable master saw that Fikali was suddenly faster in her every moment, it would raise a lot of questions. It wasn¡¯t as simple as switching back the flow of vitality as she did with her internal infusions, this was different. It was a mixture of normal infusions like the ones she did with plants and internal ones. Fikali still had her own unperturbed vitality, plus the one she had received from Aloe.


    What can I do? Through her hands, Aloe could feel both flows of vitality. One normal and another fast. There¡¯s extra vitality present in her body now, a second infusion so to speak. What I have given her is a ¡®normal¡¯ infusion and she still has her internal infusion which is at default. Hmm... I don¡¯t know what will happen if I leave both at default... That means she will have two ¡®accelerated growths¡¯ active. Will she age twice as fast? Considering her advanced age, that may be lethal...


    The scribe exhaled, her hands moving up and down the dweller¡¯s side, her eyes still closed deep in thought.


    I could try to remove the excess vitality... but where would I put it? I¡¯m full, and even if I weren¡¯t there¡¯s thrice more inside her than my maximum deposit... I think the best trail of action is to shift the external infusion¡¯s stream into another less obvious infusion. Aloe considered her options, but in the end, she only knew three infusion options that could be applied to a sapient being. Toughness, speed, and strength.


    Yeah, the decision is simple. Speed is suspicious, but strength is catastrophic. I doubt Fikali may be able to control her strength and will surely end up breaking some bones, and that¡¯s in the best-case scenario. Aloe groaned and got to work.


    Her ability to infuse things was slowly growing but using ¡®sapient¡¯ infusions ¨C if she even ended up calling them that ¨C on sapient beings was a difficult task that she had near to no experience with. And this wasn¡¯t like switching an internal infusion back to default, there was no near-instant turn, it was as complex if not more than doing her first external sapient infusion.


    These names are getting out of hand. Aloe joked in the confines of her mind, mainly to keep her dwindling sanity afloat from the challenge. It was easier before when I poured my vitality into Fikali. There was no external vitality stream, meaning the resistance was smaller. Now I have to fight the internal resistance and the external, plus changing the flow.


    Aloe groaned one more time and infused Fikali with ¡®toughness¡¯.


    When she opened her eyes once she switched the infusion successfully, the sun had displaced slightly.


    ¡°Dunes, that has taken a lot of time.¡± Aloe stood up, partially panting, and took a sip out of her waterskin. It was mostly empty. ¡°Fikali, how are you feeling?¡±


    ¡°Wrooo!¡± The dweller grunted enthusiastically.


    ¡°That¡¯s good, that¡¯s good.¡± The woman placed her free hand on her hips as she finished the waterskin. ¡°I can see Sadina from her, come on girl, one last push and we are in!¡±


    ¡°Wrooo!¡± Fikali bellyflopped on the sand, splashing it as if it were water.


    ¡°That¡¯s how I like it!¡± Aloe smiled; a simple gesture that became scarce as of late. Especially for what was about to come in the near future. ¡°Days remaining...¡± She whispered to herself before mounting the monster and going back to her native city.

 Book 2: 83. Blush

    It wasn¡¯t hard to continue with her duties the next day as she had arrived at Sadina quite early. Aloe had enough time to take the promised long bath and undo the layers of grime, dirt, and sand she had gathered these three days. As soon as her return became noticed, Lulu was quick to serve her like always.


    In less than two hours since her arrival at the city, Aloe had gone from looking like a poor farmer who had spent all day working the land to a wealthy noble.


    However, she felt less privileged when she woke up the next morning and not even an hour later she had to endure a boring and long audience. That day¡¯s audience was even longer than usual because whilst her personal scribes could substitute her in paperwork, the audiences were solely her business.


    No one voiced their opinion on the longer-than-usual audience, though Naila and Nuha didn¡¯t hide their animosity. Surprisingly, the scribe of scholars was the least tactful about it.


    ¡°Oh heavens, it¡¯s only going to get worse in a week, why me...¡± Nuha grunted her way out of the audience hall in desperation. Aloe found the scholar¡¯s honesty endearing; she would never have the nerves to be that... open.


    ¡°For being one of the more important and competent people in the city, she hates to work a lot,¡± Tamara whispered behind Aloe. ¡°Anyways, how was your outing, dear?¡± The old scribe smiled at her as if she hadn¡¯t badmouthed her coworker.


    ¡°Fine, thank you.¡± Aloe smiled back only if to hide her own exhaustion. ¡°I think I have developed another product.¡±


    ¡°Still going with your business ideas?¡± Tamara crossed her arms. ¡°Don¡¯t you have enough on your plate?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s hard to refuse easy money when you were scraping by not long ago.¡± Of course, Aloe¡¯s description of ¡®scraping by¡¯ where far different from that of the average commoner. ¡°And weren¡¯t you the one in counterproductive hobbies?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t refute that.¡± The scribe of commerce raised her hands in defeat.


    ¡°Girls, girls.¡± A step reverberated behind Aloe, only to reveal that Rani was right behind them. She put her hands on Tamara and Aloe¡¯s shoulders, making the petite woman jump on the spot from the scare. ¡°What are you two mussing about?¡±


    ¡°Not much, dear.¡± Tamara smiled at the emir. ¡°Just about Aloe¡¯s herbalist creations.¡±


    ¡°Well, I wouldn¡¯t go as far as to call me an herbalist...¡± The scribe of commoners added shyly.


    ¡°Oh, count me interested.¡± Rani greeted them with her characteristic djinnish smile. ¡°Please, enlighten me. The first time it was vegetable ink, what is it now?¡±


    ¡°I... um...¡± Aloe blushed and cut the line of sight from the two women, preferring to look at the ground. ¡°I¡¯d rather not say...¡±


    ¡°Oh~¡± Rani curved forward, almost breathing down Aloe¡¯s neck. ¡°Now you are making me more interested~¡±


    Aloe fixated on Rani, her sultry voice making it impossible to not look at her. She found her face barely a few fingers from hers.


    ¡°Now, now.¡± Tamara broke their locked gazes and carefully grabbed Rani¡¯s hand, slowly and delicately removing it from her shoulder as if it were a piece of porcelain. ¡°As much as I would like to indulge in courtship, I have things to do, if you excuse me, my Emir.¡±


    Before anyone could say anything, the scribe of commoners started walking away from them. The first to talk was Aloe a weak ¡°Courtship?¡± leaving her lips.


    ¡°That woman has herself in a high stool. Touching me like that... Only I can touch like that.¡± More like an entitled tantrum, Rani¡¯s voice came out playful. ¡°She should learn some modesty. Do you no think, Aloe?¡±


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    ¡°I... uhm... yes?¡± The scribe of commoners added with confusion before talking with more decisiveness. ¡°Modesty, of course.¡± Wait, modesty? Do you even know what that word means? She kept that last part to herself.


    ¡°Hmm?¡± Rani hummed, examining Aloe from toe to head. Whatever she was thinking seemed to be amusing, as she ended up smiling again. ¡°Now, that we are alone. I must remind you of our coming travel.¡±


    ¡°I have not forgotten, Rani.¡± Aloe bowed. ¡°I am doing the best at my capabilities so my absence will not affect negatively the palace.¡±


    ¡°Commendable.¡± The emir responded with an unreadable expression. ¡°But now, I will reiterate myself. We are alone.¡±


    Aloe stopped breathing for a second.


    ¡°Yes?¡± She said for lack of a better response.


    ¡°Oh, how dense.¡± The sultanzade put her purple nails around the scribe¡¯s neck, tickling it lightly. Aloe did her best to hide her reactions. Rani slowly circled her body until she positioned behind her. The hands then traveled downwards to the commoner¡¯s chest, and Rani¡¯s arms closed around her neck. Aloe could feel the voluptuous woman¡¯s cleavage on her nape. ¡°Now tell me,¡± Rani whispered, the hot breath caressing the petite woman¡¯s ear. ¡°What is that creation you are so ashamed of?¡±


    ¡°N-n-nothing...¡± The scribe¡¯s stutters were so great that even her body shook in response. The physical touch was too much for her to handle.


    ¡°Do not be like that, Aloe.¡± Rani circled her index finger around the woman¡¯s chest. Thankfully for Aloe¡¯s sanity, it was completely covered. ¡°Come on, tell me. This is one of your enterprises, so it will come out to the light at some point, will it not?¡±


    ¡°I...¡± Aloe knew there was no escape from this situation. If only it wasn¡¯t this embarrassing. ¡°Please,¡± she turned her head as best as she could to look at Rani, ¡°do not tell it to anybody.¡±


    The scribe of commoners agreed as her visage blossomed red.


    ¡°Fret not, your creation is safe with me.¡± Regardless of the veracity of the sultanzade¡¯s claim, it was difficult to deny Rani¡¯s soft expression.


    ¡°It¡¯s a...¡± Aloe gulped a hefty amount of saliva, her eyes scolding from her red cheeks. ¡°It¡¯s an aphrodisiac.¡±


    Rani had always been unreadable for Aloe. She had a hard time understanding people and could never guess what they were thinking, but with a shrewd-enough mask, she could estimate the agendas of people and their hidden intentions. Unfortunately, the petrified and unreacting visage of the emir gave her none of that. Aloe stopped breathing out of fear. The worst expression an imperial could give to someone wasn¡¯t anger, but impassivity.


    What seemed like an eternity, but was most likely a handful of seconds, ended as Rani¡¯s expression shifted. An amused smile was drawn on her visage.


    ¡°Haha...¡± The emir laughed lightly, she freed her hand from Aloe¡¯s body and hid her lips as she chuckled. ¡°That was what you were so embarrassed about? Oh, how cute...¡±


    The infantilization of her actions only made Aloe blush harder. She¡¯s a sultanzade, of course, she¡¯ll find it normal. Her own cradle was filled with debauchery!


    ¡°How... delectable...¡± Aloe didn¡¯t manage to fully catch those two last words as Rani whispered them, besides the hand blocking out most of the noise and the scribe herself locked in her inner thoughts.


    For a few seconds, the two young women looked at each other. One avoided the gazes as she flushed, the other delighted in the gesture. Rani took a step back and Aloe used the recently gained personal space to finally breathe. The sultanzade looked at her with her arms crossed under her breasts.


    ¡°I understand you are quite impressionable, but no one would blush like that for a simple aphrodisiac. No... I think there¡¯s more at play.¡± Rani put her index finger at the side of her mouth. ¡°Perhaps its strength?¡±


    At the mention of the power of the aphrodisiac, even if it was a diluted version of the Grace¡¯s Exaltation nectar, Aloe unconsciously clasped her legs together. It didn¡¯t help they already felt weak. The scribe¡¯s reaction wasn¡¯t lost on the emir as her gemstone eyes became keener upon the movement.


    ¡°I see...¡± Rani mused with a finger on her lips. ¡°It must be quite... the experience, is it not?¡±


    Aloe didn¡¯t know how the sultanzade made it, but she trembled upon her every word. Sounds turned caresses.


    ¡°I suggest that you...¡± The emir stopped midsentence as if she had noticed something. ¡°...You already intended to bring that aphrodisiac to Asina, did you not?¡±


    Once upon a time, that read would have thrown Aloe¡¯s trail of thought in disorder, but now she was aware that she was dancing on the seductress¡¯ hand.


    ¡°...Yes.¡± She affirmed taciturnly.


    The response made Rani blow air out of her nose. ¡°Well, there is not a better place in all of Ydaz to sell it,¡± The amusement on her person was palpable. ¡°Bring it if you want then. Maybe I will have a chance to try it myself. For now, remember that we depart in a few days.¡±


    With those words, Rani made her way out of the audience hall with movements as salacious as always. Yet Aloe couldn¡¯t knock the feeling out that there was more than one meaning hidden in the sultanzade¡¯s words.

 Book 2: 84. Road

    The promised date soon arrived. Though dreadful would fit the description better.


    Aloe had done her best to ready the palace for her absence, and Rani¡¯s. She personally discussed with Fayruz and Idris so they could maybe deviate the weight of audiences towards themselves and prepare some public works in advance so the focus would be on them rather than any new petition. Mostly an excuse than actual productive work.


    But Rani¡¯s absence was what mattered the most.


    Not only did the emir herself make her own preparations, but even Tamara and Nuha were busy the coming days before the departure. No one trusted Naila to run Sadina during Rani¡¯s absence. The imperial scribe was green, far more than Aloe. Whilst she didn¡¯t doubt Naila¡¯s education was far superior to hers, the sultanzade had no working experience nor administrative skills, two fields that Aloe¡¯s banker apprenticeship had filled in earnest.


    However, what most feared wasn¡¯t the lack of skills of the regent emir, but her temperament.


    A hot-headed child was the best description.


    For lack of better words.


    ¡°Well, girls, I bid you a fare well,¡± Rani told the scribes who were lined up. The morning sun barely showed its head from the horizon, lightly backlighting the emir. ¡°And Naila, please don¡¯t ruin the city whilst I am gone. This city has already suffered a lot in the hands of negligent sultanzade.¡±


    ¡°You can trust me, sister.¡± The younger princess bowed. ¡°Sadina will hold to your arrival even if the northern hordes attack.¡±


    ¡°I rather for that not to happen, but I will take your word for it.¡± The emir turned, showing her covered back to the scribes, and started walking down the palace¡¯s stairs. ¡°What are you waiting for, Aloe? Follow me.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Rani.¡± Aloe bid farewell to the rest of the scribe with a shallow bow and followed suit.


    Down the stairs, a whole convoy waited for them. Four guards were mounted on different camels whilst one stayed on foot with the leashes of another two in hand.


    ¡°I have not asked this before, but you know how to ride, right?¡± Rani asked Aloe as she took one of the leashes for herself.


    ¡°I have ridden before...¡± The standing guard gave her the other leash, but as she approached the animal, the magnitude of the creature dawned on her. ¡°...but none as big as this.¡±


    ¡°Oh well, it is not like there is a problem.¡± The sultanzade mounted the mount taller than Aloe with a single jump. ¡°If you cannot ride alone, then you will have to go with an escort. That would free a camel to take more load. I guess a guard could go with you, or even me.¡±


    ¡°A guard is more than fine in such a case, Rani.¡± Aloe reasoned. ¡°I would not want to pester you with my presence.¡±


    Rani didn¡¯t bother to respond; she simply snickered and took control of her camel. ¡°Guard, help my scribe mount the beast.¡±


    The guard who had given them the leashes nodded wordlessly and approached Aloe. The woman caressed the camel¡¯s head, and the animal complied, crouching and kneeling down.


    ¡°Is it low enough for you to step on the stirrup?¡± She added politely.


    ¡°Y-yes, I think so.¡± At the best of her abilities, or rather her body¡¯s, Aloe put her feet on the step-like contraption that she supposed was the stirrup. Dweller saddles didn¡¯t have that part as their bodies were too close to the ground to need it. Unfortunately ¨C and mostly embarrassingly ¨C Aloe didn¡¯t quite reach the other side of the saddle with her legs.


    ¡°May I?¡± The guard offered her hand and Aloe nodded.


    But she didn¡¯t expect the woman to grab her by the armpits and shove her on top of the saddle as if she didn¡¯t weigh anything. Dunes, I feel like a child. A look at the sultanzade showed that she wasn¡¯t the only one who thought so. Instead of being embarrassed, Rani was amused by the sight.


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    Before her shame could settle in, the camels started moving through the main avenue. The entourage mounted silently to the city wall, where the standing guards didn¡¯t dare to stop the emir for any reason.


    ¡°It has been long since I have formed part of an escort this big,¡± Rani mentioned once they left Sadina. Two guards rode ahead of them and the other two behind, it was obvious who she was talking to.


    ¡°But did not you go to Asina multiple times a year whilst you were the imperial scribe?¡± Aloe tried to keep the conversation alive, otherwise the emir wouldn¡¯t have started it.


    ¡°Yes, of course. But you said it yourself, whilst I was the imperial scribe.¡± The princess¡¯ eyes shone with authority and glee. ¡°Alas, I am now the emir of Sadina. My life is more valuable than before. I have gone from being one of dozens ¨C maybe even hundreds if we count Aaliyah¡¯s siblings ¨C of sultanzade to one in a handful of emirs. And sultanzade are not as valuable as emirs, even if we were less.¡±


    The ruler of Sadina normally gave an indecorous image, her body was as lascivious as they could get, and her usual didn¡¯t exactly leave a lot to imagine. But now, as the morning breeze wavered her long ebony hair tied in a braid and her body was fully clothed in a thick, albeit expensive desert garb, Rani gave a more dignified image.


    The image of what someone would imagine an emir to look like.


    ¡°These are a few of the things I have no control over.¡± Rani continued. ¡°Is it not amusing?¡±


    ¡°I would say your safety is not a laughing matter,¡± Aloe added.


    ¡°Ugh, you sound like Tamara. This did not happen to Hassan, you know? Just because he was better in martial arts and overall stronger, they allowed him to travel alone. Sure, he could dispose of a band of bandits without breaking a sweat, but it is infuriating, nonetheless.¡±


    So that¡¯s the problem. Aloe kept to herself.


    ¡°Do you long for the time you could travel alone?¡± The scribe opted to leave out the princess¡¯ brother out of the conversation. Rani didn¡¯t tend to react well to him.


    ¡°I do not.¡± She answered with surprising confidence. ¡°It is an annoyance, I do not refute that, but I would not trade my position for something as trivial as being able to travel without company.¡±


    ¡°I apologize for the stupidity of my question.¡± Aloe bowed whilst on top of her camel, grabbing the reins a bit too hard.


    ¡°I heard more stupid things before and on a daily basis, fret not.¡± Their eyes locked and Aloe couldn¡¯t help herself but inspect those glowing amethysts. ¡°And conversation is what will keep this travel from becoming stale. I would rather keep up with stupidity than boredom.¡±


    ¡°I can agree to that.¡±


    Ironically enough, the conversation soon died after that. The entourage continued through the desert in silence. Whilst the road between Sadina and Asina was one of the most used in all of Ydaz, there were two of them. The principal route where all trade was centered was paved with either natural hard ground or handmade roads. That road though had the disadvantage of being long. Normally, it didn¡¯t matter much as it passed through other important cities, mainly Aramita, an important coastal city and bustling trading hub in the emirate of Sadina.


    But time was of the essence, and a route that long would set them back days, meaning that they would spend two weeks, if not more with the round trip, alone in the road. The power and new regime were still solidifying in Sadina, so the emir couldn¡¯t afford to leave the emirate for that long.


    So they took the straight route.


    Unlike the main trading route, the short route was a straight line that had almost no infrastructure connecting the cities. There were shallow hints of a used trail, but those vanished easily. The reason why the shortest path between two of the most important cities of the country lacked any supporting infrastructure was simple.


    Sandstorms.


    Whilst Sadina and Asina weren¡¯t known for such phenomena, the space between them wasn¡¯t as fortuitous. That was the reason why they traveled so light, with no carriage even if a princess like Rani could afford one. Outrunning sandstorms, or avoiding them completely, was far more important than commodity and vanity.


    Plus, it was faster this way.


    Soon night came after a day of riding, they were expected to travel for two more days before arriving at Asina. The guards ¨C or rather soldiers as they were no longer in the city ¨C started mounting the camp without being ordered to. Neither Rani nor Aloe were expected to lift a finger. Once they finished mounting the tents, with Rani¡¯s being the biggest one by far, one problem sprouted in Aloe¡¯s mind as she counted the tents.


    ¡°Uhm... Rani?¡± Aloe asked nervously as the two waited around the campfire. The scribe played with her fingers nervously.


    ¡°Yes, Aloe?¡± Even in the dire conditions of the desert, the emir didn¡¯t seem uncomfortable as she looked at the crackling fire, a surprising prospect for someone who was surrounded by luxury every living moment.


    ¡°I just realized... where am I supposed to sleep?¡±


    There were three tents in total, two small ones and Rani¡¯s. The small ones could easily house two adults with room to spare, but there was the small issue that all soldiers were men.


    ¡°Oh, right,¡± Rani commented lazily, her head resting on the back of her hand. ¡°I have always traveled either alone or with sultanzade only, this I have never pondered over such logistics.¡±


    Aloe was surprised that the emir admitted her lack of foresight.


    ¡°Then?¡± The scribe of commoners asked, her nervousness far from soothed.


    ¡°Is it not obvious?¡± The princess turned to face her; the flames reflected in her purple eyes. ¡°You are going to sleep with me.¡±

 Book 2: 85. Sleep

    To say that she was uncomfortable with Rani¡¯s decision, was an understatement. Right now, outside of the encampment site, only she and a soldier remained outside. It was this man¡¯s turn to keep guard, no one wanted to be outside on a desert night even if they could rest beside a campfire. If it wasn¡¯t because Aloe believed the tent was more dangerous.


    There wasn¡¯t an option to sleep with the guards. At first, it could seem like it, but dissatisfying the sultanzade when she had already taken her decision could be equally as dangerous. Trembling like a captured bunny, Aloe made her way to the emir¡¯s tent, which was unsurprisingly more spacious than her house at the oasis.


    Rani rested on a sizeable bed; Aloe was incapable of understanding how the soldiers got it in there when they only brought six camels with them in total. The emir had a book in her hands, candlelight was ever-present in the tent, so many lights on that a commoner couldn¡¯t afford to even light. The princess peacefully read with her lilac nightrobe on, already having forgone her garb a while ago.


    There was something about the sight that bewitched Aloe. The emir¡¯s normal clothes didn¡¯t cover much, and she had already seen the woman in the nude once, yet there was a charm to seeing Rani in her nightgown that no amount of nakedness could achieve.


    ¡°Would you close the door behind you? A lot of cold air is entering.¡± Rani said without removing her eyes from her book.


    ¡°Oh, sorry.¡± Aloe¡¯s cheeks turned red, embarrassed at her distraction, and did as commanded.


    She didn¡¯t know what to do with her equipment and clothing, so first she left her bag on the inside. Taking advantage of Rani¡¯s lack of focus, Aloe took out her own nightgown and silently started undressing, not even letting her clothes hit the ground. Yet no matter how stealthy she tried to be, it didn¡¯t nullify the fact that they were in the same room and in direct line of sight.


    ¡°I have seen you naked already,¡± Aloe came to a sudden halt as soon as Rani started talking, ¡°I do not understand why you are being this shy about changing clothes.¡±


    ¡°I...¡± Her shame was palpable.


    Rani sighed and the rustle of blankets followed. ¡°I will turn if that pleases you. Take your time.¡±


    Aloe couldn¡¯t understand why Rani was so helpful towards her, she could keep staring directly at her and Aloe would be unable to stop her, but the scribe didn¡¯t refuse the princess¡¯ offer. However, she kept looking at the lying woman as she changed. She doubted Rani would lie, and even less take peaks when she could do so much more, but logic didn¡¯t reign on these lands.


    In a matter of minutes, Aloe had removed her desert garb and changed into more comfortable clothing: a set of silken white undergarments and a nightgown. They were, of course, not of her property.


    The scribe took a step forward, leaving the entrance, and her feet met with a smooth red carpet. Does she really need a carpet for her tent on a three-day travel? She was wise to keep her questions on her mind. She stopped walking once she stood next to the bed; her hands locked together in nervousness.


    ¡°Uhm, Rani?¡± Aloe rustled her hands together.


    ¡°Yes?¡± The sultanzade turned her back to face her, closing her book with the satisfying thud of paper.


    ¡°Where am I supposed to sleep?¡± Whilst massive, the tent had no furniture to speak of besides the bed and some chairs plus a table, which Aloe assumed the soldiers had assembled right on the spot. It was plain obvious that there wasn¡¯t any other resting place.


    ¡°What a silly question.¡± Rani smiled at her, her lips inviting with their purple dressing. ¡°In this bed.¡±


    As the princess grabbed the blankets by the top and slightly raised them, Aloe almost collapsed on the ground. Her body stopped breathing, making her manually do it, though instead of the nose, air cycled through her mouth.


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    Aloe wanted to run away.


    ¡°Come on, it is getting cold.¡± Rani patted the bed with her other hand.


    There was no option. She knew this travel was not going to be a safe one, no desert travel was safe. But she didn¡¯t fear the lurkers of the night, but those who were supposed to protect her. Biting her underlip, Aloe made her way into the blankets.


    She has lied. Aloe thought once her body was covered by the blankets. It¡¯s warm here. The scribe¡¯s trail of thought was broken as the blankets rustled once more. This time Rani found herself only a palm away from her. Her nightgown was more translucid than it seemed from afar, the brighter shade of the woman¡¯s nipples showing.


    ¡°I-is something w-wrong?¡± Aloe resisted defaulting into fetal position.


    ¡°No, not at all.¡± The curvaceous woman¡¯s smile unsettled her to no end. Instead of hiding her body, the blankets only highlighted even more the sultanzade¡¯s curves. ¡°I just find you amusing.¡±


    If Aloe were in a better state of mind, she could have easily disregarded the emir¡¯s words and even come on top as they were offensive, giving her the upper hand in an argument by exploiting the ad hominem fallacy. But alas, she didn¡¯t possess that brain power currently.


    ¡°I... uhm...¡± The best thing she could was hide underneath the blankets.


    ¡°Hmm~¡± Through the cloth, Aloe could hear Rani¡¯s smug melody. ¡°Are you not daring? Going down in such a manner?¡±


    Aloe instantly resurfaced her face in painful red upon hearing those words.


    ¡°I- no... I did not... I- uhm... that was not my intention...¡± She had had classes on speech and debate, diplomacy a part of her education, yet Aloe was unable to recall all those lessons as the princess made her twirl on her hand.


    Rani put a hand before her mouth, but no matter how much she tried to cover it, her smile was obvious.


    ¡°Good night.¡± And with that, Rani closed her eyes, as if none of the previous interactions had happened.


    Aloe blinked multiple times but otherwise stayed totally still, waiting for the trap to spring free. But there was none. She waited and waited, but nothing happened. Even as Rani cutely snored, her belly rising up and down at a constant rhythm, she could not believe it.


    Aloe did not sleep that night.


    <hr>


    ¡°I did tell you to sleep.¡± Rani laughed as she whipped her reigns, making the camel start moving.


    You did, in fact, not say that. Even in her sleep-deprived state, Aloe had enough lingering wisdom to not say that to the emir¡¯s face. Yes, indeed, the scribe hadn¡¯t had a single minute of sleep in the whole night, too terrified for... things to happen to do so. Even the soldiers who had to wake up and do turns had more sleep than her.


    ¡°Excuse me, Rani.¡± Aloe made her camel prance forward, her sluggishness wasn¡¯t transferred to the animal, after all. Though her blinks had awkward lengths to them. ¡°I did not want to perturb your sleep in any shape or form.¡±


    ¡°Sure, let us go with that.¡± The princess chuckled. ¡°Though it is surprising you are that shy considering how eager and adventurous you were last night.¡± She raised her voice enough for the soldiers to hear her, accentuating her words carefully.


    Aloe hid in her garb, the obvious lies of the words proving too much for her. She could feel the gazes of the soldiers on her back without needing to look.


    Once again, they set off into the desert in silence. Sometimes small talk would pop up, but it was mostly between the soldiers, Aloe was too tired to talk, and the soldiers wouldn¡¯t bother the emir unless there was an emergency.


    Before she noticed, night came back to haunt them. With tired blinks, Aloe made her way down her mount, only after the camel knelt for her. Even if she fell from the camel¡¯s top height, nothing would happen to her thanks to ¡®toughness¡¯ but maybe it was a bit too suspicious if nothing happened on such occasion. Aloe didn¡¯t know if her movements were dictated by logic, paranoia, or exhaustion.


    Spending a day without sleeping was not something unbeknownst to her, but staying up to do some work was a lot different when you had ridden for two full days in the desert.


    She couldn¡¯t even be bothered to blush as Rani ogled her as she changed into her nightgown. Shame was dead, tiredness was ruler.


    ¡°Hmm~¡± Rani mused once Aloe entered the bed. ¡°Exhaustion suits you well, it makes you cuter.¡±


    ¡°Thanks for the compliments, Rani.¡± Aloe deadpanned, her eyelids heavier than the heavenly dome above. ¡°Now, if you excuse me, I will take you on your previous offer and sleep.¡±


    Without worrying about the possibility of offending the most powerful woman in the emirate, Aloe closed her eyes. The rustling of clothing caressed her ears.


    ¡°You are aware that you are unprotected, right?¡± Rani whispered; her melodious voice a lullaby for the scribe. ¡°I could do anything to you right now.¡± The sultanzade¡¯s prancing fingers felt louder than her voice as they roamed the blanket.


    Logic dictated that if the emir hadn¡¯t done anything before, she wouldn¡¯t now. The scribe hoped she recognized the bluff correctly, though her mind didn¡¯t give her a lot of leeway.


    ¡°Do not wake me if you do so...¡± Aloe tiredly whispered before she lost consciousness, fatigue finally overtaking her.

 Book 2: 86. Asina

    ¡°...up... Wake up...¡± A melodious voice broke through the nothingness. A soft caress on a frigid winter night, a candlelight on a moonless night. Night was the common denominator. ¡°Wake up... otherwise... I may have to...¡±


    Aloe¡¯s eyes shot wide open, not daring the voice to finish that sentence. Like a spring, the scribe¡¯s back bounced off the bed, her torso and legs forming a perfect ninety-degree angle.


    ¡°I am awake!¡± Aloe shouted before realizing her surroundings as Rani looked at her, half-naked. ¡°Eep!¡± The scribe squeaked and hid in the blankets.


    ¡°Why are you hiding? I am the naked one.¡± The princess asked amusedly.


    After quickly checking that her clothes were in place, Aloe calmed down. Nothing happened last night, right? As much as she wanted, she couldn¡¯t ask that question to the only person who knew the answer.


    ¡°I-I s-should not look at your naked b-body, Rani.¡± The hiding woman responded with the first thing that came to her mind.


    ¡°So you can caress my breasts but not watch my naked splendor? You are truly a curious person, Aloe Ayad.¡± Rani giggled. ¡°Anyhow, get up and get dressed. We are already late because someone overslept, and the soldiers still have to disassemble the tent.¡±


    It took a few seconds for Aloe to compute that Rani was talking about her.


    ¡°I... ehm... my apologies!¡± Aloe jumped out of bed as ordered and started undressing.


    Only after she was in her undergarments, she did notice how hostile was the environment as the princess gawked at her, except she had not even worn a single item of clothing by now. Her bronze body contrasted perfectly with her purple makeup, even if the tones had dulled a bit after two days of travel without proper care.


    ¡°Why are you stopping?¡± Rani inquired. ¡°I told you we are pressed for time.¡±


    As much as Aloe wanted to retort with ¡°You are the first one who stopped¡± she knew there was no victory in that argument. Right now, she could only swallow her pride and shame and dress herself. What bothered her more was that Rani showed no pinch of shame as they were both naked in the same room. She felt stupid being the only one feeling that.


    After an hour, the only two women on the entourage got dressed and had their breakfast as the soldiers disassembled the needlessly large tent. As the soldiers fastened the luggage on the camel¡¯s saddles, Rani directed to one with maps.


    ¡°How long until we arrive at Asina?¡± Rani asked the question in everyone¡¯s mind.


    ¡°Hard to say, but we have been lucky that there¡¯s been no sandstorm. So I¡¯d say about today in the afternoon, My Emir.¡± The soldier bowed as he rolled his map.


    ¡°Hmm, not as fast as I would like it, but I have yet to grow accustomed to traveling in a convoy.¡± Even if the princess didn¡¯t sigh, Aloe got the impression that she was internally doing so. ¡°Let us make haste then, I would not like to lose more time.¡±


    The looming arrival brightened everyone¡¯s mood. Conversation was still hard to come by, but the underlying mood was joyful.


    ¡°I have been inquiring about something,¡± Rani asked out of nowhere, which had been a commonplace occurrence on these days. ¡°I told you to pack light as every commodity would be provided by the country, but how is it that your bag is this long?¡±


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    Aloe only carried two bags for their three-day long journey ¨C plus all those extra days that they spent on Asina ¨C unlike the princess who was burdened with material possessions.


    ¡°Ehm...¡± Aloe¡¯s voice trembled, and her cheeks reddened. A calculated movement for once. ¡°You already know why.... Rani.¡±


    ¡°I see, I see.¡± The sultanzade¡¯s smug exuberated triumph. ¡°I cannot wait to see those in action.¡±


    ¡°A-all at its due time.¡± It was a bit pathetic that acting normally implied being weak, but she preferred for the contents of her bag to remain obfuscated.


    The travel resulted far simpler than Aloe had expected, no bandits, monsters, or sandstorms had swept over them. It would have been a more positive experience if she had decided to sleep, but she didn¡¯t regret her decision. If anything, things would get harder from now on. The middle of nowhere felt safer than the heart of the Ydazi Sultanate.


    To entertain herself, Aloe practiced with her vitality. Instead of being her target, her focus was on the camel. She didn¡¯t infuse the animal, that would have been weird and difficult to explain why out of nowhere her mount performed far better than the other ones, but rather she just read the animal¡¯s vitality.


    Vitality and stamina weren¡¯t the same thing, but they were closely related. As the day progressed, Aloe could feel as her camel¡¯s vitality slowly dwindling. But it wasn¡¯t because it used its vitality as she would do with Infusion or Evolution, but rather because the exhaustion cut down its maximum deposit. This was not a new revelation to her, around a month ago she had felt the same lacking in her output after her cycle came in.


    The body¡¯s state is correlated with the vitality¡¯s output, not a new idea, but it¡¯s good I have been able to confirm it with another living being. Worrying about menstruation was pushed to the back of her head as she had more important issues to worry about, even if the day was uncomfortably close. Thank the heavens for ¡®toughness¡¯. That was the main reason why she wasn¡¯t concerned. Her vitality had increased since her last cycle, and considering how well she took that one, she almost expected to not feel the approaching one.


    Her concentration ceased as her camel came to a halt. As Aloe opened her eyes, she was met by the side of an impossible tall blue and white wall. Not only taller than most buildings in Sadina but the sheer decoration ¨C as simple as they may be ¨C screamed riches. There was only one city in the whole country that could afford to be vain with its very defenses.


    They had made it.


    They were finally on Asina.


    Air left Aloe¡¯s mouth in a mix of surprise and awe. Sadina had walls, of course, but they were nowhere near as monumental as the ones before her. It was a statement, it told everyone who saw them that these walls would never fall.


    A snap reached her ears.


    ¡°As much as I understand your stupefaction, we cannot remain in the desert,¡± Rani said. ¡°Lead the way, soldiers!¡±


    Almost automatically, Aloe guided her camel to follow Rani¡¯s. The closer they got to the walls, the more colossal they seemed. Their shadow loomed over them like the very night.


    The doors didn¡¯t fall behind in size, slates of wood and iron bigger than houses. How do they even close those doors? Aloe inquired as they passed them undisturbed. They are as tall or even more than the palm trees at the oasis!


    And yet, her awe didn¡¯t end there.


    The thick darkness cast by the wall¡¯s shadow cleared out at the end of the tunnel, only to reveal a golden city.


    The main venue was far bigger than the main bazaar of Sadina. She would have asked why they would even need streets that wide if it wasn¡¯t because the people already answered that. Even though it was afternoon, thousands of people walked down the venue, a number that only Sadina would get once in a while or during celebrations.


    Everything felt bigger in Asina. The streets were wider, the walls were taller, the houses were greater, and the inhabitants walked with more confidence. Aloe had always felt small her whole life, and whilst right now that was truer than ever, instead of intimidated, she felt elated. A sense of wonder awoke inside of her as the entourage walked uninterrupted through the capital.


    But all sights paled in comparison to the jewel in the middle of the city.


    A colossal dome covered in gold that put the shiny heavens to shame signaled its supremacy, being able to be seen from every corner of the city.


    The palace of Asina shone with power unmatched.


    ¡°Aloe,¡± Upon hearing her name, the scribe turned to face the princess who was grinning. ¡°Your mouth is hanging open.¡±


    Aloe led her hand to her face, and sure enough, her jaw was dropped. But she didn¡¯t blush. For what may be the first and only time, she had no reason to be ashamed. She stood before greatness.

 Book 2: 87. Palace

    The scribe¡¯s eyes kept darting from place to place, trying to devour everything in her line of sight. The capital was expansive, and she wouldn¡¯t have enough time to even get out of the palace, so she wanted to see as much as she could even if it was from her limited position.


    The path to the palace was a straight one. Other cities would have not done that for the sake of defensiveness, but Asina feared nothing. The walls were too strong, and the forces protecting it even more. No army would breach the walls to march uninterrupted to the heart of the city. And even then, they spent half an hour riding. Asina was just that colossal. How do people even get around? A person walking from the palace to the outer walls would take around an hour.


    From that trail of thought, what worried Aloe more, was the walls. Not only was the city surrounded by big enough walls that she doubted siege weaponry was even effective, but then the palace had her own set of battlements. A fort on its own.


    This time, they were interrupted.


    ¡°Earlier than expected, sister.¡± A man covered in white robes with golden embroilments walked in front of them.


    ¡°We had luck with our journey, what can I say.¡± Rani dismounted with a graceful jump; her camel didn¡¯t even notice the movement. ¡°But what about you? Have you been waiting for us all day long, Kareem?¡±


    ¡°You wish.¡± The man ¨C a sultanzade judging by the interaction ¨C blew in derision. ¡°I was bored and so happened to notice you crossing the main gate.¡±


    Noticed us... crossing the main gate? Aloe spun to look at the gate they used to enter Asina, and it was so far away that the mist of the horizon partially blocked the view. How? Ideas started blossoming in her mind, the simplest answer inspiring her. An infusion focused on the eyes perhaps?


    ¡°Can we enter then? As you may assume, brother, we are tired after these three days of travel.¡±


    ¡°But of course, I am no one to stop you, Rani. Not anymore.¡± Kareem made his way to the side and bowed down; a gesture that came burlesque rather than earnest. ¡°Fret not, dearest mother is not yet aware of your arrival, so I recommend you avoiding her until you get some sleep.¡±


    ¡°You read my next movements with precision.¡± It was Rani¡¯s turn to blow air.


    ¡°What can I say? I was always the observant one.¡± The male sultanzade squinted with malice. ¡°And who may this girl be? She must be important to travel with an emir, or not? Is she your concubine, sister?¡±


    The blush came naturally, but Aloe kept her mouth shut. Not only retorting to a sultanzade was short of harsh punishment, but it was obvious that she wasn¡¯t invited into the conversation.


    ¡°You dream too much, Kareem.¡± Rani obfuscated her mouth with her hand. ¡°I am still unchained, whether it may be by marriage or relationships. She is my scribe of commoners.¡±


    Kareem¡¯s eyes darkened at the last word. ¡°Ah, I see.¡± The sultanzade sighed as if he had lost interest. Curiously, that only made Rani smiled more. Though her brother couldn¡¯t see that from his angle. ¡°I will get going then, Khalida must be searching for me.¡±


    ¡°Always the loving brother, are you not?¡± This time, Kareem didn¡¯t respond to the emir¡¯s words. He simply squinted his eyes and disappeared into the walls.


    Rani walked back to the entourage and mounted her camel as if the previous interaction hadn¡¯t happened.


    ¡°Let us get going, shall we not?¡± And with her words, they entered the palace, the guards stationed on the inner walls let them in without a fuss.


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    The sheer size of the palace of Asina became evident as they strode through the gardens surrounding the main building. Is that... a forest? Aloe had never seen a forest as the emirate of Sadina didn¡¯t have one, the closest thing she had was her oasis, and whilst dense in tree quantity, that wasn¡¯t what piqued her interest. How are they this green? And how are these many trees? And what are those? They aren¡¯t palm trees of any kind...


    Everyone knew the name of woods, especially when talking about furniture, but it was a whole different world to see the very trees by themselves. Their foliage and barks went through every possible shade in the green and brown spectrum, the novelty impressed Aloe even though they wouldn¡¯t stand a chance against the majesty of the ter¡¯nar.


    Why is everything this big? Aloe kept asking herself, now as they walked on an interior road. Why do they have interior roads? Awe shifted into desperation, the absurdity of everything stressing out.


    ¡°Stop.¡± Rani motioned with her hand up. ¡°Continuing forward will lead us to the main palace, for today we will go to my wing.¡±


    The soldiers didn¡¯t question the sultanzade and Aloe was too distracted with the architecture to ponder the words ¡®my wing¡¯. The formation shifted, Rani taking the lead and the soldiers shifted back. Born and raised in Sadina, they were as lost as Aloe in these corridors.


    Servants walked out and down the corridors. It was easy to tell who was a noble or a servant. Not only the luxury of the clothing was a dead giveaway, but it was easier to tell by the lack of clothing. Maids were astonishingly beautiful with skimp clothing that highlighted their specific assets, whereas manservants were mostly naked from the torso up and showed their muscled bodies.


    Whether it was men or women, everyone was sexualized in Asina palace.


    Aloe kept her eyes on the ceiling, inspecting the architecture and the paintings, as otherwise, she wouldn¡¯t know what to do with her eyes. She already felt her cheeks heat up. Dunes, the maids back in Sadina were conservative... Lulu¡¯s tight outfit came back to her mind, and it looked modest compared to some of the outfits the scribe saw through the corner of her eyes. Oh, great heavens, those are just strings...


    As her breathing trembled, Aloe decided to close her eyes and let her camel guide her. A few minutes later, they arrived at their destination.


    ¡°The maids will shortly guide you,¡± Rani started, ¡°but to summarize, this room will be for all four of you and the one next door is yours, Aloe.¡±


    Even if the room were just to be a closet ¨C which didn¡¯t seem that bad after seeing the scale of the whole palace ¨C Aloe was just grateful to finally have her own separate resting place.


    ¡°I will be staying in that room at the end of the corridor, you may notify me of any emergencies, otherwise, the servants will be more than happy to assist you. We will meet here tomorrow at first light to meet with Aaliyah. That will be all. You are dismissed.¡±


    Like a coordinated squadron, the soldiers marched into their assigned room and Rani did the same to her own, leaving Aloe all alone in the corridor. The scribe looked from side to side, it was only her encroached by sleek and golden decoration. She heaved up her bags and entered her room.


    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s not a closet.¡± She closed the door with her foot and left the bags on the ground. ¡°Not as big as my bedchamber in Sadina, but it does look more luxurious. Well, time to unpack.¡±


    Aloe didn¡¯t carry many belongings with her, only a single change of clothes and other trinkets she may need. A look at the single wardrobe in the room revealed some clothes for her to wear.


    ¡°Uhm...¡± She picked up a dress with a short skirt and an open chest area. It was the most modest one. ¡°I think I¡¯ll ask the maids for clothes first... But I can¡¯t come out with these clothes...¡± The scribe said as she pinched up the bottom of her dusty garb.


    After fumbling a bit with every piece of clothing in the closet and her own spare set, Aloe put something that wouldn¡¯t make her embarrassed. Before leaving her room, she grabbed a small bottle just in case.


    The sun had already begun settling down, orange lights pouring into the open corridors, but that didn¡¯t mean it was difficult to find a maid to assist her. In minutes, Aloe had a newly changed clothing selection with more modest ¨C though equally astonishing ¨C designs. She felt bad wearing them without showering before, but after talking with the maid that served her, the baths of the palace would be likely full until midnight, meaning she could only maybe get a calm and empty bath then.


    It wasn¡¯t good to trust the snake-tongues, but rumors about the promiscuous Asina baths were too prominent to ignore them. Bathing once everyone was sleeping was her best bet.


    As she organized the lent jewelry, thinking about what may be more appropriate to wear, the room¡¯s door swung wide open revealing a feminine silhouette.


    Aloe didn¡¯t recognize it.

 Book 2: 88. Quicksand

    ¡°Hmm, quite a simple abode for Rani¡¯s first companion.¡± The unknown woman waltzed into Aloe¡¯s room with a confidence that made quite obvious her status. ¡°What is your name, girl?¡±


    Aloe kept her mask up and sturdy, not letting the woman¡¯s openness and intrusiveness bother her. She was in the most hostile and dangerous place in Ydaz, after all.


    ¡°That would be Aloe Ayad, lady...¡± The scribe introduced herself politely, unfazed by being called a girl by a woman who looked barely years older than her.


    ¡°Lady? You are going to make me blush.¡± She laughed heartily. ¡°You may call me Khalida, and as you may have guessed I am Rani¡¯s half-sister and daughter to my mother, the Sultanah Aaliyah-al-Ydaz.¡±


    The number of double meanings in the sultanzade¡¯s words didn¡¯t surprise Aloe at this point. Talking with one always felt like traversing a labyrinth. She presented herself, stated her position, offered a moniker, and asserted her supremacy in a single sentence.


    Khalida was different from Rani. Her skin was darker and less lustrous, and her hair was chestnut instead of black, doting dark green eyes that matched perfectly both her hair and skin. Her body shape, though, was as outrageous as Rani''s. Her build was more muscular than the scribe''s liege but not as quite as Naila¡¯s.


    ¡°Understood, princess Khalida.¡± Aloe bowed formally. Unlike Rani, Khalida didn¡¯t react negatively to the addition of a title to her name. Quite the opposite, she delighted in her superiority. Noted. ¡°May I ask what you require from my person?¡±


    ¡°Not much, really.¡± Khalida walked with long strides around the room, only letting her toes support her body, and finally sat down on the bed. ¡°I was just interested in what type of person Rani brought with her. She¡¯s one of the most popular sultanzade in the palace, even if her skills are lacking. And by what I see, it seems she inherited our mother¡¯s deviancy toward minors.¡±


    Aloe deadpanned harder than she had ever deadpanned. Her expression was a monument to impassivity, stone itself incarnated.


    ¡°I think there is a confusion present,¡± Aloe stated slowly and diplomatically. ¡°I am an adult.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, sure. You are an adult, righty!¡± The princess juggled her hands amusedly and winked at her. The scribe remained unblinking for half a minute looking at her. ¡°Dunes. You are an adult.¡±


    ¡°Aloe Ayad, scribe of commoners of the emirate of Sadina, eighteen years old.¡± Aloe presented herself again, her tone devoid of any emotion.


    ¡°Oh well, that does not change anything.¡± Khalida shrugged, ignoring her. ¡°Rani and Mother are like two grains of sand; it makes sense they have the same small taste in short people. Well, everyone¡¯s shorter than Mother anyways...¡± The princess kept rambling to herself, and Aloe did the next best thing which was staying still and smiling until she stopped.


    ¡°Do you require of my services any further?¡± Aloe asked with a mask so fake that anyone who had known her for half a day would have noticed it wasn¡¯t her.


    ¡°Yup, one question.¡± Khalida jumped out of the bed, her crotch revealed to Aloe from the jump and her breast almost spilling out of her loose clothes. ¡°Are you a virgin?¡± Aloe blushed slightly beyond her control. ¡°Yeah, I sensed as much. What is Rani playing...¡± The sultanzade muttered as she made her way out of the room, not even bothering to close the door.


    WHAT IN ALL IS SACRED IS WRONG WITH THE SULTANZADE? Aloe screamed in the confines of her mind, grabbing her head to keep her dwindling sanity from escaping, shouting with her mouth closed. Why do they keep asking if I¡¯m a virgin? Do I look that much like a virgin? Aloe felt as if her eyes were going to pop out of her head as she kept tightening her grab.


    It took a solid minute of squishing before Aloe relaxed and even thought about taking a breath.


    ¡°Not a good start...¡± Aloe groaned with a hint of madness and left her room.


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    The last remnants of the sun still illuminated the sky, but in a few minutes that would be all gone. There were still a few hours before midnight, so Aloe decided to explore the palace.


    Not even night could bring down the life in Asina palace. The sheer amount of lighting in the palace made it so it seemed like a cloudy afternoon rather than night, and the people running across the corridors didn¡¯t seem to be dragged down by sleep. Considering the magnitude of nobles and imperials that are living under this roof, I guess they have servants solely dedicated to the night shift.


    Aloe walked slowly, maintaining her head up and with confidence. She may be a commoner in a place of nobility and royalty, but getting confused for a servant would be counterproductive, especially when she was wearing clothes this expensive. She was the scribe of commoners of the emirate of Sadina, maybe not a noble but a diplomat, nonetheless. She had rights and immunity to every noble¡¯s whim here, though that didn¡¯t extend to the sultanzade. I need to check the legal code...


    Her wandering without a destination brought her outside to a garden. Enormous torches were set up along the stone pathway that broke the blush garden in two. In the middle of it, a gazebo stood imposing. People were conversing inside, their expressions light and their clothes distinctive. She hadn¡¯t seen many sultanzade in her stroll, but she had seen more than most would.


    Regardless of the weather and gender, the children of the Sultanah preferred loose and skimp clothing, the more luxurious the better. And only one person of the many in the gazebo fit that description. Aloe stood still a few steps away from the edification and observed the talking people. One maid was standing up serving the others, the nobles surrounding the sultanzade were women, but so was the sultanzade. It didn¡¯t surprise her when the sultanzade caressed a brunette noblewoman¡¯s breast. Not only were sultanzade openly bisexual, but from the expressions and closeness, all these nobles must have been her retinue.


    Whether it was for pleasure or business.


    ¡°Girls, girls, relax~¡± The sultanzade whispered relaxingly. ¡°We have company. Who may you be, young one?¡±


    Alright, this is the second time someone has confused me with a minor. They have no children here or something? Aloe focused more on that comment than the fact she had been standing still for so long that a sultanzade caught her.


    ¡°Aloe Ayad,¡± She bowed down almost to ninety degrees, ¡°personal scribe to Emir Rani-al-Sadina.¡±


    Instead of presenting herself as the scribe of commoners, which would have revealed her status as a commoner and the sultanzade didn¡¯t seem to like that, Aloe decided to just state her relationship with Rani. It wasn¡¯t wrong nor omission of truth, she was Rani¡¯s personal scribe after all.


    ¡°Oh.¡± The sultanzade expressed with true amazement. ¡°I was aware of Rani¡¯s coming visit, but not her escort. Has she sent you to keep an eye on me?¡±


    That look... Suspicion, Aloe knew it. She and Rani may not have the best relationship, dunes.


    ¡°I am afraid that is not the case, honorable sultanzade.¡± She could have used the ¡®venerable¡¯ honorific, but sultanzade tended to have a warrior¡¯s spirit, so ¡®honorable¡¯ was the better bet. ¡°I was just enjoying the beauty of the palace and happened to stumble on this glamorous gazebo. I regret to inform you that I do not know your name.¡±


    Inferiority.


    Appealing to superiority and stating inferiority was how she needed to play. It would have been an offense for a local noble to not know a sultanzade, but Aloe was foreign and protected by one herself. She acknowledged that and offered the sultanzade an opportunity to reveal her name.


    ¡°Hmm~¡± The princess hummed deep in thought. It was easy to see that she thought of Aloe as a spy. ¡°Oh well, there is nothing much she can get.¡± She whispered openly for everyone to hear. ¡°Remember my name for you have met Fatima Asina, of the Northern Wind!¡± The loosely clothed woman stated proudly with a hand on her chest.


    And that was one thing the sultanzade could boast above her sisters. Fatima was without a doubt the most buxom sultanzade Aloe had seen. Other aspects of her body were lackluster compared to the others, though. Only her muscular body ¨C once again not as hardened as Naila''s ¨C was highlightable. However, she could still snap Aloe in two with a single hand if she weren''t using ''toughness''.


    I guess that title must mean something. Aloe remained impassive, though not quite deadpanning as that could be taken as an offense. First time I have seen a sultanzade present themselves with a title. Is she important or does she have an inferiority complex? She may be overthinking, but every word was as valuable as electrum right now.


    ¡°But please, do not stand there.¡± Fatima herself stood up with her words. ¡°Sit down with us, I would like to hear how the rich city of Sadina is faring right now.¡±


    Open hand from a sultanzade, refusing tends to end in hand chopping. The scribe thought coldly recalling laws and rumors but took a step forward. Every tile was quicksand, and she was in a sandstorm. No matter how dangerous the path her actions and words may lead her to, they were nothing compared to the fear she felt at the sheer prospect of meeting the Sultanah of Ydaz. She had already resolved her heart even from before the journey to Asina started.


    I¡¯m either going to come out of here covered in gold... or not at all.


    Aloe stepped on the gazebo floor.

 Book 2: 89. Debauchery

    Her presence wasn¡¯t felt across the gazebo, the garden structure was big enough to support twice as many people inside. Aloe sat close to the maid ¨C who was standing up ¨C yet opposite to the sultanzade. Fatima was surrounded by nobles, one woman at each arm. The relaxed posture with the curved back and open legs resembled more the position a sedentary man would take.


    There was a statement to that posture too, Fatima was relaxed and lacking manners, exacerbating her superiority. Whilst Aloe had to sit down with a straight back and the maid had to stand upright, the sultanzade could lay as if it were her bed. Just as if it was prompted by Aloe¡¯s thoughts, Fatima raised her naked feet and put them on top of the table at the center.


    Isn¡¯t she cold? It¡¯s chilly out here. It may seem moronic, but rambling in one¡¯s thoughts was a good way to free the pressure given off by other interlocutors.


    ¡°What would you like to hear about Sadina, princess Fatima?¡± Aloe used the same title scheme she had used to refer to sultanzade Khalida.


    ¡°Anything works, really.¡± Fatima looked at her nails, feigning disinterest. Unlike Rani, subtlety was not this sultanzade¡¯s specialty. ¡°Though I have heard something about a plague. Have we not, Hafsa?¡±


    ¡°Indeed, my Liege.¡± Hafsa, the noble at Fatima¡¯s right, responded. ¡°It would appear it is related to your brother¡¯s disinheritance.¡±


    My liege? Well, here we have a cocksucker. Clitsucker? A person pleaser. Aloe humored herself in her thoughts. A sultanzade with a surname like Fatima wouldn¡¯t have land, meaning she cannot have vassals. Hafsa is certainly with her for personal interest.


    ¡°Emir Hassan certainly was lax with his handling of the recent outbreak, and it led to some fatalities all around the emirate,¡± Aloe explained carefully, mostly pushing shit into Hassan¡¯s name. Rani would appreciate that as per her previous interactions related to her half-brother. She did her best to keep her mother¡¯s memory out of her mind. ¡°We had to enact some policies and quarantines,¡± You need to glorify Rani more, Aloe, ¡°but that would not have been possible without the foresight of my Emir. Rani was trying to put a stop to the plague far before Has-¡°


    ¡°Rani?¡± Fatima interjected her with a toothy grin. ¡°It seems you are closer to your emir as you let on, Aloe Ayad.¡±


    Even with one woman at each hand, Fatima could not replicate but a tenth of Rani¡¯s innate charm, so even as the sultanzade highlighted her mistake, Aloe didn¡¯t blush. That would have put her on a lower playing field she might not even recover.


    ¡°Rani has ordered me to call her that, with the explicit remark that only the Sultanah Aaliyah-al-Ydaz may change that.¡± The scribe continued calmly. ¡°That reminds me that I have not asked how you would like to be referred to as, princess Fatima. My apologies.¡± And ended with a shallow bow.


    ¡°The current way is fine.¡± The sultanzade clarified with deject. ¡°So you are saying that Hassan¡¯s disinheritance is because of this plague?¡±


    ¡°I would not dare to badmouth a sultanzade, no matter if-¡°


    ¡°Of course not,¡± Fatima added as a matter of fact.


    ¡°-he does no longer hold those privileges and title.¡± Aloe finished unperturbed. ¡°But it has been objective outlook that Hassan¡¯s non-intervention has caused a lot of damage to the emirate. As for if that is the definitive reason to why he was disinherited, I am not the person suited to talk about that.¡±


    ¡°Right, silly me.¡± The sultanzade admitted her fault with a smile, acknowledging her misstep and giving Aloe a bit more footing in the conversation. ¡°Now, I may not be a diplomat like you, but I can recognize when people want something. So tell me, Aloe Ayad, what do you want from me.¡±


    ¡°I would not be so crude to say I want something from you, princess Fatima.¡± Gracefully, Aloe took a glass bottle out of her clothes. ¡°But rather, what I can offer you.¡±


    ¡°Scribe of commerce, are you?¡± Aloe simply smiled at the sultanzade¡¯s words.


    Hooked. That was her plan all along. She had not presented her exact role for this reason. There were no lies in her words, for she had not talked. Now Fatima just thought she was dealing with a business-seeking scribe of commerce.


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    ¡°I will bite,¡± Fatima removed her legs from the table and fixed her posture. ¡°What is that you are offering me?¡±


    Aloe took a deep breath and channeled her grittiest mask. ¡°An aphrodisiac.¡±


    ¡°An aphrodisiac you say...¡± The sultanzade puffed and smiled. ¡°I can believe why you think I would be interested in that. But let me ask you another question. Do you think I am stupid enough to drink an unspecified substance from a stranger?¡±


    Aloe held for her dear life to not say: Yes. Sometimes comedy got the better of people, Aloe tried not to be one of those.


    ¡°I would not even dare to imply that,¡± Aloe pushed the yellow bottle forward. ¡°And it is not you who would need it in any case. This is a potent aphrodisiac that will make the tamest of people succumb to carnal desire.¡±


    ¡°And how potent is that? Do not use similes on me.¡±


    ¡°Instant arousal, for starters.¡± The scribe talked slowly, mostly because she was nervous. ¡°Do not misunderstand my words, though. When I say it is potent, I am being serious. Two spoons may be too much for normal people.¡±


    ¡°I see...¡± Unexpectedly, Fatima carefully thought about it. Aloe had believed she would either take the offer instantly or refuse it without a second thought. ¡°How about a teaspoon, would that be enough to make someone succumb?¡±


    Got her. ¡°Indeed.¡±


    ¡°Nasira, teaspoon,¡± Fatima ordered and extended her hand.


    Wordlessly, the maid ¨C who Aloe guessed she was Nasira ¨C offered her a teaspoon. With uncanny agility, Fatima reached for the bottle before Aloe could react and dumped a few drops of the contents into the teaspoon. Fearing the worst, Aloe clenched her teeth.


    Her fears were quickly dismissed as she was not Fatima¡¯s target, but her own maid. Without doubting or letting a drop fall, Fatima shoved the spoon into Nasira¡¯s mouth.


    Nasira¡¯s eyes shot wide open, but she didn¡¯t spit the yellow liquid.


    ¡°Now, Nasira be a good girl and swallow it.¡±


    Partially scared, Nasira obeyed and audibly swallowed the aphrodisiac. Not even a few seconds later, the maid¡¯s cheeks began to gain color. At first, it seemed like an illusion from the candid light of the garden¡¯s torches, but as soon as the maid began panting, all those doubts were cleared.


    ¡°Nasira, how are you feeling?¡± Even a simple question felt like a harsh order in Fatima¡¯s mouth.


    ¡°It¡¯s sweet, princess,¡± Nasira said between pants. ¡°And hot~¡± The maid¡¯s candor was already visible through her eyes.


    ¡°Good, good.¡± Fatima filled another teaspoon with the diluted nectar. ¡°Hafsa, would be you so dear to try it?¡±


    The noble nodded and approached her lips to the spoon, drinking its contents as the sultanzade still grabbed the teaspoon. This time it took slightly more for the effects to show, but nonetheless, in a matter of seconds Hafsa was blushing with desire.


    ¡°Oh, my liege~¡± The noble moaned. ¡°This might be the real deal. This cannot compare to anything I have tried before.¡±


    ¡°I have only been but truthful.¡± Aloe took the opportunity to speak. ¡°What do you think then, princess Fatima?¡±


    ¡°Hold your camels, Aloe Ayad. I have yet to see it in action.¡± Before Aloe could ask what she was talking about, Fatima continued. ¡°Hafsa, Nasira, go at it.¡±


    As if they were actual leashed camels who had been set free, the two women jumped at each other in a passionate kiss, wet noises coming from the exchange every time they tried to gasp for air. The maid was pushed down on the table, but that didn¡¯t mean she remained still as she undressed her mistress¡¯ companion with practiced moves, uncovering her chest and promptly caressing it.


    This wasn¡¯t like the time Aloe had to wash Rani¡¯s body, there was an underlying desire. Nasira grabbed Hafsa¡¯s breasts and massaged them, alongside pinching her nipples. The rough but careful movements pushed the noble out of the kiss as Hafsa moaned.


    Irritated by the maid¡¯s audacity, Hafsa ripped the maid¡¯s outfit open and revealed the woman¡¯s chest. Instead of being passionate and playful like Nasira, the noblewoman was more visceral and bit her teats. What surprised Aloe was the lack of a scream. Noises came out of the maid¡¯s mouth, but they weren¡¯t sounds of pain, but pleasure.


    More than a moan, it was a howl.


    Not even as she was devoured in more than one sense, Nasira kept pleasing Hafsa, carefully undressing her unlike the savage noble, and revealing Hafsa¡¯s overflowing cunt. The maid shoved two fingers inside instantly, more liquids coming out of the cavity, as Hafsa¡¯s moans filled the place.


    ¡°Oh heavens!¡± Hafsa¡¯s back arched more than it should with her moans. ¡°You slutty servant, you dare only use only your fingers?¡± The noblewoman pinned Nasira¡¯s hand and stood up, revealing her naked body and wet sex to everyone on the gazebo. Without losing a second, she sat down on the maid¡¯s face. ¡°Come on, suck!¡±


    Nasira didn¡¯t struggle for freedom but rather restarted her caresses with more impetus as she used her tongue to pleasure Hafsa¡¯s vagina.


    All of this happening barely a few palms from Aloe¡¯s face.


    Oh. Her trail of thought was totally lost. Oh. She didn¡¯t know what to think. Her aphrodisiac wasn¡¯t that effective, so it meant the two women were used to such activities, nonetheless, their eagerness took the scribe out of her game. Oh.


    ¡°Well, you can count me pleased, scribe.¡± Aloe hadn¡¯t even noticed that Fatima had stood up, only once she set her hand on her shoulder. ¡°Here, for the inconvenience.¡± The sultanzade put a drupnarea on Aloe¡¯s hand. ¡°I am convinced this will more than pay for the aphrodisiac.¡±


    Fatima shook the bottle in front of Aloe¡¯s eyes before she sat down back on her seat to enjoy the show, but Aloe¡¯s mind wasn¡¯t there. The scribe could not care about how the sultanzade had taken one of her bottles or how she had paid with a coin with the value of a thousand drupnars.


    No.


    Aloe¡¯s mind was in the display of debauchery unfolding right before her eyes for this was the first time she had seen someone in the act. A first time she didn¡¯t even know that existed.

 Book 2: 90. Sultanah

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 Book 2: 91. Deal

    It was impossible to not be intimidated by Aaliyah-al-Ydaz, her whole existence exuded a royal aura. The Sultanah and her daughter locked gazes as Aloe knelt, not daring to look.


    ¡°I already told you what I told you,¡± Rani responded. ¡°It is not my fault you created false expectations in your own.¡±


    ¡°Hmm~¡± Aaliyah-al-Ydaz hummed, the sweet noise nectar for the ears. ¡°Perhaps you are right. You have not told her anything, have you?¡±


    ¡°What do you think, Aaliyah?¡± Even though Rani stood up with her chest out, Aloe could feel the emir¡¯s uneasiness. Considering how she was faring way worse than her, the scribe couldn¡¯t blame her.


    ¡°Right,¡± The Sultanah didn¡¯t elaborate further and crossed her legs, the gesture coming out overtly salacious and graceful even when the woman¡¯s thighs were thicker than Aloe¡¯s torso. ¡°Tell me, scribe,¡± Aloe jumped at being mentioned even when Aaliyah-al-Ydaz hadn¡¯t said anything yet, ¡°what do you do in my daughter¡¯s court?¡±


    Aloe took a deep breath; she couldn¡¯t afford to stutter like she did with Rani.


    ¡°I am her scribe of commoners, My Sultanah.¡± The petite woman¡¯s voice came out surprisingly smoothly.


    ¡°Nothing more?¡± Aloe could feel the Sultanah squint even if she had only a line of sight of her legs.


    ¡°I am afraid that is my only duty.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± Aaliyah-al-Ydaz responded with apparent unconcern. ¡°You may leave now; I have more interest in a discussion with my daughter.¡±


    Aloe knew better than to talk back to the most powerful woman in the country, if not the world. The scribe stood up and bowed, and as she turned to walk away, she got a glance at Rani. The wariness in her visage made her skip a heartbeat. She had never seen weakness in Rani, and it was now overflowing.


    Aloe rushed out of the room, fearing overtaking her.


    No one talked to her as she left the audience hall, not even Rani¡¯s soldiers, who seemed to be waiting for her. On a better occasion she would have waited for her liege, but as her hands and legs trembled, she rushed out of the palace with feigned tranquility.


    ¡°Oh dunes,¡± She puffed out all the air she had been holding since the audience and grabbed her chest. Her heart threatened to pop out of it. ¡°That... that was something.¡±


    She couldn¡¯t even begin to describe the sheer intimidation that assaulted her, that rattled her bones and shook her body. The scribe expected the conversation to go on for way longer, but she was immensely grateful for that not being the case. The Sultanah¡¯s presence alone was enough to throw her game off. A longer interaction would have broken her.


    ¡°Is it over now? Is that all?¡± Aloe whispered breathlessly.


    As if the sands of fate had been aggravated by her words, someone talked behind her. ¡°What is over exactly?¡± Aloe recognized that voice.


    ¡°Oh. Greetings, princess Fatima.¡± The scribe saluted the sultanzade who had ¡®bought¡¯ her aphrodisiac to the best of her limited capabilities. ¡°I just so happened to have the pleasure to meet with your mother, the Sultanah.¡±


    ¡°Yes, truly a pleasure, was it not?¡± Sarcasm overflowed the princess¡¯ mouth. ¡°I can understand your current emaciated state, then.¡±


    Perhaps it was the exhaustion from meeting the Sultanah, but Aloe had more difficulties reading Fatima¡¯s expressions than she had a few hours ago.


    ¡°Would you require something from me, princess Fatima?¡± Aloe put on her most diplomatic mask.


    ¡°Who do you take me for?¡± The sultanzade led her hand to her generous chest in faux offense. ¡°Of course I require your assistance. And you may know exactly why.¡±


    After the shock of Fatima¡¯s scare cleared from her body, Aloe noticed the irritation on the woman¡¯s eyes, alongside forming bags and dry skin.


    ¡°Have you...¡± Aloe didn¡¯t even know if she wanted to finish that sentence. ¡°...been occupied all night?¡±


    Fatima didn¡¯t respond, instead opting to show the scribe a toothy smile. A gesture spoke more than a thousand words.


    ¡°How many of these bottles do you have?¡± The interest busted out of the sultanzade¡¯s eyes.


    Yup, hooked. Even if she had piqued the interest of a sultanzade, Aloe couldn¡¯t afford to be careless with the promotion of her aphrodisiac. She doubted they would pay her a drupnarea for every bottle and she had to avoid monopoly.


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    ¡°Not many I am afraid. It is a product of my own invention and besides being difficult to produce, I do not possess much time to elaborate it in the first place.¡± The intent to create scarcity was obvious in the scribe¡¯s words. But it couldn¡¯t be said she had lied. It was true she didn¡¯t have much time to herself, and whilst the Grace¡¯s Exaltation produced a lot of nectar by herself, there was only one in the whole world, so it could be justified it was difficult to produce. No untruths had left her mouth, only half-truths.


    Fatima herself remained pensive, not speaking any further but instead keeping the words to herself.


    ¡°May I ask something, princess Fatima?¡±


    ¡°Go on,¡± The sultanzade allowed her and guided her to speak forth with a hand gesture.


    ¡°Have you already used up the whole bottle?¡± Wariness filtered through Aloe¡¯s visage.


    In a single bottle of aphrodisiac lay way more Grace¡¯s Exaltation nectar than the single fingernail Aloe had first consumed. And that was almost enough to lead her to a pink-infused madness. She worried that Fatima¡¯s entourage, especially the maid may not be able to recover from that.


    ¡°Heavens, no!¡± Fatima laughed. ¡°Maybe a fifth between all of us, but not more. A teaspoon lasts more than enough for a person, though higher doses are... quite exciting.¡± The sultanzade bit the corner of her lip, eyes flaring with lust. ¡°But you were right, Aloe Ayad. I cannot even imagine what would have happened if some of my girls had more than two spoons! Oh yes, they would be passionate, but they were already devastated when the effects faded out! They would have fucked themselves to death!¡±


    The sultanzade¡¯s humor proved too morbid for Aloe¡¯s liking, even if the princess was enjoying herself greatly chuckling at her words.


    ¡°Anyway, you can guess why I wanted to see you.¡± Fatima approached Aloe and clasped her surprisingly muscular arm around her neck. ¡°This aphrodisiac of yours cannot be hidden. Two bottles may be even more than enough. I can give you two more drupnarea if you promise me to not share it with other sultanzade.¡±


    Aloe took a deep breath, mostly worried about the arm around her neck. Fatima felt way stronger than Naila, and she could already snap her easily.


    ¡°I am afraid I do not have two bottles in my possession.¡± Aloe lied.


    She did have exactly two, but she wanted to save the last one just in case.


    ¡°Hmm~¡± Fatima hummed exactly like her mother did a few minutes ago. Whilst she was not as beautiful as her mother nor as similar to her as Rani, she did share her ebony hair. ¡°New offer then, the two bottles for a fajatea, and you will not disclose any of this with more sultanzade.¡±


    Aloe¡¯s eyes almost shot wide open at the mention of a fajatea. It was the biggest coin in the country after all. Thanks to her dealings as a banker¡¯s apprentice, she had seen drupnarea before, but never fajatea. Those big gold coins had the value of five thousand drupnars, let alone a camel or horse, with that you could buy a whole state! It was hard to not be tempted by such fortune.


    ¡°I already told you I do not-¡°


    ¡°Shh...¡± Fatima interjected and pressed her index finger on Aloe¡¯s lips. It smelled sweet yet saltiness lingered on its touch. ¡°Now, now. We both know you are not being truthful. I am not that stupid. Take that offer, would you?¡± And she put ever-so-slightly more force on her yoke.


    If Aloe hadn¡¯t met Naila or Aaliyah-al-Ydaz, she would have probably cried and begged for her life. But not here. Fatima wasn¡¯t a grain as intimidating as the woman herself. Calmness made for better negotiations.


    ¡°I accept, only, under the terms that the payment is effectuated with coins smaller than drupnarea.¡± Otherwise, the fajatea would be useless to me. She left the last part unmentioned, not because it was offensive, but rather because it was obvious. A coin with the acquisitive power of a house was useless when dealing with everyday expenses.


    The sultanzade playfully buffed and separated from Aloe¡¯s neck, twirling around happily before stopping right in front of the scribe.


    ¡°Deal!¡± Fatima offered her hand.


    ¡°Done deal.¡± And Aloe closed it by shaking her hand.


    ¡°You can expect the payment to arrive in a box around this afternoon. I will likely not be there myself but offer the bottles to whoever I sent.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡± The scribe nodded.


    She had gained incommensurable fortune in a single instant, probably skyrocketing her to one of the wealthiest people in Sadina in liquid assets, yet Aloe couldn¡¯t shake the feeling that she had somehow got scammed. As if Fatima had more to gain from the transaction than her.


    As she no longer had a trading token nor reasons to interact with sultanzade, Aloe spent the rest of the day exploring the palace. Its beauty was something that needed days to be fully comprehended, not hours. Even as afternoon approached, Rani made no signs of life, which worried the scribe. Logic dictated that she was still in the audience hall or with her mother, but she was too afraid to check.


    True to her words, Fatima sent someone to recover the aphrodisiac bottles a few hours after lunchtime. Her maid, Nasira, knocked on her door and presented her with a box filled with fajati, big silver coins. The chest was not only sizeable for a money coffer but also heavy. A fajati was equivalent to fifty drupnars, meaning a hundred of them were on the box.


    Aloe was surprised when the maid poured the coins out on her desk, but once she asked for the aphrodisiac bottles, everything made sense. Nasira carefully wrapped the bottles and deposited them in the box, which she also locked. When Fatima told her to not tell no sultanzade about the aphrodisiacs, she hadn¡¯t believed she would be this secretive about them.


    After counting the coins and checking that, in fact, there were a hundred of them, Nasira made her way out of the room. This amount of wealth could no longer be considered savings, but a fortune. A well-paid commoner in the city would need to work for three years straight to get this much money.


    Three years of payment.


    The numbers almost lost their meaning. It didn¡¯t sound as much at first, but considering more than ninety percent of that money went to plain survival, it made much more sense. To save up that much money ¨C if a commoner could even afford to do that ¨C they would need to work for thirty years.


    It took Aloe a few hours to make the three aphrodisiac bottles.


    The sudden influx of wealth almost made her pass out. What would happen if she sold more of her products?


    The only thing that snapped her back to reality was the slow knock on her door. Aloe stood up and opened it, only to be met by an unknown maid with fair skin and blond hair. A rarity so great to see in Sadina that Aloe could confidently tell this was the first blonde person she had seen up close.


    ¡°Yes?¡± Aloe asked, partially disconcerted by the golden radiance of the maid¡¯s hair.


    ¡°The Sultanah summons you.¡± The maid uttered words of utter desolation.

 Book 2: 92. Karaim

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 Book 2: 93. Past

    It all started more than half a century ago, back in the reign of my mother, the sultanah Kira-al-Ydaz. Not many people remember it after decades of peace, but this country used to be quite belligerent. Kyra was not a good ruler. Yes, she managed a lot of victories in battle and gained the country a lot of land, but beyond that, she was useless. What good does more sand do to a country? A unified desert does nothing, but fertile land is what matters. A warrior shouldn¡¯t be a ruler, that was something I always told myself.


    Back then I was a hopeful teenager, yet to learn the many truths of our family or lose my virginity, my mind was great and always looking for knowledge, I couldn¡¯t be more unlike Kyra. Education laws were also lacking if not null in that time, so my older siblings saw my intellect as something to be fostered. Yes, my siblings, not my mother. I doubt she knew the names of half of us.


    Now, it wasn¡¯t like my siblings were magnanimous. They knew how succession worked, only the most powerful or influential sultanzade would be the next Sultan or Sultanah. But I, a Nurtureless teenager, wasn¡¯t considered a menace, not yet. And by making a scholar out of me, they would have another enemy less to worry about.


    As you may see, shot them right in the back.


    Returning to the story, I was sent to the University of Asina, the oldest institution in the country. There, even as a teenager, I excelled. Not that surprising when I had a better education than most of the professors and scholars there. Funnily enough, I decided to specialize in education. My mother¡¯s stupidity always enraged me. Yes, she won battles, but they were costly and she employed moronic strategies, if they could be even called that. She only won through sheer force.


    I vowed to myself to make Ydaz a wiser country, not dictated by strength but by intellect.


    Why are you surprised? Haven¡¯t you seen what I have done with this country? My children are more knowledgeable than the brightest minds of Khaffat, and the average citizen is literate. All foreign countries want a piece of the intellect in Ydaz. You see, countries are ruled by minds and stomachs. If your country cannot feed its people, it will disappear, but the Sultans already took care of that. Everyone was more stupid back then, so I proposed to myself to make intellect an export.


    And it worked.


    The greatest export of Ydaz right now isn¡¯t glass or gems, but skilled manpower. Half of the merchants in other countries are Ydazi because most people out there don¡¯t even know basic mathematics. Kings, Dukes, Bishops... all have Ydazi people in their courts because we are just more educated.


    All of this started because I hated my mother.


    Now, with all of this in mind, you can understand how I became prominent in scholarly circles. Aaliyah Asina, the greatest scholar of her age, they said!


    And they were right.


    I fomented knowledge, and the knowledge came back to me.


    It was during that time, barely years since I became my crusade of knowledge, that I met them.


    Umar and Karaim.


    They were a duo of peculiar scholars. They had a fascination with plants that I had never seen before. The gardens of the university became more vibrant since they arrived, and as a seeker of any knowledge, I talked with them.


    I expected tactics on how to revitalize ground and cultivate with greater efficiency, but instead found blossoming minds.


    Whilst Umar was older than me, Karaim was around my age, the son of a landlord. More of a farmer than an actual noble. His goal back then was simple, take more use of the poor and barely arable soil of his terrain and grow crops. He hoped that with more crops, their family could sustain their terrain and become real nobles. Those greedy goals slowly shifted with time.


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    Umar was more of a mystery to me, that was why I stayed, to decipher that coolheaded man who had more bloodthirst than my siblings. Umar didn¡¯t care about quantity, but quality. He wanted better and more efficient plants, he specialized in medicinal plants, you see.


    An apothecary, a farmer, and a princess.


    The perfect start for a joke, don¡¯t you think?


    Days turned into weeks, and weeks into months. What surprised me about them is that they progressed, thanks to me they got a sample of the sultanah¡¯s blood, and they experimented and examined what made a single drop turn fertile for a while. By themselves alone, they discovered vitality. Or rather, they rediscovered it, it wasn¡¯t a secret to me, after all.


    But you already know that, don¡¯t you?


    Don¡¯t act surprised, Ayad. I can feel your heartbeat accelerating. I know you are familiar with vitality. I can even sense your stance.


    Hmm, that actually surprised you? Maybe that moron didn¡¯t tell you all. He probably just experimented with you without you knowing about it.


    We have deviated too much from the main subject.


    Where I was? Right, vitality.


    It was then that I decided to share a bit of my knowledge with them. I hid it as if it were new discoveries, but Umar saw through my lies, it was then that I discovered he was a hashashid. I managed to fool Karaim for a while, though.


    With our three minds combined, we discovered more about vitality than anyone else before. Ydaz was already the leading force in vitality, other countries barely knew its existence or kept it so hidden that the knowledge died with their owners. Our governmental structure and carnal religion are mostly to thank for that initial progress, other countries got held back by opposite ideas of vitality. Imagine your own belief being antithetical to power. Laughable.


    I used our investigations to advance what the imperial family knew about Nurture, now even the simplest of concepts seem trivial, but back then they simply didn¡¯t exist. A cultivator of this age could give previous sultans a run for their money.


    Wait, you don¡¯t know what Nurture is? Rani left you in the blind too? Poor girl. I thought we were on an equal playing field, but it would seem I overestimated you too much. Eh, doesn¡¯t matter. Knowledge is power, but an ant cannot topple an elephant.


    I suppose Rani didn¡¯t tell you either about Enlightenment? Yeah, guessed us much.


    Anyways, Umar used our findings to develop Enlightenment to greater heights. I think that was the beginning of the end of our understanding, the three of us. The assassins won more from those discoveries than the cultivators did.


    A few months later, having grown fed up with the assassin business, I gave Umar an ultimatum. My reputation was too big by now and he knew he couldn¡¯t assassinate me without consequences. And he knew that I would kill him without a doubt, him and every assassin-adjacent individual in Asina. Their tumor had gone long unchecked by the disaster of my mother. Asina would not become another assassin stronghold.


    For better or worse, the division between us would sour his relationship with Karaim, and he needed him more than I. In the end, we separated. Umar and Karaim run away together to Sadina, the latter unable to comprehend what was happening.


    However, the story didn¡¯t end quite there. The reason why we had fallen out of grace was mainly because of me, of my last action.


    Karaim had a talent for manipulating vitality, even if his reserves were pathetic. Even worse than the average child. But I had yet to increase my own then. So his last favor was to dote me with a stance. A second stance.


    Those shining eyes... you don¡¯t know about it, but you have an idea of what I¡¯m talking about, right?


    I was left alone in Asina then. But I was magnanimous and managed to get Karaim a sizable coin purse and a family name. For Umar? I kicked him in the balls, but unlike Karaim, that wouldn¡¯t be the last time I would see him. Oh no, it wasn¡¯t.


    As for me? A few years later, after reaping, training, and putting into practice our discoveries... I killed my mother.


    How come that face? You surely already know how the story goes.


    Obviously, that made me Sultanah. Whilst not as strong as my siblings, I was more intelligent. And more versatile. Not only did I know more stances, but I could use more of them. But I¡¯m not a warrior, but a scholar. And after having spent years with a hashashid at my side, I had tactics that didn¡¯t involve violence. Only blood.


    Subterfuge isn¡¯t the tool of the cowards but the shrewd. Remember that.


    I poisoned a third of my siblings, beat another third into a pulp, and then terrified the others into submission. Some left the country, others died ¨C whether it was on battles I sent them to or through other means ¨C and the rest I kept as emirs to help me rule the land whilst I didn¡¯t have descendants. You are already acquainted with one of them, Yusuf-al-Sadina. How ironic that the emir of the old regime that lasted more was assassinated just a few years ago. Not even death could kill that hardass, only a blade.


    Well, that is my story, girl. And of your grandfather. Which I may note, he told you less than I expected.


    Now, do you have something to tell me?

 Book 2: 94. Caught

    Many thoughts sifted in Aloe¡¯s mind. Hours had passed, glasses were emptied, and yet she couldn¡¯t make her thoughts straight. Aaliyah-al-Ydaz just kept talking for hours without letting her interject. Nor that she would even dare.


    The information was too much for her to handle. She got many answers to many questions, even though she ended up with more questions than before. Karaim did not only learn Evolution and Infusion from the imperials as Aloe had suspected from the beginning, but he was partially the very creator. If the words of the Sultanah were to be trusted, the vital arts wouldn¡¯t have been the same without her, Karaim, and Umar.


    And talking about Umar...


    It didn¡¯t take more than two brain cells to guess which Umar she was talking about. There weren¡¯t many apothecaries named Umar in Sadina who happened to be older than the Sultanah and also knew her grandfather. She suspected that Tareek, Umar¡¯s assistant, was an assassin, but not the man himself. Aloe just thought he was a middleman, not one of the people who helped develop Evolution and Infusion.


    Or Nurture, as Aaliyah-al-Ydaz had called it.


    It was too much to handle. Umar, an assassin. Karaim, the Sultanah¡¯s acquaintance. Infusion, not original. Her thoughts become sluggish just thinking of it.


    But there were many things the Sultanah mentioned that Aloe didn¡¯t fully understand.


    What was Enlightenment? And what was a hashashid?


    Considering how she had said that Umar used their conjoined investigation to bolster Enlightenment, Aloe guessed only one thing. Another vital art? Karaim did mention in his cultivation technique that there were more vital arts out there, plural. But that would only make one with Enlightenment as Nurture and Infusion are the same... Unless they aren¡¯t?


    It was hard to come to definitive answers. Not only because her mind was addled from the alcohol ¨C even if she only had a single glass of wine during the whole thing ¨C but also because the Sultanah refused to give straight answers. She was being honest, or so Aloe felt, but the truth was obfuscated.


    She knew better than to ask for answers.


    As for the hashashid... Aloe could only guess it was either a title or an assassin synonym. Her mind couldn¡¯t come up with other solutions.


    Cold sweat trickled down her spine when Aaliyah-al-Ydaz talked about how she killed her mother. The scribe could feel the hate oozing through the woman¡¯s words, even if the one she killed was dead over four decades ago. And that sweating only worsened as the Sultanah mentioned the death of her siblings. Not even assassins could be that nonchalant with murder, and Aloe knew that personally, considering she had technically spoken with two.


    But at the same time, Aloe couldn¡¯t help but wonder what would have happened if Aaliyah-al-Ydaz hadn¡¯t met with her grandfather and Umar. Would have she still tried her coup d¡¯etat? Or would Kira-al-Ydaz still be on the throne? After all her daughter looked as young as Rani even when she was well over her sixties.


    Two scholars had changed the outcome of the country, and maybe the whole world, by sheer virtue of meeting the wrong woman.


    Aloe¡¯s thoughts were put to a stop as the Sultanah looked at her, a single question coming out of her mouth. ¡°Now, do you have something to tell me?¡±


    To say that Aaliyah-al-Ydaz had scared the life out of her was an understatement.


    No words came to her mind. After hearing everything she had told, Aloe couldn¡¯t comprehend what she was asking.


    ¡°I-I do not understand the question...¡± Against her wish, her body betrayed her with a stutter.


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    ¡°The question is simple, Ayad,¡± the Sultanah spoke. ¡°Do not make me repeat myself.¡±


    ¡°I... well... If you are talking about your story, I have nothing to add...¡± Aloe tried to be as impassive as possible, acting as if the story hadn¡¯t shaken her to the core.


    ¡°You misunderstood me,¡± Aaliyah-al-Ydaz raised her resting back and reached for something. A bottle containing a yellow liquid, albeit partially consumed.


    ¡°That...¡±


    The Sultanah smiled at the scribe¡¯s lapse of words. ¡°I have been notified that you are eager to do some business, one of my daughters was having a prolific day with it. A lot of reaping. And I happened to notice this product is of... green origins.¡±


    ¡°I... honorable Sultanah, this has nothing to do with my grandfather,¡± Aloe explained herself. ¡°These products are fully out of my personal creation.¡±


    ¡°These? You have more?¡±


    ¡°Ehm...¡± The scribe panicked. Even a simple use of plurality was deadly in the presence of such a woman. ¡°Not of these bottles... but I have vegetable ink.¡± Aloe took out a veritas ink flask from her clothes. ¡°But this is a failed product, my Sultanah. My fellow scribe of commerce didn¡¯t see much success, and Rani didn¡¯t think it could work as a substitute for culinary ink.¡±


    Aaliyah-al-Ydaz frowned. ¡°Is it digestible?¡±


    ¡°...yes?¡± Aloe added weakly.


    The Sultanah made a gesture with her hand to pass her the flask and Aloe obliged. The muscular woman uncorked it and drank straight from the flask, ink pouring into her mouth.


    I didn¡¯t expect to complete that objective that easily... The scribe thought as the flask slowly emptied. I¡¯ll have to check what it says later.


    ¡°Rani was right, I would not put this on my meals.¡± Aaliyah-al-Ydaz acknowledged calmly as if she hadn¡¯t drunk half a pot of ink as if it was a shot of alcohol. ¡°At least they will not make use of this.¡±


    They? Who? Aloe kept that question to herself. And why?


    ¡°So you are telling me Karaim had nothing to do with these products?¡±


    ¡°I... have used his greenhouse to cultivate the plants, but I have myself seeded and harvested the ingredients and made the recipe. I was truthful when I said my grandfather had nothing to do with them.¡±


    For the better, Aaliyah-al-Ydaz seemed to trust her.


    ¡°Would that be all, my Sultanah?¡± Aloe inquired once the beautiful woman handed her the flask back, their skins slightly touching. A warm caress.


    Aaliyah-al-Ydaz didn¡¯t respond instead choosing to keep her eyes closed, deep in thought.


    ¡°If you would excuse me.¡± Unsettled, Aloe stood up and made her way out of the office.


    Or at least she tried to.


    The moment she heard the steps behind her, it was too late. She was caught in an instant, the Sultanah¡¯s hand yoking her throat. And out of nowhere, she took a bottle and pushed it against Aloe¡¯s mouth. Everything was going too fast for her, but she managed to block the entrance of the bottle with her tongue.


    But Aaliyah-al-Ydaz wasn¡¯t to be defeated so easily. The Sultanah punched her in the gut. Hard. Aloe curved in pain, her tongue losing strength and her lungs expulsing all their air. The tall woman pushed the bottle now, and as the scribe still recovered from the hit, she involuntary drank the contents.


    Confused, she slapped the woman¡¯s hand away, and surprisingly, the Sultanah didn¡¯t stop her; allowing Aloe to push her away. Aloe gaggled and looked at the bottle, and as soon as she noticed the liquid¡¯s yellow color, the aphrodisiac started taking effect.


    ¡°W-what¡¯s the meaning of this?¡± Aloe asked between rugged breaths, her cheeks burning and liquid flowing out of her mouth.


    ¡°Nothing much.¡± The Sultanah responded dismissively, a grin on her visage. ¡°Just an experiment.¡±


    ¡°An e-e-experi-ment?¡± It was hard to talk, her body burned. Her mind was liquifying, making it difficult to even gather thoughts. Her mouth salivated out of her control, her whole body getting wet.


    In response, Aaliyah-al-Ydaz grabbed the bottle and rocked it. The contents ¨C still far from finished ¨C swayed in the interior. Did I drink that much? Aloe panicked. This is way more than I have ever drank of the grace... And her body felt it. Rejoicing Aloe¡¯s panting, the Sultanah led the aphrodisiac bottle to her mouth and down it in one gulp.


    ¡°Ah~¡± She moaned deliciously, her toned body exuding sexual energy. ¡°I can understand the appeal of this drink.¡±


    The sex-bustling woman took a step forward, forcing Aloe to backpedal. But neither her mind nor body was on it and tripped down. Whether it was for her internal infusion or her ecstatic mind, she could not feel the pain, only the rugged breaths of her heaving chest.


    ¡°Tell me, have you heard this rumor?¡± Aaliyah-al-Ydaz caressed Aloe¡¯s cheeks, a smile that broke Aloe¡¯s understanding of everything bolstering in her visage accompanied by a purple hue. I was wrong. The moaning scribe thought, unconsciously leading her hand to the Sultanah''s, drool escaping her lips and wetting the strong woman''s hand. Rani didn¡¯t have a djinnish smile. She never had. This is a real djinn. Before the Sultanah said anything, Aloe already knew what was going to happen. ¡°Apparently, no stranger leaves the Sultanah¡¯s room unfucked.¡±


    And everything turned pink.

 Book 2: 95. Broken

    Rani did the best she could to hold off her sigh, but it was getting unbearably difficult. She was no stranger to meetings, especially those with sultanzade. As one who had been marked early for a diplomatic life, Rani excelled in the battlefield of words, where every word was just a rope ready to close around your neck. This wasn¡¯t just because of her charm, albeit that helped greatly, but her appreciation for words rather than bloodshed. Aaliyah was the most diplomatic sultan to ever exist, yet her children were ones of the most bloodthirsty sultanzade to ever be born.


    What made Rani different from her brothers and sisters was the likeliness she shared with her mother. Not the physical likeness, but the mental.


    For she knew mental damage was greater than physical one.


    And that was exactly why she wanted to leave the council meeting; she could feel her mind getting fried from the repeated words spoken by people who barely understood them.


    ¡°Has someone else have something to add?¡± Afar, one of the eldest sultanzade, spoke.


    Whilst he would never become sultan because of his advanced age, that didn¡¯t mean he didn¡¯t possess power in the court. He was one of the first emirs of the new regime, after all.


    ¡°No one? Great.¡± The bulky man stood up by pressing his hands on the table, the muscles of his arms bulging in anticipation. ¡°This meeting has gone for far too long and nothing has been achieved. All the doubts or ideas you still have will have to wait for the next council. By the merit of my authority, I adjourn this session.¡±


    Rani almost slumped on her chair after hearing that, she was too tired. But alas, she couldn¡¯t allow herself to do so. Whilst respected in the palace, her position was one of precarity. Unlike other sultanzade, her Nurture was weak, and even if she had the favor of the sultanah and flaunted the title of emir, she couldn¡¯t show weakness. Weak people got disposed of, just like Hassan.


    Afar had been right, the meeting had been long as beams of light filtered through the slits on the ceiling. They had begun even before the sun had disappeared and yet they saw it again now.


    The sultanzade dedicated each other a few gazes. Many emotions and meanings were carried by them, weapons more than meaningful messages. The only ones who didn¡¯t look at each other with hate were the twins, Kareem and Khalida, but besides being the only ones who wouldn¡¯t stab each other in the back if they had the chance, they also had no lands to worry about, therefore fewer stakes and less to lose. That made her wonder why they would even waste their time with these council meetings.


    She waited for most sultanzade to leave, mainly because she was too tired to stand up. She had traveled to Asina slowly, but that had taken more of a toll than rushing to the capital on a dweller or with the speed stance. She had barely had a breather since she had arrived. Only a restless sleep in a bed she could no longer call her own and then hours upon hours of meetings and poisoned conversations. Spending hours with her mother during the morning didn¡¯t help.


    How¡¯s Aloe? Rani pondered as her visage remained impassive, her eyes seeing the sultanzade leave and the servants starting to clean. Aaliyah shouldn¡¯t have done anything. She didn¡¯t show much interest in her in the audience hall. But it is her we are talking about. Will she have done something just to spite me? That would be like her...


    Once every sibling left the room, everyone taking the hint that she wanted no further conversation, Rani stood up. As soon as she stepped out of the room, a familiar face met her. Though most faces here were familiar, for better or worse.


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    ¡°Good morning, my liege.¡± The maid saluted calmly.


    ¡°Good morning to you too.¡± The emir added with a lack of interest. ¡°Please, say something interesting or disappear from my sight. I need some sleep.¡±


    ¡°I would not classify it myself as interesting, but it certainly could be for you.¡± The average-looking maid spoke. Her presence would have gone unnoticed if it wasn¡¯t for the fairness of her skin.


    ¡°Spit it out, I am not out for games.¡± Rani scowled.


    ¡°Your scribe has met with the Sultanah.¡± The princess¡¯ expression vanished upon hearing the words.


    ¡°Location?¡±


    ¡°Her office.¡± Rani clicked her tongue and directed to the Sultanah¡¯s office.


    It was obvious what had happened. The maid didn¡¯t need to elaborate further. This was just a petty play to spite her, she knew it. She had messed everything up, but maybe it was still salvageable. The Sultanah¡¯s plan was simple, to break her daughter¡¯s tools. The maid walked behind Rani with perfect composure, unfazed expression, and constant pace. That was not the posture of a maid of Asina palace. After all, Rani didn¡¯t hire the woman because she was a maid.


    The princess barged into the main palace, scaring some maids and making them walk away from her path. If the woman walking behind her had warned her, it was because the Sultanah had already left her office.


    Rani forced the door open.


    Even with all the incense burning in the closed room, the place reeked of sex. It was an omnipresent stench that pointed out that the act had not taken place in a single spot, but many. The multiple drenched seats, even what would be many hours after the deed, solidified that hypothesis. Upon closer inspection, she saw struggling marks on the seats, especially the cushioned ones. Other assaulters would lash out at their victims for the damage, but Aaliyah would likely wear it as a medal of honor. But what mattered wasn¡¯t the obsession with the seatings of the sultanah, but the mound of flesh on the single bed of the room.


    The emir approached the undone bed with lethargy, but what she saw slapped the sleep out of her.


    Blood tainted the white sheets.


    Too much blood.


    ¡°What has happened?¡± She feared the worst, if the young woman was moving, it was barely noticeable. The princess only calmed down a bit after noticing that all the blood ¨C some spots already coagulating ¨C was concentrated on the scribe¡¯s crotch. ¡°I knew that she was a virgin... but this is too much blood. How?¡± Had the sultanah been too forceful and ruptured something?


    ¡°Menstrual blood, my liege.¡± The maid explained calmly.


    It didn¡¯t surprise Rani that the woman was able to differentiate types of blood by sight alone. Though smell was probably the deciding factor.


    ¡°Rape and menstruation? I would not know how to handle that if I were her. What an unholy combination.¡± Rani tried to make the best out of the situation by bringing a bit of humor, but the truth was that she truly couldn¡¯t imagine it. Someone as powerful as she was incapable of putting in the mind of someone who had been sexually assaulted.


    ¡°She has been sleeping for a while now.¡± The maid added.


    ¡°You have been here before?¡± The princess asked with an unexpressive visage as she examined the scene. She didn¡¯t need to fake impassiveness.


    ¡°I was watching over her and I entered the office once the Sultanah left under the pretext of cleaning.¡± She explained. ¡°But the scribe woke up screaming after a while. I don¡¯t know if it was because she was in pain, from nightmares, or the trauma, but she asked me to hand her some kind of medicine she had on her clothes. After that, she practically instantly collapsed as if she had never woken up in the first place. That was when I decided to look for you.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡± Rani felt empty upon hearing the words. ¡°Thank you for your report. I will go for now. Tell her to meet me when she wakes up. Maybe give her a bath before that... Or maybe not. I could use that myself along her to...¡±


    ¡°I fear that will not be possible, my liege.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± The princess frowned upon the rejection. Even before becoming the emir of Sadina, Rani could count with her hands the number of times she had been denied something.


    ¡°It is not about my willingness to serve you, but rather about the scribe¡¯s capabilities.¡± The maid explained with unnerving calmness. ¡°When she woke up, before trying to ask me to hand her the medicine, she tried to grab it herself as she writhed in pain. Alas, she fell from the bed, having difficulties moving her body. When I carried her back to the bed, I discovered her body was damaged.¡±


    ¡°Be clearer.¡± Rani felt her hands numbing.


    ¡°The scribe¡¯s pelvic region is heavily damaged.¡± The lack of emotion in the maid¡¯s voice was almost monstrous. ¡°I doubt she may be able to walk again.¡±

 Book 2: Epilogue & Addendums

    <h2>Epilogue</h2>


    For a colder country, Loyata was unbelievably hot. Ydaz was surely hotter, but the presence of humidity made the lower temperatures more appalling than the scorching desert. At least horses were faster than camels.


    ¡°Ah, it would seem your missive was not a lie. You can color me surprised.¡± A voice whispered from the shadows of the trees.


    ¡°Hiding won¡¯t do you any good when I know your exact position.¡± The man dismounted the horse calmly, the ambush did not scare him in the slightest.


    ¡°Well, pardon me for taking precautions.¡± From the shadows, a man materialized. It wasn¡¯t like he had been hiding in the darkness of the thick canopies, but rather ¨C and quite literally ¨C appeared out of the very shadows.


    ¡°At least you are aware of my might.¡± The other man walked away from his horse and approached the forest, his face hidden by a hood.


    ¡°But yes,¡± the shadowy and suspicious man bowed. ¡°But you would do well in remembering that your power has been severely diminished.¡±


    ¡°My might is still as deadly.¡± The hooded man added.


    ¡°Power takes many shapes. Strength. Knowledge. Money. Authority.¡± Even if the shadowy man was in front of him, he could feel as if the voices came from every other place. ¡°I don¡¯t doubt the former, but you no longer possess the two latter, Hassan-al-Sadina. Or I should say, Hassan Asina?¡±


    Hassan scowled at the mention of his disown. The wound was recent, and it had been salted enough already.


    ¡°But you still have one thing of those.¡±


    ¡°Knowledge.¡±


    ¡°Indeed.¡± The shadowy man smiled; his teeth rooted in yellow. ¡°You¡¯ve been stolen, we can understand that. Whilst our branch may not be as powerful as the ones in Ydaz, I can assure you that we are more extensive. And such knowledge would be crucial.¡±


    ¡°So you accept?¡± Hassan spoke harshly.


    ¡°That was never in doubt.¡± The assassin held his hands high up. ¡°Is this how you do it in Ydaz? Sorry, I¡¯m not from the frontier, I don¡¯t really know about customs and such.¡±


    The man was crazy, Hassan could tell it from his mannerisms alone. But intellect and insanity usually went hand in hand, her mother was a good example of that. Yet with that handicap, he could tell the assassin was powerful. Maybe it would be a challenge to him, perhaps a lost arm, but he was sure he could defeat it. The other five assassins hidden in the trees? Not so much.


    Running away was not a coward¡¯s solution, but one of the shrewd.


    Surviving was but a usage of intelligence.


    ¡°Yes, or no.¡± Hassan reiterated. ¡°I want a straight answer.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± The old assassin approached him slowly. ¡°Your cooperation and knowledge will surely bring a shift to the current, stale paradigm.¡± And he offered him a hand.


    Hassan looked at the hand with hate. But it was hate that was fueling him at the moment. Hate was but the most powerful of tools. The final offset of weakness and strength.


    ¡°You better make good use of it.¡± And the sultanzade accepted the handshake, agreeing to the transaction.


    <hr>


    <h2>Addendum: Nurture</h2>


    You already knew about Nurture, after all, it is one of the most common power systems of the Existence, though it tends to go by another name. Only Divinity and Destiny are more common, but that¡¯s cheating considering their mixture is on level with Primordials.


    Be as it may be, you could say Nurture¡¯s prevalence is inversely proportional to its power. I would consider Nurture to be one of the least powerful power systems out there. To do things that would be considered basic in other systems, Nurture requires a lot of backlogged power.


    This backlogging of power tends to be a common phenomenon with end-neutral power systems like Nurture. After all, the power is never really used. The presence of accumulated power is what makes the power in the first place. And even in end-neutral power systems, Nurture already ranks lower. You can¡¯t even compare it with Grace.


    The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    Nurture isn¡¯t end-neutral? You are wrong there. Yes, most vitality comes from other people, the imperials of Ydaz called this extraction ¡°reaping¡±, but that doesn''t make it end-positive. There is no gain of power, the balance hasn¡¯t shifted. One person has lost maximum power and the other has gained it. On the shape of vitality, of course.


    Nurture has many aspects and can be a complex power system, but alone isn¡¯t that expansive. The advantage of Nurture is its ability to merge with other power systems to create new ones. Or mixtures depending on planets and Creation.


    You could classify Nurture in three aspects: reaping, inner infusion, and outer infusion.


    Let¡¯s begin with the simplest one: reaping. The influence of agriculture is obvious, as Nurture is one of the most primal and older power systems, found by sapient beings far before others, it makes sense that more simple concepts like agriculture are what defines it. Reaping makes reference to the act of taking foreign maximum vitality and adding it to one¡¯s reserves.


    The process isn¡¯t as simple as it seems, whilst automatic, the body can only handle so much foreign power, meaning a cultivator (what the people in Khaffat call the Nurture practitioners) will only be able to reap so many times a day. The average amount of reapings one can sustain is around two, though the record is held by one Aaliyah-al-Ydaz with ten reapings per day. This is just not a planetary record, but an Existential one.


    And as you may have guessed, reaping is usually performed through coitus. It¡¯s not necessary to do so, but it facilitates things. If one were to, I don¡¯t know, exchange vitality with a non-sapient living organism, it would be possible to do so without the will of the other part. Not that there¡¯s consent needed for reaping, Nurture is not Grace after all. And even then, such an act could not be considered reaping at that point, but something else entirely.


    Reaping on humans is highly ineffective (the whole power system overall is), meaning that only 1% of the objective¡¯s vitality is seized. This results in a normal non-Nurtured person taking a hundred days to duplicate their original vitality whilst performing sexual activities only once per day. It should be noted that absorbing vitality from a person with less than 10% of their original vitality will not only harm their health but also likely make the reaping fail because at that point they threaten their existence. Cultivators are encouraged to not reap more than ten times the same objective, that is if they have less than 90% original vitality, of course.


    Yes, reaping is the simplest of the three main aspects of Nurture, but the other two are rather influenced by other power systems, or in this case, vital arts.


    I¡¯ll keep the infusions short for now.


    Inner infusion makes reference to the reinforcing aspect of the user. Making oneself stronger, faster, tougher, et cetera. The one that piques my interest more is ¡°charm¡±. Whilst it may seem too magical for a common reinforcement of the body, a person has many ways to become ¡°charming¡± with small shifts. Whether it may be increasing in size by a few centimeters, changing the jawline, or secreting pheromones, there are a lot of ways to charm people. Though I won¡¯t deny there¡¯s a non-corporeal aspect to charm. There¡¯s also no known immunity to it, every being in Existence should be affected by it, even Incarnations, to a point.


    One interesting fact about inner infusion that saves Nurture from being an awful power system, is that the accumulated power makes the body overall better at everything. When infusing, you shift your body¡¯s parameters to become better at something else. You could think of it as changing your body to be adapted and evolved to run if you changed your inner infusion to ¡°speed¡±.


    This means, however, that the more vitality you have, not only the more impactful this infusion will be, but the less the other parameters will be lowered. In other words, if you accumulate enough vitality, your body will reach a point that when infused, every parameter will increase. Even if you infused yourself for ¡°strength¡±, your body could be tougher than bark and your characteristics more charming than any goddess just passively.


    I reserve the right to explain outer infusion, for now. You¡¯ll see it in a bit.


    <hr>


    <h2>Addendum: Education</h2>


    One of the most amusing times of my life was when people doubted my first edicts. They did not care that I had murdered my family and taken over the country, that was almost a daily occurrence on Khaffat, let alone Ydaz. No, they were indignant over my reforms on education.


    Those ones being the nobles, of course.


    In the short term, education to the masses would have meant a loss of taxation as no unpaid children could work. In the long term, that meant more skilled workers who would require higher salaries and a possible coup d¡¯etat of educated masses.


    A peasant revolt is, of course, impossible in Ydaz. I would not deny it in the north or the west, but in the infertile desert, the peasantry required the imperial¡¯s lifeblood (literally) to eat. And the first thing people worry about is their stomach. If those are empty, no ideology will sway them.


    It didn¡¯t take long for the opposition to see the light when combined with my isolationist edicts. There were too many wars back then and Ydaz was destabilized, but as the country progressed technologically more, it became obvious that keeping the borders closed would be better.


    The last barrier then, was the clergy.


    The rise of education would not only mean that temples would need to be repurposed into centers of education, but that the already weakening church would become second place in favor of the rising scholars of the universities. But at the same time, the clergy could not refuse the divine mandate of the Heavenly Descendant of Sulnaya. That is to say, me.


    Now every bordering country, and even those beyond the seas, want a piece of ydazi brain. We are the cradle of knowledge and progress, and I intend to keep it that way.


    There are only two things that make Ydaz the powerhouse that is: Me and education.


    Excerpt of The Rise of Education by Aaliyah Asina. Re-edited by Aaliyah-al-Ydaz, Sultanah of Ydaz, Emir of Asina, Ruler of the Qiraji, and Heavenly Descendant, may her reign be eternal.

 Book 3: 1. Enlightenment

    The sun hid for the day and darkness shimmered around in its place. Today was a special day, a day to remember, a day to mourn. An end to an era, a time of change.


    ¡°Oh, come on don¡¯t sulk around that way.¡± The old man protested, not without coughing a few times along the way, his heavy steps being ignored by what should have been the powerful echo of the stone corridors.


    ¡°I mean, you are dying.¡± The young man added impassively.


    ¡°I may be dying, but I¡¯m not dead yet, Tareek.¡± The old man coughed once more, now blood came out. ¡°Save all that skulk for when I¡¯m dead, don¡¯t ruin the mood now. Remember what I say.¡±


    ¡°¡¯Fear the man that grew old in a vocation where they die young.¡¯¡± He quoted by memory. ¡°But of course, Grandmaster Umar,¡± Tareek said with a huge grin. ¡°Today is but a day of exaltation. A day of rite. The day of your death, or...¡±


    ¡°My ascension.¡± Umar finished. ¡°Come on, lead the way, young one.¡±


    The catacombs were narrow and dark, a chilly and humid place quite different from the shining Sadina, courtesy of the Eyana River. The subterranean river made the place way more humid than it had the right to be. It made it quite hard to store drugs.


    Even if Tareek led the way, the one who walked with confidence was Umar. He had trod these passages for decades, and even though his life was expiring, that didn¡¯t diminish his ability.


    Their steps were silent, true assassins learned to use their abilities even when lacking in substances. Tareek needed a bit of stimulus to keep his wits sharp and his feet flat, but Umar was different. He was completely clean, yet he surpassed him in every single quality. Except health, of course.


    Such were the abilities of a Grandmaster Assassin.


    A body used to such damage and abuse that its consequences and effects still lingered.


    The old assassin¡¯s body was faulty, he was hunchbacked and slightly trembled with every step, yet for every step Tareek took, Umar moved two.


    He barely walked one, though.


    Soon the silence of the catacombs was broken as the wall vibrated; seconds later, the echoes of people talking could be heard.


    ¡°Hush!¡± One voice prevailed above all. ¡°The Grandmaster is coming.¡±


    The voices died out with that alert and then Tareek and Umar entered a circular, open room. Unlike the claustrophobic corridors, the room was spacious, more than any room they may have in the palace. Though it had no name, the room had been carved by assassins and hosted their operations. This had the advantage that no one besides the assassins knew that existed, and if someone got captured, well, there was no name to reveal. That was assuming an assassin could get caught in the first place.


    Umar overtook Tareek and slowly descended the flight of stairs leading to the center of the room. It was ominous how an old man walked without making a sound in a room where the echo should have been overwhelming. Even tens of meters away, Tareek could hear the shallow breaths of the other assassins, yet the moving dying man was undetectable.


    The old man made it to the center of the room, where a single wooden table lay with multiple dusts and poultices on top. He started readying them, Tareek took this time to talk.


    ¡°Brothers and sisters!¡± He announced with a powerful voice uncharacteristic of an assassin. ¡°We are joined here today to witness the last breath of the Grandmaster Umar of our local order of Sadina.¡±


    The assassins stayed silent, but their gazes said it all. Contrary to popular belief, assassins didn¡¯t go out there with their faces hidden and donning hoods. That would raise a lot of suspicion. They dressed like normal people, and they were in all social spheres. It was uncommon to see a noble assassin, as that meant opposing the hand that lent you that power, but not unheard of. The reality was that assassins were always present, always hidden in plain sight.


    They could be your boss, your coworker, your friend, your father, your mother, your sibling, or even your child. It was hard to tell. The difference between a drug addict and an assassin was that they hid their craving, instead pushing it into more productive subjects.


    It was hard to describe the mood of the room. The pressure was outstanding and looming, their glorious Grandmaster was nearly dead, but there was a sense of expectation.


    Of what could happen.


    And also of bloodthirst.


    Tareek turned to face Umar, who was carefully combining substances in a certain order. Drug consumption may seem trivial to outsiders, but any physician with half a wit could tell you that different builds and ages were affected differently by drugs. Only the assassin themself knew which drugs worked better. In what order and in what amount. It wasn¡¯t an art, but a careful science in need of plentiful knowledge.


    The other assassins digested carefully with their eyes the movements of the Grandmaster. They may not be able to use the exact same quantities, but Umar¡¯s techniques were practiced. A medical understanding that could only be explained with age. The old man had long surpassed the title of a common apothecary, his knowledge of plants and psychedelics was greater than any assassin, nay, any person in the world.


    If something was going to come out with the last breath of an assassin, it would be with Grandmaster Umar.


    Snake tongues even say that he fought the very Aaliyah-al-Ydaz the Kinslayer hand-to-hand when he was younger. And that woman tore mountains with her fists and birthed forests with her blood. Umar hadn¡¯t told him the full story, but from what he had heard, yes, the Sultanah and the Grandmaster Assassin had fought before.


    It was still surprising that both of these apices of power were still alive.


    Well, not for long.


    ¡°I¡¯m ready,¡± Umar whispered, his pupils dilatated with consumption and power. It was easy to tell that the trip the man was going through wasn¡¯t a safe one.


    Tareek nodded. He moved out of the center of the room; he wouldn¡¯t like to be there when the process started.


    The ambiance quickly changed, and the gloom was blazed by expectation and agitation. No one was looking at Tareek, every assassin focused their gaze on the Grandmaster, but he could feel how they were paying attention to him.


    Stolen novel; please report.


    Just waiting for the signal.


    ¡°Let the Apotheosis begin!¡± Tareek raised his hands in a mighty cry that shook the walls.


    And all hell broke loose.


    The tens of assassins charged at the old man at the same time, with perfect synchrony underlying their movements. Umar, on the other hand, did not move. Tareek chewed on his molars, his very perception expanding, time slowing to a crawl as wetness caressed his tongue.


    He knew he would need that.


    There were five strides from the circle of assassins to the center where Umar stood. The first one was dictated by inaction.


    On the second one, light disappeared from the room.


    All the candlelight faded into nothingness with an invisible sweep, but that didn¡¯t deter anyone. Assassins were used to darkness; they were the dagger that pierced it.


    There was no movement from the Grandmaster¡¯s part in the third either, but his presence became far smaller if that was even possible. The old man was directly in front of Tareek, yet he had difficulties seeing him, and it wasn¡¯t because of the absolute darkness.


    On the fourth step, as the assassins entered melee range, Umar disappeared.


    Tareek wasn¡¯t a novice, not by a longshot. Not only he was trained since birth thanks to his hashashid blood, but he excelled at the arts of the mind and life. Of course, nothing could compensate for a full lifetime of experience.


    Two assassins collapsed on what should have been the final step.


    He didn¡¯t see the culprit, even if the cause was obvious. Now, after having had a fraction of a second to think, the assassins regrouped. This was the hardest mission they had ever faced. They were twenty-seven ¨C well, twenty-five now ¨C trained and fit murder machines against a single dying old man.


    The odds were against them.


    They pressed their backs against each other, looking for the old assassins, but they found nothing. Tareek himself could almost guess his position, but he was forbidden from fighting. It wasn¡¯t out of inexperience, but foresight. Bad things could happen in an Apotheosis.


    ¡°Ah!¡± A female yelp reverberated across the room as another fell down. That one was green, no assassin should make a noise, no matter how awful the situation is.


    Even though Umar had dwindled their numbers, he had revealed his position with that move. Another assassin evoked fire, his hands becoming two lances of fire that shot forward. They missed, but the light highlighted a silhouette, and the embers followed it. Tareek would have called it an awful move ¨C he was supposed to be an assassin, not a cultivator, such explosive effects had no place here ¨C but the tracking property of the attack saved the man a future reprimand.


    The twenty-four remaining assassins jumped on the Grandmaster.


    Correction, the twenty-one. Somehow, Umar had knocked another three as the embers trailed him. A blink was enough for Tareek to have lost that. I should have had more hashish. The young assassin pondered over his lack of reaction speed.


    Sensing the danger, the assassins dived into different tasks. Half of them turned into shadows themselves, prying on Umar''s movements as he had just done a few instants before. The other half teleported in every direction to close escapes.


    A wrong move. Umar wouldn¡¯t try to escape.


    The remaining last one did the best he could do and charged at Umar to distract him.


    Now, charging into an assassin was actually a good strategy. Unlike cultivators, they didn¡¯t have strong builds and they were better at ambushes than direct combat. The problem was, the lone man wasn¡¯t facing a normal assassin.


    Tareek didn¡¯t say that because Umar was a Grandmaster, but because he was unrestrained.


    A gust of shadow shot at the man and he fell to the ground. Five more assassins charged at the Grandmaster whilst he was occupied attacking, four from the cardinal directions and one from the top. Umar grabbed the one on top from the ankle and swung her like a club towards the north and west assassins. The movements were too shallow to knock them out of combat, but it would get free of them for a few seconds. The remaining two, he just punched in the head, his fists becoming stardust.


    Whilst not as strong as the Sultanah he had fought, Umar had enough opium in his body to run a hospital for a month, meaning his strength was unparalleled against normal assassins.


    Four more drew their daggers, clear intent on killing the Grandmaster, yet he ¨C still with the stardust clinging to his fist ¨C punched one in the throat, spat fire at another one, and teleported behind another two and bonked their heads together.


    All of that in a single second.


    It was exquisite how twenty-seven people were hellbent on killing him, yet instead of doing the same, Umar could afford to knock them down.


    That was pure skill.


    Nineteen remained, the windows of opportunity were dwindling for the underdogs.


    Two charged at him, teleporting out of sight in the last step. But teleportation was detectable for a trained assassin, let alone a Grandmaster, so Umar had no problem jumping in the air and kicking the esophagus of the pair at his back.


    As he remained in the air, Tareek could see it.


    Those dilatated eyes.


    Assassins had to be careful with their consumption, too much drug usage and they would cause irreparable damage to their body, or even kill them. But in an Apotheosis? Umar was dying, none of that mattered. They weren¡¯t fighting a dying old man; they were fighting a Grandmaster Assassin at the peak of his power. There were no limits, no lines uncrossed. Right now, enough drugs flowed in Umar¡¯s veins to drive a city in its entirety to a high for a week.


    His body was a maelstrom of power, his movements sure and powerful.


    This was the first time everyone present in the room saw this display of power, even Umar himself. Even if it was for barely a few seconds, Tareek believed with his heart that the assassin in front of him was the most powerful human in the world. Even beyond Aaliyah-al-Ydaz.


    Growing uneasy, three assassins threw themselves at him. The Grandmaster twisted his elbow one-hundred and eighty degrees to slap two assassins and choke the other one with his free hand. The elbows snapped back into place with a gruesome pop.


    Tareek doubted the old man could even feel pain in this state.


    Only fourteen left.


    They knew the opportunity to slay the Grandmaster escaped their clutches. Even if everyone wanted him to reach his true apex, they coveted the prestige of killing a Grandmaster even more. Especially someone as powerful as Umar. He probably was one ¨C if not the one ¨C of the most powerful assassins in history.


    The pace of the fight accelerated even more in the coming seconds, the speed growing even blurry for Tareek. He could only empathize with those in the middle of the chaos.


    A burst of reality threw his balance off.


    What the... Tareek fought to recover his equilibrium. What was that? He looked back at the battle, suddenly seeing two Umars and six more assassins on the ground. What in...


    He felt something in his back.


    Tareek didn¡¯t turn. He knew, that even if he did, it wouldn¡¯t be fast enough. Nine assassins remained, himself included this time. Nine shadows overwatched them. Echoes of Umar. Is this... The real Umar lingered in the center of the room, unmoving. Has he reached the zenith of Enlightenment?


    Everyone lingered still for half a minute, not out of surprise before the display of skill and impossible abilities, but out of fear. The shadows stalking them ¨C unmoving as they were ¨C contained a killing intent so potent that threatened them to knock them unconscious out of sheer pressure.


    One of the assassins ¨C foolish or brave ¨C decided to move and approach the real Umar, his shadow staying still but the glowing red eyes following him.


    ¡°He...¡± The assassin¡¯s voice trembled. ¡°He¡¯s dead.¡±


    Tareek already knew that; the problem was why weren¡¯t the projection disappearing. He was scared to death.


    Nine seconds later from the revelation the shadows vanished.


    Everyone sighed in relief.


    ¡°One minute...¡± Tareek muttered to himself. ¡°He remained in this world one minute after passing away...¡±


    If that wasn¡¯t raw skill, Tareek didn¡¯t know what that was.


    He walked toward the center of the room, his legs threatening to buckle at each next step. Sure enough, the Grandmaster lay dead, his eyes whited out, as his body was standing up. Not even death could knock him down.


    ¡°Brothers and sisters!¡± Tareek shouted to the assassins. Some of the ones who had been knocked down already having recovered, their eyes bloodshot and maddened from their higher-than-safe dose used to even survive. ¡°Grandmaster Umar has perished. But don¡¯t lament his death. What we have seen tonight will be remembered by the annals of history! Tonight, we saw the closest step anyone has ever reached to the zenith of Enlightenment! Engrave this memory in your mind, for this failed Apotheosis will be studied for centuries to come!¡±


    The assassins had lost a Grandmaster today, but they had stepped closer to supremacy.

 Book 3: 2. Overwhelmed

    Everything was dark. The pale light that tried to dissipate the darkness utterly failed. There was no light strong enough to purify the void overwhelming the world. Dunes of darkness, seas of desolation, roads of despair.


    A musky stench assaulted her nostrils, the mixture of a sweet aroma and a putrid one.


    She opened her eyelids to notice the light wasn¡¯t that of the sun but fading candles that needed to be changed. Her thoughts were sluggish, but even more so her body. A numbness overcame her entire being, making it difficult to even move. Her mouth was dry and her skin sticky, but it was hard to feel it. It was hard to admit that it was her own body. It was hard to keep her eyes open.


    Aloe looked at the canopy of the bed, her eyes unblinking.


    They became irritated quickly by the oppressing incense rather than the passive drying. Every breath seemed to prolong something. Something that maybe was not worthwhile prolonging.


    Her ears rang in painful confusion, but as she tried to grab them, her arms fell to the side in faulty coordination.


    That movement soon proved to be a bad idea.


    A spike of pain assaulted her body, her nerves crying in agony, begging her to stop. Stop what? She was not doing anything. Aloe tried to raise her head to have a better look at her surroundings. She could not see much beyond her naked body, its surface littered with water markings. As soon as she settled her head on the pillow, her pain intensified.


    ¡°AAAARGH!¡± The scream left her mouth without her being able to control it, so overwhelming the torment was. ¡°OUUUGH!¡±


    Her body writhed beyond her demands, only infusing more pain with its erratic movements. Her stomach burned, her hips cried, and her crotch ached. Her whole being was numb, her brain drowned in suffering, but she still could feel the dry tears trickling down her cheeks.


    ¡°Are you alright, venerable scribe?¡± A woman asked beside her. Aloe hadn¡¯t noticed her entering the room.


    Opening her eyes proved a monumental task as her body begged her to keep them close. She only managed to open her right one, and even then, it was blurry from the tears. Aloe managed to identify the woman as one of the maids of the palace, her fair skin distinctive.


    ¡°Lu... lu?¡± Aloe asked, her voice raspy and weak.


    ¡°I know of no Lulu, venerable scribe.¡± The maid spoke soothingly but decisively. ¡°Please tell me how I may help you.¡±


    It was hard to think straight for Aloe, her head kept pulsating akin to a second heart. The pain was maddening. H-how? Even in her own mind, it was difficult to form full words. I... vi-vitality. I¡¯m low. The-the-the infusion is not working. Breathing soothed her pain for an instant, only to hit her on the stomach with the might of a war hammer.


    ¡°B-bring... bring me the pell...ets.¡± She explained to the maid. ¡°The ones... on... my clothes...¡±


    Aloe blinked.


    ¡°Which are your clothes, venerable scribe?¡± The maid asked with a mask of nervousness, with multiple clothes on her arms.


    W-when... when did... she grab them? It was then that she realized she had passed out for a few seconds, the wax drop clinging on the candle next to her had moved significantly from its previous position.


    ¡°Ah...¡± Aloe reached for her clothes to grab the Cure Grass pellets, but her body failed her once more and so her mind as she fell from the bed, having miscalculated her movements. ¡°AAAAAAAH!¡± A guttural scream left her mouth ¨C air rushing painfully of her lungs ¨C as she impacted with the ground, her body shattering like porcelain. Her throat burned from the scream and her eyes itched from the tears pouring out, even when there was no more water remaining on her body.


    ¡°Venerable scribe!¡± The maid shouted and rushed to her aid, the clothes dropping behind her.


    ¡°...augh...¡± No more air was left in her lungs, Aloe could not muster a scream no more, barely a groan.


    Without difficulty, the maid carried her on top of the bed, the displacement causing even more pain to her body, but she no longer had the strength to protest.


    ¡°Here, scribe...¡± The voice of the maid was shallow by now, the ringing of her ears overpowering her. Everything was overwhelming Aloe. She tried to cry again, but no more tears came out. ¡°Here... eat it.¡±


    Aloe felt the salty maid¡¯s hand on her lips, but also something cold. A pellet. She opened her lips and mechanically scooped the pill with her tongue. She didn¡¯t leave a trail of saliva behind from her dehydrated state.


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    It took a few seconds for the Cure Grass remedy coated with aloe vera sap to travel down her throat, but the instant it hit her stomach, it absorbed the vitality from the evolved plant byproduct with ease. With her stomach this empty, she didn¡¯t even need a second to gain the full effect of the pellet.


    The pain diminished partially as her ¡®toughness¡¯ internal infusion kicked back into working, but it wasn¡¯t enough. The vitality absorbed was only enough to refill a normal adult. And an adult¡¯s vitality only produced a meager infusion. Maybe enough to tolerate the pain and nausea from her menstruation, but it was for from enough for her current affliction.


    ¡°More...¡± Aloe moaned in misery. She felt as if she was going to pass out at any moment now.


    The maid obeyed and put two more pellets in her lips. Aloe downed those two too, but now that her stomach had burned something, it took a few seconds for the vitality pills to take effect. The diminished returns from her vitality were unmistakably painful as the two pellets barely allowed her to reach two-thirds of her maximum deposit.


    Even with her infusion working at sixty percent effectiveness, the pain was far from bearable.


    ¡°More...¡± Aloe grunted. Unless she maxed her deposit, she would not be able to cope with her aching.


    ¡°I... do not think that is sensible, venerable scribe.¡± The maid responded. ¡°I do not know what medicine this is, but taking so much cannot be good for your body.¡±


    ¡°I... see...¡± The scribe exhaled, her head spinning around as the air left her dried lips.


    And then her consciousness faded into obscurity.


    <hr>


    Her steps echoed through the bustling corridors, overpowering the chants of the masses. Maybe not as strong, but her presence was undeniable. She knew where to find Aaliyah.


    It was still early in the morning, so it didn¡¯t surprise her when the guards fought to open for the first time.


    ¡°Move!¡± Rani commanded and pushed one of the doors open.


    But she wasn¡¯t the sultanah. Even with her strength stance, Rani could only manage to slightly displace the colossal stone door, a monument to a centuries-long legacy. Just a few centimeters, but far more than any commoner would dream to achieve with a casual sway. A test of strength, of undeniable might. The audience hall was empty except for a single person.


    Aaliyah-al-Ydaz, ruler of the Sultanate of Ydaz, Emir of Asina, master cultivator, lady of the Qiraji, the Heavenly Descendant of Sulnaya.


    Her mother.


    And the world¡¯s most prolific rapist.


    ¡°You must be more interested in that girl than you let on if you are willing to make such a fuss,¡± Aaliyah commented uninterestedly. ¡°Is that girl really that important?¡±


    ¡°You know this is not about her.¡± Rani looked at the lying woman ¨C her posture of decadence as she rested on her throne ¨C with hardened eyes. ¡°You are doing this just to spite me.¡±


    ¡°Perhaps.¡± The sultanah admitted casually. ¡°But you need to remember something, child.¡± She didn¡¯t stand up, Aaliyah just looked upwards toward her, yet the pressure of a gaze almost knocked Rani off her feet. ¡°What if I am? What would you do if that were the case?¡±


    The princess gulped saliva unconsciously. Aaliyah may be her mother, but she didn¡¯t doubt the woman would kill her if she became a nuisance. Nuisance, not enemy, important distinction. Rani still didn¡¯t know how Hassan managed to get out alive. Maybe he didn¡¯t and the sultanah just killed him without any of the sultanzade knowing. Considering how she killed her own mother and siblings with ruthless efficiency, she couldn¡¯t deny that possibility. Kinslayer was just one of many of her titles.


    ¡°If that were the case,¡± Rani took a deep breath, thinking well of her next words, ¡°I would say you are not different from Kyra.¡±


    Rani almost dropped to the ground as she felt the ceiling collapse onto her.


    She panted.


    It was just a foul play of her mind, an illusion caused by the pressure that Aaliyah was exerting, just like the mirages of the desert sun. It was rare to see bloodthirst coming from that walking brothel of a woman, mostly because those who saw it were already dead.


    The mention of her mother, and especially comparing her to the previous sultanah, had enraged Aaliyah.


    ¡°I see what you mean.¡± Instead of choosing violence ¨C which Rani would argue Aaliyah already did as she was kneeling on the ground with sweat trickling down her back ¨C the sultanah opted for diplomacy. A tool she preferred as the sword was considered barbarian. ¡°I should not be playing with the toys of my children, that is not what a mother does.¡± Her eyes shuddered with animosity. ¡°If I look like my mother, Rani, you look like me.¡± That wasn¡¯t praise, no one wanted to be like Aaliyah-al-Ydaz. ¡°But unlike you, I do not fear pain.¡±


    The emir¡¯s breathing became rugged. She had been read, no part of her soul and heart uncharted. She was dancing on the matriarch¡¯s hand. For how long has she known? Rani could not tell.


    ¡°So be honest, you are too cowardly and ruthless to worry about a potential concubine,¡± Aaliyah¡¯s mouth corners contorted like horns. ¡°What is the true reason for your visit?¡±


    Given the opportunity, Rani decided to go for the throat.


    ¡°A few decades ago, two sultanzade were born on the same day. Their names were Kareem and Khalida.¡± Rani spun her tale. ¡°Both children were the children of the sultanah, of course, but... It always seemed weird to me. The sultanah of Ydaz, one that is said to control the natality of the Qiraj itself, birthed two children when she always decided to give birth to a single one. More importantly, one of the sultanzade, Kareem, was way slower in his Nurture compared to his peers. Upon checking my curiosity, I found that another woman gave birth in the palace the same night, a maid.¡±


    Aaliyah had remained still during the whole monologue, almost amused by it. But at the mention of the last word, she moved. The sultanah was a mountain, even the slightest shake could cause devastating avalanches. A single shudder in her body was more significant than the terror of a million citizens.


    ¡°Alas, the procedure had its hiccups, and the child was stillborn. Having pregnant maids is not surprising in the palace of Asina, a lot of male sultanzade like to have their fun, but in the case they father a child, the maids are usually sent away with money, maybe to live in a villa, away from the royal fathers. Yes, the child was stillborn, but the maid remained in the palace. Strangely enough, she was moved to the outer palace with the sultanzade, which is a strange move considering you would not like the poor woman to see the father of the child she killed. Even more curiously, the maid was promoted to head maid.¡±


    ¡°Stop the theatrics, get the point,¡± Aaliyah growled, finally having lost her patience.


    ¡°Aaliyah, tell me,¡± Rani asked with both confusion and determination, ¡°how did you manage to father a child?¡±

 Book 3: 3. Disconnect

    Nothingness endured.


    Aloe couldn¡¯t help but feel drowned in herself. Her body ail even if it remained in stasis. The inhalation and exhalations were slow and arhythmical. Her legs jolted and her arms numbed. But above all else, her throat burned. She knew she couldn¡¯t keep herself like that, her head banging like a drum in a scorching plain that extended forever.


    At some point, she gave up.


    Not of breathing, but of not doing anything. The feeling of asphyxiation grew stronger, she didn¡¯t have much time left for inaction.


    The scribe opened her eyes.


    Sunlight reached her eyes, burning her retinas with the unmatched power of a thousand suns. She groaned in reaction to the light; she had grown used to darkness. But no matter how much she tried, her body would not respond to her. Her arms wouldn¡¯t go up and her hands wouldn¡¯t cover her eyes. The thing that occupied her thoughts was the dryness of her lips.


    The desert was more humid than this.


    ¡°I would not recommend overexerting; your body is at its limit.¡± An unfamiliar masculine voice told next to her. It took Aloe a lot to even muster the strength to even turn her neck. ¡°Or you could ignore me.¡±


    The person who talked was a mature man, a growing bald patch overtaking her head, and a whitening beard defined him. His skin was fairer than most, but it seemed a byproduct of age rather than genetics. The clothes betrayed him as some sort of physician.


    ¡°...wha...at... hap...pened?¡± Aloe¡¯s tongue was so dry that she almost mistook it for jerky.


    ¡°For starters, try not to talk, you are dehydrated.¡± The doctor explained. ¡°I have refrained you from drinking as much as possible because people tend to choke on liquids often in states like yours. Not fully comatose, not fully waking. For starters, here.¡±


    The man offered her a pristine glass of water, both the glass and the water were transparent as air. She didn¡¯t know if it was on purpose or not, but the physician grabbed the glass in such a way that allowed her to see its entirety and check that there was nothing inside.


    ¡°Have a glass of water. Let me help you.¡± He put a hand under her head, very slightly moving it up, and approached the glass to her lips.


    The movements were slow and curated, not allowing Aloe to drink more than a drop at a time. The water was far from cold, but the scribe appreciated the moisture, nonetheless. After what seemed to be an eternity, but it was likely closer to five minutes, Aloe finished the glass.


    ¡°Better?¡± The physician asked.


    ¡°...y-yes...¡± Her throat was still sore, and her head continued hammering her.


    Aloe tried standing up, but as she buckled her hips, a jolt of pain shot through her spine, making her scream in agony and collapse into the pillow as her head spun too much for her to stop her fall on time.


    ¡°Take it easy, woman.¡± The physician reprimanded her. The voice was soothing and calming, but he looked at her with mild irritation. ¡°You are going to hurt yourself if you keep doing sudden movements like that.¡±


    The scribe blinked in confusion, she had heard the words spoken by the man, but it was hard to process them. Her head thumped like a heart and her body was ablaze in cold fire like nostrils on a frozen winter night. She coughed twice, but the second time moved her body a bit too much, making her recoil in pain once more. Tears formed in the corners of her eyes as she whimpered.


    It took her a couple of minutes to calm down and reassess the situation. By reassess she meant to look around.


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    ¡°Where... am I?¡± It was hard to talk, but complete words were finally doable.


    ¡°In an empty palace room, I cannot say much more than that.¡± The physician explained. ¡°Do not misunderstand me,¡± he raised his hands defensively in typical Ydazi fashion, ¡°I am not withholding information from you, I simply do not know. You arrived here just a few hours ago, they transported you by stretcher here from the Sultanah¡¯s office.¡±


    ¡°The Sultanah¡¯s... office?¡± Aloe¡¯s pupils contracted and her voice grew weaker as she spoke.


    ¡°Yes, do you remember any of the recent events?¡±


    Her first thought came out blank, pure white noise. But following one...


    She did remember.


    Aloe puked.


    As she was lying on her back looking straight at the ceiling, the vomit had no way to go and it accumulated in her mouth. She began to choke on her own vomit.


    ¡°Oh heavens!¡± The old physician rushed to assist her and forcefully but with learned motions turned her on her side, letting the vomit flow free to the ground, just a few splotches hitting the bed.


    The contents of her stomach left her body, but the memories flooded back in. Some were blurry, others crystal clear. The Grace¡¯s Exaltation aphrodisiac had numbed her mind to unprecedented levels with the dose she had been forced to consume. Everything she saw and did was through pink-tainted glasses. Her body and mind were disconnected from one another. Her hands caressing valleys and peaks, crevasses formed from the many muscles, sweat merging with tender and violent palpitations.


    The vomit continued flowing.


    It was hard to identify herself with the images she saw through her very eyes. That wasn¡¯t her, no matter what her mind showed her.


    It wasn¡¯t her.


    It wasn¡¯t her.


    IT WASN¡¯T HER.


    Her hands became numb from the myriad of feelings ¨C a thousand touches in one overwhelming her nerves ¨C as if blood didn¡¯t reach them. But it wasn¡¯t only her hands that had been assaulted or had assaulted. The foul taste of the vomit receded for an instant as another metaphysical aftertaste took its place in her mouth.


    Aloe wanted to cut her tongue and burn it.


    She wanted to burn it all down.


    Tears and vomit poured alike.


    Her stomach was so empty by now that only bile came out.


    The disconnect grew even bigger until it snapped. A memory, or more a recollection of all of them. The repeated battering of the Sultanah, her aggressions constant and relentless, so much so that her body slowly lost vitality, her vitality drained by the infusion in order to resist the damage. Aaliyah-al-Ydaz wasn¡¯t called a force of nature for anything, and yest... that night she understood it. A caress with the strength of a punch, a slap with the viciousness of a strike on the gut, a sway of hips with the mortality of being run over by a wagon.


    How was she still alive?


    Then the pain called her as a remainder.


    Her body wasn¡¯t as broken as her heart, but she could tell it wasn¡¯t whole. She had heard stories from her uncle Jafar, tales of soldiers that could fight after having had their arms separated from their bodies without feeling pain or that they had lost their extremities. Guards and soldiers called it battle rage, and it allowed people to go beyond their limits without even feeling they were at death¡¯s door. And in a way, too close for her liking, Aloe had fought a lethal combat.


    Even hours later, her body still felt numb from the battle rage. She had the feeling something was broken, but she couldn¡¯t point out what.


    Aloe blinked.


    She noticed the physician looking at her and only then she realized she had been panting for a few minutes with her mouth still full of bile as she lay on her side. The scribe spat the last remaining contents of her stomach on the ground and recovered her lying position.


    ¡°Could I have some water?¡± Aloe said with painful lucidity.


    She wished she didn¡¯t have any of it.


    She didn¡¯t know what to hate more, that woman, or herself.


    The physician broke her grim trail of thought with a nod and offered her another glass. The first gulps were the worse as she had gulped back the hints of bile lingering in her mouth, but the cringing taste of the bile wasn¡¯t even comparable to the pain in her heart and mind.


    She felt like her bladder was about to explode, somehow. Considering how much she puked, cried, and sweat, Aloe couldn¡¯t even fathom how there were liquids still on her body. She silenced the cries of her kidneys and asked for another glass of water. Only then she was calmed enough to ask the question that had been looming over her like an apparition.


    ¡°Tell me, doctor,¡± Aloe spoke slowly, her tone tired and pessimistic. ¡°What is wrong with my body?¡±


    The previously neutral expression of the physician soured, and he avoided the scribe¡¯s eyes. The man clicked his tongue silently and looked back at her.


    ¡°Lady, your hips are broken.¡± He explained with the tone neutrality and pronunciation of a storyteller. ¡°I cannot tell how badly, but your pelvic region is fractured from your previous night. Depending on how deep the damage is, we might be facing the option that you will not be able to walk again.¡±


    Aloe expected a slap, not a knife to the gut.


    The eighteen-year-old girl let out a drowned sob.

 Book 3: 4. Reaping

    All the water Aloe had painfully recovered escaped through her eyes. The physician calmed her several times stating that it was only a chance, but that wasn¡¯t enough to calm her. How had she gone from becoming rich in an instant to a deflowered and disabled mess in less than a day? Aloe didn¡¯t know if to cry or laugh at that sick joke. The sick joke of life.


    She did both.


    Her clacking was broken, like the birdsong of a crow with a clipped wing. A simile that hit too close to home. If it wasn¡¯t because her throat was sore, she would have probably screamed by now, but she didn¡¯t have enough strength for that.


    Time became meaningless as she drowned in agony, but at some point, someone knocked on the door.


    ¡°Stay put, I will take care.¡± The physician whispered, and even if the words were meant as soothing, the scribe cringed at the poor usage of them. Stay put? How am I supposed to move?


    It had been unintentional, but the morbid cruelty of the choice of words took Aloe out of her misery. She looked at the door where a maid waited with a silver tray in her hands. Her ears still tingled and on top of that the two people at the door whispered, so Aloe didn¡¯t get any of their words. A short exchange later, the physician picked up the tray and closed the door behind.


    ¡°Porridge,¡± the man explained after sitting down in a chair next to the bed. ¡°I supposed you do not have much appetite, but you should eat. If not to recover strength, just to distract yourself.¡±


    The scribe didn¡¯t refute the words, she needed a distraction. The physician raised the bowl and put the spoon before her. He didn¡¯t even let Aloe get close to the spoon, instead, he shoved the meal inside. Powerless to even fight against the treatment, Aloe ate the porridge. Unlike the awful name of the food, it tasted good. Or at least better than anything she could cook.


    ¡°Now, that you are calm,¡± he explained whilst putting more food in her mouth, ¡°I want you to hear me. I am no stranger to wounds and fractures, sultanzade come to me with truly awful wounds, and whilst I cannot do anything to ease your pain or recovery, the chances of becoming paralytic from this fracture are small.¡±


    Aloe grunted in understanding, too weak and strained to nod.


    ¡°Bone fractures are worse and take more time to heal than muscles, but with enough repose, you might be able to recover.¡± The hopeful optimism didn¡¯t escape Aloe¡¯s understanding. He was underestimating the damage and overestimating the recovery, she could tell it.


    ¡°And... how long will it take for me to recover?¡± Aloe asked after eating the last spoonful.


    ¡°It is hard to say.¡± The physician admitted. ¡°Months at minimum, likely half a year, though I doubt it will be more.¡±


    ¡°And I will have to be in bed all this time?¡± The woman¡¯s voice was weak, deflated.


    ¡°If possible, yes.¡± He nodded. ¡°The less you exert yourself, the easier the recovery will be.¡±


    ¡°But what about my position?¡±


    ¡°Your position?¡± The physician¡¯s visage sprouted with confusion.


    ¡°My job,¡± Aloe explained. ¡°I am the scribe of commoners of Sadina.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± The bald man straightened his back in stupefaction. ¡°I just thought you just were one of the girls she¡­ though this would be a... No matter. Forget what I said.¡±


    It was easy to tell that this wasn¡¯t the first time the physician had found himself talking with a bedridden woman, a victim of a monster whose debauchery knew no limit. Aloe bit her lip, impotence, and hate blossoming in her eyes.


    ¡°Well, if that is the case, I should talk it with your emir.¡± The man stroked his white beard. ¡°You are too weak to be moved through the desert right now, and you won¡¯t be ready for a few days at minimum, but the conference is already over so I doubt she would want to stay in the palace for long...¡± The physician stood up, pushing his chair backward with the movement. ¡°Lemme go ask her.¡±


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    ¡°Wait!¡± Aloe cried for his attention, wise enough to do so without moving her body. ¡°Where will I be if I have to rest for so many days?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean, woman?¡± He snorted. ¡°You are to rest here until you are healthy enough to trek back to Sadina.¡±


    ¡°Here...?¡± The young adult¡¯s voice weakened.


    ¡°Yes.¡± The physician nodded and left the room.


    His words were sensible, but Aloe was far from comfortable with the idea. The last place she wanted to be now was in the palace with that woman.


    She felt bile coming up again.


    <hr>


    ¡°Quite bold you are.¡± Aaliyah squinted at Rani, her head resting on the back of her hand. ¡°But this gives me more insight into your plans.¡±


    ¡°This is not about me,¡± Rani replied, slightly shuddering at being mentioned.


    ¡°On the contrary, child.¡± The sultanah shifted her position, growing taller with the gesture. The implications were as subtle as a campfire in the middle of the night in the desert. ¡°You were not asking me how I impregnated a woman, but the how.¡±


    Aaliyah smiled and Rani took a step backward. Same words, different meanings.


    ¡°You would be a greater leader if you were not such a coward. You lack guts, you lack hate, you lack determination. If you run from the pain and danger, you are going to squander your future. Such a potent charm and brilliant mind yet limited by fear. You are going to make me laugh.¡±


    The sultanah¡¯s last words sent a shiver down Rani¡¯s spine. People thought that the sultanah of Ydaz didn¡¯t pay attention to her children, Rani herself was guilty of that, but seeing how ruthlessly she had played her, that couldn¡¯t be further from the truth. How could she know from a few words her plans and motivations? Aaliyah did have eyes and ears everywhere, but not in Sadina, or at least no undetected ones. All of this information she had extracted directly from her.


    Aaliyah was the strongest weapon in the lands, but her favorite battlefield wasn¡¯t the one of war, but that of subtlety. She was a woman of uncanny tricks and sharp knowledge. The martial sultanzade had no chance, but that didn¡¯t mean the diplomatic and intellectual ones had it better. The sultanah started as a scholar and it showed. Her shrewdness scared Rani, but even more the punishment she could afflict.


    Rani took a deep breath ¨C not without trembling first ¨C to gain the determination to talk back.


    ¡°So you do not deny it.¡± The emir replied with a strong tone.


    The sultanah smiled. ¡°And why should I tell you anything?¡±


    ¡°Because you deflowered one of my personal scribes and confidant,¡± Rani stood her ground.


    ¡°Confidant?¡± Aaliyah laughed. The cacophony of her laughter was so powerful that the room shook, the emir¡¯s earlobes threatening to pop. ¡°You are not fooling anyone. You did not tell that girl anything at all. I spoke at length with her yesternight, and she knew nothing. Not about Nurture, not about Enlightenment. And I suspect you do not even know about her. Admit it, you are just strangers, met by chance, and so happened to work for your plans. I can tell it easily from the first time you mentioned her.¡±


    The confidence that Aaliyah spoke with scared her. How could she get this much information with minimal clues? Rani tried to hide any spasm or twitch that could give information away, but it was always against her.


    ¡°You wanted a new toy, not a sexual one, you have a lot of those, but that would have likely changed with time. No, everything started as a way to amuse yourself, but then you noticed how could she be something else. That she could work for a placeholder or a straight substitute.¡± The sultanah abandoned her lazy posture, making Rani backpedal more. ¡°All because you fear pain.¡±


    For the first time in ages, since she was a child, Rani wanted to cry. Other people wouldn¡¯t fear crying before her mothers, but the person before her wasn¡¯t a mother, but an enemy. An enemy that was condescending to her. Rightfully so.


    ¡°Yes. All you said is true.¡± Rani admitted with a knot in her throat. ¡°But that does not erase the fact that you stole from me.¡± Her amethyst eyes shone with power and hate. Showing weakness was lethal, only strength mattered.


    ¡°I stole from you?¡± For the first time, Aaliyah seemed amused.


    ¡°If you had not intervened, both the virginity and vitality of Aloe ¨C yes, I have noticed she had slightly less vitality than yesterday ¨C would have been mine.¡± The emir put her first on her chest. ¡°Rightfully mine.¡±


    ¡°Ah, but that was just a tiny prick, just a few reapings~¡± Aaliyah sang melodiously, casually admitting to reaping the scribe more than once in a session. An act that would be extremely painful if not outright lethal to some people. ¡°What that girl lacks in tits and ass, she makes up for it in food. Ah yes, she was delicious~¡±


    ¡°You may have eaten from the feast, but you still have taken one-of-a-kind treasure, never to be recovered.¡± Rani didn¡¯t allow herself to be intimidated. ¡°I should be rewarded for this transgression, my liege.¡±


    She couldn¡¯t act emotionally. The best course of action was to respond as an outraged vassal that had been stolen from their overlord, which was true, rather than a child throwing a tantrum.


    ¡°I will bite.¡± Aaliyah stood up. ¡°Now, let us talk about the intricacies of Nurture.¡±

 Book 3: 5. Business

    Aloe wasn¡¯t left alone in the room for long, but when the physician came back, he unfortunately came empty-handed as Rani was sleeping. Apparently, she and the Sultanah had a heated discussion that lasted for hours and halted today¡¯s audiences. Aloe didn¡¯t know how to feel about that. She couldn¡¯t be grateful to Rani for confronting the Sultanah because if she hadn¡¯t hired her nothing of this would have happened in the first place, but at the same time, she appreciated the thought.


    The blame obviously fell on one person alone.


    A person untouchable to simple concepts like blame, to begin with.


    The scribe did her best to keep Aaliyah-al-Ydaz out of her mind, no matter how deep she had been engraved in her retinas and body. She almost cried again. She managed to hold it together, then as she tried to shift her position on the bed her hips shot a ping of pain reminding her of what had happened, making her cry for real.


    Far from a comforting presence, the physician walked away from the room and came back with a maid in tow. The girl carried a bucket full of steaming water.


    ¡°May I wash you, venerable scribe?¡± The maid asked weakly. Aloe couldn¡¯t identify if the maid was scared, intimidated, or pitying her. She should be better than this, to recognize simple emotions at a glance, but the truth was, she couldn¡¯t care what the maid was thinking about her. Aloe couldn¡¯t almost care about herself.


    Aloe didn¡¯t respond, so absorbed in her thoughts to bother.


    ¡°Ahem.¡± The physician cleared his throat. ¡°I would recommend taking her offer. You will not be able to bathe in a while, and being covered in bodily substances will not do you any favors to your health.¡±


    The scribe slowly tilted her head to look at the physician. She wanted him dead, in more than one manner.


    ¡°Proceed.¡± The woman¡¯s voice was weak and dead.


    ¡°I will leave the room then.¡± The old man nodded, unaware of the pain he was causing her. ¡°Please be careful with her, her fractures are great so avoid moving her even if that means not washing her.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡± The maid dutifully bowed.


    What followed next was an hour of slow washing as the maid carefully brushed Aloe¡¯s skin with a wet towel. She feared the lightest touch would hurt the scribe, so she barely dared to scrub her, instead taking more time than necessary to remove the sweat and blood.


    It didn¡¯t matter how many perfumes the water was filled with; Aloe could only smell the pungent stench of sex. On more than one occasion, she almost puked. The slow caresses reminded her of something she didn¡¯t want to be reminded of, making her feel nauseated. She especially got dizzy when the maid cleaned her crotch. Whilst Aloe had near to no line of sight with her lower body, she felt it was dirty. In more than one way.


    In the end, the maid had to change the water of the bucket once after it lost its temperature from the wait and the aroma from the blood. Even if she was cleaner now, Aloe felt as much as defiled, having had to watch a woman barely older than her clean her when she couldn¡¯t move freely.


    ¡°I am done, venerable scribe.¡± The maid spoke for the first time and covered the scribe¡¯s naked body with a blanket. She then stood up with the bucket in hand, ready to leave.


    ¡°Wait.¡± Aloe stopped her.


    ¡°What is it, venerable scribe?¡± The woman turned to face her, her visage showing the same unwavering servitude.


    ¡°I need to go to the bathroom.¡± It had been almost a day since the last time she had gone, and she had had a lot of water since then. Considering how she didn¡¯t have the need to pee that much compared to the other business, Aloe feared she had done it before whilst unconscious. At least not in this bed. I should have defecated on her bed too. Aloe thought with a spark of hatred, even if that would have likely ended in her execution.


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    ¡°I have been ordered to not move you.¡± The maid responded dutifully. ¡°Let me consult it with the court physician.¡±


    A minute later the physician barged into the room.


    ¡°I am afraid you are not in a position to go to the bathroom.¡± The bald man explained. ¡°You should stay in bed for a few days before stepping a foot out. I am not sure your hips may support your body weight even then.¡±


    ¡°Then what am I supposed to do?¡± Aloe shouted with indignation. ¡°Shit myself?¡± The physician didn¡¯t respond. ¡°Are you kidding me?¡± The scribe¡¯s voice became louder, unlike her previous sickly self.


    ¡°I am not.¡± The self-appointed doctor replied. ¡°You are hospitalized, girl. It is normal for patients to not be able to do their business. At least you can willfully control it, others are not so lucky.¡±


    ¡°Lucky?¡± Aloe felt she was going to tear her throat with her screams. ¡°Are you saying that I am lucky? You call this luck?¡± Blood vessels began showing in her head and arms.


    ¡°Please, calm down.¡± That exact wording did everything but calm her down. ¡°I know you are in pain and enraged, but it is by the Sultanah¡¯s mercy that you are alive right now.¡±


    Those words slapped her like a bucket of cold water. Strength left Aloe¡¯s arms. Even when she had broken her legs, the Sultanah could still end her life whenever she wanted. She didn¡¯t even need to dirty her hands, there were dozens of guards in the palace.


    ¡°Now,¡± the physician continued, ¡°you must not let yourself be shamed by acts like urination and defecation, they are basic human functions. If you are not comfortable with me being present, I can call a maid for you to do your business. Of course, that would be in bed, and most likely without raising your body.¡±


    The logical side of her understood the words of the physician. Her body was badly hurt, and it needed recovery. But the human side of her wanted to strangle the life out of the man, to crush his windpipe with her hands and kick him in the face. She may be able to do the first thing with ¡®strength¡¯, but no infusion would help her with the second in her current state.


    She channeled as much patience and tranquility in her body to not assault the man. This would be easier with ter¡¯nar tea. Aloe found herself craving the tea, it helped her relax, and she needed a lot of relaxation.


    ¡°Please call a maid.¡± She admitted in defeat, the call of the wild growing strong enough to overcome pride.


    The physician nodded and made his way out of the room. A few minutes later, someone knocked on the door and Aloe allowed them to enter. The person in question was an older-looking maid who carried a bucket and some towels on her hands. Aloe was thankful for the doctor¡¯s foresight ¨C calling an older woman rather than the previous maid around her age ¨C but in a way, it was even more humiliating. Now she didn¡¯t feel like a patient, but like a newborn that needed its diapers to be changed.


    ¡°What do you need to do, venerable scribe?¡± The older maid asked with a serene and respectful tone. Aloe knew she didn¡¯t intend any harm, but the formality only made her feel worse.


    What¡¯s venerable about this? Aloe gritted her teeth before responding. ¡°Both.¡±


    She had never felt such humiliation before. And it would only get worse with time. There was no way she could hold her body from relieving in the many weeks that would take the fracture to recover.


    ¡°Understood.¡± The maid responded in an unfazed manner. ¡°Allow me to put these towels below you.¡±


    ¡°I can do that myself.¡± Aloe snatched the towels from the mature woman¡¯s hands to regain a bit of control of the situation and heal her pride a bit. That all changed when she tried raising her upper body and an explosion of pain burst in her body. ¡°Aaaaah!¡± The scribe collapsed in the bed, her body turning limp as the pain bypassed her ¡®toughness¡¯ internal infusion easily.


    Tears formed in her eyes, she was not used to pain, less so with her infusion active.


    The maid rushed to her side, but instead of talking, she helped Aloe with her posture. Her hands were careful but experienced, the maid knew where to put her hands without inflicting the scribe any pain.


    ¡°Please, relax your muscles.¡± Her voice was almost motherly. ¡°The more strength you put in, the more pain you will feel. Just relax~¡± The maid caressed Aloe¡¯s uncovered bottom with the back of her hands, the woman¡¯s bony knuckles feeling comfortable to the touch. ¡°I have been made aware of your problems. Feel no shame, nor try to make it difficult for yourself. Just do what you must have to do.¡±


    The woman didn¡¯t lift the scribe¡¯s body, but she managed to get the towels below her body with ease.


    ¡°I know it must not be comfortable nor easy, but there is no better way to do it.¡± It wasn¡¯t just the neutrality, but also the emotion in her tone. She cared for her well-being. A thing Aloe had almost given up on. ¡°Do not let yourself be tied up by social constrictions and evacuate.¡±


    Aloe didn¡¯t know what it was ¨C if her imperious need to finally release her growing urge or the woman¡¯s soothing voice and dexterous movements ¨C but against her best interests, she heeded the call for nature.

 Book 3: 6. Deviant

    Rani woke up with almost no memory of the recent events. Amusingly enough, what made her remember the last day was nothing more than the moonlight coming from the window.


    ¡°Night, huh.¡± The princess blinked slowly. ¡°I know I have gone to sleep in the noon, but it is never comfortable to wake up in the middle of the night.¡±


    She sighed and straightened her back. Her hair was a mess and what she wanted more than anything right now was a bath.


    ¡°It has been two days at the palace, three on the road too...¡± The emir opted to undress and change herself. Surely there would be maids or manservants more than happy to serve her, but she wasn¡¯t in the mood. ¡°We need to depart today, by the time we arrive it will have been over a week, and I do not trust Naila to keep everything in place for that long.¡±


    For better or worse, mostly for worse, Rani had been forced to leave her half-sister Naila in power back in her city of Sadina. Whilst competent in Nurture and martial disciplines, the young sultanzade was far from a competent administrator. Tamara and Nuha, Rani¡¯s personal scribes, were overwatching her. Those two women had a lot of experience running an emirate, both working in their positions before either Rani or Naila were even born, but the regent emir had the power to overrule them.


    This visit to Asina had only seeded chaos, only the information Rani got out of the sultanah could be considered useful. It was a minor relief, but she would have preferred not to come here in the first place.


    Obviously, that wasn¡¯t an option.


    Not only Aaliyah had ordered her personally to come, alongside her scribe of commoners, but she needed to attend the council of sultanzade and emirs. As the name implied, it was a meeting hosted and attended by sultanzade and emirs of Ydaz. It was hosted on a bi-monthly basis and whilst not every sultanzade was forced to participate, the emirs didn¡¯t have the same privilege. In the previous years, Rani and Hassan had substituted the old emir of Sadina, Yusuf, but once Hassan came into power, it was she who assisted most council meetings.


    The only person who could substitute Rani in these meetings now was Naila, but that wasn¡¯t an option either. Her half-sister lacked training and understanding, and unfortunately, the meetings weren¡¯t trivial affairs.


    Rani went alone to the palace¡¯s bath, at this time of the night it was deserted, yet the water steamed with the same potency. The sultanzade forced a maid prancing around the entrance of the baths and forced her to come inside and assist her. She was too tired to bother cleaning herself, better to leave that to an expert.


    Asina maids were in a different league of their own compared to those she had in Sadina. There weren¡¯t many requirements to be a maid in her palace, but Aaliyah was stricter with her workers. There was a whole course the servants had to take to be contracted. The crown paid for these lessons, but the sheer requirement of needing to take classes to cater to every sultanzade¡¯s whims sorted the flimsiest of wills away.


    It was mainly for that fact that most servants in the palace were actually men because they knew the perks of the job. Give a man the minimal chance to get laid, and they will grovel at your feet and bark in obedience.


    Salary inequality by gender in the palace was a reality, though not in the way most would expect. Women were more coveted by the sultanzade for a myriad of reasons, whether it was carnal, Nurture, or manpower ones. In a way, Rani couldn¡¯t see men. Her eyes ignored the manservants, only laying on the women. Male beauty was mostly limited to their physique and strength, but no common man could be better well-built than a sultanzade. Only the most effeminate and young manservants were of interest to the sultanzade, the rest were just fields ready to be reaped and discarded.


    The maid serving her was dexterous with her hands, this was clearly not her first time serving a sultanzade. Nor a woman for that matter. Being sultanzade was synonymous with lecherous, but that didn¡¯t mean every one of her siblings enjoyed sex in the same way. Some didn¡¯t at all. Deviants all of those, but they weren¡¯t treated as lesser because of it. Their hate was better placed in someone else. So as the maid got adventurous with her touches as they closed in erogenous zones, clearly misunderstanding the reason why she was brought, Rani put a finger in her hand.


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    ¡°Do not.¡± The emir stated with power, charm oozing through her body.


    Her talent was both a curse and a blessing. Even if her ability ¨C and interest ¨C in Nurture was lacking, her innate talent with the charm stance made her a force to be reckoned with even amongst the older sultanzade. Her innate abilities, something which she didn¡¯t have any control over, defined her hierarchal status and who she was as a person.


    And that enraged her.


    The maid obeyed her mistress¡¯ orders and proceeded with the bathing as normal, not trying to please the princess again. Though Rani could tell the woman was far from intimidated. She could tell it with her enhanced senses. The coquetry of the caresses, the accelerated beating of her heart, the rugged breath, and the drenched sex. The act of nonchalant domination had only made the maid horny.


    That was another truth of the palace.


    Sure, her charm may have influenced her, even if it was a shallow uncontrolled burst, but the reality was that the ethics of the palace of Asina only attracted the utmost deviants to its halls. No servant was ever assaulted here regardless of their gender, if anything, they looked forward to it. That of course, was only limited to servants.


    Every servant knew what would wait for them once they signed for the job, even if a select few broke down midway after discovering the sex wasn¡¯t as free as it seemed. Some were even purposely broken, a certain woman enjoyed that a bit too much.


    Rani enjoyed her bath for a long while. Not only cleaning every corner of her body with the most expensive beauty products of the world ¨C even if she didn¡¯t need them ¨C but also enjoying the massages of the maid, who unsurprisingly, was an experienced masseuse.


    The watery eyes of the maid ¨C brimming with unadulterated desire ¨C rubbed her wrongly, so with a sigh, the emir grabbed the young woman¡¯s neck and pushed her. She would know better than implicitly requesting a sultanzade for satisfaction in the future.


    By the time she got out of the bath, the sun was threatening to come out. Before sunlight made its apparition, Rani readied her documents from the council and alerted her soldiers to be ready to leave. But before doing so, she needed to see someone else first.


    It wasn¡¯t hard to find the room where they had stationed her scribe of commoners; the servants were happy to oblige her after all. She found out her location was in the main palace, which irony of the situation almost made her chuckle.


    Rani knocked on the door once, but as no one answered, she barged into the room. She didn¡¯t have to ask for permission in the first place as a sultanzade, but she wasn¡¯t a mannerless barbarian.


    The room was lit by a single candle and was mostly devoid of furniture for its size. The biggest piece of the room was the bed, which was inhabited by a woman facing up as she lay.


    ¡°Ah~¡± Rani moaned. Fate had been cruel to the scribe, she had lost her mother barely a few weeks ago ¨C apparently her grandfather too ¨C and now she had been deflowered against her will by the most vile person Rani knew of. And that was without taking into consideration the whole bone-breaking thing. And despite all that cruelty, the princess couldn¡¯t help herself but feel intoxicated.


    There was a beauty to it.


    Rani didn¡¯t consider herself a cruel person, but much like her mother, she knew how to appreciate the subtleties of pain. She repulsed pain with all her might but seeing that amount of inflicted pain felt like a waste if it went unused.


    ¡°I know you are awake.¡± The emir whispered, her stance revealing the wakefulness of her scribe. ¡°I do not care if you do not respond to me, but I came here to tell you that I will leave Asina soon. You are to remain here until you recover. And do not fret about your position, I will not let you go easily.¡± The last words rang with charm.


    That got a reaction from Aloe, who still faked her sleep, even if she had opened her eyes. They shone in a paradox of life and death. The young scribe wouldn¡¯t allow herself to die, but she didn¡¯t possess many wishes to continue with her life. It was that glint in her emerald eyes that Rani found succulent.


    That brewing hate.


    Hate moved countries, shifted borders, and toppled empires.


    The same emotion emerged in Rani as she looked into those despoiled eyes. It wasn¡¯t because Aloe had been battered in such a horrifying way. It wasn¡¯t because it had been her toy her mother had stolen.


    The sultanzade stepped backward to appreciate the broken beauty of the petite woman. She inspected her body in detail. At least I have the certainty she has not been impregnated with her bastard. Rani pondered recalling the lesson Aaliyah had taught her the previous morning. As much the maid who had cleaned the scribe tried to remove the stench, the smell of blood, menstrual blood lingered in the air. No child would spawn from that womb that day.


    As Rani¡¯s hand lay on the frame of the door, she realized where the true hate came from. I wanted to be the one to do that. Being beaten by her mother only reinforced her existing hate. The emir left for Sadina.

 Book 3: 7. Spite

    It had been a while since Rani had departed to Sadina. Aloe looked at the ceiling with dead eyes, only a slow and tired blink once in a while interrupted the process. As the days passed, everything became harder. The more she had to stay in this cursed bed, the worse everything was. The less human she felt every time she had to do her business. It was demoralizing to soil herself every single day and then have someone clean it up.


    That was no manner to live a life.


    With the days, she had learned the names of the people who assisted her. Nor that she had asked, or remembered doing so, but when you spent so much time with a person, their name was bound to drop at some point. The hard part was holding to that piece of information.


    The maid who cleaned and bathed her was called Farah. Her age was advanced for a maid, Aloe assumed she had to be some sort of head maid to remain in such a den of debauchery with her growing wrinkles and her faint traces of whitened hair. She couldn¡¯t be older than forty-something, but in a place where most maids weren¡¯t older than twenty-five, she was ancient.


    The physician ¨C a person even older than Farah ¨C went by the name of Zeeshan. As she had heard from one of the maids, the bald man was the court physician, even if his demeanor left a lot to desire.


    Farah and Zeeshan were basically the only ones that visited her bedchamber. Some maids brought her food or tried to change the sheets to the best of their abilities when Farah was not available, but their faces were a blur to Aloe.


    Everything was a blur.


    No matter how much Zeeshan tried to motivate her, she would be bedridden for a while more. Weeks before this, when she was recently appointed as the scribe of commoners of Sadina, Aloe would have begged for a rest like this. Not required to do anything at all for days. But right now, she would give everything to be back in that position, sleep-deprived, lightheaded, and with sore wrists. That sounded way more lovely than her current situation.


    From time to time, her crotch itched.


    Pings of tasteless memories assaulted her with each of those times.


    Aloe tried to focus her mind, but every time she failed. And in the case she succeeded, the lucidity only made her fall into a deeper depression. She oscillated constantly on the idea that it was worth it to keep thinking. At all.


    A fragrant smell awoke her.


    The scribe opened her eyes to find Farah with a pot of incense in her hands, burning with enough potency to not be oppressive.


    ¡°Did I awake you, venerable scribe?¡± Aloe responded with a tired blink. ¡°Sorry, I wanted to clean but I decided that the room was gathering a bit of a stench even with the windows open. I find this incense to work nicely on such occasions.¡±


    The head maid restarted cleaning, but as the smell continued to caress Aloe¡¯s nostrils, she couldn¡¯t keep herself silent.


    ¡°W-what...¡± Her throat itched even if she had water at her disposal at all times. ¡°What incense is it?¡±


    Farah turned to face her with a duster in her hand and a warm smile on her face. ¡°Lavander, venerable scribe.¡±


    ¡°Lavander...¡± Aloe knew of such a plant. She didn¡¯t have one herself, but it wasn¡¯t that uncommon of a sight. Especially in the gardens of the palace of Sadina.


    Plants. The thought echoed in her mind. Plants. It was a drum of a constant thrum. It wasn¡¯t oppressive like those in carnivals, but it wasn¡¯t exactly pleasing. Plants. She kept thinking to herself.


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    She had opted to not think about anything during her recovery, not only it was hard, but if she thought for too long... there were things she didn¡¯t want to think about. But that idea, that of a flower resonated on her mind.


    ¡®Toughness¡¯ had been useful with her pain, she was too weakened for her infusion to perform at optimal performance. Even now, with days of having ¡®toughness¡¯ constantly up and her vitality topped, the pain was great. It became easy if she remained still, but in the few moments she had to move, her hips would scream in protest and almost make her faint in some cases.


    Zeeshan said that there was hope for her, that with enough rest, in a few months, she could walk again. But Aloe knew that wasn¡¯t the case. She felt it in her bones. That pain was too great. It wasn¡¯t a pain that would heal, no matter how much time she gave it. It wasn¡¯t ephemeral, that much was clear to her.


    Plants. Flower. Evolution.


    If Infusion hadn¡¯t worked, what about Evolution?


    Aloe¡¯s eyes shot wide open, her back springing up from the bed in realization. As much as she was excited, the wrongness of her gesture instantly became apparent as her body screamed in protest, making the woman groan in pain.


    ¡°Aloe!¡± Farah shouted in panic, forgetting momentarily about honorifics. ¡°Are you alright? Is there something wrong?¡±


    ¡°I...¡± Aloe held her body weight on her hands, removing as much strain from her hips as possible, but her breath was rugged and her eyes moist from the pain. An exhausted groan escaped her lips. ¡°I am fine.¡± She then laid once more on the bed. ¡°Just a cramp.¡± She lied with uncanny easiness.


    ¡°Thank the heavens.¡± The mature woman exhaled with a hand on her bountiful cleavage. ¡°You should be more careful. Movements like these could cost you dearly. Remember that I am here to serve you.¡±


    ¡°I know... I know.¡± Aloe responded, every word fainter than the previous one. ¡°Could I get some food?¡±


    ¡°But of course, venerable scribe.¡± Farah nodded and made her way out of the room.


    The maid didn¡¯t question why she wanted to eat this early in the day, especially as Aloe had had breakfast not that long ago. Truth be told, she wasn¡¯t hungry, she just wanted to be alone in her bedchamber for a moment.


    Aloe took a deep breath and calmed herself. She reached with some difficulty to the nightstand next to her bed and drank water from a cup. Her throat felt much better after that.


    ¡°Hope¡¯s not lost,¡± Aloe told herself, life blossoming away in her eyes. It felt weird to be that lifeful after resembling a corpse for so long. The sheer willingness to live already made her body stronger, more resilient, more vital.


    There was a single reason for it.


    ¡°The Blossomflame.¡± The scribe recalled the small red flower in her greenhouse. ¡°It accelerated healing by a lot. I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s natural regeneration or... something else. But... even if it¡¯s just my body¡¯s healing that it¡¯s accelerated, a few minutes will already be days. If I stay days with the plant, it could be as much as years...¡±


    She knew that scars couldn¡¯t heal, but years was a lot of time. Maybe enough to allow her to walk again. To be disposed of her humiliation and retake her life, to shed weakness for strength. The fire of life blossomed on her. Alongside other fires.


    ¡°What if I made another one...¡± She pondered. ¡°I will need weeks before I can make the travel to Sadina, and even then, I can¡¯t take the short route. With my health, a sandstorm will be lethal, and whoever has to carry me there, surely they won¡¯t care about leaving behind a... disabled woman.¡±


    Aloe bit her underlip. It was the truth, but it hurt, nonetheless. The fact that she came to that conclusion herself made it tolerable. If someone else had told her that... she doubted her heart could have handled it.


    ¡°A few weeks, plus another of travel...¡± The scribe sighed. ¡°I won¡¯t be out of here well past mid-spring, maybe even the beginning of summer depending on the travel...¡±


    She recalled what she needed to make a Blossomflame. A single cumin seed. A seed that Ydazi cuisine used constantly as a spice to flavor up plates. It would be easy to get her hands on one without raising suspicion.


    ¡°But then...¡± Strength left her body. ¡°If I made a Blossomflame, the palace would find about it. She would find out about it.¡±


    Her teeth gritted with a sick screech.


    The sheer thought that Aaliyah put her claws on HER Blossomflame made Aloe sick. It made her blood boil. Her fingers curled like talons at the prospect, bones threatening to pop out of her skin.


    ¡°She doesn¡¯t know about Evolution,¡± Aloe recalled the long monologue the sultanah dedicated her before the fateful night. ¡°At least it doesn¡¯t look like it. She already knows one vital art more than me, if she finds out about Evolution...¡± Her heart stopped for a moment. ¡°This isn¡¯t about me any longer, Aaliyah cannot have another vital art. For the sake of the Ydaz. For the sake of Khaffat.¡±


    Aloe would prefer to remain disabled for the rest of her life before giving that woman more power; sanctity and justice be damned. Just out of spite.

 Book 3: 8. Acuity

    Well into her second week as a patient, Aloe grew impatient. She could fare with being still for hours without end, but as of late, her body had grown pains from the stillness. Not only her extremities but also her torso were developing aches from the increasing numbness. Whilst she could exercise her arms easily, the same couldn''t be said for her legs. Sure, she could move them slightly to keep the blood flowing, but beyond that, her pelvis would scream in protest.


    ¡°Could I get a change of scenery?¡± Aloe asked Farah after she cleaned her body with a wet towel.


    ¡°That would be difficult, venerable scribe.¡± The mature maid responded. ¡°The physician has highly recommended against any movements. Are the books not enough for your entertainment?¡±


    Aloe hadn¡¯t been locked in her room looking at the ceiling all these days without any cognitive stimuli. The Palace of Asina¡¯s library was far bigger than Sadina¡¯s, and it was easy for her to get all of those books about plants and herbalism that she couldn¡¯t have read on Sadina either because she didn¡¯t find them or for lack of time. Whilst far from an enjoyable and dynamic read, Aloe obtained a new appreciation for botanical science.


    As the seat of empirical knowledge, Asina contained more academic papers than any other place in Khaffat, meaning that she got access to the most up-to-date discoveries. Her unrestricted access was lovely, but not enough.


    Yes, she had the perfect opportunity to learn, even to find the papers that Karaim published as that woman had mentioned, but neither her mind nor body were up to the task.


    ¡°I have thoroughly enjoyed the books, Farah,¡± Aloe admitted. ¡°But my body has grown ill from staying still this much time. Wouldn¡¯t it be possible to get a whisp of fresh air?¡±


    The maid looked troubled. ¡°I could try asking the court physician, I guess.¡±


    ¡°Please, do so.¡± The scribe¡¯s voice almost came out pitiful.


    It pained Aloe to make Farah out of her room, even if it was to fulfill one of her petitions. Her company was the only thing that kept her sane. Not from loneliness or her aches but... She just wanted a sweet voice to comfort her. To keep that string of sanity from snapping.


    The scribe took a deep breath and focused on her body. Her body had grown ill for one reason alone. And it wasn¡¯t stillness. Mostly.


    Vitality flowed across Aloe¡¯s body with a cadence that could only be called sharp. Like a river, the shore and bottom of the waterway would present resistance to the flow of water. Her vitality didn¡¯t act like that currently. It was as if there wasn¡¯t any resistance present, as if the water had gotten wise and always took the most optimal path, never scrapping against any walls. Such a thing would be impossible in the real world, as there would always need to be some water touching borders, but that was how her flow felt. As if the friction had disappeared.


    That was the work of her new internal infusion.


    It had taken her a few days to develop it, mostly because she didn¡¯t have any clues if it actually existed, just a hunch based on her experiences with the sultanzade. And she had no guidelines to follow, even if they were like the scarce ones Karaim had gifted her.


    When activating her new infusion, life felt brighter. This was the only reason why she had deactivated ¡®toughness¡¯. Her breaths became bigger and fuller; her sight became sharper and more colorful; her ears no longer rung but let her hear with clarity; her taste exploded with flavor, allowing her to taste more and better ¨C bile gathered on her throat as remembrances of unfortunate tastes assaulted her mind, the taste of things she didn¡¯t want to remember now exacerbated, of her mouth being forcefully filled. Regretfully, the internal infusion also boosted her sense of touch, meaning that all the itches and numbness of her body intensified. Whilst it didn¡¯t boost her pain directly, she indirectly felt more of it from the lack of ¡®toughness¡¯.


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    And even then, Aloe decided to not have it active.


    The clarity of mind that this infusion brought her was more than worth it, even if she had to endure more pain because of it. A more tasteful, colorful, and clearer life was worth the price.


    Aloe named this internal infusion: ¡®acuity¡¯.


    The name suited like a glove, and it took her more days to come with it than she was willing to admit. The woman felt that infusions needed to have grandiose or interesting names, otherwise she wouldn¡¯t be doing them justice.


    This wasn¡¯t the only infusion she had tried. ¡®Strength¡¯ had also proven to make her stay more bearable, at the same expense of amplifying the pain, of course. The names of the infusions didn¡¯t always make them justice, Aloe didn¡¯t only feel stronger whilst using ¡®strength¡¯, but also more willing. What that willingness was, she couldn¡¯t ascertain. That made her recall that woman and how she had thoroughly violated her ¡®toughness¡¯ as if it hadn¡¯t existed. She could feel it clear as day, the sultanah had not used her own ¡®strength¡¯ internal infusion that night. It was her base strength that broke her in half. That led her into her current bedridden state.


    Aloe took a deep breath, incense filling her nostrils, and washed the memories away.


    ¡®Speed¡¯ was not as successful as ¡®strength¡¯ or ¡®acuity¡¯ to deal with her mortality. She had to deal with the fact of not having ¡®toughness¡¯ active and then having to acclimate her body to the accelerated pace. That infusion didn¡¯t bring any positives in her current state ¨C probably only negatives if she tried to walk with that amount of celerity ¨C so she shelved it.


    Her mood swung constantly, mostly following the hours of the day, and she changed her infusions to mitigate it. Before going to sleep, Aloe always set her internal infusion to ¡®toughness¡¯, otherwise the pain wouldn¡¯t let her sleep ¨C though sometimes she had cried herself into unconsciousness regardless of the infusion ¨C meaning that she would wake up feeling numb and bleak-eyed. Only after breakfast, did the scribe dare to change the infusion, though her breakfasts tended to be closer to noon. As more wakefulness filled her body during noon and afternoon, she defaulted to ¡®strength¡¯, with an intermission of ¡®acuity¡¯ to taste her meals.


    She wasn¡¯t in a hospital, but the most expensive place in all Ydaz, after all. Food was prepared by top-class chefs, and she was well past the gruel and porridge feeding, so even in her handicapped state she was able to enjoy extravagant feasts.


    The spices were many, the meats exotic, and the vegetables colorful.


    It didn¡¯t matter that she was bedridden, she ate like a queen. Probably even better than most queens depending on the size of their kingdoms like those in the east.


    Aloe¡¯s visage was drawn to a tired smile. I... Best to look at the positives, no? No food, no matter how delicious and nutritive, could compensate for her pain, loneliness, and lack of movement, but it helped.


    Every bit helped.


    As for the night, the scribe reserved ¡®acuity¡¯ in those hours. Night, even in the heart of the palace, was cold. But as she was smothered on blankets, not even her increased senses suffered from the low temperature. ¡®Acuity¡¯ was nice during meals, yes, but one couldn¡¯t underestimate its value during the night. Her body was still weakened ¨C therefore her vitality too ¨C but even in such a state, her eyes could pierce through the coat of darkness.


    She didn¡¯t know how eagles and hawks may see the world with their sharp eyes, but Aloe felt closer to them with ¡®acuity¡¯. A bird... What a suiting analogy... The woman let out a morbid chuckle. Clipped wings and a gilded cage.


    With her enhanced senses, Aloe felt the steps echoing through the hall, faintly making their way under the door and reaching her ears. She was jumpy, even if she recognized the exact weight and cadence by now. Nonetheless, she switched to ¡®toughness¡¯.


    Changing infusions was a long and arduous process, one that required severe concentration and a calm heart. In the beginning, when she had managed to shift her flow of vitality and barely performed her first infusion, the process had taken minutes. Now, after having donned ¡®toughness¡¯ for weeks without end, it felt like her default internal infusion more than ever, meaning that she could snap back into the appropriate flow without taking much time, just a reaction.


    That only applied to ¡®toughness¡¯, though. She was less competent in the other infusions, even with these many days of practice and usage, but a new infusion like ¡®acuity¡¯ was a matter closer to seconds rather than minutes. ¡®Speed¡¯ was by far her most lacking subject, still needing grueling minutes to get her internal flow right.


    By the moment that Farah opened the door, Aloe was prone and unmoving in her bed, ¡®toughness¡¯ protecting her.


    ¡°I have good news, venerable scribe.¡± The head maid referred politely to the bedridden woman, even if she had called Aloe by her name more than once.


    ¡°What those may be, Farah?¡± The scribe raised her head slowly to lock sights with the mature yet still beautiful woman. Whilst certainly passed her prime, she was still lovely.


    ¡°The physician has accepted your petition for fresh air.¡±

 Book 3: 9. Walk

    Aloe¡¯s eyes initially shone at the prospect of leaving her room, though they inevitably darkened once she was presented with the method to do so.


    ¡°I¡­ why is there a palanquin here?¡± The scribe¡¯s voice trembled, her body still prone in bed and her head barely raised from the pillow. ¡°And one with a bed at that?¡±


    ¡°To carry you, of course.¡± Zeeshan with his hands clasped.


    ¡°Is there not a better method?¡± Aloe reacted negatively to the raised seat and the people next to it that carried it. ¡°I do not¡­ feel comfortable about the idea of being carried. It is unbecoming of my position.¡±


    ¡°If you truly want to get a whisp of fresh air and a hint of a walk, this is the best we can do.¡± The physician stated calmly, though a bit annoyed.


    ¡°Would it not be possible to use a wheelchair? You have those here in the palace, right?¡± Whilst not a common contraption, Aloe had seen those so-called wheelchairs in the medical wings of the University of Sadina. Scholars were fickle, elderly scholars even more.


    ¡°We do indeed possess wheelchairs in our storage room,¡± Zeeshan admitted, ¡°but you are not recovered enough to use one. Remember that the bones you have broken are located on the hip and pelvic area, sitting down may be as extenuating for the recovering marrow as walking.¡±


    Aloe felt enraged at the bald man¡¯s words. Not because he prohibited her from using a wheelchair, but for his wording. The bones you have broken. You. Aloe¡¯s eyes began to heat up ¨C swelling in hate ¨C as her breath became rugged. My fault? MY FAULT? Her hands twisted and her fingers bent unnaturally, aching to wrap around the physician¡¯s neck and press it until it snapped.


    It took her more than three breaths to calm down.


    Zeeshan continued looking at her, mostly bothered at the inconvenience of waiting, unbeknownst to the hatred boiling inside the scribe. It was so fascinating to Aloe how in a matter of weeks he went from a respected doctor trying to save his patients to barely a nurse who couldn¡¯t keep up with a single patient. You are bored of me, that¡¯s what you are? You? I should be the one bored! I am the bedridden one!


    ¡°I guess I can accept those terms,¡± Aloe told with a sweet yet slightly sour smile. For better or worse, her recovery time had made her better at masquerading. If only to hide the pain.


    ¡°Understood.¡± The physician responded politely with apparent animosity under his fa?ade. ¡°Boys, load her up. And do so very carefully, she is an emir¡¯s prot¨¦g¨¦.¡±


    The guards, who were even if not more tired than Aloe and Zeeshan, put the palanquin to the ground, and very carefully between the four of them, carried the scribe from her bed to the repurposed palanquin. Aloe had feared their initial touches, her body instinctively shying away from their hands, unable to reconcile big hands with a well-intentioned gesture.


    Her heartbeat twisted and turned, almost crying at the hands that enveloped her. It was then ¨C as she was a few millimeters raised from her bed, the only safe place she had had for weeks ¨C that Aloe realized she was not well. That she was not as sturdy as she thought she was. That her scars, her mental ones, had not healed at all.


    The scribe tried her best to remain still, but bile threatened to gather in her throat, to unleash her breakfast with more fury than a sandstorm. Her hips may not hurt as she was displaced by those coordinated movements, but her heart certainly ached. Her rugged breathing became insufficient, her body started hyperventilating, her pupils dilated, her back drenched in sweat, her¡­


    Before she knew it, she was already resting on the palanquin.


    Zeeshan didn¡¯t give her much attention, even in her panic attack she had held up her mask, but the guards gave her a look. Pity. Whether it was for her expression or the squirming she had done in their arms, they had noticed the scribe¡¯s pain. And they pitied her.


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    That hurt Aloe even more.


    Pity.


    Of all the things she wanted, that wasn¡¯t one of them. Too weak, or maybe too proud, the woman didn¡¯t voice her complaints. Instead choosing to remain tucked in the palanquin.


    Unlike her bed, the palanquin wasn¡¯t fully horizontal, it was more like an armchair with a very reclined backseat and a high footrest. The artistry didn¡¯t look rushed nor makeshift, meaning someone had been working on this for a few days now at a minimum. Either Zeeshan or Farah already had thought about it and commissioned someone to make the reclined palanquin as she doubted they would have a previous usage for this type of palanquin.


    Aloe attributed the foresight to Farah, as she rather not have any positive thoughts directed to the grumpy physician.


    Either way, it wasn¡¯t a masterwork of a seat, far from it. The palanquin performed its duty and that was it. Comfortable and easily carriable, it didn¡¯t need to do much more. The weight was also well distributed with her head being barely raised whilst the legs barely dangling down.


    ¡°Ready?¡± Zeeshan commented as she peered at Aloe over her shoulder.


    ¡°Ready,¡± Aloe responded calmly, even if her heart threatened to pour out of her chest.


    As well as she was masking her visage, the idea of being moved around ¨C even if it was barely a few centimeters from the ground, which she didn¡¯t think was the case ¨C made her incredibly uncomfortable. She was already weak and incapable of protecting herself, a slide or, heaven forbid, a fall would cripple her if not outright kill her. ¡®Toughness¡¯ or not. The scribe was putting, quite literally, her life in the guards¡¯ hands.


    The guards flexed their knees, and with a low thud, the palanquin raised to the air. Aloe¡¯s body stopped breathing for a moment after they did that, but she calmed down fast. Though her heartbeat became a mess as they started walking. Her only saving grace was that the room¡¯s door was more than big enough to accommodate for the width of two soldiers and a palanquin.


    Whether it was intentional or not, what ended up soothing Aloe was the rhythmic cadence of the guards¡¯ footsteps. Their practiced and simultaneous march betrayed them as soldiers if that was not clear enough.


    For a few minutes, Aloe didn¡¯t dare to open her eyes. Yes, the rhythm was perfect, but she was overwhelmed by the world outside her bedchamber.


    Her ¡®acuity¡¯ was not active, yet she felt more open to every sense than she had been these weeks prior with the new internal infusion active. The smells were easier to distinguish, no longer mixing one with another. The light was brighter, even in the corridor and with her eyelids down. And the sounds¡­ it made her uncomfortable, truth be told.


    Aloe could hear with great detail the breathing of the soldiers, a practiced endeavor that felt more of an exercise as she listened to them rather than a vital function. She found herself matching their breathing, even if she wasn¡¯t carrying a palanquin.


    Soon, the bright white noise caressing her eyelids exploded with violence. It was starkly clear that they were outside.


    With difficulty, or rather hesitation, Aloe opened her eyes.


    There was no beautiful world waiting for her to reveal how much she had lost, reality wasn¡¯t like that. Disappointment was the essence of her life. But didn¡¯t mean she didn¡¯t enjoy her limited view. A clear blue sky waited for her, with no clouds in sight.


    The scribe let out her breath, only now noticing that she had been holding it since they left the room. She had to been holding it for five minutes, but she didn¡¯t feel dizzy. Whether it was because of her low bodily activity or her infusion, she didn¡¯t have an answer.


    The soldiers kept marching, and even if her head and neck were highly restricted by pillows, Aloe managed to catch green in the corners of her eyes.


    Trees.


    It didn¡¯t surprise her that they led her to the gardens of the palace.


    ¡°Could we¡­¡± She stopped for a moment, finding it awkward to talk whilst being carried. The soldiers stopped moving to let her gather her words. ¡°Could I be placed on the ground for a moment, I want to see the gardens better, but I cannot do so from my current angle.¡±


    ¡°Of course, venerable scribe.¡± One of the soldiers behind her responded, surprising Aloe.


    The scribe tilted her head, but she didn¡¯t manage to catch anything. ¡°Where is Zeeshan?¡±


    ¡°The court physician left a while ago.¡± The same soldier responded.


    ¡°Of course¡­¡± Why doesn¡¯t that surprise me? ¡°Could you find a place with a good view, if it is not much to ask?¡±


    The soldiers answered with a nod and an agreeable mumble as they continued moving around for a while until they settled in place. As the palanquin slowly lowered to the ground, Aloe could not only enjoy the sight of the fa?ade of the palace, right with colors and metallic glints, but also the shadow of the trees. I hadn¡¯t noticed how hot it was until now. She thought, almost gasping. For some reason, she found herself out of breath even if she hadn¡¯t moved a finger.


    ¡°You can rest,¡± Aloe ordered the soldiers, but the four men remained upright and in position.


    Right. She couldn¡¯t discern if she didn¡¯t have enough authority to order them that or that they had orders to never break position. Be as it may, Aloe disposed herself to indulge in the view, only that a voice interrupted.


    ¡°Oh, my. What do we have here, brother?¡± Aloe, regretfully, recognized that voice.

 Book 3: 10. Twins

    Aloe would have loved to say that she cowered in fear, but her body didn¡¯t even allow her that modesty. Instead, she remained impassive, which was a response that came naturally to her after being inactive for so long.


    ¡°Greetings, princess Khalida.¡± The scribe welcomed the sultanzade with the faintest nod of her head. ¡°I would be more forward and enthusiastic with my salutation, but unfortunately, my body does not allow me so.¡±


    ¡°No problem, Rani¡¯s scribe,¡± Khalida responded with a smile, which made Aloe¡¯s eyes twitch slightly.


    That¡¯s what I am for them, just the scribe of Rani, nothing more. Maybe not even a person. Aloe smiled back at the princess, but she felt the muscles of her face betray her with spasms. Her body began heating up.


    ¡°I am afraid I am unable to serve you, princess,¡± a quick glance revealed the presence of another sultanzade, ¡°and you, prince Kareem. Nonetheless, may I inquire about your visit?¡±


    Ignoring a sultanzade, even if it had been only for a few seconds, and explicitly because she hadn¡¯t noticed him, could cost her dearly. The most she could do was to appeal to their humanity to not attack a defenseless and disabled woman. If they even have humanity, considering they are not humans. Aloe thought with overflowing venom. And that her mother has none of that.


    Let us say that Aloe was not happy with the current status quo.


    ¡°I would say visit is too strong of a word, scribe.¡± Kareem, the brother, added.


    Aloe didn¡¯t know much about sultanzade, if nothing at all. Even though she had spent weeks in the palace, she hadn¡¯t interacted with them at all, mainly because she was staying at the main palace. She only knew of five sultanzade and those were two of them. But the extent of her knowledge was that they were twins. The only sultanzade twins that existed.


    Having said so, Khalida and Kareem weren¡¯t that similar. The female twin didn¡¯t inherit much from her mother as she had a dark skin similar to Aloe rather than the imperial bronze skin, her eyes were dark green instead of shining amethyst, and her hair was chestnut, not jet black. The only likeliness she had with Aaliyah was the muscles on her body. And even that wasn¡¯t enough. Comparing the sultanzade with the sultanah was like comparing an infirm child to a soldier. One could barely see the abs showing through her open dress, unlike the well-built mountains of Aaliyah. And for the first time in history, that analogy wasn¡¯t used for breasts, but toned and strong abs.


    The male twin, on the other hand, looked more like a woman than his twin sister and mother. Not to say that Kareem wasn¡¯t well-built, but he was way thin and had a taller build that only made him look even feebler. His jawline wasn¡¯t marked much, giving him a more androgynous look. His eyes and hair shared the color of the sultanah, yet both felt incredibly lackluster in comparison. Like a dull version of Rani, let alone Aaliyah.


    If Aloe had to use a word to describe him, it would be: disappointment.


    ¡°Do not be harsh with the scribe, brother.¡± Khalida put a hand on her brother¡¯s midriff, a gesture that came off a bit too salacious. ¡°Look at her, it seems the snake tongues have been speaking the truth for once. I am surprised she is even alive.¡±


    ¡°May I ask what rumors you have heard?¡± Aloe inquired slowly but without letting her voice tremble. Her body felt weak, but she doubted she could even stutter. These two... they felt so dull against the spotlights that were Rani and Aaliyah. ¡°It is the victim¡¯s right to hear about the poison the snake tongues have infected them with.¡±


    The scribe felt the bile gathering in her throat.


    ¡°Nothing, much,¡± Kareem interjected, even his tone and mannerism felt effeminate. ¡°Nothing that you will have not imagined already.¡±


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    Aloe¡¯s expression darkened. If it wasn¡¯t enough to have... experienced that and not being able to walk, having people speaking at her back did her no good at all. She did her best to control her breathing and her swelling throat. She wanted to puke and scream. At the same time.


    No amount of ¡®toughness¡¯ could help her power through that.


    She held to her sanity for dear life, maintaining her fa?ade without showing weakness. There was no telling what the sultanzade would do if they saw more weakness beyond her already crippled body.


    ¡°I¡­ see,¡± Aloe added only to break the growing silence.


    ¡°Anyhow,¡± Khalida interjected, ¡°you can consider ourselves curious. We saw you in the gardens and you might understand that you have become a significant matter of talk.¡±


    ¡°Have I¡­?¡± The scribe was at a loss for words. ¡°Pardon my ignorance, I have been enclosed for far too long, but what do you mean by that? Princess Khalida.¡± She added hastily at the end.


    ¡°It would seem the lack of fresh air has affected you severely.¡± Kareem snorted. His tone was more amused than derisive. ¡°Think about it, scribe. When have you heard about the Sultanah hurting one of her consummations?¡±


    ¡°I cannot say I have,¡± Aloe revealed, though she barely heard any news from the capital, even now in her current position.


    ¡°Exactly.¡± The male sultanzade¡¯s eyes turned sharp.


    The petite woman¡¯s breath stopped, not at the examining gaze of the handsome man, but at his mannerisms. Those eyes¡­ Aloe could recognize them, or rather, the changes in them. He is using ¡®acuity¡¯. It wasn¡¯t a surprise she found him doing so. It was from Kareem that she first discovered that internal infusion.


    ¡°Our dear mother has never hurt a partner, none that we are aware of, at least.¡± The man spoke slowly, focused. It was clear to Aloe that he was prying her for answers. Unfortunately for the sultanzade, she was dead inside. He wouldn¡¯t get any reactions from her.


    ¡°What my brother intends to say is, what happened?¡± Khalida squatted in front of Aloe, almost making the scribe squirm in fear as she approached. The princess examined her, though she couldn¡¯t feel ¡®acuity¡¯ coming from her. Only the oppressive heat of her toned skin. And there was a lot of it exposed. Aloe couldn¡¯t even understand how the woman felt no shame at having most of her body exposed, even her undergarments from such a position. ¡°What did you do, scribe? What did you say? What caused the playful Sultanah to snap you like a twig? And even after that, why are you alive? Why did she let you go? She could have sucked you dry like an orange and thrown you away. Yet she did not.¡±


    ¡°I wish I could answer those questions,¡± Aloe replied lethargically, her eyes becoming watery not only from the sultanzade¡¯s pressure but also from the memories coming back to her. ¡°I wish I could¡­¡± She sobbed. ¡°But I do not know. I do not know¡­¡±


    Her throat tangled so viciously that it hurt her even through ¡®toughness¡¯. It was as if someone had torn it from her body. It took Aloe every last pinch of her willpower to not break into tears.


    ¡°Ah, sister. You have broken her.¡± Kareem taunted. ¡°Look at that weakness.¡±


    Aloe didn¡¯t know if it was the childish and stupid tone of the man, but she found herself gritting her teeth. Her cold sadness dissipated into fiery anger. She knew better than to lash out at a sultanzade, but that didn¡¯t stop her from looking at the prince viciously.


    ¡°Hmm~¡± The sultanzade closed his mouth and looked back at Aloe. ¡°I retract my words; this one is strong.¡±


    ¡°She has survived Mother, of course she is strong,¡± Khalida stated as a matter of fact. ¡°How many people that are not sultanzade can even say that?¡±


    ¡°Not many, if at all.¡± Her brother replied. ¡°But I would not count that as a battle.¡±


    ¡°Why not?¡± The princess stood up, making Aloe relax as she no longer felt her body heat. ¡°It is just a different battlefield. A battle, nonetheless. Just with different rules and win conditions.¡±


    ¡°Sex, a battle?¡± Kareem snickered.


    ¡°Well, you would not know that if you only wet your prick with maids. Never tried a man tougher than you?¡± Khalida¡¯s visage illuminated with enjoyment, but her brother¡¯s only soured.


    ¡°Tsk.¡± Kareem clicked his tongue and removed himself from Aloe¡¯s limited field of view. ¡°Do as you please, sister. I am out.¡±


    Aloe stood still during the exchange; her eyes fixated on the princess¡¯ backlit body. She looked like a mighty statue, even if her body wasn¡¯t as well-built or sensual as her other half-sisters.


    ¡°If you only treat sex like pleasure, you will always be a wimp!¡± Khalida shouted.


    ¡°Fuck you!¡± The prince¡¯s voice was weak.


    How did he get this far already in just a few seconds? Aloe pondered surprised at the diminished voice.


    Once her brother was away, the princess directed to the scribe once more. ¡°We need to talk more about the future. I feel you at least know some answers to the questions I made, but for now, I will let you rest. Farewell, Aloe.¡±


    It stunned Aloe more the fact that the sultanzade remembered her name rather than her outburst of goodwill. Both were equally rare, though.


    Even if she had been out in the garden for a few minutes, Aloe already wanted to go back to her bedchamber.

 Book 3: 11. Senses

    Whether it was because her exhaustion was apparent in her visage or the soldiers got smart, the soldiers took Aloe back to her bedchamber after her encounter with the sultanzade twins. She honestly thanked them for their foresight. She may have not done any physically demanding activities in the short outing, but she doubted she had ever felt as tired as she felt back then.


    The sultanzade had drained a lot of her energies with that short meeting.


    Whilst they hadn¡¯t spoken much about anything, the sultanzade allowed Aloe to realize that her situation was more public than she originally thought. They didn¡¯t mention Fatima, so they don¡¯t know about the¡­ Aloe shuddered in her bed as she remembered the hotness of the aphrodisiac spreading through her body. It took a lot of her to not empty her stomach. She took a deep breath before continuing with her trail of thought. They don¡¯t know about the Grace¡¯s Exaltation aphrodisiac, which is good. If I had more sultanzade asking me for it now¡­ I don¡¯t know what I would do.


    Fatima had neither come back to her in these few weeks, meaning that she either had not spent her last remaining two bottles, or that she was sensible enough to not demand Aloe anything in her current state.


    ¡°Yeah, sure¡­¡± The scribe snickered derisively in the tight contours of her bed. ¡°A sultanzade being empathic? What a good joke¡­¡±


    Aloe wanted to get out of Asina as soon as possible, but she knew her body was not ready for it. It would take weeks before she had enough strength to even sit down without fainting in pain.


    For now, she slept.


    <hr>


    Practicing internal infusion changes kept her distracted during these days. Sure, she had unlimited books at her disposal, but no matter how much she tried to concentrate, her mind was not in the right place. As her eyes landed on the paper, the words would sway around like waves, turning into incoherent splotches of ink.


    ¡°Talking about splotches of ink¡­¡± Aloe raised her head and looked around the room.


    There were a million things she wanted to do, but she didn¡¯t feel comfortable in her bedchamber, or more specifically the palace, to do so. With her ¡®acuity¡¯ active she could know that no one was watching her. Considering that she could hear the steps and heartbeats of people walking beyond her room with the door closed and tens of meters away, Aloe doubted there was a spy breathing shallowly enough to not be detected by her enhanced senses. The only people who could do that were sultanzade or assassins, and she highly doubted the sultanah placed her children to watch over her.


    Not even to mention assassins. Aloe recalled that night, before the¡­ misfortune. Aaliyah had talked long and long about her life as a scribe and her acquaintances and as the mention of assassins left her mouth, Aloe understood that woman didn¡¯t like them. Not a bit. The sheer venom coming through her tongue, the despise and hatred as she mentioned Umar¡­ No, she wouldn¡¯t ever use assassins for her plans. She would kill every single one of them before that. The sultanah did not need to put that exact thought into words, but Aloe knew she would do it.


    Aloe waited after Farah had gone away for a while and then explored every corner of the room with her enhanced senses to check that no one was spying on her. Sight was useless from her limited point of view, but she tried nonetheless to find anything with her eyes. Taste and tact were equally the worst, but at least her skin allowed her to feel the limited air currents in the room. Smell and hearing were the key players.


    The scribe had asked the head maid to not light an incense under the pretense that it felt too oppressive, but the reality was that she didn¡¯t want the fragrance to obscure the smell of possible lurkers in the shadows. Her nose turned empty.


    As for hearing, her ears didn¡¯t catch anything. She tried multiple things, like sticking her head on the mattress to hear vibrations or hitting the wood frame of her bed in order to see if a heartbeat or a breathing spike in result. Such things didn¡¯t happen.


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    Okay, it seems I am on the clear. Aloe thought, not even daring to speak. What if the hiders were so stealthy that her senses were just not enough? The only saving grace she had was that she knew for a fact that any possible onlooker had no clear line of sight of her. At most, they could just listen to her.


    With much malady, Aloe raised her torso and reached for the bags near her bed.


    A few days ago now, Farah and other maids had carried all of her belongings into the bedchamber that had been lying around in her room back at the palace of the sultanzade. Her paranoia also paid there, because looking at the silks on her bag, Aloe knew no one had checked the contents. She cared more about the privacy of her bags than the chest filled with five thousand drupnars in the shape of fajati. A fortune, indeed, but fortunes could be remade. Lost secrets could not be recovered.


    The scribe was careful with the bag, she didn¡¯t have enough back or arm strength to raise the bag, so she had to take her sweet time undoing the many silks and knots keeping the most precious and secretive item inside.


    Her fingers trembled from the uncomfortable posture, her body half hanging from the side of the bed in such a way that her body weight didn¡¯t fall on her hips. Aloe took another sight across the and pressed her internal infusion as much as she could. Only the background noise of the palace and her bodily functions reached her ears. With much paranoia, the woman took a long item wrapped in cloth out of her bag.


    The carelessness of her movements became apparent as the cloth started to get dirty from the bleeding item. Even if she knew for certain that it had been used, Aloe didn¡¯t dare to get touched by the dark liquid.


    Slowly, mostly out of difficulty from her trembling digits, the scribe undid the cloth. Inside, a big leaf with the texture of parchment and splotches of ink lay.


    An Aloe Veritas leaf.


    A consumed Aloe Veritas leaf.


    Covetously, Aloe covered the leaf with her arms and the cloth, not letting any possible prying eyes read the contents written on the surface. Before daring to read it herself, she gulped down saliva so hard that she almost became deaf with her enhanced senses.


    The contents read as follows:


    Name: Aaliyah-al-Ydaz


    Species: Human


    Description: Female member of the human species, a species known for their ingenuity, high adaptive capabilities, and societal structure.


    Internal Infusion: Charm


    External Infusion: Longevous Perennity


    A single string of text containing more knowledge than whole kingdoms had access to.


    The treasure trove of information stunned Aloe. Many questions flourished in her mind, but above all else, she valued the question that had been answered for her. Not from the present information, but from the one detail that was lacking.


    Human. She thought, not daring to speak. Many curses and spouts of ire flooded her mind, no being like Aaliyah could be human, but she let the insults rest, for there was something more important at hand. She¡¯s not a Sultanzade. With Sultanzade, Aloe meant the evolution of humans and not the royal title. Rani is a Sultanzade, but Aaliyah not. Meaning no one evolved her. But if she wasn¡¯t evolved and her children are¡­


    Even a drunkard with half a wit that had been dropped as a baby could put the answer together.


    Aaliyah has evolved all sultanzade. Only she knows how. Is it because of Karaim? Did she not tell me everything before¡­?


    Aloe stopped for a breather.


    As much as she liked to project strength in her mind, she was far from all right. Even these ponderations were taking a lot from her.


    I¡­ I have to assume she was not fully transparent back then. Aloe restarted. But¡­ but I didn¡¯t get the idea she knew about Evolution. Otherwise, they would have more exotic plants here and she wouldn¡¯t have been interested in the aphrodisiac as much as she was. Does she evolve their children without knowing? The possibility seemed stupid, but both Evolution and Infusion ¨C or Nurture as she called it ¨C worked with vitality in similar ways. The only difference was the intent behind it.


    Could it be that thinking about having stronger children whilst she was pregnant was enough to evolve them? The theory was borderline insane. I don¡¯t know how much vitality is needed to evolve a human, but that woman had hundreds if not thousands of times my vitality. Maybe she doesn¡¯t even notice? That even sounded plausible.


    She let the matter rest for a while, that was a question that was difficult to solve, and she may never get the answer to it. Only one person knew of it, and she didn¡¯t want to speak with her again if it could be avoided.


    Aloe looked back at the bleeding Aloe Veritas leaf. There was more information to decipher in those words.

 Book 3: 12. External

    The scribe focused on the burning watchtower on the horizon, the scout of this metaphor alerted her with their shouts. Internal Infusion. External Infusion. She reread the words on the bleeding leaf to herself. She would not trust this information beyond the confines of her mind. Two infusions. The sheer possibilities were endless. If one infusion is already strong, how would two be? Unfortunately ¨C or fortunately considering who that person with two infusions was ¨C power was never free. Infusions worked through the usage of one¡¯s vitality and bodily attributes. To reinforce one aspect of the body, you had to weaken another one. Still, the upsides overcame the downsides with room to spare.


    ¡°Karaim had a talent for manipulating vitality, even if his reserves were pathetic,¡± Aloe recalled the sultanah¡¯s words of that night. Before she put her claws on her body and poisoned it. ¡°Even worse than the average child. But I had yet to increase my own then. So his last favor was to dote me with a stance. A second stance.¡±


    They call it Nurture, but it¡¯s Infusion that she was talking about. The bedridden woman pondered. A second stance. A second infusion. She has been superior to her peers since she was young because of Karaim. In a way, doubling the power.


    As stated, a second infusion would only strain the resources that were already being used by the previous infusion, but why did one need to boost their senses and speed when their skin was harder than steel and their punches could tear down buildings?


    And with her vitality¡­ The last thing Aloe wanted to think about was that blood-laden night, yet she couldn¡¯t deny she got a lot of information from it. She had only gotten practice from animals ¨C namely Fikali and the camel that brought her to Asina ¨C but with her scarce time she had learned to get a grip on living being¡¯s flow of vitality. That plus her acquired knowledge in Infusion with plants meant she could get an idea of a person¡¯s infusion with a touch.


    And she had more than a single touch that night.


    Aloe embraced the Aloe Veritas leaf as she felt bile gathering up. It took more than a few breaths to control her body.


    I couldn¡¯t feel her external infusion back then¡­ Aloe pondered, a warm tingling gathering in her hands as she recalled the caresses. She tried her best to only think of the firm yet soft flesh in a vacuum. Otherwise, her heart may not be able to hold it. But I was sure her internal wasn¡¯t ¡®toughness¡¯. If she hadn¡¯t changed it, then the veritas agrees. The scribe didn¡¯t recognize either of the infusions in the leaf, but she ignored them for now. But her skin and body were tough, far more than mine even with ¡®toughness¡¯ active.


    She could still feel the pressure on her fingernails as she clawed on the woman¡¯s skin and begged for forgiveness, but no matter how much strength she put in ¨C even going as far as to change her internal infusion to ¡®strength¡¯ against her best interests ¨C the sultanah¡¯s skin never tarnished, let alone bled.


    Aloe took a deep breath. Then another one.


    It took her five minutes for her hands to stop trembling. Her eyes felt moist.


    It must be her vitality. The scribe concluded in her best effort to ignore her aching heart. She has so much of it that even her infusion doesn¡¯t shift her body attributes that much. Aloe had felt it in her body before too. The more vitality she had, the healthier she felt. The accumulation of vitality didn¡¯t only make her infusions stronger, but also her body. With that much vitality, with thousands of times that of a normal adult, how much are her body attributes boosted passively?


    It wasn¡¯t a rhetorical question, she honestly pondered by how much ¨C in a numerical sense ¨C was the sultanah stronger than the average person. But beyond that question born from scholarly curiosity, what lurked beyond made her tremble.


    The primordial fear of realization.


    That the woman that caused her all that pain was just too strong by default, without any infusions at play.


    She didn¡¯t realize when, but her hand was lying on her heart, her chest rising up and down. No ¡®acuity¡¯ was needed to tell that wasn¡¯t a normal heartbeat. She¡¯s no woman. Aloe told herself. She¡¯s a force of nature. A monster. A calamity. If she didn¡¯t whisper those words to herself with the intent to fool herself, maybe her hips wouldn¡¯t end up being the only thing broken.


    The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    I need a second infusion. The scribe told herself. But how? The veritas describes it as an external infusion and both my experience and the sultanah¡¯s words point out that you need an intermediary to do so, a third party.


    Aloe did her best to scramble her brain for any idea, but nothing came out of her brainstorming session. And even if it did, she knew it would be useless. She had too little vitality to be anything remotely of a menace. What if her skin was tougher than bark and her arms could be steel? The sultanzade could still snap her like a twig, maybe even without their stances. And they had military and combat training. She was a scribe in a court of soldiers, raw strength wouldn¡¯t help her. The only thing she had at her disposal was her wits.


    I¡­ A tired sigh left her mouth. The hot vapor showed that her body was too active for a bedridden patient. What about the infusions? She did her best to change the subject.


    Internal Infusion: Charm


    External Infusion: Longevous Perennity


    The Aloe Veritas leaf read.


    The external infusion. The one that Karaim gifted her decades ago. It had been so long ago that not even her mother was born, let alone Aloe herself. So long that her grandfather and mother were already dead¡­ No¡­ Not now. I¡­ I cannot afford to¡­


    Her eyes became watery. No matter how shallow or deep a wound may be, it will never truly heal. The echo of it in the shape of a scar would remain. It hadn¡¯t even been two months since her mother¡¯s death, there wasn¡¯t a scar yet. The wound was open and festering. Among many others.


    Aloe took a Cure Grass pellet. The vitality pill wouldn¡¯t do anything to her with her full deposit, but the motion of swallowing calmed her down. I wished I had ter¡¯nar tea¡­ The palace was surely predisposed with commodities to make her forget, but she didn¡¯t want to use them. The less she related to this place, the better.


    Longevous Perennity¡­ The name already hints at him. I don¡¯t know how the veritas knows the name, but it certainly sounds like a moniker Karaim would give. The name reminded Aloe of her first infusions ¨C the ones centered on plants ¨C like ¡®bountiful harvest¡¯ and ¡®accelerated growth¡¯. The name ¡®longevous perennity¡¯ feels like¡­ the opposite of ¡®accelerated growth¡¯. She had no evidence to corroborate it, but the hunch was strong with this one. Also¡­ if the sultanah is still using Karaim¡¯s original external infusion, only if¡­ then there¡¯s only one thing that comes to my mind as to what the effect may be.


    For better, but mostly for worse, Aloe would never forget that night. The only positives of those memories were the bountiful information that the sultanah had doted her with. She couldn¡¯t guess why the woman had done so, mayhaps just an indulgence, but so much knowledge hid in her words that Aloe believed it would take her years to decrypt it all.


    Aaliyah spoke about how Umar was barely older than her, and how Karaim was a bit younger. The visage of the three people flashed on her face. The last time she had seen Karaim was four months ago when the man died. He was feeble back then, and whilst his skin was wrinkly and his hair white, it was clear that a hint of youthfulness still lingered on the man. He died from illness, not age.


    The next one was Umar. That man was decrepit. He couldn¡¯t have more than five years more than Karaim, yet the apothecary and assassin looked like he was nearing a hundred. Umar was one of those people that looked older than they were. Though I guess he was already seventy. That¡¯s old enough.


    And finally, Aaliyah. The only woman in the group, yet the only one that still looked young. Younger than mother, barely older looking than her identical daughter, Rani. If her aging continued like this, people would look at Rani in the future to see how the sultanah would age. Why hasn¡¯t she aged like them? Why does she look younger than her children? A woman nearing seventy looking like one barely twenty-five.


    The answer was clear to Aloe.


    ¡®Longevous perennity¡¯ is an infusion that slows down aging. The scribe guessed with utmost confidence. I don¡¯t know if sapient beings that know Infusion can change their external infusions by themselves, but even if the sultanah can change hers without assistance, it makes sense why she hasn¡¯t. If Karaim infused her around her fifteen years of age and she only looks twenty-five... taking into account that she is close to seventy¡­ She has basically only aged a fourth of what she should¡­


    The sheer realization infused fear into Aloe. No matter what she did, the sultanah of Ydaz would outlive her. That prospect didn¡¯t make her comfortable or happy. A person with good health lives until seventy or so¡­ times four¡­ That¡¯s almost three centuries¡­


    It took Aloe all of her might and will combined to not puke again.


    It repulsed her that woman would live for two centuries more. The image of her living and herself dying of old age made her arms tremble. Tremble in¡­


    What about ¡®charm¡¯, her internal infusion? Aloe preferred to ignore the concept of mortality. It was unfortunately too close to her, and that woman too far away. I can guess what it is. Though I don¡¯t know where that infusion stopped and the aphrodisiac began.


    I think the infusion does exactly what I think it does. Aloe closed her eyes as the gravitas of the situation hit her, of other realizations. She had changed her internal infusion multiple times¡­ back then. ¡®Charm¡¯ is very self-descriptive yes.


    The image of her beautiful amethysts, her ebony hair, her bronze skin, her motherly curves, her toned muscles, her perfect face, her bountiful chest, her lustful body, her¡­ All came back to her.


    Aloe puked at the side of the bed.


    It was clear to her what ¡®charm¡¯ did.

 Book 3: 13. Freedom

    Days had passed since Aloe had examined the Aloe Veritas leaf with the sultanah¡¯s description. She had tried her best to recreate the woman¡¯s internal infusion ¨C for it was impossible to apply to herself the external infusion ¨C but no matter how much she tried, Aloe hadn¡¯t managed to activate the ¡®charm¡¯ infusion.


    I¡¯ve seen it used by two people, maybe even more. It was difficult to identify who and when they were using that infusion. Most infusions in fact were inconspicuous. I have had more imagery than with any other infusion, yet I¡¯m not able to recreate it¡­


    Truth was, Aloe was having difficulty thinking about herself as charming. How could she use ¡®charm¡¯ if she had no charm to begin with? She could understand speed, strength, toughness, and even acuity, but allure was beyond her imagination. In her mind, Aloe and attractiveness were opposites.


    There was no world where Aloe Ayad could be beautiful.


    That discovery made her sour, but fortunately, it didn¡¯t affect her health. Her psyche remained at an all-time low as always, but her body slowly healed. She would have loved to put her vitality into a higher march, but she was wise enough to not risk it. Evolution and Infusion would increase her maximum deposit ¨C and therefore making her ¡®toughness¡¯ more powerful ¨C but she was inclined to believe that the imperials didn¡¯t know about her methods, so risking its discovery would only make them even more powerful.


    I¡­ I think I know how they get their vitality. It was something Aloe had realized since the beginning, they didn¡¯t use any plants after all, so how could they have this much vitality to themselves? Yes, she had noticed that since the day she had become bedridden, but it was hard to accept that fact, especially because it led to her current state of affairs. Reaping, Aaliyah had said. She had mudded her words and facts, but the more I think about it, the more obvious it is. Especially when considering Sulnaya.


    Sulnaya, the official yet dying religion of Ydaz, had curious tenets compared to the other religions found in neighboring countries. The very name was confusing, for it meant ¡®The Light of the Rulers¡¯ in old Ydazi. The ¡®Light¡¯ part referred to the important influences of the stars and the heavens in the religion, the ¡®Ruler¡¯ part was because it was founded by the first Sultan of Ydaz. And yet, even if the sultans were the ¡®Heavenly Descendants¡¯ there wasn¡¯t much worship around them. What mattered was the tenets: love, fornication, and prosperity.


    Aloe didn¡¯t consider herself a very religious person, nor she was a practitioner of the Sulnaya faith. Many weren¡¯t in this day and age. After Aaliyah¡¯s education reform, Sulnaya was no longer enforced, and most of the sites of prayer had become mostly schools. And yet, even if Aloe didn¡¯t identify with the¡­ most preposterous aspects of the tenets, the core message of Sulnaya was a good one.


    Love everyone equally. Your body is your sanctuary, your children the future, fornication the tool for it. The heavens wanted this desolate earth to be populated, prosperity is but the presence of people.


    That was the most common psalm if it could be even called that. Even in the harsh and infertile lands of Ydaz and the Qiraji, Sulnaya beckoned people to reproduce and be plentiful.


    Aloe hadn¡¯t thought much of it when she was younger besides the shamelessness of the state¡¯s religion as she always had been uncertain of her own body. There was no sanctuary in herself. But now she realized the truth.


    Sulnaya was founded by the imperial family. By their Nurture and reaping¡­ She was tying knots of differently-sized ropes, but it made sense in her mind. What if instead of controlling the population like normal religion¡­ it was just to make them more used to the idea of sex? To not doubt the act, to seek it? So they could¡­ reap.


    Yes, of course, she had realized the sultanah¡¯s words.


    Yes, of course, she had noticed the lack of vitality in her body.


    Much to her disgust, she was not blind.


    This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    For reaping refers to people, to sexually harvest their vitality.


    Much like a plant, Aloe had been pruned.


    Why doesn¡¯t it surprise me? Aloe commented grimly as she looked beyond the window of her room. It was nighttime and she was unable to sleep. Yet again I have been treated like an object. Now, no more than a fruit tree, a potted plant.


    She knew if that she stayed in the palace, she would be consumed.


    <hr>


    To say that the garden brought her calmness was to tell a lie. Yes, the gardens of the palace of Asina were majestic and lovely, but her heart was too clouded to be soothed by shrubbery and flowers.


    The soldiers carried her around without protesting, more than once setting down the palanquin to let her rest. For her crumbling body, even being carried was tiresome. Not that they have a lot to carry. These men were tall and well-built, one of them could carry Aloe around with some difficulty. Four of them? Even with the palanquin taken into account, they would not sweat.


    Even if it wasn¡¯t of much use, Aloe took note of all the plants she saw in the garden. She could recognize some, but alas, she wasn¡¯t capable of evolving them without raising suspicion. The best she could do was to ask the soldier to pick the exotic flowers she couldn¡¯t recognize under the pretense of decorating her room and store them for later.


    They of course refused her orders. These were the gardens of the sultanah, and they couldn¡¯t defile them. Even if they did, they were brutish and would kill the flower instead of replanting it. She passed those orders unto the maids, who then arrived at Farah, and then she complied. After all, Aloe wasn¡¯t asking for trees to be moved to the other side of the palace, just some flowers that weren¡¯t exactly short in order.


    Whilst she hadn¡¯t laid a finger on them yet, she intended to bring a pot littered with a myriad of colors back to Sadina.


    The scribe tried to go to the gardens each day, if possible, just to feel the breeze on her face if anything. As of late, she felt better¡­ her body felt better. She couldn¡¯t move just yet without getting paralyzed by pain, but she was almost ready to be able to sit down. Yes, not a lot of progress, but a wheelchair would bring her far more freedom than a palanquin. She even talked Zeeshan into it.


    Being lost in thoughts was the best she could do in her current state, though she wouldn¡¯t deny the gardens were especially beautiful with her ¡®acuity¡¯ active. Enhancing her senses under the sun was oppressive, her eyes caught too much sunlight and she was under constant threat of being blinded if she was not careful, but the augmented perception granted her an intoxicating freedom.


    Her body may be restrained to a bed ¨C whether it was stationary or mobile ¨C but her mind was not.


    The ability to perceive more things than she should be able to was invaluable to her current self. To even sense the steps that were approaching her.


    ¡°It has been a while, princess Fatima.¡± Aloe welcomed the sultanzade with her eyes closed. Only once she felt the sunlight being disturbed, she opened them.


    ¡°Indeed, scribe,¡± Fatima responded casually. Aloe could only be thankful that she almost treated her like a human being, unlike the twins. ¡°Though I must say I am curious about how you knew it was me.¡±


    ¡°Your presence is quite unique and notable.¡± The commoner appealed to the sultanzade¡¯s sense of superiority and authority.


    ¡°Oh, but of course.¡± Fatima led a hand to her eye-catching cleavage, her visage reddening ever-so-slightly.


    Aloe doubted she could have noticed that without her ¡®acuity¡¯, but she was more surprised about how the woman was honestly grateful for the compliment. She has a sense of insecurity. The scribe recalled how the sultanzade had presented herself with a unique title the first time they had met. She already had brewed that idea, but it was now obvious. I guess it makes sense why she desired the Grace¡¯s Exaltation concoction that badly then. Whilst the sultanzade wasn¡¯t ugly, not even close, people like her wanted securities to cover their insecurities. No matter how badly founded those may be.


    ¡°May I inquire about the purpose of your visit?¡± Aloe tried to raise her back to the best of her capabilities. One of the soldiers noticed she was pushing herself too hard and assisted her by raising her by the armpit and placing some pillows below her back.


    ¡°You may.¡± The sultanzade ceded her the opportunity to guess in a not-so-subtle way to state her supremacy.


    The scribe smiled. She could play around with this type of people. People who may have power but want to believe they have more than they truly possess, they are desperate for attention; those are one of the easiest to sweeten. Her father, Amid, had once said many years ago. Whilst the man was a banker, he sounded like a con artist most of the time. Some would say there wasn¡¯t a difference between those two terms.


    ¡°May I presume you are here about the aphrodisiac?¡± The scribe spoke with a confidence that almost spooked her. She had once partially feared the woman before her, but after witnessing true power and humiliation, Fatima couldn¡¯t do worse than her mother had done to Aloe.


    ¡°Y-you may presume correctly.¡± It was faint, but Aloe detected it. Her enhanced senses detected a slight stutter and tic on the woman¡¯s visage.


    She¡¯s desperate. Aloe noticed. Oh my¡­ The image of a sultanzade suffering, no matter how lesser that affliction may be, brought incomparable pleasure to the scribe.

 Book 3: 14. Everything

    Aloe recomposed herself before talking again. Not only her posture wasn¡¯t the best, but her body was starting to ache again as she wasn¡¯t donning ¡®toughness¡¯. Nor she could afford to change her current internal infusion.


    ¡°Princess Fatima, as much as I would like to talk about business, you may have noticed my physical incapabilities.¡± To begin with, she prodded the sultanzade.


    The scribe was the most conscious person in the gardens about her own physical condition, and whilst it may irate her to no limit, she knew it was a good dealing card in conversation.


    ¡°I¡­ of course.¡± The sultanzade replied in an almost apologetic tone.


    Even if Fatima Asina hadn¡¯t apologized herself, the weakness of her voice felt like the sweetest of nectars to Aloe¡¯s enhanced senses. Oh~ It was almost hard to contain her extasy. She¡¯s desperate for more aphrodisiac, otherwise she wouldn¡¯t act like this. But why? The scribe pondered with confusion. The Grace¡¯s Exaltation nectar shouldn¡¯t be addictive, and even if it was, I fear I have consumed more of it than her. Not only during the experimentation, but also¡­ then.


    She had almost drunk half a bottle of the diluted nectar during that fateful night. If someone were to develop cravings for the glowing and spicy substance, it would be her.


    Aloe noticed the uneasiness on the princess¡¯ expression and realized that something had to be done. ¡°Soldiers, may you leave me alone with princess Fatima for a moment?¡±


    One of the soldiers, the closest to her and the one who tended to speak nicely looked at Aloe with a bit of doubt, but they didn¡¯t protest and soon made their way out. Their orders came only from a servant of the imperial family, and right now there was a very member of that family seeking conversation with her. For once, they had to obey one of her orders without protesting.


    Fatima instantly calmed once they were left alone, but the scribe didn¡¯t. Unlike her mother or Naila Asina, this imperial wouldn¡¯t kill her. She needed her. But she would be a fool to trust a sultanzade. Aloe examined carefully, ready to shift her infusion to ¡®toughness¡¯ at the minimal movement, even if that would only delay her death; for if the sultanzade wanted her dead, the soldiers wouldn¡¯t save her.


    ¡°What is it that bothers you, princess?¡± Aloe spoke with a sweet tone and a calm expression. Her body may be limited in movements, but her visage wasn¡¯t.


    ¡°I require more of your aphrodisiac, scribe.¡± Fatima didn¡¯t beat around the bush and went straight for the throat.


    ¡°I gave you all my bottles.¡± The bedridden woman answered calmly.


    ¡°Surely?¡± Her enhanced senses caught a twitch in the princess¡¯ eyelids. She¡¯s truly desperate. Aloe almost bit her lip in a mixture of angst and fear. Why?


    ¡°I know it must have taken you much self-control to make those two bottles last for a month¡­¡±


    ¡°Wait.¡± Fatima cut her. ¡°How do you know I only had two? You sold me three.¡± Even though the toned woman didn¡¯t raise her voice, her posture became confrontational, and her tone hid a hint of anger.


    ¡°I thought you would already know what happened with the first bottle I gifted you.¡± The nonchalance of Aloe shook Fatima, making her step back from the whiplash as if she had been slapped. Of course, she knows. She had that bottle less than a day before her mother snatched it. ¡°It is the very reason I am in my current form. As it would seem, the very sultanah enjoyed of my product. A bit too much.¡±


    Aloe didn¡¯t know if that was the true reason why the whore queen of Ydaz had been that violent with her, but she used that unknown factor against the woman¡¯s daughter. Discarding useful weapons was moronic.


    The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    It would have been easy for Aloe to state that Aaliyah shouldn¡¯t have had that product in the first place, that she had gifted it to Fatima alone, but the sultanzade knew it. She knew it well. It was both her incompetence and fault that led Aloe to her current state.


    Of course, she knew better than to blame the stupid whore.


    There was only one culprit.


    ¡°I may have overstepped there.¡± Fatima acknowledged once more her wronging. Not a true apology, but the best Aloe could get from a plague like her. It almost calmed her anger. ¡°My mother certainly inquired about your product after I failed my¡­ duties for a day. I should not have asked about the bottle¡¯s location when I myself knew where it ended.¡±


    You are so desperate¡­ Aloe¡¯s body itched in joy upon seeing a sultanzade this weak. If she could stand up, she almost felt like she could switch to ¡®strength¡¯ and embrace her tightly.


    Recompose, Aloe. Recompose. The scribe breathed slowly as to not alert the sultanzade, her mask didn¡¯t falter during her lapse.


    ¡°I can understand you want to buy more aphrodisiac, but as you can see, I am indisposed.¡± Aloe raised her arms with her palms open.


    ¡°I could give you all resources to produce your aphrodisiac if that is the problem.¡±


    ¡°I appreciate the offer, but the are other issues at hand.¡± Besides that I won¡¯t show you my Grace¡¯s Exaltation. ¡°I am simply not capable of producing it right now, and even if I could, I highly doubt you may be able to obtain the plants needed for it.¡±


    ¡°You underestimate my resources, scribe. I can obtain everything I want with the sway of hand.¡± Fatima placed her hand on her bountiful chest, yet a bead of sweat didn¡¯t evade Aloe¡¯s detection. ¡°And if the plants were as difficult to obtain as you sway I could send some people to your place to get¨C¡°


    ¡°Do not.¡±


    Fatima jumped out of her posture and backpedaled, she lowered her body and readied in what seemed to be a combat stance. It took Aloe a few heartbeats to notice what had just happened. The scribe coughed thrice to defuse the situation.


    ¡°I am very privy of my plants,¡± the petite woman¡¯s voice was as sweet as the nectar she sold, ¡°not only because of trade secrets, but also because most are very sensitive. I would rather avoid losing my garden because someone did not know how to correctly harvest them.¡± Aloe¡¯s smile was as bright as the sun scorching above them, she had one hand placed on her chest like the sultanzade whilst another lingered in the air still in its nonthreatening gesture.


    That was, of course, a lie.


    A lie so false that it turned around in its head an became an empirical truth. The easiness that her words carried such falsehood surprised her. Not even father could lie this well. Is it because of ¡®acuity¡¯? It didn¡¯t matter to Aloe, what was of the essence was the fact that Fatima believed her, she could see it in her face.


    ¡°I¡­ see.¡± Slight fear populated the princess¡¯ face, but Aloe knew better than to think it was induced by her outburst. That woman had more vitality than her and was on her prime. And besides, she had military training. She didn¡¯t have any reason to fear the scribe.


    No, what the sultanzade fear was much simpler.


    To lose her dear aphrodisiacs.


    ¡°May I inquire why are you so scorched on getting your hands in these aphrodisiacs?¡± Aloe asked with a diplomatic tone. ¡°The moment I get to Sadina I could go and make them. There is no need for haste.¡±


    ¡°H-haste, right.¡± Fatima looked at Aloe and avoided her gaze. She¡¯s doubting if to answer or not. Her training in diplomacy and as a future banker taught her how to read people¡¯s emotions, but ¡®acuity¡¯ brought that to a new level. ¡°Scribe, how much do you know?¡±


    This question is too open¡­ I need to divert it first. ¡°What are you referring to, princess Fatima?¡± Aloe responded with obviously fake confusion. So plainly acted that even a distressed and moronic person like the braindead sultanzade could comprehend it.


    ¡°About cultivators.¡± And that gave her enough confidence to speak more freely. After all, if she didn¡¯t know about the imperial¡¯s magic, why would she act like that?


    Aloe didn¡¯t consider herself a great fighter, a given in the battlefield, but in the stage of subterfuge. She would lie and cheat yes, but she wasn¡¯t a strong person. She knew she would buckle under pressure. Diplomacy was her way to go, a resolution were all parties won. There was nothing better than a win-win scenario, after all.


    But that didn¡¯t mean some people could win more than others.


    ¡°Everything,¡± Aloe smiled, her lips threatening to tear with her exaggerated expression. Yet exaggeration was the way to go, to get in the sultanzade¡¯s mind. There would not be another chance to get in the mind of an imperial, after this, Fatima would probably never show weakness to her away. And the weak get culled. ¡°I know everything, princess Fatima.¡±

 Book 3: 15. Breathless

    ¡°I know everything, princess Fatima.¡±


    Fatima Asina flinched as the no-name scribe spoke. There was something uncanny about the woman, many things, in fact. Not only did the aura around her feel totally different around her than a few days ago, but the was also an inherent¡­ presence to her.


    Not unlike her mother.


    Something is wrong¡­ The sultanzade recomposed, flowing vitality across her body and shifting her stance to sense from charm. That stance had proven to be useless against the scribe, somehow. People had different tolerances to the charm stance, some were resistant, and others were weak against it. Her half-sister Rani and her mother were the most resistant people she had seen, especially Rani, but that scribe wasn¡¯t like them.


    She had seen it and checked it. Not only did she notice the traces of Rani¡¯s charm in the woman when they met, but also used it on her on every occasion she had met with her. There wasn¡¯t the innate repulsion of charm-resistant people, and whilst suggestable, the scribe wasn¡¯t weak either.


    Malleable would be the right word.


    The scribe wouldn¡¯t bend, but it was easy enough to influence her with subtle hints. Especially during long exposure. So why hasn¡¯t it worked? Even with her sense stance active now, she couldn¡¯t read the woman. The lack of openings felt as if she was an expert fighter. On the battlefield of subterfuge, of course.


    ¡°E-everything?¡± Fatima didn¡¯t take a breath but opted to continue talking. ¡°Let me express my doubt, scribe.¡± Silence could be used to manifest strength, but in moments like this, they only represented weakness.


    The scribe smiled. Even in her prone and feeble state, she was undecipherable. Has Rani trained her? Or is this because she was interested in her in the first place? Too many unknowns¡­


    ¡°My current¡­ situation is not without its perks.¡± The petite woman spoke calmly. Her voice gained a degree of sultriness and sweetness.


    Charm? No. Fatima discarded instantly. I would have felt it with the sense stance, and even if she has plenty of innate vitality, she doesn¡¯t look like a cultivator. Mother would have killed her otherwise. Is this just plain conversational skill?


    ¡°The sultanah certainly did a number of her body, but also provided with much needed information. And it was not as if I was in the blind before.¡± The confidence on the disabled woman was astonishing, rendering Fatima breathless.


    ¡°Words are not enough to prove your claims. I need something more, scribe.¡± The sultanzade projected strength, slightly flexing her arms and puffing her chest.


    ¡°I would say otherwise, princess Fatima.¡± Even then, the woman didn¡¯t falter. ¡°I think you will change your mind if I say something.¡±


    ¡°And what may that something be?¡± The cultivator held her breath and stood upright.


    ¡°Your mother reaped me.¡±


    Fatima backpedaled at the words and the expression of the scribe. The young woman¡¯s face turned into a grim work, an offense to speech, the visage of a predator. Hate. Fatima Asina noticed the pouring emotion. The familiar emotion. Is¡­ is she a sultanzade?


    ¡°H-how¡­ what¡­ who are you?¡± The words left the princess¡¯ mouth unconsciously. Not even an instant later she already regretted it.


    The scribe¡¯s smile exacerbated. ¡°This is not about me, is it? We were talking about the aphrodisiac.¡±


    No, that wasn¡¯t the question. Even if she was a bastard child of an older sultanzade, that wasn¡¯t the subject at hand. She had lost a lot of terrain because of that slip. For better or worse, she had now to treat that woman like a sultanzade. With a helping hand of equality and another holding a poisoned dagger.


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    ¡°So you know about Nurture and reaping?¡± Fatima asked calmly. ¡°Even if you were a virgin when you arrived at the palace?¡±


    A blink was all it took for the scribe to come up with her answer. ¡°I did not have the opportunity to reap.¡±


    Truth. Her enhanced sense caught no wrongness in the petite woman¡¯s body. Not a skipped heartbeat, a held breath, nor a twitch in her visage. She¡¯s being truthful. Fatima had hoped the woman was just bluffing, but considering she knew about cultivators and somehow survived Aaliyah-al-Ydaz, that meant her standing was greater than a random scribe.


    ¡°I see¡­¡± The words of the not-so-scribe resonated with the sultanzade. I guess it¡¯s not that weird. Mother only allows us ¨C or rather forces us ¨C to reap after we are fifteen. And what is she? Twenty? No, less. She¡¯s short, but that¡¯s not an age thing. Her skin is too smooth and her hair vibrant with age. She must be eighteen, closer to nineteen, maybe. So it¡¯s not that farfetched for her to not indulge in reaping if she wasn¡¯t born in the palace.


    ¡°Now,¡± the petite woman¡¯s emerald eyes glinted with sharpness, ¡°you may understand that I am a bit out of the loop with reaping. So I ask again now that all the cards are on the table, why are you so in need of my aphrodisiac?¡±


    For a brief instant, Fatima thought that the young woman had activated her charm stance. The best way to know if someone had switched into that stance was to look for their eyes, which was casually also the best way to get enthralled. But after careful consideration ¨C and a long analysis of vitality through her enhanced senses ¨C the sultanzade realized yet again that it was just her imagination.


    Maybe I¡¯m too on edge, the only people that I know of that can switch in-and-out of charm stance that fast are Mother and¡­ Fuck. Realization struck Fatima like the sole of her mother driving her head to the ground. She had experienced that more than once. Rani, of course. Did she teach her charm? Has she been using it all this time and switching out of it just so I couldn¡¯t notice? Is this your new spy, sister? Weren¡¯t maids enough?


    Fatima sweetened her visage and let all the projection of strength vanish. If she was a hidden sultanzade or trained by one, then they were on a similar field and such tactics wouldn¡¯t work. Not that they had worked. Not any longer.


    ¡°Aloe, was it?¡± The princess did her best to recall the name of the scribe. If it wasn¡¯t because of the aphrodisiac, she would have totally forgotten it. ¡°As you may be aware, yes, I require your aphrodisiac for my reapings,¡± Fatima admitted. ¡°Its lascivious properties are already heaven-like, but there is something else I have found from your aphrodisiac.¡±


    ¡°Please, do tell.¡± Aloe refused to stand down. She wouldn¡¯t trade that information for other information. The intention was clear, she was stating that the product was hers alone.


    ¡°As you may know, there is a limit as to how many times you can reap in a day. It is not exactly set in stone, but most cultivators can only do it once or twice a day, which is not a lot. That means it would take a whole week to drain the usable vitality of any offering.¡± Fatima herself was on the ¡®once¡¯ side of the spectrum, but she didn¡¯t tell that. ¡°Yet I have found that with your aphrodisiac, that limit becomes blurrier. Making the strict constrictions to go as far as four reapings possible per day. A significant increase of vitality.¡±


    That amount was intoxicating. That meant that any cultivator could remove all the usable vitality of a person in three days. Three days to drain a person instead of a week, twenty-five days to collect a whole vitality deposit instead of three months.


    Aloe didn¡¯t show her expression, but Fatima noticed the glint in her eyes. She recognized the importance of the aphrodisiac.


    ¡°Princess Fatima, you may be aware that this information changes things.¡± She stated calmly.


    ¡°Will it?¡± The sultanzade tried to hide her uncertainty under the veil of a threat, but she knew that the power was in the scribe¡¯s hands. She survived Mother. Her. The woman who almost killed her son during sparring barely a month ago. That alone put her on a level higher than most sultanzade, such a feat of strength was impressive.


    ¡°Now, I am a magnanimous person.¡± Fatima stopped breathing at that choice of words. No one who is at a disadvantage describes themselves as a magnanimous person. ¡°We do not need to change our previous agreement.¡±


    ¡°But?¡± The hidden intentions were obvious.


    ¡°But I would prefer this conversation to be kept secret.¡± Aloe finished. ¡°I fear that too many eyes and ears are upon us, and neither of us would like to deal with multiple sultanzade over the aphrodisiac, would we?¡±


    ¡°But of course.¡± Fatima almost found herself bowing at those words. There was something in the cadence that made her comply. The woman is definitely using charm. She managed to correct herself in the last instant and change the movement for an exaggerated nod. ¡°Though I fear that is not the only thing you want from me, am I wrong?¡±


    ¡°No, you are right.¡± The scribe nodded with her eyes closed. ¡°There is something else.¡±


    ¡°And that may be?¡±


    ¡°I want you to teach me Nurture.¡±

 Book 3: 16. Silence

    There was a brief stunned silence between the two women.


    ¡°I do not understand your proposal,¡± Fatima said. ¡°You are more than capable of using Nurture by what I am seeing. Why would you need me to teach you about it?¡±


    ¡°There is a limit to how far a student can go without a teacher,¡± Aloe admitted. ¡°You are right that I am acquainted with some stances, but not all of them. Even if I were not to be proficient with them, I would like to know all of them.¡±


    Fatima tightened the embrace on her chest, her cleavage resting on her arms. Is this a test of some sort or is she being truthful? Even with the sense stance, the princess couldn¡¯t detect flaws in the petite woman¡¯s expression that may incline the balance to one side or the other. I guess I¡¯ll need to treat it as truth then. She thought much to her dismay.


    ¡°I was under the impression that Rani trained you well.¡± Fatima threw an attack, and for the first time, it worked.


    The scribe faltered, if ever-so-slightly. Her body shuddered and her breathing had a small hiccup, even if her visage remained impassive. It would seem as if the woman herself noticed it as she shifted in her palanquin after that. Fatima noticed how she was gathering her thoughts. An opening, a small one, but an opening, nonetheless. That single shallow strike managed to recover her confidence, even if she didn¡¯t obtain meaningful information out of it.


    ¡°Rani has not taught me anything herself. Nor Naila for that matter.¡± Aloe added hastily the last part. ¡°You will not obtain any information from them if you try to scry them.¡±


    ¡°Hmm.¡± Fatima mused unconsciously, not knowing what to make out of that fact.


    She¡¯s not lying¡­ But then how did she get this good with charm? Is she really self-taught? Or worse¡­ are her lies so good that I cannot even detect them with my senses?


    ¡°Whilst my Nurture is not lacking like Rani, you would be better off with the teachings of other sultanzade.¡± The princess stated the obvious.


    ¡°I am not only buying your tuition.¡± The scribe squinted at her. ¡°But also your silence.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ see.¡±


    The aphrodisiac was valuable, that was without a doubt. But her offer was even more so. The same deal, a bit of gold per bottle and monopoly rights with only the added price of my silence and basic Nurture classes. The fact that both of them had put their silence on the table was significant. They wouldn¡¯t want to talk about the transaction, so no part would betray the trust. She doesn¡¯t want Mother nor Rani to know about her Nurture, and I don¡¯t want other sultanzade to get their clutches on the aphrodisiac¡­ After all, the aphrodisiac was her only way to match older or more talented sultanzade.


    Her only chance at rulership.


    There was only one way to inherit the throne in Ydaz, and that was by force. Force that she lacked. Force that she was being offered.


    ¡°I have some questions first that I need to get some confirmation to,¡± Fatima said.


    ¡°Go on.¡± Aloe gestured with her hand to keep her talking.


    ¡°The deal includes your silence and exclusive rights to the aphrodisiac, right?¡±


    ¡°But of course.¡± The scribe nodded. ¡°Rani knows of the existence of the aphrodisiac, yet she knows nothing about its power or has even tasted it. Nor who I have sold it to.¡±


    ¡°Nice, nice. Though I doubt she would have a use for it with her skills.¡± That was a good assurance to be had. ¡°Secondly, your lessons only take effect during your stay in the palace?¡±


    ¡°I would not be so pessimistic with the lessons.¡± Aloe started. ¡°If we were to find each other outside of the palace of Asina, I may require advisement, but overall, yes. The lessons will be almost limited to my stay here. I would also like to add that these lessons will be totally private and under no public scrutiny.¡±


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    ¡°I would not have it any other way.¡± Quite literally. Aaliyah-al-Ydaz didn¡¯t like her tactics to be dispersed outside of her blood, but there had been some exceptions. The fact that the scribe was still alive and was the personal scribe of one of her favorite daughters meant that she was a safe enough bet.


    ¡°Is that a sealed deal?¡± The petite woman offered a hand from her prone position, though her arm didn¡¯t reach that far.


    Fatima walked close to her, but she didn¡¯t kneel. ¡°A complete transaction indeed.¡± And shook the scribe¡¯s hand. A very weak grasp. Hmm¡­


    ¡°Should we work out a schedule then?¡± Aloe proposed once their hands separated.


    ¡°Oh, you amuse me.¡± Fatima let out a fake laugh. ¡°It is not like your day is occupied now, is it? I will visit you when I can and that will be the schedule. Fret not, unlike my siblings, my understanding of Nurture is more grounded. I am sure that even a few lessons will be more than enough to cover most bases.¡±


    ¡°I hope so.¡± The disabled woman¡¯s eyes shone with desire.


    Desire to remove herself from this place.


    I can¡¯t say I wouldn¡¯t want that too.


    <hr>


    That¡­ went well? Aloe was not sure what to get out of that interaction with Fatima. Far easier than I had expected. She didn¡¯t know if it was because she was on the princess¡¯ good graces or that her nonchalant attitude due to having not much to lose made it easier to negotiate. At some point¡­ things don¡¯t matter anymore.


    After a few minutes, the soldiers came back and returned her to her room. The rest of the day was spent as normal, laying on her bed reading some botany books, groaning away her boredom. It was productive reading those books, they gave her a higher understanding of farming that didn¡¯t even know existed, but they were far from exciting.


    Making new undiscovered forms of life is interesting. This¡­ this is not. But who would have thought that worms are actually good for the soil, huh? Nature¡¯s weird. Worms in a sack of wheat? Plague inducing. Worms in soil? Better harvests. At least not as bad as when I discovered that banana trees weren¡¯t trees but fucking herbs. Like what? Who the fuck made it that way? The heavens or blind, retard, piss-drunk scholars?


    Aloe¡¯s mental health continued to dip down, no number of feasts and successful transactions could help her. Even if at this point Farah was the only one caring for her, that didn¡¯t make the bathroom breaks any better. Zeeshan had yet to give his approval for her to sit down, and as much as it annoyed her, Aloe knew her body couldn¡¯t withstand it and had to compel.


    The ¡®acuity¡¯ internal infusion helped with reading as her eyes caught words easily and they took a bit more time to tire, but the infusion did nothing for her mental capacity or health.


    ¡°I want to try so maaaany things¡­¡± Aloe groaned in boredom now that she was alone in her room, and she didn¡¯t voice out any important topics. Not that her enhanced senses had caught any whisp of spying. ¡°But I¡¯m trapped heeeeere...¡±


    Even if she was well-fed, her body felt weak from the lack of movement and stimuli. She ached for those sleep-deprived nights back when she was made a scribe. They were so full of interactions and information¡­ so dynamic¡­


    Soon night came, though paradoxically enough, it was hard to detect it. Her eyes became so sharp that the veil of outside darkness was easily perceivable, and because she was covered in blankets from head to toe, she didn¡¯t even feel the cold.


    The scribe put the expensive-looking book she was reading on her nightstand and disposed herself to sleep. She didn¡¯t even bother snuffing out the candles in the room, not that she could besides the ones on her nightstand, but she wasn¡¯t the one paying for them.


    ¡°My brain is turning into mush¡­¡± Her encounters with the sultanzade of the palace didn¡¯t do any good for her aching heart, only bringing more chaos to her low-activity life. Any disruption, no matter how lesser, felt life-shattering for her now. ¡°I wish I could just sleep until next year¡­¡±


    Aloe closed her eyes and switched her ¡®acuity¡¯ for ¡®toughness¡¯, a gesture that had almost become second nature. It¡¯s easier to act tough than to be tough. A heavy sigh left her mouth as she disposed herself to escape to the world of dreams.


    Knock. Knock.


    The knocking on her bedchamber¡¯s room was heard, alongside with the creaking of the moving door.


    Or not. Aloe painfully groaned and raised her body. A sensual backlit figure stood in the frame of the door. Her curves were pronounced, her hips overwhelming, yet the silhouette overall was more rectangular than curved, the byproduct of a toned body. She wore a tight dress that exposed much of her skin and her breasts, single peaks threatening to pierce through the fabric. The scribe almost forgot to breathe as the woman stepped forward, her movements oozing with sexual appeal. There was a primordial rawness in that body and its mannerism that made her mouth water, her body aching in desire.


    Charm. Aloe realized as she looked right at the woman¡¯s shining eyes, instantly throwing a bucket of cold water on her growing ardor. And that smell¡­


    Grace¡¯s Exaltation.

 Book 3: 17. Stances

    The sultry silhouette closed on her slowly, with heavy steps marked by the sound of heels. Do not let yourself be fooled or tempted. Aloe focused her psyche, putting pressure on her ¡®toughness¡¯. She¡¯s using an infusion to enthrall you, do not let it happen.


    Charm was one of the most unique internal infusions Aloe had seen. Even though it looked like no changes occurred to the woman wavering the so-called stance, the scribe felt her body heat up in desire. It was a physiological reaction, outside of her mental state. But as her body grew used to the temperature and the rising sexual desire, of course, it affected her mental state by making her horny.


    But she knew the tricks.


    Aloe had experienced what true, raw, and unadulterated horniness was. To lose oneself in desire, to forget what one person was, to not even identify your own body and that of others, just a primal mating instinct remaining.


    And this was not it.


    Her body ached for it, it wanted to pant and become wet, and even if she couldn¡¯t control most reactions, the bedridden woman didn¡¯t let her body overcome her mind. She peered right at the cultivator¡¯s dark green eyes.


    ¡°Quite the hour for a visit. Do you not think, princess Fatima?¡± Aloe maintained her composure as the sultanzade smiled.


    ¡°Well, I did tell you we would follow my schedule.¡± Fatima pushed her hips to the side with a salacious motion and put a hand on them. ¡°You should be grateful that I am able to tutor you on the very same day of the deal.¡±


    ¡°I am sorry if my words did not carry that message,¡± the scribe stated politely, ¡°but I am truly beholden by your presence on such short notice.¡±


    The princess smiled, noticing that Aloe¡¯s visage didn¡¯t display that enthusiasm regardless of her structured words.


    ¡°I believe that was enough masquerading.¡± The sultanzade walked forward, each step banging through the room with those heels, and grabbed a chair. Then she sat in front of the bed. ¡°Now, we all hide things. Understandable. Every person does it, but here in Asina Palace, it is commonplace. But you must understand that if we are to do these Nurture lessons, I am going to need to know which stances you can use.¡±


    She¡¯s being sincere¡­ but how much? Maybe it was a dependency, but Aloe couldn¡¯t trust her instincts without the use of ¡®acuity¡¯. Slowly, she started to change the infusion, but it would take her too much time to switch it for the answer to seem natural. She had to give her answer soon.


    ¡°You got me there,¡± Aloe admitted to gain a bit more time. ¡°It is no surprise we are hiding things from ourselves.¡±


    ¡°It is not.¡± Fatima agreed. ¡°Yet I also notice that you are delaying us.¡±


    Aloe sighed, even to the blindest, that had been obvious. And whilst Fatima Asina wasn¡¯t the strongest foe she had faced, she wasn¡¯t either of the weakest. Maybe dimmest, but not that much.


    ¡°I accept your terms,¡± Aloe responded with a visage of sorrowful defeat. ¡°The current stances on my repertoire are¡­¡±


    ¡°Are which?¡± Fatima frowned as the scribe suddenly stopped talking.


    ¡°Um, well¡­¡± For the first time in a long time, Aloe blushed. ¡°I may have just noticed that the terminology between our stances may differ.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± The sultanzade crossed her arms, her breasts heaving up and threatening to spill out of her tight dress. Now that her internal infusions had switched, Aloe noticed how translucent the sultanzade¡¯s black dress was. Two protuberances in the chest area were surrounded by a clearly darker moat. To her enhanced eyesight, it was as if the tall and muscular woman was not wearing any fabric in that region.


    ¡°I may have different names for the stances, nothing else.¡± The scribe responded as if just to recover her cool.


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    ¡°How could that happen?¡± Surprisingly enough, Aloe couldn¡¯t feel second intentions from that question.


    ¡°As I previously stated, I am self-taught, mostly,¡± she added the last part to obfuscate her knowledge of the vital arts, ¡°therefore I came myself with the names.¡±


    ¡°Should you not have your own name for the concept of stances, then?¡±


    ¡°A valid question,¡± Aloe nodded in agreement. ¡°I just adapted my vocabulary to suit you better.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡± Fatima brushed her hair in ponderation. She had long and lustrous locks, unlike Aloe¡¯s short, muted, and unruly hair. ¡°May I inquire on how you called stances?¡±


    ¡°Infusions,¡± The bedridden woman responded as she didn¡¯t value the name that significant. The only other person that knew of it was already dead, and she wasn''t far from there.


    ¡°Makes sense,¡± It was Fatima¡¯s time to nod in return. ¡°Tell me the name of the stances you know and what they do, it shouldn¡¯t be hard to identify them.¡±


    ¡°Alright,¡± Aloe looked at the ceiling and took a deep breath. ¡°Firstly, I have strength¡­¡±


    ¡°You are joking.¡± The sultanzade interjected immediately.


    ¡°I am afraid not, princess.¡± The commoner stated with confusion.


    ¡°That IS a stance.¡± Fatima raised her voice. ¡°Tell me the effects.¡±


    ¡°Ehm¡­ it makes me stronger and emboldens me?¡± The potency of the woman¡¯s voice made it difficult to speak with certainty.


    ¡°Yeah, sounds about right. I guess there are not many words to name that stance with.¡± The princess sighed, the sheer gesture coming out sultry. ¡°Next one.¡±


    ¡°Then there is toughness.¡±


    ¡°Okay, this one I do not know. Elaborate.¡±


    I WAS going to elaborate, but a certain SOMEONE doesn¡¯t allow me to. Aloe kept her protests to herself.


    ¡°Toughness makes my body harder and overall healthier, it also makes pain number.¡±


    ¡°That is the defense stance then.¡± Fatima nodded and with her head¡¯s gestures implied the scribe to keep going.


    ¡°Next one is speed.¡±


    ¡°Makes your body faster and more difficult to control?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Aloe responded taciturnly.


    ¡°The stance has the same name,¡± Fatima explained.


    ¡°I also have charm, but I also know that is the name you use.¡± The scribe to complete a sentence without getting interrupted.


    ¡°Charm, you say?¡± The sultanzade smiled, her eyes inviting, predatorial.


    ¡°Yes, and I would prefer if you abstained from using it on me,¡± Aloe added with her deadbeat diplomatic voice.


    ¡°So you noticed¡­¡± The commoner returned her a smile that screamed: How wouldn¡¯t I notice it? Which only exacerbated the woman¡¯s coy smile. ¡°But where is the fun in that, then?¡±


    ¡°Princess Fatima, may I remind you that I am currently bedridden and in a bad state of health? Your¡­ actions are taking a toll on my body.¡±


    ¡°So you are saying my stance is working on you?¡±


    Aloe stopped breathing for a moment, biting her lip in frustration. You are talking with a sultanzade, every sentence is a trap. You cannot let your guard down even if she¡¯s not the worst of them and a business ¡®partner¡¯.


    ¡°I have experienced stronger charm stances if that is what you meant,¡± Aloe responded noncommittally, attacking the woman¡¯s inferiority complex.


    Fatima limited herself to smiling, but Aloe knew her words had an effect on her. A shift in the brows, a contraction in cheeks, a shallow stop between breaths. Her elevated perception allowed her to perceive micromovements that would go undetected otherwise.


    ¡°Very well,¡± the loosely clothed woman added. ¡°I will contain using charm openly in front of you. And considering you serve Rani, I doubt ever, as you won¡¯t have the need to train it.¡±


    The information was implicit, but it confirmed one of Aloe¡¯s mostly proven doubts. Rani uses charm. A simple yet obvious conclusion, but it was very different to have definitive evidence from a third party.


    ¡°Last one is acuity,¡± Aloe explained, not letting herself show the effects of the sultanzade¡¯s comments on her expressions. ¡°It enhances all my senses.¡±


    ¡°That is the sense stance. I do not know what is more curious, the fact that most share the name, or that you gave them such weird and obfuscated names to some.¡±


    Aloe didn¡¯t react, it was clear that those words were spoken to get a reaction out of her. Whether it was as simple as a blush or something more informative, the scribe didn¡¯t give her the pleasure of seeing her emotions.


    ¡°I know you have already stated it, but just to confirm,¡± Fatima¡¯s eyes turned darker and her expression sharper. ¡°Are those all the stances you know?¡±


    It was clear to Aloe that the sultanzade had substituted her charm for acuity, or sense in her case. The name of the infusions had felt somewhat alien to Aloe, even those that she had named herself, but after the princess criticized them, that was no longer the case. Not only were they accurate names, but they also were part of her.


    She¡¯s trying to pry my expressions to see if I¡¯m hiding any more infusions with her enhanced senses. Unfortunately, I have given her every internal infusion that I know of. After all, stances were only like internal infusions and not external ones.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Aloe answered truthfully with a nondescript expression.


    The sultanzade thought it for a moment, trying to scry the bedridden woman for answers, and whether she found any or not, she gave up a few seconds later.


    ¡°Perfect!¡± Fatima responded with a warm smile and a clap. Paradoxically enough, now that she had dropped her charm stance, Aloe found the woman more enticing and attractive. Perhaps because the gesture was genuine, instead of the calculated sultry movements, not unlike a lady of the night. ¡°Then let us begin with the lessons.¡±

 Book 3: 18. Lessons

    Fatima stood up from the chair, which got a slight scare out of Aloe. The scribe controlled her body to the best of her extent as she knew that the sultanzade was hosting her sense stance. Her senses should be sharper than mine because she has more vitality. A fact that haunted Aloe. She didn¡¯t have much vitality. Perhaps a lot compared to normal people, but it paled before the sultanzade, let alone the sultanah.


    ¡°You already know a lot of stances, to be honest, there are not that many. What matters is that you grow your Nurture and learn to use them correctly.¡± The toned princess explained as she slowly pranced forward. ¡°I do not know how competent you are with them, so we should try that first.¡±


    Aloe took a puff of fresh air. ¡°What do you want me to do?¡±


    Fatima Asina may not be her ally, but it was the best tool at her disposal to improve with Infusion. She would need to deposit a modicum of trust in her.


    ¡°Let us go in order, change your stance to strength.¡±


    Aloe didn¡¯t protest and did as commanded. Though it wasn¡¯t a fast procedure. Disregarding charm, strength and speed were her least used internal infusions, meaning it took her a couple of minutes to switch out of acuity. Still way better than the far cry of five minutes it originally took her.


    The sultanzade waited patiently next to the bed, though Aloe couldn¡¯t deny her fixed stare distracted her more than once. She could feel the woman eat her with her eyes, and even if she wasn¡¯t looking, her presence was tangible. Her body was extremely hot, the openings on her dress letting all her body heat fly free towards Aloe.


    ¡°Done,¡± Aloe stated taciturnly, controlling her eyes so they wouldn¡¯t doze off toward the two pillars of ripped muscles in front of her face, let alone the bursting balloons.


    ¡°Give me your hand.¡± Fatima requested calmly.


    The commoner hesitated for a second, but she raised her hand and the sultanzade caught it with her own.


    ¡°Press my hand with all your might.¡±


    Now, Aloe would have done that without needing to be asked, but she knew better than to let her aggressiveness rampant.


    ¡°Ehm¡­ princess? I do not think I should do that; it would be unbefitting of my station¡­¡± The scribe said with the nervousness of a commoner talking to a noble.


    ¡°Save your excuses, this is training. If one or both parties do not get hurt, then it is useless.¡± Fatima responded. ¡°Now, press!¡±


    Perhaps it was because of the ferociousness of the order, or maybe because Aloe had wanted to hurt a sultanzade for a long time, but she didn¡¯t hesitate this time.


    Aloe gripped the big, muscular, bony hand with all her might.


    And she pressed.


    And more.


    Bones began creaking from the strength of the grip.


    Hers.


    ¡°Ukh!¡± Aloe groaned in pain as her hand shook from all the force she was putting on the grip. Fatima remained unexpressive. That only kindled Aloe¡¯s latent rage even more. ¡°Ugh!¡±


    She didn¡¯t have the best posture from her prone position, and she was far away from her prime strength, but she knew for a fact that she had never used up so much strength in her life before. Her life hadn¡¯t been physically demanding until recently, and even then, it was more a test of resistance than a feat of strength.


    Her whole body began shaking from what should have been a lethal grip. Aloe gritted her teeth as all the blood vessels in her arm threatened to pop out of her skin.


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    ¡°Stop.¡± Fatima sharply commanded and Aloe was forced to comply.


    She released the pressure on her arm and it instantly fell down to the side of the bed, completely wasted.


    ¡°Ahh¡­ ahh¡­¡± Furious pants left Aloe¡¯s mouth. Even though she had just put pressure on a single arm, she was utterly drained, as if she had done the journey to the oasis on foot without stops.


    ¡°I did not expect much considering your build and vitality, but it is even worse than I expected.¡± The sultanzade commented lazily. ¡°I doubt you can crush a skull with that grip. A basic thing, mind you. Tell me, have you practiced with the strength stance?¡±


    ¡°I¡­ I have not.¡± The scribe said between inhalations.


    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Fatima brushed her hair again with shallow caresses as she pondered. ¡°Switch to defense.¡±


    ¡°I¡­¡± Aloe¡¯s exhaustion was slapped out of her once she noticed the implications of the statement. ¡°I am still recovering, princess! I do not think we should do that kind of testing.¡±


    ¡°Oh, do not be a wimp.¡± The sultanzade pranced forward and approached her face to the commoner¡¯s, eyes locking. ¡°I know how to control my strength, I will only test you. I do not require to harm you in any way, only pry your body.¡±


    Aloe held her breath and looked at the woman¡¯s dark green eyes. She wasn¡¯t using charm, and though the scribe couldn¡¯t determine with exactitude what infusion she was using, she bet on acuity.


    ¡°As you command, teacher.¡± She gave the princess the satisfaction of superiority. If only the one in a student-teacher relationship.


    Fatima smiled satisfied and Aloe switched her flow of vitality, going from a frenetic rapid to a powerful yet inexorable march.


    ¡°Done,¡± Aloe stated calmly.


    The cultivator raised an eyebrow but didn¡¯t comment on the speed, even if it was clear she was thinking about it. After all, it had taken Aloe two minutes to change into strength, but only a few seconds for toughness.


    It was Fatima¡¯s turn to grab Aloe¡¯s hand, raising it slightly above the bed, but maintaining the extremity parallel with it. The dark-skinned woman put strength on her grip, pinching the petite woman¡¯s fingers, but soon enough she got more vicious, forgetting the hand and going for the forearm. Aloe held her breath by reflex. The grip wasn¡¯t painful, but it was certainly restraining. The scribe could feel the circulation of blood in her arm was interrupted, her hand growing colder and number for the second.


    But the test didn¡¯t end there. The sultanzade didn¡¯t have enough.


    She grew more adventurous, moving her hand upwards if ever so slowly. From the forearm, it hastily passed the elbow, and then slowly arrived at the armpit. By then, Aloe¡¯s whole arm had grown cold, but it was especially noticeable with the sultanzade¡¯s hot caress. That body temperature wasn¡¯t one a normal person would survive; only feverish people could even have it, and that didn¡¯t mean it was healthy.


    Perhaps it was the exhaustion, but it took Aloe a few seconds to realize how there was a hand wrapped around her neck. Even before possible death, air stopping from flowing into her body, the scribe remained calm.


    ¡°Princess, could you please refrain from such antics whilst I am recovering?¡±


    Fatima looked Aloe straight in the eyes, her visage drawing a grin. The scribe could feel the hot and addled imperial¡¯s breath on her face.


    ¡°We are just testing, dear¡­¡± The woman encroached on her, whispering in her ear.


    ¡°Then I should recommend putting a stop to this test.¡± The scribe¡¯s voice was devoid of any emotion, a testament of impassivity. ¡°Otherwise, I am going to be unconscious for the rest of this lesson.¡±


    Those had been the right words, an instant later Fatima liberated her death grip. Not before biting the commoner¡¯s ears. Ah. Aloe barely managed to contain the yelp, the surprise only lingering in her mind. With her toughness, it was painful, even if it had been a full-blown bite. That didn¡¯t erase the fact that the princess¡¯ breath lingered in her ear lobe as she removed her face.


    ¡°Your defense stance is impressive, even with your little vitality and weakened state. We should check for the rest of the stances, but something tells me this is the one you are most proficient in.¡± Her words almost felt like praise, but they were too objective for that. How can you be that casual after such actions? The bite lingered in Aloe¡¯s mind more than the chokehold. ¡°I would dare to say you are twice as effective with this stance as someone with the same vitality.¡±


    ¡°Is proficiency that important?¡± Aloe asked, uncaring of her near-death experience, prying the sultanzade for knowledge.


    ¡°Normally, no.¡± Fatima swayed her head in negation. ¡°But there are definitely special cases. Most sultanzade center ourselves in one stance because of that, because we can be more productive and efficient, but nothing stops you from practicing all of them. If I recall correctly, Mother is technically not proficient in any stance, but maybe she is just faking it. It would not surprise me if that were the case.¡±


    That was why Aloe maintained her cool, because of outbursts like these. In a single monologue, Fatima had showered with important data like the sultanah not having a preferred stance. I thought she was going to say she¡¯s not proficient in one stance but all of them, but she doesn¡¯t seem to be lying. Aloe pondered after appraising Fatima¡¯s close body with her enhanced senses, but even then, that wasn¡¯t the part that mattered the most to Aloe.


    Ourselves? If a single painting spoke more than a thousand words, a single slip spoke more than a thousand paintings.

 Book 3: 19. Charm

    ¡°Let us continue, then.¡± The sultanzade¡¯s words snapped Aloe out of her thoughts. ¡°Change into the speed stance.¡±


    ¡°Princess, I fear that stance may not be appropriate for my current predisposition.¡± The prone girl gave a look at her covered legs.


    ¡°You do not require movements to test speed.¡± Fatima grabbed Aloe¡¯s hand and tapped on her palm. ¡°Yes, the utility of the speed stance mostly relies on the enhanced mobility, but it affects the whole body equally. With a metronome tapping, I can know how fast your factor is.¡±


    Aloe met the princess¡¯ gaze for an instant, but she quickly unpledged from her dark green eyes. The sultanzade dedicated her a smile.


    ¡°Understood,¡± the scribe added taciturnly.


    Changing into the fast-paced flow of vitality was difficult for the bedridden woman. Speed was one of the stances she had less practice with. Thanks to Fikali, she hadn¡¯t needed to use the internal infusion if it wasn¡¯t for the sake of training it. Toughness was the most useful, especially when she felt under the weather, and in the labor-intensive greenhouse, strength had its niche applications. Most of them amounted to shoveling though.


    Speed turned her body more energetic, with the easiness and restlessness of a child. And whilst that energy may be appreciated, it wasn¡¯t without its flaws. Without a doubt, speed was the most physically draining stance Aloe had tried. Toughness made her breaths shorter, but it wasn¡¯t intensive. Same with strength. Acuity only had the disadvantage of being mentally draining, but it was less oppressive on the body than the rest of the infusions.


    That wasn¡¯t the case with speed.


    Accelerating one¡¯s body meant that it needed more air. More water. More food. It was a violent stance on the virtue of being gluttonous.


    Aloe found her breathing becoming slightly erratic as she finished setting her stance to speed. Fatima also noticed it; the scribe could see it in her eyes. There was a feline uncanniness to them, unaffected by the dim lighting of the room.


    ¡°Come on tap. Count one-two one-two in your mind, like a heartbeat. That should be enough for me to measure how fast the stance makes you.¡±


    It partially scared her to give this much information to a sultanzade, but the absolute truth was that her infusions couldn¡¯t compare to the princess¡¯. Not only she had more practice and knowledge than the scribe, but the difference in vitality was overwhelming. Aloe wasn¡¯t a woman of violence, she wholeheartedly believed that the pen was mightier than the sword, but there was a huge difference in principles when one was forced to only use a pen because the enemy¡¯s sword was too sharp.


    One-two. One-two. Aloe tapped on the woman¡¯s sturdy hand. It wasn¡¯t the hand of a protected princess, but a battle-tested warrior. One-two. One-two. Even if her counting had perfect timing, there was an offset between taps and thoughts. There it was, the dissonance of mind and body. Speed only accelerated the body, not the mind. Even if she wanted to do a one-two rhythm, her body was faster than that.


    The scribe peered at the imperial, her eyes closed in concentration. Even though she wasn¡¯t using acuity, she could notice the irregular breathing of the woman. She¡¯s trying to breathe at the same tempo as my breathing. She couldn¡¯t understand the logic behind it, it only seemed like a good way to give oneself a headache, but Aloe continued to do as demanded.


    The two girls stood there with their hands wrapped together as the tapping reached a perfect metronome, no longer followed by an internal pounding, but muscle memory.


    ¡°Stop.¡± The princess exhaled shallowly. It took the commoner a few taps to process the order as she was no longer acting consciously.


    Fatima let go of Aloe¡¯s hands and tapped the same hand herself. The sultanzade sighed not long after that and stretched her neck.


    ¡°That was not much speed, but it was a solid tempo. You are certainly better at speed than strength. I would like to see you move with a recovered body. How well may you engage in a shared tempo.¡±


    Aloe ignored the sexual innuendo, not allowing herself to blush, to give the woman that win. Whore. She kept it to herself, clearing her mind from the sultanzade¡¯s gestures. Instead, she focused on her praising. Well, I haven¡¯t seen anyone use strength, but I know someone proficient with speed. The images of Naila Asina¡¯s training flared in her mind. She hadn¡¯t observed her many times, but she wasn¡¯t discreet with her training, from time to time she managed to catch a look of her fellow scribe, of her frantic yet coordinated movements. Speed was violent but also graceful.


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    Fatima turned her visage dull once I didn¡¯t respond to her advances. ¡°Let us try charm now.¡±


    ¡°I warn you that I do not have much practice with the stance.¡±


    ¡°Warn?¡± She snickered. ¡°What will an unpracticed stance do?¡±


    ¡°Murder you of boredom.¡± Aloe gifted her a shit-eating grin.


    ¡°I am a patient person, do not worry about it.¡± Fatima met Aloe¡¯s emerald eyes, her sense stance obviously trying to find any structural flaw in the commoner¡¯s fa?ade. ¡°Start.¡±


    Aloe wasn¡¯t joking when she spoke about killing her with boredom. Charm was by far her least-used stance. As a matter of fact, she had only used it once. It had taken her many tries to achieve it, but it was a matter of trial and error. She may not be competent with it, she may not be comfortable with it, but the sheer knowledge of its existence was enough for Aloe to achieve the internal infusion.


    It only took hundreds of tries.


    The greatest motivators of humanity were boredom and spite, and she oozed them both. The stance always escaped her clutches, every time she thought she had it in her hands, it drained away like water in a hand.


    The scribe took a deep breath. The flow of vitality needed to achieve the charm internal infusion was unlike any of the others. The other stances could be described with physical, quantifiable adjectives. Roughness, slowness, sleekness. All of those could be applied to stances, but charm was more¡­ qualitative.


    She would describe infusions as cold, same with vitality. A cold breeze that renewed her.


    Charm wasn¡¯t like that.


    Charm was hot.


    The flow of vitality was a river of molten glass flowing through the desert, somehow infusing life in its shores, infusing a primal sense of propagation, of reproduction. Unadulterated mating.


    A hot, charred, and sultry exhalation escaped Aloe¡¯s lips.


    There was a wet energy coming through the steam in her mouth. It¡¯s¡­ it¡¯s hard to control. The innate viciousness of the stance made her sick. Made her¡­ remember. Bile threatened to gather in her throat, but she powered through. Projecting weakness at this moment would be the worst misplay of all. Strength before weakness. The weak get culled¡­ The scribe recited the words, though she no longer knew who they were. Her father¡¯s? Hers? Or someone else?


    Her breathing was erratic, as it was her vitality. It pained her as much it had strained her the Blossomflame evolution. The competency of stances as Fatima had mentioned was very real. And she had no proficiency whatsoever with charm. There was no seductiveness in her, no social component, no reproductive instinct. If all other infusions were a part of her, charm was but a tool. An item that she discarded and left in a shed for days without end, only using it when it was truly needed.


    Nine minutes.


    It had taken her nine minutes to switch into charm.


    Almost twice as long as the first-ever internal infusion had done, and that was taking into consideration her increased knowledge and mastery of vitality. She felt her body looser, her facial muscles more maneuverable than ever, her breathing sweet and melodic. The changes were obvious before she moved a muscle or spoke a word.


    And she hated it.


    The commoner opened her eyes to find an imperial staring at her with fervor. It was a complex emotion Aloe was unable to decipher.


    ¡°You are not enthralled by me, right?¡± Aloe tried to joke, but the truth was, she was terrified. If she had truly captivated the sultanzade, a bewitched and ravishing beast uncontrolled, she was in no position to stop her from¡­


    No. Not again! The scribe gritted her teeth and kept the bile at bay. Tears threatened to come out too, but her enhanced facial control prevented her tear glands from emulsifying. If acuity allowed her to detect infinitesimal facial twitches, charm allowed her to negate them.


    ¡°Do not jest.¡± Fatima laughed at the idea. Those words snapped Aloe of her dark thoughts. The sultanzade may have not realized it, but her control was the only thing that kept the scribe from breaking. ¡°Whilst it is true I am not used to being subjected to charm; I am far from influenced by it. Especially yours.¡±


    The hidden meaning of the words was cruel and sharp, yet they felt soft to Aloe. If her charm had been potent enough, the effects would have been way more devastating than if it was weaker. For once, Aloe embraced weakness. A feeble fa?ade, a scorpion can even hide under the dirt of an oasis. Weakness can be a tool, but it is a two-edged sword. Do not use it if you can. The words of her father echoed in her mind, bringing her a kernel of comfort.


    ¡°I was simply inspecting its power.¡± The sultanzade continued. ¡°Not the worst I have seen, Naila and Kareem certainly do worse than you, but considering the lack of practice you have ¨C nine whole minutes to switch a stance, something that should be instantaneous at best ¨C you could bring serious punches with your charm once you practice.¡±


    Not in a million years. ¡°I prefer not to. Other stances may be more useful to me.¡± Aloe scowled. ¡°Charm would not have a potent effect if it was wielded by a person like me, either way.¡±


    ¡°I highly doubt that. Remember this,¡± Fatima crossed her arms under her bust and raised her brows, ¡°every person out there has different tastes. Charm can exploit that independently of those preferences, but if you happen to find yourself in the likes and kinks of someone? Charm can truly become a more potent weapon than any other stance.¡±


    The sultanzade leaned forward, closing her face to Aloe¡¯s. Even if the scribe was one donning the stance, she felt as if she was the one being played.


    ¡°You know what the stance we fear more in Mother¡¯s hands is?¡± Aloe swayed her head in negation. ¡°Charm.¡± Even with her increased facial control, cracks showed in the commoner¡¯s expression. The revelation was too shocking. The last thing you would worry about a natural disaster ¨C a force of nature incarnate ¨C was if it was beautiful. And Fatima certainly realized that with her sense stance. ¡°Once someone has too much vitality, the properties that should be penalized by stances, are bolstered either way. And it is not the strength or speed of gods that lead nations to war. But their beauty.¡±

 Book 3: 20. Hope

    It spoke at great lengths how terrifying the charm stance could be if even the sultanzade were cowed by it. Perhaps it was because she had experienced to much, but Aloe wasn¡¯t as intimidated as Fatima made the problem out to be. I can¡¯t deny it¡¯s dangerous.


    ¡°Let¡¯s stop talking about charm, one stance remains.¡± Fatima clapped to gain her attention.


    Aloe nodded at her.


    Acuity, or the sense stance as the imperials called it, was an impressive stance. Whilst not as detectable and visual stance as the speed or strength stance, it more than compensated by being versatile. It boosted all senses a human could have, more than she even knew. The peace of mind achieved by the internal infusion was something that monks would give their life for.


    Her flow of vitality turned sharp.


    Unlike speed or strength, Aloe felt comfortable with acuity. Attuned even, as some may say. Violence wasn¡¯t on the core of her being, even if they pushed her in that direction. An attentive eye and a serpentine snake. The scribe found her late father¡¯s words comforting. That are traits a banker should have. She was a banker no more, she hadn¡¯t gotten even close, but that didn¡¯t mean her father¡¯s advice were useless.


    A couple of minutes was more than enough to shift into acuity. She had trained a lot with that infusion in these last days, more than any other stance. Even if she didn¡¯t have mastery over it, the muscle memory was there.


    ¡°May I inquire how are you going to test this stance?¡± Aloe inquired Fatima after she opened her eyes.


    ¡°No, you may not.¡± The princess responded derisively, but the commoner showed no expression. More traps and tricks. Some where obvious, some were so unseen the own makers didn¡¯t know they existed.


    Then Fatima punched Aloe in the face.


    The movement was swift and violent, clearly the product of the speed stance. Externally, Aloe didn¡¯t even blink as the executioner¡¯s axe fell upon her. No matter what she did, she couldn¡¯t respond to the attack. She was bedridden, weak, and her arms were slower thanks to the stance. Internally, though, the scribe furiously shifted to toughness. If she made it time, then she could survive instant death.


    She didn¡¯t make it in time.


    She didn¡¯t need to in the first place.


    Fatima¡¯s fist stopped barely a hair¡¯s width before Aloe¡¯s temples. The scribe skipped a heartbeat, a breath, and almost wet herself ¨C partially perhaps ¨C but she didn¡¯t allow the sultanzade to notice that.


    ¡°I am quite disappointed that you did not react to such¡­¡± The princess frowned, realizing that her trail of thought had been tread wrongly. ¡°No.¡± Yes. ¡°Oh, great heavens, you did not react because you saw the attack coming.¡±


    Words wouldn¡¯t help her in this situation, so Aloe opted for a non-verbal demonstration.


    And gifted Fatima a shit-eating grin.


    ¡°Good reflexes.¡± That was the only thing the princess said, the contents of her mind unknown to Aloe. There was a limit to how much information she could get out of a person ¨C even with acuity ¨C when they were actively hiding it.


    A mixed feeling bloomed inside of her. On the one hand, satisfaction. Not only had she detected the attack and surprised the sultanzade but managed to contain her reactions without the woman being none-the-wiser. On the other hand¡­ she was scared. She hadn¡¯t switched to toughness in time. If it had been Aaliyah, or Naila, maybe even the twins¡­ she would have been dead.


    Aloe had no doubt of it.


    Vitality will not be of any use if I can¡¯t activate infusions fast enough. And staying with toughness all the time wasn¡¯t the answer, in the imperial court, attentive eyes and fast reflexes gave her information. Information that could be wielded as poisoned daggers.


    ¡°Those were all your stances, right?¡± The sense stance was obvious in the visage of the sultanzade.


    ¡°That is right, princess.¡± Aloe nodded to her words.


    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± But of course, Fatima didn¡¯t outright believe her. Nor she should. This is a battlefield of intrigue, if she was that easy to manipulate, she would be a useless ally. ¡°You may not know more stances, but do you know about others?¡±


    Whilst the wording was odd, most likely in purpose to catch possible slips, the answer to both questions was the same. ¡°No, I do not.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡± Fatima caressed her long strands of hair. ¡°Do you know how many stances there are?¡±


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    ¡°That information is also beyond me.¡± The scribe admitted. ¡°Would you enlighten me, teacher?¡± Appeal to her superiority, make her trust you, depend on you.


    ¡°Gladly,¡± The imperial smiled brightly, almost making Aloe think she had shifted to charm. ¡°There are nine stances in Nurture.¡±


    ¡°Nine?¡± Aloe¡¯s eyes shot wide open. No, that¡¯s not possible¡­


    ¡°What is the problem, student?¡± Fatima added with venom on the last word.


    ¡°I¡­ those feel like not many stances.¡±


    ¡°Ah, I get where you are coming from, after all, you already know more than half of them. But yes, those are the ones that exist.¡± Her smile turned predatorial. ¡°Or rather, the ones we know of.¡±


    That makes more sense. There can¡¯t be only nine internal infusions. I almost know as many of external ones. ¡°So you are entailing that more may exist?¡±


    ¡°Who knows?¡± The sultanzade shrugged. ¡°Mother discovered a few of them in her reign, so it is wholly possible some undiscovered stances remain out there. But besides the few ones discovered on the first generations of sultans, Mother has been the only one to find new ones. Maybe the well has already run dry. Only the heavens know.¡±


    More have to exist. I refuse to believe otherwise. Aloe¡¯s mind couldn¡¯t accept it. Not because logic told her so with all her knowledge in Infusion and the limitless potential of Evolution, but because she refused to accept it. There¡¯s no way magic is that limited. That my magic can only do nine different things. Her grandfather¡¯s legacy couldn¡¯t be limited to nine useful yet, nonetheless, limited tools. Aloe¡¯s outburst would have been worst if this had been about Evolution, the real magic that both her and Karaim favored. The one that could be called unique to the Ayads.


    ¡°May I inquire about there remaining four?¡± Aloe turned to look Fatima straight in the eyes. She was confident doing so if the woman wasn¡¯t hoisting the charm stance.


    ¡°You may.¡± Fatima¡¯s smile was as sweet as honey. Yet infinitely more deadly.


    Aloe contained a groan once she realized what the woman wanted out of her. ¡°Please teacher, enlighten me on the four remaining stances.¡± Pride ¨C whilst something that she valued a lot ¨C was nothing but a tool now; a cheap, devalued coin. Especially after Aaliyah had desecrated it.


    The princess slumped forward, the women¡¯s faces standing close to one another. ¡°But of course, my dear pupil.¡±


    The scribe nearly skipped a heartbeat, but her presence of mind alerted that doing so would be catastrophic as the snake in front of her wielded the sense stance. How can she be more beautiful without charm? The woman¡¯s paradoxical abilities confused the life out of Aloe.


    ¡°Let us go one by one and explain what each ones does.¡± A polite way to say Don¡¯t you dare interrupt me. ¡°First one is the agility stance. Do not confused yourself with speed. Unlike that stance, this one focuses on the freedom of movement, rather than its alacrity.¡±


    Considering how she stopped to take a breath, Aloe considered this her window to ask questions. ¡°How much of a degree of freedom? Is it just ligaments or does it affect bones too?¡±


    ¡°As for the first question, the answer is always the same: depends on one¡¯s Nurture.¡± So my vitality deposit size. ¡°And for the second, good question. I can give a definitive answer, but I would be inclined to a ¡®yes¡¯. I do believe agility makes bones ever-so-slightly more ductile, but I cannot fully confirm that. The main attractiveness is not for women, either way. But men. Slow burly men who have no hope of learning a single acrobatic in their life. This stance allows them to split their legs as if they were women.¡±


    Aloe nodded in understanding. Whilst it wasn¡¯t attractive to her ¨C even if her body was far from flexible ¨C she saw the utilities of such a stance.


    ¡°Continuing where we were, we have the stealth stance.¡± Instantly, Aloe knew something was off. Fatima was right in front of her, and whilst the lighting was dim, she had to focus her eyes to be natural. ¡°You caught on fast.¡±


    ¡°You are using the stealth stance.¡± Aloe affirmed.


    ¡°Mmm~¡± The sultanzade mumbled noncommittally. ¡°What do you think it does?¡±


    Her eyes were boosted with acuity, and still she found difficulties to focus on the woman. A woman who already drew everyone¡¯s eyes naturally. Aloe thought her words very carefully.


    ¡°It camouflages you.¡±


    ¡°A good guess.¡± In the darkness of the room, Fatima¡¯s eyes shone with the glance of a predator. ¡°The stealth stance, for lack of a better explanation, makes it harder to focus on the enemy. It achieves so in many ways, but yes, camouflage is one of them.¡±


    Whilst invaluable, this stance wasn¡¯t what Aloe needed. Not yet.


    ¡°Next one is regeneration.¡± The scribe¡¯s eyes flashed in eagerness at the word. Fatima giggled with joy then hit her with a sledgehammer. ¡°Do not get your hopes up, it will not heal you, despite its name.¡±


    There were many ways to deliver the message, and the wench chose the most painful one.


    ¡°Hmm, that was perhaps the wrong usage of words.¡± Fatima caressed her neck as she took back her words. If it was because she had detected Aloe¡¯s hidden scowl or because she had honestly mistaken, it was beyond the scribe. ¡°Regeneration accelerates the body¡¯s regeneration to a degree equivalent to the maximum vitality deposit compared to its original size. So in a way, yes, it accelerates healing, but only the natural of your body. At best you will cut into a quarter the time you need to heal.¡±


    ¡°That is a significant amount of time, princess.¡± Aloe added with such neutrality that could only be taken as an attack.


    Fatima smiled. ¡°Perhaps for you.¡±


    There were hidden meanings in those three words, Aloe knew it, but she couldn¡¯t decipher them. If my current deposit takes down my healing time to a quarter, it means it¡¯s accelerating my natural regeneration by a three hundred percent. And considering I have three times my original vitality, it¡¯s basically a one-to-one boost.


    ¡°By the way,¡± the sultanzade¡¯s voice snapped the scribe¡¯s attention, ¡°the regeneration stance does not only affect the body¡¯s healing, but also its recovery in every aspect. Breath, stamina, even vitality. Anything that the body may lack and needs to recover, regeneration will provide it.¡±


    If the regeneration stance wasn¡¯t already of vital importance and interest for Aloe, that had increased manyfold. If I could regenerate my vitality faster without needing to use Cure Grass pills ¨C which are already becoming obsolete ¨C this means I will gain maximum vitality faster once I can get back to evolving and infusing. For once, Aloe saw a shine of hope.


    ¡°I see you are dying to practice this stance, yet still one remains.¡± The princess slanted forward. ¡°And it is the most special one of all.¡±


    Aloe swallowed a hearty gulp of saliva at the sultanzade¡¯s charming voice.

 Not a chapter

    Hi there,


    For health issues, mainly due to stress and nausea, I will not be posting any chapters for the rest of the week. I really thought if I should post one today, but I am afraid I do not have the strength to do so. I do not think this will pause will last more than a week, but if I do not post any chapters next week, do not be surprised.


    You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    Side note, I am only vaguely sick, and I have been to the hospital. It just is that I am using the few energies at my disposal and focusing them at my studies.


    Apologies,


    -Epsilon Twilight

 Book 3: 21. Flowing

    ¡°Good girl,¡± Fatima snickered enthusiastically, supporting her back again on the chair. ¡°Now, you have an idea of what this last stance may be?¡±


    What the ninth stance may be? No amount of pondering could make Aloe come up with an answer. The best choice was to take a diplomatic answer. ¡°Stances are diverse and multifaceted; I cannot hope to imagine what this last one must do.¡±


    The princess rolled her eyes and sighed, ¡°Killjoy.¡±


    Many thoughts blossomed and withered in Aloe¡¯s mind. The inconsistency of the sultanzade¡¯s mood irked her to no limit. Sometimes the woman was playing the game, and other times she was playing a game.


    ¡°The name of the stance is flowing. Does that bring you any ideas?¡± Fatima observed her without much interest.


    ¡°Taking into account that you mentioned this ¡®flowing¡¯ stance is the most special of all, I doubt it is related to swimming.¡±


    ¡°Well,¡± she shrugged, ¡°it could.¡±


    ¡°May I inquire in the meaning of ¡®could¡¯?¡± Aloe focused her sights on the woman, her neck hurting already from having her head turned to the side for this long.


    ¡°It could. Simple as that.¡±


    ¡°Are we playing twenty-one questions?¡± The scribe deadpanned.


    ¡°Perhaps.¡± The sultanzade smiled at her again.


    It took Aloe a lot of willpower to not scowl at the imperial. But knowing how her family worked, she may well be into that. Deviants, all of them. She knew better than actually doing it, even if in some twisted way it could work.


    ¡°I fear I am at my wit''s end,¡± Aloe added after a solid minute of ponderation. ¡°Maybe something about blood?¡±


    ¡°Good guess,¡± Fatima commented neutrally as she caressed her hair.


    ¡°Was it a correct guess, though?¡±


    ¡°It could be.¡± She smiled again with that know-it-all grin.


    ¡°I fear that these lessons may have been a miscalculation on my part.¡± Even her manner of showing displeasure was diplomatic, putting the blame on herself instead of highlighting the defects of her partner.


    ¡°You have too much fear in your body, dear.¡± Fatima put her arms behind her head and stretched them. A moan left her lips as she stretched far more than the scribe would have been capable of.


    The tactic employed by the imperial was obvious. Her body lay exposed, her open dress highlighting her bountiful cleavage as it heaved up and down from the exercises. A poor demonstration of sex. Something as dull as that wouldn¡¯t work in Aloe.


    And she was angry at herself because it worked.


    There was no attraction nor desire, but the fact that she was looking at Fatima was defeat enough. That was how this type of games were played.


    ¡°Anyhow,¡± The buxom woman jumped out of her chair, her dress lagging a bit behind and letting the scribe peer at her defined and thick legs. ¡°We have lost too much time with games this night. We will continue in the next session with the explanation of what the flowing stance actually is and maybe then practice some of the stances that interest you.¡±


    ¡°Thanks for your help, princess.¡± Aloe raised her back from the bed, not without a groan of pain. First the carrot¡­ ¡°But future sessions could do better with fewer games.¡± Then the stick.


    ¡°Oh, dear.¡± The sultanzade¡¯s movements were swift and fast. Aloe didn¡¯t have enough time to react even with acuity before she put her hand under her chin. ¡°Then do not be so playful.¡±


    Her intentions were as obvious as the desert sun. The scribe didn¡¯t let herself get intimidated or excited by the woman¡¯s touches. Not ever again.


    ¡°See you in the next lesson, teacher.¡± Aloe bid her goodbyes with a visage devoid of emotions.


    Acuity may have failed to capture the swiftness of the warrior, but she could catch the sentiments of the maiden. And somehow, that lackluster response had excited her more than any other word she could have given her.


    <hr>


    Not even a good night¡¯s sleep and a hearty breakfast had helped Aloe come up with an answer. There weren¡¯t many clues, only a name and two binary questions she knew a non-committal answer. That was not enough to decipher the true nature of the flowing stance.


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    The scribe remained in a sour mood for the rest of the morning, doing her best to come up with an answer that may not even exist. No, she wouldn¡¯t do that¡­ Well, maybe she would, but I didn¡¯t get that picture from our conversation.


    She passed the opportunity of a walk as the paltry demonstrations of the sultanzade had left her in the mud. Not even with speed she could already outrun my eyes¡­ It was a terrifying notion, especially considering Fatima¡¯s inferiority complex. A person with such thoughts wouldn¡¯t be the most competent. I know nothing about the imperial hierarchy, but if she¡¯s that desperate, she has to have some chance at their fight. Bottom of the barrel is out of the question, maybe more along the middle of the pack?


    There were dozens of sultanzade, so being around the middle of their hierarchy spoke great heights about those at the top. This was all a supposition, of course. And yet, no matter how high up the sultanzade at the top was, Aloe knew they couldn¡¯t even begin to compare with the monster that was her mother.


    Aloe shivered and gritted her teeth.


    Her jaw hurt from the gesture as she was currently donning strength, making her teeth weaker yet her jaw strength greater.


    Before it was lunchtime, someone knocked on the door. Even though she wasn¡¯t using acuity, from the knocking cadence and the fact that whoever it was knocked at all, it taught Aloe that it wasn¡¯t Farah nor Fatima.


    ¡°Come in,¡± Aloe spoke after putting a few pillows on her back to raise her body.


    ¡°Excuse me,¡± A young voice greeted the scribe as the maid opened the door. The scribe recognized her, she had been the maid on the gazebo that night when she gifted Fatima the first Grace¡¯s Exaltation¡¯s diluted nectar bottle. ¡°My mistress has summoned you.¡±


    ¡°Where?¡± The bedridden woman raised her brows. The statement was too sudden to deserve courtesy.


    ¡°To her chambers.¡± The maid stated neutrally. The delicate and unmoving expression of the girl was at the same level as those of the palace of Sadina, though her outfit was as revealing and indecent as the rest of the maids in Asina.


    ¡°And I suppose she will not accept a ¡®no¡¯ for an answer, right?¡±


    ¡°My mistress told me that she wanted to continue with ¡®last night¡¯s activities¡¯.¡±


    If those words had come from another person who wasn¡¯t Fatima, Aloe wouldn¡¯t have even pondered her answer; but coming from Fatima¡¯s lips, the play was obvious. She wanted everyone to think that she was whoring herself to her. Whether it was a power play or a tactic to manifest that silence around their lessons as part of the agreement, Aloe couldn¡¯t tell. Most likely both.


    At another point in her life, Aloe would have declined. It was clear that, yes, they would continue their lessons and nothing else would happen; yet her pride was at stake. A pride that had been devalued more than the coin of a country that had lost a war and gone bankrupt.


    ¡°I would require my entourage to displace myself,¡± I informed the maid.


    ¡°But of course,¡± She bowed. ¡°I will look for them at once.¡±


    Once the maid left the room, Aloe sighed. ¡°Good grief,¡± she locked her eyes on the ceiling. ¡°What a woman, making myself move to her when I am bedridden.¡±


    She kept her words politically acceptable as she didn¡¯t know who may be listening. With a groan and a crack of the neck, the scribe shifted her internal infusion to toughness. Even after a few outings, she didn¡¯t feel comfortable in the palanquin.


    Without much fanfare, the soldiers arrived and deposited her on the contraption. Their expressions were stern, but it was the sternness of discipline instead of anger. Sure, they were likely annoyed by the interruption, especially this close to lunch break, but they knew better than to raise their voices.


    Everyone knew to do better in this palace.


    Whilst Aloe didn¡¯t make her way out of her room much, the maids didn¡¯t pay attention to her in the main palace. The same couldn¡¯t be said once her entourage reached the sultanzade¡¯s palace. She could feel the gazes of the maids, the nobles, the soldiers, and the passing sultanzade. All gazes upon her. Looking. Judging.


    The scribe closed her eyes and steadied her breath, which was becoming erratic.


    They can¡¯t see me if I can¡¯t see them. They can¡¯t see me if I can¡¯t see them. Aloe repeated the mantra in the confines of her mind as her ears solely focused on the steady cadence of the soldier¡¯s march. It didn¡¯t take long for the palanquin to come to a halt, followed by the knock of a wooden surface.


    ¡°Mistress, I have brought the scribe.¡± The maid announced.


    ¡°Let her in.¡± Fatima¡¯s sweet voice caressed the prone woman¡¯s ears.


    Aloe finally opened her eyes to see the maid opening the door and the soldiers carrying her into the sultanzade¡¯s chambers. And what a chamber it was. Fatima¡¯s chambers were the size of whole commoner houses, making Aloe¡¯s chambers in both palaces look pathetic. There were many words to describe the resting place of the sultanzade. Vain, for it was needlessly decorated. Spacious, for its ceiling was higher than a second floor. But one word stood above all in Aloe¡¯s mind.


    Normal.


    Yes, it was decorated with riches impossible to most people. Yes, it was big. Yes, she didn¡¯t fail to notice the many beds, pillows, and tea tables that made the place look like a brothel. But at the same time, nothing unthinkable or strange was present. A lot of open windows let light filter in. It was by all means a normal room. And that didn¡¯t fit well with the scribe.


    ¡°Leave her here,¡± Fatima pointed somewhere, but Aloe didn¡¯t manage to catch where from her elevated position, ¡°and make your way out.¡±


    What she saw was the soldiers nodding and depositing her palanquin down. They didn¡¯t even waste a breath before leaving the room.


    ¡°You too, Nasira.¡± The sultanzade pointed at the maid, and though the scribe couldn¡¯t see it, she managed to hear the rustle of her clothing, indicating a bow. The click of her heels and the soft closing of the door highlighted the fact that they were now alone. ¡°Did you ponder on what the flowing stance may be?¡±


    ¡°I did,¡± Aloe nodded from her limited position, though the palanquin granted her more incline than her bed. ¡°Alas, I am afraid I came to no answer.¡±


    ¡°Not an issue. ¡®Twas but a game.¡± Fatima smiled, blazingly admitting she just wanted to toy with her. ¡°I will reveal to you what the flowing stance is.¡±


    The princess¡¯ words weighed down on the scribe, containing an astonishing gravitas.


    ¡°Do not react like that, it is nothing that amazing.¡± The sultanzade dismissed with a giggle, yet her mannerism indicated otherwise. ¡°The flowing stance, for lack of better words, allows your vitality to flow free from the body.¡±


    And that changed everything.


    Aloe whimpered.

 Book 3: 22. Hatred

    No, no, no. NO! Aloe agonized in the confines of her mind. It can¡¯t be. It can¡¯t be. The sultanzade¡¯s words echoed in the scribe¡¯s mind, ¡°vitality to flow free from the body¡± she had said. No¡­ She almost whimpered. It was hard to hold her mask. This had been a fatal blow. One that Fatima hadn¡¯t even needed to try to land. That¡¯s¡­ Against her will, Aloe¡¯s breathing became rugged. She¡¯s describing Infusion¡­


    She could tolerate that they tortured her body, that they destroyed it, but¡­ The vital arts were hers. The imperials couldn¡¯t have them, couldn¡¯t know about them. Aloe had correlated Nurture with Infusion before, but up to her knowledge, they could only use internal infusions, not external ones.


    Oh¡­ Realization struck her with the unbridled fury of nature. They¡¯ve known since the beginning. The scribe tried her best to keep her mask upright. That¡¯s what the sultanah¡¯s blood is, it¡¯s an external infusion¡­ Her thoughts wandered to the miraculous blood of the sultans, the so-called birthright of the imperial family, and what made the Qiraji Desert a habitable and farmable place when it should be a hostile death trap.


    A fleeting thought taunted her to shift into charm, so she could control her expressions better, but the scribe shot it down instantly with malice. Not only there wasn¡¯t time, but if she hadn¡¯t fallen to the ground by now, that would do it. Acuity would have to do.


    Keep the composure, Aloe. Don¡¯t show weakness. Strength is not needed, just don¡¯t show weakness. She repeated to herself in a maddened mantra.


    ¡°You¡¯ve gone awfully quiet, scribe.¡± Fatima cut through her thoughts, her voice an executioner¡¯s sword. No tip, only edge.


    ¡°I¡­¡± Think your words, you are talking with a sultanzade. She reminded herself. ¡°The sheer possibilities of such stance have overwhelmed me.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± Fatima slumped forward. Both of them sat on the opposite sides of a ground-level coffee table. The sultanzade wore a traditional party Ydazi dress. White with golden contours, and exposed midriff and waist. Only a face mask was left to make her into a belly dancer. ¡°What are the applications you have thought about?¡±


    Trap. Her enhanced senses urged her caution. ¡°Mostly what we pondered yesternight, princess. Blood and swimming. But these exact words have lent me a new perspective.¡±


    ¡°Oh, might I hear it?¡± The woman¡¯s interest was genuine.


    ¡°If the flowing stance truly allows to liberate the vitality from the body, would it not be possible to extend it to other items, perchance? For example, transfer the vitality into a weapon and make it tougher as if it had the defense stance?¡±


    The scribe¡¯s words were methodical. She didn¡¯t outright reveal Infusion, but left room for the sultanzade to trip and reveal information she possessed about the flowing stance and Nurture. We both have lagoons in our knowledge. Me with stances, her with external infusions. No other sultanzade had a second stance, Aloe could feel it. This was a knowledge that only Aaliyah and she possessed. A piece of knowledge so secretive that she even doubted the sultanah had noticed it was now in her possession.


    It was her trump card. One she had to be very protective about.


    ¡°Ah, you truly are an ingenious one. It seems your Nurture was truly bound by blood.¡± Fatima mused. That was not my intention, but if you want to fall into your own misunderstandings, I am more than happy to play into them. ¡°Indeed, the flowing stance has many applications. So many in fact, that they make it a stance as complex as all the other once combined.¡±


    ¡°That sounds¡­ appalling,¡± Aloe added neutrally, more of an icebreaker than an actual meaningful interaction.


    ¡°Quite,¡± The sultanzade nodded. ¡°So much so that I am not qualified to teach you about it. Only older sultanzade or my mother have gotten a hang of the stance. And even then, I fear we have seen but a sand layer of this quarry.¡±


    Meaning you think there are stone and gemstones to still be found. Aloe kept those words to herself, considering them too revealing of her knowledge. Instead, she opted for a more reserved question.


    ¡°You mean to say that the sultanah does not even know all about the flowing stance.¡± Her words may have been diplomatic, yet her acuity detected clear hostility in her own voice. An unplanned hostility.


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    Her tongue sissed when thinking of that woman. Only Aloe would have believed herself capable of controlling her emotions that much when many others would have been cursing at the four winds by now.


    Fatima smiled. Their eyes locked and the scribe noticed the predator glint in the princess¡¯ eyes. She has noticed. ¡°Mother is precisely in the process of finding more usages of the flowing stance. If she is not doing her queenly duties, then she is studying in one form or another. Though those forms tend to be quite¡­ creative.¡±


    Aloe perfectly knew what that creative she spoke was. What had been that night? A monarch using her imperial powers to claim a girl or a hidden study? She couldn¡¯t tell. Nor that the difference mattered. She was grinding her teeth nonetheless.


    ¡°But let us stop talking about that woman, she puts a rancid taste on the sweets.¡± I couldn¡¯t agree more. The scribe left it unsaid and simply nodded. ¡°Talking about sweets, please help yourself.¡± Fatima opened her arms at the treat-filled table.


    Aloe extended her arms forward, but her body being as petite as it was and her torso immobilized because otherwise, it would put a strain on her waist, she found herself unable to even reach the corners of the table.


    ¡°Uhm¡­¡± The scribe blushed. A partially controlled gesture. ¡°I fear I am unable to partake in your offering.¡±


    ¡°I have expressed it before, scribe.¡± Fatima stood up. ¡°There is too much fear in your body. People like us do not fear. They seize.¡±


    The princess approached her, basically jumping on top of her as she positioned Aloe¡¯s palanquin between her legs. She drew her upper body closer to the scribe, their eyes locking. Dark green against shining emerald.


    ¡°Tell me, Aloe.¡± The sultanzade¡¯s voice was sharp like blades, yet also welcoming like an embrace. ¡°Do you want to be seized?¡± There was hate in Fatima¡¯s voice. But the hate wasn¡¯t directed at Aloe. If I didn¡¯t know better, I would say the hate is directed towards herself. ¡°Do you want to be seized again?¡±


    That last word changed everything.


    A single word made all the difference in the world.


    A simple adverb denoting repetition.


    Her mind visualized a second time.


    ¡°No.¡± Aloe¡¯s voice was pure hatred. Her eyes blossomed with acuity, reading the enhanced ones of sultanzade.


    That woman in front of her wasn¡¯t an ally. She knew it deep in her bones. The princess would sell her if she saw it beneficial. But the same could be said for her. They were only in a partnership for the gains and nothing else.


    But they shared something else besides profits.


    And that was hatred.


    Pure, unadulterated hatred.


    All directed at the same objective.


    Fatima¡¯s gaze was stern, partially understanding. As if it was pondering what she had in front of her. An enemy or a kindred soul? Neither. They both knew. They hadn¡¯t spoked their desires between the two, but they knew their goals didn¡¯t match. They were but the enemy of the enemy. Not friends, yet not without merits.


    Aloe embraced that. That look was something she was more comfortable with, something she could recognize with more ease than kinship. The look of an unsatisfied customer, the look of someone who looked down at you because they considered you innately inferior.


    At some point, the scribe found herself smiling.


    A grotesque smile that no lady should ever wear.


    Luckily for her, she was but a filthy commoner. No noble blood ran in her veins, only a toy for the imperials to play with. But also unbound by their rules. And a banker loved loopholes. Maybe a disgrace to her training, but it was a tool she was willing to use.


    The princess smiled back at her, yet hers was kinder. As if she thrived in a toxic environment like the fairytale flowers of swamps. An oasis in the desert, a pearl amidst putrefaction.


    Fatima¡¯s lips twisted in a way that wasn¡¯t humanly possible.


    Nor that she was a human.


    A pearl amidst putrefaction may be beautiful, but it was as toxic as the ecosystem it nurtured on.


    ¡°Now,¡± The princess¡¯ arm disappeared out of the scribe¡¯s field of view, and as she was expecting the worst considering the path the hand had taken, Aloe was surprised to find Fatima¡¯s hand back with a glazed pastry.


    The imperial took a bite out of it and savored it. Her eyes lit up with joy and her cheeks gained a pink touch of delight. She swallowed down the contents with a deep sound. Her ajar meaty lips let out a vague moan. Fatima pressed the pastry on Aloe¡¯s lips.


    ¡°Huh?¡± The scribe groaned out of stupefaction.


    ¡°Do you fear you no longer can partake in this offering?¡± The woman¡¯s sultry voice was more obvious than a half-naked woman before a red lantern.


    There was a lust in that interaction, one that raised many alarms in the scribe¡¯s mind. Whether it was all an act or a true interest, one couldn¡¯t deny that the beautiful woman before her was but a paragon of rotten deviancy if she behaved like this when she had those thoughts of shared blood.


    But the message behind those words was even more clear to Aloe.


    She wouldn¡¯t turn away, not any longer.


    Without uttering a single word, the petite woman took the whole pastry in her mouth. Even the bitten part. Even the fingers of the princess holding it. She didn¡¯t leave a crumb behind.


    In silence, she finished the whole pastry. Eating it with the same viciousness the sultanzade had first shown, swallowing it all down in a single go. The two women locked eyes and the small one who was being pressed down licked her lips in pure superiority. It didn¡¯t matter that the woman on top of her was twice as big and she herself was prone and handicapped.


    ¡°No,¡± Aloe muttered a single word. A word with a lot of meaning and answers.


    Sugar had never tasted sweeter.

 Book 3: 23. Plates

    Fatima unlatched from Aloe with a smile on her face. It was thoroughly unreadable even with acuity, which led the scribe to believe that the princess was using charm.


    "You are quite tougher than I initially thought." The imperial mused as she walked back to her seat, her back pointing to Aloe. She sat down with grace worthy of someone of her monarchic title. "But let us begin with these lessons."


    Aloe was more focused on that pastry though. Not because dark thoughts had blossomed in her mind from the interaction, but rather because it was lunchtime and the treat had opened her appetite. Her stomach grumbled against her will. As much as she could control her expression, bodily functions like those remained out of her control.


    "Oh, you have not eaten yet?" Fatima smirked with visible superiority.


    "I am af¡­" Aloe stopped talking and thought her words very carefully. "Your summon came before I could do so, princess."


    The woman smiled with satisfaction at the exchange. "Let me call for Nasira."


    Out of seemingly nowhere, Fatima took a white bell and tolled it. The sound was sharp yet melodious, impossibly clear to her enhanced senses. So much so, that she could feel the sound reverberate in the back of her mind. The door to the sultanzade''s chamber opened.


    "You called me, Mistress?" Nasira, the maid, announced.


    "Lunch." A short yet simple command.


    The maid didn''t respond back and simply closed the doors. The weakening steps revealed that Nasira was already gone into the corridors of the palace.


    "There are many stances you can learn," Fatima began, "and even practice the ones you do not have a solid grasp on. But something tells me you have your sights put on one in specific."


    "I would like to learn the regeneration stance, teacher." Aloe pleaded respectfully.


    Satisfaction once again blossomed in the sultanzade''s expression. She''s too easy, frighteningly so. Aloe couldn''t know when the woman was being genuine or just acting. Was it that easy to appeal to her inferiority complex with vague samples of submission or it was a clever manipulation on her part? Fatima may not be the most enlightened of the imperials Aloe had met, but she was still a sultanzade. I can''t forget that. No matter how excellent her education had been Sadina, it would be dwarfed by that of imperials.


    "As I explained the day prior, the regeneration stance accelerates the regeneration ¨C as the name suggests ¨C of every resource your body may produce or require. Blood, flesh, bone, breath, stamina, vitality. It certainly is versatile, but that is also its weakness." Aloe remained quiet as Fatima lectured. "There is no way to focus on a single one of those aspects, trust me, we tried. Enhanced vitality regeneration, whilst useless for common cultivators, is vital for the flowing stance. Emitting vitality out of the body means you lose it, therefore, lowering the power of any subsequent stance until it regenerates."


    Aloe was already aware of that. If the vitality deposit wasn''t full, the effectiveness of any stance would decrease. Another thing that she learned during that night was that beyond external infusions, internal ones could consume vitality if they were pushed to their limits. In her case, toughness ended up depleting her deposit in an attempt to¡­ withstand the damage.


    She didn''t allow Fatima to even catch her body shudder.


    "I would suppose that the regeneration stance is vital for training, then?" Not an interesting question nor a good one, but she needed to distract the sultanzade.


    "Quite," Fatima nodded. "Even a young sultanzade can rest in only a couple of minutes under the regeneration stance. However, I may need to clarify something. This regeneration heals the body, yes, but the fatigue remains. Do not expect that you will become tireless under the effects of this stance."


    The imperial said that as if it was a bad thing, but even with only her deposit thrice as big as an average adult, Aloe had more stamina than before. If that amount increased in the future, which she had every intention to do so, then it would become even harder to tire out.


    Before Aloe could utter a word, three knocks were heard from the door''s direction.


    "I have brought the lunch, Mistress." Nasira''s voice wasn''t mitigated by the door thanks to the scribe''s current stance.


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    "Come in, I am starving." Fatima gestured for her to enter even if the young maid couldn''t see it.


    The doors slowly opened ¨C or so Aloe supposed from the noise ¨C and Nasira entered the chamber. The scribe already knew what was going on as she heard the screeches of wheels.


    "Already?" Aloe voiced out her confusion. Her question was veritable, and she was sure that it didn''t overstep any lines with her controlled tone.


    "But of course." The princess smiled. "Who in their sane minds would let a sultanzade go hungry?" In other words, there was food ready every moment of the day. The night included judging by the grin.


    The maid stopped at the side of the table to reveal a cart full of food. She positioned herself in front of Fatima and deposited the plates efficiently as she removed the older ones.


    Her posture was perfect. Straight legs, straight back, only bending her waist. Which meant she flashed her bottom right in front of sultanzade. The princess, always the opportunist, caressed the maid''s exposed flesh. I¡­ I''m not even fazed anymore. Aloe did her best to not roll her eyes nor deadpan. And talking about controlled expressions, Nasira showed none at all. The scribe would have understood if she had dead eyes, but no, they were alive.


    That''s a misnomer. No one in this palace was alive, not even the sultanzade. Perhaps because they were sultanzade in the first place. Nasira wasn''t a paragon of joy as she was assaulted by her mistress, but she certainly looked more alive than Aloe.


    The two women''s gazes met for a fraction of a second as the maid placed a goblet in front of the scribe, and without needing any word, they could understand each other.


    Aloe didn''t know Nasira''s story, but she was sure the young girl wasn''t like some of the deviant servants she had heard about. She only knew that the palace of Asina paid well.


    Such was the reality of the world.


    The work of a servant wasn''t that different from that of a whore. And not many people did it for pleasure.


    "If you excuse me." Nasira performed a perfect ninety-degree bow and pushed the cart full of half-empty plates away.


    "What about all those plates, princess?" The question was a bit offensive, so Aloe threw an honorific on the way. "Some still had pastries."


    "I can always have freshly baked ones." Fatima snickered at the question. She looked at the scribe as if she had asked why the desert was hot.


    "But of course." Aloe nodded in repentance. "Fool of me to ask such an obvious question."


    Once the maid faded from her hearing range, Aloe thought there wasn''t much difference between her and the half-empty plates. Eaten, but only partially so. But not because the eater was full nor it was picky, just that it had grown cold.


    The only saving grace, if it could be even considered that, was that the half-eaten meals wouldn''t go to the trash. If the palace of Asina shared but a kernel with the one in Sadina, then the servants could enjoy lukewarm top-quality food. Which was better than going hungry.


    The princess didn''t blow air again, but she grinned, nonetheless. "You are free to not eat, but considering your current situation, it would be better if you did."


    Aloe simply nodded at the statement. She instantly shifted to toughness and with great difficulty, grabbed a whole bowl of salad. There were many foods on the table, more succulent ones, but this was the only one she could eat without making a mess. She was comforted to see as Fatima ate with her hands. It was bad manners to eat expensive food with cutlery ¨C a disservice to the chefs ¨C but seeing a literal imperial do so meant she didn''t have to bother using tools. A difficult prospect in her half-prone state.


    The scribe''s fingers were covered with oil and juice; this was the most seasoned salad she had ever seen. Vegetables or fruit, it had plenty of everything. She would have drowned in the flavor, alas, she still wavered her defense stance. Aloe started shifting her infusion back to acuity.


    "Regeneration," Fatima began talking out of nowhere with a chicken leg in her mouth, "is not that complex of a stance. Maybe because it is untrainable. Well, untrainable besides the change speed."


    "So no matter how much I train with this stance, it will not get better?" Even if the princess had no issues with talking with her mouth full, the scribe waited before she gulped down the food to talk.


    "As I have said before, the regeneration factor is only affected by maximum vitality, so no." Thank the heavens I''ve changed my stance, otherwise I wouldn''t be able to understand her. Aloe praised her foresight even if it had been for totally different reasons, for the munching sultanzade sounded intelligible with her enhanced senses. "This is why it is a mostly forgotten stance. If you can switch in-and-out in a minute, it is already worth it."


    Fatima talked about it as if it was nothing, but the only sub-minute stance on Aloe''s disposal was her preferred defense. No other internal infusion was close to her toughness, but she knew she could get there. But it would take time. A lot of it.


    "I am more than satisfied with only learning it for the time being," Aloe said in the most diplomatic tone possible. The last thing she wanted was for the sultanzade to take it as a snarky remark.


    "We will work on that after you finish eating." Fatima gulped down her wine goblet in a single swig.


    The princess looked at the empty goblet then at the wine jar in confusion for a brief instant, as if pondering why no one had refilled it. She dared to give the scribe a gaze before she refilled herself the goblet. I would strangle you if I could. Aloe didn''t hide her contempt to herself but kept it on her body. Otherwise, the strangled one would be her.


    A dozen plates for a princess, a bowl for a commoner. That was more than enough. If she had more, Aloe would have puked it all just like the days before. The imperial family had too much presence on her mind, she would rather keep them away from her stomach. Though Fatima''s antics had made the scribe lose her appetite already.


    Aloe refused to be a plate.


    Not again.

 Book 3: 24. Regeneration

    Food, however delicious it may be, couldn''t be enjoyed with the same pleasure as always when one ate in front of a sultanzade. In the end, Aloe had to wait for Fatima to finish as she devoured one plate after another.


    "You need more meat on your body." The princess let an off-hand comment between plates, refusing to elaborate any further.


    If I get more meat on this body, you people may get ideas. The scribe sulked in her thoughts as she waited patiently. That was the only thing she could do. Wait. Thankfully for her, Fatima was only mildly malevolent and ate fast even if there were tens of plates.


    The princess rang her bell again, which prompted Nasira to come back with the cart and recover the plates. The maid didn''t leave the table empty, though, and put a bowl with fruits and a stand with steaming pastries on it.


    "Let us get down to business." Fatima stood up and cracked her body. Fingers, arms, legs, neck¡­ it was faster to mention what she didn''t crack. She then swiftly stepped next to the scribe''s palanquin and moved her hands below the prone woman''s body, prompting a squeal out of her.


    Aloe reacted fast. She didn''t fight against the sultanzade, for she knew that it would not achieve anything, at least not until she got in the right position. Instead, she shifted her internal infusion to toughness and freed her body from any resistance once she noticed what was going to happen.


    The sultanzade clutched her body and raised her up in a sudden swoop.


    If she had been putting in any resistance or struggle, it would have ended up badly for her. Fortunately ¨C or maybe consciously ¨C Fatima carried her by the shoulders and knees, meaning none of her body weight fell on her pelvic region.


    "May I ask why I am being carried?" Aloe managed to control her expression superbly, only a slight blush escaping her clutches.


    "The palanquin is a nuisance if I am going to teach you," Fatima responded as a matter of fact and started walking. "If you have to be prone, my bed is more than big enough for the both of us."


    No amount of self-control could prevent Aloe''s eyes from swelling up. Her breath became erratic, and her heartbeat followed suit. The commoner looked up to the imperial, her lips curving into a djinnish smile. She''s not serious. Aloe almost panted in relief. Actions spoke louder than words, but reactions were war cries in a silent night.


    "Grit your teeth," Fatima said out of nowhere.


    "Grit my¡­?" Aloe''s eyes shot wide open as the strong arms that were holding her up lost strength and her body plummeted to the ground.


    She was already donning toughness, so the only way to mitigate the damage was with normal tactics. There were only a few fractions of a second before the impact, so she twisted her body to the side and put her arms below her body so they could soak most of the fall. Whilst difficult, she partially curved in a fetal position.


    A blink later, she landed.


    On a mound of soft pillows.


    "Ah, that look in your face~" Fatima moaned melodiously on her back. "Outstanding fear."


    Aloe slowly turned to face the woman with a scowl, but she knew it didn''t work much as an intimidating tactic as she noticed the wetness in her eyes.


    "Now," The princess jumped onto the bed, the sudden shift of weight almost launching the petite scribe into the ceiling, "let us get with the actual stances."


    There was an infinitude of things Aloe wanted to say. Each one worse than the previous one, but she kept her mouth shut. She knew better than to speak up. At least this is better than¡­ than¡­ She bit her lips.


    "How do we start with the regeneration stance, teacher?" Aloe asked with a wry smile, deflecting herself from her thoughts.


    Fatima slithered through the bed like a snake, her movement coming out sensual rather than ridiculous thanks to her breathtaking body. She placed a finger on the frontal part of the scribe''s neck base.


    "Like all stances, the beginning is nothing more than visualization." The sultanzade traced circles with her finger as she lay on her stomach. "For regeneration, what tends to work is thinking about your skin."


    "My¡­ skin?" Words of confusion escaped Aloe''s lips.


    Fatima nodded. "Visualizing regeneration itself is hard. Concepts are abstract, better to look at objects. And what better image than the organ of the body which gets hurt more and heals faster than them all?"


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    Aloe hadn''t had high hopes for the princess'' lectures, but there was a hint of intellect in her eyes as she spoke. Whether it was regurgitated knowledge from her family or her own discoveries, Fatima knew what she was talking about. She was confident about it.


    "Close your eyes." The princess spoke and the commoner obeyed. "Imagine your skin, any part of it. Feel it in your mind, how that black patch feels the heat of the sun and the winds of the desert. Some hairs curl at the sensation, the skin detects a lot of things¡­"


    Her voice was sweet and enchanting, Aloe found no difficulty in following the steps that were so methodically dictated. The spot she imagined was the skin a bit upward from her sternum, the part where the sultanzade circled even now with her finger.


    "Now, a cut. It is shallow and it stings. You feel how blood slowly pours out of the body and covers the wound. It does not hurt, yet you feel the heat and the discomfort." Aloe felt clearly the heat and the sting on her neck, the princess'' finger had been substituted by an imaginary wound. "Slowly, even more than before, the sting fades out and an itch emerges. You feel the need to scratch it, yet you do not."


    The last part felt more like an order than a narration of the events. Her storyteller prowess was so great that Aloe felt her whole body itching at Fatima''s command.


    "The itch grows and grows. You do not touch it because you know that doing so will only slow the healing process, so you wait. And wait. Your body shudders. It is only a small cut, yet your whole body suffers from it. Agonizing." The last word contained impossible ardor, making Aloe pant and becoming aware of her slow breathing. "It takes time, but slowly, painfully so, it grows. The skin. One patch at a time, the wound is slowly covered. It is small, yet it takes so much time. Patch upon patch. It grows like a river that is slowly poured more water. A drop at a time. Constant. Uninterrupted. Blood disappears from sight, barricaded by bright pink skin. Time flows, wounds heal, and before you notice, there is no trace of that wound, as if it had never been there in the first place. Open your eyes."


    Aloe did so with an exhalation and turned her head to the side to see how a prone Fatima was observing her with a smile on her face.


    "Did you understand?" Fatima''s pink lips contrasted perfectly against her dark skin, an expression worth a sculpture as strands of messy hair partially occluded her face.


    "Yes." A total affirmation, yet the scribe wasn''t as sure in her mind.


    She closed her eyes and got back to that image. Of healing, of reconstruction. She saw her current flow of vitality, a river of slow yet potent water. An immovable force. A certain direction and flow. A river that gets water poured¡­ that analogy may be useful. Aloe took a deep breath and focused.


    Toughness was calm, strength was potent, speed was rough, acuity was sleek, and charm was hot. So what could regeneration be?


    Nine stances, eight if I don''t count the weird flowing one. The idea blossomed in her head. Four pairs¡­ toughness and speed are already opposite, could regeneration be the opposite of the one I know? Mathematically speaking ¨C if, and only if her theory was correct ¨C it should. Only three unconnected pairs remained, and she already knew three free stances.


    What can be the opposite of regeneration, or rather, of the other stances? It was a transitory thought, deviated from the path she should be walking right now, yet she still followed it. The opposite of potent¡­ Weak? Maybe, but regeneration wouldn''t be weak. Or at least, it didn''t give her that idea. How about sleek? Does it even have an opposite? The more she thought of the theory of hers, the weaker it became. Maybe sleek isn''t the right word¡­ But I''m already getting into semantics here.


    Aloe recalled the feeling that Fatima''s words had produced on her, that itch. An initial sting and a lingering itch. The feeling was hot with blood. No, but hot is charm. Unless¡­ Unlike the others, it was easy to imagine the opposite of hot.


    So easy in fact that she could feel it on her body.


    Vitality was the cool vespertine breeze. A helping hand in the scorching desert. Water to a dying body.


    The scribe ¨C the cultivator ¨C felt her inner vitality. How that energy produced by her own body refreshed her. I see! It''s so clear now! Since the very beginning, vitality had been an ice cube on a hot day. Aloe panted in excitement. Regeneration restores vitality! Vitality is cold! The opposite of hot! Whether the thought was justified or just a mad rumbling, the flow of her vitality started changing.


    It wasn''t the potency or the movement patterns of the vitality that shifted. But its temperature. She embraced the temperature inside of her. She was a desert dweller, she always had lived in oppressive heat, yet the cold was natural to her. Whereas charm she repelled, regeneration she embraced.


    Aloe opened her eyes and looked at Fatima. A charged breath from all the air she had held escaped her orifices. Whilst invisible, she managed to see the contours of the vapor, as if it was a cold winter night. Her breaths felt fuller, more filling, and refreshing.


    "Hmm." The sultanzade raised her back from her bed and examined the scribe slowly, panning her gaze up and down, only to finish with a nod. "Switch to another stance and try again, let me see how long you take."


    The cultivator nodded back.


    The change to toughness took but a thought, and she worked her way back to regeneration. From a slow and constant flow to a cool and refreshing river. The question of switching from opposite stances blossomed in her mind, but she ignored it. Unlike before, she was now in a race against time, the only thing she could afford to do now was focus on her stance shifting.


    Frigidness, focus, and rest became her tenets.


    As if she had taken a sip of ter''nar tea, her internal infusion became her everything.


    Her flow of vitality gained speed, or rather, it recovered the one it had lost from toughness and instead lost its temperature. Slowly, but constantly, the degrees of her vitality went down. The coldness made her thoughts sharper. Similar to acuity yet worlds apart at the same time.


    Aloe opened her eyes.


    "Huh." The sultanzade giggled. "Good time."


    She hadn''t counted it, but she knew it wasn''t much. Whether it was by her accumulated knowledge of stances and vitality, or because she was suitable for regeneration, Aloe couldn''t tell.


    "How long?" The expectation poured through her mouth as much as the white mist.


    Fatima lay on the bed again, her breasts giggling with the gesture, and she led a hand to her cheeks in amusement. "Three minutes."


    Thrice as fast as charm, almost twice as her first toughness internal infusion.


    For once, the sultanzade''s antics didn''t matter to Aloe. For once, she was¡­ happy.

 Book 3: 25. Dread

    Fatima threw Aloe out soon after that. Apparently, the scribe had taken almost an hour to learn regeneration between the tale and the visualization. And that was without taking into account lunchtime and the other conversation they had. The princess pushed her out of the room under the pretense of needing to fulfill her imperial duties, even if Aloe had never seen the woman work.


    With a toll of a bell, Nasira came, who then called the soldiers to carry her back to her room.


    Then a week passed.


    Time blurred easily when one had nothing to do or to look at. Fatima hadn''t summoned Aloe back again since that time. But the days weren''t without their own little merits. Aloe doubled down on practicing stances as Infusion and Evolution still proved too risky.


    Toughness, strength, speed, acuity, charm, and now regeneration.


    Those were all the internal infusions at her disposal. Six out of nine. The one that interested her the most was the flowing stance, stealth and agility didn''t sound that useful to her current self, whilst flowing seemed to be the application of Infusion by the imperials.


    Toughness, acuity, and regeneration were her best weapons. If she had to practice something, it was those three. Toughness and acuity were obvious. The only reason why she was alive right now was because of toughness, and even if it wasn''t the case, the commodity of internal infusion was too great to ignore. It allowed her to withstand her awful cramps.


    Indeed, her body had already felt the moon complete its cycle, expressing it with rampant blood. But unlike before, her body was not assaulted by other pains or afflictions. Her current vitality and toughness were more than enough to endure her menstruation as if it were nothing more than the common cold.


    A month in the palace.


    A month trapped in a broken body.


    But regeneration helped. That was why she had wanted to learn it. It may have been only a week, but with her deposit and the fact that she kept the stance virtually always up, it was closer to a month in what it respected to healing. The only time that it was down was because either the soldiers carried her to the palanquin and she shifted to toughness, or because she practiced shifting into another stance.


    Which led to acuity.


    A simple stance that boosted her senses. It didn''t make her stronger, or more resilient, it definitely couldn''t help in a fight. Yet¡­ its power lay in preventing them. Reading people became easier under its effects, her eyes wouldn''t let any microexpressions pass by. Diplomacy was her only real tool.


    Back and forth, she spent the week shifting stances. Her first objective was to lower acuity to seconds instead of minutes. She should be able to shift between her main stances and weapon as a reaction. Not because she really needed it, but because the sultanzade could do so.


    That was more than enough reason.


    Acuity and regeneration, shifting between them allowed her to practice them both. Yet for the first time ever, she grew tired of infusing herself. Not mentally, she would have pushed herself through if that was the case, but physically.


    There was no loss of vitality, but much like infusing a big plant or evolving a Blossomflame, she had extenuated her vitality deposit significantly. These constant shifts of flow weren''t a net neutral enterprise, exhaustion still gathered up.


    But if there was something she had, it was rest.


    There she rotted in bed for a week, only knowing human contact when the soldiers brought her to the garden or when Farah brought her food and cleaned her up.


    Soldiers may train their muscles, but even in bed, Aloe could train her vitality. Her Nurture.


    It was tedious, there was near to no difficulty, only plain tedium, but she managed to accomplish her goals. In a week she managed to reduce her acuity shifting time to barely less than the one-minute barrier, plus also taking regeneration to two minutes.


    Fast progress indeed, but the cultivator doubted most people could afford to practice the whole day without interruptions. A week had hundreds of hours, and she didn''t sleep much after being prone the whole day.


    Reducing acuity to only two-digit numbers was good, but what piqued her interest more was toughness. She could react fast even without acuity, but none of that would matter if death came faster than a shift in her stance. Stances, like the name implied, were meant to be changed around during the flow of battle.


    A few seconds didn''t cut it.


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    And unlike all the other stances, switching in and out of toughness was fast.


    Returning to the default, no stance state was easy. Simple as pulling a lever. When combining that with the agility in her defense stance switching, it allowed for many shifts in a single minute. Like a muscle, vitality had to be worked. Or rather, its flow.


    It was easy getting into a cadence, a flow. Her switches were so fast already that she could coordinate them with her breath. In came nothing. Out left an infusion.


    Constantly, restlessly, Aloe trained her infusion.


    A few seconds weren''t time enough.


    So she decreased it.


    A couple of them were still too much.


    So she decreased it.


    A single second seemed a huge milestone, yet it wasn''t enough. She remembered how fast Fatima had put a hand around her neck or how she dropped her onto the bed. She needed to be faster.


    So she decreased it.


    A fraction of a second, half of it. A few blinks in terms of time, but more than enough time to react for a lethal attack. Or so she hoped. Her body couldn''t do more. She knew an ill person shouldn''t extenuate themselves, even if she wasn''t moving her body. But she couldn''t hold herself. In a way, the fact that she was under medical care was the only thing that was protecting her. What would the imperial family be capable of doing to her otherwise?


    Monsters, all of them.


    A minute out of regeneration, forty-five seconds out of acuity, four-point-five seconds out of toughness. That was her progress in the whole week. A week that she felt at death''s door every waking moment, whether it was out of exhaustion or stress from what would happen if she didn''t get stronger. She hadn''t forgotten where she was. She couldn''t. Her body wouldn''t let her.


    Every progress diminished in time, yet the more the time decreased, the more hard-fought that second gained was.


    The time needed to change stances was inversely proportional to the amount of training needed. The less time was needed to change a stance, the more effort was needed to push it down. A single second in toughness felt worse than the whole minute she had reduced from regeneration.


    Pure insanity.


    But her dull week came to an end now. Not because Fatima had finally summoned, but because she was ready. These previous days she had tried it under the help of Farah and Zeeshan, an activity so basic that one didn''t even need to teach it to their children.


    Sitting down.


    It was a bit painful at best, but with the efforts of regeneration and the usage of toughness, she managed to sit for a whole meal. She couldn''t walk yet but sitting down no longer pained or tired her.


    Meaning she could finally go to the toilet alone.


    Farah was a lovely woman and would never laugh at her, but there was a limit to how long her mind could hold being changed diapers by a matronly woman as if she were a baby. Even though she would never admit it, the truth was diapers made it quite useful and tidy for menstruation. Once she was far from this palace, she would never wear a diaper again.


    But most importantly being able to sit down ¨C even more so than doing her business alone ¨C was the wheelchair.


    No longer she needed a palanquin and an entourage of soldiers to carry her. Farah alone could push her, or even better, she alone could traverse the palace. Going with the older maid to the gardens was a comfortable and relaxing experience, but today she wanted to traverse the palace alone.


    "Slowly¡­" The wheelchair was parked next to the bed and with slow movements and a bit of toughness, Aloe mounted the contraption. "Let''s get this moving."


    From yesterday, she knew what paths not to take. The Palace of Asina wasn''t exactly a wheelchair-friendly place.


    "Oof." Aloe panted after closing the door of her chambers behind her. "This¡­ stance¡­ doesn''t cut it."


    The scribe took a deep breath and rested her head on her shoulder to switch stances. Toughness made her weaker, so having no stance would already make her stronger. But why do that when she could be far stronger?


    She didn''t have much practice with the strength stance, but enough to not stay the whole afternoon in the corridor.


    "Okay, this is way easier!" Aloe pushed her wheelchair back and forth, testing her mobility.


    Even though it was her idea to go out, she didn''t have a destination in mind. She had stayed more than a month in the palace now, yet she had seen so little of it. There was an exploration itch blossoming inside of her.


    Strength overflowed in her arms, but she kept her movements slow. Not only to keep appearances ¨C having an ill person dashing through corridors would raise some brows ¨C but also to keep the looks away from her. And there were already too many of them. She was the only person in the palace in a wheelchair, after all.


    This is worse than yesterday. Maybe she wasn''t donning acuity, but she could feel the gazes of the servants all over her. Observing. Judging. Stop looking! It took a lot of willpower to not rush out of the place in a mad sprint.


    The palace of Asina was a monument to decadence, yet its beauty couldn''t be denied. The sun entered the palace through many strategically placed windows, not only making delightful shadows but also giving the place a golden tinge. Not that there wasn''t gold on the corridors already.


    The wealth was so overwhelming that a single patch of tiles was more expensive than a shack in a village. And she was rolling over them. As stupid as it was, that gave her a bit of transitory happiness. Aloe tried to make the most out of her situation, no matter how small it was. Because otherwise¡­


    Her arms were slowly tiring. Strong as they might be, resilient they were not.


    She allowed herself to rest in the middle of the corridor to recover her strength. Her eyes closed, almost becoming drowsy with the warm light of the afternoon.


    Then oppressive heat came. Burning and nauseating.


    Aloe''s eyes shot wide open, she looked around but was unable to see anything, not until she slightly turned her wheelchair backward. No. No! Nononono! The scribe turned her wheelchair against her and put all her might on the wheels, pushing them without caring about all her previous excuses. Out, out, out!


    Her arms screamed with all the pressure she put on the wheels, but it wasn''t enough, the heat was growing nearer.


    Then.


    A complete halt.


    No matter how much she pushed the wheel, no matter how hot they got, no matter how much they screeched, the wheelchair didn''t move. Not even a bulge. Strength wasn''t enough.


    Aloe panted heavily, her vision growing blurry with dread, and she turned her back again.


    Aaliyah-al-Ydaz, ruler of the Ydazi Sultanate, stood behind her.

 Book 3: 26. Wandering

    There was only one word to describe Aaliyah-al-Ydaz''s eyes: gemstones. Her two eyes shone like the most perfect and beautiful amethysts in the world, yet a totally different word came to Aloe''s mind.


    Malevolent.


    Those weren''t the eyes of beauty, but absolute malice.


    The sultanah didn''t utter a single word, the corridor had grown into a damning silence. Before the sounds of imperial life could be heard, the hurried steps of servants, the loud banter of sultanzade, even the afternoon breeze filtering through small windows and leaves. Yet now all life had disappeared from the sound. Only the hastened breaths of the petite scribe could be heard.


    The attentive and silent gaze of the woman scared her to no end.


    She wanted to be anywhere else but here. A quarantine, a brothel, inside a latrine pit, anything would have been better than this.


    Aaliyah moved the arm that wasn''t holding the wheelchair forward and Aloe reacted violently. Such was her aversion that she pushed backward with such force that her body fell from the wheelchair and into the ground. She couldn''t even care about her previous wounds now, only about the towering figure overlooking her. The scribe yelped and crawled away from it.


    That thing.


    Air blew from the nose of the impossibly attractive person. Her lips curved into a shape that plagued the scribe''s dreams, or rather, nightmares. A dry whimper escaped the crawling woman''s lips.


    The figure approached.


    No¡­ One step at a time, slowly. So slowly¡­ yet it easily overtook her crawling pace. No! Aloe panted heavily, her chest hurting from heaving up and down so violently. The images of those hands, those movements, that violence¡­ It all came back to her. No¡­ Bile gathered on her throat as her body reminisced the caresses. They only had taken, never given. The scribe''s hands slipped on the floor, making her barely raised back collapse.


    There was no escaping her.


    The sultanah stood directly on top of her, her eyes colder than the most frigid desert night. Another whimper escaped Aloe as their eyes met. Then the woman moved. She was fast, but there was quite a bit of vertical distance between them, and even then, it was almost not enough to shift into toughness. A blink later and she wouldn''t have been in time.


    Not that it mattered.


    The strong, thick, bronze fingers lay on top of Aloe''s neck, slithering on her skin like snakes. Only to constrict like those very animals. Toughness wasn''t enough. TOUGHNESS WASN''T ENOUGH.


    Aloe coughed as it became impossible to breathe, but the sultanah didn''t stop there. With a casual wrist movement, she pushed the scribe''s body upward until they were at eye level. Aloe hanged in one hand, the woman carrying her without breaking a sweat, barely a doll in her eyes if not less. The petite woman''s jaw and neck began to hurt from the chokehold, all the weight of her body falling on them as her feet didn''t touch the ground, no matter how much she kicked around with her legs. She didn''t even have the strength to lead her arms to the hand that was choking her.


    "P-please¡­" Aloe whispered with the little air she had in her lungs, her own eyes tearing up as those of the woman looked at her with contempt.


    "Please what?" Aaliyah''s voice was slow and potent.


    "P-plea¡­" A dry cough escaped beyond her control. "Ple-ase. Please."


    It was hard to think. Aloe never had felt like it, even a single thought was hard to formulate. Her brain became a mushy mess and her vision blurred, almost blackening. No blood or air reached her head.


    "You are duller than I thought." The sultanah spoke at a glacial pace, the scribe''s vision blackening more with each word. "Did you think I would not notice how you were wasting my daughter''s time? Did you believe yourself intelligent and resourceful?"


    "P-please." The only thing that came from her lips was the same repeated word. Broken, nonsensical from the reiteration.


    "You are nothing, girl." The harsh words didn''t matter to her, she was used to hearing them in a more familiar voice. Yet the dimming light and the ferocious light scared her. "If you thought I desired something from you, you are very wrong. You are but a whim I decided to let live, an untied knot. Yet you decided to bite my hand and meddle with my children." There wasn''t hate in her words. No. There was¡­ nothing. Nothing at all. It would be an overstatement to call Aaliyah''s voice stern, for they were devoid of anything. That was all she was to her, a nuisance. Yet the woman''s eyes shone brim with malice. "You will never achieve anything. You are a waste of space. A waste of time. A waste of life."


    The sultanah released her grip and Aloe fell to the ground.


    A nasty crack filled her ears, but she didn''t feel any pain. She doubted how she could even hear at this point when splotches of muted colors were the only thing that her eyes could see. That didn''t stop her from whimpering.


    "Killing you would be a waste." The sultanah''s voice felt near, personal, even if she was standing at her towering height. The meaning of the words didn''t fly beyond Aloe''s comprehension, as dazed as she was. A waste of time. That was what killing her would be. "If you are so hellbent on being but a leech for everyone that has roamed the earth, do everyone a favor and end your miserable existence yourself."


    A step. And another.


    Aaliyah slowly walked away, her steps sounding so close to Aloe that she felt as if she was stepping on her head repeatedly. A thing that she might as well have done. Not that she would have noticed.


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    "Do not." The sultanah''s words echoed through the corridor, to whoever they were directed. "Leave her there to rot."


    Then more steps, simultaneous and plural. Ah¡­There had been an entourage of servants around the woman, yet Aloe had miserably failed to focus on them as her attention was solely placed on that monster of a woman.


    The corridor grew quiet.


    Not like before. Before it was the silence of dread and terror, now¡­ it was the silence of solitude.


    Aloe didn''t know which was worse.


    She just knew that it hurt.


    Everything hurt.


    Her thoughts were a tangled mess, only whimpers came out of her mouth. Her neck hurt. Her legs hurt. Her arms hurt. Her eyes hurt. Her chest hurt. It was dizzying and maddening. Every part of her being was numb. Her own cries echoed in her mind in a muted manner. Far away and low, as if she herself was in another room. Locked too¡­


    Why? That was the only question Aloe could formulate. Why. Why it had been her? Why did this happen to her? The whats and hows tried to make their appearance, but her mind was too exhausted to formulate them.


    Aloe stood there writhing in the cold corridor tiles, her misery her only companion.


    Why? Coughs assaulted her between questions. Toughness wasn''t enough. It hadn''t been, nor it was currently. The scribe''s ear rang and her muscles screeched. She grabbed her chest as she coughed, the violent jerks making even more damage to her hurt body.


    "Uh¡­" She groaned in pain as her body was drawn to stillness, completely spent and devoid of strength. She tried opening her eyes, but her eyelids proved too heavy for her. And even if she could open them, the light was too oppressive. Oppressive like¡­ "Ah¡­" Aloe whimpered, her body rocking in whiplash from the memories. It had been barely a few moments ago, yet it felt like an eternity. "P-please¡­" The same word left her lips.


    The same meaningless word.


    She didn''t even know what she meant with it. No matter what the veritas said, that woman wasn''t human, she didn''t know of mercy and pleads. The sultanah of Ydaz was but malice in the vague silhouette of a human. A task that Aaliyah failed at because no woman had ever looked like that.


    Why¡­ The question returned to Aloe''s mind. Why am I still going? But twisted. Why am I¡­ living?


    She no longer had living relatives. Infusion was no longer only her. Her body was torn asunder. After the repeated beatings, only downs in her life yet never ups, a question blossomed in her mind.


    Why continue?


    "Yikes." A voice cut through her darkness like a sword, enlightening her reality. "I''ve seen many things, but that one¡­ hmm, not a first, but certainly different. Are you still alive, girl?"


    Aloe turned to face the voice. It was difficult to open her eyes ¨C mostly a mental effort than a physical one ¨C but curiosity pushed forward. What her eyes found wasn''t anything she had expected. There were many peculiarities about the man. His traveling clothes were made of thick leather that made her dizzy just imagining the heat and sweat they accumulated. His fair skin wouldn''t be seen in this place of Ydaz. Or the fact that she went against the sultanah''s orders.


    But all of that paled in comparison to the man''s eyes. If the imperials had gemstone-like eyes, then his eyes were metal. The man''s eyes were two pools of molten gold.


    He offered her a hand.


    She didn''t take it.


    The man ignored her and grabbed her, carrying her like a potato sack and depositing her in the wheelchair.


    Only once he started pushing the wheelchair did Aloe dare to speak. "W-what are you doing?" Her voice was weak and she coughed more than once. She led a hand to her neck, the finger marks still remained there, seared in the flesh.


    "Looking for medical assistance." He responded as a matter of fact.


    "No, that''s not what I meant." Aloe coughed again, the violent attacks making her thrash around.


    "Watch out, otherwise you are going to fall off the wheelchair."


    "Why?" The question was weaker than any other word she had uttered before.


    "Why are you going to fall?"


    "No." The scribe growled. "Why did you help me?"


    "You were asking for help. What was I supposed to do? Leave you there to actually rot on the ground?"


    "Yes," Aloe responded without thinking it twice. "Maybe that would have been better."


    "Regardless if becoming human compost was better or not, it was because you reminded me of my daughter." Even when he spoke right behind her, the man''s voice was far away but impossibly clear at the same time.


    "Huh?" The sudden answer gave the woman a shed of clarity back.


    "I couldn''t leave a young girl dying on the ground. Not my style, even though my whole schtick is neutrality."


    "I wasn''t dying." The woman growled as more memories came in. As she remembered that she was in pain.


    "Didn''t seem like that to me." Aloe bit her lips at the man''s words.


    "Who are you?" Using that faint clarity, not allowing it to escape her weak clutches, Aloe focused on the identity of her mysterious savior.


    "A wandering trader, nothing more, nothing less."


    "In the middle of the palace of Asina?" The scribe frowned even if the man couldn''t see her face, gritting her teeth against the pain.


    "Precisely because of that." The man chuckled. "I come from far, far away. I got interesting trinkets. And monarchs like people like us. A toy you could buy in one place for a bowl of stew might cost a horse somewhere else."


    "Was the sultanah interested in your trinkets?" Aloe grinned darkly. The thoughts of that woman making her sick. Why am I talking with this man in the first place?


    "Eh, some." She could feel the man shrug through the handles of the wheelchair. "But I was more interested in yours."


    The sudden change of subject hit her like a slap. "What do you mean?"


    "I''ve seen about your products, quite interesting. It has been a while since I''ve seen something like this." Through the corners of her eyes, Aloe saw a single drop of a yellow liquid. Grace''s Exaltation nectar.


    "Who are you?" Her voice contained unrestrained violence.


    "Like I said, a wandering trader." He chuckled again.


    "What do you know about the aphrodisiac?" Aloe didn''t hide her animosity.


    "Not much, though it''s not my first time seeing it. Weird to find it here." Not his first time?


    Confusion flash-flooded Aloe''s mind. Her mouth remained agape; her mind too occupied to close it. She turned to look at the man.


    "How do you know of it? Where have you seen it before? Who are you, really?" She tried a more diplomatic tone and approach, though her perplexion betrayed her.


    "No one, really." He responded noncommittally, focusing on the last question and ignoring the other more prominent ones. "And besides, we are already at our destination."


    "What''s this?" The wheelchair-ridden woman pointed at the door before her with her head.


    "An infirmary. The palace''s. I doubt you are as healthy as you appear to be." The man rushed forward to open the door and Aloe got a better look at him.


    He was¡­ average. If the man were in Loyata instead of Ydaz, he would have merged with the multitude. The was nothing highlightable about him. Nothing except his eyes. Aloe was pushed forward, the infirmary and Zeeshan entering her view.


    "Well, our journey together ends here. Don''t think about seeing me again. I''m sure the physician will take care of you." He departed from the wheelchair and put a hand on the doorknob.


    "Wait!" She extended her arm toward him. The man hadn''t been a savior, a helping hand for sure, but he raised more questions than helping her. Maybe ¨C because of that ¨C it was that Aloe was even sane right now. The right distraction at the right time. The man stopped to look at her. "What''s your name?"


    "I don''t do names." And just like that, he vanished. No names, no farewells. He just was a wandering trader who so happened to wander on her and help her. Nothing more, nothing less.

 Book 3: 27. Goodness

    "It could have been worse." Zeeshan groaned as he muttered under his breath, his hands all over Aloe''s feet. "Your ankle is twisted, which would normally mean you would not be able to walk for a while. But considering your current state of affairs¡­" the physician clicked his tongue, "landing in your ankle might as well be a positive outcome. It redirected all the force of the fall away from your pelvic region, which is none for the worst."


    "Is that all, doctor?" Aloe ignored the pain, even when the physician put pressure on her inflamed ankle.


    "If you would like to refer to this nasty wound as ''all'', then yes, that would be all." He unceremoniously let the leg drop. "The skin in your neck is quite bruised, but otherwise, not a health problem. In a few days, maybe a week or two, it will have disappeared."


    "I see." The scribe had tried to ignore it, but she had led her hand to her neck. She didn''t feel the pain, but the heat on the flesh was oppressive as if she had been branded by a hot metal.


    "Two times you survived Aaliyah-al-Ydaz, I do not know how you do it, girl." The old physician cracked his back.


    "Neither do I." She added with lament.


    Why was alive? The question had more than one meaning. Why hasn''t Aaliyah killed me yet? Part of her wished for the release of death, tired of playing these lethal games. But curiosity was a potent motivator.


    One thing was clear, if she saw that woman again, there may not be a third time.


    <hr>


    The truth ended up revealing itself as the day passed. Her body was indeed hurt. At the moment she hadn''t even felt it, but as the hours passed, more and more the weight of the sultanah''s attack became apparent.


    Her breathing was rugged even after a day, her neck still burned, and the bruise on her ankle only became more purple. Even blasting her regeneration stance didn''t do anything. Three virtual days of healing hadn''t made much difference.


    "I need to get out," Aloe whispered to the empty room. "And soon."


    If she didn''t do so, either her body or heart would give out.


    She was inclined to both.


    <hr>


    "I have heard of the¡­ events, but color me surprised. You are alive." Fatima expressed colorfully from the door of the scribe''s chambers.


    Aloe blinked slowly, her eyes still groggy. "It is past midnight, princess."


    "And apparently past your time." The sultanzade waltzed through the room and sat on the bed.


    The scribe frowned. "What do you mean by that?"


    "You are not safe here." Fatima locked her eyes with Aloe. The sultanzade''s dark green eyes weren''t beautiful gemstones like her mother''s, but that only made it more enticing to Aloe. Such eyes had become¡­ distasteful.


    "Fatima," Aloe went straight for the woman''s name with a tired tone, "tell me something I do not know. Of course, the nince-damned palace of Asina is a dangerous place. It has always been."


    "Not like that." The princess responded taciturnly, refusing to elaborate on the how, a dark grimace fleeting in her visage. "What matters is that Mother is angry, and the last time Mother was angry, get lost an emir." Fatima tilted her head from side to side, oscillating in thought. "Hmm, now that I think about it, Hassan is alive. Or so I am led to believe. Maybe she has lost her edge. First Hassan, then you. She has not killed many people lately."


    It would have been easy to retort back, to crack a joke, but Aloe wasn''t in the mood. The scribe was partially scared at the fact that not killing people on a constant basis was seen as unusual and not the other way around.


    Stolen novel; please report.


    "So you are suggesting that the sultanah will kill me because she is angry?" Aloe blinked slowly, tiredly. Another death threat, another encounter with mortality, yet she couldn''t bother to care.


    "No." Fatima instantly refused. "If you are alive, it is because she wanted. Mother''s rage is calamitous, but her cunning is even more so. Maybe you form part of a big plan of hers. Or maybe you are just a whim. A whim that bothers her.


    So you only have suppositions, then? She kept that to herself and gritted her teeth. No, she left it very clear that I am nothing to her. Nothing to anyone. Her heart faltered at the last thought, but her mind kept going, keeping the sultanzade from realizing her lapse. "Then why are you telling me about her anger if it will not put me in any danger?"


    "Not you."


    Ah. It wasn''t an answer, yet Aloe understood.


    "Of course." The scribe snickered. "This is about you."


    "More than me." The princess replied with a stern gaze. "You have overstayed your welcome."


    "I? I?" Aloe could no longer hold herself. Rage busted out of her. "You dare say, I overstayed my welcome when your family broke my body and trapped me in a cage?"


    Fatima didn''t reply. At least she had the decency to look away with a modicum of repentance.


    "Your stay does no good to anyone." The sultanzade said calmly.


    "In that we can agree." The commoner furrowed her brows and crossed her arms.


    "I have prepared an escort for you to leave at first light, I advise you to take it." Fatima stood up from the bed and directed herself to the door.


    "What about the Nurture lessons?" Aloe inquired.


    "Our deal is not over." Fatima looked at her over the shoulder. "I will visit Sadina in the future, a few months from now. Have your aphrodisiac and I will offer my knowledge freely, especially without the eyes and ears prying on us."


    Considering how desperate she was for it¡­Fatima being able to wait for months without Grace''s Exaltation finally tipped the edge and made Aloe realize how serious the sultanzade was.


    No one was safe.


    The sultanzade disappeared in the darkness of the night. A few seconds later and not even the scribe''s enhanced hearing could catch the woman''s steps. Both women had been using acuity and none had acknowledged it.


    <hr>


    The first light came fast, everything had been a blur this last day for Aloe. Farah came early to wake her up, Fatima had informed her of the scribe''s departure. Even with her drowsiness, Aloe didn''t have much trouble packing everything she possessed. Not only she hadn''t brought much to Asina, but what she gained in the palace was of very reduced volume.


    "Having to carry enough drupnars to buy a house across the desert is making me anxious," Aloe commented as the mature maid dressed her in desert garbs.


    "You will be in good company." Farah smiled at her, her hands reading the neck of the scribe''s robes. "If I were you, I would worry more about your wounds than your money. Not only will you have to travel with that hip fracture, but also the one in your ankle."


    "I have almost forgotten about it." The young woman slightly moved her leg. "It only hurts when I move it, and even then, it is not that much."


    "Then do not move it, girl!" The maid shouted anxiously, her back and arms straightening in worry. She let out an exhausted sigh. "Take care of yourself, will you?"


    Aloe trusted her skills to read people, but as she looked at Farah''s visage, she could only see affection. The woman truly worried about her, truly cared, making every other emotion dull by outshining them.


    "I¡­" Aloe collapsed on Farah''s shoulders and sobbed. "Thank you." A few tears escaped her control. "I truly mean it. Thanks for everything."


    The maid smiled and caressed the youngster''s head. "You need not to thank me anything. This palace is polarizing. I, myself, have only known happiness and a good future, but most are not like me. In a way, I served you to compensate for this unwarranted happiness of mine. To balance the scales. I could not tolerate seeing someone this young devastated and ruined by something that made me whole."


    The scribe didn''t respond, instead, she cried uncontrollably on the woman''s shoulders. Too much had happened these months, and for lack of a maternal figure, Farah did well the job. Even if she couldn''t be a substitute for what she had lost.


    Aloe allowed herself the momentary weakness to let out everything she accumulated. The rage, the despair, the pain, the fear, the strength and weakness¡­ Her arms lost strength as she raised her head from the maid''s clothing.


    "This is a goodbye." The petite woman said.


    "I know," Farah responded with a nod.


    "I will not come back to Asina."


    "Better that you do not, yes." The warmth of the smile slipped into Aloe''s heart. The frozen wasteland melted a bit. It didn''t help that Farah was of similar age to her late mother.


    "We will never see again." Aloe gritted her teeth.


    "Then do not ruin this farewell with more tears, will you?" Farah wiped the tears flowing out of the scribe''s eyes.


    "Alright." She nodded; her throat twisted into a nod. "If you will not take the gratitude for being my support, at least accept my grace for having me assisted in my daily life when I could not have done anything for myself."


    "Those thanks I can take." What a beautiful smile. Farah was not a particularly beautiful person, and age hadn''t done her any favors, but the sentiment behind it made it more astonishing than any modification from the charm stance.


    For in her, Aloe had found goodness in the nest of utmost degeneracy.

 Book 3: 28. Cumin

    "So you will be my entourage?" Aloe stopped her wheelchair in front of the group of soldiers.


    It would have been easy to let Farah push her all the way to the entrance of the palace, but she couldn''t allow herself to continue seeing the woman after their farewell. It hadn''t been easy to push the loaded wheelchair with all her belongings from the main palace to the outer gate ¨C the journey hadn''t even begun and she was already dead tired ¨C but that was preferable to having an awkward farewell, or having another send-off.


    A soldier stepped forward whilst the other tended the camels. She had recognized them from afar, they were the same soldiers that had carried her palanquin along this month.


    "We have orders to carry you to Sadina, venerable scribe." The soldier slightly bent forward.


    "I must thank you for that." The travel back home was bound to be hard on her body and mind, so having familiar faces around, no matter how poorly known, relieved her weighed soul. "But I have a question of my own. The road between Sadina and Asina is rough at best, dangerous at worst with the sandstorms, what is the intended route for this journey?"


    "We have taken such obstacles into account, fret not," The soldier unfurled a scroll and revealed a map drawn on it. "We intend to take the trade route going to Aramita from Asina, and once we rest on the coastal city, we can make our way to Sadina."


    The soldier traced a V shape in the map connecting the three cities with the movement. His finger started at the Heaven''s Starway, the mountain range where Asina was close by, and directed to the coast of the Cessan Sea, where one of the few natural ports of the rough Ydazi coastline existed. Sadina couldn''t be found on the map so easily as there weren''t visible landmarks highlighting its position, but the soldier tapped on the location where Sadina should be with absolute certainty.


    "I see." Aloe examined the map, but it was crude at best. She didn''t know how someone could navigate with it. The zoom was too far away and there weren''t enough details, it felt more like a souvenir than an actual navigation tool. It wasn''t a local map but of the entirety of Ydaz. "I just wish that the journey will not take a toll on my body."


    "We have also accounted for that." The soldier moved out of the way and pointed at the backside of one of the camels, where they were dragging something.


    "Is that a sled?" The scribe''s expression morphed into a mixture of curiosity and shock.


    "The path between Asina and Aramita is sandy enough that sled transportation is not uncommon, especially for nomads, but if it proves too bumpy for your liking¡­" The soldier clapped and one of the others slightly raised the sled to reveal protruding wooden bars. "We can also carry you in arms."


    "You have turned the palanquin into a sled?" Aloe stated horrified.


    "And vice versa. It is convertible." The soldier puffed his chest with weird pride.


    "I¡­" Words failed to come to her. Mostly because her mind failed to comprehend how they had done that in such a short amount of time. "How do you intend to carry me out of the city?"


    "I am sorry to notify you that the wheelchair will be too cumbersome for us to carry on the trek ¨C wheels and the desert do not mingle well together ¨C but if you want, we can escort you on it at least until the city gates. Otherwise, we will also use the palanquin to take you out of the city."


    Aloe grew dizzy at the image, bile gathering in her throat. She was not comfortable with the gazes of people already, and her crippled state only made that worse. Having thousands of passersby look upon her as she was carried by four men on a glorified bed made her stomach tumble.


    Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.


    "I¡­ understand. Push me on the wheelchair to the city gates and then carry me on the sled if the terrain is suitable enough. I would not like to tire all of you this early on the trip." She diverted her aversion to humility. A favor to them rather than herself feeling sick at the thoughts of others.


    "Understood," The soldier dedicated her a military salute. "Men! We march!"


    His voice thundered across the palace gates, and the soldiers obeyed unconditionally. Military discipline at its finest. The scribe pondered at the sight of the palace guards opening the gates and the soldiers walking the camels forward from their reins. I wish that discipline trickled up to the imperial family. Venom slowly gestated in her mind.


    The commanding yet accommodating soldier walked behind her and pushed her wheelchair. As the uneven path of the city tiles met the wheels and her waist began to protest, Aloe remembered she was donning strength and not toughness. A thought was enough to change that.


    Still not fast enough. Her bones and skin still remembered it. If she had been a blink slower yesterday, who knows what would have happened with her neck? Aloe bit her lips, pushing away the thoughts of that despicable woman, if it could even be called that. Faster. I need to be faster. Even if she increased her vitality, every effort would be in vain if she couldn''t change her internal infusion in time.


    Although she opted for the wheelchair and also the fact that it was barely past the first light, there were plenty of eyes on her as they walked down the main avenue. Fortunately for her declining sanity, most of the eyes were focused on the three soldiers leading the camels with all the luggage and tents rather than her. That divergence was only exacerbated by the distance between her and the animals of burden. She didn''t know if the soldier pushing her did it on purpose or not, but she thanked him in her mind nonetheless.


    Like Sadina, the main avenue of Asina was full of stalls. Some were already populated, whilst others were being mounted. Life always started as soon as first light, and that held truer the less income you had.


    Whilst her mind whispered that it was better to not look, to not dwindle on the myriad gazes, Asina was frustratingly beautiful. The scarce glow of early morning gave the city a scamp look that was bewitching to the scribe. In a twisted way, the city felt like a battlefield.


    One she couldn''t hope to desert any sooner.


    The blue city walls of Asina filled her views, but another sense of her tingled as the smell of spices reached her nose. Hmm? Aloe sniffed the scent, it was weak but distinctive, prompting her to change into acuity. Is that¡­?


    "Stop!" Aloe ordered. The shout took a lot of her and she found herself panting soon after.


    "Is there something wrong, venerable scribe?" The soldier pushing the wheelchair rushed to her side, worry littering his visage.


    Aloe blushed after noticing the spectacle she had put on. "Uhm, sorry for the cry. I just smelled cumin."


    "Cumin?" The soldier slightly tilted his head in confusion.


    "Yes, sorry." Aloe bowed and reached a hand for her purse. It wasn''t the coffer with the tens of silver coins, but the pocket money she kept in her satchel. "I really like cumin, could you buy whatever you can with this much money?" She handed the soldier two fajats.


    "I¡­ of course." The man accepted the money and rushed to the nearest stand selling the seeds, but his expression shouted "I want my worry back" at the four winds. Even the matronly clerk at the stand looked pissed at having to make a trade whilst she was still reading everything up.


    Sorry. Aloe apologized internally to the man once more. The other soldier had stopped with the shout, but they stayed in place until the other soldier came back to Aloe.


    "Will this be enough, venerable scribe?" He held a small bag of cumin in front of her.


    "Yes!" Aloe''s emerald eyes lit up in joy. "Thank you so much!"


    "Uhm¡­ I live to serve." The soldier blushed at the heartfelt gratefulness, the confusion in his visage only exacerbating. Then he walked to the other soldier to hand them the bag.


    "Wait!" The scribe shouted at him and the armed man gave her a "What now?" look even if he kept the words to himself. "Could I have the seeds on my person? I like to¡­ eat them," Aloe revealed with uncertainty.


    "You eat the¡­ cumin?" This time the soldier couldn''t hold his shock.


    "Well, they are meant to be eaten, no?" Aloe blushed and cursed at herself for the stupid excuse. "If they are used as condiments, why not food?"


    "Right¡­" The man handed her the small pouch, leaving it on the scribe''s thighs, and went back to pushing the wheelchair without further words.


    I am going to kill myself. Aloe moaned in shame.

 Book 3: 29. Nausea

    The city walls were a statement of monumentality. Aloe always felt small, yet at such an imposing sight where everyone was small she found comfort. Equality where there had been none. Even after a few minutes, the shining blue ramparts were still visible.


    The talkative soldier had carried her to the sled-palanquin in a rather embarrassing carrying posture before they left the city. The terrain near the city was rocky, courtesy of the Heaven''s Starway, but soon it shifted to sandstone and sand. It was awkward for everyone carrying the palanquin as there were only four soldiers but three camels, meaning that three of them had to carry the reigns and lead the camels in their off-hand.


    More manpower would have made this journey easier, but at the same time, Aloe doubted it was easy to recruit people for a week-long journey overnight.


    Once the main road ¨C or rather, its surroundings ¨C got covered by sand and there was a deep enough layer, the soldiers carefully put the palanquin down and shifted it into its sled state as if the very item had a stance of its own. Nurturing sleds, ha. She almost chuckled.


    Even with her toughness, Aloe couldn''t help but hold her breath. That was also the problem of the journey, she would not be able to don the regeneration stance. I guess I''ll leave it overnight then. A while ago, or what felt like an eternity for her, Aloe had feared using internal infusions for a prolonged period of time. Now, though, she felt weak if she didn''t have one up at any given time.


    Stances were her strength.


    No matter how pitiful they were compared to the imperials.


    I need to increase my vitality. Aloe mussed once the convoy got going again. The ride was far from smooth, and more than one bump shot a needle of pain into her waist, but toughness alleviated most of the pain. The scribe led her hand to the pouch on her crotch. She slid a finger inside and shyly retrieved a cumin. You can do it, Aloe. You''ve done it once, you can do it again.


    The cumin seed felt impossibly heavy on the scribe''s fingers. It had been long since the last time she evolved something. Too long¡­ Nervousness got the better of her and in tandem with a particularly nasty bump, the cumin seed slipped from her fingers and fell into the sand, quickly abandoned by the marching sled. Aloe lingered on the cumin seed for a second with her hand extended towards it, but she knew better than to reach for it when it was already that far. Besides, she had tens ¨C if not hundreds ¨C more.


    The next one she grabbed, she locked it between her hands, not letting it escape for anything in the world. She protected it better than she had protected herself in the palace.


    Think about evolving it. Give the vitality an evolution intent. Much like she channeled her vitality into other plants to infuse them, or shifted her own flow to activate stances, intent was imperative. Remember the Blossomflame. Evolve it.


    Nervousness had taken over her body, a kernel of her feared she had forgotten how to evolve, but the instant vitality began to rapidly drain from her body, those haunts disappeared. And rapidly the vitality did drain.


    "Uhk." Aloe groaned in a mixture of surprise and pain, thankfully none of the soldiers noticed the sound.


    A third down already? The cultivator chuckled to herself, otherwise she would have cried. As her vitality dwindled, she carefully reached for her Cure Grass pellets. The pills had the effect of recovering her vitality, but she had to be conscious of her usage. There aren''t many remaining. She fondled her satchel. Aloe had used a handful of pellets during her first days in the palace to¡­ soothe the damage. The pills had no effect if her deposit was full, but the sensation of recovering vitality was still there, no matter how diminished it was, giving her enough reason to trick herself into feeling better.


    Not yet. Not yet¡­ Evolving vitality-hungry plants required of a lot of timing, if not, she would faint and lose the evolution. That last part was a theory, for Aloe hadn''t allowed herself to fail once, even if that had repercussions for her body. Almost there. Her deposit''s contents diminished past a fifth of its total volume. Almost there¡­ Only now a tenth remained. Now! As her vitality reached a critical point of around five percent, Aloe took the pellet and downed it without hesitation.


    The effects were felt nearly instantly as her stomach was empty, granting it full focus on the Cure Grass and absorbing the latent vitality of the prepared herb.


    Aloe gritted her teeth as she noticed the amount of vitality she had recovered. A third¡­ The scowl in her visage would have been menacing if the pain hadn''t eclipsed it. Not only the violent decantation of her vitality was taking a toll on her body, but now that her vitality was low, her toughness internal infusion was less potent, therefore her body felt the effects of the rough desert terrain hitting her constantly.


    The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    Even then, she ignored the pain, a more pressing thought occupied her mind. Before it was a fourth, if not a fifth¡­ She knew why the pill had regenerated this much vitality, and it wasn''t a positive factor, but a curse in disguise. I¡­ you¡­ She has taken more vitality than I had thought. The reason why the Cure Grass pellet had recovered more vitality than it should have been because of that night. Many things had happened that night, many things Aloe didn''t want to think about, but it was impossible to not think about one of them in particular right now. How Aaliyah had reaped her.


    She took the second pill.


    The sultanah of Ydaz had taken her vitality forcefully through some application of Nurture, what the imperials called reaping. Her maximum vitality had been diminished since then, but Aloe couldn''t pinpoint how much until now. Now because she had less maximum vitality, the pill recovered more relative to her weakened deposit.


    That whore¡­ Aloe seethed in rage and pain as yet another nasty bump got her. Her eyes teared up, she hoped it was only in pain.


    The third went down.


    The recovery effects held as normal, but the time needed to absorb the vitality into her system significantly increased as her stomach slowly filled. The pellets weren''t exactly small. From an instant to a couple of seconds. Trivial at the moment, but the next pill wouldn''t be so hasty.


    I¡­ The scribe gritted her teeth again, it was hard to withstand the ups and downs of the sled, even if the camel pulling it was moving slowly. Riding it would have been downright torment. I still have more vitality than when I first evolved the Blossomflame. She didn''t have concrete numbers, only instinct guiding her, but she trusted it. Sometimes logic could get you so far. Sometimes trusting your accumulated knowledge was sufficient. Sometimes imperative.


    Fourth pill.


    The absorption rate was getting abysmally slow, at least for the time-sensitive evolution. She had to down this one at fifteen percent vitality. It''s nearly done, I can feel it. The cumin seed in her hands kept drinking like a dehydrated traveler yet it was full now and it slowed its consumption speed. It''s getting warmer.


    She didn''t allow pain or the awful ride to distract her, there was only one thought in her mind: Evolution.


    Fifth pellet.


    I can''t evolve many seeds if I keep needing this many pills. Aloe groaned as the seed became satisfied, its evolution finished. Her hands were trembling, she didn''t know if it was because of the obscene vitality cost or the ride, but the seed was warm in her hands. She didn''t need an Aloe Veritas leaf to know that the seed in her hands was no longer cumin, but a Blossomflame.


    I feel¡­ She focused on her tired arms and depleted deposit. I feel¡­


    "Stop!" Aloe shouted out of nowhere, scaring the soldiers and making the entourage stop.


    "Is there something wrong, vene¡­" The scribe didn''t allow the soldier to finish his sentence as she grabbed the side of the sled and poked her head out.


    Then the vomit ensued.


    "Blergh!" The sound coming out of the petite woman''s throat was visceral, something out of a colossal monster of the night, and not a frail and small body. Aloe almost fell from the sled and into the puddle of vomit composed of mashed grass blades as her body collapsed on the sled''s armrest.


    Oh¡­ right¡­ She blinked slowly. I forgot what consuming a lot of vitality in a short span did. Ugh¡­ Why did I have to pick cumin?


    "Are¡­ are you fine?" The soldier dropped the honorifics, probably out of shock, but also of concern.


    "Y-yes." Aloe wiped her lips with her sleeve and then wiped the sleeve on the sand. "The bumps have made me a bit nauseous, but that''s all. We can continue."


    "Are you sure, venerable scribe?" He insisted. "We can take a rest."


    "We''ve been only marching for an hour¡­" She added but then looked at the worried expression of the other soldiers and even the camels. "But I guess your men will appreciate a breather."


    "But of course, my lady."


    "Enough honorifics, I do not have that high of a rank." Aloe frowned, her expression a monument to disgust. Partially out of the vomit''s taste lingering in her mouth. "You all may call me Aloe if the need arises."


    "Understood, Lady Aloe."


    Aloe almost protested, but she couldn''t deny that ''Lady Aloe'' had a ring to it.


    Soon enough, the entourage returned to their march. Aloe was mindful enough to not repeat her hijinks, at least until she had some rest. Considering she was bound to puke and she could only evolve the cumin seeds with an empty stomach, she evolved another one before lunch stop, and then another time well into the afternoon when she was beginning to feel hungry again. She was already weak as she was and emptying her stomach ¨C depriving it of much-needed food ¨C was a fool''s errand.


    Once the sun commenced to fade on the horizon, the soldiers dictated it a good moment to stop for the night. Their discipline was to be admired as without a single exchange of words two mounted the tents, another readied the fire and started cooking, and the latter assisted Aloe by accommodating her. He even assisted her out of the sled. The rattletrap was comfortable as it was cushioned, but laying in a single place for a whole day wasn''t good for the body. The soldier who assisted was the talkative one, who also seemed to be the head of the squadron.


    "I know it is a bit late considering how long we have met for," Aloe started, "but what are your names?"


    "It is never too late, the sultanzade never ask for hour names, well, not many have." He smiled at her. "I am Jamal, the cook is Hassan, and those two setting up the tents are Hakim and Halim."


    "Who is who of those both? They look¡­ similar." The scribe said in the most diplomatic tone possible.


    "I would be weirded if that was not the case. They are twins." Jamal chuckled. "Hakim is the one with the saber at the left, and Halim has it at the right, that is how we distinguish them."


    "I see, clever mnemotechnic rule." In Ydazi, left was ''kimali'' whilst right was ''limen''. "And wordplay."


    "I cannot take credit for it, that right belongs to the nince-damned parents who decided to give two identical twins similar names." Aloe appreciated Jamal''s comedy, however light it may be. Her life had been too heavy as of late. But then the man tensed. "May I ask a rather inappropriate question, venerable scribe?"


    Aloe was about to correct him with the honorific as she had done this morning, but the tone and posture of the man implied seriousness.


    "You may." The scribe answered in kind.


    "Venerable scribe, are you pregnant?"

 Book 3: 30. Naming

    Aloe blinked several times in pure bewilderment. Perplexity took over her mind and body. Stupefaction was the name of the game. She opened her mouth, yet no words came from it and she closed it again. To say that she was confused was the understatement of the century.


    "M-may¡­ may you repeat your question again?" The scribe stuttered and her dark skin gained a pink hue as she violently blushed. "I think I heard wrongly."


    "I have asked if you ¨C by any chance ¨C are pregnant, venerable scribe." The soldier responded calmly, even diplomatically, though his eyes pointing at her stomach was a coarse and uncomfortable gesture.


    "May I ask you why you think so¡­?" Aloe trembled on the spot, nervousness and shame wrecking her body.


    "I have talked it out with my men, you seemed quite feeble during the trek today," Jamal explained.


    "You do not think am I pregnant just because of a lapsus in health, do you?"


    "Of course not, venerable scribe." He bowed in submission. "It is the symptoms that led me to this trail of thought. You have vomited quite a few times during the journey. Thrice in total."


    Aloe led her hands to her face to hide it. Oh heavens, oh heavens! Her face burned. She almost curled into a ball if it wasn''t because that would have taken a toll on her waist area. It''s just a misunderstanding, clarify it, Aloe. Just clarify it. She took a deep breath to calm herself. And how do I do that? The scribe pulled her cheeks. I can''t tell them about vitality and Evolution, can I? Excuses, I need excuses.


    "Oh well, that¡­" Aloe chuckled nervously. "I am not exactly at my apex in what health relates, and the lacking road could not be compared to those of cities. ''Tis just movement sickness and nothing else."


    "What about lunch?" Jamal persisted. "You ate multiple rations."


    OH, HEAVENS! Aloe resisted the urge to pull her hair. I had used up a lot of vitality so I was very hungry! I was puking and eating like crazy! What''s wrong with me?


    "I-I assure you my hunger is not related to pregnancy." The scribe smiled, though her lips trembled significantly, unable to maintain the gesture. "I skipped breakfast today, and puking from the nausea certainly did not do me any favors. I can confirm with absolute and total certainty that I am not pregnant. It is not the case."


    Even though Aloe hadn''t raised her voice nor spoken for a prolonged period of time, she was panting by the time she finished talking.


    "There is nothing wrong or to be worried about in what pregnancy relates." Jamal looked her in the eyes, his irises lackluster brown. "I understand your worry after spending that long with sultanzade, but my words bear no hidden meaning. As part of your escort, I pray for your safety and will do anything in my capabilities to guarantee it. I also understand that a pregnant woman has different necessities."


    The scribe shuddered at the words, at the misunderstanding. "I appreciate your worry, Jamal. I truly do. But my words hid no deception when I said I was not pregnant. My health is lacking, and the journey is taking its toll, nothing else, nothing more."


    Aloe would have changed into charm if it was possible to convince the man, but staying still for nine minutes would only raise more suspicion. She opted for a switch to acuity to read his expressions and hopefully control hers better.


    Jamal finally let that matter slide and they got dinner after that. She didn''t expect anything good from the meal, especially after having eaten top-class food prepared by grandmaster chefs, so Aloe removed her acuity and changed her for regeneration.


    Hmm, I need an ''Infusion'' name for them. I''d like to avoid calling them by their stances names if possible. The girl pondered over a bowl of soup. The desert could get quite chilly at night. I have learned regeneration only, maybe I could count charm too, so these names have to change. As for the remaining three¡­ I''ll wait to give them names until I have experimented with them. Her departure from the palace had been too sudden, and she had yet to learn the agility, stealth, and flowing stances.


    Regeneration is fine, the name doesn''t need to change too much. How about¡­ recovery? She ate slowly, even as some guards disposed to go to sleep already. She didn''t give much thought to them, it was common knowledge that soldiers slept in rotation and awkward cycles. If not for duty, then for training. Yeah, recovery sounds good. Not that much ''Infusion-like'' but I am the one who has given most of those names. I make the rules. Aloe nodded at that last statement, it brought warmth to her cold body and heart. A frost that no campfire could soothe.


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    What should I do with charm? Her thoughts turned thorny as she meditated on that stance. They were neutral abilities ¨C magic negated out of human morality ¨C yet if there was one stance Aloe hated, it was charm. She had¡­ been on the receiving end for far too long. I need something more insipid, more scholarly, and less¡­ passionate. Her body shuddered even if she suppressed her mind far before a memory coalesced into existence. Attraction? No, too direct. Appeal? Hmm, that doesn''t feel right. Charisma? Better, less sensual, but still not Infusion-like.


    The trail of thought lingered for long enough for the scribe to make her way into her tent, or rather, be carried inside by Jamal''s burly arms. The tent was small, much different from the one she had shared with Rani when she originally came to Asina that eternity ago. It was meant for a single person ¨C a single adult person ¨C which meant that for her diminutive stature, it was quite sizeable, gifting her some breathing room.


    Three soldiers slept in the same tent, and whilst bigger than hers, it was bound to be crowded. Only one stayed out with the fire and the beasts of burden to watch out for the perils of the night.


    What could it be? What could it be? This was a distraction, a remedy to her exhausted and bored mind, but it was better than anything. Aloe preferred wasting hours thinking about following naming conventions that she herself had invented before pondering about her mortality.


    Infusion. What''s Infusion? Images of the past ¨C recent yet impossibly distant ¨C flashed before her, when she first arrived at her grandfather''s greenhouse and decided to read his ''cultivation technique''. There was one reason ¨C a single one ¨C why Aloe had believed the book and decided to walk the path of the vital arts.


    Wonder.


    Simple, primeval child-like wonder. The idea of magic appealed to her mind even if she had been nurtured to be a woman of logic. As much as her father had tried to make her into a banker and her mother had instructed her in basic diplomacy and courtship, their bedtime stories remained in her mind. The fae and wonder, the monsters and the djinn. Malice yet beauty.


    That was what the vital arts were to her.


    A single word blossomed in her mind like a budding flower. A word inspired by the many folkloric stories of Central Qiraji, the nomads, and the fairies.


    Glamour.


    Aloe went to sleep with a smile on her face as she finally had a word for that despicable stance.


    <hr>


    The following morning was miserable. Perhaps it was the breeze of freedom that had pushed her forward yesterday, but as she woke up today her whole being was numb. Maybe I overdid a bit. Not only she was still healing and also ridding a rattletrap from the hells, but she had evolved THREE Blossomflames in a single day. Not that I can evolve many more. I''m almost out of vitality pills. The first thing to do when we reach Aramita is to buy different seeds.


    The soldiers, specifically Jamal, noticed her lack of strength and enthusiasm and offered her to be carried in the palanquin, but Aloe refused under the pretense of being able to handle it better today. And it was no lie. Yesterday she had spent most of the day out of vitality, meaning her toughness had barely worked most of the time as her body had no vitality to reinforce itself.


    Her reserves of Cure Grass pellets were too small to waste them to recover vitality once she was done evolving the cumin seeds, meaning she had to wait for the vitality to recover naturally. If she had access to regeneration, she would have reduced that time to a third, but even a severely weakened toughness was better than anything.


    Their breakfast was swift and conservative, and in less than half an hour, the entourage had dismounted the tents and had already departed.


    Military discipline was attractive to Aloe. For most of her life, thanks to what should have been her future job and her lowly status, she had dealt with ignorant and irascible customers. Being at the hands of people who knew what to do, how to speak, and when to speak was oddly comfortable.


    The next two days were slow. Not only because there had been a mild sandstorm forward, nothing major and only thrashing before them, meaning they had to waste half a day waiting for the storm to vanish. If it had been other lands, Aloe would have suggested continuing during the night as they were rested, but the nights of the Qiraji were lethal and couldn''t be underestimated.


    In those two days, Aloe only managed to evolve two more Blossomflames, mostly because she had run out of Cure Grass pellets. I have thrice the vitality of an adult person, and each pellet recovers around a full person''s worth of vitality, meaning each Blossomflame is worth eight people. Out of context, the number felt absurd. How could a seed have almost thrice as much vitality as her? But Aloe knew the evolved seeds didn''t conserve the vitality they received. That vitality simply¡­ disappeared.


    Aloe had once assumed that it was consumed in the evolution process, but as she thought more about it, the more eerie it became. That''s too much vitality to be used for small changes. Sure, a Blossomflame had no possible point of comparison to a grown cumin plant, but between the seeds themselves, the only change they possessed was the innate warmth. Blossomflame seeds weren''t even that visibly different from cumin.


    A seed worth eight people. Knowing what she knew of reaping, the thought was scary. Of course, temporal vitality wasn''t the same as maximum vitality, but still. Who knew what other plants, what other Evolutions could exist out there? How big the amount of vitality needed could get? Was there an upper limit?


    For better or worse, Aloe stopped asking herself questions she may never get answers to, for they had arrived at the most important stop of the journey.


    Aramita, a coastal city of the emirate of Sadina, and one of the few usable ports on the rough coast of Ydaz. The endless sapphire sea captivated the scribe''s emerald eyes.

 Book 3: 31. Aramita

    Water crashed against rock and sand in an eternal struggle. Even from their distance from the city and her prone position, Aloe could see the seafoam giving detail and depth to the sea. Like a picture that was being constantly drawn yet never finished, always striving for more detail, never satisfied. She wondered if one day the heavens would stop the waves, finally satisfied with their work.


    Sea and desert were alike with their wavy formation, yet something about the moving water captivated Aloe in a way the still sand couldn''t.


    Shattered and blurry memories appeared in her mind, she had only seen the sea once before in her life, but it had been too long ago, and she had been so young that she couldn''t remember anything about the occasion. And the only people that she could question about it were¡­ already gone.


    Aloe took a deep breath to distance herself from the pain, yet that gesture welcomed a change. Salty! Her eyes opened like plates in child-like wonder. Moist! The desert smelled dry, yet the ever-stretching pool of salt water that was the ocean was humid. A trivial difference that even a child could point out, yet the scribe revelled in such a trivial matter. Wondrous!


    The entourage kept moving toward the sprawling city of Aramita as the sun tainted the horizon with the regal orange of twilight making the sea almost look like a pool of molten gold. From their elevated position they marched down to the port city, but the descent meant the view was peerless. Streaks of purple and pink in the sky descended toward the hiding sun, the city and the star perfectly aligned in the center. It was an image worthy of a drawing.


    Having been assaulted by nonstop carnal beauty, Aloe smiled at the natural beauty. People and nature had to be judged differently. And nature didn''t hide darkness like people. It simply was. She couldn''t feel bad for enjoying it like how it happened with the debauchery of the imperials.


    As the road started becoming more solid and an actual functioning road instead of a desert passage, the soldiers stopped the camels and disconnected the sled. Aloe didn''t raise her voice for she knew the meaning of their actions. If a thick layer of sand was already this bumpy, rock was bound to be lethal. With a grunt, more of a reflex than veritable exertion, the soldier raised the palanquin and put the rods on top of their shoulders.


    The constant and practiced march of the soldiers made it easy for Aloe''s body, so much so that she gathered the courage to change her toughness for acuity.


    Aramita smelled different. She wouldn''t say it smelled bad, but it couldn''t be considered a fragrance. Sadina smelled like sand and papyrus, though that was more dictated by her personal experiences. Asina had been a refreshing olfactory experience, smelling of vegetation like her oasis with a tinge of spices due to the wealth of the city. She tried to suppress the memories of the sweet and sex-laden smell of the palace, for in that nest, copulation was a daily activity like teatime. Aramita on the other hand was salt, humidity, and fish. Aloe didn''t hate it; it was simply different. And a change of smells was exactly what she needed.


    The guards at the city gates didn''t even blink at the presence of her entourage. Can they recognize imperial soldiers? Aloe wasn''t well-documented in the military hierarchy, but to serve as a guard at the Asina Palace one had to either be rich, influential, or competent. The scribe opted for the latter as her escorts had an aura of poverty to them. However, that didn''t eliminate the possibility of some of them being from a fallen noble house ¨C still maintaining social ties but no assets ¨C or a knighthood like her grandfather had technically been.


    Houses in Aramita were different than either Sadina or Asina, namely shorter. Their walls were also thicker and overall more rocky, instead of being made from sandstone, adobe, or other materials. They felt as if they had been sculpted directly out of big stones, which wasn''t impossible as the Ydazi coastline was mostly uninhabitable thanks to its rough and rocky terrain. Even sand was more arable than rock.


    What caught Aloe''s eyes though was the canopies. It was typical to raise some canopies between houses or bazaars to block out the harsh desert sun, but here in Aramita, that had been taken to the extreme. She hadn''t seen many canopies in Asina because the city''s streets were wider than average, meaning it was difficult or expensive to put canopies, but even compared to Sadina, Aramita had more shade than her oasis.


    The streets were narrow, and the city was located in a depression that made it so the sun always shone from one of the openings of the valley, whether it was the city gates or the sea. She hypothesized that if there weren''t those canopies there, the citizens would boil up.


    This place would have been a sprawling metropolis bigger than Sadina if there was more space. She partially lamented how one of Ydaz''s best ports was the size of a district back in Sadina.


    The soldiers carried her across the city until they reached an open location where the space between houses became wider and the sky was actually visible for the first time in a few minutes.


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    "Lady Aloe?" Jamal asked before her, turning his head to look at her as he was on the front of the palanquin.


    "Yes, Jamal?" Aloe couldn''t help but smile. It had been a while since somewhat called her by her name, even Farah had been reticent. Though thinking about the mature maid made her a bit sad for she knew she wouldn''t see her again.


    "Hassan and I are going to ask around for a lodging. I intend to leave you with Hakim and Halim to watch over you, is that alright?"


    "But of course." The scribe nodded. "I would kill for a bed after these few days."


    Jamal nodded back at her, and the soldiers coordinated to put the palanquin down. Contrary to popular belief, it wasn''t that bad to sleep in the sand, especially if one had a blanket and a pillow. But Aloe preferred a mattress if possible. Jamal and Hassan went their way, Aloe had no idea who they were going to ask, but she had more pressing matters to ponder. Alright, what seed could I use? Can I even buy them? She looked around, but as the sun was setting, most stands were closing or had closed already. Eh, I can do it tomorrow, but I should pick one already.


    Aloe wanted to check her notes, but she hadn''t brought them to Asina for obvious reasons. If her scribbles made it somehow to the sultanah ¨C and that was before knowing what type of monster Aaliyah was ¨C then all would be over.


    What could I evolve from all the things I know? Aloe counted all her evolved plants, or at least the ones she knew how to evolve. Cure Grass, Myriad, Flourishing Spring¡­ she raised her fingers one by one as she counted, Thousand Cuts ¨C I would like to avoid that one, but let''s continue ¨C Blossomflame, Grace''s Exaltation, Moonlight''s Tooth, Nature''s Bounty, Chlorotrophy¡­ and I think those are all?


    She didn''t have a bad memory, but there were many plants she had evolved, and it wasn''t like she had bothered to memorize all the details because she had noted them down.


    Cure Grass is too simple, and I don''t know how I will get grass seeds without raising suspicion. And there are some that are straight-up impossible like Thousand Cuts, Grace''s Exaltation, Chlorotrophy, and Nature''s Bounty, because I can''t recall what seeds they came from for my life. The only real choices are Myriad, Flourishing Spring, and¡­ Moonlight''s Tooth? Nah, dandelion is also weird, so it''s between these two.


    Aloe twirled her head and observed Hakim and Halim. The soldiers stood still, their eyes overwatching the plaza, with the camel reins in their hands. There weren''t many people around, and the passersby that were present gave them a weird glance or two, but the imperial soldiers were intimidating enough that they didn''t stand for long.


    Myriads come from bananas so it would be easy to get them. Hmm, now that I think about it, why does the Myriad look that different from a banana tree? I mean, all evolved plants look a lot different from their base counterparts, but the Myriad is so small in comparison, it''s basically an herb! The scribe cracked her neck and stretched her arms. Getting bananas for the trouble will be a bit hard here, but not farfetched, though maybe Flourishing Springs are a better option. And I''ll end up using them, unlike the Myriads. If I remember correctly, they evolve from black seeds, right? That''s essentially cumin! I could use my crappy excuse from before, and surely, they will love having some black seed seasoning.


    A few more minutes later, Jamal and Hassan came back with news as they waved their hands in a salute.


    "There are a few inns in the city, but from what I have heard, they are not that¡­ sublime?" Aloe recognized the tone of a man who didn''t know how to talk without throwing a curse or two.


    Her uncle Jafar was the same, especially when drunk. Poor Aya, grown with such a foul-mouthed parent. That reminds me I haven''t seen them in a while. She felt bad for not thinking about them during her stay in Asina. Maybe she hadn''t lost everything, and precisely because of that, she felt like trash for not giving them a second thought. I am a horrible person.


    "There is also the chance of staying in the barracks." Jamal continued talking, unaware of the scribe''s dark thoughts. "We have been offered some lodging. Whilst it may not be up to the quality of your bedchambers, it will beat sleeping in a tent. What do you think, Lady Aloe?"


    "I¡­ yes. The barracks are fine." Aloe responded absentmindedly.


    The soldiers didn''t give her slip much thought and heaved the palanquin up, carrying it to Aramita''s barracks. The port city was small, but as it was such an important strategic position, military presence was high. Even the barracks were situated closer to the port rather than the entrance to the city as that was where an attack was most likely as the small city was sandwiched between two of the most important metropolises of Ydaz.


    As the entourage made their way into the building, one of the guarding soldiers scoffed at their presence. The meaning of that reaction was crystal clear, but Aloe didn''t react. People like those were prone to rage, it was best to not give fuel to the flame.


    "Can I get a word, captain?" Aloe heard an unknown voice coming from the side.


    "I''ll be there," Jamal called out. "Excuse me, Lady Aloe, there is a matter I must attend. I will not be out for long." Their escorts dropped the palanquin in the entrance and Jamal walked into a contiguous room.


    Fortunately for her, the barracks were probably the biggest building in the city and even if it was carved into a mountain, they were more spacious than most buildings out there, even Sadina. Not being a nuisance by standing in the middle was more than enough of a comfort to her.


    True to his word, Jamal came back a couple of minutes later.


    "There has been a small misunderstanding, Lady Aloe." The soldier slightly bowed down. "There are no free rooms, or rather, none for your stay. If we are to rest here, we will need to share the room. Should we carry you to the inn so you can rest?"


    Alone? Aloe shivered. She was no longer in Asina, she didn''t need to worry about Aaliyah or the other sultanzade, but the squadron of disciplined imperial soldiers had granted her a comfort she hadn''t been aware of until now.


    "That will not be necessary." Aloe slowly raised her back from the palanquin. The cushions were rapidly gaining her outline. "There is no need for privacy for one night. A bed is more than enough for me." The soldiers had been probably gifted a purse to cover for travel expenses, but money wasn''t the issue.


    Aloe just didn''t want to be alone.

 Book 3: 32. Arrival

    The first light awoke all soldiers in the barracks like clockwork. Every working person was used to waking up at first light ¨C that was what they had to do if they wanted to eat ¨C but soldiers were different. There was a sense of snapping, like a puzzle. They had to be awake, that was the end of the question. Whilst Aloe had risen up from her surprisingly comfortable barrack bed, her entourage went easy on her and didn''t move her much until it was time for breakfast.


    By breakfast that meant that her entourage first went to the canteen and had their own meals, then they brought a ration for herself. If she were highborn, that would have been considered despicable. How could the servants have food before their masters? But alas, she was neither of those people. The soldiers knew she was relatively important, but also that she was a commoner. Most likely some of them were nobles, probably waiting for some knighthood to boast about it.


    A common soldier easily outclassed her, but not outranked her. For better or worse, the fact that she was the current scribe of commoners of Sadina was helping her greatly. Jamal and his men weren''t bad people, but they wouldn''t have been as helpful if she had been a common girl.


    It was easy to fall in misery, to drown in a well oneself had built, Aloe knew it. She stopped thinking about how a gifted title was the only reason why her protectors even cared about her. That she had no merits of her own.


    Once fed and clean ¨C thankfully not as embarrassing as trying to do her business in the middle of the desert surrounded by men ¨C they departed from the barracks. The military complex hadn''t offered much in the toiletry section, but even a towel and a bucket of water was a heavensent for them. Her entourage looked far happier after a superficial clean and a shave.


    "May I ask for a quick stop?" Aloe voiced her concerns to any of the soldiers as they carried her on the palanquin.


    "Your words, our orders, Lady Aloe." Of course, Jamal was the one who answered. "Where do you want to stop by? Mayhap the port? It is a unique view, especially during sunrise or sunset."


    The fact that Jamal knew about Aramita''s port with such familiarity revealed a story, but unfortunately, the man wasn''t a player big enough to care about those titbits.


    "I was not going to inquire about that, but now that you say it¡­ I cannot deny I am interested." Her voice trembled a bit in shame. "Would that be too much of a nuisance?"


    "Of course not!" Jamal laughed heartily. "To the port, then!"


    The rocky walls of the Aramita''s buildings reminded the scribe of the ramparts of big cities. It was as if the whole city was a fortress even if its inhabitants were the type of people you could see anywhere. Soon enough ¨C Aramita wasn''t big enough to merit much of a walk ¨C they made it to the port.


    The port itself was nothing to write about. And the smell even less. If it wasn''t for the familiar salty smell, the odor of the fish would have made her puke her insides out. Her health was still far from optimal, even if she had been donning the regen¡­ recovery for more than half a day straight now.


    The beauty of the port of Aramita lied in two key factors: its beaches and the sea.


    The natural port of Aramita was the most important port on the eastern coast of Ydaz, mainly by virtue of being the only real one. Even from her prone position, Aloe could see how fine the sand was, and how peaceful the waves were.


    The sea beyond was rugged and hostile, but it was as if for this bay, the heavens decided it to be calm and welcoming.


    Ships of many sizes and backgrounds docked and marched along the coast. Some were small fishing dinghies, others far more sizeable vessels of war. Their names escaped her, but she knew they had names, different for their sizes, number of masts, and many other qualities.


    In a way, the ships at the bay felt bigger and more populated than the city. They were their own civilization on the water. How many sailors are needed to man one of those big ones? The scribe pondered in awe as her entourage finally left her palanquin on the ground.


    "I would have never thought someone would be distracted by the ships rather than the sunrise," Jamal commented on her side, snapping Aloe out of her trance. "I cannot deny some are impressive, but the beauty of the heavens is something unparalleled."


    Finally, with the soldier''s words, Aloe focused on the sky beyond the sea.


    Truth be told, the sight wasn''t as amazing as Jamal had pictured it. She had already seen the sea grazed by the sun yesterday, and sunrise lacked the mysticism and power of the twilight. But even then, as the waves crashed against the inhospitable section of the coast, white foam emerging monstrously, the golden tint of the sun reflected on the marine color of the sea created a memorable image.


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    Memories of her childhood came to her, much like those waves. It had been only once, but she had been here before. More than a decade ago, when she was so little that it would be hard to tell if she had had a coherent thought in her mind. She only remembered a few things from that image. The thrashing waves violent as the imperials, the wavering ships trying to survive, the sun looking calm against such hostility, and her family. Her father carrying her in his back without a hint of fear, whilst her mother hugged him. One of the few times Aloe had seen Shahrazad scared, but now that she pondered about it, the gesture was cuter and more romantic than an expression of terror.


    It was hard to recognize those things as a child.


    It had been a short stay the time she had been in Aramita as a child, but the stories she gathered up in those days, remained with her even until now. The image of moving dunes was indescribably magical to her childish mind.


    But the ruthlessness of adulthood had taught her that even mountains could move. And that those mountains could kill her.


    They spent a solid time sightseeing the rising sun, so much so that it couldn''t even considered a sunrise anymore. Even then, neither Jamal nor his men pushed Aloe to go away. They waited for her order. Power was intoxicating, even if it was that limited.


    "May I ask for another petition?" Aloe asked shyly and politely.


    She knew better than to abuse that fleeting authority.


    "What may that be?" Jamal responded slowly. Only now Aloe recognized how sweet was the man''s voice. Slow and sweet, like honey. Poetry wasn''t her forte, nor her hobby, but sometimes words came naturally to a person.


    "I would like some¡­ black seeds." The scribe reddened slightly, remembering the excuse she had given them a few days prior.


    "Then we will buy a few. It will do us good to season our rations." The soldier smiled and the scribe nodded in tandem.


    Before she could get back to sightseeing, her palanquin was already moving, with the black seeds in her lap. A whole sack of it. The entourage walked through the streets of Aramita, palanquin and reins in hand. The city was fully awake now, and whilst not as colorful as others she had seen, it was as lively if not more than those.


    Their stay in Aramita had been painfully short, not more than a blink, yet it was infinitely more memorable in her mind than her stay in Asina. In the sense that it was worth remembering.


    Repetition quickly set in as the soldiers escorted her out of the port city, waiting until the sand became soft to place her on the ground and let the camels pull her. Their pace was slow, not only were they traveling slowly because of her health, but also so the camels wouldn''t push clouds of sand directly on her face. And yet, with that glacial pace, it was faster than Aloe would have managed for herself a few months prior. No matter how light she could travel, a soldier''s march was significantly faster than a physically weak scribe.


    Aloe doubted she could even outrun them with speed. I should think of another name for that infusion. Now I feel like it''s too shallow. Later, I guess. Speed made her faster, yes, but even if she were perfectly healthy, she would tire and get hungry faster. Naila, the imperial scribe of Sadina, was a voracious monster after one of her training sessions. And she was acquainted with the stance. Without proper rest, if she were to run across the desert with speed, Aloe feared she may end up killing herself, dehydrated and famished without any more energy to take a single step.


    She pushed those dark thoughts away but saw the pragmatic utility of mastering speed if the need to run away ever arose. Would be difficult to practice now, though. She let out a dry chuckle.


    Day and night blurred into each other with haste. Oh, haste. I like that. Haste. Yup, that''s the new name. Haste. More regal, isn''t it?


    Days passed by in silence. The only conversation that arose was between the soldiers, and even then, it usually was about reports rather than actual casual dialogue. Her guardians took their job so seriously that made it a bit uncomfortable for Aloe, but it wasn''t like she could give much conversation herself. Especially when her mind was in another place.


    Many black seeds lay at an arm''s length of the scribe. Some were evolved and some were not. During the journey, she had all the time in the world to evolve them, to waste her vitality on upgrading them. At one point, she began doing it more out of boredom than need or pressure.


    When she had first discovered the Flourishing Spring, the evolution had consumed all of her vitality. She doubted how she even managed to evolve the seed when the vitality to do so had been so tight. But now, after many evolutions later ¨C and many of them being more Flourishing Springs, Aloe could evolve two of them with her current vitality without reaching puking levels.


    The difference between black seeds and cumin, between Flourishing Springs and Blossomflame, was staggering. One needed barely more vitality than a grown adult, the other almost ten of them.


    Even if her vitality never dropped to dangerous levels, Aloe made sure to pause and rest between evolutions. She knew she could collapse and vomit from vitality sickness ¨C provisional name ¨C even if her deposit was full. It was more about extenuation than quantity. The equivalent of stamina would be to sprint for a few minutes without breathing ¨C certainly a painful and exhausting activity ¨C to a marathon. Those couldn''t compare.


    Aloe would have loved to say that she had lost the count, that she had evolved too many black seeds to remember the number, but the truth was the number was just in the tens. With her lacking vitality regeneration, she could only evolve one seed per hour, meaning that in a day she could get twelve seeds at most as she also had to take rests to not push herself over the limit. For once, she was conscious of her health.


    Soon afternoon came on this day. The desert was monotonous. There were stop pits every few hours, mostly for travelers to weather sandstorms. The only real change of scenery was that of other travelers as this route was far busier than the straight road between Asina and Sadina. But the presence of the many convoys, whether they were merchants, nomads, or simple people, blurred much like the dunes to Aloe.


    The only reason why she was mentally awake this afternoon instead of a trance, was because today was the day. The monotonous horizon slightly broke as the protuberance of civilization appeared before them. Their arrival was near. Sadina was in sight.

 Book 3: 33. Faces

    Even if the great city of Sadina was their destination, Aloe didn''t want to get near it. She would just be exchanging masters, she knew it. Her trust in the imperial family had been nonexistent since the beginning, but now it was negative. The faces of Rani and Naila only sent shudders down her spine, her doubt festering like a wound with each step closer to the city.


    The cultivator had pondered if she should go to her greenhouse, but that would only raise too much suspicion. Yes, everyone knew Aloe valued her greenhouse, but would an infirm lady unable to walk decide to make a one-day journey across the desert when she could rest?


    The answer was a perhaps, and that was exactly the problem.


    Aloe gave it a fifty percent chance ¨C a coinflip ¨C that the soldiers would escort her to her greenhouse if she asked them. But she needed to do the journey alone. As much as she wanted to trust them, Jamal and his men served Aaliyah, meaning that if they discovered a single thing out of place with the oasis, they would probably report it to the sultanah.


    She had no alternative but to quietly accept her fate and march into the city.


    There''s still a chance. Her heartbeat wavered as the entourage carried her into the city. They had long untied the sled and now carried her on their shoulders with the palanquin. I have a lot of Blossomflame seeds. Maybe I can''t grow them in the palace, but I could leave a single potted plant in my house and water it once in a while under the pretense of resting from work at home. That way I could heal faster.


    That was the only way she came up with where she could manage an access to a Blossomflame. Until she healed more, a solitary travel to the oasis was impossible, even if she had a mount and had no need of walking herself. Perhaps even more because she had a mount. Dwellers weren''t exactly comfortable or healthy rides.


    Aloe felt her breathing and pulse becoming more and more erratic as they got closer to Sadina''s palace. It didn''t help that the soldiers had to carry her over very long and pronounced stairways to get there. Even with toughness, she didn''t feel comfortable with the ascent.


    You are hurt. They will not do anything to you. You are useful to them. The scribe told herself. Rani is smart enough to not discard a useful tool. Aloe was fine with being a tool if that allowed her to survive. Until she grew her Nurture and healed her body, there was no chance of repercussion. From either side.


    The sun was beginning to set when they finally set foot on the palace, but their presence had been long noticed. There had been some exchanges at the city gates. The soldiers had talked with the city guards, and they had also left all but one camel with them. The only mount they still led carried Aloe''s few belongings.


    A servant walked up to them. Aloe herself couldn''t see them, but she had heard them approach with haste. Her sole and full focus was on acuity. Even if Naila were to attack her out of nowhere with her speed stance, the scribe trusted her heightened senses to detect the sultanzade with enough time to shift into toughness. The memory of the young princess'' movements wasn''t fresh, but the feeling of speed was. Aloe knew with absolute certainty that even with Naila donning speed and attacking at melee, she had enough time to shift into toughness.


    For even in that infused state, the daughter was infinitely slower than her uninfused mother.


    Aaliyah''s speed was impossible even when she wielded the charm stance, which should have lowered her speed. And unlike the first time Naila had attacked her ¨C what felt an eternity ago ¨C she now had acuity at her disposal. Aloe had faith that her eyes would be able to follow the sultanzade.


    The servant panted for an instant, the squeaky sound betraying them as a woman, and then directed to the entourage.


    "Her Highness, Rani-al-Sadina, has ordered the scribe of commoners to meet her in the audience hall." The maid announced nervously.


    Hmm¡­ Whilst she had a better time reading faces, Aloe couldn''t point out the origin of the woman''s nervousness. Or rather, it didn''t make sense to her. She isn''t nervous about the summon or Rani¡­ The emir of Sadina wasn''t an intimidating person to begin with. No. She''s scared of¡­ the soldiers?


    Aloe was aware that she was being escorted by four imperial soldiers, but they weren''t that strong or intimidating. Well, they are certainly stronger than me with strength¡­ But that didn''t surprise Aloe. They were grown adults busting with muscle. Trained killing machines. The strength stance boosted one''s physical strength, and no matter how big that multiplier may be, Aloe''s base strength was abysmal. If I wanted to have a chance to defeat an imperial soldier with my current vitality, toughness or haste would be a far better alternative. Being tougher than bark or faster than their eyes could follow would be way more effective than having the strength of three men.


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    Three untrained men.


    Jamal and the rest of the soldiers looked at her with expectation, it was only now that Aloe realized she had zoned off for far too long. These many days in silence during the journey have boosted my internal hermit. She was aware they waited for her command.


    "Is the summon urgent?" Aloe slightly raised her back and asked the maid. She was, unsurprisingly, young and beautiful. "I would rather not show the emir such a dirty fa?ade. Sand may tarnish the throne room."


    "I¡­" The maid fidgeted on the spot as her gaze met with one of the twins whom Aloe couldn''t be bothered to remember. "I doubt Her Highness would slander your lack of decorum. She was explicit with her orders. The emir wished to see your likeness as soon as possible."


    "I see." The scribe took a deep breath and laid down. "Lead the way, maid."


    "I¡­" The woman yelped. She was barely older than Aloe yet infinitely more frightened. "Of course, venerable scribe." The maid accepted in defeat.


    There was a noble reason for the woman to lead the way; the soldiers didn''t know it, after all. But Aloe had another one of lesser ''decorum'' when she ordered the maid. She wanted the woman to suffer a bit. A slight scare couldn''t be compared to what she suffered.


    Aloe didn''t rejoice in her actions; she didn''t observe the woman''s shape or visage. It was obvious that she wasn''t comfortable with the order as she walked forward with an uneven pace. She didn''t rejoice at the woman''s suffering, but neither was she afflicted by it.


    She simply was.


    For better or worse.


    The scribe had lived in the palace ¨C fully lived there ¨C for months. She knew how the palace of Sadina looked, yet after coming from Asina, the initial luster of the building faded into obscurity. The golden palace of Asina was more of everything. The heart of the capital of Ydaz could make such magnificent buildings as this one feel dull. That was even more the case when they entered the throne room.


    They couldn''t even be compared. Sadina''s audience hall was a paltry room when put side to side with the monumentality of the hall Asina had. But it''s far cozier. Aloe didn''t hate the diminutive space and decorations. At least the room wasn''t overtly hostile like its counterpart in Asina. Most of that aggression came from a person rather than the room itself, however.


    The maid waited on the doorway and the soldiers carried Aloe forward. It only took them a few steps before they knelt down, leaving her palanquin barely raised up from the ground. The scribe raised her back and head and scanned the room.


    She recognized many faces, mainly the scribes and servants. Tamara and Naila were present, though the same couldn''t be said for the scribe of scholars, Nuha. That''s barely surprising. Aloe didn''t fail to notice the presence of another woman next to the throne. Who''s she? The woman was tall and dressed in expensive clothing with inlays of gold. Her skin and hair were auburn, but her clothing and eyes were orange. The new scribe of nobles? She guessed.


    There were a lot of questions to be made, but Aloe knew better than not to dwindle in thoughts. After all, a princess waited for her.


    "Salutations, Rani." Aloe bowed as much as she could, which basically amounted to a nod. "I, Aloe Ayad, am back from my¡­ diplomatic mission in Asina." The scribe gritted her teeth. I should have thought my words better before talking.


    "I see." Rani-al-Sadina ¨C head of the emirate of Sadina, princess of the Ydazi Sultanate, and cultivator ¨C expressed taciturnly.


    She''s analyzing me, but I don''t feel the sense stance from her. No one reacted in the room, everyone mostly waited for the emir to elaborate. The only one who hinted at some emotion, besides the servants, was Tamara. The old scribe of commerce was probably the only woman with a shed of emotion in this room, Aloe included. The same cannot be said for Naila. I very much feel like she''s using the stance. Those eyes aren''t from someone on the speed stance. The young sultanzade might have been using another stance, but Aloe doubted it.


    Rani idled on her royal seat. Her body was unmoving, but her eyes certainly not. They shone like amethysts. Beautiful as ever. Aloe pondered at the illustration-worthy image of the emir. Rani''s clothing was few, yet it hid and highlighted parts of the skin with perfect mastery. The dress was meant to be revealing, yet conservative. Alluring, yet formal. Perfect curves, ample breasts, plump lips, shining bronze skin, long eyelashes¡­ Aloe could continue for minutes and not reach the end of Rani''s many perfect features.


    And that made her want to puke.


    Not only the influence of the charm stance was like getting dumped in a septic pool, but that beauty was one she recognized. One she had experienced. One she hated. Rani had perfectly inherited the beauty of her mother, yet none of her power.


    Somehow, that made Aloe hate her even more.


    Finally, after what seemed to be an eternity, Rani cut through the pregnant silence.


    "Your lack of presence has been felt through these corridors. We are more than welcome to have you among us once more." The sultanzade stood up from her throne using only her feet in what was a surprising display of leg strength. "You are free of duty today, Aloe, but I will expect to see you tomorrow morning here. I am more than certain that your assistant scribes will put you up to page with the rest." Rani eyed the unfamiliar woman at her side. "I am sure you will need time to acclimate to the change of scenery, but the presence of the scribe of commoners is always needed." She clicked her heels and stepped forward. "The session is adjourned."

 Book 3: 34. Noble

    No one dared to move or speak before the emir left the audience hall. Whether it was out of respect or duty.


    The first movement was that of Naila Asina. The sultanzade simply strode away from the multitude, unfazed by them. The cultivator gifted a single look at Aloe, whilst the motion was unreadable, the fact alone that she acknowledged her presence spoke volumes. I need to talk with her at some point, otherwise, she will talk to me on her own terms. Aloe knew how important it was timing, but sometimes it was better to take on a battle you weren''t ready for just to get the high ground.


    Next to move was Tamara, but her actions were less aggressive. The old scribe sighed in a mixture of exhaustion and laughter. She slowly approached Aloe, which made her escorts tense up a bit. Pure reflex rather than actual intimidation. The old woman was far from a menace when there had been two cultivators in the room barely a few moments ago.


    "I am glad to see you, Aloe," Tamara said heartfeltly. "I¡­ expected the worst when Rani didn''t come back with you from the travel."


    "It is also nice to see you, Tamara." The scribe of commoners answered diplomatically rather than emotionally. "Though I fear my current state is not one to be celebrated."


    "I would not dare." The scribe of commerce looked down at her feet in remorse, but only talked back after she directed her eyes again at Aloe. "But you are alive. Maybe not safe and sound, but alive. And that is what matters more."


    "I wish I could be as enthusiastic as you." The more the old family friend talked, the more it took Aloe out of her to keep her fa?ade up.


    She hated it here. She wanted to take a bath, fall on her bed, and cry to sleep. She couldn''t deal with diplomacy right now ¨C even that of non-political nature ¨C but she had no other choice to do so. Alienating her few allies was the wrong choice.


    "We will talk tomorrow, is that fine?" Aloe added with a wry smile.


    "Of course." Tamara bowed and walked away without much fanfare.


    The servants began moving into the room. Some left, their presence no longer needed, whilst others started cleaning now that the room wasn''t being used. Only one person remained there besides the newly arrived entourage.


    "Pardon my lack of knowledge, but I must suppose you are the new scribe of nobles, are you not?" Considering the woman hadn''t reacted to her presence yet, Aloe started the conversation.


    "You may suppose correctly." The noble lady answered with a formal bow yet refused to elaborate any further, instead choosing to remain on the spot.


    Hard to get, are we? The scribe of commoners kept her contempt on her mind.


    "My name is Aloe Ayad, and I am the scribe of commoners of Sadina," Aloe bowed slightly in her prone position, "may I ask yours?"


    The woman smiled. Aloe had forgotten that people could have beauty beyond that of the gifted by the charm stance. No matter how captivating the expression was, though, the petite woman didn''t blush. Such reactions had been beaten out of her. Thoroughly.


    "Ruhena Faizan, scribe of nobles of Sadina, at your service." Ruhena performed an outstanding bow, one out of textbooks.


    A people pleaser, understood. Aloe was less than fazed by the woman''s swift movements. After spending that much time around sultanzade, Aloe had discovered how deep subterfuge and words could go. From her behavior alone she could tell the scribe of nobles didn''t want any trouble, but at the same time, she would not go down to Aloe''s level. Ruhena was a noble and she was a commoner, after all. The air of superiority of the woman was choking. Even more so when she noticed she wasn''t even trying to act pompously.


    "I would love to make your acquaintance, scribe Ruhena," The noble woman squinted for an instant at being talked with such informality. This alone told her that she didn''t consider her an equal even if both of them were the personal scribes of Rani. Aloe continued, acting unaware of the gesture, "but I am currently exhausted from my journey. And my looks are far from suitable for the palace. If you are available after dinner, I would be more than happy to meet with you."


    "My schedule is rather full at the moment¡­" Ruhena revealed, hiding her lips with a hand. "I do not believe I could afford a meeting at such a late hour, but¡­ How about we meet right now?"


    "Excuse me?" Aloe blinked at the words. "I am¡­" Not afraid. Not afraid. Fatima''s words and lessons still stuck in the scribe''s mind. "¡­at a lack of an understanding. Are we not talking to each other currently?"


    "Menial talk cannot be considered a meeting, dear." The last word had a hint of derision. "As I have said, my schedule is rather full, but there are activities that take space that could be done in parallel with others."


    "Such as?"


    "Bathing," Ruhena responded matter-of-factly.


    If the previous swift movements hadn''t made Aloe blush, this proposition would. Or that was what should have happened. Not even the prospect of full nakedness intimidated her, since now she knew there was far worse out there. Instead, she saw the proposition in a pragmatic light.


    "I would be delighted to optimize our time in such a manner," Aloe responded with a shit-eating grin.


    Ruhena slightly backpedaled at the confirmation. The petite scribe didn''t know if the noblewoman had been hinted at to her lack of tolerance for lewdness by third parties or if she just instinctively did so, but Ruhena wasn''t going to get any amusement from her reactions.


    "I¡­ sure. I will lead the way." The bewilderment was enough of a reward for Aloe, but she was a woman of her word and motioned the soldiers to stand up.


    The scribe of nobles walked with light feet, but nothing the hardened escorts couldn''t manage. Why be this petty? The petty woman inquired. When they were all reaching the wing where the palace''s baths were located, Aloe noticed the lack of servants.


    "Stop," Aloe commanded at the soldiers, her hand raised in tandem. Surprisingly enough, Ruhena also stopped. "You, girl." She pointed at the only servant in the corridor.


    "Me, venerable scribe?" The maid, who was way older than Aloe, spoke.


    "Yes." She almost rolled her eyes. Who else could have she referred to? If she had spoken to Ruhena with such a demeanor, she might have gotten punished, regardless of their equal status as she was still a noble. "Scribe Ruhena and I are going to bathe, please send for more maids to assist us during our time in the bath."


    "Understood, venerable scribe." The maid nodded and left Aloe''s limited field of view.


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    Ruhena grinned at Aloe''s display, the girl herself couldn''t see where the amusement was, but she was thankful enough that the noble didn''t comment on it.


    When they arrived at the bath, one very glaring problem became far too obvious to ignore any longer.


    "Could you please ask around servants if there are any wheelchairs in the palace?" Aloe asked Jamal and his men. One thing was bathing with women, another with men. "If there is not, then surely there will be one in the university. Send them there if that were to be the case." Which was bound to be likely.


    "What about the bath, Lady Aloe?" Jamal voiced out of his own volition. "Should we carry you inside?"


    Aloe bit her underlip. She doubted any maids in the palace had enough strength to carry her, they were closer to prostitutes than workers. The only women strong enough to carry her were cultivators ¨C herself included ¨C or¡­


    "Fetch a female guard to be my escort on the bath," Aloe ordered.


    Whilst not as common as men, women could be soldiers in Ydaz, unlike other countries where their role in martial disciplines was¡­ limited to say the least. From experience, Aloe knew there were a handful of female guards in the palace. The trail of thought of the sultanzade was obvious, if a guard was going to be competent regardless of gender, then better for them to be women.


    Once again, Ruhena examined her, but the noblewoman abstained from commenting. Instead, she referred to the soldiers that still remained in the changing room.


    "Your presence is no longer needed. Guard the entrance or something, I will not tolerate men in the bathrooms purlieus whilst I am inside." Ruhena had the cadence of a noble with her words. It may have been seen as a given, but thanks to her privileged position, Aloe had interacted before with some nobles, and not many of them had the grandeur commoners may expect out of them.


    "That is not possible," Jamal stated in a relaxed yet disciplined position.


    "Excuse me?" The scribe of nobles led a hand to her chest in offense. "What do you mean that is not possible?"


    "I have been commanded to follow Lady Aloe''s orders and hers alone." The soldier held his ground. Whilst it was probably true, the faint grin drawn by the tips of his lips hinted to Aloe that he may be partially toying with the woman.


    "And who exactly gave this order?" Ruhena crossed her arms in a mixture of superiority and rage. She looked like the type of person who had always been provided for and barely had to confront a ''no'' in her life. Curiously enough, those were also the type of people who usually asked for loans.


    "Her Majesty, Aaliyah-al-Ydaz herself." The imperial soldier''s eyes blasted in cold fire.


    "Oh." The noblewoman took a step backward as if she had been slapped.


    And considering the deafening sound Aloe had heard in her mind, she might as well have been. Ruhena''s visage got gnawed by nervousness and her eyes shifted uncontrollably in the search for help. They landed on the prone scribe.


    "Scribe Aloe," For the first time, Ruhena referred to Aloe at the same level as her, "may you order the imperial soldiers to stay out of the bathrooms? You surely think too that their presence is indecorous for such activities?"


    It would have been easy to delight in her suffering, but that would have been a foolish reaction. Driven by impulse rather than long-term planning. The best trail of action would be to increase her allies and weaken her enemies, toying with her would be the exact opposite of that.


    However, I am curious about what truly pesters her. Is it indecency? She''s the personal scribe of a sultanzade, I highly doubt that. Androphobia? That''s more likely, I suppose, nobles tend to ignore the gazes directed at their naked bodies if those come from people they consider lesser so I doubt the gaze of guards would pester her. Sultanzade also acted like that, but Aloe doubted those people knew the concept of decency, to begin with.


    "Of course." The scribe of commoners responded with a warm smile. "As much as I trust these men, some things should be kept out of sight. Jamal, could you retire to the bathroom entrance and prohibit the entrance of other men, servants or not, from coming to the baths? If they protest, make them know that this is the combined petition of the scribe of nobles and commoners."


    "Understood, Lady Aloe." Jamal bowed to her and removed himself from the changing room along with his other soldier, Hassan.


    "I¡­" Ruhena spoke after that, her tone shivering casually. "Thank you for that."


    Aloe''s eyes opened like plates. A noble thanking me? Ha! She almost laughed. And nearly cried. What would those words feel like coming from imperials?


    "Fret not," the scribe of commoners smiled again at her, "I would not want to do anything that would make a fellow scribe uncomfortable. We serve the same liege, after all."


    Ruhena returned her the smile, her visage had cleared a bit of the nervousness by now. Aloe''s words had been calculated, seeding the idea of equality on the noble''s mind but she was surprised to find no reaction to the rather obvious subterfuge. She''s green. Too green. Possible androphobia, unbeknownst to basic court diplomacy, and unfamiliar with refusals¡­ Where has Rani gotten this woman from? These things pointed out that Ruhena hadn''t been trained with this position in mind. Maybe for the job of a scribe if Rani had put her here ¨C Aloe believed the emir valued efficiency too much for the opposite to be true ¨C but not for the diplomacy and interactions that went hand in hand with the position.


    Soon a person entered the changing room, it was a woman coated in light armor. She wore a leather chest-plate with decorations of gold, white robes underneath, and a saber on her hip. A mixture of utility and display of Sadina''s wealth.


    "Venerable scribes," she bowed to both of the scribes. Her expression was extern, and it was to distinguish if it was born out of duty or tedium for having been chosen for the following task. "I will be your bathing companion for the afternoon."


    "Marvelous," Aloe announced with fake glee. "Could you start undressing me then? My predisposition impedes me from doing so myself. Please, be careful, my ailing body is rather fragile."


    The petite scribe was careful with her words and tone, seeming weak and frail. Not that she wasn''t, but people reacted better to small girls in need. As much as she hated her limited stature, she couldn''t deny there were some advantages.


    The guard nodded and wordlessly assisted her. The swiftness of the woman''s hands reminded Aloe of how her uncle Jafar sometimes assisted other guards in donning heavy armor. Plate armor, whilst highly protective, had the inconvenience of being difficult ¨C if not near impossible ¨C to wear by oneself. And also cooking you alive like a kebab.


    In less than a couple of minutes, both scribes were already undressed, though Ruhena opted to do it for herself. Aloe half-expected to ask the guard for assistance as people of her hierarchy didn''t tend to dress themselves. Or undress.


    "Would you be so helpful to carry me to the cleaning pools?" Aloe voiced again. "Once there I will not need help with the cleaning, only to be carried to the hot pool after I am done. After that, you are free to use the facilities for yourself."


    "Are you¡­ sure, venerable scribe?" Finally, Aloe managed to break the guard''s fa?ade.


    "Very much, yes. Unless Scribe Ruhena is against it?" The scribe of commoners eyed at the one of nobles, but she didn''t express any dissatisfaction. "Go for it." Aloe smiled at the guard. "The palace''s communal baths are much different from the private ones, and I know how much a guard gets paid, you will deserve to get a higher-class bathing experience once in a while."


    "I will take your offering then." The burly woman''s expression sweetened, her sternness partially vanishing.


    Then she lifted Aloe.


    "Ah!" Aloe yelped in pain. Thankfully she was donning toughness, so it wasn''t as bad as it could have been. "Mind the hip area please, it is fractured." She added with tears in the corners of her eyes.


    "I am so sorry, venerable scribe." She had never seen a guard show such an expression of regret. It almost made the pain worth it. "I will be more careful in the future."


    "You better be," Ruhena responded to her with a hint of venom.


    "Do not mind her, I am fine." Aloe comforted the guard as she rested between her arms. It baffled her how the woman could maintain her in such a position without showing any tiredness. If she had access to strength it would be different, but having such physical prowess through training alone only reminded the petite scribe how far she was from the sultanzade. "Though I will expect a better service in the bath now."


    "Thank you for your forgiveness, venerable scribe." The guard obliged.


    This was going to be her weapon for the foreseeable future: kindness. A weapon of utmost destruction in the right hands, the feebler the wielder was, the sharper its edge.


    The guard helped Aloe in the bath after the woman herself undressed and once the scribe was rinsed, she was carried to the bath''s hot pool. How can be hot air such a devastating scourge on the body yet hot water such a blessing? The scribe almost fell asleep on the waters, the toll of the journey still heavy in her body. But she remembered this bath was as much as pleasure as it was business.


    Maids poured in the baths to assist the scribes'' experience, but the cultivator paid them no mind.


    "Now," Aloe directed to Ruhena, who also rested her naked body in the pool. She was a beautiful woman, yet compared to the sultanzade she had seen, her complexion seemed lacking. Nonetheless, the commoner appreciated the noble''s beauty more than that of the imperials. The charm stance has devalued the precious currency of beauty, what a shame. "May you inform me of what has happened during my absence?"

 Book 3: 35. Full

    Lulu uncomfortably waited in Aloe''s office. Her help had been needed before, but it was now paramount. The scribe of commoner''s limited mobility meant she needed help for most activities, even the simplest ones. Especially those ones. Her mistress had allowed her to sit down, sometimes she would remind her of that possibility if she had enough presence of mind, but Lulu still refused to do so. She didn''t want her reaction time to be diminished by being sat down, and she acknowledged that Aloe could need her help at any given moment.


    She''s¡­ different. Changed. The maid didn''t comment nor react to the scribe''s gestures, but it was impossible not to think about them. It''s not only that lost gaze, not that different from dead fish, but her antics¡­


    Worry oozed through her being as she saw her mistress glance at the door for the umpteenth time today as if someone was behind it. Those glances came in short bursts, not for long, but frequently enough to worry her.


    The actions shouted insanity, and whilst she didn''t want to doubt of Aloe''s lucidity, she had many reasons to no longer cling to a healthy mind. If only half of what I heard is true¡­ Lulu gulped down saliva, she was polite enough to not make any noise. Then¡­ I don''t know how she is even working right now. Sometimes the craziest people were the ones that acted the most normal, too gone to realize they weren''t themselves anymore, still clinging to that crumbling memory of themselves.


    "Ugh¡­" The scribe groaned and pulled her hair back, her nape resting on the chair''s back. "I need a coffee. Lulu, would you be so dear to get one?"


    "Of course, Aloe." Lulu bowed and made her way out of the office.


    The maid didn''t want to leave the woman alone for long, thankfully enough, substances like tea or coffee were always at hand in the palace. She didn''t even need to go to the kitchens to get a kettle, there was a burning one in a nearby service room. The concept of service rooms was strange to her, even if they were only present on the biggest palaces of Ydaz. Not many places could afford to dedicate full rooms to expedite the many tasks of servants.


    The service room was recently stockpiled as the bowls of fruits shone with life and color. Tea, coffee, and fresh fruit. That''s a bit too much. Lulu pondered whilst she readied the coffee. Maybe I should bring some dates, she likes them. As she made her way out of the service room, she met with another maid ¨C Aya was her name ¨C in the doorway. They didn''t talk to each other, mainly because both of them walked with hasty feet and full plates, but they acknowledged their presence with a nod.


    Lulu knocked on the office door, but as she received no answer, she barged in. Aloe rested on her seat with her eyes closed.


    "Back already?" The scribe commented lazily. "I hoped I could get more of a breather."


    "I could go back if you desire." Lulu offered half-jokingly, half-seriously.


    "No, no. It is fine." Aloe groaned and cracked her neck. "I need that coffee."


    "I also brought dates." The maid left the bowl of fruits in front of the petite woman.


    "Oh, good. I have not had them in a while." Whilst her words implied happiness, her tone was completely dead.


    Aloe blinked slowly as she drank the coffee as if she was asleep. Every gesture of hers felt automatic, without a thought behind it. She ate the dates without much joy.


    "I have found myself lacking sleep these days. Both in quantity and quality." Aloe spoke out of nowhere. "In my current state, my body is only holding up through hopes and dreams, though I have not had those for a long time." She chuckled grimly. "You could say I am being fueled by dark thoughts and nightmares."


    Bad, bad. The maid knew such a mentality would only lead the scribe into a deeper pit. Can I do something? She eyed the room, but only got more justifications of Aloe''s state. Piles upon piles of parchment. She alone needs to deal with all of this¡­ No words came to her mind to solve the woman''s affliction.


    The scribe of commoners had arrived at the palace two days ago, but work was never-ending. Even with the help of her assistants, not much could be done. Protocol stated that the final say fell onto the ruler''s personal scribes. And the scribe of commoners was the personal scribe with more responsibilities.


    More work, lesser pay. Everyone knew what the position of the scribe of commoners entailed. The pay wasn''t that desirable, it was more about status and connections. It allowed a commoner to play noble, especially if the court was as important as Sadina''s. The worst part is she can''t quit. Lulu hadn''t been there when Aloe first arrived at the palace, but according to the snake tongues, she had been forced into the position by the emir. Some people without knowledge thought she had inherited the position from her late mother, but after spending time with the woman, Lulu knew that wasn''t the case. Aloe was ruthlessly efficient and good at her job, but she never showed any joy in performing it. It wasn''t the behavior of someone who wanted the job.


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    Lulu didn''t allow her thoughts to distract her from duty her duty, and as she saw the scribe''s cup empty, she refilled it with more coffee.


    "Thanks, Lulu." Aloe''s words were heartfelt. Slowly but surely. Lulu thought with pride.


    "You are welcome, Aloe." She smiled at the girl.


    "Maybe¡­ but I have the feeling you do not feel the same." What does she mean? "Take a date and do not stand around."


    "Oh¡­" That. "Of course, I am sorry."


    "Do not be sorry for doing your job." The scribe''s words rung¡­ empty. Tainted. Tired.


    Lulu did as commanded and took a date for herself. If it had been any other mistress, she would have eaten in silence, but eating with people was joyful, and Aloe needed all the joy she could get.


    "Hmm~" The maid moaned in pleasure at the sweet taste. "The dates we get in the palace are so incredible. No matter how many I eat of them, I never grow full."


    "Yeah, exa¡­" Aloe''s visage suddenly focused, the sleepiness slapped out of her. "Could you repeat that?"


    "Repeat what? That dates are delicious?" Lulu asked in confusion.


    "The last part."


    "That I never grow tired of them?"


    "No, no. The exact wording."


    "I never grow full?"


    "Yes!" Aloe shouted out of nowhere and placed her open palms on her face, tightening them around her likeness. "Sorry for the outburst." She added a moment later.


    "Is there something wrong, Aloe?" Lulu inquired shyly.


    "No, no. Everything is fine. More than fine." The scribe sighed. "Let us say you solved a headache of mine. Of course, never full. How did I not think of that?" She added the last part lost in thought, in barely a whisper.


    "I am glad to be of assistance." The maid responded with a warm smile. Doing whatever I just did, I guess. I just hope I haven''t played on her insanity.


    <hr>


    Aloe sulked as she noticed a fatal flaw in her plan to increase her maximum vitality. They are going to notice. Those being the sultanzade. If I can feel other cultivators'' maximum vitality, then I must suppose they can do the same. But if either Naila or Rani notices my vitality increasing day by day¡­ Dark thoughts bloomed in her mind.


    At best, they will think I must be reaping people. That was the best outcome, yet it made her sick. She¡­ couldn''t. Even if she knew the theory behind reaping, she couldn''t bring herself to do such nefarious activity, not even to as a fa?ade. She almost puked in the middle of her office at the sheer thought.


    At worst¡­ Aloe paled as she already knew what the worst was. She wouldn''t be the perpetrator of the reaping, but the victim. No¡­ Not again. NOT AGAIN. Her finger twitched erratically and dangerously close to her eyes.


    Calm down. Calm down. She repeated to herself in a mantra. A few seconds later, Lulu came back to the office with a tray in hand, she was none the wiser to the ailing woman''s antics. The scribe had totally forgotten about the maid, her thoughts overpowering her reason.


    The two young women ate in silence, drinking coffee and having a few dates along the way. Trivial conversation sprouted out of them, Aloe didn''t even remember who started. Her mind was elsewhere, still trying to find a solution.


    "Hmm~" Lulu''s rather erotic moan distracted Aloe away from her thoughts, allowing her to focus on the woman''s next words. "The dates we get in the palace are so incredible. No matter how many I eat of them, I never grow full."


    "Yeah, exa¡­" The scribe responded automatically like before, but the maid''s words seeded an idea in her mind. "Could you repeat that?"


    "Repeat what? That dates are delicious?" The maid looked at her with stupefaction.


    "The last part." Aloe could feel the sprouts growing from that thought, the roots digging in.


    "That I never grow tired of them?"


    "No, no." The scribe dismissed the answer. "The exact wording."


    "I never grow full?"


    "Yes!" Aloe shouted in ecstasy, the idea having fully blossomed. "Sorry." Then apologized for scaring the maid.


    "Is there something wrong, Aloe?" Lulu fidgeted nervously in her seat, like a child who had done something wrong and awaited to be scolded.


    "No, no. Everything is fine. More than fine." The scribe sighed. It wasn''t out of exhaustion, but relief. "Let us say you solved a headache of mine. Of course, never full. How did I not think of that?"


    If my maximum vitality keeps growing¡­ then it''s as simple as not filling my deposit! The solution was almost idiotic. So simple yet so beautiful¡­ Aloe held her chuckle, otherwise Lulu would have thought she had gone insane.


    The scribe appraised the date in her fingertips like some sort of gemstone. Evolution sucks the vitality out of me, making it impossible to control. But it isn''t the same with Infusion, I can control the vitality output. I can even leave the infusion halfway if I want¡­ In other words, I can put in however much vitality I want. A single date. That was all she needed to hide her growth not only from the sisters in Sadina, but all the imperials.


    Infusing a tree requires a full adult deposit, meaning that with three dates I can completely remove my current vitality¡­ Aloe smiled. Even if she increased her vitality by unheard magnitudes, she would only need a handful of dates to remain at her thrice as an adult deposit size. And all those calculations were under the supposition that she wouldn''t be evolving plants, which was far from the truth. She would now be able to manage her vitality without raising any suspicion whatsoever.


    "I am glad to be of assistance," Lulu admitted with a welcoming smile.


    Oh, how much I have missed you. If Aloe were a more promiscuous woman, she would have kissed the maid on the spot.

 Book 3: 36. Measurements

    Getting seeds to evolve was easy, easier than Aloe had expected considering her limited mobility. Lulu didn''t mind whatsoever being sent to the bazaar to get things for her, she just shrugged it off saying it was part of her job. That didn''t stop Aloe from allowing the woman to keep the change. She had so much money that she didn''t know what to do with it.


    This wasn''t only because of the ludicrous amount of money she had gained back at Asina, but rather that her living expenses were next to none. Aloe ate, slept, and bathed on the palace as it was rather troublesome getting elsewhere with her wheelchair. The only expenses she had came either in the form of Lulu''s outings or taxes. Taxes that were easily covered by her salary.


    Unlike many years ago, there was no education or health fees or mortgage to be paid. Her family had always found one way to be unable to save up money, mostly through costly education or hospitalization. Amid, Aloe''s father, fell sick before dying, and most of their savings had been spent on trying to save him. A futile endeavor, unfortunately. Something similar happened when Karaim appeared nearly dead on their doorstep months ago, her mother took rather unwise expenses to help her father. Ironically enough, when it was Shahrazad''s time to succumb to sickness, she didn''t take a single coin from the family''s treasury. Not that she would have needed as the palace had paid for all her expenses.


    Another futile endeavor, nonetheless.


    Aloe had found a pattern with her family. One that she didn''t enjoy. Not only did everyone die and leave her alone, but all did through sickness. In Karaim''s case, however, it was a cold that got lucky thanks to the man''s advanced age rather than an outbreak.


    The cultivator would not allow that to happen to her. If she were to go down¡­ it wouldn''t be on a bed. Some said that the best death was in bed surrounded by loved ones, others on the battlefield. Considering she was scarce in the loved ones'' department, Aloe was inclined to take the latter if the occasion popped up.


    Not that she thought she would die from a normal sickness. Toughness made her more resilient, maladies included. If she were to sicken, then her accumulated vitality would assist her to survive.


    She didn''t let the thoughts of death dwindle on her, not others, not hers.


    Vitality poured from her fingertips and into a black seed. Every time her vitality exceeded that of what she had before leaving Sadina, she used it up in one way or another. She wasn''t particularly worried about displaying less vitality than that ¨C partially thanks to her Cure Grass pellets at hand -because maximum vitality could diminish and fluctuate in small intervals. It normally occurs due to sickness or physical afflictions. Aloe had already noticed that during the days she was menstruating, her stances weakened. She assumed this was due to the loss of blood and exhaustion.


    Obviously, once those days passed, her vitality would be back to its normal efficacy, but any other malady could justify a reduction of vitality, even something as simple as lack of sleep.


    The only one who showed constant fluctuations of vitality in the palace wasn''t her though, but the imperial scribe. Naila Asina liked to train too much, leading her body to its extremes. It was common to see her vitality halved from time to time.


    Whilst not slashing throats at the speed of the wind, even staying in the wheelchair was exhausting for Aloe, so appearing to be at ''full'' vitality to the sultanzade was something she did sparely. Better to make them think that she was constantly spent, so much so that it was taking a toll on her Nurture.


    These small games ¨C regulating her vitality in front of the princesses ¨C went on for a few days. Today it marked the first week since she had come back from her ''diplomatic'' mission.


    Aloe did her best during these days, but they had been hectic at best. Her assistants, Idris and Fayruz, wanted to help her, but the protocol was strict about the emir''s personal scribes managing certain affairs. Her limited mobility at least saved her from further diplomatic missions, even if they were on Sadina itself. But what mattered to her was what she managed with the vital arts.


    Recovery was now her de facto internal infusion. She had no reason to don any other internal infusion besides toughness when the pain got a little too great to power through. As much as she wanted to practice with other stances, whether it was getting used to speed or reducing others'' shifting time, her focus was on increasing her maximum vitality.


    Black seeds were her way to go. By now she had a jar full of them. She thought to dispose of them as they were only a liability but disposing of a jar sounded more suspicious. There was, of course, the option of eating them to erase any tracks, but there was a twofold reason why she didn''t do so. First, she would need them in the future. Sure, not all of them, there were already enough in the jar to irrigate a farmland, but if the sultanzade found a single one then it all would be over. Having them all grouped up made no difference whatsoever.


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    Second, she was tired of eating them.


    Unfortunately, to keep up appearances with her stupid excuse, she had been eating black seeds from time to time. This also justified her need to send Lulu to buy them in the first place. They weren''t awful, but there was a reason why people used them as spices rather than eating them directly.


    One thing that bothered Aloe was how she was unable to calculate the effects of Evolution on her vitality. I''ve tried, but no matter how much I try to measure the increases in my deposit, I always fail. The changes were too gradual, and measuring her maximum vitality was already a difficult endeavor. She needed some sort of anchor to compare her deposit, she couldn''t measure herself independently through introspection. If she tried to do so, then sure enough, she could tell when a certain percentage of her vitality had been spent, but she couldn''t know what that percentage was equivalent to.


    It was easier to account for increases with Blossomflame evolutions, they were substantial. Flourishing Springs, on the other hand, not so much. But it was impossible for her to evolve Blossomflames in her current status, she didn''t have enough Cure Grass to do so. The approximated measurements were a guideline at best and risible at worst.


    She had managed to get her hands on grass seeds and a pot, so she had Cure Grass at her disposal. Cure Grass was equal looking to normal grass, albeit slightly bluer and containing a sizeable amount of vitality. Nothing respectable nor noticeable, she could barely detect it and she knew it was there. But sensing other living beings'' vitality wasn''t a straightforward process. Aloe could tell Naila had similar vitality to her, that Lulu had a third of hers, and that Aaliyah had been impossibly superior. But for example, she couldn''t put a number on Rani''s or Fatima''s vitality. It was bigger than her, by a magnitude even, but nothing concrete.


    It would have been easy to leave it at that, no one should find her pot of grass was a magical plant of sorts, but the scribe decided to throw the house out of the window. She bought a lot of pots and amphoras and filled them with several plants. Mostly flowers, but also some basic medicinal plants like chamomile or aloe vera. Her excuse had been simple: "I can''t go to my greenhouse, so I''ll bring it to me." Lulu had been more than happy to assist her with the indoor gardening. Her office now looked like a greenhouse without exaggerating, but unlike the greenhouse, she didn''t need to tend to her plants as someone dutifully watered them each day.


    It sucks I can''t make pellets like this, though. Making Cure Grass pellets to restore her vitality was a lengthy process that required grinding the grass leaves, extracting the aloe vera sap, then combining both substances and letting them rest. As such complex tasks would raise too many questions, Aloe opted to slowly snatch blades of Cure Grass ¨C which were infused with accelerated growth ¨C and smash them in a mortar when she was alone in the office. Without the sap to protect the mush, it quickly dried, but fortunately, it took a fair bit of time for the grass to lose its efficacy once ground.


    The smashed grass was more for emergency scenarios, in case she needed a sudden intake of vitality, as she was more than satisfied with evolving black seeds at the moment. It was the lack of clear measurements that frustrated her.


    Aloe left the newly evolved Flourishing Spring seed alongside the others and put an unevolved one in her mouth. Lulu was with her in the room, watering one of the many pots. The scribe no longer remembered which one had which plant. That was all a fa?ade to cover up the Cure Grass.


    Tranquility, unfortunately, came to an abrupt end as the office''s door swung wide open. Only two people in the palace dared enter without basic courtesy.


    "I think it is time we talked." Rani-al-Sadina ¨C princess of Ydaz, emir of Sadina, and Aloe''s liege ¨C barged into the room.


    Aloe had been expecting this moment for a while now. She had been forced to attend her position since day one of her arrival, no rest had been granted to her. Whilst tyrannical, Aloe couldn''t be angry at Rani for it. She actually thanked the woman. She had been so occupied with work, and if not that then her vital arts, that she hadn''t had time to think. Much.


    She hated thinking as of late.


    "Welcome to my office, Rani," Aloe stated calmly. "Would you like a tea?"


    "I would not refuse one." Saying yes was too simple for imperials.


    Aloe gestured at Lulu to get some fresh tea for them. The maid left the room with a bow. The scribe knew she would be back in a matter of minutes, a couple of them most likely.


    Rani sat down in the chair right in front of Aloe''s desk. Her posture was casual and highlighted the woman''s well-built and curvaceous legs. Shiny and devoid of hair, there weren''t any imperfections on them. Her thighs were that of a goddess. The emir''s eyes shone with light of amethysts, a thing that didn''t go unnoticed by the scribe.


    "What would you like to know, Rani?" Aloe controlled her weakness.


    Strength was imperative and weakness was repulsive, but it had its uses to appear weak before others. It could embolden their enemies and force them into a misstep they wouldn''t have done otherwise. She also started shifting her internal infusion from recovery into glamour. Whilst it wouldn''t affect the emir ¨C or at least, she guessed it wouldn''t ¨C it would give Aloe better control of her emotions. She hated that stance with all her might, yet she knew better than to discard a useful tool. Especially when the person before her was using it shamelessly.


    "For starters¡­" Rani''s voice was seductive and enthralling. It had the beauty her whore of a mother never managed to obtain. "How about everything?"

 Book 3: 37. Displeased

    "I¡­" Aloe slightly trembled. A calculated gesture, but it surprised her how natural it came. Maybe it wasn''t as faux as she thought it was. "Everything is a bit too¡­ open, do you not think so?"


    The scribe soon found out that interacting with Rani wasn''t as easy and straightforward as she remembered. Perhaps it was the fact that these last days she hadn''t truly talked with the woman and had become a bit rusty, or perhaps it was the memories of her woman that affected Aloe. It didn''t help that Rani with the spitting image of Aaliyah, only less muscular and more seductive. She could neither exploit a weakness from her as she had done with Fatima.


    Fatima had been desperate for the aphrodisiac, enough to make a bargain on equal footing with Aloe. But the same couldn''t be said for Rani. The emir was her direct superior, there was no equal footing here.


    "We have time, do we not?" Rani smiled at her; her tone didn''t accept a no for an answer.


    "I¡­" Aloe bit her underlip and avoided the sultanzade''s gaze. "I would prefer not to talk about it if possible, Rani."


    The emir inspected her, she had no reason to suspect her. Logically speaking, the best course of action would be to comply with Rani, but Aloe couldn''t bring herself to talk about it. It was veritable her desire to avoid talking about the events back in Asina. Rani tapped her arm in thought for a few moments before opening her mouth again.


    "As your employer, I believe I am obliged to know about the circumstances. They developed under working hours, after all." Appeal to authority. Aloe recognized that one if not more fallacies in the emir''s arguments, but once people like her pushed a subject, they wouldn''t back down or ¨C at the very minimum ¨C didn''t appreciate being forced to do so.


    "There is nothing you do not already know, Rani." The scribe of commoners replied politely.


    "And what do I know?" The princess twirled her head upward and looked over Aloe''s shoulder. A useless gesture as she could look over her shoulder without the need to do so.


    Aloe almost opened her mouth, but knocks were heard at the door. By the cadency and strength, she recognized them as Lulu''s. "Come in." She appreciated the maid''s entrance as she was going to speak without a plan in mind, and that was the number one reason why people exposed themselves.


    With a bow, Lulu deposited the tray on the desk and served the women a cup each, filling them with steaming tea in artistically delicate motions. "There is honey and sugar for the tea, if the ladies want, plus an assortment of dates and pastries as snacks."


    "Thank you, Lulu. We will be fine by ourselves; you can go now." Aloe told her with a wry smile. Her presence alone may disrupt Aloe, and she didn''t want her in the room to overhear the conversation. The maid was better without listening to the content.


    Lulu dutifully bowed and left the room without making any further comments.


    "Hmm~" Rani hummed melodiously but didn''t elaborate on her thoughts. She picked the honey and laced her tea with it.


    Aloe left her tea untouched. Everything Lulu gave her was to her taste, but the real reason was that she was too nervous to interact with anything. When she looked at Rani''s face¡­ she saw another one.


    "If you made the maid out, I am inclined to think that you are going to speak." Rani gifted herself with a pastry.


    Aloe sighed, her exhalation slightly trembled. "What would you like to know?"


    "I am not sure~" The emir toyed with her pastry as she ate it, but truth be told, Aloe couldn''t detect any falsehood in her words. Not that she had the advantage of acuity as she had been using recovery and was still midway through shifting into glamour.


    "I¡­ would prefer some guidelines, Rani." Aloe tried to be as far from antagonistic as possible.


    "First thing first, what happened on that night?"


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    The petite scribe shut her eyes and took a ragged breath. Straight to the throat, huh? She wanted to cry. She truly and utterly wanted to break into tears, and whilst she wanted to portray weakness, there was a difference between appearing vulnerable and tying a leash around one''s neck. The only positive side of the question that Aloe could see was that the emir watched her wording and was tender with it.


    "Rani, there is nothing you do not know of that had happened that night." Aloe reiterated, fighting with all her might to not step over her words.


    "I am not so sure about that, Aloe." The sultanzade slowly crossed her legs, her feet going needlessly up whilst doing so. Rani busted with erotism in every movement, but Aloe didn''t allow herself to be fooled. "No one mentioned what happened on that night in that room. Sure enough, the evidence was damming, but it is difficult to reach conclusions when neither of the witnesses are willing to talk."


    Witnesses? That''s how you are going to address the situation. The wording molested Aloe, but she did her best to hide it. The perpetrator isn''t a witness! Don''t you know basic law?


    "Nevertheless, the question does not come from where you might think." Rani slumped forward, her skimpy dress following slightly behind her, and she placed her hands on the scribe''s desk. "Aaliyah did not reveal much to me even when I inquired about it, though that led me to ask myself a question. Why was she angry after that night?"


    "A-angry¡­?" The bewilderment partially broke Aloe''s fa?ade.


    "Indeed," the emir nodded. "Aaliyah left your ''meeting'' rather displeased."


    Aloe didn''t know what she was feeling. Her hands were trembling. Her body heated up. Her vision was blurry. Her breathing became rugged. Displeased? Logic collapsed in her mind, nothing made sense. DISPLEASED? She gritted her teeth. Her nervousness became a thing of the past, a joke to even bother to acknowledge. For only one emotion fueled her thoughts. Hatred.


    "I have absolutely no idea what Aaliyah may have found displeasing," Aloe added with scorn, not even bothering to sweeten up the sultanah''s name. "If there were a person to be displeased after the encounter, I would assure you that it would not be her."


    "Of course." Rani nodded in acknowledgment. "You have all the reason in the world to be displeased yourself. Unlike many others, it was not your job to please her. So even responding in displeasure is a rather immature act."


    Rani didn''t hide either her animosity toward her mother, disavowing her reputation at any opportunity. Aloe''s entire being may boil with hate at the thought of Aaliyah, but the sultanzade didn''t fall behind. She had yet to meet one who spoke positively of the sultanah.


    "Either way," the emir continued, "as irascible as Aaliyah may be, she is not an illogical person. So, I am led to think that there was something in your shared time that she did not find up to her liking."


    Aloe squinted at the woman, her hands curling into fists. "I do not know of anything that may fit that criterion." She added straightly without a hint of falsehood.


    "I see¡­" Rani brushed her hair to the side, exposing her ear. Aloe could not understand how such a simple gesture could be that provoking. "I did not expect any answers, to begin with, but knowing you simply do not have them makes it easier on my mind."


    It became apparent to the scribe that the princess knew something she didn''t. She had mentioned talking with the sultanah, but that conversation was beyond her knowledge. What is she looking for? It was nearly impossible to read a person wielding such a powerful charm stance. Aloe had to focus constantly to not lose herself in the maelstrom that was Rani-al-Sadina.


    Rani enjoyed her tea in silence, but the commoner couldn''t bring herself to do the same. Her hands were trembling, and she didn''t want her to see it. There was a limit to how much weakness could be tolerated.


    "I will be going now, then." The sultanzade announced as soon as she left the empty cup on the desk. "We are all pressed for time. Perhaps in the future, once the turmoil from succession has receded, we will be able to talk in a more prolonged manner."


    I hope not. Aloe kept to herself. "But of course," Instead she responded with a smile.


    The emir stood from the chair, her body slithering like a snake. It wasn''t just charm; Rani knew how to move her body to be captivating at all times without the need for Nurture. As she stood at the entrance, a hand on the doorframe, she turned back to look at Aloe. Her smile was cruel, yet it even appeared welcoming to the scribe after she saw what a truly malevolent smile looked like.


    "That reminds me," Rani''s eyes shone like sunlit amethysts, "Naila mentioned she wanted to talk with you. You have not pestered my little sister, have you?"


    "I cannot recall doing so, Rani, no." If it had been another person, Aloe would have been nervous. But she knew how the sultanzade had no love between their siblings. The only thing that joined them was a common hate, though not a common enemy, because as Fatima had shown her, every sultanzade was yet another contender.


    "I see." The princess'' eyes faltered for an instant. Aloe could not interpret the emotion behind them. "Perhaps you should. It would do all of us good."


    Then she left the room. It had been a few minutes, but those had totally drained Aloe. It had never been this difficult talking to Rani, but before she only saw her. Now though¡­ another person stood behind those eyes. A second later, Lulu stepped into the room, clearly having stayed on the outside all this time. The scribe collapsed on her chair before the maid could take a step into the office.

 Book 3: 38. Winds

    The conversation with Rani hadn''t gone exactly well, but Aloe knew it could have been worse. Collapse notwithstanding. Lulu had gotten quite the scare from her lapse, but alas, it had been just that. A lapse of health, nothing too serious. The scribe knew she had been pressuring her body, she hadn''t yet recovered, but the work had to be done.


    First chance I can get out of the palace, I''ll plant a Blossomflame at home. Speeding her recovery through mystic means was her only real opportunity, even if she was already doing that with the regeneration stance.


    The impromptu meeting had shown her how much weaker she was than she thought. She hadn''t been able to shift into glamour during that time! Nine minutes was far too much, regardless of whether she intended to use the stance or not. A couple of minutes for recovery was alright, but some time-sensitive internal infusions like toughness where even a blink was too much.


    She performed her duties like normal the next day. If she had depended a lot on Lulu before, now that was magnified tenfold with her limited mobility. The maid woke her up, cleaned her, brought her breakfast, dressed her, and then pushed her wheelchair to the audience hall every day. Aloe was capable of doing so herself, but every day the same discussion would arise, and every day she would lose it as Lulu would have none of it. The collapse had been the last drop that overflowed the glass.


    Audiences weren''t hostile to her, at least not as much as let alone breathing had been on Asina. The many participants of these daily events regarded her with amiability laced with touches of pity. Tamara, the scribe of commerce, was the only one who was actively supporting her, though that didn''t mean that the rest actively acted against her. Ruhena, the newly appointed noble scribe, was respectful toward her, which was sufficient for Aloe. Considering she was a noble, not being antagonistic was more than a victory enough for her. Nuha, the scribe of scholars, didn''t mind her. But that woman didn''t mind anyone, not even Rani, so that wasn''t a surprise.


    Lastly, Naila.


    Aloe didn''t have anything positive to say about the imperial scribe. If someone was antagonizing her in the palace, it was Naila Asina. Not even Rani, who was the one with more power over her, had acted with such hostility. Sure, she didn''t voice out any hurtful words, but everyone was aware of her lack of¡­ kinship toward Aloe. If the sultanzade hadn''t done anything by now, Aloe was sure because Rani had held her off.


    The problem wasn''t that Naila was looking at her badly, but that she was looking at her at all. The young princess donned her sense stance during audiences, meaning Aloe could never relax and let her vitality falter. She always hid black seeds and dates under her clothes that she could either evolve or infuse when the situation arose. Mainly infuse, as Flourishing Spring evolutions needed too much vitality. If she suddenly lost enough vitality to fuel an adult man, then even Rani would feel it.


    Neither party had acknowledged it, but it was a game of sun and moon. Naila always looked at her trying to find some oddity, but much like the sun, she could never catch up to the moon. Aloe would have preferred that the princess stopped doing so, but the ever-present sense of urgency and danger made her focus on the audience.


    Not only she was able to perform her duties perfectly but had enough presence of mind left to practice her stances. Unfortunately, she wasn''t able to practice her much-lacking charm as it would have been instantly detected even by non-cultivators, but there were others that needed practice. Namely strength and recovery.


    Unlike haste, glamour, or even acuity to a point, these internal infusions couldn''t be detected with a glance, so they were her best option. It took Aloe around two minutes to change either of them, so each day she could only get so much as a modicum of practice. Not much though, as she couldn''t pressure herself enough to become sick. Each shift was followed by a five-minute rest, if not more because she had an audience to participate in.


    This day''s audience had finally ended, granting Aloe a moment to breathe. As always, Nuha was the first one to leave the hall. She always found the scholar''s attitude endearing, even if a lot of servants criticized her for her lack of work ethic. The thing was, Nuha did her job as the scribe of scholars, and she did it well. She just fled before anyone else could dump more work into her, and as a fellow coworker, Aloe could only congratulate her boldness.


    Aloe knew the basics of every of her scribe companions and she was aware that they all had their own private lives and other professions. Nuha, for starters, was also the figurehead of the university of Sadina. Perhaps not a headmistress, but her influence was peerless in the scholarly circles of the city. Tamara had multiple enterprises, whether they were banks or mercantile companies. Ruhena was the heiress of her house, whose name Aloe hadn''t yet bothered to remember even if she had introduced herself many days ago now. And Naila¡­ she existed.


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    It was a disservice to the young woman because Aloe neither had anything else going for her life. Her public life at least. In that sense, Naila was more occupied than her as she was constantly training or having classes. As it would seem, her education hadn''t been finished when she came to Sadina, meaning she had to be tutored. Of course, as an imperial princess, she didn''t go to a school, teachers came to her.


    The scribe of commoners remained in the empty audience hall for a while. Even if she wanted to sprint out of it, her wheelchair didn''t help.


    "Aloe," A voice could out for her, and she instantly noticed Ruhena coming to her. "Have you heard of the embargo on Loyata?"


    "I cannot say I have, no." Aloe swayed her head. "Though this topic does not sound like something you should talk with me. Tamara would be more interested, Ruhena."


    They already went by name basis, without the need for titles, after they warmed up to each other on the last week. Unlike some sultanzade she knew, the woman wasn''t antagonistic and she herself was also desperate for allies. Aloe''s theory for the moment was that Ruhena was part of a failing noble house that would do anything to stay afloat and that was the exact reason why Rani had recruited her. Gaining the unconditional loyalty of a noble house by saving it seemed like a move Rani would make.


    "I believe she is already aware of it." The noble scribe revealed. "But no, this is not a work affair. I guess you could classify it as gossip."


    "I see¡­" If it was menial talk, she could indulge in it. "What is this embargo that you are talking about then?"


    "Apparently, Loyata has put some stops in commerce with Ydaz as of late. Mainly some customs restrictions. Their maritime routes with Pincerare and Seviren still hold strong though."


    "Not to act like a know-all, but that does not sound like an embargo. Just some local mercantile politics. If there were a nationwide embargo in place, we would have heard about it a long time ago."


    Ruhena shrugged. "Snake-tongues, you know how they are. I just repeated word by word what I heard. I also thought they were exaggerating."


    "But stops in trade, huh¡­" Aloe knew better than to listen to the hissings of snake-tongues, but it would be equally foolish to ignore them. "Do you know ¨C by any chance ¨C what goods are being interrupted?"


    "That was where I was getting at. The merchants are not stopping Ydazi caravans from entering Loyata, but rather the opposite. Any caravans transporting food toward Ydaz are stopped before they leave the country."


    "Curious¡­" Aloe put a crooked finger on her lips, "and smart."


    "Smart? What do you mean?" The well-dressed scribe inquired.


    "I mean, if they were stopping Ydazi merchants, it would escalate into an international conflict. But if they do only restrict their own merchants, then there is no diplomatic foundation for Ydazi interjection."


    "I think I know where you are getting at."


    "Now, food is one of Ydaz''s most important imports. Though there is a surplus of basically any other products, the sultanate is always at a shortage of food, even with the many blessed fields." Fields boosted by Aaliyah''s own vitality. "And unlike many other trade goods, food is essential."


    "They are trying to weaken us." It wasn''t a question, but a statement that came out of the noblewoman''s mouth.


    "Most likely, yes." Aloe shrugged.


    "Why are you not worried then?" Ruhena''s orange eyes were directed at her. They lacked the glint common in sultanzade. "This feels like a conflict in the making."


    "Probably just a local skirmish. There are many of those each month." Ydaz''s frontiers were big, and its enemies were many. Even with a long-standing manufactured peace, that didn''t mean the country was foreign to battles.


    "And what if it is not?" Worry blossomed in the noble''s face. She looked feeble to Aloe''s eyes. Weak. "I do not like the winds are blowing, Aloe. What if it is something bigger? What if it is a¡­" Ruhena encroached on the wheelchair and whispered to Aloe''s ears, "¡­war?"


    I hope so. They all should burn in separate hells so their eternal torment is a solitary one! Aloe coughed, hiding her lack of decorum. "The country is more than prepared for that if the occasion arises. And if it were, our duties would not change. The one who would need to change their routine would be the imperial scribe."


    "That is what worries me." Ruhena talked, her face free of imperfection close to Aloe''s. "Sadina''s emirate borders Loyata, and I do not believe she is ready."


    "Oh." I get it now. "I understand where your lack of confidence comes from, but Scribe Naila is more than suited for warfare." Perhaps too much. She left the last part unsaid. "Nevertheless, I recommend you to relax. I cannot see the conflict reaching Sadina any time soon."


    "But what if it does?" Ruhena was older than her, yet her nervousness made her look like a child to Aloe.


    Then we run. "Then we have the sultanzade to defend us." The scribe of commoners added with a smile.


    "You trust them that much?" The heading meaning behind her struggling visage. It screamed: After all that happened to you? The noble wouldn''t have had that reaction if she knew what subterfuge was hiding in plain sight.


    "I trust in their strength." The commoner responded diplomatically. It was no lie; Aloe couldn''t see the sultanzade lose. For better or worse.


    Mostly worse.


    "I see¡­" Ruhena clasped her hands together before her crotch as she fidgeted. Aloe saw herself in her, a self that had died a few months ago. She didn''t doubt the same would happen to the noblewoman, and Aloe hated herself for it. "It seems I have distracted you for too long. I will get going then."


    Once she was left alone, Aloe exhaled. She took a date busting with vitality and cracked it with her teeth. She could also see the winds of change, and she wouldn''t allow herself to be swayed by them. Not anymore.

 Book 3: 39. Bare

    Aloe carried her heart in her hand as she moved through the palace''s corridors. It was lunchtime, meaning silence reigned everywhere but the dining hall. The silence was good. Not only was the sound of wind crashing against the windows and arches comfortable, but it made it easier to detect people with acuity. The less noise, the better.


    She had a destination in mind, and it wasn''t eating with the rest. She hadn''t done since she had arrived at Sadina. If it wasn''t because she had to travel with people to get back, she would still haven''t eaten with people for a few months now. They said that eating with people was better, but that notion now only gathered bile in her throat.


    Her arms were tired from pushing the wheels, her wheelchair hadn''t exactly been thought for patients to drive themselves. She could have used strength or no stance at all ¨C which would have still boosted her effective physical capabilities that mattered ¨C but she felt vulnerable in the chair. So vulnerable that not donning toughness or acuity made her sick. She needed some protection, otherwise she felt something ¨C someone ¨C would attack her. She needed to be prepared for it.


    A lapse in the flow of wind alerted her.


    The scribe would have jumped in her chair if it wasn''t because her body had convinced itself to move as little as possible to remove any unwanted pressure from her hips. She paid close attention to her sense of touch and hearing, then found the change of flow wasn''t an attack directed at her. It came from her left, where there was a patio and¡­


    Naila Asina practice in the opening. It wasn''t an uncommon sight-seeing the young sultanzade practice, especially after or before lunch, sometimes both. Somehow, moving at such high speeds with her stomach full didn''t faze her in the least.


    It shouldn''t have been a surprising sight, yet a single oddity made Aloe stop breathing. The princess had opted for a different outfit. Or rather lack of it, as the imperial practiced bare naked.


    Bare naked was a bit of an exaggeration, as the girl had a loincloth covering her sensitive parts, but that was nowhere enough. Aloe thought her decency and chastity had beaten out of her, but seeing the young woman''s chest exposed as she practiced her movements with ruthless discipline awoke those long-dead emotions. Y-you could at least use a sash or something! She didn''t express her shame aloud, but she felt her cheeks slightly heat up.


    Soldiers practiced their martial arts naked from time to time, Aloe knew that. It was one thing practicing swordsmanship or spearsmanship with light armor on to emulate a battle, but when it was about building one''s body, soldiers and guards did it naked. Especially during hot and sunny days, which allowed their bodies to build resistance to the harsh desert marches. Aloe remembered one of the many times she had been brought to a training field when she was younger when Uncle Jafar was babysitting her. Tens of men line up hitting the air with repeated motions, their bodies glistening with sweat.


    It was the same with Naila. There was no lewdness in her. Quite literally at that. The girl was so focused on her martial training that her body''s growth had adapted to it. Unlike her sisters ¨C or mother ¨C she didn''t have ample bosoms. It could also be true that she had yet to blossom, as she was only fifteen, yet Aloe doubted it. Her body had also grown wider than taller, favoring muscle mass before anything else. She was more muscular than Aaliyah yet paradoxically feebler. The answer, of course, resided in the disparity of vitality.


    In the almost two months the scribe of commoners had been out, the imperial scribe had increased her vitality deposit. Not much considering Aloe''s own growth during her first two months, but significantly, nonetheless.


    Her eyes soon wandered elsewhere as the training sultanzade didn''t give much game. The girl''s discipline was too potent for Aloe to feel something as she practiced her katas. Instead, the scribe focused on the woman waiting on the patio next to Naila. It was none other than the guard who had assisted her in the bath when she arrived at the palace a week ago.


    The guard didn''t talk to her, but she nodded at Aloe, her gratitude visible. Surprising how a single bath can make people so amenable. Though the guard dutifully maintained her position, Aloe gestured her to come forward. Considering how she didn''t doubt to come to her side, the scribe guessed she didn''t have orders to stand with her back straight and was doing it out of her own volition.


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    "You called, venerable scribe?" The guard directed at her respectfully.


    "I indeed have." Aloe nodded, mindfully keeping her hands hidden.


    She was constantly infusing vitality into dates at a slow rate in the case Naila could detect her vitality levels increase. It was mentally straining to perfectly match her vitality regeneration, but she had gained practice during this morn''s audience. She could only be thankful that as the scribe of commoners she was positioned on the opposite side from the imperial and noble scribe. Rani still remained in the center of the formation, but Tamara and Nuha were closer to her. Even then, Aloe believed if someone was to notice her vitality, it was going to be Naila. She had once voiced her concerns over Aloe''s vitality before.


    "I have something to ask you, if that is not much problem." The scribe of commoners resumed.


    "I will do my best to answer you." The guard replied solemnly with a hand on her chest.


    "It is nothing serious, no need to be so¡­ chivalrous." Aloe dedicated the woman a wry smile. Warm. Welcoming. Yet darkly calculating. Interactions ¨C as of late ¨C had become more of a game board than good-willed socializing. "I was just inquiring about the soldiers that escorted me to Sadina, Captain Jamal and his men. Do you know if they have already marched away?"


    "I am afraid so, venerable scribe." The guard stayed upright at her side. Anyone looking at the woman would have mistaken her for Aloe''s personal guard. "The imperial soldiers left Sadina only a couple of days after your arrival."


    "I see. What a shame. I hoped to bid them farewell, they were good and capable men."


    "Indeed." She nodded.


    "Hmm, you make it sound as if you knew them."


    "Well¡­ I cannot say I knew the imperial soldiers, but in the days they stayed, I managed to exchange swords with them."


    "Is that enough to know that they are good men?" Aloe snooped with interest. "Not to undermine your opinion, but I have traveled with them for a full week, yet you talk with the same confidence as I over a spar."


    "I do not intend to disparage your venerable profession, but I talk with a soldier''s mentality when I say that you cannot understand the value and emotion that goes over and into an exchange of swords." The woman''s righteousness struck Aloe true. That was something that couldn''t be faked.


    It had been hard as of late to find true words. Everyone who spoke at her either veiled their words in small lies byproduct of exaggeration ¨C if not outright subterfuge ¨C or talked down on her with their pity. There was something endearing in hearing someone talk out their heart with utmost certainty. For she was incapable of doing so.


    "You are right, I am wholly incapable of imagining that." Aloe only saw savagery in their strikes ¨C either of sultanzade, guards, or soldiers ¨C even if she could understand the practice and discipline behind every swing. "And how were they? Their ability, I mean."


    "Superb." The guard taciturnly responded deep in thought, something had her mind locked in a trance and it wasn''t hard to imagine what. "Apologies, I should elaborate. Anyone can follow katas and replicate them, it is only a matter of time before they do them correctly, but these men ¨C especially Jamal ¨C they were different. Even when they were warming up, there was an intent behind those katas that I had never seen before. As if they understood the purpose of each movement, the influence of every muscle with each swing."


    As the guard''s eyes were lost in thought, Aloe now realized how beautiful the woman was. It should have not surprised her, for even if she was a guard, they were in the palace of Sadina now. It wouldn''t surprise her if any of the sultanzade sisters decided to reap her.


    For in her mind, it wasn''t an if, but a when.


    "How about the sparring?" Aloe broke the silence, even if there wasn''t much to begin with as Naila continued breaking the air with the swings of her dual blades. "You cannot drop the subject of sword exchanges being that important and then not describe it."


    "Oh, I apologize, venerable scribe." The guard knelt down at the scribe''s side, the metal pieces of her leather chest plate clinging with the movement. "I, Nesrine, beg your pardon."


    "No need to be so formal. Stand up proud and tell the story once and for all." Nesrine, huh? Unlike servants, Aloe wasn''t expected to learn the names of the guards. If she had been a noble, though, no one would have battened an eye if she just directed servants by ''you''. Something, something, both of them being commoners. Aloe didn''t care, but the truth was she didn''t know most of the names of the servants of the palace. She only needed Lulu.


    "Of course." Nesrine stood up. "Though I am afraid words will not do justice, at least mine. Perhaps you would do well in asking our training princess." There was no derision in her tone, she was being serious.


    "How is that?" Aloe raised a brow.


    "She fought them, naturally."

 Book 3: 40. Blades

    Aloe blinked multiple times then after she gave it half a thought, all the stupefaction left her body. "You know what, that does not surprise me at all."


    The scribe dedicated a short gaze to the naked swordswoman, still moving at vertiginous speeds regardless of her sweat-laden body. She''s going to dehydrate before she tires out, huh?


    "Quite indeed." Nesrine''s eyes glittered in¡­ a mixture of awe and respect. It was hard to make a distinction even with acuity. "The barracks got plenty agitated those days. I only exchanged swords with Captain Jamal, nothing else, nothing more. The imperial soldiers were so pressed for time and opponents that I could not be granted a first-blood duel. But even in a back-and-forth, I could feel the pressure of his blade. I wish you could have seen it, venerable scribe. I am sure his blade could bisect an assassin with a single swing."


    The female guard talked with childlike glee at the notion of cutting people in half.


    "I am rather inclined to thank my luck for not having seen his skills." The scribe of commoners replied diplomatically. "That was quite the¡­ image."


    Aloe could see the picture clearly with her eyes. The blood. The gore. The exposed bones. Why¡­ why I see it this clearly? I¡­ never seen a man''s insides¡­ Her heart rate became erratic for a single blink, the blood and death being all too familiar to her. She didn''t allow herself to show that weakness to Nesrine.


    "Going back to Naila¡­" She continued with a halfhearted attempt. "I suppose they allowed a sultanzade to fight them to a true duel, right?"


    "I¡­ guess you could say so, yes."


    "I smell doubt at that response." Quite literally. Acuity didn''t make her able to smell deception, but it was true people smelled differently when nervous.


    "Well, Her Highness has fought the imperial soldiers alright, and to a duel at that, but I do not know if I could call it a true duel¡­" The guard diverted her gaze to the maelstrom of a girl.


    Naila''s blades cut through the wind in mechanical yet organic movements, uncaring of the gossiping women.


    "Ah," Aloe grunted in understanding, "I believe I understand what you are implying."


    "If your thoughts are that she fought the four imperial soldiers at once, then you are correct."


    Aloe too glanced at the sultanzade wielding the speed stance. "I do not want to sound repetitive with this much reiteration, but that does not surprise me at all."


    "I knew the sultanzade were blessed with the strength of Sultanah," That''s one way of putting it, yes, "but her speed left me awestruck once I saw it in action. Princess Naila is faster than thoughts, and she showed that to us all."


    Considering she has three and a half-ish times the amount of vitality of a normal adult¡­ no, she isn''t faster than thoughts. For that would mean Aloe too would be as fast. But at the same time, much like strength, the speed stance is a multiplicator. And Naila is way faster than me by default. If I could, I would train. If there was someone conscious of the multiplicative effects of the Nurture stance, it was Aloe Ayad. That was the sole reason why she was confident in her toughness and acuity, for those were things that couldn''t be trained and she was born with.


    "The princess managed to keep at bay all the four soldiers at once, though at the same time, they were all at an impasse. Princess Naila was faster, but certainly outnumbered and not as strong. If she lunged for a soldier, an opening appeared for the three others to exploit. But at the same time, they couldn''t get to draw blood on her. Her mastery of her dual tulwars is significant for her age, and she knows that with such weapons it is better to parry or deflect than to outright block attacks."


    The scribe understood the words, but they didn''t much sense to her. She lacked the battle sense that Nesrine boasted in her exalted description. Haste. If I get to the point where I can switch between haste and toughness in a blink, I would be untouchable. It was easy to dream, but Aloe was too pragmatic to lead herself to delusions. Unfortunately, with my current vitality ¨C let alone the state of my hips ¨C I would fall to the ground in less than three steps. The increased factor of speed would be too much for me to process.


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    Aloe wasn''t amazed at the young sultanzade''s martial prowess or swordsmanship. No. What surprised her was her control and finesse in the speed stance. For in Naila''s hands, such blurry movements to the eye appeared nothing more than a casual stroll.


    Nesrine continued dictating the imperial scribe''s prowess, but soon enough, said girl had enough of her practice. They had been watching her, but if they hadn''t, they would have known the instant the sound blades ceased ravaging the skies.


    Finally, silence was made.


    Only to be promptly substituted by heavy panting. Naila slouched her back forward, breathing hard from her mouth. Not only her uncovered chest raised up and down but also her whole body. Her eyes pointed to the ground in exhaustion but with the crack of her neck, she unceremoniously dropped her weapons to the ground and slouched backward, her face pointing to the skies.


    Ah. Aloe admired the girl''s exhausted posture. Much like her hasty katas, it was an image worthy of a picture. Her skin glistened with sweat, leading the scribe to look at the puddle on the ground. It was as if someone had dropped an amphora, but she knew all had come from the sultanzade. Arched backward and panting from exhaustion, Naila Asina looked like the epitome of endeavor.


    "Nesrine, water." The princess commanded, her voice hoarse and dry.


    "On my way, princess!" The guard unlatched from Aloe''s side and rushed to Naila, not before grabbing an amphora along the way. Looking by the way she grabbed the pottery with difficulty, it was clear it was full to the brim.


    The moment Nesrine was next to her, Naila snatched the full amphora as if it was nothing and poured it over her body, opening her mouth to let some of the spilled water enter her body. It was obvious to Aloe that Naila had switched to strength. Not more than half a minute to switch stances, though that''s barely surprising if she''s known stances longer than I. Even in a month of pure, uninterrupted stance-switching training, Aloe had only managed to bring a single stance to less than half a minute, namely defense. Though that stance was far from being able to be counted in seconds now.


    If Naila wasn''t soaked before with all that sweat, she definitely was now. But the difference in panting was instantaneous as the exhaustion vanished from the sultanzade with just a refreshment. Naila shook her head alike a wet cat would do, then peered directly into Aloe.


    "So what do you want, woman?" The princess looked over the commoner''s shoulder.


    They had similar heights before, but now the wheelchair did a disservice to Aloe. The scribe of commoners maintained her composure, her hands still hidden from sight, and her internal infusion switched to acuity.


    "I had the impression that it was you who wanted to see me, princess." She didn''t smile at Naila. Not only because she didn''t want, but because she knew people like her took it as an offense.


    "I do not know where you have gotten such ideas." The sultanzade swiftly kicked one of the tulwars on the ground with her bare foot and launched it upwards, masterfully grabbing it midair. "What has given you such an impression?" Then repeated the same motion for the other.


    "I guess the blame falls on the attention you have given to me." An aggressive message hidden under the pretense of a personal and subjective guess. She avoided mentioning that Rani herself said that Naila wanted to see her as that felt like the ''wrong'' answer. If she hadn''t addressed the summon, it was for something.


    Naila blew some air and clicked her tongue. She gave Aloe her back and directed herself to a nearby bench whilst she carried both blades in the same hand.


    "Nesrine, would you mind?" Aloe pointed with her head at the wheelchair.


    "Of course not, venerable scribe." The guard pushed the petite woman towards the bench.


    Aloe didn''t need to be pushed around ¨C even if the uneven and sandy terrain of the patio made wheelchair-bound movement difficult ¨C but it gave the image of weakness. Naila had been observing her all over the week, even passing in front of her office more than one time without ever entering. She didn''t know if the sultanzade suspected something, but the best she could do was undermine herself.


    The princess donned a linen shirt and pants ¨C something expected more of a commoner ¨C along with a heavy leather belt where she sheathed her weapons. She left the shirt unbuttoned, which gave her a certain allure, especially with her still-wet body as the thin clothes adhered to her skin.


    "It is true that I have been observing you, Aloe Ayad." Full name, that''s never good. "But you are overstepping if you think that means I want something from you." Aaand she wants something from me.


    "Then what can I do for you to be of assistance." The wheelchair-bound woman smiled at the armed girl on purpose.


    Naila became a blur. Her body disappeared from her previous position, no longer in a relaxed posture, but right in front of her with a blade unsheathed. Aloe didn''t react to the tulwar, not out of lack of reflexes, but precisely for a surplus of them. She had nothing to fear, for she had already donned a stance of her own.


    It took a full second for Nesrine to process what had happened as she announced so with a yelp, but the guard didn''t intervene.


    "I do not believe I can be your sparring partner, Scribe Naila." Aloe dropped a degree of formality with her honorifics. "Not only my current predicament makes it difficult ¨C if not outright impossible ¨C but I lack any formal martial training."


    She didn''t allow herself to be intimidated. She was no longer wielding acuity, but she could see it in Naila''s eyes. She was toying with her. Even with a sharp edge next to her neck, Aloe kept her cool. She had experienced worse. Far worse. The worst.


    "No reaction?" The sultanzade mussed and withdrew her blade. "Where is the barely-a-woman that shed tears when I grabbed her? What happened during your absence?"


    "You know it very well." Aloe''s tone turned darker, the corners of her mouth raising to maddening degrees. "I found someone who actually scared me."

 Book 3: 41. Princesses

    Naila hated being summoned. It reminded her of how she had less freedom than she thought. That she was always on a leash like some sort of camel. And unlike the commonfolk, she was lucid enough to see the rope tied around her neck. Perhaps she couldn''t be considered an emir yet, but her sheer birth made her someone at the level of a sheikh. She was a princess of the Ydazi Sultanate, for heaven''s sake!


    Unfortunately for her, the summon came from another princess, and an emir at that.


    The scribe shoved the bedroom doors open, not bothering to hide her displeasure.


    "You know," her half-sister started without bothering to look at her, "I kept the place free of servants because I knew you would do that. One maid evacuated on the spot when you did that once. I wished you stopped, but alas, door swinging is the least of the things I should bother myself enforcing into you."


    "Day to you too, sister." Naila wielded her words with a stern hand.


    "Ah, I guess they are not good, then?" Rani-al-Sadina twirled her head to face her. The woman was doing her hair in front of a mirror.


    Naila would have asked herself why she was doing herself that instead of calling for a maid, but this was by far the first time she had seen her half-sister do her hair alone.


    "Are they ever good?" The young sultanzade scoffed and unceremoniously dropped herself on the emir''s bed. It was odiously comfortable. But no one forced her to sleep on top of a slate of wood but herself. It was easier that way. Her posture corrected itself whilst sleeping, her bones grew stronger against the ruggedness, and because it was hanging from the ceiling, no snakes could get to her. Sometimes assassins didn''t even need to come personally to do their job.


    "Ha!" The emir clacked loudly as she brushed her hair. "That was, perhaps, the wisest thing you have ever said, dear Naila."


    "I love you too, sister," Naila said with the same compassion an executioner that spat on the eyes of a soon-to-be-executed would.


    "Do you know why I have called you here?" Like always, her half-sister chanted melodiously every word she uttered. A byproduct of her charm.


    Rani-al-Sadina was paradoxically the strongest and weakest sultanzade to exist. Her charm existed in realms impossible to anyone else, but every other stance she lacked. Naila didn''t even know how it was possible, Nurture didn''t work like that. But her weakness didn''t come from her lacking stances. Any sufficiently powerful stance was a weapon to reckon with, even the most useless ones. A high enough stealth would make you undetectable and recovery could make you ¨C if not immortal ¨C untirable. Which was almost the same for cultivators.


    The emir of Sadina''s weakness came from her strength. For she activated her stance involuntarily. It was as if her charm was so strong and her body so weak that it overruled her. A pawn to her own power and desires. And even if it didn''t happen as commonly, her charm stance deactivated independently from time to time. If Rani were a warrior on a battlefield, that would be a death sentence. The emir obviously knew that, for not once had she ever wielded a blade.


    Naila wasn''t dim enough to not see that the woman''s weapons weren''t beholden by her hands but by her mouth. And as much as she wanted to call her half-sister a cocksucker, she meant her words.


    "No, I do not know why you have summoned me." The imperial scribe finally answered. The emir didn''t mind the wait, satisfied enough to be occupied with her hair.


    "Guess then." Rani hummed to herself.


    "You will not say it is the lessons again, right?" Naila groaned at the idea.


    "Luckily for your sanity, no." The harmonious woman confirmed. "It is quite fascinating how your teachers are vexed with you. On one hand, you are a horrendous student. Always raising your voice, never listening to the lessons, and skipping them more than once. Yet on the other, you always fulfill any assignment and respond to any question with absolute perfection. You drive them insane."


    "Good." The young sultanzade added cuttingly, prompting a snicker from her half-sister.


    "No, your lessons are going fine. Regardless of your thoughts, you will blossom into a fine lady. If you had fewer muscles and a duller tongue, Aaliyah would surely have loved to marry you away somewhere."


    "Like you?" Naila raised her upper body and looked straight at the mirror. The sister''s gazes met on the reflected surface.


    "That idea did not come to fruition now, did it?"


    "Because the previous emir suddenly vanished."


    "Yes. How fortuitous, do you think not?" Rani-al-Sadina''s smile contained more venom than snakes or poisoned daggers.


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    Naila didn''t joke this time. That wasn''t the smile one couldn''t afford to ignore. The cultivator didn''t forget that different battlefields required different weapons. She could lunge at her half-sister and snap her neck in a blink, but their dearest mother would be utmostly displeased with the loss of a capable governor and would kill her without a doubt. It didn''t help that Rani was also Aaliyah''s favorite daughter by sheer virtue that she was the only one who hadn''t needed to be forced into a bed at a young age. Naila still remembered how she cracked her fingers one by one and then snapped them into place until she accepted to bed a servant, whether it was a man or a woman. It had taken three iterations before she had broken into tears and accepted.


    That had been barely a year ago.


    Now it felt like an eternity ago.


    As Naila didn''t respond to Rani''s retort, the emir finally voiced out the answer she was looking for. "You know exactly what you have done."


    "I may," Naila admitted without pretense. "And what?"


    "You threatened my scribe. Under my roof." The coldness of her tone, the fact that she didn''t raise her voice, and her burning eyes all acted together to send shivers down Naila''s spine.


    Rani was weak, every sultanzade knew it, yet no one acted against her. Know she was beginning to understand why.


    "Have I?" The young sultanzade added, but it was not a witty retort, if not a veritable question. "Sister, that woman was not scared of me. Your toy did not flinch when I put a blade against her neck."


    The emir didn''t instantly respond. She left her brush on the furniture before her and sighed. "Do you know why?"


    Naila didn''t recognize ¨C or rather couldn''t ¨C if it was a rhetorical question or not. "It was mother. She broke her, like she did with us."


    "¡­I see." Some would have said it was sadness in the emir''s eyes. But Naila Asina knew better. She saw the boiling rage hidden behind them. She had been stolen, after all.


    Considering their conversation was over, Naila stood from the bed, ready to depart from the bedroom.


    "Wait." In the harsh coldness of Rani-al-Sadina''s voice, an agonizing sultriness hid behind it. Even if she was her half-sister, Naila couldn''t help but be enthralled. "There is more I would like to talk about."


    "What now?" Naila rested her shoulder on the wall, her blade clinging against it. "I am being your beautiful and political puppet. I am doing all the governance classes, managing the scribe affairs, and even sending scouts around the border with that whole deal with Loyata. What else do you want?"


    "Your Nurture." The young sultanzade instantly tensed at the words, faintly reaching for her weapons. "You are being too aggressive with your reaping."


    Oh. Nince-damned daughter of a bitch, you scared me. Naila relaxed at the clarification. Incest wasn''t the issue for her, but the fact that she could have her strength stolen. Considering how little sultanzade knew each other, and their different fathers, they might as well have been distant third cousins even if blood didn''t work that way.


    "What is exactly the issue?" She shrugged.


    "That I keep hearing the snake-tongues talking how children keep being devoured by the sultanzade." The emir sighed as she rubbed her temples.


    "That?" Naila chuckled. "Oh, come on, you cannot be serious. One boy a day does not harm anyone."


    "Yes, it does."


    "Who? The boys?" The young sultanzade squinted. "You know how they are. They will only boast about having their cherry popped this young."


    "Our reputation, Naila." Rani sternly remarked. "Our reputation."


    "What reputation?" The muscled girl replied with the same tone. "Even if we would not do what they said we do ¨C which we actually do, mind you ¨C they would still call us whores for mother''s existence''s sake alone."


    "You can change that."


    "We cannot."


    "Yes, here. In Sadina." The emir explained. "We are no longer in Asina. We are the rulers here."


    You don''t even believe that. Naila was close to saying that to her half-sister''s face. Only a hairwidth of wisdom kept her from voicing it.


    "It would seem you forget something, sister." The word weighed on her tongue. "I am one of those children. Maybe your delusions of grandeur and your cowardness have blinded you, but I am not a woman yet by law. Some of those who you call children have been older than me. You have no right to talk about reputation when a boy who is nearly a man comes to me wishing to be a true man before the year ticks by and I take a small commission in the shape of his vitality. If you really think I should not go for children, then you should not toy with those who look younger than me."


    Naila hadn''t pointed out anyone, yet both princesses knew who she was referring to.


    "It is completely different," Rani spoke slowly. "I have never, ever, gone with someone who was not a consenting adult."


    "Ah, because consent has always been such a priority to you."


    "Do. Not. Joke. About. That." The charming princess stood up and slapped the furniture. "Only barbarians and criminals do not respect consent."


    "Like mother?" Naila grinned.


    "Like mother," Rani answered seriously with the coldness of every hell to exist.


    Naila''s mind wandered about another fact though. If Lady Perfect here had never gone to anyone but consenting adults, that meant she had ¨C since young ¨C only been with adults. That single slip revealed so many things, some more uncomfortable than others, but Naila didn''t bring it forward. She was trekking on dangerous sands already, and growing animosity for the sake of conflict would have not done anyone a favor.


    What truly mattered here was that consent wasn''t what Rani cared about, but not being like Aaliyah-al-Ydaz.


    "Alright, alright." The young princess raised her arms in defense. "I will not seek dubious prey." She ceded. "But I would like a toy of my own. Someone smaller, easier to gnaw, perhaps durable ¨C even unbreakable ¨C if you will."


    But if Naila Asina was something, it was a hypocrite.


    "She is mine," Rani growled.


    "You are not even bothering to hide it anymore, sister." Naila grinned. "What if she does not want you? What about then? If you are turned down, then does that mean I can have it?"


    "No one turns me down. There is no one that does not desire me." Rani-al-Sadina''s eyes shone in sensual and appetizing amethyst.


    Fuck. Naila switched to stealth stance. Not many people knew it, but the stance''s property of undetectability also made it harder for charm stances to focus oneself as the charm stance adapted to nearby people. You fucking bitch. It took all her willpower to not lunge at the woman. She didn''t know if it was out of murderous intent or lust.


    "I am out," Naila stated and left the room. Rani didn''t stop her. She didn''t know what had happened in those last seconds, but she didn''t want to experiment with it again. Their family was far from functional, but for the first time, she desired to kill someone of her kin that wasn''t her mother.

 Book 3: 42. Family

    "Are you sure about this, Aloe?" Lulu asked her for the umpteenth time.


    "Yes, Lulu. My answer will not change no matter how many times you inquire about it." Yet Aloe''s smile didn''t falter. "It is just a short trek. I will be fine. And you will be accompanying me, will you not?"


    "Yes, of course!" The maid replied with passion. "But¡­ these stairs are scary."


    Lulu looked at the staircase leading downwards to the city up from the hill that the palace of Sadina was placed on. Today, for the first time, Aloe was going to visit the city in her frail state. The audiences were already over, and the days had passed by without much trouble, so she considered this her best opportunity to ''walk'' around Sadina. If Naila were to do something ¨C as nothing had happened since their little meeting ¨C then she guessed it was best to get this over with or she wouldn''t have the chance to do so later.


    "The sentiment is shared, but that is why we have brought the palanquin." Jamal and his men had left the palanquin in the palace though Aloe had yet to give it a usage. "Now, stop prattling. We are wasting these fine guards'' time. Nesrine, could you help me?"


    It would be wrong to say that the female guard who assisted her the day she arrived in the palace had become her personal escort, but the truth was, that Aloe needed the help of people to do some tasks. Namely, bathing. Maids could bathe her alright but carrying her around the many pools of the palace baths was too rough of a task for women who hadn''t lifted anything heavier than laundry basket in their lives, especially rough on her health. Any time Lulu and her required brute force, they turned by default to Nesrine. That was why she was here today alongside three other guards.


    The female guard carefully grabbed her from the wheelchair ¨C a motion that she had become proficient at during these days ¨C and placed her on the palanquin. Aloe dearly clutched a bag in her hands, not letting it fall. With a countdown, the guards lifted the palanquin with ease and started carrying the scribe of commoners to the city. Lulu followed behind with the rattling wheelchair, and even if Aloe couldn''t see her face, she knew the only one nervous here was the maid by her heartbeat alone. I should change to toughness though; these bumps are starting to hurt. Aloe planned to only activate the internal infusion if something went wrong as she wholly believed she had the reaction time, but her body was feebler than she thought.


    In a couple of minutes, they were already at the feet of the stairs. The guards left the palanquin down and Nesrine picked up the scribe.


    "See, Lulu?" Aloe said between Nesrine''s thick arms. "There was no need for such fanfare, was there?"


    "I would prefer if you worried more about your health, Aloe." The maid clutched her heart with one hand still holding the wheelchair in place.


    "I do, do not fret." Otherwise, I would be puking each hour. It would have been easy for her to disregard her safety and focus her entire being on her smoldering hatred. Nesrine placed her in the wheelchair with absolute care as if she was made out of glass. Aloe knew better than to scold the guard for that, for the alternative would actually harm her health. "I intend to stroll a bit around the city and visit my house. Would you accompany us, Nesrine?"


    "Are you sure about it, venerable scribe?" Nesrine questioned her choice.


    "I know I cannot bribe you with any more baths than the ones I already provide you with, but I would feel more comfortable with your presence."


    Much like when she was crossing the desert with Jamal and his men, Aloe constantly felt threatened. The palace, with its walls and guards, made her feel somewhat safe even if she was more likely to be in danger there with the two sultanzade. She wanted safety wherever she could get, whether it was her infusions or other people.


    "If that is the case, I will accompany you." Nesrine pressed a fist against her chest. "I am to protect the emirate''s palace and its inhabitants, after all."


    "How fortunate that Lulu and I fill that criterion," Aloe responded with a smile.


    Unlike her fellow scribes, she could afford to be genuine with them. She could see it in the guard''s eyes, if she were to be ordered to dispose of Aloe, she would hesitate. Of course, she couldn''t go against sultanzade orders, especially the emir''s, but that lapse could make the difference at the right moment if the opportunity ever arose.


    "Let us go forward then." The scribe commanded.


    "Where to, Aloe?" Lulu asked behind her, already having started to push the wheelchair.


    "Hmm, I was planning to first take a detour around the bazaar, but considering dear Nesrine is accompanying us, I would like to stop first by my house to free my hands and pay respects to my family." Having donned acuity again, the scribe noticed the brief lapse in the breathing patterns of her companions. As for her, she just patted the bag in her lap. "If it is not much of a problem, I would like you to stay at my home and clean it a bit. I expect it to be a deathtrap of dust and darkness after these many months. Would you mind doing me this favor, Lulu?"


    "Not at all!" The maid announced chirpily. "I owe you that much."


    "Do not be silly, you do not owe me anything."


    "I do." She reiterated. "If it was not because I was your personal maid, I would have much more work. And the other mistresses do not pay their servants."


    Nesrine hummed for an instant but promptly fell into silence. If she had opened her mouth during the gesture, the scribe couldn''t have seen it. "Would you like to say anything, Nesrine?" Aloe asked the guard about her lapse.


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    "I¡­ ehm." The clinging of metal pointed out to Aloe that she had managed to destabilize her posture. "Nothing at all, no, venerable scribe."


    "You can call me Aloe." The wheelchair-bound woman said. "And speak your mind. I will not bite. Not that I could catch you in my jaws in the first place."


    "If you are so interested¡­ I was just pondering about the pay Miss Lulu mentioned. Do you pay her?"


    "I do not." Aloe chuckled, hiding her mouth behind her hand.


    "Then why did she say that?"


    "Because I let her keep the change of the errands she runs." The scribe stated matter-of-factly.


    "It is more money than some jobs, to be fair," Lulu added.


    "What job?" Aloe blew. "Beggar?"


    "That is not a job, Aloe." The maid commented amusedly.


    "You say that, but if you spend most waking hours doing that, and gain money from it, I would be inclined to say it is a work."


    "I cannot argue against that logic. But being a beggar is still not a job."


    "You just argued against that logic."


    "Oops, I did not notice. My apologies."


    Aloe blew again. "Anyways, you cannot have gotten enough money to estipulate a pay."


    "Two drupnari." Lulu concreted.


    "A bit, but certainly not enough to-"


    "In two weeks." The maid interjected.


    "Heavens I be damned." Aloe led her palm to her mouth and then turned to face the person pushing her. "Really?"


    "Really," Lulu responded with a smile.


    "I better watch out for my expenses then."


    "Indeed." The maid stated amusedly with a professional expression.


    Two drupnari was the weekly pay of some jobs, so Aloe had basically just given her a salary in two weeks for free. I''m not used to not using money. My spending vision is getting twisted. How long has it been since I did house finances? Three? Four months? And now the whole family savings are mine¡­ I have too much money and I do not know where to even spend it. Crazy ideas flew across her mind, a ship being one of them, but alas, she doubted she could flee the country with Rani''s sights upon her.


    And she couldn''t forget Fatima either. The cultivator wouldn''t let her escape now after she benefited as much as she did from their deal. If she were to escape far away, she would wait before learning the remaining Nurture stances first.


    The scribe''s entourage gained quite a few gazes as they strolled across Sadina''s main channel. Wheelchairs were already an uncommon sight even in hospitals, but to be escorted by a maid and a guard was a whole other deal. Whilst not as¡­ revealing as the uniforms in Asina Palace ¨C for the lack of a better word ¨C Lulu''s dress was still quite eye-catching as it highlighted her chest area. The guard in light plate armor also didn''t contribute to the gazes, especially when it was as ornamented as Nesrine''s. The golden accents ¨C real gold at that ¨C meant that her armor was probably more expensive than the lifetime savings of some commoners.


    For better or worse, Aloe had grown used to the gazes. Unlike those of the palace ¨C both Asina and Sadina ¨C they weren''t of pity or avoidance, but only simple curiosity. That she could live up with.


    As they arrived at Aloe''s home, the house''s keys weighed on the wheelchair-bound woman. It took two deep breaths before she offered Nesrine to open the door for her. She told herself that it was because she had a bad angle from her seated position rather than herself avoiding the gesture.


    The three women were met by an onslaught of dust once the guard opened the door.


    "You were not lying." Nesrine coughed and directed her head outwards from the house drowned in penumbra. "It is q-quite," she coughed again, "the deathtrap."


    "It seems we will need to air it up a bit before we can enter," Aloe said.


    Lulu unlatched her hands from the handrails behind the wheelchair and laid a hand on the scribe''s shoulders. Aloe turned to face her, and she noticed a handkerchief tied around the woman''s fair visage.


    "Let me open the windows then." Lulu offered and entered the house alone, neither Aloe nor Nesrine stopped her.


    The two women stood outside for a bit, neither of them talked. Aloe was more than happy to keep the silence, and Nesrine had that look in her eyes, of someone fulfilling their duty. She''s a guard to the city and the sultanzade, don''t forget it. Aloe told herself. Nesrine couldn''t be a friend ¨C Aloe doubted if she was capable of having that kind of relationship ¨C she only was an ally. And, by definition, only allies could betray you.


    Lulu''s progress could be seen from the outside as the windows of the fa?ade slowly opened one by one. By the time the maid came out of the house, the entrance hall didn''t appear as gloomy as before.


    "I would recommend waiting a bit and allowing me to dust the place a bit before entering, Aloe," Lulu suggested.


    "I am already growing rather tired, and I rather not need to come back if possible." It was not a lie. She may be sitting down on a chair like she did every working minute of her day, but the exhaustion was increased a hundredfold. "It is also quite late, perhaps you should leave the cleaning for another day, Lulu."


    "Nonsense." The maid declined it. "I would not like to leave your house in such a state. Please, Aloe, take a stroll and relax, and when you come back, I will have made this house a home."


    Aloe couldn''t help but smile at Lulu''s pressure. She was motivated to help, and no one could steal that from her.


    "I understand," the scribe nodded, "but I would first like to remove myself from this load." Aloe patted the bag between her legs. "Could you carry me upstairs, Nesrine? And could you bring the wheelchair, Lulu?"


    Neither of the women protested. The guard picked her up dexterously and the maid followed behind with the wheelchair. Such was the disparity of strength between the women that Nesrine hadn''t even broken a sweat when she had carried the scribe a floor up, but Lulu had been panting once she was up with the wheelchair.


    "I would like to be left alone for a moment." The women nodded at her.


    Aloe pushed the wheelchair by herself into the house''s office. Once it had been her father''s. After Amid had perished, it had become her mother''s. Then after the death of Shahrazad, it was now Aloe''s. With some difficulty, Aloe stood from her wheelchair and slouched on top of the armchair behind the desk. The weak woman gazed upon the remains of her predecessors.


    "It''s been a while." Her voice was feebler than a whisper.


    Not only because she didn''t have the strength nor willpower to speak louder, but also because she could sense Nesrine behind the office''s door. She wasn''t eavesdropping, or at least that wasn''t the sensation Aloe had, but even if she was only standing guard, she didn''t want her to listen to anything.


    "I¡­ I don''t have much to say." She had a lot to say. "Not at all." So much so that her throat bloated in pain from the words she didn''t speak aloud.


    The petite scribe gritted her teeth and grabbed the armrests of the armchair with viciousness. She had never felt this weak, not even in Asina. The prepotency as the ashes of the dead surrounded her threatened to end with her.


    "I have been weak." It wasn''t a confession, but a statement. "I¡­" The words died in her mouth as her eyes became teary. "Much like the wheelchair at my side, I feel like I have been pushed around all my life, that I have never had the opportunity to make the choices I wanted, regardless if I had such a thing or not." Aloe bit her underlip. She was confident that if she had been donning strength instead of acuity, she would have shed blood. "But I don''t know how to make the choices of my own. There''s no chance for that. I''m being swallowed by quicksand and the only help comes from a barbed branding pole." Her hands trembled, her jaws cluttered, and her eyes drowned. "W-what can I do, Mom? Dad?"


    No answers came to her, only deafening silence.


    Painfully loud silence.


    She was surrounded by family. And they were all dead.

 Book 3: 43. Tale

    Drowning in misery was a thing Aloe could not afford to do. That was the only reason why she stopped moaning and wailing. The only one.


    The scribe, with much effort and pain, stood from the armchair and placed herself back in her wheelchair, being careful of her package. She rolled to the office''s window. Lulu had opened it for her beforehand. Her fingers were slow as she opened the bag; the slowness wasn''t born out of care, but lack of strength. Inside the cloth, a pot lay alongside another piece of ceramic.


    Aloe placed the pot on the window''s ledge. Her arms trembled, but she didn''t permit any of the contents to fall. Inside the pot, there were only two things, soil and a seed. If it weren''t for acuity, she would have been none-the-wiser of the burrowed seed, but her enhanced senses perceived a kernel of heat coming from the dirt.


    Yes, the seed was but a Blossomflame.


    Even after donning recovery for two weeks straight, Aloe couldn''t feel her body recovering. It didn''t help that she couldn''t boast her newly acquired vitality as that would raise suspicion from the sultanzade''s attentive gaze. Having thrice the vitality of an adult was better than none at all, or at least that was what Aloe told herself.


    The healing properties of the Blossomflame were much an enigma to the scribe, the only thing she knew for certain was that they existed. Perhaps it could only heal recent wounds, maybe only superficial cuts like the one she had made to test the plant back in the greenhouse. It was uncertain. But the possibility existed and was ready for the reaping. She would be a fool not to take it.


    The current seed on the pot was one of the few she had evolved during her desert trek, it was only now that she was far from the sultanzade that she dared to plant it. The sprouting evolved plant would stay here, away from everyone''s gazes, even hers. It would only be useful to her once it blossomed ¨C much like its name implied ¨C but for the time being, and even after that, no one would be allowed to bask in its fiery glory.


    Of course, Aloe was aware of the needs of a growing plant. She couldn''t send Lulu to water the Blossomflame, nor she could afford to do it herself frequently, so she got her hands on a curious amphora that let loose a few drops of water each minute. Whilst not the best irrigation method, it would ¨C hopefully ¨C make the evolved plant grow and keep it alive. Aloe placed the ceramic contraption on top of the pot, not before emptying her waterskin inside. There wasn''t much water inside, barely a few liters, the scribe hoped that would be enough.


    Once the deed was done, Aloe removed herself from the office, not before drying her tears on the sleeves of her dress. Wheelchair-ridden she may be, but that didn''t excuse her from following the court''s fashion. Behind her, Aloe locked the office door. It was the only door, except the entrance, that had a lock.


    "I am done," Aloe announced aloud, and soon enough Lulu her way upstairs. Nesrine just turned to her, her face stoic. The scribe was unable to discern if the guard had heard her cries, or if she cared.


    Nesrine carried the scribe down the stairs whilst the maid did the same with the wheelchair. This time Aloe changed to toughness. She was already getting tired from being moved up and down, and she feared the way down could be too much for her. The guard placed her in the wheelchair with care, fully knowing that she was unwell even if she hadn''t voiced it out.


    "We will leave you for a moment, Lulu," Aloe explained once she accommodated herself in the wheelchair.


    "Understood, Aloe." The maid bowed down to nearly ninety degrees.


    "Also, one thing more." The scribe interjected the instant she felt Nesrine pull back the wheelchair. "I have locked the office upstairs. Consider yourself spared from cleaning it."


    Lulu raised her back and dedicated Aloe a smile. "See you in a while then."


    The scribe gave her a nod and the guard pulled her out of the house. Because they could only leave the palace once Aloe''s scribal duties were fulfilled for the day, the sun now threatened to set. The skies had already grown orange with the will of the afternoon.


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    "Where to?" Nesrine asked behind her.


    "As much as I would like to navigate through the bazaar and lighten my purse, I have a destination in mind. Follow my directions."


    "Your commands are my will." Even if she spoke such words, Aloe knew there was no loyalty between the two, only goodwill.


    Their pace through the streets of Sadina was abysmal as Nesrine pushed the wheelchair the way Lulu had done. However, the slowness wasn''t born out of a lack of strength but consideration. The scribe was donning toughness and her breath still got rugged from time to time. Her body was ailing, and it didn''t help that she was constantly using up her vitality to keep her levels down. The only saving grace was that she didn''t need to be as conscious of her usage as when she was in the palace as no sultanzade would appear out of nowhere.


    Ironically enough, that ended up being more devastating to her body.


    Aloe allowed her body to rest, but not for the sake of health and recovery. Only because she had infused a sizable chunk of her vitality into a black seed, turning it into a Flourishing Spring. The absence of sultanzade meant that she now had the margin to evolve seeds, a procedure that took even more of a toll on her body than the constant infusion of dates to keep her vitality regulated.


    Being tired and evolving seeds didn''t make much of a match, as for the time they arrived at their destination, the scribe was fighting a headache born from the lightheadedness of the vitality consumption.


    Before she dared to talk, Aloe took a deep breath. It didn''t help with her pain or her growing dread, but her body appreciated it.


    "Can you knock on the door, please?" Her voice was weak, tired, spent.


    Nesrine didn''t ask why ¨C whether of the knocking or who the house where they were in front of was ¨C and simply complied.


    "Who''s there?" The female voice was muffled but it was obvious it had been a shout.


    I guess she''s in the kitchen if she''s shouting instead of assisting the door. "It''s me, Mirah. Aloe."


    The scribe heard no response, but the thud she heard from the door was answer enough. The furious sprinting also worked as a confirmation. "Aloe?" Her aunt voiced out excitedly as she slammed the house''s door open.


    Then her eyes lay upon her.


    Mirah''s face lost all color and she fell to her knees. Aloe wanted to laugh, cruelty and pain overflowing her, though she painfully held herself. Not even Lulu reacted this badly. The housewife made a feint of talking but rapidly closed her mouth as no words came out. Nesrine motioned a hand to help her, but without looking at her, she slapped the guard''s hand and stood up by herself with the help of the doorframe.


    "W-what¡­" Mirah''s voice trembled as she lent all her body weight to the doorframe. "H-how¡­" She bit her underlip. "Long time no see, Aloe." The housewife finally spoke with a wry smile on her beautiful yet pained visage.


    "Indeed," Aloe responded with the same shared pain. "Far too long. Far too long."


    The petite woman grabbed the skirt of her dress, putting so much strength in her grip that the cloth began to screech. It was hard to keep her fa?ade, breath, and heartbeat in line.


    "Well," Mirah unlatched from the doorframe, taking an unstable step forward. "Don''t stay outside, please enter."


    "I wouldn''t have it any other way," Aloe nodded. "Nesrine, would you be so dear to push me?"


    "Of course," The guard moved from the door and grabbed the handles of the wheelchair.


    "Oh," Mirah''s eyes opened like plates and she took a step backward. "I hadn''t seen you¡­ Ehrm, who are you again?"


    "Mirah, this is Nesrine, a guard of the palace and¡­ my escort, I guess." The scribe presented the women to each other. "Nesrine, this is Mirah, a close friend of the family."


    "Pleased to meet you, ma''am." Nesrine offered a hand to Mirah.


    "Likewise." The housewife accepted the hand with a smile, though the disparity between the women''s build became apparent in the exchange.


    Nesrine wasn''t particularly tall, but neither Mirah was. Yet the guard''s arm was twice as thick as her aunt''s. The difference in muscle was astounding. Mirah was extremely thin; all her weight seemingly went to another part of her body. Few could beat Mirah in what bosom department was related, only one person capable of winning such a duel came to Aloe''s mind, and it was the only person in the world that she didn''t want to think about. She was thoroughly disgusted by how closely she knew the chest of both of those women.


    Mirah escorted them inside, she and the guard unbeknownst to the bile gathering in the scribe''s throat, and the housewife made space for Aloe in the kitchen.


    "Would you mind telling me how¡­ this happened?" Mirah inquired once they sat down with tea in their hands, Nesrine too.


    "It''s¡­ a sour tale." The scribe told crestfallen; her eyes locked with her legs.


    "I have sugar." Aloe couldn''t help but raise her head upon hearing Mirah''s words ¨C her pathetic attempt at comedy ¨C and she was met with a smile. "Please, tell me what happened. I want to know."


    Mirah had been and was many things to her. Yet now, no matter how warm her words may be, she felt a darkness creeping out of her. Aloe didn''t mind. She too had darkness of her own.


    Aloe took a deep breath before telling the events of the last months. She did her best to narrate everything ¨C even before leaving Sadina ¨C without crying.


    She utterly failed.

 Book 3: 44. Alive

    "I''m going to kill her," Mirah stated with such impassive cruelty that it took Aloe a few blinks to process the words.


    "Mirah, please relax." The scribe''s voice was coarse, partially from having talked this much, but mostly because she felt ill.


    "Relax? Aloe!" The housewife stood up and banged the kitchen table. "How do you expect me to relax after having heard that? It wasn''t enough that the fucking whore raped you, but then she broke your legs! In two separate occasions at that!"


    Whilst it wasn''t the first time she had seen Mirah angry, it was certainly the first time she had seen the comely woman curse. A part of her wanted to correct the housewife, she hadn''t had her legs broken, only a shattered pelvis and a bruised ankle, but her other part wanted to tear someone''s throat off with her teeth. Namely, Aaliyah''s.


    "Nesrine, please tell her something. She''s really going to do something." Aloe knew that Mirah didn''t only bark if she didn''t intend to bite. How was she supposed to do something to the ruler of Ydaz being a housewife was beyond the scribe.


    "Ma''am, I understand your afflictions, but you know better than to defy the sultanah, surely." The guard stated neutrally, so much so that the scribe wondered if she had forgotten that said sultanah was her employer and the person her loyalty should be placed at. She hasn''t highlighted any of Mirah''s ''blasphemies'' so it''s not like she thinks highly of Aaliyah.


    "I¡­" Mirah looked at the guard and clicked her tongue. "Pests, all of them."


    It was obvious which select group she was referring to. Where does her hostility come from? It wasn''t the first time Mirah had antagonized the imperials, but Aloe was incapable of seeing where that hatred originated. Aloe''s had been justified even before her trip to Asina, but the inception of her aunt''s was a mystery.


    The scribe gathered a bit of courage to finally ask that question, but alas, she had been too tardy, for the moment she opened her mouth so did the main door.


    "Hello, hello. We are back daaaarling!" Jafar''s exaggerated voice yet potent reverberated through the small house.


    "Mooom!" If the voice wasn''t clue enough, the furious tip taps leading to the kitchen were enough to announce Aya''s presence. "We are ba¡­" The girl''s eyes landed on them, especially Aloe.


    Ah¡­ The scribe moaned in a mixture of sadness and pain. It had been only a few months since the last time she had seen Aya, but she was still young, and such a small amount of time was easily perceived in a growing body. She''s grown so much¡­ Ah, Aya. Only now that she had it in front of her did Aloe recognize how much she had missed the little child.


    "Ehm¡­ hello, Aya." She wanted to welcome her with all her radiance, to pamper her with love, yet only a half-hearted salute came out of her. "It''s been a while since we last saw. Y-you''ve grown into quite a fine girl." Her tear glands were dry from before, yet Aloe felt her eyes becoming watery again.


    "What''s wrong?" Jafar asked from the corridor. "You''ve all grown rather silen-"


    The male guard''s eyes inspected the room with the precision of a hawk, not unlike that of a cultivator donning the sense stance. His eyes hastily landed on Aloe, or rather, the wheelchair. His expression turned dark yet composed.


    "I haven''t heard of you in a while, little plant." He saluted like always, but that tone was that of a soldier who just come out of the battlefield drenched in blood up to his neck.


    "I could say the same, Uncle Jafar." There was no glitter and hope in Aloe''s tone either, only a wry smile came from her lips, and calling it a smile was pushing it.


    The only man in the room blew from his nose and changed his expression into a warm smile. He then knelt and grabbed her daughter by the shoulders, turning her to face him.


    "Dear, would you mind taking a stroll? We have adult business to talk about."


    "But Dad, I want to be with sister Aloe, I haven''t seen her in years!" Aya, like the kid she was, protested. And those months may very well have been years to her.


    "She''s going to be here when you come back. Right, little plant? Won''t you accompany us for dinner?"


    "Ehrm, sure¡­" Honestly, Aloe wanted to run away and not look back. Not only the scene was weighing down on her heart, but she felt tired. So tired¡­ she echoed in her mind.


    "Here, a fajat. Buy a sweet." Jafar gave her a copper coin and patted her head.


    "Hmm¡­" Aya accepted the coin but didn''t look too satisfied. Still, she was an intelligent kid and took the hint, leaving the house without further protesting.


    Once the sound of the door''s closing reached their ears, Jafar stood up and talked to them. "I have a lot of questions, but first, what''s she doing here?" He pointed at Nesrine.


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    "I could ask the same question, captain." Captain? Aloe shifted her gaze from Jafar to Nesrine.


    "This is my house; I think I''m more allowed to be here." He looked at the female guard over the shoulder.


    "Do you¡­" Mirah interjected, "know each other?"


    "This man was my mentor," Nesrine explained with animosity.


    "And this woman a disaster." Jafar puffed.


    "Hold your camels. Captain?" Aloe said. "Since when?"


    Jafar turned at her with a questioning gaze. "Since a while ago? Didn''t I tell you?"


    "No?" The scribe searched through her memories, but those had become a hazy mess for a long time now."


    "Huh, I''m sure I did." The male guard shrugged. "Anyhow, why are you here, Nesrine?"


    "I am to escort scribe Aloe around the city," Nesrine explained with her potent and stoic guard tone.


    "Alright, alright." He sighed. "I''ll not pry in that. But there''s another matter that I cannot ignore. Little plant, I need answers. Now."


    Aloe sighed in kind; her head started to hurt. That was why I wanted to come earlier¡­ "This is going to take a while, and I have now to dine here, so Nesrine, would be you so dear to call for Lulu?" The armored guard nodded. "Also, Mirah. Could my escorts eat with us?"


    "Of course." The housewife nodded. "Wait, escorts? There''s another one?"


    "My maid." Aloe responded taciturnly.


    "How fancy." The scribe was unable to tell if Mirah was being sarcastic or genuine. The fatigue is affecting my faculties.


    "I will take my leave then." Nesrine left them alone, still boasting formal language. Whatever there was between Jafar and her, now wasn''t the time to pry about it.


    "Here." Aloe handed her the keys to the house, not without having removed the keys to the office beforehand. One could never be too cautious.


    The three remaining people shared gazes with one another. The first one to break the stare-down and the silence was Mirah.


    "I''ll get going with the dinner. It seems I''ll have double the mouths to feed."


    "Sorry." Aloe apologized.


    "Nonsense." Mirah gifted her a warm smile and approached her to envelop her in an embrace, pushing the scribe''s head against her chest. "I would never let a soul go hungry in my house, especially one that needs my help." She patted Aloe''s head slowly. The gesture was warm and¡­ familiar. That only made it worse.


    By the time the housewife liberated her, Aloe''s breathing was rugged and her face heated up. Mirah giggled at the sight but was quick to return to the food, she had had a pot in low heat since they arrived.


    "Tell me," Jafar said. It wasn''t an order, but neither it was a petition.


    Nonetheless, Aloe complied.


    Much like she had done with Mirah, she explained to her uncle about the events leading up to Asina and beyond. She kept many secrets ¨C namely everything related to the vital arts ¨C but she even obfuscated her encounters with the different sultanzade. The only thing she didn''t hide from them was her hostility toward Aaliyah.


    Oh, the heavens now she didn''t let a spec of sand remain on her tongue. She let everything out, even details that most were unaware of, mostly the brutality of that night. She didn''t have the heart to tell them to Lulu, nor the trust to let Nesrine hear them, but Jafar and Mirah she could confide in.


    Confide¡­ what a weird word. It felt alien to her, she couldn''t even recall the last time she had blindly trusted someone.


    She gave them an abridged version, Mirah could fill her husband the voids, as Aloe feared that door could swing open any minute now. Lulu and Nesrine were fine, but if little Aya were to hear a single of the words that were coming out of her mouth, her heart wouldn''t be able to take it.


    "I don''t know what to say." Jafar''s voice was tired.


    "Then don''t say anything, darling," Mirah told him without removing an eye from the food. Everyone knew the one who took it the worst was her.


    Jafar complied with her wife''s suggestion, but Aloe knew her words had nothing to do with his silence. The scribe could see him pondering, scheming. What a captain of the city guard could scheme was beyond her.


    Only a few minutes later did Aya appear. She obviously asked about the wheelchair, but Mirah was quick to brew a lie with the shrewdness of a mother. Aloe was too tired to even remember what that lie had been, she just knew that anything would have been better than the truth, even if they had told the little kid that her big sister had been robbed and beaten to near death. So dim was the truth that such ruggedness was sugarcoating it.


    The near-death wouldn''t have been a lie, though.


    Lulu and Nesrine didn''t take much longer to arrive. The maid handed Aloe the keys, but the two escorts didn''t talk much beyond basic presentations. It wasn''t that they weren''t welcome, but they acknowledged they weren''t part of the family. Whilst the rest talked in the dining room ¨C mostly Aloe inquiring about Aya''s time at school, and the kid asking questions back to her and Nesrine ¨C Mirah and Lulu tended to the cooking. At first, the housewife refused the help, but Lulu was too thick-skulled and effective to be left behind. She wasn''t a maid for nothing, and Mirah ended up appreciating the help.


    Soon, as the sun threatened to disappear and the sky darkened, they all sat down at the table. It wasn''t a feast, at least not by the standards the scribe had grown to, but the meal was hot and welcoming. That couldn''t be said of the foods she had had as of late, though that was partially her own fault.


    Contact and interactions had become oppressive, but as Aya talked over how boring school was and Jafar dropped hints of his relationship with Nesrine, Aloe couldn''t help but let herself be embraced by the conversation. She didn''t speak, not much, but no one pressured her to talk. Even Aya was mindful of her. The little girl didn''t show it, but Aloe''s enhanced senses easily detected the lasting impression the wheelchair had had on her by the inconspicuous yet constant glances the kid directed to the contraption even if Aloe herself wasn''t sitting on it during dinner.


    Time became blurry as words and plates went by. Aloe remembered that she had never had the opportunity to learn to cook with Mirah, and whilst the path which now seemed scorched filled her with sadness, the truth was she was more than happy with just tasting the housewife''s food. She didn''t need to make it herself, nor that she have the time nor presence of mind to cook now.


    At some point, Jafar brought wine. The reactions were mixed, mostly her wife condemning him, but she ended up drinking as well. The only one who didn''t drink was Nesrine ¨C besides Aya, of course ¨C claiming she was on duty. Lulu gathered quite the buzz, as Jafar did, but Aloe and Mirah were conservative. The housewife didn''t drink much, and the scribe had been donning her toughness for a while now ¨C severely limiting the effectiveness of the alcohol ¨C as the pain was killing her and she didn''t want to ruin the ambiance with her weakness.


    Yet amidst the pain and her inner sadness, Aloe felt warmth in her bones, her mind at ease.


    She was surrounded by family. And they were all alive.

 Book 3: 45. Letter

    Life in the palace was slow, slow as it could be. More than actual slowness it was dread of time, ceaseless yet unrelenting. Nothing had happened to offset her plans, Aloe was more than comfortable working as a scribe for Rani, or that was what she constantly told herself. Her body slowly healed, but the constant exercising in the shape of infusing and evolving seeds was taking a toll on her body. Not much, but enough to offset the boost that recovery granted her.


    The regeneration stance currently allowed her to heal thrice as fast, yet such was the exertion she was putting herself in that the two-hundred percent increase was basically nullified, bringing her recovering rate to that of a baseline adult. That wasn''t without its advantages, however. The other resources the stance regenerated, like breath and stamina, but more importantly, vitality were still there. She may not use her increased healing to the utmost degree, but the vitality slowly trickled into her seeds, whether it was truth Infusion or Evolution.


    It had been a theory until now, but after endless days of mindless usage, Aloe confirmed her suspicions. Evolution was what made her vitality grow, not Infusion. She still couldn''t discard the fact that infusion increased her maximum vitality to a lesser extent, but after a few days where she couldn''t afford to evolve any seed due to the constant presence of sultanzade, she saw no advances to her vitality once she went to sleep as that was the only moment where she could have her vitality topped.


    Having said so, sleeping was a problematic endeavor. Her deposit regenerated in a matter of hours, so if one of the princesses barged into her room at night ¨C a thing they had yet to do nor had shown signs of doing, but she couldn''t lower her guard ¨C they could catch her red-handed. That was why she slept with acuity active. The most tender of noises was able to wake her when her vitality was topped. And if a sultanzade infiltrated her bedchamber at night ¨C whilst that was by far not the only risk that the situation entailed ¨C she had cumin seeds hidden in her hair to evolve them the moment she noticed something was afoot.


    Infusing through hair was a complex matter, but so was disposing of an evolving seed. Her body refused to let them go once the process started, so the only alternative she had was pulling her hair to remove the braids that were infusing the seed. A botched and crude method, but it was better than losing consciousness when assaulted because she lost all her vitality in a matter of seconds.


    Paranoia was paramount in her workplace landscape. Perhaps she would never put to use many of the tactics she elaborated, but she preferred that to not having a way out when the occasion arose. Even at the worst outcome, fainting by lack of vitality was better than the sultanzade realizing that she was already at Naila''s level of vitality again.


    Crude calculations told her, that at her current limited pace, it would take her two months to accrue enough vitality to equal four adults.


    Fatima said a cultivator can only reap once or twice per day, meaning that at most, they can gain an adult''s worth of vitality every month and three-quarters. That was the sole reason why the sultanzade had willed to teach her Nurture because the aphrodisiac somehow made reapings more bountiful. Somehow. I don''t know if Naila is reaping every day, and at the maximum of her capabilities, but I guess not as I have matched her already.


    It infuriated Aloe knowing she could do better. Evolution had proven to be way more effective at obtaining vitality than the barbaric arts of the imperials, but because she had limited herself to only the vitality she originally had when she went to Asina, it meant she couldn''t perform more demanding evolutions, even if there only was a single more demanding evolution in her repertoire.


    Could I get some holidays? She pondered as her pen slid across the parchment. No, most likely not. They are pressed for help, and Mother only got holidays once or twice every month. Even if I hadn''t been absent for this long, there''s the whole Loyata situation going on¡­ The scribe sighed, prompting a look from her fair-skinned maid. I hate this job. Aloe hated even more the fact that resigning wasn''t on the table.


    She hated many things. So many things. Silence, for once. Which was ironic because if someone made any noise she would be at their throats. There were many types of silence; some she liked, others not so much. Not everyone understood that. But as she worked in the afternoon after Idris and Fayruz dropped documents needing to be checked and Lulu remained in silence without working ¨C just standing around with her eyes closed ¨C that was the silence she hated. But it wasn''t like she could ask the maid for talk, that was unbecoming of her position.


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    Fortunately, the silence was broken by a knock on the door.


    As Lulu opened her eyes and stood up to assist the door with perfect manners and gracefulness, Aloe switched her stance to sense. Her acuity didn''t recognize the person behind the door, so she instantly calmed down knowing that it wasn''t Naila or Rani''s heartbeat waiting for her. Not that they could have been, as the sultanzade wouldn''t have been this polite. The palace was their house and everyone else was their guests, after all.


    The maid met with the person at the door, leaving it ajar, but Aloe caught the contents of the conversation with ease thanks to her enhanced supernatural hearing. She almost groaned in disappointment. Lulu was quick to close the door and walk to her desk.


    "A letter has arrived for you, Aloe." The fair-skinned beauty presented the sealed envelope to her.


    The scribe''s heart dropped as soon as she saw the imperial family crest on the sealing wax. Aloe grabbed the envelope with a shaking hand expecting the worst and reached for her letter opener, only to realize Lulu had it in her hand.


    "Thanks." Aloe accepted the knife and Lulu responded with a warm smile.


    She took a deep breath and removed the seal with movements that could only be acquired with practice and repetition, not a drop of wax remained on the face of the envelope when she finished. Aloe slowly removed the letter from its container, unfurling the folded paper, and then proceeded to read it.


    Dear Aloe Ayad,


    The letter began. She was too afraid to read the remittent on the envelope, if there even was one. The imperial crest had unsettled her too much and decided to just read it and find the truth at the ending signature.


    I have been informed of your safe arrival to Sadina and that fills me with joy, though we are not here to talk about emotions, but business. I have allowed the temporal cease of our accord due to your health issues and lack of primary materials, but this cannot go any further. From the moment this letter reaches you, I will be readying to leave Asina and march toward Sadina.


    Fret not, my arrival will not be swift as my hands are tied with responsibilities across the Loyatan border, but nonetheless, I do not believe I will take more than a couple of weeks to reach the emirate''s palace.


    I expect at least a dose of your merchandise for the moment I arrive.


    Your tutor and partner,


    Fatima Asina


    Aloe sighed with relief once she finished reading the letter. She had expected this, albeit it came sooner than she would have liked. Fatima was bound to reclaim her part of the deal, and the power-hungry sultanzade was way more manageable than any other member of the imperial family, especially the one the scribe feared the most.


    "Lulu?" The scribe of commoners voiced out as she let the letter rest on the desk.


    "Yes, Aloe?" The maid stood before her with an upright back and clasped hands. For the woman, that was a relaxed posture.


    "Would you be so dear to call for Nesrine? I would like to take a bath."


    "Of course." Lulu bowed down and left the office''s premises.


    Once the scribe didn''t hear her servant''s steps, she collapsed on the desk and groaned. "Fuck¡­" It was an exhausted groan. "The Blossomflame is not ready yet and I can''t grow a Grace''s Exaltation in only two weeks. That only leaves one option."


    The sheer thought made her groan again.


    "I needed to go to the greenhouse at some point, but I don''t like expediating the schedule this much." She lazily scratched her scalp. "I have two choices, either leave now ¨C which sounds like a moronic and downright suicidal plan ¨C or wait for the Blossomflame to blossom and see if it can heal my wounds."


    That later option did, of course, also present other issues. She had planted the Blossomflame two weeks ago ¨C even when taking into account the days it spent in her office before moving it to her house ¨C and furthermore, even if she had infused the seed with accelerated growth, she wasn''t sure if a month of virtual germination was enough to make the flower bloom.


    "I can scrape another week more at best. If I leave in the week, it will take one full day if not more to get to the oasis in my current state, two days more to at least get a single dose of aphrodisiac done, then another day and a half or so to get back. That would net me with a solid-enough margin for my meeting with Fatima." The scribe groaned and melted on her armchair. "Tight, but doable." If I can make the journey there in the first place. She refused to acknowledge aloud the looming hypothetical.


    Lulu knocked on her office''s door ¨C she recognized her by the cadence between knocks, though she could distinguish her heartbeat by now ¨C and she invited her to come in.


    "I have brought Nesrine, Aloe." The maid announced.


    The scribe of commoners raised her head and looked at the women who certainly were ready for the coming bath, especially the guard.


    "You really enjoy the bathing sessions, do you not?" Aloe said whilst looking at Nesrine.


    "No comment." The female guard responded with an impassive tone, though the three women in the room found themselves smiling idiotically.

 Book 3: 46. Vacation

    Aloe carried her heart in her fist. Not literally, but certainly not outright metaphorically. Her hands trembled and it wasn''t from physical exertion. She pushed her wheelchair alone, Lulu wasn''t there to help her as her other duties called for the maid. That was exactly the reason why she was alone in the corridors because Lulu wasn''t present to see her. Her destination was one she didn''t desire the maid to bear witness.


    The scribe''s pace was slow, yet the dread grew with haste. She had done already this, and it had already been hard when she was healthy. Doing it again in her current fickle state was¡­ not optimal.


    Soon enough, Aloe reached her destination. A big set of doors stood before her. She didn''t allow the size to intimidate her ¨C even if she was more than justified to fear colossal doors ¨C but what awaited behind certainly filled her with dread.


    One breath, then another. A series of deep breaths wasn''t enough to calm her, but she wasn''t going to enter unprepared. She donned the glamour internal infusion. She had been shifting her flow of vitality for a while and even then, it took her a few more minutes standing in front of the door before completing the transition.


    Using the charm stance was less than recommended as it was one of the visible stances, but she doubted it would be even detectable to her. Stances were multipliers of physical attributes, and as the name implied, that stance boosted natural charm. Aloe, from her education as a would-be-banker, was well aware that no matter how big a base number was, multiplying by zero always lent the same result. There was no beauty to be boosted in her.


    But beauty wasn''t what she needed nor sought. No, her objective was the byproduct of the stance. Glamour allowed her to control her reactions ¨C and partially emotions ¨C better than she would otherwise be capable of.


    As the hot, primal lust of the stance filled her veins, Aloe dared to knock on the door.


    The room was eerily silent, even if she knew the inhabitant of the place was inside. I think I''ve grown too used to acuity, I feel blind without it. As of late, she had grown to identify everything around her. By cadence alone, she was able to discern the status of people walking in front of her office. Whilst the door was closed. Servants walked with light feet and haste, whilst important people were slower and more sure-footed. Then there was Naila Asina. She was a heavendamned army on her own. That woman could be heard coming without any mystical help.


    Her ears were muted as she donned another stance that wasn''t sense, but she swore she heard the rustle of fabrics behind the door. Aloe maintained her face straight, partially supporting herself in charm, as she knew what the sounds may imply at this hour.


    "Who goes there?" Rani''s charming voice boomed through the door.


    She was the reason the scribe was here, in the emir''s very quarters.


    "It is I, Aloe, Rani." The scribe spoke casually yet formally. She took a deep breath before continuing. "I would like to discuss something with you, and also enter your bedchamber if possible." She preferred having no ears listening to her words, that was why she hadn''t addressed her in the throne room during this morn''s audience.


    "Hmm~" The princess'' humming was lethally captivating even through the door. "Sure, make your way inside."


    Aloe ignored the fact that the emir had asked her to open the door in her rather immobile state as the woman herself most often ignored the scribe was even in such a state.


    With some difficulty, Aloe opened the door to the emir''s bedchamber and was instantly struck with the sheer luxury oozing through every surface of the place. But her eyes quickly darted to where the owner of the room rested¡­ and who she rested with.


    "Ah¡­" A half-dead and silent wail left Aloe''s mouth, fainter than a whisper. Considering she herself had barely heard it, she doubted Rani had. Nonetheless, her visage betrayed none of her emotions.


    Betrayed being the utmost perfect word for the situation.


    The reason that elicited such a reaction was none other than the fair-skinned companion of the sultanzade.


    Aloe boasted no reaction at the sight. If Rani made her enter the room whilst such activity was unfolding, it was exactly because she wanted to get a reaction out of her. Her feelings had no place currently, only winning the non-spoken battle between them.


    The scribe moved her wheelchair forward, eliciting no fear, to get at a closer range to her emir. She wants me embarrassed and cowling, trying to escape at the first opportunity. Aloe''s thoughts were laced with venom. She''ll get NONE of that. The petite woman stopped right in front of the bed where the two other women lay. The emir was amused, her lower body prone and her chest uncovered by any fabrics. The maid, on the other hand, blushed furiously and obscured her body with the blankets. The panic in her visage was real and her teary eyes begged to run away.


    "Rani," Aloe announced the word slowly, unpreoccupied by the naked and sweaty women before her. "I would like to discuss about my free days. Namely, cashing them out."


    "I see~" The emir''s voice was melodious, and her amethyst eyes oozed with charm. Aloe didn''t require of acuity to see how the princess'' hand slithered across the bed and caressed somewhere on Lulu''s lower body. Perhaps the exact spot was unbeknownst to the scribe, but the maid''s muted yelp didn''t leave much for the imagination. "If you have come to me directly, I presume it is because you want to cash them in bulk. Am I wrong?"


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    She''s doing this to pester you. Aloe told herself. She''s doing this to Lulu only to get a reaction out of you. The scribe could see the maid''s visage redden in real-time, the movements below the blankets were silent yet strikingly loud. That only makes it more infuriating. No matter how much of a blush the sultanzade got out of the fair-skinned commoner, the scribe of commoners didn''t allow a hint of red in her visage, glamour working overtime to hide her real emotions.


    "You are correct in your assumption, yes." Aloe diplomatically smiled at Rani. "I know these are trying times, but I need a handful of days free of my duties as I would like to visit my greenhouse for¡­"


    "The one in the desert?" The emir hastily interjected, and the scribe nodded subsequently. "Nonsense. Denied. I cannot have you going to the desert with your current health."


    "That was exactly why I would like to use up all my free days, Rani." Aloe''s tone remained composed even after the sudden negation. "I have a dweller, and with enough rest and stops, I am sure I will be able to reach my greenhouse without putting my health at any risk."


    The emir''s visage soured and the maid''s reddened more. Ah, the pleasure I would feel with my hands around your neck, slowly tightening in a lovely embrace¡­ until I snuffed the life out of you. It was only a heartbeat later that the scribe realized she didn''t know what of the women she was thinking of. No, NO. Aloe gritted her teeth. It''s not Lulu''s fault, she probably doesn''t want to be here. It''s Rani who forced her here. Lulu''s literally being sucked dry as if she is a sugar plantation. Aloe hated herself for blaming Lulu, even if it had been only in a lapse. That had been two lapses too much.


    Whatever was going through the sultanzade''s mind, it was her companion that was paying for it. The maid wasn''t participating from her own volition in the imperials'' twisted process of power accretion. Aloe condemned the woman in her mind, the one who boasted glinting gemstones for eyes.


    "Would it not be better to wait until you are in a better state of the body before attempting such a trek? Especially when, from your words, I intuit you intend to perform it alone." The fact that Rani was so¡­ sweet ¨C for lack of a better word ¨C with her choice of words gave Aloe much-needed confidence. Whatever the sultanzade planned, she wouldn''t like to see her harmed, though the scribe couldn''t decide if that was positive or not for her.


    "I, indeed, intend to travel alone and light." The scribe confessed. "Though I am highly acquainted with the path and my dweller is one of the smoothest rides I have had." When she''s not boosted with speed and I''m donning toughness myself. And also wearing gloves. And a saddle. Aloe didn''t believe one word she had spoken, but Rani didn''t know that.


    "The desert can be dangerous at night." The princess slumped her upper body on the soft-looking bed, her torso still uncovered. Her curves ¨C highlighted by the backlit sunrays and the soft silhouette of the blanket ¨C were a terrific thing.


    Aloe knew what she was doing, how her body exuded pure sensuality and lust, and even with that knowledge in hand, she had a hard time resisting it. Even through her own charm stance, the scribe felt her face heat up, though she did her best to not show any color. Her lower body, however, still protested with sporadic tingling. The charged and humid smell of the room certainly didn''t help. The maid behind the princess had totally vanished from her mind, overshadowed by a second sun of purple light.


    "No creatures of the night dare to attack a dweller, and there are multiple outcrops to avoid the dangers prowling underneath the sand." If somehow she weren''t badly hurt, the entities hiding in the darkness of the desert still posed many threats.


    "You will not accept an escort?"


    Aloe frowned at the question. "I take that you accept my vacation?"


    "By law ¨C one beyond my ability to rectify ¨C I am forced to accept such petitions if they are merited." Rani raised her head from the bed and supported it with her palm. "As much as you have skipped your work in previous months, sick leaves do not demerit from previous contributions, and it is true that you have been at work for nearly a month in your ailing state."


    "Thank you for your comprehension." The scribe of commoners bowed at her liege. The gesture was genuine as she hadn''t expected her petition to go this smoothly.


    "Your reaction is without need." The emir shifted her posture and stood on her knees. As she sat on the bed, the gesture had none of the weak connotations such posture may normally have, but unadulterated eroticism instead. "I am a governor, not a monster."


    The sexiness of the posture was only exacerbated as she pushed her hair backward in a single swoop; the blanket followed suit, revealing any skin left to unveil. There she laid Rani, completely discovered to the elements, her femininity and bosom for Aloe to peer. That had not been the first time she had gazed at any of those given elements, but it certainly had been the most breathtaking one. The scribe was caught between a rock and a hard place as removing her eyes from her liege would have been considered an offense. Though at the same time¡­ she doubted her capabilities to unlatch from the sight.


    No matter how much the complexion of the face, the tinge of the skin, the darkness of the hair, and the glint of the eyes remained Aloe to depravity incarnate, to the most hideous being in of Ydaz ¨C if not Khaffat ¨C she couldn''t help herself but lose a heartbeat in the gorgeous mess that was Rani-al-Sadina.


    Pure beauty.


    The scribe''s hand trembled, her extremities not being as influenced by her own glamour as her visage, and she almost forgot to continue pouring her vitality on the dates she was hiding. Bad, bad. She realized. What would have happened if I regenerated too much vitality? Her charm is too strong¡­ What¡­ what if I had done something else? She couldn''t tell if her hands were trembling ¨C whether in fear or lust ¨C or if they were reaching for something.


    "M-may I inquire of how many days I dispose of?" Her hands trembled. Her voice trembled. Her thoughts trembled. Her whole being shuddered. And, nonetheless, Aloe pushed forward, acting as sternly as her afflicted body allowed her to.


    "I would have conceded you nine days considering your previous apportionment and lack of any other real holidays, but even with Ruhena''s inclusion, we are still pressed with manpower as we are still dealing with many affairs. The transition of power between my brother and I has not fully completed, then there is also the aftermath of the plague, and recently, Loyata''s unusual trade tactics." If she was trying to get pity out of Aloe, she utterly failed, for the scribe of commoners had barely any love for the city and its government at all. The emir realized such tactics didn''t work and politely squinted her eyes. "Alas, we cannot afford such luxuries in these trying times. Do six days sound good to you, Aloe?"


    "I am more than grateful for your offer, Rani." The commoner bowed in her wheelchair, the princess'' prolonged monologue allowed her to recover some composure. She was smart enough to not respond with humility as that would have likely ended in her having a reduced leave. "I will start my day off overmorrow if that is fine by you."


    "Of course," Rani smiled at her. Her sunlit amethyst eyes, alongside her glistening bare chest product of the sweat, drew a powerful picture in the scribe''s mind.


    Aloe bided her farewells, leaving the room shortly after, for she feared she may lose herself in the enticing and welcoming body of Rani as much as the only person she had trusted in the palace had done.

 Book 3: 47. Embers

    "Shouldn''t we wait for Miss Lulu?" Nesrine questioned her as the other guards gathered around the palanquin. All males except her in this case.


    "There is no need for her, Nesrine." The scribe of commoners stated dryly. "I intend to leave Sadina for a few days on the day after tomorrow, so I would like to stop by my house at least once before that. There is no need for Lulu''s assistance in such a short walk, especially when she is currently indisposed."


    Whether it was because of the scribe''s stern gaze or the guard''s own suppositions, Nesrine didn''t protest again.


    Today, as they lacked a pair of hands, four male guards carried the palanquin whilst the wheelchair was left for Nesrine. Funnily enough, Aloe could notice how the woman was at least stronger ¨C speaking in muscle mass ¨C than at least two of the guards. Not that the task required a lot of strength as most people would be able to carry Aloe on their backs without much effort. The palanquin was overkill, but so were the flights of stairs leading to the palace of Sadina.


    Soon enough they made it down the hill. Aloe didn''t risk it and donned toughness all the way there. It was already growing dark, twilight threatening to become night by the moment when the two women reached the scribe''s house. The house was already quite the walk away from the palace, and the wheelchair pace certainly didn''t help with the dwindling sun.


    Perhaps it was her cloudy mind, but Aloe didn''t offer Nesrine the keys like before and instead unlocked the door herself. Her house was no longer blooming with dust and death, but it was far from clean. It had been a few days since Lulu had cleaned it for the last time, and the maid didn''t have enough time to perform a thorough cleaning. Yet it was in an infinitely better state than Aloe had left it.


    "Carry me upstairs," Aloe ordered once they were inside. As the guard didn''t comply instantly, she turned to face her. "What is wrong?"


    "Uhm¡­ well," Nesrine''s eyes diverted to said stairs, "how am I to carry you upstairs? Should I do it with the wheelchair? Though that may be a bit dangerous¡­"


    "I see." It took Aloe a few seconds to understand what the guard meant by that. "Leave me on the ground then. You will carry the wheelchair behind later."


    "Em, are you sure about that?" The guard stated doubtfully.


    "Quite. A bit of dust is not going kill me, is it now?" The scribe groaned. "You are quite indecisive today, Nesrine."


    "Sorry, sorry." Nesrine apologized and carried her upstairs, leaving her on the ground before going for the wheelchair.


    It didn''t escape Aloe''s attention the wry expression the muscle woman was performing, but she didn''t dwell on it. Once Nesrine carried the nince-damned contraption up, the guard lifted the scribe and placed her on it.


    "I need space, please leave the floor and do not return until I say otherwise. Understood?" Aloe''s tone was commanding enough that Nesrine didn''t question her, instead taking a military salute out of the woman and she went downstairs. Where to was beyond Aloe''s knowledge and will to care.


    The petite woman took the keys of her office out and painfully pushed her wheelchair forward. Just in case, she carried water in the wheelchair to replenish the amphora that was watering the Blossomflame, but the whole trip would have been useless if the evolved flower had yet to bloom.


    With much suspense cursing through her blood, Aloe slowly opened the office''s door.


    Fleeting light peered into the room through the window. Aloe had given a lot of thought to the pot''s placement so as to not let anyone see it. Not only the office was on the first floor, but the windowsill was placed slightly lower than the actual window, meaning the plant couldn''t be easily seen from the sight whilst it received all the sunlight that it needed.


    But that wasn''t what mattered right now, but the growth of the evolved flower.


    "Uhm¡­" Aloe slowly pushed her wheelchair forward, and whilst she could see the hints of red looming over the pot and the watering contraption, the lack of such color made her lose hope. "Come on, come on."


    She impatiently removed the near-empty water ceramic and grabbed the pot. The scribe didn''t dare to look directly at it, instead opting to take a solid gaze at the ceiling and a deep breath. Once her heart was set, she turned her head down. Her emerald eyes were met with fire red.


    Yet her visage didn''t boast any happiness.


    "I¡­ guessed as much." Aloe groaned crestfallen. "Even with accelerated growth, it hasn''t had enough time to fully bloom."


    The Blossomflame wasn''t exactly a bud, the flower had grown from its stem, and some hints of orange petals could be seen on its base, but the actual flower ¨C the one that boasted the might of fire ¨C remained closed, its unique red color far from materialized.


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    "Come on, give me something." She begged to the evolved plant putting the pot at the level of her forehead, her temples kissing the ceramic. "I can do with anything. An ember, a spark, whatever fire you can kindle." The scribe forced the pot in her temples, pushing hard against it. "Please. P-please."


    She almost sobbed, but even in the solitude of her office, Aloe didn''t allow herself to show that weakness. Her father used to say that weakness began by oneself, and she believed that.


    "I¡­" In desperation, Aloe placed the potted plant again on the windowsill and began undressing. Last time she had placed her wound next to the fully grown plant, so maybe if she got the Blossomflame close to her hips, it would react. Removing her clothing was just the last drop of her sanity telling her that the evolved plant''s flame may burn her clothing, and there would be no explaining nor justifying that.


    Aloe tried not to think about it, but undressing made her feel weak, and exposed. That had always been the case, but since that night¡­ it had never been truer. If it weren''t because maids were the ones who had freed her from her clothing even during her stay at Asina, she doubted she could have done it herself. Flimsy as fabric may be, they gave her strength.


    Clumsily, the scribe freed herself from the clothing, leaving it hanging on her windowsill. She even removed her undergarments, an action she quickly regretted as the uncushioned seat of the wheelchair wasn''t thought for riding it commando.


    Discomfort notwithstanding, Aloe reached for the pot and prayed and begged for the Blossomflame to give her some of its warmth.


    "An ember is more than enough, please." She begged at the evolved plant placed between her thighs. "I am your ally." The cultivator said after remembering the description of the Aloe Veritas on the plant. "Please."


    Alas, the Blossomflame ¨C or the heavens ¨C failed to respond to her cry for help.


    Even as she lay still and alone in the office muttering her unanswered prayers, Aloe wasn''t cold. The Blossomflame may have not been fully grown, but even in its budding stage, it presented its characteristic warmth.


    "No." Aloe raised her head. "I won''t surrender here. If there''s heat, it means the magic of the Blossomflame is working. I need to tap into it."


    Her trail of thought was simple and foundationless. If there was heat, there had to be fire.


    Aloe shifted into strength, mainly to remove toughness, and then she bit her finger. She had miscalculated her conviction and current vitality levels, for she removed a decent patch of skin from her finger, but she didn''t care about such wounds.


    "Come on, Blossomflame. Come on. Your ally is wounded." She swayed her bleeding finger in front of the evolved flower as if she were feeding a piece of jerky to a starving stray cat. "Please, help me. Help your ally." Her tone became more desperate as time passed, the Blossomflame still not showing a response. "Ple¡­ please." It was hard for her to keep the tears at bay. "Heal m-me, please."


    No intervention, whether natural or mystical, took place in the office.


    As her desperation reached her maximum and hope her lowest point, Aloe led her bleeding finger in the Blossomflame. Directly inside the close bud.


    It happened fast, but the scribe felt the faintest of embers in her fingertip and the pistils of the flower caressed her finger. She snatched the hurt finger from the Blossomflame, not out of fear, but conviction. She didn''t want the faint sparks to be wasted on her finger. Without giving as much as a first thought, Aloe led the half-open Blossomflame bud to her crotch, placing the evolved flower where she herself had been deflowered.


    Her mind didn''t work correctly, regardless of whether it was out of bewilderment or desperation, but she knew there was warmth and vitality flowing on the plant, and that was enough for her. She waited for a minute, but as embers caressed her lower body, instead she caressed the flower with her bloodied finger along the yet-to-flourish petals.


    The movements were shallow and wobbly, her psyche as unstable as her body, but as traces of her already-drying blood spread along the surface of the petals, Aloe felt the warmth sprouting out of the Blossomflame.


    Again, the fire threatened to appear.


    This time, Aloe didn''t snatch her finger away, but instead led it to her crotch, with the hopes that the fires of the Blossomflame directed there.


    And they did.


    The hot flower jerked slightly, its unripe bud opening, and flames gushed out of it in trails of faint embers. It was far from the fire she remembered from the Blossomflame of her greenhouse, but it was a magical fire, nonetheless. The embers collided against her skin as they spurted in little sparks and landed harmlessly on her lower body.


    Aloe groaned as the pathetic attempts of fire kindled her uncovered hips, her crotch warming up to the Blossomflame''s mystical touch. A few seconds later, a hideous itch assaulted her.


    "Ah!" The cultivator writhed in pain and discomfort, rocking the wheelchair back and forth and making some of the dirt from the pot fall out and soil her. Though that was of no importance to her as she gritted her teeth and felt a thousand needles scratch her insides piercing her. "Ugh!"


    It wasn''t a painful feeling or not one she despised, at least. The sensation was eerily reminiscent of snapping bones in place, whether it was a shoulder or the neck. There was a morbid and soothing comfort to it.


    "Aaaaaaah!" Still, her fingers twitched like crazy at not being able to scratch the itch inside her as she furiously scratched the skin in her hip area.


    The embers died as soon as they had lit up, but the itch remained for longer. Uncomfortably longer.


    Her pain lapsed for an instant as she heard the creaking of the staircase. "Aloe? Are you alright?" She heard Nesrine shouting. "I heard screams."


    "I am fine!" Aloe instantly responded, suddenly becoming aware of her indisposed state. "You can go back. Do not enter! Hear me? Do not enter the office!"


    "A-alright." The guard faintly responded; her voice overwhelmed by the scribe''s shouts.


    Once she heard the guard''s steps on the ground floor Aloe focused back on her itch, only that now it had faded into a memory. The petite woman took a deep breath and gathered her courage, putting her hands on the windowsill, and raising her discovered bottom from the wheelchair seat. She placed her feet on the floor and deposited her body weight on them and her hips.


    A bad idea.


    "Son of a who-" Aloe instinctively bit her lips, cutting her cursing short, and slumped onto the wheelchair in pain. She lay there, with her breathing ragged, for a few seconds. "Okay, okay. That was some progress."


    For the first time in months, Aloe had stood in her legs, even if it hurt as much as getting beaten to near death. But progress was progress, and the faded embers of the Blossomflame had awakened her own fire back.

 Book 3: 48. Charade

    When she calmed down from her cursing and pains, Aloe noticed how the Blossomflame looked.


    "Hmm¡­" The naked woman caressed the flower petals. "Am I going crazy, or it really has lost its color? It looks dimmer than before¡­" She also saw how the stem was slightly dry as if the evolved plant hadn''t been watered in a while. "Weird¡­ I guess it''s out of magical juice or whatever arcane source Blossomflame get their abilities from."


    The image of the surprisingly withered flower remained in Aloe''s mind, but she didn''t inquire much further. She wore her dress and undergarments, and once clothed, refilled the watering contraption with her waterskin.


    "Let''s hope this performance hasn''t killed you," Aloe whispered to the Blossomflame.


    Having the healing plant die would definitely be a setback, but she truly didn''t want to have a plant that she not only nurtured, but quite literally created, to perish.


    The experience had taken a toll on her body, mostly in the shape of exhaustion, but overall, Aloe felt better. The embers of the Blossomflame hadn''t been many, but they certainly had done their job, and most importantly, showed her that even old wounds could be healed.


    After catching her breath, Aloe removed herself from the office and locked it behind her. She shouted for Nesrine to assist her with the stairs, and without much fanfare, the duo returned to the palace.


    Aloe went to bed without dining, her stomach not feeling up to the task. Her exhaustion became evident as she dropped unconscious the moment her head hit the pillows. So swift was her sleep that the moment she closed her eyes, she remembered opening them with the first light filtering through the windows. She raised from her bed with a yawn, stretching her arms with a crack or two along the way.


    Then she saw her.


    Lulu waited in the bedchamber''s door, her visage reddened and her eyes locked with the ground. The fair-skinned woman made a motion to open her mouth, only to close it immediately after.


    "Lulu, come here." The scribe of commoners commanded.


    Shyly, the maid obeyed and stood next to the bed.


    "Closer," Aloe whispered and patted the mattress, "Sit down."


    Her expression puzzled and her reaction not lacking behind, Lulu didn''t comply immediately, but neither did she refuse and finally sat down on the mattress, her bottom supported on the very edge and her gaze facing away from Aloe.


    "Why are you acting like this?" The scribe inquired, her voice sweet as honey.


    "I-I showed you an indecorous sight ye-yesterday." The maid trembled, her shoulders shivering as if she was frostbitten. Even if Lulu was taller than her, now she appeared small to Aloe''s eyes.


    The scribe wiggled her way out of the sheets and slowly toward Lulu. The maid was curious about the sounds, but she failed to muster the courage to look behind her. Aloe placed her chest against Lulu''s back and locked her with her arms as she placed her arms around the maid''s neck.


    "That is not the only reason, is it now?" With her enhanced senses, the cultivator felt the fair-skinned girl''s heartbeat shaking.


    "I¡­ I am sorry." Lulu said between sobs, almost on the verge of tears.


    Aloe tightened her embrace and whispered in her ear, "Do not."


    "Huh?" The maid yelped as she had her chin grabbed and was forced to look at her mistress in the eyes.


    "I know what your job entails, Lulu. Do not act as if this is a surprise." Aloe''s tone was stern, almost as much as her Uncle Jafar used when he was serious.


    "B-but¡­"


    "No buts." The scribe led the maid''s face closer to her, their breaths meeting. "Rani made me open that door precisely because she knew you were there, this is but a ploy at worst, or a poor-taste prank at best, both with the intent to sour our relationship. Do not let that happen, understood?"


    The petite woman liberated the fair-skinned one from her grasp, "I¡­ understood."


    "And besides, I know perfectly how your contract works and why she was doing what she was doing," Aloe said once she separated from Lulu. "I am the one who approves the job applicants in the palace."


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    "Wait, really?"


    "Yes. Surprising that you do not know that. I mean, I have not mentioned to you once, but you could have at least eyed one of the many papers on my desk."


    "That would be poor manners, Aloe," Lulu responded with her usual comeliness.


    "It would be expected." The scribe countered. "Anyhow, have you never asked yourself why are there this many servants and why they get dismissed all the time?"


    "I cannot say I have, no."


    "How long have you been working here?" Aloe frowned.


    "Around half a year, barely before you became the scribe of commoners."


    "And you have never inquired why so many of your fellow servants are made out in this period?"


    "I have not interacted with them much, all being said."


    "Figures." Aloe shrugged.


    "Though if I were to guess, I would be inclined to say it is about their age," Lulu responded. "There are not many mature servants, especially maids."


    Aloe knew the cause, of course. Sure, the sultanzade ¨C like everyone else ¨C preferred young and beautiful women over more mature ones. But Aloe alone outside of the imperial family knew the real reason. You are being used like cattle. And then disposed like garbage. It would have been easy to reveal the truth to Lulu, but also the wrong option. Knowledge was dangerous, and if the maid slipped just once, it could bring her doom.


    "How many times have you been asked to accompany Rani?" The scribe inquired.


    "This is the third time¡­" Lulu acknowledged, though not without a slight blush. "But¡­ I guess this would be my fourth as the former Emir Hassan claimed me once when I was first contracted during his mandate."


    As much as Aloe wanted to curse the man for such behavior, the truth was Lulu was more than informed on what she may be expected of upon accepting this job. No, what was on Aloe''s mind now was how much the maid had been reaped. It''s hard to estimate vitality with these small amounts. If she has been to bed with sultanzade four times¡­ Wait.


    "Scribe Naila has not asked for your services, has she?"


    "Her Highness has not done so yet, no." Even Lulu was aware of the type of person all sultanzade were. Maybe not now, but she was sure sometime in the future she would also be forced to pleasure the imperial scribe.


    Alright, four times. According to Fatima, a person can only be reaped ten times, and a cultivator can only reap once or twice per day. Best case scenario, Lulu has been reaped only two out of five times, meaning that she won''t be made out soon. Worst case though¡­ only two reapings remain, which could be the very next summon. The fact that her closest confidant in the palace could be dismissed any day now didn''t strike right with her heart, for lack of better words. Let us hope for the former case. Aloe chose to believe Lulu wouldn''t be taken away from her.


    "Alright," The scribe voiced out once she tied up her thoughts. "Listen to me closely, Lulu." The maid nodded. "Tomorrow I will leave the palace for a short vacation to my greenhouse. Today I will be reading Fayruz and Idris in my absence, but at the same time, I will act with animosity toward you. Got it?"


    "Yes?" Lulu tilted her head in confusion. "But why? Have you not said I should not allow the emir''s tactics to affect us?"


    "Yes," Aloe affirmed with a nod. "But I will be acting, you have to understand that. The only way to make this work, without needing Rani to summon you more times to her bedchamber out of spite, is to make her think she has won."


    "Oh!" The maid''s eyes illuminated in realization. Then her expression soured. "I value your help, I truly do, Aloe, but there is no need for such farce. It is my job to assist the sultanzade, whether is by cleaning their home, or by pleasuring them."


    "Trust me, you do not want to pleasure the sultanzade."


    The underlying confusion in Lulu''s visage only magnified. "May I ask why?"


    "I cannot give you straight answers but keep in mind that there are two main ways you can get relieved of your position. Either by losing your beauty or because you have shared a bed with a sultanzade too many times."


    Lulu wanted to inquire on how Aloe knew that on why that happened ¨C the scribe could read her face as an open book, no enhanced senses were needed for that ¨C but Lulu was wiser than that and simply responded with a nod.


    If Aloe managed to fool Rani into thinking she had sowed discord between the two, then it was likely Lulu wouldn''t be reaped any time soon and therefore expelled from the palace as she would no longer be useful for the princesses'' Nurture.


    Since that exchange, Aloe and Lulu continued their day as normal, with the exception of more silence than usual between them. During the audience, the scribe also sulked, a gesture that wasn''t complicated to maintain as it came rather naturally to her. She maintained the fa?ade at all times, whether it was in front of people like her assistants, or even in their solitude. As part of the charade, Aloe sent Lulu on needless errands, though she hid some utility behind them.


    Everyone would accuse Aloe of being crazy or having a hidden agenda if she sent her maid to buy random seeds, but when said mistress was unsatisfied with the maid''s attitude¡­ People would likely speak of how she had sent Lulu around the market buying only two seeds of every type she could find and mention how spiteful of a woman she was.


    Aloe didn''t care.


    Ruthlessness was a good trait, and whilst inspiring some dread in people was well and all, the scribe''s ultimate goal was to get her hands on more seeds to evolve them. Rani will be delighted to hear I am torturing Lulu whilst, in reality, I am just making her do the chores I wouldn''t be able to commission anyone else but me. Ah, how ironic~


    The scribe delighted in her brilliance, though the feeling was short-lived as today was a double audience day, and on top of that, she had to instruct Fayruz and Idris on their tasks for the week.


    But this was work she could do with her eyes closed, the true test would come tomorrow morning. How she, a feeble teenager with a broken hip, had to traverse the Qiraji Desert on top of one of the cruelest mounts to ever be devised by nature. However, Aloe couldn''t deny she was looking forward to the trip. After all, she was going to see a dearest friend for the first time in months.

 Book 3: 49. Mount

    Lulu woke Aloe up even earlier than usual. The maid came stocked up to the scribe''s bedchamber with a tray of light food, a readied travel bag, and a desert garb. Even though Aloe hadn''t prepared anything for the journey, this was the first time she had been so readied for the trek to the oasis.


    In less than half an hour ¨C between toiletries, eating, and getting clothed ¨C the two women directed themselves to the entrance of the palace. To keep up with the charade between the two, Aloe abandoned Lulu at the entrance alongside the wheelchair and made the palace guards carry her all over to the city gates. The escorts were less than pleased with the treatment at such early hours, but it wasn''t like they could refuse.


    Palanquins were slower than wheelchairs, so it took them another half an hour to arrive at Sadina''s stables. If it wasn''t because she could use her defense stance at maximum potency as she no longer had the need to hide her vitality, the walk would certainly have taken a lot of her. Instead, it just took a bit of her. The fact didn''t fill Aloe with much hope as the journey across the desert would be a hundredfold worse.


    "Ah, if it isn''t the scribe of commoners." A rugged familiar yet nasty voice greeted her.


    "It has been a while." Aloe diplomatically greeted the rough-looking stablemaster. She didn''t like the dirty man. Not because of his profession nor his looks, but because of the treatment he gave to the beasts. "Though I do not remember informing you of my workplace."


    "Well," the man grinned, "there has been a dweller taking up food and space in the stables with no one to pay it up for months, so I obviously searched for the owner around the city. I would dare to say I would have never known such information if someone paid for their expenses."


    It was likely that the man had sent a bill to the palace, but if she hadn''t seen it, it meant it had arrived at another scribe, which she would most likely have ignored.


    "Save up your sarcasm, stablemaster." The scribe of commoners announced harshly. "I have been on a diplomatic mission for months and I am hurt, I will not tolerate any offense."


    Her violent outburst wasn''t fully intended. Yes, she wanted to make the charade of her falling with Lulu believable, but it was also true that the man before her wanted to make her puke. The bumpy ride neither had helped with her humor.


    "Of course, of course." He clasped his hands and rubbed them together. "I would never dare to offend a person who has done so much for our beautiful city. I would just like to be paid what I''m owed."


    "Here." Derisively, Aloe threw four coins at the man from the top of the palanquin.


    "Hey! Watch ou¡­" The man instantly calmed the second he saw the coins he had caught midair. "Uhm, venerable scribe," his tone suddenly became polite, "this is more than you owe me."


    "I know." She stated as a matter of fact. Her ''mission'' at Asina had lasted two months, and adding the time from her last visit to the stables, that didn''t add more than a hundred days. She had given him four fajati, or two hundred drupnars. Considering their deal was one drupnar per day, she had overpaid quite a bit. "Now I do not want to hear you yelp about money in a season, understood?"


    "But of course." The stablemaster submissively nodded. "I will lead you to your mount then."


    It was quite ironic how she had treated those four coins with such disdain when said mount had cost her barely more than two hundred drupnars. Now that almost felt like pocket change. Especially once Fatima arrived at Sadina in a matter of days by now.


    The guards followed the stablemaster, the palanquin and Aloe resting on their shoulders. The scribe didn''t have quite the viewpoint from her prone position, but the grunts alerted her that they were finally there.


    "Put me down," Aloe commanded and the guards complied without hesitation.


    The grunts became more frenetic by the moment, getting a raised brow from the stablemaster. "Are you sure you''d like to be on the ground, venerable scribe?"


    "Open the pen." The man didn''t deserve more than that.


    The instant the stablemaster did so, a projectile the size of a cart shot toward Aloe. Fast as it may be, bellyflops only gave for so much speed. The petite woman raised a hand before her and the monster stopped on its feet. Not without bopping the hand with her snoot.


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    "Wrooooo!" Fikali, the desert dweller, announced her presence with the unrivaled might of the sun.


    "I also missed you, girl." Aloe grabbed the dweller''s face and started rubbing it with excitement. Being at ground level was the optimal petting level for dwellers, after all. "Who''s a good girl?"


    "Wrooo!" The dweller grunted with shared glee.


    "You!" She put on a silly voice. "You are a good girl!"


    "Wrooooo!" Fikali heaved her snoot up and down as to agree with the statement.


    Aloe separated herself from the dweller, though the monster didn''t want to be separated this fast from her owner''s skinship, and continued headbutting her friendlily. The scribe pushed her away and ordered her to wait, then she dusted her hands. Fikali didn''t boast the best of looks, and as much as Aloe wanted to criticize the stablemaster, it was clear that those were the signs of her advanced age as the dweller''s facial skin sagged.


    "What are you looking at?" She growled at the guards. "Raise me at once." Shellshocked as they were in the one-eighty change of behavior, the men complied. "Carry me to the city gates." She ordered the guards. "And as for you," she looked at the stablemaster, "saddle Fikali up at once and bring her to me at the gates."


    She didn''t give the stablemaster the chance to utter a single word as the guards carried her away. After five minutes, the stablemaster appeared with a bellyflopping Fikali.


    "Lead her to the sand and tie my luggage to the saddle." She still didn''t allow the man to talk, and he wordlessly accepted her demands.


    The guards handed him Aloe''s luggage, which to be fair, wasn''t much as she was travelling light. Most of the weight came in the shape of waterskins as the only food she brought with her was jerky and pistachios. The oasis should be bustling with crops, even if she doubted she could harvest them in her current state. Nonetheless, she didn''t think she would starve to death even if the Blossomflame didn''t end up healing her as the regeneration stance seemed to slow down her metabolism, or at least mitigate her hunger. In a perfect scenario, the three to four days she would spend at the oasis should be dedicated to recovery, and jerky was a quite filling food for its weight.


    Once the luggage was well-tied, the scribe of commoners motioned the guards forward toward the sand. Their feet slightly sunk in the sand, though Aloe blamed it on the men''s armor rather than her own weight. Once again, the palanquin was put down and now asked for one of them to mount her on Fikali.


    "Do not give me that look," Aloe said to the man who carried her. "I am more than healthy enough for this journey."


    "I would never dare to state otherwise." The nameless guard who saddled her said.


    Aloe pouted but didn''t elaborate any further. She attended herself to the reins, not without before donning her gloves. There was no intention to go fast enough to need them, but every sliver of damage on her body she could mitigate the better. The scribe slumped her body, pressing her chest against the back of the dweller''s head and then she whispered to Fikali''s ears.


    "Girl, I need you to go slow, understood?" She had removed the speed infusion ¨C or rather haste now with her new naming nomenclature ¨C from the dweller months ago before she surrendered her to the awful stablemaster, but that didn''t mean Fikali wasn''t already fast by default.


    "Huo." The good girl grunted in affirmation.


    "That''s what I like to hear." The scribe patted her mount''s head. "Now, onward my steed!"


    Fikali pranced forward, her lower body slightly submerging in the sand. Whilst Aloe held to the reins with her dear life, the dweller obeyed her command of going slowly. The human took a look backward, turning her gaze to the city to measure the distance traveled. Ah, this is perhaps too slow. Even after a few minutes, the guards were still clearly visible at the city gates. The ones who had escorted her. I''m kinda offended that they don''t trust me enough to let me go without standing still and observing me like senile old men.


    The hour was early, but as low as the sun may be, she could feel the weight of the desert in her body already. I guess we are going faster than if I was walking myself so at least we will make it in a single day¡­ Aloe told that to herself, but the heat was affecting her more than expected. Ugh¡­ why did Fatima have to send the letter this soon?


    The petite scribe continued rambling in the confines of her mind until the city was no longer visible behind them, and after she found an outcrop big enough to provide shade, she commanded her mount to stop.


    "Ugh," Painfully, between sighs and groans, Aloe dismounted herself and rested on the shade. She picked up one of the many waterskins and took a hearty gulp of the still-cold water. "Who would have thought that being sick would siphon my strength?"


    "Wuo?" Fikali tilted her head in a lack of understanding.


    "Don''t worry about it, girl." The human patted the monster between gulps. I still don''t know how she comprehends some orders so easily and then doesn''t understand other speech. "You''ve done good so far, but my body is too weak to go faster. Once I''ve grown a bit more used to the bumps perhaps we could go faster."


    "Wroo!" The dweller grunted excitedly.


    "Wroo," The girl groaned on her own, though instead of elation, it was out of pain as she crawled her way to the saddle. "Let''s get going. The more we rest, the darker will be when we arrive at the oasis."


    Her head was dizzy from the heat, her body exhausted just from existing let alone the ridding, and her heart was as broken as always, but there was nothing more endearing and comfortable than slumping her body on Fikali and letting her do the job. Ah, how much I missed you, Fikali¡­The rays of scorching light became an afterthought as Aloe could only think about the warmth of her mount.

 Book 3: 50. Salvation

    Exhaustion ended up being the issue at hand rather than pain. A trek through the desert was already hard on the body by default, and Aloe''s delicate health only exacerbated the problem. Toughness allowed her to quite literally tough out the pain, but the same couldn''t be said for the stress her body slowly gathered as she and Fikali traversed the sands of the Qiraji.


    They stopped a lot of times, basically every time she could find a shade. Yet no amount of rest could fend off her tiredness. Recovery seemed like the perfect internal infusion to regain her breath, but much like Fatima had taught her weeks ago, the infusion only recovered more tangible aspects of her body and the stress would only grow. It does seem to have an effect on my stamina though¡­ But much like vitality, exhaustion wasn''t fully related to stamina. The human body was composed of many substances and resources, and some affected the whole in different and specific manners.


    Her studies didn''t specialize in such fields, and she was no physician.


    The light dimmed with the passing of time. Whilst she should have been scared with the encroaching night, the truth was that the cooling temperatures made it easier for her to travel and push her body. It was only a matter of time when arrived at the oasis, and if they did before midnight ¨C when the sun was furthest from the heavens ¨C then there would be no issue at all.


    Having topped vitality was the only thing that made it possible for her to keep pushing forward.


    Perhaps not a sizeable increase, but it was undeniable she was stronger than before where it mattered. If she trusted something about her, it was her capacity to withstand abuse.


    Much like her heart and thoughts, the sky was black. Unfortunately for the scribe, no stars shone within her as the heavens had. Nonetheless, nothing of that mattered as the faint silhouettes at the horizon became familiar.


    "We are almost there," Aloe announced at her steed. She would have liked to be more enthusiastic, but she was one step from falling asleep.


    "Wro!" Fikali didn''t fare that much better. Oh yes, she was lively, but the human knew the monster could be and do much more if she wanted.


    The dweller led her through the oasis, starving off the solid ground, and approached the shack she had for a house. She knew this wouldn''t be easy before she set for the journey, but only the difficulty of the coming days became clear to her the moment she separated herself from Fikali. She couldn''t stand, let alone walk, and yet she had many tasks at hand.


    To not make Fikali suffer a rough night, Aloe unlatched the saddle whilst she sat on the steps of the shack''s entrance. The leather contraption was heavy, and it took quite a few tugs to remove it from the dweller even when it was completely free.


    Now, the hard part. Aloe had never been as conscious of her short stature as this very moment. Before her lay a door. A locked door. A locked door she had to open.


    It shouldn''t have been as hard as it had been, but the exhaustion was taking a toll on her body far greater than any other tax may have drained her pockets. She stood on her knees ¨C a difficult endeavor, for as what her hips respected, it was no different than standing up ¨C and supported her body on the doorframe. Still, she wobbled so much, that no matter how stretched her arms may be, she had difficulties reaching the lock. The spasmodic movements finally reached their zenith and the keys slipped from her hands, falling into the sand.


    "Fucking fuck." Aloe swore uncreatively, a clear sign of mental exhaustion as only the dullest of mind wouldn''t add flourish to their curses.


    The woman dropped her body to the ground and grabbed the key, panting along the way. She tightened her grip on it, even when her instability grew, the key remained firm. The dweller grunted behind her, and she groaned noncommittally back. With a bit more effort, the human managed to open the unlocked door.


    She flailed her arm at the door, swinging it wide open, and then the limb fell on the ground like a dead weight. Every movement was hard fought but she didn''t stop once. The cultivator led the saddle inside the shack, even when she had to crawl with her other hand. She left all her luggage at her desk''s feet and continued crawling forward.


    No matter that her stomach was grumbling, no matter how much her body was dehydrated, no matter that she was still clothed, Aloe crawled into the bedroom and then onto the bed. Sleep came instantaneously.


    <hr>


    Sweat and dust weren''t the most pleasing of smells, but that was what finally awoke Aloe. Not the heat or her dying body, but her corporal odors.


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    "Ough¡­" The petite woman rolled on her bed as she groaned, only to fall on the ground with a muted thud. Her body was so heavy and had fallen so perfectly straight that she didn''t even notice the fall until she opened her eyes. "Watah¡­" More groaning ensued.


    Readying herself for the day was impossible in her current state, but the scribe managed to reach the saddle and gorged herself in stale water and tough jerky. It spoke in great length about her when those two items tasted like heavenly glory.


    "Alright¡­ alright¡­." Aloe lazily muttered with her back laying on the shack''s wall. "I think I''ll have to start doing something at some point by now, it''s almost noon¡­" She groaned. "Okay¡­ first task, bathroom."


    Going to the bathroom in the oasis had never been pleasant and being unable to walk made it worse. Still, she was used to the awful latrine and also to being incapable of the most basic of activities. As soon as she opened the door to the outside harsh world, Fikali met her. The dweller was not saddled, but for small walks, it wasn''t needed. Taking advantage of the shack''s steps, Aloe laid on Fikali''s back and commanded her to carry her to the latrine.


    She only noticed how close was her bladder to bursting when the dweller''s back repeatedly bumped against her stomach.


    What happened on the latrine had been a mess, but she was well aware that the true mess would be whenever she cleaned it. If she ever did.


    "Okay¡­ Fikali¡­" The human said between pants as she lay on top of the monster. "I need you¡­ to carry me to the greenhouse. O-kay?"


    "Hro." The dweller grunted in understanding.


    "Hehe, good girl." Aloe petted the sides of Fikali''s head, which prompted another grunt from her, albeit one of elation now.


    Beneath the mask of playfulness, Aloe felt like she was going to collapse at any moment now. She had barely woken up, but she could no longer keep with her body. I think I overestimated my capabilities coming here. The human body was amazing as she found herself with a migraine even though she was simply exhausted.


    "Here, girl." She threw Fikali a pistachio once she dismounted at the greenhouse''s entrance.


    "Wrooooo!" The dweller bellyflopped so hard that she nearly jumped a full meter up to the sky.


    Aloe snickered at the monster''s antics. If she were ever to drown in a cesspit of misery, she knew Fikali would be there to pick her up.


    With the weight of the world and her life on her hands, Aloe unlatched and opened the greenhouse''s door. Unlike the soft sand of the desert or the sandstone floor of the shack, the greenhouse''s cobblestone floor obliterated her kneecaps and elbows as she crawled forward. The smaller the pebbles were, the more painful the movement was. Her eyes tunnel-visioned on her objective, the corners of her vision dimming and ignoring everything else. What was of importance right now wasn''t the greenhouse itself.


    "Mmm¡­" She bit her lips and toughed up the scratches against her body. The problem wasn''t the skin contact, but rather how some pebbles pressed against her bones.


    Panting through the greenhouse, Aloe reached her destination.


    "Well," she chuckled, "at least I guess I won''t need to bite my fingers this time." She laughed at her self-made wounds because otherwise, the alternative wouldn''t be beautiful.


    The cultivator slid into the parterre, not caring about her clothing as it was already as dirty as it could get. Aloe caressed the plant slowly as she anticipated the power overflowing it.


    The Blossomflame before her was incomparable to the one she had at Sadina. It was bright red, and even without being prompted was already brimming with embers.


    Fire bloomed, that was what the Blossomflame was.


    "Come on, your little sister managed to alleviate my pain. I know you can do more. So much more." She whispered at the warm flower. "Give me the salvation I need."


    Her body burned as loudly as the evolved plant. It wasn''t only the blood gushing free from her scratches, but the aches deep inside of her too.


    Warmth was hard to come by. The desert only provided scorching deadly heat, not the tender and life-granting warmth. So it was easy for Aloe to recognize that the fire gathering in front of her wasn''t an act of destruction, but creation. Of life and rebirth.


    "Ah~" Aloe gasped as the flames grew to sizes never seen before. "Yes¡­" She let the fire envelop her, to crawl up her arms without resistance. This was what she was waiting for.


    Then the Blossomflame exploded, spurting waves of incandescent might, and swallowed her whole.


    Flames became everything Aloe could see. Flames became everything Aloe could touch.


    Flames became her whole world.


    But no fire took over her. The embers, the flames, the smoke¡­ it all embraced her in a warm hug. She couldn''t know why this time the Blossomflame had covered her whole body instead of only the wounded sections, or how it was able to do so in the first place, yet neither she cared.


    For she was comfortable.


    The petite cultivator writhed on the ground, uncaring of dirt soiling her. It was not an act of pain, but pleasure, not dissimilar to stretching one''s body and popping bones and muscles into place.


    "Mmm~" She moaned with her mouth closed, unsure of what would happen if that fire got inside of her.


    Though at the same time, she knew it really didn''t matter as she felt the warmth of the Blossomflame all around her, even in her very core.


    In the mixture of pleasure, in the tender scratches of the evolved plant, the itches finally came. She had been expecting them, every time she had been healed by the fire flowers she had been assaulted by that powerful discomfort, yet nothing could have prepared her for the magnitude of it.


    "Aaaah!" Aloe screamed as her whole body convulsed in maddening itches, her back tensing up and arching from the overwhelming sensations.


    Consciousness threatened to slip from her grasp, and fire pushed inside of her body from her opened mouth. Aloe bit the fire, but nothing happened to it, continuing to thrash unaffected by her efforts.


    Warmth. Light. Redness. And finally¡­


    Darkness.

 Book 3: 51. Shadows

    Depending on the sharpness of one''s senses, the first thing one would detect would be the loud chants and cries. However, he first noticed the sweet smell drowning the whole place. It was a tender and faint smell, but he still recognized it. The pestilence that rotted the mind.


    "I''d prefer if you didn''t sniff my home." A scraggy voice announced.


    "If you made it more homely, I could think of it as a home at some point." He spoke. "But it would certainly take a while."


    The voice sighed and revealed his form from the shadows. It was an old man, frail, but oddly lucid. "Every time I feel I hit gold with this gamble, you have me second-guessing myself."


    "We are two then." He harrumphed.


    "You are the one who searched for us, you have no such right, Hassan."


    "A man may second-guess himself as much as he wants and be of no consequence. The problem only starts when his only action is guessing himself." Hassan walked toward him.


    "That much is true, but I''m not here for philosophy. What about my men?" The old man pointed at the origin of the noise with his head.


    "Your patience is thin, and this endeavor is meant for years, Grandmaster." He knew better than to anger a master assassin. Frail as all of them may look, they had the potential to be as dangerous as the oldest of sultanzade. "There hasn''t been much change, Nurture is a practice about numbers and time, a growing orchard, more of a background task."


    "If your imperial magic is a background task, which is the main one, then?" The old man grunted.


    "This." Hassan theatrically extended his arms at the underground opening, which revealed a set of training grounds with hundreds of trainees. "Building one''s body, learning discipline, knowing how to kill."


    "My people know how to kill."


    "Not in this way." He smiled. "But it''s true the combination of Nurture and Enlightenment provides many new possibilities. As long as your people keep away from the sense stance, of course."


    "Why is that specific stance so problematic?" He had already explained to the old assassin all he knew about Nurture, but some knowledge only became visible when put into practice. "That only boosted one''s senses, right?"


    "Exactly. There lays the problem, Nugar." Hassan nodded and the old man frowned. "Your assassins already have keen senses, and whilst the sense stance heightens them even more to unprecedented levels, there are some¡­ side effects."


    "Which?" Nugar taciturnly asked.


    "Drugs, what else?" The former emir snickered. "Their systems become too keen to them under the sense stance, making them haywire like actual drug addicts. The greater their Nurture, the more pathetic beings they become."


    "Hmm¡­" The grandmaster scratched his goatee. "Now I would like to experience myself. This could be a key component to Apotheosis."


    "Bah!" Hassan protested. "You and your Apotheosis! If you all weren''t so hellbent on your mysticism, Aaliyah wouldn''t have been able to hunt you down as she did."


    "There are traditions for a reason, young man."


    "Yes, to exploit the dimwitted." Hassan squinted at him. He had been a governor once, for him tradition was just a form of control. The culture people boasted so much about was the very shackles that held them down without revolting. "But beyond that, the assassins have demonstrated competency in all stances, especially stealth and agility."


    "Isn''t that last stance useless?" Nugar inquired.


    "Yes." The young man didn''t sugarcoat it. "But it has its uses. Being able to deform one''s body at quick speeds at melee range allows you to attack from impossible angles or even redirect blows away. The advantage you assassins have is that you are more tolerant to the damage and discomfort the stance inheritably inflicts as your minds are ridden with so many calming agents that you won''t pass out from the pain."


    "I''ll try to make use of them, then. Any tool can become a weapon, but not every weapon can become a tool."


    "Wise words," He blankly stated, not paying much attention. The grandmaster tended to use too many reiterative expressions that brought nothing to the conversation. "Beyond stances, women assassins are progressing better with their Nurture, but that was to be expected."


    "How''s that?" The senile man asked, oblivious that this was their third time having this conversation.


    Hassan sighed. "Women are just better at Nurture, don''t ask me why. Aaliyah used to say that it''s because of their life-giving nature, but anything that comes out of that woman''s mouth should be picked up with a grain of salt. Anyhow, the superior progress of the females isn''t solely due to their nature, but also their assets."


    "It seems the courtesans are pulling their weight then."


    "Yes, your many street whores are useful for the endeavor as unlike many others, they can reap an unlimited amount of people without raising suspicion as there will always be a man desperate enough, but Loyatan societal structure is being quite a nuisance at that."


    "Now you are blaming my country for your faults?"


    "It is your country''s fault," Hassan stated deadheartedly. "Your cities are too small to gather enough vitality for more than a handful of people, and the autonomy between regions too high to move easily between them."


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    "That''s your fault for thinking Loyata is a nation in the first place." Nugar snickered in amusement. "We are just¡­ what''s the word again? Coalition, yes. We are a coalition against you, warmongers. We would have remained divided in peace if there wasn''t a scourge threatening us at the south."


    "How lucky that we are dealing with such scourge now."


    "Indeed. Indeed." Nugar''s eyes locked with the training assassins. "I have done everything in my capabilities to weaken Ydaz, but I''m not sure the forces you are training here will be enough. If what you have told me is true, we will need a master assassin for each sultanzade and three grandmasters for Aaliyah alone."


    "And I doubt that will be enough." He added with a whisper. "But of course, we will not be fighting all sultanzade at the same time. Your specialization, that of the assassins, is picking the correct battlefield. A skill most valued in war."


    "Are you saying I should send masters at the Sultanah? I fear that would be just gifting capable men to the j?tunn."


    Hassan recognized the creature Nugar spoke from Loyatan folklore, though, unlike many real and tangible monsters of the night, the legendary giants were just that, fiction. That didn''t mean Loyata didn''t have monsters of their own. He had been informed that some assassins fought against ice dwellers as the sheer brutality and uncanny ability for stealth of the monsters made for a pyrrhic matchup for the assassins.


    "Now, now. I have devised a tactic for assassins to survive even the meanest of Aaliyah''s attacks."


    "You''ve piqued my interest. Speak." For the first time, the old man actually sounded commanding, but most importantly, powerful. As if his mind was finally in place.


    A hashashid. Hassan realized this a long time ago.


    "First, Aaliyah won''t be using the strength stance against assassins. Too much of a peril for little gain. I presume she will be boasting defense and sense ¨C she can use two, as I have briefed you ¨C to fight the assassins. Maybe she will use speed and flowing from time to time, but don''t expect her to show any of the other. And of course, those two stances will only be substituted with sense. She will never lower the defense stance, so the only way to hurt her is¡­"


    "With poison," Nugar interjected.


    "Wrong." Hassan snapped his fingers at him. "Defense also provides against poisons. That''s why most assassinations against sultanzade fail if they are awake, they can just switch to defense and protect themselves against most poisons depending on their Nurture. No," he swayed his head, "the only way to kill Aaliyah is from exhaustion."


    "Exhaustion? You are joking."


    "I''m being quite serious." The young man replied with his eyes locked on the training assassins.


    Their training was quite diverse as some simply built muscle or endurance through repetitive exercises, whilst others were allowed to spar between each other with weapons. As deadly as the assassins were, most were incompetent civilians who were carried by the abilities provided by Enlightenment. But the ones who had real skill in them¡­ were scary.


    He normally forbade assassins to use their abilities during training as the objective wasn''t to kill their partner but to acquire mastery of their bodies, but those who were higher up on the echelons of the shadowy organization were ruthless with their skills. Teleportation, telekinesis, invisibility¡­ those combined with Nurture and the right mindset were tools far deadlier than working on their lonesome. And that was just a handful of their repertoire.


    "Aaliyah," Hassan started, "cannot be killed by poisons or blows. I doubt asphyxiation can even work as the recovery stance would probably allow her to survive without air for days. No. To kill her we need to chip at her. It will require multiple days, perhaps the whole campaign, of constantly trying to kill her and impeding her from falling asleep. The moment her Nurture diminishes and she cannot regenerate her vitality, that will be the moment to strike. This will not be an assassination as you know them, but a hunt. The greatest hunt to ever be devised, as we aren''t dealing with prey, but an apex predator. Chasing down the game is but the first strategy of hunting."


    "Let''s assume that series of tactics work, which to be honest, it''s a better plan than anything we have devised on our own." It didn''t surprise the cultivator that the assassins had planned to try to kill Aaliyah. That was the common mental exercise for sultanzade, after all. "What''s that tactic to survive her strongest attacks that you''ve hyped up?"


    The sultanzade smiled. "The defense stance will be useless against Aaliyah as a single punch from her ¨C even without the strength stance ¨C will be fatal. We will have no assassin with enough vitality to wield a durable enough defense stance to do so, ever. And teleportation¡­ your shadows won''t help you either, Aaliyah''s mind is too fast for eyes."


    "Then what?" For an old man, you surely don''t have patience.


    "Agility."


    "The useless stance?"


    "The one and only," Hassan smirked. "That''s why I am training the highest-ranking assassins here on the stance. Though only because it''s one of the few stances that actually require training. Being able to practically liquify their body will allow them to dissipate the damage far more efficiently than soaking it up with defense. It''s not a perfect solution ¨C heavens no ¨C but they might survive a single hit from Aaliyah. Who knows, if we are lucky, maybe even two."


    "You are telling me that all this training amounts to surviving a single punch?"


    The cultivator''s visage darkened. "We are not dealing with ''punches'' here, but death sentences. Aaliyah could wreck this whole installation with a stomp, if we obtain a single assassin here that can survive one hit, then I will very well call this operation a success. Remember, the idea is to not get hit in the first place."


    "It''s always ups and downs when I speak with you." Nugar sighed.


    "Surely you must enjoy them." He added with contempt. "How many grandmasters will we dispose of for the moment of truth?"


    "Not as many as I would have enjoyed." The assassin admitted.


    "How''s that? Surely everyone will be willing to slay the Heavenly Descendant."


    "No, all grandmasters are on board, it''s not that. It''s that the Grandmaster of Sadina has died a few months ago from a failed Apotheosis."


    Hassan frowned at having his previous emirate, his rightful land, being mentioned. "I doubt having one less grandmaster is going to pull us down this much."


    "Fool!" Nugar suddenly snapped. "Umar was without a doubt the most powerful assassin the world has seen so far! His mind remained in the world a whole minute after death, do you even have the slightest idea of what that implies?"


    "No, I do not. Don''t talk to me like that." Hassan responded nonplussed.


    "Bah!" The old assassin grunted. "I''ll not bother explaining it to you then, only know that if one person could kill Aaliyah-al-Ydaz in a one-on-one in Khaffat, it was Umar."


    That is, indeed, troublesome. The sultanzade didn''t voice out his thoughts. And was this ostensibly one-army man living under my territory all this time? It seemed impossible to him, the assassins he had contacted during his reign didn''t show the prowess or the mettle to be commanded by such a legendary figure.


    "Let us only hope that his presence wasn''t needed." Nugar buffed in a defeatist tone.


    "Hope is for the weak and the unprepared."


    "We will never be prepared if our foe is the Sultanah of Ydaz."


    "That is the truest statement you have uttered, my friend." Hassan closed his eyes and deflated, his shoulders slumping down. "But if our readiness proves enough, then I''ll rule the land and you may benefit from it."


    "I''m still doubtful of how far your help will extend."


    "Then why are you helping me?" The sultanzade snickered.


    "There are gains for us if Aaliyah were to die, regardless of your continued help during a future reign or not."


    "Fret not, this all started because I was willing to help you from the beginning." His expression soured, siding with the assassins was what got him here in the first place. "And now I''m going to put an end to it."

 Book 3: 52. Nectar

    Warmth was the first feeling Aloe felt. She wondered if newborn felt the same way in their conception. Then lucidity came back to her.


    "Ugh¡­" The petite woman rolled in the dirt as she groaned. "This has been certainly on the top¡­ something of worst experiences ever, blessed heavens I''m beat."


    She put her palms on her head, slightly pulled down the skin of her face, then sunk her nails into her scalp. Her fingers and legs trembled from the overwhelming itches, even after having passed out for a solid while as the sun wasn''t where she last remembered.


    "Okay, okay¡­" Aloe sat down and took a chug from her waterskin. "It has done something, the Blossomflame has healed me at least, that''s a victory." A victory that her body still remembered. "For being healed, I feel more beaten and exhausted than before." She said whilst looking at the evolved flower.


    The Blossomflame was open as before, emitting its familiar warmth, though there was a distinctive lack of embers floating around.


    "Got any more juice in you?" She poked the plant and it failed to respond back. "I guessed as much." She sighed. "Well, at least you have not withered like your little sister, so I guess I still can get a use out of you, even if you have unleashed the very hells upon me."


    The conflagration was still fresh in her mind, how the flames drowned and¡­ assaulted her. It had been a gentle touch, more than she had ever gotten, but Aloe couldn''t say she had enjoyed the unilateral experience. She had had too many of those in her life as it was.


    "Moment of truth," The cultivator gathered her breath and pushed her hands against the soil to stand up. Her equilibrium was still messed up, partially because donning any stance that wasn''t sense already took a toll on her balance, but after some finicking, she was able to stand up. Truth was, she could already feel the strain on her hip. "Alright. So far so good. How about¡­" She took a step forward. Much like a house of cards, she folded with minimal movement. "Motherfu-"


    Whilst not donning acuity, Aloe was quick on her feet ¨C or rather hands ¨C as she stopped her fall and mitigated it with her upper body.


    "That''s why I was using toughness," She groaned. "I guess I''m now dependent on you, little friend." Aloe caressed the Blossomflame again, petting it much like an animal. "I still have four days, so if you recover your juice soon enough¡­ who knows? Maybe I''ll march out here walking and all."


    She didn''t even believe her own words. Some called her pessimistic, most of those complaints had once come from her mother, but she was only being realistic. Having high hopes was the only way to lead one to high disappointments.


    "Now that I''m here, I should get a bit of nectar. Who knows how many bottles Fatima will want?" Aloe stopped to ponder at her own words. "Fuck. How many bottles will she want?"


    Producing the Grace''s Exaltation aphrodisiac wasn''t difficult, but getting to the oasis was. If she didn''t have many bottles at hand, Fatima would demand her to come back, and whilst some excuse based on the lack of prime matter ¨C which was partially true ¨C could work, the sultanzade would be far from satisfied with such claims.


    "Better start working then."


    Recollecting the sap from the aphrodisiac evolved plant was a simple task as the substance was very thick, though it wasn''t without its problems. If a single drop got on her skin, it would be as if she had consumed a dose of the diluted aphrodisiac. That wasn''t much of a problem compared to how a spill on an Aloe Veritas would render the plant useless, but Aloe had neither the will nor the energy to relieve herself if she were to become aroused by the Grace''s Exaltation.


    With care, Aloe made a small incision on the glowing stem of the plant and put the flask she had been carrying on her satchels underneath the cut so all the crawling sap flowed into the container. It was a slow process, but she didn''t want to risk it.


    Unlike the diluted aphrodisiac, the sap directly extracted from the plant glowed with the might of gold and the sun. Of course, not at the same degree as the Myriad. One was a literal sun, whilst the other was a soft reflection on a looking glass. More than actual blinding light, the nectar emitted a radiance that was more eye-catching than glowing. Fluorescent, that''s the word.


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    What followed wasn''t as pretty and composed. After bottling a whole flask of nectar, Aloe had to crawl her way out of the oasis and then cry for Fikali''s assistance as the dweller had grown bored and decided to graze grass.


    "Sorry for interrupting your meal, I know you haven''t had a real one for a while, but I can''t really move on my own at the moment." She apologized to the dweller by feeding her a handful of pistachios.


    "Huo," Fikali grunted in understanding and ate from the woman''s palm.


    "Hehe, it tickles."


    Fikali had to move slowly around the shack and greenhouse''s bearings as the ground wasn''t soft enough for a dweller, but it wasn''t as if she was pressed for time. It beat crawling, that was for sure.


    With some pathetic attempts, the cultivator sat on the only chair in the shack and opened her notes on the desk. They weren''t the best and most complete, just some ramblings and rough sketches of the plants she had grown, but they were somewhat close to that of real apothecaries and herbalists. Emphasis on somewhat.


    The Grace''s Exaltation was the longest as it also held the recipe for the aphrodisiac.


    "Heaven bless my foresight because I don''t remember shit on how I made it." Aloe coarsely stated."


    The first sentence read as follows: Mix water and Grace''s Exaltation nectar in a ratio of 1-to-50, or one glass of water for every teaspoon of nectar.


    "Hmm," Aloe took out the flask and shook it before her. "There can''t be more than five teaspoons here. I guess I will have to make a second round. Ten bottles seem like a good number to bring back. Though I guess the water will be a problem. I brought only to drink for six days, so I''ll have to boil water if I want enough for the whole order." The woman groaned in exhaustion at the sheer idea but continued reading.


    Stir the contents for fifteen minutes until the nectar has dissolved with the water and has lost its glowing properties. A finished mixture will have the color of pineapple juice, though lesser ratios will have a color more resemblant to urine. Pour the mixture into a kettle and leave it heating just before boiling.


    "Wait, boiling was part of the process? Nice, I''ll use dirty water directly then." She frowned at the statement. "Is the boiling part of the recipe because I was too lazy to use boiled water when I was experimenting?" She was inclined to say yes.


    The heat will mix closer the nectar and the water, whilst removing the innate spiciness of the nectar, only leaving behind its sweetness. Consumption shouldn''t surpass two spoons per head.


    "Or maybe not, but it certainly feels like something I would do."


    Whilst her idea was to use water straight from the oasis, she was exhaustively exhausted to make a trip there and wanted to at least have a set of aphrodisiacs ready in case anything went wrong, so she decided to use clean water for the time being.


    As all the waterskins were tied on the saddle, which was at the feet of the desk, Aloe picked them up and then poured them on the only pot of the shack. It was the one she used for soup, but it wasn''t as if she intended to cook during her stay. With three waterskins she filled half of it and guessed there was enough water for the whole flask of nectar.


    "I guess Fatima won''t care if the aphrodisiac is too pure." She would never give the sultanzade the undiluted substance for fear of what will become of that woman after consuming pure liquid lewdness. Mainly because she would be the one around to suffer the consequences.


    Stirring the contents was a bit awkward as she couldn''t stand up for long and the chair wasn''t tall enough to do it whilst sitting nor big enough that she could place the pot between her thighs, so she sat on the ground and stirred the mixture there.


    "I''ve used a kettle so far¡­ but I don''t think a pot will be much of a problem. The recipe is just a documented experiment, who says I cannot experiment on top of it."


    Lifting a half-full pot presented some difficulties, but nothing that the strength stance couldn''t resolve. Fortunately, starting the hearth wasn''t as demanding as many other chores, and she was quite practiced even if she hadn''t done so for ages now. Soon enough, she had the pot with the mixture ready to be heated.


    "I''ve brought flasks, but do I have ten of them¡­ I would like to avoid using waterskins to store the finished product, but it seems I won''t have much choice."


    She could already foresee the future where she drank out of one of them instead of a normal waterskin and it sent shivers down her spine. The middle of the desert wasn''t the best spot to be in heat.


    As the mixture slowly heated, Aloe gorged herself in a lunch of stale water, dry jerky, and smelly cheese. Whatever that kept her alive. By the time the water was beginning to boil, the heavens had already acquired an orange tinge. Which led Aloe to inquire where the rest of the day had fled to.


    For the time being she left the finished aphrodisiac on the kitchenette counter on the pot with a lid to protect it, but she knew she should do something with it in the near future. Just to verify the quality of the product, she slurped a bit from the ladle.


    "Hmm~" Aloe immediately felt her body heat up and feel lighter, as if she had donned glamour. "I had forgotten how tasty the aphrodisiac actually was." She panted and bit her underlip in self-control. "If it''s gotten me¡­ like this this fast, then Fatima will approve of this batch."


    The day was coming to a close and so was her lucidity, so Aloe decided to put a stop and directed herself to bed. There were many chores remaining, and she was already dreading them all.

 Book 3: 53. Fleeting

    Aloe woke up to an empty stomach, which wasn''t surprising as she had only had a few strips of jerky and not much else the previous day. She ate her breakfast, but she was satiated fast.


    "I know this isn''t healthy, I''m aware I should eat more than this, but I''m not really hungry¡­"


    After being done with her meal, she crawled her way out of the shack and called for Fikali. It took a few minutes of shouting until the dweller made her appearance as she was seemingly sleeping at these hours.


    "Carry me to the greenhouse, will you?"


    "Wroo!" Fikali grunted in acknowledgment, but that didn''t stop Aloe from bribing her with a few pistachios.


    Perhaps she was healed enough to walk already, but Aloe didn''t want to push her body in the slightest. She didn''t forget how much it had tired her standing still yesterday. Once Fikali carried her to the greenhouse, she crawled to the Blossomflame.


    "No luck, huh." The cultivator sighed at the flower which had yet to recover its normal luster. "Today''s the third day, half the vacation already. Please be ready on the morn of the sixth if you can, I need that healing. I really do." She doubted that whispering those words to the Blossomflame would do anything, but she did so, nonetheless. At least it calmed her aching heart.


    Her business in the greenhouse was far from over though. Now she crawled to the Grace''s Exaltation, which had already recovered from the cut she had made yesterday.


    "I''ve never extracted so much nectar from the grace, but considering its stem is still glowing, I guess it''s fine?"


    The Grace''s Exaltation glowed like many other evolved plants, though the glow came only from the nectar flowing inside the plant much like blood. After having removed a flask''s worth of sap, the stem had lost part of its glow, but it wasn''t depleted like how the Blossomflame lost its luster after having healed Aloe.


    This time, it took longer for the nectar to be gathered, but there didn''t seem to be much issue even after removing so much sap from the plant.


    "Blossomflame, checked. Grace, checked." Aloe pulled her hair backward and wiped her sweat. "Now that I''m here I should check the other plants in the greenhouse."


    She was nowhere strong enough to check all the crops around the oasis, but she supposed she could at least do a round in the greenhouse.


    "There doesn''t seem to be any issues here, the parterres are irrigated by a single Flourishing Spring each, and unlike the oasis, there are no water pipes that could be broken."


    Still, she took the time to inspect every single one of her evolved plants. The ter''nar and the veritas remained as always, exactly like she had found them when she first arrived here. The blue tree didn''t have a dedicated Flourishing Spring, so it survived with the drops that made it to the ground. The Blossomflame and the grace had lost their luster because of her antics, but the springs and the single Moonlight''s Tooth were healthy. Only one thing had changed.


    "Hmm, definitely bigger." Aloe scratched her chin as she peered at the Nature''s Bounty. "I know the veritas description said something about a stump, but I''d never expected the plant to be a tree."


    Whilst the magnitude of the evolved plant was yet to be seen, it was clear enough to her that she wasn''t dealing with a flower or an herb. Neither it looked like a common tree sapling, as those tended to grow tall and the Nature''s Bounty was wider than anything else, but she could recognize wood when she saw it.


    "How many months has it been since I planted it? Three? Four? I''m not sure." She crawled inside the parterre to have a better look at the sapling. "Considering it has accelerated growth and the very description of the veritas said that it boosted the growth of nearby plants¡­ shouldn''t you have grown more?"


    Quick estimations told her the plant should have undergone a year of growth since she was gone. Aloe lay for a few more minutes on the soil, mostly out of exhaustion from all the crawling, but she pondered during that time on how long trees took to grow. A few years for sure, but we are already halving that number with the infusion, so I should have seen some more progress than this.


    With a groan, she made her way out of the greenhouse and called for Fikali. She wasn''t ready yet to tend the crops on the oasis, but she took a detour to check the pistachio trees.


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    "Yup, tall saplings, that''s how a tree should work." It was also obvious that she had planted the pistachios more than a month earlier than the Nature''s Bounty and they had grown significantly more. "I can''t imagine waiting for double the time to see a result. How do farmers do it?"


    The following hours were composed of rest, lunch, and looking for a place to store the aphrodisiac. She ended up going with a jug, but considering it was a jug and not an actual container meant to be displaced over long distances, she knew she would have to find a better method.


    What she actually spent the hours was separating the many seeds that Lulu had bought her. There were two of each, so she put them together orderly and also threw away the ones she knew Evolution wouldn''t work on or those she already knew Evolution would work like black seeds or cumin.


    "Damn, once trimmed the numbers look a lot less intimidating." The maid had brought her many seeds during her forced outings from their charade, but few of those seeds were unrecognizable to Aloe at first sight. "Time to use a bit of vitality, I''ve been uselessly hoarding it since I got here."


    Evolution was without a doubt the gambling den of the vital arts. Perhaps you would hit gold with seeds like cumin which would result in plants that could heal one''s body in seconds, but most of the time you would walk back home with your hands empty.


    Between failed attempts ¨C which didn''t chip her vitality in the slightest ¨C Aloe started making the second batch of aphrodisiacs. Unlike the first attempt, now she used water straight from the oasis, an endeavor that was as hard as it sounded because holding a pot and its lid on top of a bellyflopping dweller was as hard as not encountering a lascivious sultanzade.


    Nighttime encroached on them by the time she managed to bring the water.


    "Sleep time, I guess," Aloe muttered herself to sleep.


    Aloe didn''t fare much better in any subject during the fourth day of her vacation. The first thing she did in the morning was to visit the Blossomflame, and whilst it had recovered some color, the evolved flower was still depleted. Next, she used the hard-gained oasis water and started the second batch of aphrodisiacs. Her luck remained spirited across the sand as she continued with the evolutions, and even after having gone through all of the seeds, she hadn''t found a single evolution.


    "Did I just luck out at the beginning, or is there something I am overlooking?" She wasn''t sure, and her mind wasn''t in her best game. Maybe she had already recovered from the journey, but now she realized how many luxuries she had been enjoying in the palace. Warm food, a soft bed, a personal maid, and the baths.


    Oh, the baths. Because of her limited mobility, she was reticent about washing herself on the oasis, meaning she hadn''t washed herself for four days. And those days hadn''t been light ones like being sat all day behind a desk, but she had sweated. Oh, she had sweated. Perhaps not a fair maiden she was not, but she was beginning to crave a warm bath with fervor if it just to escape her oily body.


    During the fourth day, she finished all the aphrodisiacs and still looked for a way to store them that wasn''t in the waterskins ¨C which was looking more and more like an impossible task ¨C and evolved black seeds freely, away from the watchful eyes of the sultanzade.


    Using vitality ¨C especially in such frequent repetition ¨C was exhausting, but it was somewhat liberating. As if she had been unshackled.


    The days were fleeting, but finally on the fifth day and the last one before she had to march again for Sadina, Aloe decided to do some damage control on the oasis.


    A single gust of wind with temper could be able to sweep down the water pipes, so she wasn''t surprised to find them all collapsed. Neither the pistachios, the bananas, the medicinal plants, and even less the potato and bean plantations survived. Their infrastructure, that was.


    "Huh, nothing''s dead." She expected to find a graveyard of plants, and instead just found¡­ plants. "I guessed that if palm trees and grass can survive without being watered, the rest of the plants could, but it was just that, a guess. I didn''t actually hope the crops would be alright."


    They didn''t look as healthy as when she had been watering daily with the Flourishing Springs, but what mattered was that they were healthy at all. In the end, Aloe opted for not reconstructing the watering infrastructure as most leaf pipes had been lost to the wind and she didn''t have the energy nor time to make more.


    "I''ve been having the sensation all day that I''m forgetting something¡­" She pondered under the shadow of a palm tree after having inspected all the plants. "But what may that be¡­" Swift, sudden, and enlightening providence came to her. "The Chlorotrophy!"


    Out of all the evolved plants, that had been the only one she hadn''t inspected because ¨C besides the many Flourishing Springs ¨C it was the only one planted outside.


    "Damn, where did I leave it?" Now she found herself unable to find it.


    The initial reason why she had planted the evolved plant outside was because it originally took the shape of a Flourishing Spring, so she wanted to see if it could take the form of a palm tree if given the chance.


    "It was here¡­ maybe?" She could only see trees and her memory was faulty at best. "Considering I am only seeing coconuts palm trees¡­ mission successful? Did I make a note of where I planted the Chlorotrophy? I can''t even remember that."


    After a few minutes, she became too tired to continue looking for the lost evolved plant but considered her experiment a rotund success in spite of her failure at the search.


    Day five ended with an infrastructure inspection, an amphora full of aphrodisiac, and a jar filled to the brim with Cure Grass pellets. Her grass pots in the palace provided her with minute amounts of Cure Grass, but she wasn''t able to produce pellets, only dried mush at best. So during her free time, Aloe crafted as many vitality pills as she was able to. She doubted the opportunity to use them would ever appear whilst in the palace, but she preferred to be ready and able at any moment.


    As much as she hated it, stances were her only weapon and vitality was the resource to use them.


    Today she dropped in bed satisfied after having completed all of her objectives. Tomorrow, she would return to her gilded cage.

 Book 3: 54. Choice

    Her vacations ended as soon as they started. Aloe awoke at first light, already defeated by the idea of the day-long trek that still awaited her. Finally, having run out of options, the cultivator filled her many waterskins with the aphrodisiac amphora. The contents of the ceramic were enough to fill six waterskins, which quite literally now held their weight in electrum.


    "Even if I sell Fatima a bottle for a drupnarun," the small electrum coin that was equal to one hundred drupnars, "that means I''ll get at minimum three fajatun, maybe even two drupnarea with enough haggling."


    Gold coins were plenty rare in Ydaz. Unlike other countries, they held more value due to their limited minting, though not all were artificial value as the Ydazi gold coin was the only coin with one-hundred percent purity in Khaffat. This was, of course, banker trivia Aloe had gathered along the years, as she hadn''t tested the only drupnarea in her possession, let alone foreign gold coins.


    Once all the waterskins were corked to a paranoic degree, Aloe moved the saddle and her luggage outside, where she proceeded to saddle up Fikali. The process was extremely complicated as she had to do so whilst sitting and still fighting her drowsiness. After an embarrassingly long time, she had managed to latch every belt together and fixate the luggage perfectly so it wouldn''t fall during the journey.


    She was a bit scared at the fact that she only had a single waterskin left with actual water for the whole journey, so whilst she stopped at the greenhouse, she ordered the dweller to gorge in the oasis as she wanted to avoid sharing her limited water with her.


    "Alright," Aloe took a deep breath and faced upwards, "heavens bless me." Then she crawled her way into the greenhouse.


    She was exhausted. Not only from her wounds, but from the travel, the constant usage of vitality through either Evolution or Infusion, and her work. Her body never caught a rest as she rarely dreamt ¨C a thing she much preferred to suffer whatever sick dream her mind might concoct ¨C during the night, meaning that as soon as she closed her eyes, she was already awake. All that accumulated stress was taking a toll on her, she wasn''t blind. So Aloe knew that the weight of the wound on her pelvic area wasn''t just physical but mental.


    Perhaps outright healing the wound wouldn''t heal her mind, but it would certainly remove a weight from her psyche, and that was enough for her.


    Her desert garbs were a foul mess. Not only from the sand and dust, but also the soil and pebbles from all the crawling and her body fluids as she had yet to wash herself this last week. Yet in her dirty body and mind, Aloe pressed forward with hope clutched in a fist on her heart.


    Hoping the Blossomflame would help her once more.


    "Ah." Aloe''s groan was a mixture of many emotions.


    Her eyes were welcomed to the sight of a colorful flower, but even the strongest lavender would never be royal purple as much as the dead red of Blossomflame didn''t achieve that of fire.


    Nonetheless, Aloe crawled to the evolved flower, her hands caressing the petals.


    "I know you are not in your top game, that you''ve spent a lot of power a few days ago, but could I ask of you one favor?" She whispered with her whole willpower holding up the damn that was her tears. "Heal me. Heal your ally."


    She was well aware that her plants couldn''t hear her, they never had reacted to her words, but she knew ¨C somehow knew ¨C that contact was valuable to them.


    And so, the Blossomflame spurted her flames. They weren''t as plentiful as the conflagration of the first day, but the blaze contained a myriad of sparks that would have been considered a catastrophic fire if they were made of real flames.


    "Thank you," Aloe uttered as she was showered with flames instead of water.


    Her body felt purified in contact with them, as if she had gotten her much-desired bath. Cleansed by fire, healed by flames. Aloe blossomed anew from the last embers, her body still a shadow of what it had been, but healthier than she had felt for months now.


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    With a deep breath, Aloe stood up. Her body protested, not being used to standing up. But it wasn''t out of pain, and she considered so progress. The woman felt as if she was going to fall down at any moment now, so she shifted into acuity in the hopes that the internal infusion would recover her equilibrium.


    She took a step forward.


    Then a deep breath.


    And another step.


    Her legs were wobbly, she knew that her fall was inevitable, and even with that information in mind, she continued.


    One more step. And another. A deep breath followed by one more step. And ano¡­ fall. Her footing betrayed her and she tumbled to the ground, but with the enhanced senses of acuity, it was trivial to change into toughness in time.


    "Okay, good. G-good." Aloe added between sobs. She was crying, not out of pain, but joy. "Progress. M-making progress." She laughed to herself until her stomach began to hurt.


    Instead of going out of the greenhouse, she made a pitstop on the grace. The Grace''s Exaltation portrayed a soft shimmer in its stem and a small scar where Aloe had repeatedly made an incision to extract its nectar. She had more than enough aphrodisiacs to satisfy Fatima for the moment, but in the future, she would demand more, so Aloe cut again on that scar and removed another flask''s worth of sap. This one she wouldn''t process until the moment was right.


    Once done, Aloe shouted for Fikali to come back to her and very slowly walked her way out of the greenhouse, if her movement could even be classified as a walk. Even with acuity, her balance was lacking. So instead of walking upright, she had to encroach her upper body forward and move hunchbacked with her arms extended so that if she were to fall, she could stop the fall. Besides for the balance, of course.


    By the moment she arrived at the door, Fikali was already there, but she couldn''t bring herself to mount the dweller just yet and supported her body on the doorframe, slowly sliding on the ground until she was resting on her thighs.


    "I hate this." She voiced out. She didn''t know if she was speaking to herself, Fikali, or anyone in particular. "I am healthy, yet a single step drains so much of my being. I have equilibrium, yet I still fall. Why?" Aloe bit the walls of her mouth to hold off a sob.


    "Huo?" The dweller tilted her head in a lack of understanding.


    "Sorry, girl, I''ve just been mumbling. Let''s get going, shall we?" The woman responded with a wry smile.


    Her mind was fickle and wandering, but her paranoia was greater than her will, so just in case Aloe double-checked the doors to see if they were locked or not. After satisfying the dread in her mind, she and Fikali started their journey.


    As the dweller lacked the haste infusion and was purposely going slowly, the ride wasn''t as horrendous as it once had been. Aloe''s vitality had grown, and even if she was far from an optimal state, that meant her toughness was stronger than ever.


    For the first time ever, she fell asleep on top of the dweller, the stance numbing her senses to a high degree. Her body felt almost no feedback to the bumps and her mind purposely ignored the heat, making a calmer ride than the palanquin. However, that wasn''t to say her sleep was deep. She continuously drowsed from time to time in exhaustion, never fully losing consciousness, but never being in an alert state of mind.


    She felt her life being dragged, like always. Choosing was a fickle thing to people like them, a mirage orchestrated by others to make them think they had an inherent power.


    That was a lie.


    Aloe had never taken a choice in her life, it had been decided since she had been born. Her father decided for her to be a banker, so she studied to be one. It didn''t help that she hadn''t had any drives in her life besides money, and even then, her current job wasn''t out of her own volition. Whatever people said, money bought happiness. That only became truer to her as the days she and her mother had to scrape by ¨C living like the commoners they actually were ¨C were the worst and most unhappy days of her life.


    That had held true until she had been denied her most important choice as a maiden.


    Sometimes she was still there, never having really escaped that room reeking of incense and flesh. The touches had been so ingrained in her own flesh that she doubted she could ever forget them, no matter how she tried. She avoided thinking about it with work or hate, even if the alternatives were always there.


    Hashish and wine were tempting options.


    Forgetfulness appeared so seductive in her mind, yet it always looped back to the same. Her mind. Those substances killed the mind. Those weren''t the words uttered by people, but her own father and mother. She had barely seen them drink, let alone smoke, even if they had been wealthy enough to do so once. Her family was weak, always had been, so the only way to project strength had been their mind.


    Her father, a banker to the biggest mercantile company of Ydaz.


    Her mother, a scribe to the governors of one of the most important emirates of Ydaz.


    They had achieved that with their minds.


    As much as she hated her mind ¨C hated herself ¨C Aloe couldn''t do that to her family. To betray the tool they had helped her nurture and wield. She could only remember making one choice, and that was to stay in that greenhouse for a month.


    The vital arts were as much of her as she was theirs.


    The true choice she had made.


    Aloe woke up weary-eyed ¨C her cheeks rigid from dried tears ¨C to the grunts of a dweller. The sky had been washed with the warm oranges and frigid purples of twilight. It was getting late, but a city could be seen on the horizon.


    "Sorry," she whispered to Fikali, "I dozed off. Come on, let''s get inside."


    Deep down, she knew the apology wasn''t directed to the dweller.

 Book 3: 55. Cultivators

    "So you are back," Rani commented as she lazily sat on her throne.


    "I arrived yesterday at night," Aloe affirmed. She had just entered the audience hall and was pushing her wheelchair forward.


    The scribe kept Lulu away from her to protect her from the emir, but the truth was that for once in a good while, she felt good enough to push herself with ease.


    "I presume there have been no issues with your journey." The sultanzade had a date as the rest of the scribes had yet to arrive.


    "You are correct in thinking so." Aloe placed herself in her usual spot at her liege''s left. "I overestimated the distance between Sadina and my lands. Even with my dweller going at low speeds, it didn''t take more than the whole day to arrive."


    "Hmm." Rani mussed. "Still, it would not have been easy for your body to undergo such a long journey."


    "It was not." The scribe''s tone was dried and deprived of any glee. "Putting aside my experiences, have there been any issues in my absence? I have not been able to perform my duties until now."


    She had arrived at Sadina when it was getting dark, and getting to the palace hadn''t been a swift process. She had to send one of the city gate guards to the palace to ask for her palanquin, then wait for said palanquin to arrive, and finally be carried to the palace. At least she had been able to spend all that time playing with Fikali until they arrived. A respite she valued a lot as she hadn''t been able to give Fikali any love during these days.


    Dark as her mind and starry not the sky was when she made it to the palace, but with a single shout, she was able to get into the baths with Lulu and Nesrine. For once, the female guard wasn''t ecstatic about being called for the bath due to the late hours, but she complied, nonetheless.


    That had been, without a shed of a doubt, the longest bathing session Aloe had been part of in her life. No matter how much Lulu scrubbed her, grime kept appearing on her body. Only once she had felt that dirty before. The grime still lingered from that occasion.


    "This will seem pathetic coming out of my lips, but my grasp over low-end affairs is feebler than before I ascended into power," Rani admitted without so much of a shed of worry. "My mind and time are so occupied with dealing with the capital that I cannot even focus on my own emirate. Do you know how frustrating that is?"


    "I cannot even begin to imagine it." Aloe impassively affirmed.


    She had, of course, noticed how the emir had avoided her question and made the conversation solely about her. Fortunately for the scribe, the audience hall started filling with people, meaning that the princess had to be more careful with her words.


    As always, the audiences were a sluggish mess that she was forced to go through every day. Yet no rest was allowed of her as she had to work to keep her vitality at lower levels than her maximum unless she wanted the sultanzade to detect her.


    No scribe ¨C except Naila ¨C remained still during the audiences as they had many documents to fill. Whether they were connected to the audiences at hand, though they had lower scribes to redact petitions instead of doing it themselves, or other issues that required constant attention and simply took advantage of the fact that other scribes were called for certain issues to advance on their work.


    Most petitioners were nobles or landowners, even if they composed a fraction of the population. Truth be told, Aloe couldn''t care less of inequality, only that those people didn''t befall on her jurisdiction but the scribe of nobles. Audiences had certainly become more fluid since Ruhena had joined them.


    Now, commoners weren''t discouraged from attending audiences or presenting their petitions, but when you were living day to day, you couldn''t afford to do that. Especially if you lived outside of the city of Sadina and instead were from a rundown village on the border of the emirate. Doing such a journey may as well be a death sentence as most people didn''t have the savings to do so.


    The system, whilst advanced to most other countries, was far from perfect.


    And the scribe of commoners of Sadina had no intention whatsoever of changing it, her mind fixated on totally different issues. More personal ones.


    Before Aloe even noticed, the audience ended, and she followed her fellow scribes to the lunch hall. Dear Ruhena ¨C even if she were a noble ¨C offered to push her wheelchair, but the commoner refused on the premises of wanting to seize more control of her life.


    This was why Aloe thought Ruhena was green to the political field. Perhaps the woman saw no issue with it, after all, Aloe was her senior and a fellow scribe at the same step of the ladder, but other nobles wouldn''t like seeing one of them ''serve'' a commoner. Even in her daily life, Aloe had to watch out for appearances. Influence she may have, but lineage not.


    The day ended with her slaving in her office alongside Idris and Fayruz, the assistants bringing her all the documents that had gathered up over the last week. Lulu, she had sent away under their charade to buy glass flasks that she intended to fill with her aphrodisiac waterskins. Aloe kept them under scrutiny because it was one mistake away from someone thinking it was wineskins that were scattered around.


    Night became day, day became night. Such was the repetitiveness of the palace, the repetitiveness of life.


    Her life was composed of a few activities. Audiences, eating, office work, toiletries, and sleeping. With the constant seasoning of vitality and perhaps a pinch or two of Evolution.


    Aloe had felt less exhausted plumbing the field under the harsh desert sun even when she had never worked the earth in her life. She was one of the few privileged people who could say that physical work was far more preferable than mental work. However, she was biased, as the daily vital arts she was forced to perform were very much physical. Her body and mind were continually overworked, and even then, not even her heart could have much of a respite.


    It was hard seeing daily the face of that woman on her employer.


    Every day Aloe woke up thinking she had composed herself, and every day she was reminded of her weakness as Rani''s amethysts greeted her.


    The cycle of stagnation and torture was broken with the cry of trumpets and drums.


    "Be smiling and erupt in joy, for I am here!" Out of every sultanzade in the imperial family, Fatima Asina had a special knack for fanfare.


    The imperial princess stated her presence with a following as she waltzed inside the audience hall, her vestment overflowing with colorful silks and gold. Fatima lacked the overwhelming beauty of the imperial family ¨C though that didn''t mean she was ugly by any means ¨C and it was apparent that she compensated for her shortcomings with blinding clothing. Dark hair far from ebony and closer to auburn, dark skin diluted as coffee with milk, and green eyes that lacked the strength of gemstones. Neither were unattractive characteristics on their own, but once stacked together, anyone could tell she lacked the innate attraction that someone like Rani possessed.


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    Of course, everyone was more beautiful than Aloe. Only one person didn''t boast such beauty in this room, and that person was Naila Asina, for she showed no interest in any appeal, whether it was aesthetic or sexual. The scribe took a hint of happiness knowing that no one would call both of them beautiful and mean it.


    "You have finally made your way to Sadina, sister." Rani welcomed her half-sister diplomatically. Other people may have not noticed it, but to Aloe, her attitude was crystal clear.


    The emir showed no disdain for the visiting princess, but neither joy. Rani-al-Sadina showed more enthusiasm over a plate of fruit that she could be handed every day at any time than over meeting her sibling who she hadn''t seen for a season.


    "Indeed, I have." She pushed her bosom outward, boasting a size greater than the princess before her. "It has been a while, Rani. And even more so to you, Naila."


    "Fatima." The imperial scribe of Sadina stated dryly, animosity pouring out of her being.


    "Flavorless as always, I see." Upon such offense, the visiting sultanzade offered a warm smile. "As much as I would like to talk business and catch up with my dear sisters," Aloe didn''t need acuity to know she didn''t mean the words, "I am rather tired from my travels. Diplomatic missions across Ydaz are so tiresome~ The heat of the desert does no one good. I prefer to be sent to more temperate climates for my missions, but alas, someone has to take the fall."


    A harmless monologue that may appear to the many servants and petitioners of the hall, yet the hidden meaning didn''t flee Aloe''s comprehension. I hate you all, always with your poison-coated words, every breathing moment a fight. Fatima had referenced the fact that Rani wasn''t originally meant to be a governor, but a diplomat of foreign affairs and likely to be married outside of the country.


    "We must agree with that." Rani offered a smile of her own, but it was difficult to ascertain what she was agreeing with. "I will send you with my servants to your room then, I would not like to have you standing around." Especially in the middle of an audience. The emir didn''t utter those words, yet they reverberated loudly in Aloe''s ears.


    "Your hospitality is scorching, my sister." Fatima led her hand to her chest with an open palm, a rather obscure way to ''bow'' between equals.


    Not only her compliments were treading the line between the politically correct and not, but it was easy to dispute the princesses'' positions as equals as once was only employed as a diplomat-slash-soldier, whilst the other was one of the greatest emirs of the land.


    "We will be meeting this afternoon, do with your time as you please since then," Rani commanded and made out her sister and her escort with a sway of her hand.


    I''m not liking this fanfare¡­ Aloe dreaded the future, for she knew having three sultanzade in a single spot was four sultanzade too many.


    <hr>


    To Aloe''s greatest dismay and misfortune, she was summoned to attend the princesses'' meeting due to Fatima''s request once the afternoon swooped by. She almost puked at the news and certainly gagged, but alas she couldn''t turn down the summon. Politically speaking, this wasn''t the request of a single sultanzade, but the three of them.


    Lulu offered to push her to the rendezvous point, but the last thing the scribe wanted was for Rani to lay her eyes on the fair-skinned maid. If that also got her away from the other sultanzade, even better.


    Fearing for her vitality ¨C and what the keen-eyed sultanzade might detect ¨C Aloe brought more than a handful of seeds to infuse, and in the most extreme of cases, to evolve.


    Aloe pushed her wheelchair through the shining corridors of the sunlit palace of Sadina. The growing orange tinge of the afternoon donned the tiles with a golden glint.


    Unlike the palace of Asina where the gardens were a prevalent section of the perimeter, the palace of Sadina opted for a lot of diverse inner patios, normally a squared opening where the sun could shine above and the wind flow from the sides.


    Only three people were meeting on the small patio, though one could have mistaken it for a veranda party by the sheer number of servants walking up and down. The palace staff made themselves invisible to the mighty presence of the princesses, but those tables brimming with fruit, sweets, and warm foods required constant assistance. A kebab roll was left unassisted for the very princesses to gorge on if they wanted, alongside a rotisserie chicken too.


    All those meats were growing cold by the moment, but none touched them as this was late-ish afternoon. Too late for lunch ¨C they all had lunched already ¨C and too early for dinner. It hadn''t taken Aloe that long to get to the patio, but in that small span, she had already seen a maid carry a chunk of meat to be reheated.


    "Ah, you finally made it, Aloe!" Fatima announced gleefully as she supported her body on a wine barrel. Without any decorum at all, she opened the faucet to the casket and poured herself a serving that may knock some people on their feet.


    "I was not aware of your familiarity with my scribe, Fatima," Rani questioned diplomatically, deciding on tea instead of an alcoholic beverage.


    "You abandoned said scribe for two months with Mother." Aloe saw the emir physically recoil at Fatima''s statement, the seductive woman''s eyebrows spasming with subdued anger.


    "As much as I value my assistants, I cannot abandon my emirate for one of them. But of course, I would not expect a woman of your standing to understand such conundrums." Rani metaphorically stabbed her sister in the throat. Repeatedly.


    I want out. I want out. Perhaps she had the sufficient ¨C emphasis on sufficient ¨C training to withstand court intrigue, but that didn''t mean Aloe enjoyed it.


    "Are you done?" Surprisingly enough, it was the youngest sultanzade''s job to be the voice of reason. As unstable and unpredictable as Naila was, the stoicism of the martial princess had its perks. So dry was she that whereas her sisters drank tea and wine, she had a glass of water.


    Three sultanzade born from the same mother, yet none looked the same.


    Rani was a mirror copy of Aaliyah, though instead of brawn, her appeal came from sensuality. Perhaps every size of the woman was lesser to her mother, but it was the proportions between them and the curves that connected the whole that made Rani a beauty of her own classification.


    Naila possessed none of the charms of the imperial family, it would have been easy to mistake her for a soldier, if not outright a man. There was no femininity in the girl. Perhaps it was still undeveloped due to her young age, though it was likely the very person had atrophied herself through training as her muscles threatened to rip out of her skin.


    Fatima was, in a way, a mixture of both sultanzade. She had a touch of erotism, especially present in her breasts the size of heads, but wasn''t without muscles like Rani. Her body wasn''t as extreme as Naila''s, only her biceps were marked and her abdominals barely hinted at her stomach, unlike the young sultanzade that had very distinct valleys in her lower chest area. Perhaps that was why Aloe found the visiting sultanzade more enticing than the others, just because she didn''t swing on the extremes of beauty and played on more balanced terms.


    Neither of the older sultanzade responded, so Aloe took it as her invitation to join the conversation. "I have heeded your summon, my princesses." Dry and diplomatic as always, the scribe of commoners showed no enthusiasm whatsoever.


    "My princesses?" Rani snickered. "Maybe that may be the case with me, but do not heed a word that comes out of their mouths." She pointed to her sisters with her eyes.


    "I am incapable of obeying such command, Rani." The emir frowned at the scribe''s words. "For me, a commoner, to betray the desires of a sultanzade would be to commit treason against the sultanah."


    "You mean the woman who raped you?" It was Naila who interjected.


    Rani''s eyes opened like plates, whilst Fatima held on to a snicker for dear life. The fact that the woman found such a topic amusing indicated how much she really valued Aloe as a person.


    Aloe didn''t respond instantly, not for lack of quick thinking, but rather because they knotted on her throat in a painful mess. She didn''t let any of that doubt and pain be seen by the predators surrounding her.


    "Would it do me any good to go against the daughters of the sultanah?" The scribe expressed neutrally. Unfazed. Dead. "I know rancor when I see it, and she would not like for me to mistreat her descendants."


    "That woman does not see us as her daughters," Naila stated dryly. "She would not care about how you talk to us."


    "When have I said that she saw you like people?" Aloe''s tone lacked any snark, but the princesses collectively squinted at her words. "A person can care about their property and how it is handled."


    "Property are we now?" Rani''s words were sharper than knives.


    "For that woman, yes." Partially to save her skin, but Aloe meant the statement. "I believe Aaliyah-al-Ydaz is incapable of empathy and humanity."


    "Perhaps you are right." Rani put the matter aside, alongside her teacup. "But I would loathe talking about Aaliyah when we are purposely away from her. Tell me, Fatima." The emir turned her head to the woman in question. "Why have you summoned for my scribe of commoners?"


    "I mean," Fatima started, a goblet of wine swaying on her hand, "what better way to start a meeting than with all the cultivators of Sadina?"


    "What?" Rani jolted from her seat.


    Aloe''s heart instantly sank, dread drowning in absolute darkness. Oh. No curses manifested in her mind, only the sheer weight of the situation as the veil of deception had been lifted.

 Book 3: 56. Satisfied

    In the blink of an eye, the meeting had turned overtly hostile to the petite scribe. Rani was grabbing the armrest of her chair, losing her cool for a blink, but composed back equally as fast. What scared Aloe was Naila''s reaction as the young girl stealthily reached for her blades. Aloe didn''t doubt a second to switch to toughness. Fatima, unbeknownst to the situation she herself had created, looked confused at the sudden hostility shown by her half-sisters.


    "I believe I have heard wrong." Rani was the first one to talk. She hid her shock well, but Aloe''s previous enhanced senses had detected it already. "What do you mean exactly with gathering all cultivators of Sadina?"


    As dim as Fatima was, even the faintest candle illuminated in absolute darkness for her expression shifted from perplexion to coyness.


    "Ah, I see." The well-donned princess smirked. "So you all did not know of Aloe''s Nurture?"


    Naila took the affirmation as her calling card, as it didn''t take her more than a blink to be at Aloe''s wheelchair with a blade on her throat. The threatened woman didn''t react, not out of stoicism or courage, but for an outright lack of time.


    "Who are you? Who sent you?" The young sultanzade pressed the tulwar against the scribe''s skin, not managing to draw blood through her toughness even if the hand that wielded the weapon was clearly not holding back.


    The scribe of commoners held her breath upon the aggressive interrogation, the scene felt all too familiar.


    "This must be a mistake," Rani stated. Aloe was too occupied with the blade in her neck to realize if the reaction came out of denial or not. "Aaliyah would never allow for a non-imperial to wield Nurture, and I have known Aloe''s parents since young, especially her mother. It is utterly impossible for her to be a sultanzade."


    "You know how our older brothers are, dear Rani. Who says they did not enjoy a time with a commoner and gave them a sum of money once they heard of the rumors of pregnancy just to keep the secret?" Fatima stood smugly even when she was incredibly wrong about her assumption.


    Once upon a time, when Aloe lingered on the palace of Asina like an empty husk of a person, she had hinted to the woman that she may be a sultanzade, but she had never confirmed anything. If it wasn''t because she hadn''t been in the right state of mind at that time, she would have never dared to utter half the words she had on the palace. Especially to the sultanzade she had talked to.


    "Is it true, Aloe?" Rani hastily turned to Aloe, her ebony mane fluttering wildly and her eyes shining purple. Whatever emotion hid behind those eyes, it was a strong one.


    The scribe''s lips didn''t move, her body fully locked.


    I can still recover. The situation is far from scrapped. She whispered to herself, but the truth was that her hidden hands that were constantly infusing vitality into the dates were trembling.


    "Speak." Naila snapped her back to reality as she barked her order.


    "I¡­" The blade pressed against her neck as she moved her jaw. "I am no sultanzade."


    Rani visibly relaxed at the response, even if she didn''t show it with her hands locked in place. The same couldn''t be said about the other princesses though. Naila kept her stern gaze and blade unmoving, and Fatima''s smugness crumbled.


    "That cannot be right." Fatima denied her, unable to believe that she had been fooled. "Mother would have literally killed you if you were not a sultanzade. If you do not have a single drop of her blood, how is it that you are alive? Do not lie to us."


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    Hostility. Of course, Aloe knew that the woman harbored no liking for her, she was a sultanzade after all.


    Think your words well. Having a non-imperial know of Nurture isn''t just something Aaliyah wouldn''t like, but a problem for them too. They cannot allow their magic to be known by the outside world. Especially because of how easy it is to perform it. Sure, the reapings would be met with resentment if the common folk knew about how they were treated like cattle, but the true issue would arise from having too many cultivators sprout up like weeds.


    For they may oppose their reign. Not only of Aaliyah, but also the whole sultanzade.


    "I-it is no lie I am not sultanzade." Aloe pressed on, but as she was going to state her next point, the blade indented ever-so-slightly into her flesh.


    "You possess Nurture and aren''t one of us," Naila spoke slowly, her speech deprived of any emotion. "You must be disposed of."


    Ah. She wasn''t standing, yet Aloe lost all her strength in her legs. So this is how it ends, without a chance to make a counterargument. I should have chosen my words better. The scribe''s only lament, from everything she could have regretted, was only that after coming this far with her words, she failed just in the end.


    Without moving the tulwar in her throat, Naila reached for her second one, ready to land the killing blow. Should I deactivate toughness? It''s going to hurt a lot if she doesn''t decapitate me with a single sweep. Aloe closed her eyes but maintained her internal infusion. The vital arts were one of the last things she had, and she rather die with them than without.


    As death encroached, the whistle of the blades growing louder, silence made itself imperative.


    The terrified woman opened her eyes to appraise her lack of death. Her eyes watched over a scene of static. Rani had stood up from her chair and her chest was heaving up and down, her cheeks slightly reddened. From the clues, Aloe could intuit that the emir had shouted, but what the contents of that shout were was an enigma to her as her mind had unwound from the physical world as she was already expecting heaven.


    "That is too dangerous." Naila calmly explained as if she weren''t two blades with the intent of murder.


    "We are three cultivators against a crippled one with less vitality than any one of us, if ought to classify her as danger, then I must suspect all your training was for show," Rani argued with a serenity that made the apparent outburst seem like a mirage.


    "Tch." Naila clicked her tongue, enraged by the suggestion of weakness. That a wheelchair-bound woman could be a danger to her. She withdrew her weapons but kept them in her hands without sheathing them.


    As the young sultanzade retreated, the emir stepped forward. "First of all, are you an assassin?" Rani''s eyes shone brighter than ever as she interrogated Aloe.


    There was no time for hesitation, this was her last chance. She couldn''t give them the idea that she was an enemy of them, or rather, a menace. "No."


    It wasn''t a strong negation, her tone was rather weak, but that was what she wanted. The princesses here could use the sense stance, she had to be as veracious as possible. As true to herself as possible. Acting, even if it was the truth, could backfire.


    "Second question." She didn''t even hide the fact that they were interrogating her. "Are you a spy?"


    Aloe almost flared with rage at the question but held herself. "No."


    "It seems like you had more to say there." It was Fatima who interjected. She maintained a fa?ade of calmness as she sat on top of a table, but it was clear to Aloe that she was wielding the sense stance. "What have you refrained from responding?"


    "Nothing that matters," Aloe answered truthfully and found herself with a blade to her throat again.


    "She asked you a question." Naila didn''t take her chances. "Respond."


    "You want the truth?" Aloe shouted and the sultanzade gave her a look as if saying ''Yes, that''s what this is all about''. The response only made her blood boil more as she grabbed her wheelchair''s armrests. "How in the nince-damned hells can I be a fucking spy if you were the one who forced me to work in this wretched place? I didn''t even want to be here and take my dead mother''s position! Do you know how hard it was? People would look down at me and curse me because I skipped the executive ladder and seemingly inherited the position through blood rather than merit! If it wasn''t because of your whims, I wouldn''t have gone to Asina! I wouldn''t be bound to a wheelchair! I would be able to walk! I... I wouldn''t have been fucking raped by that whore of your mother! All of this happened because you wanted, Rani, and now you have the nerve to suggest I was an accursed spy?"


    Aloe panted heavily, not caring that the tulwar''s age was grinding against her skin. Her throat burned from the inside and her vision was blurry from crying, but for once she was satisfied. Perhaps now she could die in peace knowing she had defied the imperial family, if only verbally. She had finally done it, she had made a choice of her own.


    And Aloe didn''t regret it.


    Then the blade moved.

 Book 3: 57. Web

    Even though it was well within her capabilities, Aloe didn''t flinch at the blade''s movements. Through its course left her bewildered.


    Naila''s tulwar danced in front of her face, the edge dangerously close to her eyes, but the tip directed back at the sultanzade. In a blink, the dual blades were sheathed.


    "This pathetic woman poses no danger," Naila said. "Right now."


    As she heard the young princess'' words, Aloe remembered she hadn''t breathed in a long time and her chest started to hurt. The air filled her lungs rapidly, collapsing from the surprise.


    The emir remained petrified for a pregnant moment, but Rani was if not a master of masks and recovered her composure the instant the scribe exhaled her breath.


    "I can understand the points you have remarked, but such language will not be tolerated toward me." Her words were harsh, yet Rani''s tone lacked any gravitas. They didn''t have the might of a governor behind them.


    Aloe remained silent, not contributing a word or gesture that could be taken as a response.


    "Alright, we got how it is impossible for her to be a spy," Fatima interjected, "but the most important subjects are yet to be addressed. How do you know of Nurture and can practice it?"


    The odd wording made Aloe ponder for an instant if the sultanzade were even aware of how simple it was to learn to detect vitality and perform infusions, whether internal or external, but she discarded the idea instantly as she doubted the sultanzade was that dim. Instead, Aloe began weaving her web.


    Now I''m sure that Karaim was connected to the assassins, so I can''t just mention him. Their hostility to the assassins is real. Her grandfather''s dying will may have taught her what she knew of Nurture, but if she didn''t choose her words correctly, the sultanzade may investigate the man and find a trail that may, somehow, connect her with the assassins. I can''t allow that. I need to misdirect them.


    "Well? We are waiting." Fatima remained on top of the table wavering her nonchalance, though Naila had moved away from Aloe and now was pouring herself a glass of wine next to her sister.


    "I have been taught by no one," Aloe admitted, which could be considered truth.


    Naila rose a brow at the statement, but the girl was so tired with the charade that she just focused on her wine.


    Fatima crossed her legs and slumped her body forward. "I smell a but there."


    "I have learned my Nurture from¡­ documents."Truth. Never outright lie. Mix reality and fantasy together. Those advice from her father made the man look more like a con artist than a banker.


    "May I inquire about the origin of said documents?" Rani interjected before Aloe could explain herself.


    The scribe didn''t show any displeasure and simply continued. "They were made by an old partner of Aaliyah."


    "Oh!" Fatima jumped from the table. "Now this is getting interesting. Are these documents why Aaliyah hasn''t killed you?"


    "Yes." Half-truth. Not because she was lying, but because Aloe had yet to divine the reason behind Aaliyah''s antics, if there even was one.


    "May we see these documents?" Rani inquired.


    "No." Aloe instantly refused, getting a look from the three princesses. "I have burned them," into my mind. The scribe told herself.


    Another trick is to tell truths to yourself. It doesn''t really work as a lie, but it can mentalize you for them. Most lies fail because the speaker didn''t believe them. Perhaps it was overkill and paranoiac to think like her father''s words proposed, but at the same time, she could see the sense stance shining in Fatima''s eyes.


    "Then that was why Mother made you into a mess." Fatima guessed, ever-so-quick to form her own truth.


    "No," Aloe interjected. The fabrications of that woman were what got her into this problem in the first place and she couldn''t allow them to continue. "Aaliyah very much just used me to pleasure herself."


    "Then what? If Mother was interested in those documents and you burned them and that was not the reason why she did all of that to you, then we are back at the starting point."


    Aloe took a deep breath and weaved her reality. "Aaliyah was not interested in the documents, but in me as a person because I was the descendant of the man who wrote them."


    "The one who was an old partner of hers?" It was Rani who spoke.


    The scribe of commoners nodded. "That man was my grandfather, and Aaliyah taught him Nurture."


    "Nince-damned bitch!" Fatima stomped on the ground. "The fucking woman acting all high and mighty about how we have to keep secrecy and maintain Nurture pure but, offff course, that does not apply to her. Bitch." She sputtered the words with unadulterated hate.


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    "So Aaliyah knew of your Nurture?" Rani maintained her cool as she questioned her.


    "Not from the beginning, but as soon as she met me in her office she knew," Aloe confirmed.


    And with that, she knew they had been trapped in their web. Not an outright lie, but now their minds were poisoned with a mysterious item and an even more mysterious relationship. Aloe wasn''t a player on the tabletop for them, but a piece that happened to be trapped on the battlefield.


    A clap reverberated across the patio. Aloe''s attention was now solely focused on the source, Fatima.


    "That settles it." The woman announced.


    "Does it?" Rani inquired with a frown.


    "But of course." Fatima snickered. "The sheer fact that Aloe is alive means that she has Mother''s permission for Nurture."


    "Logic''s sound," Naila muttered over her wine. "That woman relies on actions more than words for her commands."


    Aloe''s shoulders slumped at the sound of those words; she could finally relax. She felt as if her heart threatened to burst out of her chest, and she couldn''t feel her legs. If it wasn''t for her wheelchair, she would have met the ground a long time ago.


    "This resolution does not fill me with joy," the emir started, "but I shall accept it. The one pushing for her pardon was none other than myself, and if Aaliyah herself decided to spare you, then I am no one to overrule her." It was clear she didn''t mean the words, but that was alright with Aloe.


    The fact that now two more sultanzade knew of her capabilities was problematic, but Aloe admitted it was bound to happen at some point or another.


    Silence led the patio, and it was only then that the lack of servants was noticed by Aloe. Considering how they have been shouting¡­ they must have scared everyone. They wouldn''t have talked state secrets with such fierceness otherwise. Someone needed to break the silence, and the scribe was led to the conclusion that it should be her, no matter how awkward it may be.


    "The reason for my summon has been nulled then, Princess Fatima?" Politeness wouldn''t help her now, but striving to not make the situation worse was enough. "I may be a cultivator, but I am not related to imperial business."


    "Hmm¡­" Fatima grunted, her hand resting on her jaw. "It is true that this meeting was thought with sultanzade in mind¡­"


    The princess slowly walked forward toward her, dread setting in the petite scribe. Please don''t ask me to stay. Don''t ask me to stay. Aloe wanted to run away as soon as possible, unable to handle the heavy atmosphere. Fatima placed herself next to the wheelchair and snaked one of her thick and powerful arms behind Aloe''s neck, the hand resting at the scribe''s shoulder. The gesture sent shivers down her spine.


    "Now," Fatima faintly whispered in her ear. So weak was the sound that Aloe feared she wouldn''t have heard it if it wasn''t because of her acuity. "Do these girls know about our deal, or what your product does?"


    Aloe straightened her back and put on a smile.


    "I must deny your offer, princess." She said aloud. "As much as I would like to try the many delicacies on display, I lack the appetite to gorge myself on this feast."


    Get the message, you dimwit. Aloe cursed at the woman behind her mask, her smile standing strong. The intent behind such a charade was twofold. First, so the other sultanzade didn''t know what the original message was. And second, so she had an excuse to leave as she had politely declined the princess'' ''offer'' to stay.


    Fatima separated from Aloe, placing herself in front of her as she did so, and gifted her a smile now that her back was facing the sultanzade. Oh, thank heavens, she has understood it.


    "A shame you must leave us, but it is for the good. Better to leave the meeting imperial-only." The princess said. "Though I will not deny I would like to see you more in the future."


    "I¡­ of course, princess Fatima." Aloe bowed from her wheelchair. "I will take my leave then."


    But before she could get her hands to the wheels, someone interrupted her.


    "Hold on," Rani ordered. "I still have a question for you."


    The scribe of commoner''s visage soured. "Anything for you, Rani."


    "Tell me, how do you have that much vitality?"


    Fuck. Fuck! FUCK! Aloe trembled in the confines of her mind. Have they discovered my increase since I came back? No. Think calmly, my vitality is staying the same as always right now. Play it safe.


    "I am having issues with that question." Aloe acted confused. "What do you mean with it?"


    "You have thrice the vitality of a commoner, must I suppose you have reaped people from my city?"


    Is that a threat? Is she mad at the possibility I stole her cattle? The chances of that were unknown, but she couldn''t agree to that barbaric tradition even if it may be the right answer. I need to say something else¡­


    "I am unable to engage in rapi- reaping." That slip wasn''t intended.


    "How so?" The emir frowned.


    Aloe''s mind couldn''t think of anything else than the fact that the princess may be now seething at her intrusive comment.


    "I am not versed in¡­ the arts of the flesh. And it was not until Aaliyah explained to me reaping that I knew of its existence. I have not had the chance of performing the act due to my hindered state, and if I could¡­" the image of the colossal woman materialized in her mind, her resistance totally futile, "I would rather avoid it. My vitality is¡­ produce of my birth."


    Lie. An outright lie. Pride had won over Aloe. She opted to risk it all for a needless lie before being tagged as a rapist like them.


    "I see¡­" Rani commented deep in thought. Has she bought it? "Such is a possibility I already thought of, but there are still some shades of doubt I would like you to illuminate. The first time I met you when I summoned you after your mother''s death, you only had a fraction of that vitality. Twice of a person instead of thrice, can you explain that?"


    "Uhm¡­" Aloe''s feet curled in dread. An excuse, fast! Her whole body drummed at the beat of her heart. "When I was summoned at that date¡­ I must admit I was during my cycle, and I had lost a heinous amount of blood. My vitality may have reflected my weakened state."


    Half-truth. A perfect mixture of deceit and objectiveness. She had been severely weakened, but not enough to portray a loss of a third of her vitality.


    "I guess it is possible¡­" Rani admitted with a lack of impetus uncharacteristic of her. Though as always, she composed the next moment. "That was all, you are dismissed, Aloe."


    "Of course. Your Highnesses." She bowed to the three princesses and grabbed the wheels to escape as fast as possible from the death trap that they were.


    "Oh, and Aloe!" Fatima shouted and the scribe turned to face her. "Scrub hard during the bath, you reek of urine."


    The words slapped hard on her eardrums as suddenly she became aware of the warmness and wetness of her crotch. "Ah." A pathetically weak yelp escaped her lips as she reddened like blood.


    Without thinking it twice she shifted into strength and departed the scene with all her might.

 Book 3: 58. Cattle

    Embarrassment dictated Aloe''s following hours. Nesrine and Lulu noticed the urine on her dress and wheelchair, but both of them refrained from commenting on how she had wet herself.


    Instead, Nesrine shared the whispers carried by the snake-tongues. In a matter of minutes, the whole palace knew how the three princesses cowled the scribe of commoners into submission. As a guard, Nesrine didn''t have more knowledge of the rumors, and Lulu ¨C even if she was a maid ¨C had no knack for gossip.


    Aloe only hoped that the rumors stayed at a simple act of bullying, and they didn''t portray any more truths about what had happened. Her body was overflowing with shame already and she couldn''t handle any more.


    Night came in a swoop, though as always, Aloe opted for dining in her office. If there was one day that she didn''t want to be in the lunch hall, it was this one.


    Morning came as usual and as she entered the audience hall alone, her fellow non-imperial scribes gifted her some looks of worry. They didn''t voice it out, but their gazes alone screamed that they had heard of the events.


    That wasn''t the only immediate change, as once the audience started, Aloe was no longer besieged by Naila''s attentive gaze. It was only a guess, but now that the imperial scribe knew the true nature of the scribe of commoners, she seemed to relax as if her concern was no longer needed.


    The one who didn''t lower its guard was Aloe. She wasn''t innocent enough to think her problems ended now that the sultanzade accepted her as a cultivator, if anything, they worsened. She had lost an important card in this game and was no longer dotted with the surprise factor. They knew she was a cultivator, but that didn''t mean she was kin ¨C which for the sultanzade was perhaps the greatest foe of all ¨C nor a comrade, but a potential enemy.


    There also remained the matter of her vitality. She still had to hide the true extent of her capabilities. Right now, they thought her maximum vitality came from birth, meaning that if that amount suddenly increased¡­ it would mean that she had reaped someone.


    The irony wasn''t lost on her as both words ¨C rape and reap ¨C were similar.


    Sultanzade weren''t her allies, yesterday''s meeting had only reinforced her thought. Perhaps, well into the future, she could cave in and admit to ''reaping'' if just to keep draining her strength from the useless infusions. Her recovery was greatly reduced by the effort needed to keep her vitality hidden.


    The audience continued as normal, petitioners kept entering and exiting the hall until no more were allowed by the guards for the day.


    Once everyone had been listened to ¨C audiences weren''t a surefire way to get imperial assistance ¨C the session was adjourned. Aloe made her way to the lunch hall with mostly everyone, and once she was on the ''big shot'' table something finally deviated from the norm.


    "S-so," Ruhena started at her side, "m-may I inquire what happened yesterday with Their Highnesses?"


    It almost didn''t seem that the woman was older than Aloe or a noble as she always was so coyed and shrunk.


    "Nothing of importance." Aloe responded taciturnly.


    "Are you sure?" The scribe of nobles inquired politely. "I am aware I cannot do much, but I swear you will not find me spreading anything I hear."


    The commoner frowned at the noble, making a third scribe step into the conversation.


    "Relax, girl," Tamara said. "She said nothing of importance occurred, so do not pry any further."


    "I¡­" Ruhena looked at the old merchant''s stern gaze and shrunk. "Understood."


    The scribes continued with their meal in silence, but it felt inappropriate to leave it at that, so Aloe gifted Tamara a "Thank you."


    "No problem." The scribe of commerce responded with a wrinkled smile. "Though I would recommend following Faizan''s advice and talk it out with someone. Anyone."


    It took a second for Aloe to understand that Tamara was talking about Ruhena as she had totally forgotten about the noble''s house name. But the scribe''s reaction to the old woman''s words wasn''t welcoming.


    They aren''t your allies. Aloe told herself as she peered at the fellow scribes from the corner of her eyes. Don''t act nice now Tamara, if you really were sorry about everything, you wouldn''t have broken ties with Mother when Father died, you wench. The memory of how the sickly rich woman had given her a single fajati when her mother died reappeared in the scribe''s mind. A single silver coin was all you spared with the death of two of your decades-long associates.


    She hadn''t pondered about it when she had first arrived at the palace as she was still blind with mourn, but the woman had slithered away from any responsibility with sweet words. I don''t need words, I need support! Needed it! Aloe knew she was just placing the sultanzade''s blame on the scribe, but that didn''t erase the fact that the merchant had left her on her own.


    Not long after the conversation, Aloe removed herself from the table and went back to her scribal duties. There wasn''t much work to be done ¨C truth be told ¨C as she was up to date with everything, and the only thing that accumulated work was either catastrophes or vacations. The similarities between the two were noteworthy.


    But of course, she couldn''t maintain the fa?ade of calmness for more than a few hours as someone irrupted into her office.


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    "Hello there," Fatima announced as she slammed the door open.


    Poor Lulu got scared from the fanfare, making her jump as she was watering one of the many pots. She instantly set the watering can away and started drying the spilled water on her knees as the princess strode forward.


    "I was not expecting your visit." Aloe lied with the same ease as she infused vitality every waking moment.


    "If you were expecting me, then I would have failed as a princess." Fatima took a seat by herself unprompted. "Normally I would have you summoned, but I decided to spare you once for yesterday''s upheaval."


    "You have my gratitude if that is the case." The scribe showed none of that gratitude.


    "Alright, alright." The muscled sultanzade thrashed her hands around. "Let us stop with the formalities, I have no patience for them, and I know words do not work with you. But first, I would like some confidentiality." She gazed at the maid on all four legs. Concretely, her bottom.


    It took Aloe a lot of time and willpower to not groan on the princess'' face. And even more not to curse. Servants were, after all, mere objects of pleasure for the sultanzade.


    "Lulu, would you be so dear to leave Princess Fatima and me alone?" The maid stood up and showed some early reticence, yet nonetheless, she bowed and directed for the entrance. "And please, do not scry. We will know. How about you make yourself useful for once in the palace?"


    Harsh the scribe''s words were, but a charade wasn''t one unless it was equally maintained regardless of the spectator.


    "Understood, venerable scribe." Lulu offered another bow to them at the door and closed it behind her.


    "Hmm~" Fatima hummed seductively at the sight. "You know, Aloe, being domineering suits you. You should go of your weakness and project more strength, that would get you some more game."


    "I suppose that with game you mean reaping targets." The scribe dryly stated.


    "Sure." She simply smiled back.


    "I doubt Rani would allow me to steal her cattle."


    "You jest." The princess chuckled. "Sadina has tens of thousands of inhabitants and only two sultanzade. One more cultivator will make no difference. Make the numbers, a person needs to be reaped tence for them to be depleted. Using maximum reapings per day and two cultivators, that means a hundred-something people per month, make that a thousand and a half for a year."


    "That means that in a decade the pastures will not be as green."


    "There you are wrong, pupil." Aloe had forgotten about their tutoring relationship for a moment and how much Fatima enjoyed it. At least toying with it. "In a decade there will be thousands more suitable targets. Ripe, untouched fruit ready for harvest."


    The cultivator didn''t even hide the fact that they treated people ¨C not only commoners but everyone ¨C as a resource. Not in the sense that a general might treat soldiers and manpower as an abstract number instead of lives, but how a farmer counts their harvest. There was a significant difference between abstracted lives and outright objects.


    "I have failed my duty as the scribe of commoners if I have forgotten something as basic as demographics." Aloe joked if only to calm her seething rage.


    "The balance is delicate, though," Fatima elaborated. "If it were not because a lot of people peregrinate to Asina to meet the Heavenly Descendant in the flesh," the princess emphasized that last word, "then we would not be able to meet the quota as we are dozens of sultanzade in Asina any given time. And Mother already consumes as much as a handful of us."


    "I was not aware that Sulnaya was this prevalent."


    "In Asina and Sadina? No." The woman admitted. "But the southern emirates, or especially the western ones locked by the Finan Mountains, are heavily religious. Though of course, most of the practitioners of the religion are nomads."


    Nomads were a culture that predated most countries, Ydaz included. They were a closed yet paradoxically welcoming community that traveled everywhere, though they preferred the harshness of the Qiraji, for some unknown reason.


    They tended to act like faraway merchants, so most people ended up interacting with a nomad or two in their lifetimes if just to buy a foreign bauble. Aloe herself had conversed with a roaming group to prepare herself when she went to the greenhouse for the first time, days after Karaim had died.


    "There is also the matter of the prima nocta," Fatima mentioned casually, which made the scribe shudder. "You know which targets do not tend to offer their bodies for sale or occasional lust? Wed people."


    Prima nocta was an abhorrent law that allowed the governor of the lands to have sexual relationships with any newlywed on their wedding night. It was usually invoked with women, but the law itself ¨C one which Aloe had studied in detail ¨C didn''t specify gender.


    "Are you suggesting that this law only exists to reap an untapped market?" Aloe voiced out, doing her best to hide her disgust.


    "Dear, I am not suggesting anything. I am affirming it."


    "You are quite amused for a law you are not able to invoke yourself." The scribe replied with venom.


    The very law specified that only the highest local authority or the monarch were able to invoke it. In this case, only sheikhs, emirs, or the very sultanah could abuse this law.


    "Not yet. Not yet." The princess'' amusement faded with the commoner''s comment. "But it is always amusing seeing Mother claim both the newlyweds for herself. Their confusion is always a spectacle of the highest caliber."


    Yet again, the sultanzade remained her that she could never grow a spec of sympathy for them.


    "You know," Fatima extended her arm and grabbed the date bowl Aloe had on her desk. It neither surprised nor fazed her that the princess didn''t ask for permission. "Demography, religion, and law are a good conversational topic and all, but I''m not here for that." She put a date on her teeth and cracked it with a single munch then ate it. "But I am here for business, Aloe Ayad."


    The easygoingness of the woman volatilized, and she finally manifested herself, the ruthless sultanzade she was.


    "Do you have the source of our deal?" That was all she said.


    "I do." The scribe of commoners searched around the drawers of her desk and took out a corked glass bottle. The container had a floral design, and the glass was of good quality. The presentation wouldn''t get her more money, but it would leave the princess pleased, and that was all she needed.


    "May I?" Fatima extended her arm and Aloe nodded. The buff woman uncorked the bottle with a flick of her thumb and sniffed the mouth. "Oh~" She moaned and took another sniff. "Yes, that is the stuff indeed. How much I missed it."


    Addictive? Aloe pondered. She had not tasted the Grace''s Exaltation nectar enough, even during experimentation to grow anything close to an addiction.


    "The spicy and sweet smell makes my lips tingle so hard. Oh, heavens, I want to use it right now, I already soaking wet."


    The petite scribe maintained her face with a stoicism worthy of Naila, not letting a shed of emotion filter through her visage. The foul mouth of the princess wasn''t a pressing issue right now, but her actions were.


    "I would rather if you abstained from consummating any affection in my office." Especially if I am the only one who you may use to please yourself.


    Aloe didn''t tremble at the possibility. Fatima had more vitality than Naila and around the same as Rani, but if there was one sultanzade the scribe believed she could escape their clutches, it was Fatima Asina. After all, the woman had a lot to lose if she pushed herself into Aloe.


    "Of course not, this aphrodisiac is meant for reaping, not mindless pleasure. And cultivators do not reap each other."


    And what about the nince-damned whore of your mother, huh? Aloe almost cracked the armrest she was grabbing upon listening to the words, and she had been donning recovery meaning her strength had been diminished.

 Book 3: 59. Stealth

    "However it may be," Fatima started, "a single bottle is not enough for me. Tell me, how many bottles do you have at your disposal."


    "Currently, counting the one in your hands, ten of them," Aloe responded.


    The sultanzade''s eyes opened like plates, though instead of bewilderment, they shone in greed. And lust.


    "Oh, those are good news indeed." The woman embraced the aphrodisiac bottle, tightly clutched in her bosom in glee. "Such an amount of aphrodisiac will last me for months if I only use it on myself. Ah~" She moaned, "how many reapings may I perform with such quantities¡­ the estimations alone make both of my mouths water."


    The scribe chose to ignore the princess'' casual debauchery. "May we talk about the payment?"


    "Oh, right." Fatima snapped out of her¡­ moist trance. "Previously I paid you a fajatun for three bottles, but that number is not round per single bottle, which does not stand well for me. Let us make it two drupnaruns per bottle, what do you think?"


    It was Aloe''s turn to open her eyes like plates. TWO DRUPNARUN? A single drupnarun was equal to a hundred drupnars, meaning that with a single bottle, the princess was paying her more than the average monthly income of a commoner.


    "I-I am more than pleased with that price, Princess Fatima." Aloe bowed in fake submission.


    "Please, call me Fatima, I have seen how you call Rani."


    "I¡­ understood, Fatima." The scribe was momentarily paralyzed as she recalled having this conversation before back on Asina. "This will make the batch at my disposal a grand total of two drupnarea. Are you pleased with such an amount?"


    The question was more of courtesy than anything else as they had already agreed on a per unit price tag, but Aloe''s mind still staggered at the total sum. Two drupnarea. Two gold coins. Oh heavens¡­ She hadn''t forgotten how the princess had gifted her a drupnarea the first time she had met her, but in reality, the coin sat in her purse ¨C metaphorically speaking, she wouldn''t dare walk around with gold in her person ¨C as not many people accepted gold. Or at least the type of people she dealt with.


    There is a use though¡­ but not yet. Not here. Only when the time and play are right. If she ever needed funds, non-Ydazi funds so to speak, then drupnarea and fajatea were her best chance as they were one-hundred-percent pure gold. The fact that they were totally pure made them way more valuable than if they just were ninety-nine percent pure for the right people.


    "I suppose you would like to be paid in silver like before." Fatima snapped her out of her golden trance.


    "That would be for the best, yes." Aloe nodded. "A person of my stature has difficulties trading with gold. If you do not have that much silver at your disposal," she doubted the sultanzade had brought coffers of silver with her, "I am willing to accept electrum. The smaller the coin the better, though."


    Dealing with fajatun would only be slightly easier than drupnarea. That was to say, not a lot.


    "We will refine the payments later, for now, we train." The princess stated.


    "Right now?" The scribe was perplexed at the offer. "Would it not be better to be at a more suitable location?"


    "What location would be more suitable than your very own private office?" Fatima snickered. "I am only going to teach you the stances you have yet to learn, training them will be your responsibility. And as for the suddenness¡­ I will not be able to remain in Sadina for long, and I will not be able to return soon either, so let us better complete your stance repertoire as soon as possible."


    "Understood, teacher." Aloe appealed to their tutoring relationship as the princess seemed to get a kick out of it.


    "Refresh my mind, pupil. What are the stances in your repertoire."


    The scribe held a sigh but nonetheless complied. "Strength, defense, speed, sense, regeneration, and charm."


    "Yes, yes. Now I remember." She scratched her scalp in a pensive manner. "That leaves us with stealth, agility, and flowing." Aloe nodded. "It will take a few days for flowing as it is the most unique of stances, so let us begin with stealth. If there is time, then I will also show you agility today."


    This wasn''t the first time Fatima had presented the flowing stance as a difficult stance, yet the commoner wasn''t worried about it. If her intuition was to be trusted, then the flowing stance should be what she called Infusion.


    "First, we begin with a bit of theory and an introduction of what the stealth stance even is." You have assimilated the role a bit too much. The scribe, of course, didn''t say that to the sultanzade''s face. "Stealth is a misleading word, truth be told. The stealth stance focuses on camouflage and making oneself adapted to the blind spots of the would-be observers."


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    Aloe frowned at the explanation. "How does that work?"


    "How does any of the stances work?" Fatima laughed at her. "How does vitality work? How does Nurture work? How do the heavens work?"


    "Enough, I get the point." The scribe added with exasperation.


    "You do not ask how it does work, but when it does work, how to control it." The pretentious teacher continued. "You only need to know that it works. And having said that, the effects are similar to charm in that sense. The stealth stance works on others, rather than yourself."


    Once again, Aloe wanted to ask how that worked but refrained herself. Instead, she opted for another question. "Charm has effects on me, though."


    "Of course, you are the one donning the stance, after all," Fatima explained as a matter of fact. "The charm stance not only makes you more attractive but also boosts your fertility. The changes you feel when wielding it is your body readying for baby-making."


    More excuses to not use it, then. The commoner''s body itched at the princess'' lecture, the word ''baby-making'' sending shudders down her spine.


    "I guess stealth is also similar to charm in that way as when you are using it, you intuitively know how to move without making noise, or at least, have a better comprehension of it. This is subconsciously, of course, it is just your body becoming more used to subterfuge."


    Too many similarities, is that a coincidence, or maybe¡­ "Is the stealth stance the opposite of charm?"


    It was Fatima''s turn to frown. "What do you mean by that?" She added in perplexion.


    Right¡­ this was just my theory. "Well, I have noticed that stances tend to have a counterpart regarding their feeling when I don them. Regeneration is cold and charm hot; defense is calm whilst speed is more bombastic; and so forth."


    Those were, in fact, the only two pairs Aloe had identified.


    "I get where you are coming from¡­" Fatima mentioned in a tone that implied she thought Aloe was high on some hard drug, "But if there were to be a counterpart to charm, you already mentioned regeneration."


    "Uhm¡­" She now felt stupid. "Well¡­ it is just a theory, maybe regeneration is not charm''s antonym."


    "Most likely not." The experienced cultivator instantly shut her down. "If stances were divided into opposite pairs as you have suggested, I would dare to say the counterpart to stealth is sense."


    "Sense?" Aloe inquired.


    "Indeed," Fatima nodded. "You will see why once we start with the stance itself, but for starters, sense boosts one''s senses whilst stealth ¨C sort of ¨C dulls other''s senses. Emphasis, one more time, on sort of."


    The princess stopped playing with the aphrodisiac bottle and the date bowl and stood up, walking up to Aloe.


    "Now, let us start with your inner vitality." The woman commanded; her burly fingers set on Aloe''s forearms. "Close your eyes."


    The scribe complied, but a sudden fear took over her. She''s touching me! She had been beaten too much to react to simple skinship, no, what worried her wasn''t embarrassment but subterfuge. If I don''t get this stance soon¡­ she''s going to detect my increase in vitality! It was impossible for her to infuse and shift stances at the same time, so if she wasn''t already pressed to learn the stealth stance, now it was in her best interests to do so.


    "What are you waiting for?" Fatima added with a hint of annoyance.


    "Sorry." Aloe apologized and closed her eyes.


    "As I have mentioned, sense is the counterpart of stealth, so firstly, focus on the sense stance and how it feels." The woman''s hot breath struck the scribe''s left ear, but she didn''t let herself reflect the caress.


    The inexperienced cultivator took a deep breath and started shifting into acuity. That was the internal infusion that confused her the most just because of how weird it felt. There was a sleekness to it, a lack of traction to the flow of her vitality when she used it. But the problem wasn''t the sleekness, but how it felt like. It wasn''t comparable to how oil would make everything slippery, but it was more akin as if she ¨C her vitality ¨C was soaring through the skies without meeting any air resistance. A foggy night devoid of obstructed gazes.


    Beyond speed, sense was the most liberating of stances.


    "I get the feeling." Aloe voiced out.


    "Alright," Fatima''s voice was mellow, too mellow. It made Aloe wonder if the princess was bolstering charm. "What would you believe to be the opposite of that feeling?"


    "Hmm¡­" The scribe mussed. "I would say¡­ resistance. As if every step was heavy like lead as if I was walking in water."


    "Good, good." The sultanzade''s words crawled into her ears like vines. "You need to make yourself scamp. Not invisible, but hard to find. You are in a party hall, everyone is dancing and feasting, and whilst no one pays attention to you, they can still acknowledge you. We cannot have that." Fatima moved a finger up her forearm, sending a hot shiver down Aloe''s spine. "Make yourself one with the background. But you need to move slowly, for the partygoers'' vision is based on movement. Be not hastier than the clouds advancing in the skies."


    The words made no sense by themselves, the analogy was all over the place, yet her body knew what she meant. Her mind was at a loss for words, but Aloe''s body instinctively knew what Fatima was telling her. The commoner let out a small and warm exhalation as her mind pictured the scene and her body followed the commands. At plain sight, yet unacknowledged.


    The princess kept pouncing at her skin with light charm-laden touches, but Aloe ignored them. It was hard for the scribe to act out the scenario that had been set out for her, so she divided the tasks. Whilst her body was now occupied with becoming one with the background, her mind focused on her flow of vitality. The opposite of sleek isn''t slow, but resistance. Trudging through difficult terrain filled with obstacles. So that was what she did, she put resistance to her own flow of vitality.


    Her body pranced through a party, the guests unaware of her presence even as she feinted around them. Her mind locked on her deposit, holding her vitality back so it had to fight to flow.


    There she stood locked between the two scenarios, acting them at the same time. At some point, Fatima''s taps became background noise, and after even more time, finally faded. The princess'' charm no longer tried to snake into her brain. She had truly become one with the background.


    That was when she knew she had reached it.


    Stealth stance.

 Book 3: 60. Agility

    Stealth was as she had predicted, a stance where every movement was hard-fought. Not because she was slow and heavy ¨C which was any stance that wasn''t speed already induced that ¨C but because her body procured that her movements were never detected. She was moving on top of quicksand, not only without sinking but also without displacing a single grain of sand. That was how the stealth stance truly felt.


    Then she opened her eyes.


    The first thing Aloe saw was Fatima''s amused face, but her mind didn''t elaborate a single thought as her body ached for air. The scribe gasped heavily, only now noticing she hadn''t breathed for a long while.


    "That was fast, I expected at least another quarter of an hour." The sultanzade mentioned.


    "I have¡­ been out¡­ for a quarter of an hour?" Aloe said between pants.


    "More like half an hour, pupil." The fact that she had lost half an hour didn''t seem to irk the princess but amused her. "Good job dealing with the charm, though I imagine you are already used to it. I wonder if you can build tolerance from continued exposure¡­" Fatima only mumbled the last sentence, as if she was talking to herself.


    "One question," The princess raised her chin, and the commoner took the gesture as an invitation. "Did you use the charm to make it easier for me to obtain stealth?"


    "What? Did you think I used it because I wanted to court you?" Fatima added amusedly.


    "I cannot discard the possibility in my field of work," Aloe responded seriously.


    "Bah!" The cultivator grunted. "But I cannot deny that statement. Though what interests me is how you found out."


    "There is not much to explain," the scribe admitted. "Once I was getting the hang of the stance, the influence of charm seemed to dim more and more, so at that point, I thought you had been issuing it so I could manifest it."


    "You are not wrong, but why did you think it was the stealth stance that caused the charm to vanish instead of being me who controlled the exertion of the stance?"


    "I¡­ it did not feel like that was happening." She wasn''t a hundred percent sure of her claim. "But I also know that charm does not function like that, does it now?"


    "No, it does not." Fatima sighed. "There is no controlling that stance, not that gradually. What you saw there was a little perk ¨C more a niche than anything else ¨C of the stealth stance. Because the charm stance makes your body more attractive to the observer, if said observer is harder to detect or downright undetectable, then your body cannot adapt to it. That was what was happening there. This is not a well-known fact, even amongst sultanzade. I doubt even Rani knows it as you would first need to work with the stealth stance and¡­ how to say it? She is the center of attention, that woman. Stealth is her antithesis."


    Aloe couldn''t deny that fact.


    "Consider that tidbit of information a compensation for the events that unfurled yesterday." The scribe cringed at being reminded of it. "Do not get me wrong, I would not have allowed you to get yourself killed. The aphrodisiac is too valuable, enough to threaten a bit the possibility of Mother''s rage, so you were never in real danger. But at least now you have a defense against Rani. Heavens know that woman flounders her charm like a prostitute her tits."


    Yet again, Aloe couldn''t deny that. However, accepting it could likely classify as some degree of treason. There was no reason to risk it, still when the embers were hot.


    "But we have distracted ourselves enough," Fatima said. "There is still light in the sky, so let us try to push for agility now." The princess stopped for a second to gather her thoughts. "Following your theory of opposites, I will dare to say the agility stance is the counterpart of strength. Knowing that, what feeling do you think agility exerts on your vitality."


    "Hmm¡­" The scribe hummed in contemplation. "Strength is might, roughness, and violence so¡­ maybe agility is calmness?"


    "Not fully wrong, yet not fully right either," Fatima confirmed. "If I were to give agility an epithet, it would be gracefulness. As you have said, strength is violence. But more than that, it is impulsiveness. When you shift into the stance to lift a heavy weight you do not have the imperious need to bash some skulls, do you now?"


    "Not at all." Aloe swayed her head. I already have that need every waking moment.


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    "That is the answer. The strength stance is the mindless impulsiveness of recklessness, whilst the agility stance would be the controlled movements of discipline. An earthen strike against a watery touch, or for a less metaphorical analogy, the might of a war hammer against the grace of a rapier."


    "I see." She didn''t.


    "No, you do not."


    Damn. Am I that obvious? Aloe reset her visage as if it were an abacus.


    "Talking will not bring you answers, practice will." Fatima placed her hands on the scribe''s shoulders. "You have the theory already, so let us just practice."


    By now, after a full day of audiences and the previous practice with stealth, Aloe was exhausted to the bone, but she didn''t raise her concern as it would be likely shut down by the commandeering princess. Instead, without being prompted, Aloe closed her eyes.


    "For the next imagery," the sultanzade started whispering with her honeyed voice, "you find yourself in a storage room filled with fragile pottery. They are expensive ceramics made out of porcelain¡­ you know what porcelain is, right?"


    "I do." The commoner added with a sigh. "Was that detail worth interrupting the narration?"


    "You need to have a clear image, so yes." Fatima coughed. "Anyhooow¡­ The expensive pieces will break at the slightest touch, you are led to believe that even a wisp of wind will make them crumble. Anxiety is getting you, but the only way out of the storage is obstructed with multiple pots. They are big, bigger than you, and the space separating them is minimal."


    Unlike the previous scenario of the party, this was easier to visualize. Every commoner has had that nightmare of being at a rich person''s house and knocking down an expensive vase, or that was what Aloe believed. The anxiety Fatima was manifesting into her was very much real.


    "To pass through the slits is impossible, even when crawling. The only way forward is slithering like a snake." Aaaand I''m already lost. Aloe didn''t voice out her confusion and just let the princess continue with her storytelling. "The spaces are too tight, the only way to pass through is putting your shoulders on top of each other, then dropping to the ground, letting your body become a malleable puddle."


    This is not working, not even my body is getting this image. I guess I''ll have to try myself. Aloe decided to power through with her own intuition instead of Fatima''s poor analogies. Agility is grace, moving like a rapier, flowing like water¡­ not the best image, but I also know that what the stance does is add ductility to the bones, making them malleable and bendable. Probably also to the whole body, so ''slithering like a snake'' it''s not fully out of the question.


    The inexperienced cultivator led with that image in her mind as she started manipulating her inner flow of vitality. Strength is loud and passionate, so agility is¡­ not silent, but perhaps moderate and calm. The sound comparisons crafted another analogy on her head. Strength is a war drum, a march of violence. Agility is¡­ a flute. A sound that flows with the air itself and boasts the calming whispers of the desert.


    A perfect image it wasn''t, but it was only for a lack of trying. Aloe dictated her movements at the rhythm of an imaginary song. She recalled the powerful cacophony of the strength drums and shifted it into a graceful melody with the agility flute.


    Her body slithered, not like a snake, but a soothing song.


    Aloe felt her spine lose strength and her body slouching down on the chair. Not as if she were a puppet whose strings had been cut, but a candy that had melted in the sun.


    I feel like¡­ water. Her very thoughts became like the liquid she was trying to become. Ah~ Maybe this is not so bad. A puddle needs not to think about¡­


    "Aaaah!" The scribe writhed in pain as her bones protested against her actions, a mighty wail voiced it out.


    "Hey, snap out of it!" Fatima grabbed her by the armpits and raised her up to avoid her falling to the ground. "What is wrong?"


    "It hurts! It hurts!" Aloe reiterated with tears in her eyes.


    "Deactivate the stance at once, you fool!"


    Aloe did as commanded, now finding herself impossibly stiff in the chair. Her body gasped for a breath, whilst her mind seared in pain, her thoughts spinning and her vision wobbling.


    "Why does it hurt?" The commoner asked weakly, bewilderment drawn in her visage.


    "I do not know." The princess answered truthfully. "Agility can be dangerous as you can move parts of your body where they should not be but you did not even have the chance to do that. You only made your bones sof¡­ huh."


    "What?" The scribe jumped at the sudden silence.


    "Well, let us say I forgot about your fracture."


    "You forgot?" Aloe almost screamed; she bit her underlip in rage. "I am on a nince-damned wheelchair, Fatima." The scribe''s tone was dead.


    "To be fair, you are currently on an armchair."


    "It is not the time for jokes."


    "There is always time for comedy," The sultanzade said all too seriously. "However it may be, agility is the most dangerous stance to practice, and it is not recommended to practice whilst injured. I dare to say you have hurt yourself more than you already were with this short of an attempt."


    "Fatima!" Passion got the best out of her, and Aloe snapped at the princess. The hints of water in the corners of her eyes now became fully-fledged streams. "I feel like I am dying, the pain is horrendous. Why did you not think that before?"


    "Sorry." It was a short response, one that may have only incited more rage from the scribe if it wasn''t because the one who uttered the word was an imperial princess. Heavens know how much pride she had wasted in accepting her own shortcomings. "I will search for your maid and make her bring you a calming infusion. Shift to regeneration and do not move, the pain will subside after a while."


    The princess walked toward the door with heavy steps. Crestfallen. Aloe knew that Fatima didn''t care about her, she had shown that much yesterday; she only cared about her productivity, not the person. But even then, the woman regretted her actions.


    That was more than she had ever obtained from an imperial, a gesture of utmost beauty born from the lack of words.

 Book 3: 61. Uncharted

    Fatima had been true to her word; the pain had subsided after a while. But the materialization of the agility stance wasn''t without more prolonged consequences. It was minimal ¨C just a whisper ¨C but Aloe felt the healing on her pelvic area had regressed. In a single instant, she had lost days of healing, if not weeks.


    As much as she wanted to curse at the princess, the scribe''s pain wasn''t met with indifference.


    At the next day''s audience, Fatima announced that she would be postponing her departure for a few days. She didn''t need more words to transmit her intent, but behind closed doors, the cultivator admitted to giving Aloe a breathing room so they could practice the flowing stance once she was in better health.


    The princess was at fault, there was no denying that, but Aloe''s heart was flustered at the humanity shown by her. It almost made her think that the sultanzade were actual people.


    Keyword, almost.


    Her hate wasn''t that superficial.


    To believe that a sultanzade was a good person, was a defeat in and out of itself. But regardless of the pain, Aloe was able to perform her duties, and before the afternoon came, she had already forgotten the agility wound.


    Next on her list of activities was¡­ nothing. Her job as the scribe of commoners was to live day to day. Fayruz and Idris, whilst they didn''t make much noise, were always there to assist her. She sensed constant sympathy and pity from the acquaintances of her mother, but Aloe wasn''t stupid enough to refuse free help even if it battered her pride a bit.


    Pride has gotten me more hurt than anything. She scowled at her desk. Though if I don''t have my pride¡­ what difference there''s between a pet and a human?


    That question occupied much of her afternoon, which she spent in her office evolving Flourishing Springs.


    The more she grew her vitality, the harder it became to keep it in check. At first, she was dealing only with a grain of her true deposit, but now she had to keep handfuls of vitality away from her deposit to prevent it from filling up. She only expected this issue to grow more and more out of control as time went on. Especially once her deposit was close to sice of an adult''s instead of thrice.


    I fear I will have to fake reaping. This will not be sustainable in the future. It repulsed her the fact that she had to state she was raping people, even if it was a lie. Being believed to be a rapist was what she truly feared even if no harm fell unto people. Ah, the irony, the raped becoming the rapist. She laughed, for she would have otherwise cried.


    Some may have said that reaping was not the same as sexually assaulting someone, Aloe had asked herself that question many times now, but it didn''t matter if the intercourse itself was consensual.


    What ensued wasn''t.


    People all across Ydaz were being pruned like shrubberies ¨C or milked like cattle ¨C without knowing it. They were paid or even accepted sex out of their own volition, but they were stolen of parts of themselves that they wouldn''t ever recover.


    They were stripped of their own chance at magic.


    And that was what made Aloe''s blood boil. A lady of the night may sell her body, but she wasn''t selling her mind, heart, or even womb. Why should reaping be considered just when you stole from the one who you shared a bed with?


    Anyone who thought like that should be ashamed of themselves, and Aloe was led to believe that was the consensus amongst sultanzade.


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    The cultivator evolved seeds that night until she lost consciousness.


    <hr>


    Another day passed before Fatima appeared before her. The princess entered the commoner''s office with her fanfare and might, but the moment the maid cleared the room, the worry was visible in the visitor''s expression. Aloe was not innocent enough to believe that the sultanzade cared about her.


    "Your aphrodisiacs will be delivered, you must not angst for them." The scribe explained in a diplomatic tone once the burly yet curvaceous woman sat down.


    "That calms my mind." She shamelessly admitted that her worry had been material rather than placed on her pupil. "I will not deny that it has been hard to put to use the aphrodisiac in my hands."


    Aloe arched her brows. "There is no lack of servants in the palace." The scribe didn''t specify any gender, for she knew no sultanzade cared about such trivialities.


    "We do not¡­ share other sibling''s servants," Fatima said. "You could call it honor amongst thieves. It is one of the few rules we abide between each other."


    "Naila did not seem to have such an issue." The commoner''s eyes were dead as fish''s.


    The princess chuckled. "This palace and its servants are as much as Rani''s as Naila''s. My little sister is not only the imperial scribe, but Regent Emir of Sadina. It is expected for them to share. Though I will reveal that it is quite easier to share between women than anything implying a man, whether it is only brothers or mixed siblings. Men and their seed¡­ ugh, they get it everywhere." She shook her head at the image of her brothers'' bodily fluids.


    The petite scribe reminisced the day when she met Fatima and the princess had engraved quite strongly the image in her mind, for she only saw women in that image. Once again, it was not surprising that the sultanzade may favor women over men.


    Aloe couldn''t say she favored either.


    Not anymore.


    "And how have you been reaping these days then?" Aloe asked against her best interests. Curiosity was at its strongest when its origins were morbid.


    "There are many ways," Fatima dedicated her a seductive smile, probably the same the whore used to rape others. "Mother has quite the reputation of leaving pilgrims¡­ breathless, so people expect and seek the same treatment from her offspring. They are not common ¨C because why settle with the appetizer when you could have the main course ¨C but I see them from time to time. But no," she shook her head, "my favorite reaping method is making men and women out of nobles. The heirs are always the best delicacy."


    It was maddening seeing Fatima smiling like that when she was talking about taking to bed untested virgins. On the one hand, it was disgusting; no person should feel such elation at sex, especially when it came to assault. On the other hand, it was one of the most beautiful smiles Aloe had seen.


    And that only deepened her hatred for herself.


    She hated herself for being this weak. For even letting herself be influenced by the many tricks of the sultanzade. For being human.


    A lot of snarky remarks materialized in Aloe''s mind, but she held them off. The leash may not be as tight as before, but it was present. If she wanted to bed nobles, then the better for her.


    "Preferences notwithstanding," Aloe started, "have you come here for our lesson?"


    "Indeed," Fatima nodded, though her eyes kept locked with Aloe. "Unlike with the agility stance, I expect no issue, well¡­ not with your health."


    Aloe frowned at the doubtful explanation.


    "Do not get me wrong," The princess raised her palms in her defense. "All stances have a minimal degree of danger ¨C some more than others, of course ¨C but the problem with the flowing stance is that is quite¡­ uncharted."


    "You have mentioned this before, but what do you mean with uncharted?"


    "The flowing stance is not like the other eight." Fatima lowered her arms and put them on the desk. "If your opposite stances theory is to hold any water, then the flowing stance is the one exception that confirms the rule."


    Or perhaps because the number of stances is odd, and therefore there cannot be any counterpart to flowing... unless?


    "I believe I have asked this question before," Aloe said, "but are there only nine stances?"


    "Who knows?" The sultanzade placed her arms behind her neck and arched her back backward, exposing her chiseled abdominals and part of her underboob.


    If it was an intentional gesture, Aloe was unable to discern it.


    "It could be that there have been only nine stances discovered so far¡­" Here comes the but. "But the imperial family has been working at it for centuries. There is no exact science on the workings of Nurture, but the backlogged knowledge of centuries of applications is not to be underestimated."


    If Aloe had learned something about the vital arts, it was that nothing was as simple as it seemed. There were many questions to be had about Evolution ¨C more than any other vital art ¨C and she always found new infusions if she tried to, so by the rule of three, there should be more Nurture stances if there were that many Infusion infusions.


    "Enough speculation," Fatima clapped her hands, snapping Aloe from her thoughts, "let us start with the hard evidence and theory behind the flowing stance."

 Book 3: 62. Flowing

    Fatima leaned on the chair and asked Aloe over her shoulder. "Do you recall what I told you about the flowing stance?"


    "I have not been told much," Aloe muttered valueless filling as she gathered her thoughts, "but if I remember correctly, the flowing stance is the only that focuses on guiding vitality outward instead of inward. Am I wrong?"


    "No," the princess crossed her legs, "you got it right."


    There was something about Fatima''s gestures that irked her. Not because they were lazy in nature, but quite the opposite. There were thoughts behind them, intent. Is she trying to¡­ court me? Whilst her movements were graceful and salacious, Aloe couldn''t feel more than a blush from them. Or maybe it is something else?


    "The flowing stance," Fatima started, "is the single stance that allows one''s Nurture to be manifested outward. Now," she finally sat correctly, "this means that it fundamentally works differently from every other stance as we are no longer working with the body, but vitality itself."


    "Makes sense," Aloe nodded. "All other stances are multipliers of the physical attributes of the body." Which also explained why she performed poorly with speed and charm.


    "Some cultivators are better than others with the flowing stance, but never to the point of excellence. It is so alienated from the other stances that it makes it by far the most difficult one to practice." The sultanzade sighed. "Mother is the only one who can use it naturally like breathing, even the older sultanzade treat it like a difficult kata."


    "I understand the premise of the flowing stance, but¡­ what does flowing entail?" The scribe carefully chose her words, lest she revealed something she shouldn''t know. "I can visualize speed and strength with ease, even charm or stealth, but the word flowing hints at nothing. What does pushing one''s vitality outward actually mean and do?"


    "Such is the conundrum of the flowing stance," Fatima smirked. "I do not know."


    Aloe''s face was petrified by the sheer nerve of the woman. How in the nince-damned hells do you dare to present yourself as my tutor WHEN YOU DON''T EVEN KNOW WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT? Aloe almost busted. She nearly did. Her wits had long been at an end, but now her patience was the one being tested.


    "T-then," The scribe inquired with a wry smile, her voice trembling from the contained rage. "How are you supposed to teach me the flowing stance?"


    "I am not." The princess carelessly responded.


    I am going to kill her. The silence made itself omnipresent in her mind. Never before had Aloe felt this focused on a task before, and that scared her. Calm down, calm down. I have no chance against her. She''s toying with you like her whole family does. What she wants is a reaction, don''t give her one.


    "I must reveal I am not following your point of view here," Aloe stated diplomatically.


    "Cute," Fatima added with a smile, her red and plump lips showing almighty. The less the woman she tried to act attractive, the more infatuated Aloe found herself. "But I am not lying when I say cannot teach you the flowing stance. I doubt anyone can, even Mother."


    "Then?" The scribe reiterated in perplexion.


    "What I can teach you, though, is how to shift into the stance?"


    "Is that not the same?" Aloe''s confusion just kept growing.


    "Of course not, silly girl," Fatima dismissed her with a wave of her hand and a chuckle. "The flowing stance is a field of its own. I am incapable of knowing what it may do or accomplish. Afar, one of the oldest sultanzade, can summon golden flames with the flowing stance, alas I am not able to do so. Instead, I can bring winds forward."


    The mention of such ability reminded Aloe how the sultanzade had presented herself when they had met for the first time. Fatima Asina of the Northern Wind, she had said. Is that where her title comes from? Does that mean there are three other sultanzade who can summon wind?


    "Does that mean that the flowing stance gives a singular ability to each cultivator?" Instead, Aloe asked an actual useful question.


    "Not necessarily. Wait¡­" Fatima frowned deep in thought. "Singular or unique?"


    "Both?" Aloe responded with a tilt of her head.


    "The flowing stance¡­ can be manifested in a lot of ways. But none of them are strictly unique or singular. It would be possible for a cultivator to manifest multiple skills like the golden flames or wind."


    "I see." So Infusion is not a unique subset to me.


    "A part of the answer is in the name of the very stance." The sultanzade explained. "Flowing makes reference to two things. One, the ability to show different capabilities in different people and making it unreliable. And two, the effect needed on one''s vitality to summon it."


    Aloe frowned. There was a lot of frowning involved with this stance. "So¡­ what you are saying is that you do not know how I should move my vitality to activate the stance."


    "Partially correct." The scribe gave time for the sultanzade to explain herself. "I cannot tell you how you need to manipulate your Nurture to shift into the flowing stance, but I can guide you with the steps required to do so."


    "So more of your scenarios?"


    "Nurture is a discipline of the mind and body, after all," Fatima said as a matter of fact. The princess stood up from her seat and walked toward the commoner. "Are you ready?"


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    The warm words made the inexperienced cultivator''s heart beat faster, making her think her tutor was wielding the charm stance. Aloe simply nodded.


    "Good~" Fatima placed one of her hands on the scribe''s shoulders. "Now, close your eyes."


    The disciple complied, though reticence was building up in her body. Something felt very wrong. Fatima grabbed Aloe''s wrist and led her small hand to her muscled thighs.


    "You understand that the flowing stance is more of expelling than anything else, right?" Once again, Aloe nodded to her words, her heartbeat becoming increasingly erratic. "I need you to imagine yourself pushing out your vitality into me."


    "A-and how may I do that?" The commoner asked, her whole body trembling, much to the princess'' delight.


    "Easy~" Fatima moaned in Aloe''s ear and pulled the petite scribe''s hand higher. From her thighs, it climbed slowly until it hit a depression. The princess pushed the girl''s hand inside of the fabric, the wetness of the flesh was apparent. Even if Aloe had her eyes closed, she felt Fatima close onto her, her ample breasts drowning her thin arm. "You need to make me cum~"


    The whisper sent shivers all around Aloe''s body, making her arms spasm out. A moan escaped Fatima''s lips as the scribe''s nails scratched something that shouldn''t be scratched as she removed her hands.


    The princess stood there looking at her with longing eyes, making the commoner blush harder than she had ever blushed. Fatima was not pushing into her, but rather, she wanted Aloe to push into her with her sick games.


    Fatima''s smile trembled the next moment.


    "Hahaha!" The sultanzade grabbed her exposed belly and began giggling like a madwoman. "Oh, great heavens, the look on your face!" Her chuckle didn''t finish any time soon, which gave Aloe more than enough time to process the events.


    "I-it¡­" The scribe was as much flabbergasted as she was locked in thought. "Was all a jest?"


    Instead of instantly responding, Fatima''s expression turned serious. Once again, she slumped back down to the petite scribe and grabbed her hand, though instead of leading it to her thighs, she now pushed it under the fabric at her chest. Right on top of her tits.


    "What do you think?" They met her gazes and the sultanzade pressed the hand she was grabbing, therefore pressing it on her breast.


    "U-uh¡­" A muted yelp came out of Aloe''s mouth as she felt the princess'' nipple on her digits. "I¡­"


    Then Fatima busted laughing again.


    "Oh my¡­ I cannot believe you fell for it again." She struck the desk with enough strength in her laughing fit that the scribe would have worried about it breaking if it wasn''t for the rage building up inside of her. "Oh, m-my stomach hurts. I cannot stop laughing. It is too good. Oh heavens."


    If you had less vitality¡­ A thought blossomed in the commoner''s head. If you weren''t a princess¡­ If you weren''t militarily trained¡­ Alas, there were too many ifs to complete her threat, even in the solitude of her mind.


    "I would prefer if you abstained from such jokes," Aloe said with a coolness unbefitting of a woman who had been red as hot iron just a few seconds ago.


    "Why?" Fatima questioned as if she truly knew nothing. "If you did not enjoy them, your heartbeat would not have spiked."


    Aloe didn''t give the woman the privilege of a reaction.


    "Alright, alright." Fatima raised her hands and rolled her eyes. "Though there is not much difference between what I was doing and learning the flowing stance." Aloe squinted her eyes and judged her. "I said much! Anyhooow¡­ The first step to veritably do it would be for you to touch me," the scribe glared at the sultanzade again, "a handshake is enough, do not look at me like that."


    The scribe decided to put a stop to her reactions as she knew she was pushing it already. As much as the woman in front of her had quite literally sexually assaulted her, she was a princess. Aloe accepted Fatima''s handshake because if the woman tried anything else, it wasn''t like she could resist her. If it wasn''t for her ''privileged'' position, Aloe didn''t doubt she could have been executed hundredfold by now adding up all past offenses.


    "Now, try to feel my vitality." The experienced cultivator enclosed the inexperienced one''s hand.


    Feeling one''s vitality was simple enough to the point of triviality. That skill was the first step needed for Infusion, and after enough practice, Aloe was now capable of sensing the vitality of people at a distance, no physical contact was needed.


    There was too much noise, but Aloe could tell at first glance that Fatima''s vitality was greater than her by a lot. Judging by her age, it wasn''t surprising to find out after more probing that her reserves were greater than Rani''s.


    "What now?" Aloe hastily noticed the aggressiveness of her words, even if the tone was appropriate. "Tutor?" She added at the end.


    "The next step is to try to push vitality into me." The scribe frowned at Fatima''s explanation. "Why are you looking at me like that?"


    "No, nothing." She dismissed the issue.


    No, it can''t be like that. I''ve talked with enough sultanzade to know that they don''t have a clue about Infusion, but if they unlock the flowing stance this way¡­ what in the hells is going on here? Infusion ¨C at its rawest ¨C was the injection of vitality into another living being. If every sultanzade practiced this stance at least once, then they should have discovered the other vital art by now.


    Aloe did as commanded. There was incredible resistance as Fatima had over five times ¨C at minimum ¨C her vitality, but if something she was skilled in, it was pushing her vitality into other beings.


    Maybe it''s the intent. The scribe pondered. Because they are thinking of getting a stance for themselves instead of modifying their objective then there''s no intent for an infusion to take place. After a push, Aloe penetrated inside Fatima''s body.


    The princess'' eyes shot wide open at the insertion.


    "I¡­" Fatima''s words died on her lips. "You got it quite faster than I expected."


    Damn. Only now Aloe noticed the weight of her error. None knew of Infusion and her competence with the vital art, so the innate competence obviously raised some brows. A task the sultanzade had previously estimated to take a few days was instead completed in only a handful of minutes.


    "What should I do now?" The pupil asked with a weak tone as if she was using all her focus in performing the given task.


    "You have gotten your vitality out now and it is alive," Fatima explained, "so think about manifesting it, into taking another shape that is not its default state."


    "A-and what should that shape be?" Aloe continued faking strain.


    "Whichever." The tutor responded. "The first thing that comes to your mind."


    Aloe would have retorted that nothing came to her mind if it wasn''t because before Fatima finished her sentence something clicked in her mind.


    Her vitality started changing through its own volition.


    No more vitality than the one she had manifested poured from her body, but the one that was already out started mutating as if her vitality were an evolved plant.


    W-what''s happening? Such was the surprise that she couldn''t put it into words. Before she noticed it, her previous stance had dissipated, and the subconscious focus of her mind was on the external flow of her vitality.


    A weakness overcame her, forcing her to close her eyes, her consciousness fleeting if for only a second.


    "Hey!" Fatima grabbed her as her body plummeted forward. "Are you well?"


    "I¡­" Aloe took a breath. "Yes, I am fine."


    "What has happened? Have you succeeded with your flowing stance?"


    The scribe was quick to deny the question, but her eyes caught the face of the princess. Or more concretely, her hair. Even more specifically, its length.


    "Ah." It was a microscopic change, but between the feedback in her fingers and the information captured by her eyes, Aloe understood what had happened.


    Somehow, she had forced Fatima to grow.

 Book 3: 63. Forced

    "Hmm¡­" The sultanzade hummed deep in thought. "Your vitality has diminished, so you have done something. But at the same time, I have not seen anything. Flowing effects tend to be rather noticeable."


    Aloe bit the walls of her mouth as she meditated her next step. I''ve¡­ succeeded. I don''t know how, but I''ve done it. There was nothing telling her that she had managed to use the flowing stance, but at the same time, she was fully convinced of her triumph.


    Her flow of vitality, which had the cool and refreshing properties of regeneration, had reverted to default as she expelled her vitality. And then that vitality had disappeared from her reserves.


    There was no heavenly answer that confirmed the act, but all clues suggest that she had managed to activate the flowing stance.


    And even if all those clues weren''t present¡­


    She just knew.


    Since she was little, she had been nurtured to be a person of logic, but now her nature ran supreme.


    There was no need for logic, for she knew her success to be true.


    Okay¡­ okay¡­ She calmly said to herself. Fatima highly suspects that I have, indeed, used the flowing stance. But should I tell her? The magic performed by her flowing stance overwhelmed the scribe''s mind.


    It''s not flashy, but it has a lot of uses¡­ The true weight of the situation dawned on her. Oh, no. OH, NO.


    Aloe almost grabbed her head in panic, but her subconscious acted more responsibly than herself, fully knowing that such a reaction would have sent the princess into alert.


    Why¡­ The petite cultivator almost cried at her realization. It was just a theory, a flimsy one at that, but the connotations were many, and they disgusted her all. Forced Growth¡­ she put more strength on her bite as she pondered on the name she had given to her flowing skill. A magic that makes things grow faster¡­ Nurture¡­ Flowing stance¡­


    The pieces of the puzzle assembled by themselves, nearly leading Aloe into a panic attack.


    I-isn''t that¡­ Aloe took a deep breath; this wasn''t an action that could no longer be hidden from Fatima''s gaze. Isn''t this basically¡­ the Blood of the Sultanah?


    Everyone in Ydaz, from nomads to nobles, knew that the country subsisted because of the powerful and life-giving properties of the blood of the sultanah. A single drop of blood was told to turn a desertic wasteland into a comely farmland.


    I¡­ there''s some difference, but Fatima has said that there are many different abilities that one can use from the flowing stance. Knowing that the first one she had unlocked was closely related to that woman didn''t fare well with Aloe.


    "You have realized something." Fatima voiced out in a neutral tone. That was, perhaps, worse than the sultanzade using her serious one.


    "I¡­" Aloe started but the words died in her throat.


    I can''t hide this. What happens when she looks at herself in the mirror and sees her hair is a free edge of a fingernail longer? No, the scribe realized, I need to be sincere. To take another route.


    "Fatima, please," the commoner announced weakly, her voice exhausted. "Whatever I tell you next, please do not share with anyone. Please." She reiterated.


    The abuse of the word merited a raised brow from the princess. "I cannot comprehend for the life of me why you are so defeated by a successful flowing stance, but sure, I will not share whatever unique ability you have discovered. I swear it by the name of Fatima Asina."


    Commoners tended to swear by their parents'' names instead of themselves, but considering who was her mother, promising by her own name inspired more trust.


    "I have¡­" Aloe breathed out her words more than uttering them. "¡­made your body grow."


    "What do you mean by that?" Fatima frowned. "Are you saying that you made me taller? Made my breasts bigger?" A hint of dread appeared in her visage. "Or have you made me older?"


    "No, no." The scribe hastily responded thrashing her hands around in negation. "I have, well, made your hair and nails grow¡­"


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    Fatima looked at Aloe in pregnant silence, then her fingers to the middle point of her brows and massaged it.


    "You are telling me," the princess sighed, "that all of this fanfare is because you accelerated the growth of my hair and nails?"


    The commoner bowed down crestfallen. "Yes."


    "Oh heavens, woman!" Fatima raised her voice. "I was expecting something really bad, and you come out with this! Do not give me such a scare!"


    "B-but Fatima," Aloe stuttered, though internally she had relaxed at the calm reaction of the princess, "I have soiled your image. The liking of a sultanzade."


    "Soiled?" She heartily laughed. "You should become a dramaturge, Aloe. In any case, every sultanzade ¨C especially female ones ¨C would be rejoiced in being able to grow their hair this fast. But," her tone suddenly darkened, "are you sure you only affected the growth of my body and have not aged me?"


    Even someone as mentally obfuscated as her could notice the dangers of such a possibility.


    No. That was her real opinion, but she didn''t answer directly. With that single word, she perhaps could instantly lose all her favor with the cultivator.


    "I-I cannot say for certain." Aloe shrunk as she talked. The gesture wasn''t faked. "But from the feeling I got whilst I was performing the flowing stance, I strongly believed it acts mostly as some sort of modified regeneration stance, where I am only making your body produce more things faster, rather than accelerating the flow of time itself."


    She doubted such arcane and terrifying magic existed, to begin with.


    At least with Nurture.


    "If you want to bolster secrecy around such triviality, feel free to do so." Fatima unlatched herself from the scribe and walked to the other side of the desk. "I have fulfilled the part of our deal," she continued, "I have taught you how to wield all of the nine Nurture stances, now it is your turn to fulfill your own part."


    "The aphrodisiacs are ready to be delivered at a moment''s notice, princess." Aloe talked with the diplomatic tone of a scribe instead of a pupil.


    "Nine more bottles, right?" The commoner nodded at the princess'' words. "I will send you the payment one of these days. It has been hard to procure silver without raising my sisters'' suspicion as the lightest metal I carry with myself is electrum."


    "I would not expect less." The scribe answered truthfully, sultanzade were filthy rich. Disgustingly so. "Paying for two drupnarun in silver is quite the number of coins."


    Two hundred or forty, for drupnari or fajati respectively.


    Considering the weight of five drupnari was the same as a single fajati, the only difference came in volume. Both manners of payments were led to be overwhelmingly heavy. I mean¡­ not really. By law, a drupnari weighs fifteen grams, so two-hundred times amounts to¡­ three kilos. Not much weight in the grand scheme of things, but hells, that''s a heavy coin purse.


    I mean, three sounds like a small number, but. I wouldn''t like to carry that heavy of a purse. Aloe had heard of the curious units of measurement the assassins used that tended to bring bigger numbers to ''better'' display the weight, but the weird factors and multiplicators the shadow people used made no sense to her. Only a drugged man would use a unit that converts into sums of sixteen instead of ten.


    "I do not expect myself to remain at Sadina for much longer, so I will give you some advice before I leave" Fatima walked behind the armchair in front of Aloe''s desk and placed her chin on the top of its back.


    In a rather salacious manner.


    "First," the sultanzade cocked her head to the side, "I will require more aphrodisiacs in the future. I want you quick on your feet, for the moment I send a missive for a resupply, I expect it to not take more than a couple of weeks."


    "Of course, Fatima." Aloe bowed dutifully before hitting her with the reality of her petition. "But the trading route between Asina and Sadina is already a week-long, a fortnight for the round trip. The timing for such expectations may be¡­ a tad bit unrealistic."


    "Fret not," she waved her hand. "The courtier will take the short route. That should give you between three to four days to work around. You will surely find a way to make it work out."


    "By all means." The scribe smiled at her. Whore. Bitch. Fuck you. I hope you die. Drown in a septic pool. Though she didn''t have such reservations on her mind. "Though my supply is limited. I only managed to produce such outrageous amounts because it was harvesting season." Aloe tried to soften her future fall with veiled lies.


    "Harvesting season? Is that not in Autumn?"


    "Not all crops are harvested in Autumn." The commoner calmly explained. "Depending on the crop some are down in Spring. Potatoes, for example, are planted in Winter."


    "I see¡­" Disappointment was written all over the princess'' visage. "Then the current batch is an outlier? Does this mean that I will only get aphrodisiacs in Summer?"


    "Not at all." Aloe smiled at her, satisfied that the many lies went unnoticed. "We are dealing with a certain variety of flowers here, so there they will be year-round. Only that you should maybe expect five bottles instead of ten. But, depending on the rate of your consumption, that may not even be a problem if the crops are not taxed."


    "Hmm¡­" Fatima unlatched herself from the armchair and strolled around the office. "I will require of a more detailed report once I have sent a courier back to you."


    "Naturally." The scribe slightly bowed down.


    "I will take my leave then. I would prefer to be on my way to Asina for tomorrow morning if I can get the coins by then." The sultanzade''s normally dull eyes shone as she spoke.


    But as she made her way to the door, she turned back and reached for the scribe''s desk in a mad dash. Aloe, alerted by the sudden moves, shifted into toughness. Yet no hit came to her, but something way fouler.


    Jumping over the desk with feline grace, Fatima placed before Aloe and forced herself into her lips. The gesture took the commoner by surprise as the princess ravaged her mouth with her tongue.


    Yet as soon as the kiss was started, it ended as the sultanzade removed herself. Fatima let out a giggle, enjoying Aloe''s petrified expression as she licked her own lips.


    "Be careful to not get eaten whilst I am gone." And with those words, Fatima marched out.


    Aloe herself remained still in stasis, unable to process what had happened. Then she puked.

 Book 3: 64. Step

    Fatima''s departure was felt around the palace. Not because her lack of presence left a vacuum in the palace, but rather because she made sure everyone heard the trumpets and drums as she left.


    The following days, though, ended up being most of the same.


    Working as a scribe was as exciting as any office job could be, and for once, the many pleasures the palace dulled to Aloe''s senses. Wake up. Audience. Eat. Work. Sleep. Such had become her routine.


    There was a vital difference between studying ¨C or being in an apprenticeship ¨C and working, especially in a position elevated as herself. She was the one calling the shots, yet she felt more of a beast of burden in a long caravan than ever before.


    But Aloe didn''t let the monotony drown her. Her plans were already headed for the long game, so maintaining concentration and discipline was imperative. Daily she had to infuse and evolve seeds to keep her vitality in check and also make her deposit grow. No matter how much vitality kept increasing, the healing from the regeneration stance stalled at a low potency, her body was pressed and strained from too many fronts.


    Advances were few and far between, but they were present. For starters, Aloe revised her notes and evolved the seed where the Grace''s Exaltation sprouted from. The herb-slash-flower wasn''t that big in her grown state, so she just placed it alongside her Blossomflame in her house, so she no longer had to go to the greenhouse whenever Fatima deigned it appropriate to buy more aphrodisiac.


    And talking about the Blossomflame¡­ it had died.


    She had demanded too much from the evolved flower, and the early signs of withering she had shown were a forecast of her death. As much as it was a setback and it partially saddened, it took her only a few vitality pills and an afternoon to plant a new one, and that was only because she decided to evolve a new one instead of using one of the spare ones she had lying around. Now the office at her home was littered with flowerpots and watering contraptions.


    Two and something weeks after Fatima''s extravagant exit, Aloe finally had access to a blossomed Blossomflame. The healing of the fire plant was as miraculous as it was painful, but a new issue arose from the healing.


    It wasn''t a new one, mostly because Aloe had ignored it as delusions rather than an actual problem, but it would appear that¡­ she had forgotten how to walk.


    That was an exaggeration, of course, but her body presented difficulties upon walking. Her hips were mostly healed after four months of healing ¨C two of them whilst blasting the recovery internal infusion ¨C but her body seemed to disagree.


    Pain struck her when walking. Only when walking.


    Her routine got added a new layer as she faked that her hips were still fractured whilst she trained at night to walk again. No matter how many hours she rode on a palanquin, or she stood upright, her hips no longer hurt. It was only the djinnic moment when she took her first step that made her body tumble down in pain.


    One week became two, and two weeks became three, but after multiple visits to the Blossomflame, her body still ached when she tried to walk even if it was perfectly healthy.


    Such paradoxical pain only stressed her further.


    Fleeting and scarce of mention were the days that followed. Only Lulu seemed to notice that something was wrong as she found Aloe drenched in sweat every day when she went to wake her up, but the maid had the presence of mind to keep her mouth shut and not ask questions. For what the palace respected, the scribe of commoners was still bound to a wheelchair.


    Autumn came fast and therefore many other things to be taken care of.


    Finally, after two months, Fatima sent a missive to alert Aloe that she was on her last bottles of aphrodisiac, and she wanted more soon. To keep face with the lies she had told to the princess, the scribe only sent her six bottles and a letter that summarized how she awaited the payment for them with the next courier.


    How she had spent those ten flasks in only two months, Aloe wanted not to hear that.


    Her job became more frantic with the arrival of the harvest festival, with people from all over the emirate coming to Sadina for the celebrations. She had expected some turmoil as she was the person in charge of organizing such events, scribe of commoner''s stuff and all of that, but she had looked over a crucial detail.


    The Loyatan Embargo.


    It was easy to overlook the trade stop of food imports from their northern neighbor as food never lacked in the palace, but once Aloe checked the numbers, it was obvious that the emirate was slowly starving and the harvest festival wouldn''t be as grand as any previous ones.


    This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    The emir''s answer to the starvation of her people? Seize private farmlands.


    Fertile and arable land was uncommon in Ydaz, so seizing the few ones that existed made sense on paper. An issue that Rani overlooked though was that most of those private farmlands were owned by¡­ the assassins.


    Not officially, but it was obvious that the assassins controlled them.


    Whilst the decree found success in the acquisition of more fertile lands, the expropriation didn''t land well with the¡­ illustrious minority. Aloe feared that the forceful takeover had radicalized the local assassins, but Rani''s response to that was: "That is Aaliyah''s problem."


    Aloe could only take solace in the fact that she would never be the target of the assassins if they ever decided to assassinate another emir of Sadina.


    A starving population, a radicalized armed minority, and winds of war fluttering strong were the issues of the emirate, and the scribe of commoners found herself missing the monotony from a few months ago.


    Now, she actually believed she could deal with some of these problems, or at least mitigate them, but that would only be the case if she cared for her country.


    Which she did not.


    At the end of the day, the people that would die were the soldiers, the commoners, and the governors. None of her issues. A ''good enough'' job was all she gave, and looking at how some other poorer emirates fared, she was even doing a superb job.


    The only requirement for the scribe of commoners was being a commoner, and she doubted most of them could afford a general academic education or an extensive apprenticeship in economics. Aloe, whether she wanted it or not, may have been the most qualified scribe of commoners Sadina had seen, and she didn''t bother to make her country a better place.


    Perhaps, and only perhaps, if the one leading the country weren''t the imperial family, she would have put some effort.


    Her heart shrunk and grew colder each time she heard from her assistants that a village was suffering death from starvation. At one point, she could care no longer.


    It was ironic that those were the days that she dedicated most of her free time to visiting Uncle Jafar and Aunt Mirah. Seeing little Aya grow and happily talk about her academic prowess warmed her dying hurt even just a bit.


    The scribe didn''t tell her family her progress with walking as she didn''t want to get their hopes up, as she didn''t know when she would be able to talk. It was just enough to spend time with them, and more importantly, away from the court.


    People did ask her about the wheelchair from time to time, mostly why she was still on it. Their suspicion wasn''t unfounded as there had been almost half a year since the wound, and when the question came from the princess who knew she was a cultivator, it made even less sense to them. With the regeneration stance, she had had more than a year of healing by now.


    All those questions, though, dissipated the instant she made a show by standing up. It was always horrendous taking that first step, but the pain she displayed convinced any onlooker.


    Boredom was the greatest enemy in the end, for what was a good job and money worth for if one didn''t have the autonomy nor time to exploit it? Those many months weren''t bad, but they weren''t exactly happy. At one point, Aloe thought that was what she deserved.


    A stale life without highs or lows.


    Some would have shuddered at the idea, dynamism was the essence of life and stagnation its detriment, but Aloe embraced warmly the notion. For her lows had been of the deepest lows a person could imagine.


    She preferred never having highs in her life if that meant never ever again experiencing those lows.


    And maybe it was that selfishness that invoked more of those lows.


    It was an afternoon like any other, they bled so much that Aloe no longer kept the count of the months or the days of the week unless someone reminded her, but then one maid came to her office. She asked to speak with Lulu and the fair-skinned maid much obliged, but the moment the unfamiliar maid whispered to her, Lulu''s visage turned whiter.


    "I¡­ understand. Thank you for the notice." Lulu told the maid and the woman bowed to her before removing herself from the office.


    Sometimes servants would go searching for each other for certain tasks, so it wasn''t an uncommon sight for a fellow maid soliciting Lulu. But that pale visage wasn''t common at all.


    "What is wrong, Lulu?" Aloe put her quill to rest and asked her.


    "Uhm¡­ nothing, Aloe." The maid dismissed. "Nothing at all. I should get going, I have been called¡­"


    "Stop!" The scribe raised her voice the moment Lulu placed her hand on the doorknob. "Something is happening here, and you will tell me. Please, Lulu. It is obvious that something is afflicting you, let me help."


    The fair-skinned maid was the only company Aloe had inside these walls, and it pained her to put on such an expression.


    "I¡­" Lulu turned to face her, but her eyes pointed down to the ground, her lips unmoving.


    "Please, Lulu. Let me aid you." Aloe offered. "Is it money that you need? Did someone from your family fall ill? I will do anything in my capabilities to relieve your ache."


    "I-it is nothing like that." The maid admitted. "It is¡­ the emir. She has summoned me."


    "Oh¡­" Of course, it was bound to happen sooner or later¡­ Aloe''s arms lost their strength. I¡­ I can''t let her go. She''s on her last drops of vitality. And any servant that cannot be reaped anymore¡­ is made out.


    "If you excuse me then." Lulu opened the door, accepting her fate.


    "Stop!" Aloe reiterated. "D-do¡­ do not go, Lulu."


    "I have been summoned by the emir herself, I cannot defy her orders as a lowly maid."


    The scribe of commoners bit her lip upon hearing her companion uttering such deprecating words.


    "Do not go." The cultivator stated more firmly. "I will go myself and convince Rani to cease these callings to you."


    "But¡­"


    "No buts." The petite dark woman interrupted the tall fair one. "I will see this issue resolved. Understood?"


    "I¡­ yes." Lulu bowed dutifully.


    Aloe climbed her wheelchair and pushed it herself, dreading growing in her body with every push across the corridors. After months of inaction, she was forced to oppose a sultanzade one more time.

 Book 3: 65. Substitute

    Rani-al-Sadina was a very public figure, making appearances all over her city, and certain parts of the whole emirate. Yet when she was in her palace, the one place one would find her was in her bedchamber.


    The scribe of commoners stood in front of sturdy wood doors with her heart on her fist. The last time she had been in that room it hadn''t been a pleasurable experience. And she doubted this one would be either.


    With much solace, Aloe knocked on the door.


    "Who is there?" The emir''s muted voice came through a few seconds later.


    "It is me, Aloe." The scribe responded.


    "Aloe?" Rani''s confusion could be felt. "I was not expecting you." For you were expecting my maid.


    "I apologize for the sudden intrusion," Aloe said even when she was still behind the closed doors. "But there is something I must speak with you."


    "I am expecting company soon, you may regret staying." The conversation may have been dulled for other people ¨C talking through such thick doors ¨C but Aloe suspected both of them were brandishing the sense stance.


    "The requested company will not come." The scribe of commoners stated diplomatically yet powerfully.


    Muffled noise came to Aloe''s ears, but it was so faint that she couldn''t distinguish the source.


    "I see," Rani added after a long wait. "Enter." She ordered taciturnly.


    One thing that the scribe had never grown used to, even after months, was opening doors while in a wheelchair. Awkwardly, she fidgeted her body and wheelchair to push herself into the room, more than once needing to jerk the wheelchair forward and backward in quick succession.


    Rani sat on a pillowed bench before a dresser, her likeness reflected in a mirror.


    "Explain yourself." The emir didn''t bother facing the scribe, instead, she continued grooming herself.


    "Rani, my liege," Aloe started as any good bootlicker should do, "my maid is not comfortable with the visits you demand from her."


    The sultanzade giggled. "Oh, dear Aloe, how many mistakes can you utter in a single sentence?"


    "Excuse me?" The commoner reflexively uttered.


    The princess stood from the bench and turned to face the wheelchair-bound woman. She dressed in light silks that covered almost nothing, with much jewelry and golden chains hanging around. If there was an image to describe divinity, it was her.


    Also vanity.


    "Aloe, sweet Aloe¡­" Rani took a step forward, her body slithering like a snake with the curves of hers. Aloe tried to take a step backward, only to remember her wheelchair. "First of all. Your maid?" She giggled again, accompanied by another step. "Power has tainted your mind too much; you seem to be forgetting who that girl serves. Me."


    The emir''s eyes shone purple. Her gaze was not dissimilar from her mother''s. Aloe tensed at her words but kept herself locked in place.


    "Secondly," she took another step, "I demand nothing out of her. It is quite literally her job to please me, and if she does not perform her duties, then I have no need for her. Understood?"


    By now, Rani was right in front of her. The sultanzade was already taller than most women, and with Aloe sitting in her wheelchair, she was not looking over her shoulder, but her whole being.


    Her aggressiveness gnawed on the scribe''s psyche, but if she backed down now, not only would Lulu get truly dismissed, but assaulted before that.


    "Rani," the petite woman pleaded, "is a grain of vitality from a nearly reaped servant that important to you?"


    The princess squinted and smirked. "No."


    The slyness and smugness overflowed her visage. Rani was genuine with her answer, she truly didn''t need that vitality, so her negation made it worse than it should.


    Stolen novel; please report.


    "It is not about wealth or power, Aloe." Rani put a hand on the scribe''s shoulder and slowly circled her wheelchair. Not having a line of sight with the sultanzade scared her. "It is a matter of principles. She is my servant. My maid. My bedwarmer. And my source of vitality. I will reap her if I want, I leave her alone when I please."


    It''s a lost cause. Aloe realized crestfallen. She will never let her go because of pride, and once she is no longer useful, she will send her away¡­ The scribe gritted her teeth, powerlessness overwhelming her.


    Then Rani placed a hand on her other shoulder.


    The princess arched downward, the chains in her attire clinging in a metallic cacophony, as she approached the commoner. Aloe felt the weight of the emir on her body, not only did Rani press her hands against her shoulders, but as she closed the proximity between them, she pressed her cleavage onto the backside of her head.


    "Now," the emir''s soft whisper warmed the scribe''s ear, "I can present you with an alternative."


    "I¡­" Aloe gulped down saliva and tried her best to suppress her trembles. "What may that alternative be?"


    Rani leaned forward more, her soft body swallowing the scribe. The princess moved a hand from the shoulders to Aloe''s neck, caressing it with the tip of her finger. It was getting hard to avoid a reaction from the soft touches, the warm hands, the poisoning charm¡­


    And she went lower.


    The princess'' purple nails disappeared into the scribe''s dress, her digits getting dangerously close to the peaks of her chest.


    Yet before Aloe could stop her, Rani interjected with a whisper.


    "Substitute her."


    Two words.


    Two words shattered her completely.


    "Cat got your tongue?" It wasn''t the taunt that restarted Aloe''s brain, but the daring touches of the sultanzade that hadn''t stopped since then.


    "I¡­" The scribe tried to utter words, yet none came. She then instead tried to move Rani''s hands away but found her own paralyzed.


    "Now, I understand that this offer is not balanced for both parties." Rani''s words caressed her with the same warmth as she touched. "Asking to substitute a lowly maid for a cultivator of the sultanate, is far from fair."


    Aloe should have been angry, she should have defended the way she spoke of Lulu, but she couldn''t react. Her mind and body didn''t respond to her. It was as if she wasn''t present, as if her mind remained somewhere else. Trapped.


    "And as the magnanimous ruler that I am, I cannot offer someone an unfair deal where it is only me that reaps the benefits." Her hands reached lower, not as dangerous as before, as Rani focused on the petite scribe''s curves ¨C or lack thereof ¨C and her belly button.


    By now Aloe was drowning in the debauchery that was Rani-al-Sadina, trapped neck-deep in quicksand. Her mind recalled foul imagery, yet her body didn''t convulse in hate. Instead, her body¡­ didn''t hate it. The commoner felt as every hair in her body rose at the exploring touches. The single kernel of pleasure she felt redirected all her hate she felt towards the sultanate, the sultanzade, and the sultanah towards herself instead.


    How could she enjoy it? That was what Aloe was thinking, though her mind was so clouded that she couldn''t put it into words.


    "Here is my offer," Rani whispered directly into her earlobe, "I will not touch this maid you call ''yours'' and neither will I reap her. In lieu, you will be the one warming my bed, but I will also teach you."


    "T-teach me?" There were no thoughts behind the scribe''s words, only reflexive repetition as her body trembled at the hands which slowly lowered. She felt if that they reached too low, it would be the end of her.


    "Indeed," The princess groomed the commoner''s hair with affection. Aloe hadn''t noticed until now that only one of her hands was inside her dress. Her thoughts were that sluggish. "You may be a cultivator, but it is clear you have had no training, either martial or with Nurture. I offer to fill those gaps in addition to the aforementioned incentives."


    Aloe''s mouth hung open words refusing to come out. Only when Rani''s nails scratched her hips did the mist in her mind clear a bit.


    "I-it is a good offer." She expressed herself aloud but had difficulties thinking if she truly believed that. At what point forbidden knowledge was worth oneself?


    "Quite." Rani moved the hand on her hair down the scribe''s nape.


    If I accept it¡­ It pained Aloe to even consider the offer, but knowing the sultanzade, refusing it could be even worse. Just because she slapped that hand that fed her didn''t mean she would never be fed again, but that hand may come back with a whip and with an urge for violence. Lulu can stay with me and not be used anymore, and I''ll also gain more insight into Nurture, the price is only¡­


    The scribe froze.


    Rani''s hand had finally made it down. She could only pray that the moistness of her own skin came from sweat.


    "Well?" It wasn''t a plead for confirmation that came out of the princess'' mouth, but a threat.


    A threat of what she may do next.


    "Will you reap me?" Aloe did her best to hide her sobs. She wasn''t sure if she succeeded.


    "No, no." Rani almost seemed offended by the question. "Cultivators do not reap each other." The expression Fatima had used seemed to be more truthful than she had let on, even if their mother hadn''t respected it. "The terms of the deal are exactly as I stated. Nothing more, nothing less."


    Then¡­ The price was clear to her. Does it matter anymore? When she would continue to be pressed from all sides, when someone else would suffer with no benefit unlike her, when there was now nothing to protect as it had already been stolen¡­ I am already empty.


    Aloe didn''t cry. Aloe didn''t sob. Aloe didn''t resist. She just, defeatedly, uttered two words.


    "I accept."


    The princess instantly removed her hand from the scribe''s dress and unlatched herself from her. Slowly, she turned around the wheelchair to face her, and that was when Aloe saw the voracious grin of hers.


    "I will cash out on our deal right now then." Rani''s arms closed on her, and Aloe hadn''t had enough time to regret her decision.

 Book 3: 66. Pleasure

    It was no mystery that Rani was a sultanzade ¨C a cultivator ¨C but for the first time, Aloe felt on her body the implications of that statement.


    The emir was strong. Very very strong.


    One might not think of Rani-al-Sadina as a person capable of feats of strength, her body was curvaceous and dotted, yet deprived of the musculature that might be seen in most sultanzade. Yet that mattered not as she embraced the petite scribe with her arms and lifted her, the strength stance palpable in her rough motions.


    Without so much as batting an eye, Rani carried Aloe from her wheelchair in a princess carry and walked her into the luxurious bed.


    The scribe couldn''t process what was happening, never before had she been handled with such ease, even if she was a small and light person.


    For a brief instant, as the emir stood before the bed, Aloe thought she was going to drop her savagely on the bed ¨C which might not have been as bad as it sounded as the bed looked softer than clouds ¨C yet the scribe''s fears didn''t come to light. Instead, Rani carefully placed her on the bed, softly extending her legs on the surface, as if she were a babe left to rest on their cradle.


    Mistake the situation one shouldn''t, for Aloe was scared for her life. No amount of sweet and soft touches might ever deny that.


    Then it was Rani''s turn to place herself over the bed. She positioned one knee over the edge of the mattress, then the other she passed above the scribe, putting next to her pressed legs.


    Gracefully, the princess moved downward, leading her hands to Aloe''s shoulder. Then she pulled the commoner''s dress down.


    "Ah." A muted yelp came out of Aloe''s mouth. It was the first noise any of the two had made since Rani had grabbed her, and it materialized once the weight of the situation finally set in.


    Once her pink nipples lay exposed for the sultanzade to see.


    Rani commented not on the sight, though that didn''t spare the woman from a smile. There was a confidence in that gesture that intimidated Aloe.


    "People think that the charm stance requires no training, but they are wrong." The sultanzade started talking as she led her hands to her own clothes. "Charm, by nature, is born of the cultivator''s innate beauty. But even a fool can tell that beauty can be nurtured, not only blossomed but also highlighted."


    The princess removed the torso section of her immodest attire. Not much skin had been covered by the cloth, but what they revealed was breathtaking. Or so was what Aloe expected, but as Rani dropped her piece on the bed ¨C the many golden chains clinging at the impact ¨C the scribe was met with an extended arm obfuscating the sight, clutching tight to the bosom.


    "There are many ways to bolster and weaponize beauty." With her free hand, Rani removed the pins holding her hair together and the strands busted free like a spilled barrel of water. "Voyeurism is one of those ways. People really feel more attracted to certain elements when they cannot see them."


    The commoner''s hands trembled on the spot; her body wouldn''t move. And even if she could make her body listen, she was still locked between the princess'' legs.


    "Sometimes a thick mantle is more attractive than an exposed chest." The emir stated as a matter of fact. "Especially more if that mantle adheres to the skin and creates a silhouette. Erotica is all about shapes and silhouettes. You do not need the curves of a dune, but the idea of such curves. Expectation is a powerful tool." Then she moved her extended arm down. "It makes the reward more powerful."


    Rani was not as dotted as other members of her family, but now the words of the sultanzade snaked into Aloe''s mine. It was not about sizes, but shapes. And the shapes before her¡­ They are perfect. It wasn''t her first time gazing at the emir''s exposed cleavage, but now as her back was resting on silk and feathers, could Aloe appreciate them.


    That made the woman on top of her smile.


    The djinnish smile awakened Aloe once more ¨C the cycle between a fogged and lucid mind became periodic ¨C but she couldn''t react for the princess moved faster than her. Rani pushed her exposed torso down, for a moment the scribe thought she was going to linger atop of her, but the woman continued to push downwards.


    Before she noticed, naked skin met. Rani pressed her coconut-sized breasts on her own nearly non-existent ones, mounds and peaks met one another.


    Their eyes met.


    Rani''s shone purple.


    Aloe found herself out of breath and also incapable of grasping a new one. Then the emir moved and pushed her body upwards, closing on the scribe''s head. The movement was minimal, but in that short displacement, Aloe''s body shuddered as Rani''s nipples scratched against her own.


    Both sets were hard as diamonds.


    But the assault wasn''t over, perhaps it hadn''t even started. Once more, the sultanzade closed on the scribe''s ear and whispered.


    "You are not opposed to this, are you?" Rani muttered in a salacious giggle.


    "Ah¡­" Words were impossible. It was as if she had forgotten her nineteen years of life and speech was a skill she had never learned, a yelp all that she could manage.


    "If you do not say anything¡­" Her whispers became warmer and warmer. "I am going to eat you~"


    That wasn''t a threat, but a promise. Yet with such stakes, Aloe still didn''t manage to utter a word. She was incapable of deciphering what was happening to herself.


    Was it Rani''s charm stance that had seduced her? Was it her body that craved sexual relief? Was it her desire to protect Lulu and so she didn''t back down? Was it her lust, not for sex, but power that craved the promise of learning Nurture? Or was her mind, that was still trapped, not with Rani but with Aaliyah in her stead?


    Perhaps all of the above. Or perhaps none of them.


    Nonetheless, Aloe didn''t voice out a refusal, her body was locked in place.


    ***********


    Serious NSFW part start


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    ***********


    Rani moved slowly, almost as if she was waiting for Aloe to speak up, but still too fast for the scribe to process. The princess started with a soft caress all across the commoner''s body. The ones on the neck tickled Aloe, the ones on her thighs made her legs tremble, and the ones on her chest made her bit her lip in negation.


    Making a sound would be an acceptance and a betrayal.


    The sultanzade stopped for a moment, vaguely separating her body from her scribe of commoners, and dedicated her a smile as she lay a hand on her cheek. One pair of eyes shone amethyst. The other emerald.


    Aloe hadn''t noticed when she had changed her internal infusion to glamour, and she didn''t fully process it. She just felt her body hot.


    Gemstone met gemstone, and the princess seemed enthralled by the sight as she caressed the soft cheek.


    Then she plunged into Aloe''s lips.


    The scribe didn''t slip out of her stupor, she had already imagined this would happen, but nothing would have prepared her for what the princess'' mouth felt like. It was warm and moist, a tongue wrestled against hers as to devour it, yet her focus was on the taste.


    Rani''s mouth tasted like coffee and dates.


    Most likely a remnant of her last meal, but Aloe didn''t despise the taste and unwittingly found herself dancing a waltz between their tongues.


    She closed her eyes for a moment, letting herself focus only on the battle at her mouth. Her arms tried to move, but she stopped them. They moved in lust, and she couldn''t afford to fall that low.


    It was impossible to tell how much time had happened since the start of the kiss, but when Rani separated her lips, both women were panting. The princess'' visage had gained a pink tint, and Aloe guessed she wasn''t that far herself.


    "Ah~" Rani moaned between gasps, the sound sending shivers down Aloe''s spine. "You kissed well. Do you have practice?"


    "I¡­" Words were hard to come by, but something told the scribe that talking was part of the exercise. "That... no. That was my first kiss."


    The emir frowned. "Aaliyah did not steal your lips?" She voiced out her confusion.


    "Uh¡­" Aloe bit her lips. "I-it¡­ it was the first kiss I answered back."


    "I see. I see!" Rani arched her back and the corners of her mouth extended farther than Aloe considered possible. When the princess looked back at her, she had gained an even greater pink tinge, borderline red. "Then you must be a natural kisser."


    Swiftly, she placed her lips back on the commoner''s. Aloe didn''t fight back her advances. Eagerly, Rani put her hand again on the cheek, but with the other, she started undressing the scribe.


    One hand held her face so it could be kissed. The other hand removed the clothes from her body.


    Aloe donned a one-piece dress, so it wasn''t long before she was left in her underwear. Yet in those few seconds, Rani assaulted her with kisses. Not even when they both needed to breathe did she stop, instead moving to the scribe''s neck to give her love until she recovered her breath. The sultanzade moved between the two spots rhythmically, and only when she had to pull the dress out of Aloe''s legs did she move lower.


    And lower she did move.


    Rani shoved her body to the side and rested her shoulder on the bed, but that was only the beginning. The princess'' hands moved lower, pinching the bands of Aloe''s undergarments. But now that she was placed a head lower and she couldn''t reach the scribe''s lips, Rani''s next target was Aloe''s breasts.


    Her left breast was now encapsulated by the emir''s mouth, a tongue sweeping her aureola. Aloe pressed her lips shut from the tickling, but the princess didn''t stop. Next, she closed her lips, and then teeth, on the commoner''s nipple.


    The scribe closed her eyes with all her might, writhing at the mixture of pleasure and pain as the sultanzade twisted her nipple with the tips of her teeth and blamed said pleasure on the combined effect of two charm stances.


    But her eyes didn''t remain closed for long as Rani finally pulled down the undergarments that she had been holding for a while.


    Aloe furiously blushed as she saw her femininity being exposed, but the true source of her embarrassment was beholden to the glassy string connecting her body and the wet cloth.


    The lower Rani pulled the undergarments, the thinner the string became, until it finally snapped, splashing a few drops of warm liquid on the scribe''s leg.


    The princess separated from the commoner''s breast with a satisfying pop. The boob had become slightly inflamed, but Aloe couldn''t feel it. The only thing she felt was warmth and shivers, and the only thing she heard was her own gasps.


    "Someone is ready~" Rani moaned close to her, the words sending even more shivers to the scribe''s lower body. "Hehe~" The princess giggled in satisfaction.


    Finally, Rani removed Aloe''s undergarments from her legs, as if the fickle cloth had ever been an obstacle.


    Aloe had been observing the whole process. She had seen the hand slowly encroaching, but her mind was a mixture of desert scorch and pink haze, so only when the two fingers penetrated her did she acknowledge them.


    "Ah~" Aloe moaned for the first time, though the noise was closer to a howl. Her back arched to impossible degrees, her whole body spasming in pleasure, shame, and rage. "Oh, oh¡­" She panted ¨C nearly coming to tears ¨C as she realized what had just happened.


    Her vision blurred, her world spun, and she felt very dehydrated.


    "Oho~" Rani hummed amusedly. "Did you just come?"


    The princess looked at her and the scribe wordlessly turned her face away as it became more and more red.


    "I have only put the tip of only two fingers." She giggled and moved her hands. "At a simple touch."


    One was kept on the scribe''s breasts. Such was the difference in size between the two that with a single hand Rani could grope one breast and tickle the opposite nipple with her index finger.


    "Uh¡­" A dry yelp escaped Aloe''s lips.


    "You are going to bring me so¡­ much¡­ fun~" What remained was the most dangerous hand, as it didn''t stop delving inside of Aloe.


    The scribe had never felt like this before. When she had to pleasure herself, which wasn''t an activity she could admit performing much, it was rough and inexperienced, even when boosted with the arousal of the Grace''s Exaltation during her many mishaps with the plants. And then with¡­ Aaliyah.


    Her time with the sultanah wasn''t a moment in her life she wanted to recall ever again, but the vague instances that assaulted her mind were tinted pink by the copious amounts of aphrodisiac she had been force-fed and the appalling charm of the woman.


    There had been pleasure, yes, but it was obvious that Aaliyah never purposely had given it to her. The sultanah only sought her own pleasure, and the drops Aloe got, were but a byproduct of the act.


    That¡­ that wasn''t the same with Rani. There was pleasure, true pleasure. The princess truly sought to insufflate pleasure in her, unlike her mother.


    Aloe twisted and turned as Rani brought pleasure to every part of her body. Not a patch of skin was left without love. Moans flew everywhere, their source unrecognizable.


    Kisses were landed everywhere. Her lips. Her neck. Her breasts. Her belly. Her¡­


    The petite woman snapped into consciousness again as she found a bronze beauty between her legs, plunging her rose tongue inside of her. Aloe''s legs spasmed at Rani''s sudden eagerness.


    Whether pestered by the movements and occasional hits or to delve more into debauchery, the princess grabbed the commoner''s legs and raised them until she placed them on her shoulders.


    Where she could devour her to satiation.


    "Ah~ Ah! Uh~" No longer constrained, Aloe moaned without a care in the world, her chest heaving up and down at the same rhythm of the tongue that drilled into her.


    It wasn''t long before the scribe squirted, her ejaculation leaving her body at the same time as her strength. Aloe collapsed on the bed, and Rani looked at her with a glint in her eyes as she licked her wet lips.


    ***********


    Serious NSFW part end


    ***********


    What happened next, Aloe hadn''t expected.


    Rani stood from the bed and started dressing herself. The sight confused the panting scribe.


    "I¡­" Words had been hard to come by before, and they were harder to craft now as Aloe felt the dryness of her mouth.


    "What?" The emir looked at her over the shoulder with an all-knowing snicker. "Did you say something?"


    "A-are we go-going to end here?" Her whole body trembled, nay, her whole being.


    Rani giggled. "Do you have strength for more assaults?"


    "I¡­" Aloe blushed and shook her head to recover her mask. "''Tis not for me, my liege. I have been the only one who has¡­ benefited from this exchange." Not that she wanted to pleasure the woman, but she feared what the sultanzade may do if she left unsatisfied.


    "Fret not," the princess placed a hand on her chest, "this will not be the last time." And instantly gave Aloe reasons to fear. "I have witnessed your greenness on the field, so it will take a few¡­ sessions before you can satisfy me. But be assured, you have satisfied me greatly~"


    As Aloe beheld the shine of the woman''s amethyst eyes, her willpower drained from her body. Why have I accepted this offer? The scribe found no answer in herself, only the incertitude of the future and regret in her fickle heart.

 Book 3: 67. Training

    A few days had passed since Aloe''s ''meeting'' with Rani. Even when the scribe of commoners hadn''t uttered a single word of it ¨C not even to Lulu, who had obviously clued in what had unfolded on the emir''s bedchamber ¨C the palace knew of the events the next day.


    The details the snake-tongues muttered were scamp, but they were juicy enough to be uttered, nonetheless. The plot, of course, talked about how the scribe of commoners had gifted herself to her liege ¨C for lack of better words - instead of how she had sacrificed herself for her maid.


    After some subterfuge, Aloe discovered that most rumors were started by a maid who had seen her with Nesrine and Lulu in the bath, with her body wet not by water but by sex, many hickeys across the body, and an inflamed breast with teeth marks.


    It would have been easy not only to send the maid to the street but also to enforce some sort of punishment for spreading rumors that could affect the emir.


    So easy it would have been, but Aloe decided against it. Word would get out at some point or another as this was, unfortunately, not a one-night fling. And dismissing a maid would only bring the events to the public eye.


    The scribe could only find relief that the emir had yet to call her again to her bedchamber.


    If there had to be rumors, Aloe preferred to be the prostitute than the rapist people could make out of her if she ''admitted'' to reaping.


    Prostitutes were, in her opinion, people needlessly repudiated. If there was a need for a certain service and people actively sought it, then who were they to shun the workers who provided it?


    More than once, Lulu had asked for details, but Aloe shut her down every instance. Surprisingly enough, the people who insisted the most weren''t her personal guard and maid, but her assistant scribes. Fayruz and Idris showed their bewilderment and worry at the snake-tongues whispers in plenty.


    "Are you alright?" The female assistant asked yet again.


    "No matter how many times you ask, my answer will not change, Fayruz." Aloe voiced out impassively. "I will not talk about it."


    "I just want to know if you are fine, Aloe." Such had been the following days, with Fayruz acting like a concerned mother.


    I hope Mirah doesn''t hear of this¡­ What could she do? Aloe was aware that the housewife wasn''t exactly sound of mind with sultanzade-related issues. Oh heavens, if Aya ever hears it¡­ The scribe felt her heart fracture ever-so-slightly.


    "Leave her alone, Fayruz," Idris interjected. "You are only making her remember it."


    Aloe gritted her teeth at the words of the male assistant. Not because the memories pained her, but quite the opposite. The remembrance was warm and pleasant, which made it hate herself even more. There was one positive outcome, though, and that was that the memories were so potent and recent that overshadowed what she had experimented with at the hands of the princess'' mother.


    Much like alcohol, Aloe had, unknowingly, drowned her dark fears. And also, much like the wine, she wasn''t sure if continuing to indulge in it was a good idea.


    She had traded a curse for another.


    "But I must inquire about this, if you allow me." Idris turned to face Aloe, and the scribe nodded at him. "Has the¡­ Her Highness called for you again."


    "No, she has not." Aloe sternly added. "Now, I do not want any further que-"


    The door of the office swung wide open, cutting the scribe''s words with the clatter. At the doorframe, one Naila Asina stood with a pissed expression.


    "Everyone out." She commanded. "Now!"


    Fayruz and Idris didn''t question the young princess'' orders and complied without a fuss. Lulu staggered for a moment, but an attentive gaze of the sultanzade was enough to make her aware that she shouldn''t stay in the office. The maid apologized as she left the room and closed the door behind her.


    "May I ask what this ruckus is about, scribe Naila?" Aloe questioned her with a pleasant smile without raising her voice.


    "Why the fuck must I use my time on you?" The sultanzade sputtered with a thunderous slap on the desk.


    "Excuse me?" The scribe tilted her head in perplexity.


    "Your deal with Rani." She clarified. "She has sent ME to train YOU."


    "I see¡­ and what is the issue?"


    "Why should dealings between you two affect me?" Naila pouted and Aloe was abruptly reminded of the princess'' age.


    "You should voice out your complaints to the emir, not me. I am not the one who has specified your help."


    "No, you have done it." Her amber eyes shone in irritation. "You have requested training in Nurture, and there is no way in heaven that useless woman could ever train you, so obviously the task befalls onto me."


    Rani had been the one who had proposed the training, but Aloe couldn''t say that. Mainly because she could already tell Naila would have none of it.


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    "I apologize that you feel that way, but it is not my right to correct such a decision, but Rani''s."


    The sultanzade was smoldering by now, but instead of combusting, she rolled her eyes and sat on the armchair in front of the desk.


    "Let us get started," Naila said. "The longer we take to begin, the more time we will waste."


    Aloe nodded. "So what will we train, tutor Naila?"


    The muscled princess buffed at the title but presented no verbal complaint.


    "Speed." She taciturnly responded.


    "Uh¡­" The scribe presented her doubts. "I mean not to offend you, but how will I be able to train speed in my current state?"


    "At what point in history has a person stated that one requires legs to train speed?" Naila stated matter-of-factly.


    The commoner didn''t enjoy much her smugness but didn''t contest the claim. The sultanzade took a trio of cups and a wooden ball out of seemingly nowhere. Aloe was wise enough to not inquire about that.


    "This is how you will train." Naila placed the cups on the desk, leaving the ball on top of the middle one.


    "Cups?" Aloe frowned. "I am sure that there are better ways to train speed than¡­ cups."


    "I see." The cultivator dedicated her a dead stare. "You are too good for cups, I see. I get it."


    Then she took out a knife and stabbed the desk with it. Aloe jumped on her seat at the impact, intimidated by the edged weapon. Before the scribe could utter a word, Naila grabbed the knife and extended her palm on the desk. What the sultanzade did next drained the blood out of the petite woman.


    With outstanding viciousness, Naila started stabbing her hand in quick succession. A closer inspection showed her that the princess was actually stabbing the gaps between her fingers, shifting between them without even looking. Naila just stabbed and stabbed as she locked her eyes with Aloe''s.


    The scribe of commoners recognized the game as one that soldiers and drunkards played, one that more than not ended with lost digits. Yet such a game could truly be considered just that, a game, in contrast to the movements of the sultanzade.


    Her knife-wielding hand moved so fast that it became a blur, clearly boasting the speed stance. But in that maelstrom of danger and angst, no cuts reached Naila''s fingers.


    In fact, the one who seemed to be suffering the most was Aloe at the sight. She almost wanted to puke from her dismay.


    "What is your opinion on the cups?" Naila said with a flat tone, her voice mostly drowned by the furious stabbings that didn''t cease.


    "Cups? I love cups!" Aloe raised her hands defensively. "There is nothing that I hate about them! Please bring them to me! Please." She added at the end.


    The sultanzade''s intimidation was more than successful, for Aloe knew that if she tried that game, the danger wasn''t another person, but herself. And trust in herself was something that she very much lacked.


    "Let us begin then." Without hesitation, the princess slapped the desk and stacked the cups together. The gesture was lighting fast, in a single blink, the line of cups had become a tower. "In which one is the ball?"


    "Uhhh, I do not believe the game is played like that." The commoner pointed at the tower.


    "In which cup is the ball at?" Nonplussed, Naila reiterated.


    "Middle one?" Aloe replied with not a spec of certainty in her voice.


    "Wrong." The sultanzade gutturally and powerfully answered. For a moment the scribe expected the girl to hit her or something, but she only removed her hands from the tower. "It has never been inside." And revealed the ball in her hands.


    That''s very much how the game isn''t played. Aloe didn''t voice out her retort this time.


    "May I plead on how this is supposed to activity to help me train the speed stance?" Confusion and cheap tricks were the name of the game, and the scribe was tired of calling out names.


    "As I have said before, no one said legs are needed to train speed." With a swoop of hands, Naila collapsed the tower and left the cups once more assembled in a line. "And to expand on that further, what we are training here is not the stances ¨C not many stances can be trained, to begin with ¨C but your body."


    "So with this exercise¡­ I am supposed to grow used to the cadence of the speed stance?"


    "Yes." Aloe was actually jesting and hadn''t expected such a taciturn affirmation from the girl. "The only challenge with the speed stance is that once the cultivator has too much vitality, it becomes virtually impossible to move without eating sand. You need to acclimatize your body to such speeds, and of course, the earlier you begin, the less sand-eating you will do. It does not need mention that if you forgo constant training in the speed stance, it will become a useless one as it will kill you faster than you can blink."


    "I¡­ can imagine that." Even with a vitality deposit twice as big as an adult, Aloe had eaten a lot of sand on the oasis. She feared what would happen now that her vitality was twice of that.


    "Fifty percent of that training is making your body survive that speed if you ever trip. The other fifty percent is making your mind process such speeds."


    The previously moronic exercise now seemed genius in comparison. Not only there was quick wit involved in shuffling cups, but a sleight of hand that became more and more complex the higher one''s vitality was.


    "So what am I to do?" Aloe inquired.


    "We are going to shuffle cups in turns," Naila explained. "During mine, you will need to concentrate and guess the correct cup. During yours, you will need to shuffle the cups as fast as possible without tumbling a cup or losing the ball."


    "That is all?" Even then, the scribe had expected more nuisance.


    "You think it will be easy?" The buff girl pushed the cups onto her alongside the ball. "Please, be my guest and shuffle these cups with speed on."


    Aloe hesitated to pick up the cups with the smugness that the princess was displaying, but they were nothing more than normal wood cups. Ball too.


    "One moment, please." The scribe apologized. "I have not trained much in my speed stance, so it takes me a few minutes to get it active."


    Naila chuckled at the admission, more than amused at the fact that she needed so much time to don a stance. Or so was what her expression betrayed.


    The commoner didn''t let herself be affected by the princess'' antics and with a heavy inspiration, she started shifting her flow of vitality to activate her haste internal infusion.


    They spent the next minutes in silence.


    The moment Aloe was done, her hands trembled with giddiness. Her body suddenly infused with artificially hyperactivity.


    She wouldn''t let herself be played by the technically-still-sixteen-year-old girl and placed her hands on her cups. The scribe started slow, shuffling cups next to one another. Easy. Not the first time I''ve done it. She decided to pick up the speed and shuffle like those con artists that sat on the bazaar that promised to double your coin if you guessed the right cup.


    Three shuffles later, as her hands became a blur to herself, a piece of wood was shot from her desk at the speed of an arrow.


    "Oops?" Aloe mumbled with petrified hands in place as the launched cup still clattered on the ground.


    "Now you know why the cups are made out of wood." If Naila was amused by the scribe''s blunder, she didn''t show it off.


    What followed were two grueling hours of cup shuffling. Aloe''s arms became puddles of ooze by the end, wet noodles that were incapable of shuffling anymore. Only half of the time did she manage to guess Naila''s cups ¨C which was only slightly better than the one in three from guessing randomly ¨C but the sultanzade hadn''t failed once in her predictions.


    Whether it was out of her passion for growing stronger, or just the spite of losing this badly to the little sultanzade, Aloe started shuffling cups every day since then.

 Book 3: 68. Eve

    Nurture practice wasn''t limited to the speed stance. During the following days, Naila probed Aloe with the rest of the stances. Some were more successful, others not so much.


    Starting with defense, there were some archaic ways to boost the defenses of one''s body, but Naila herself considered them too barbaric and obfuscated that she only mentioned the theory whilst practicing more cup shuffling.


    Amongst the diverse methods, they included: intaking low doses of poison, puncturing oneself with needles, walking in lit coal, and bloodletting.


    In her own words, "I mean, you probably will make your body more resilient. But also more numb. And a numb body is an irresponsive and useless one."


    Next was strength. Perhaps the simplest of all stances to train as anyone with a halfwit could tell you how to do it. The sultanzade provided her iron dumbbells and curious contraptions to train her grip strength as it wouldn''t make any sense to train her torso or legs in her state. Naila also rejoiced at the fact that she didn''t need to be present for such basic exercises, removing one stance from her imposed ''punishment''.


    The sense stance was a curious one. Because the stance augmented every sense, it meant that they could practice both speed and sense at the same time with cup shuffling, but that only affected two senses: hearing and sight.


    Ever-so-stoic, Naila considered taste a sense that needed no training. The same could be said for touch, but she offered the theory of some exercises consisting of writing crude words on the skin and having her guess them. The utility was¡­ dubious at best, but she understood why they could help her sense of touch.


    The way they trained smell was by placing a heavy incense in the office that dulled most odors and having her guess different items by sniffing them alone.


    Other, more obscure senses didn''t have as straightforward training methods. Naila told her that they had an agility course back in Asina that worked for equilibrium training, but with Aloe''s legs, there was no shot at recreating that. Proprioception was another sense that she could only train herself and the sultanzade gave her no guidelines.


    As for charm¡­


    "I will not train you with that," Naila explained one day, cups already in hand. "Not only it is one of the stances that you cannot really train ¨C much like defense ¨C but also because my sister has specially stated that she will oversee your training with the charm stance."


    Those words brought no relief to Aloe.


    They skipped the regeneration stance as apparently there was no all-purpose known method to train it, and it was already one of the least used stances amongst the sultanzade. Using vitality constantly, alongside depriving oneself of air by living in high places, boosted those particular aspects of the stance, but the others remained unaffected.


    Much like its counterpart, stealth was a curious one to train.


    Instead of having practical training, which would have been complicated by the sheer fact of being bound to a wheelchair, Naila gave Aloe guidelines on how to be stealthy. Not just how to walk without making noise ¨C once she actually could do so ¨C or suppressing her breath, but also make herself inconspicuous by adopting the same walking speed and posture as those around her and also have better control of her heartbeat.


    As she was taught how to be stealthy, Aloe felt like she was an assassin.


    Minus the drugs part.


    She cultivated them, not consumed them.


    Agility they skipped.


    "One, agility is useless without unsurmountable practice," She had said. "And two, you are going to kill yourself if you practice it wounded." Apparently, the youngest sultanzade she knew, was the most mindful and had a head placed between her shoulders unlike someone else.


    Finally, the flowing stance.


    "This one I cannot teach you. I am simply not qualified to do so." Naila admitted with her head standing up high. "Besides, its many ramifications are too diverse to make something useful out of it. You mentioned you already knew it, so practice for yourself, I cannot give you any pointers that you do not already know."


    And that was all for the nine stances of the Nurture vital arts. Three that she had no way of training, one that would kill her if she did so, another that Rani herself would guide her, thus leaving her with four to practice.


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    Strength by building muscle.


    Speed by acclimating her mind and body to the speeds, but could be simplified to cup shuffling.


    Sense by individually practicing each of her senses.


    Stealth by¡­ well, that was another that she couldn''t really practice. She had the theory and the advice of an experienced cultivator at her disposal, but the best she could manage was making herself a background character in the audiences.


    Still, training strength and speed were invaluable. Even a measle increase of muscle mass in her arms would be more than triplicate once she donned the stance.


    Day by day, Aloe grew stronger. But day by day, she grew wearier of what was waiting for her with Rani''s training. Now she knew how to train every Nurture stance, but the emir had yet to claim again on their deal.


    Not even during audiences would Rani acknowledge her existence beyond when her assistance as the scribe of commoners was required. Whatever the emir was planning, it scared the commoner. Mostly because she had agreed to the treatment that may ensue.


    Aloe trained even when Naila wasn''t present thanks to the guidelines. During the day and the time in the office, she would lift dumbbells. They started light, the first ones had been only one kilogram and they tired her to death, but that only was because Naila recommended training without the strength stance to build muscle.


    "There are two aspects to stance training," she had told, "bodybuilding and stance mastery. With the dumbbells, you are increasing your base strength, and with something heavier like weight bars and dead press you can train and control your strength whilst in the stance."


    But such exhausting activities like dead press they hadn''t practiced, so she was limited to only building muscle in her arms with light dumbbells. Though they weren''t as light now as she was now with three-kilo ones, or that was what Aloe thought until Nesrine showed her a ten-kilo one that all guards train with without batting an eye.


    She decided to be optimistic and decide that she was doing well as she could ''lift a third of what trained soldiers could'' even if that was far from reality.


    And by night, the scribe still pushed her ailing body to walk. Even if it didn''t hurt her, which it did, even a handful of steps was enough to tire her. She was well aware that it would take at least another couple of months at this pace before she could make a complete recovery. Or so she liked to hope.


    Time went by and soon the eve of the new year approached. There wasn''t much for celebrations as the only birthday that was usually celebrated was that of the coming of age, but Aloe was proved to have a ''peasant mindset'' as the servants of the palace rushed for the preparations of the princess'' birthdays.


    This fact was only more comedic because Aloe recalled her mother mentioning the palace''s New Year''s celebration multiple times.


    Age counting for nobles and imperials was weird because by law they only became older with the passing of a new year, but they also had enough money to celebrate their birthdays on their respective birth days.


    To add even more princesses to her life, Fatima also sent her a letter demanding more aphrodisiacs to be sent to Asina.


    Taking advantage of the fact that she had to leave the palace to drain the Grace''s Exaltation on her house of its sap, Aloe also paid a visit to Mirah. She had originally intended to stay for a while, but her aunt being ever-so-welcoming, made her stay until the rest of the family arrived, and even then, for dinner too.


    "Why''s not the pig-skin lady here?" Aya innocently asked over dinner at the lack of presence of Lulu.


    "Aya!" Mirah shouted. "You can''t say those things!"


    "Why?" The little girl expressed her confusion.


    "It is a bad word," Her mother explained.


    Aya didn''t protest any further, knowing better than to complain to her mom. Aloe had personally forgotten about the racist word as it wasn''t commonly spoken and she currently had a better opinion of other countries and cultures than her own, which also raised the question of where the girl had heard it.


    Jafar just laughed over the whole ordeal.


    "So," the captain guard started, "the palace must be quite agitated with the coming celebrations."


    "Too much for my liking." Aloe sincerely responded. "There are entertainers coming up and down the whole day, and I almost can''t think from the noise."


    "You were always drawn to silence, little plant." Jafar took a sip from her cup of beer.


    "Tell me, Uncle Jafar, aren''t you going to celebrate Aya''s tenth birthday?"


    "Money doesn''t fall from the sky." The man explained. "This household survives on my paycheck alone, and I may be captain, but I''m also paying for a house and three people."


    Whilst it seemed drunkard rating ¨C which it was ¨C it was true that most commoner houses held ten people on average, if not more. Aloe''s own family was well off because both adults put the bread on the table and plenty at that.


    "So you are saying that if you had more spare money, you could put something on?"


    "You aren''t suggesting what I think you are saying, right?" Jafar frowned.


    The scribe pushed a few big silver coins toward the man. He instantly pushed them away; no words were needed to see his wounded pride.


    "Uncle," Aloe pleaded, "I gain more money than I can spend. My house is paid, I don''t buy my food, and pay for no toiletries. My expenses are virtually zero when subtracted from my income, so please, let me help you. All of this money is useless to me."


    She was honest with her desire. If she were ever to escape from Ydaz, she wouldn''t be able to bring all her coin with her. Better for her loved ones to have it then.


    Jafar still scowled but grabbed two silver coins between his fingers. A total of one hundred drupnars. "This is only going to my little star''s birthday and nothing else, got it?"


    "Of course," Still, Aloe beamed at the gesture.


    Gotta give the money to Mirah next time then. Whilst she couldn''t personally understand it, she knew of the pride of the breadwinners. If she wanted their household to live a more comfortable life, the scribe would have to infiltrate the influx of money through the housewife.


    It would probably make Jafar mad once he found out, but Aloe knew the man, and he would kill himself before hitting her lovely wife in a drunk rage.


    Overall, it had been a short visit. Nesrine could testify to that. But these were the little moments that kept Aloe from crumbling.

 Book 3: 69. Gift

    The palace of Sadina became quite a different place for the eve of the new year. Not only was the day''s audience canceled ¨C which Aloe thanked immensely ¨C but every inhabitant of the palace was prohibited from working and instead was to attend the princesses'' party.


    This, of course, didn''t include the servants.


    But ever-so-careful with the public image, Rani decreed that whilst not actively working, the servants of the palace could enjoy the many services provided. Food and entertainment among many others.


    Aloe had never been a party person, and the wheelchair certainly didn''t help, so she just took this opportunity to practice her stealth. Thanks to her short stature and unappealing looks, she had always been easy being no more than background noise.


    For the first time in a while, if not ever, the scribe was able to see Lulu work in the palace, beyond assisting her.


    Talking about someone fulfilling their duty, thanks to the influx of people and the sheer crowds that gathered at the palace today, all guards were on duty. Even city guards.


    Not only did Aloe see Nesrine patrolling the palace, but also Jafar.


    It made sense that they increased the security of the perimeters as many nobles that were usually splintered across the city and emirate now gathered in a single spot, on top of members of the imperial family, but the overwhelming number of armed soldiers brought more insecurity to Aloe than otherwise.


    But if the assassins were to strike, it would likely be on a day like this one.


    Not that the scribe of commoners thought that assassins were to assault the palace like they had done many years ago as they remained silent as of late, no inconspicuous activity had been alerted, but the possibility still existed.


    Aloe concentrated on being herself as inconspicuous as possible. As possible as it was whilst being the only person in the palace in a wheelchair.


    It wasn''t only the guards that made her fidgety, but also the nobles. It didn''t matter that she held one of the highest positions in the city and she technically had a knighthood, she was still a commoner.


    Fortunately for her, if a noble wanted a favor, they would first go to either the scribe of nobles or of commerce. One was a fellow and the other one accepted bribery. It wasn''t that the others were incorruptible, but trying to bribe the princess of the very country you served, or a diehard seeker of knowledge was a fool''s errand.


    Of course, Aloe didn''t even factor in their calculations most of the time.


    It was no surprise that most nobles looked at her over the shoulder ¨C everyone already did ¨C but there was a disdain born from superiority that would destroy the nobles'' ego if they ever tried to seek the help of a commoner. They already hated drawing the line at bourgeois, after all.


    I guess it wouldn''t be hard to become a bourgeois myself¡­ Aloe sighed over a glass of wine. The sounds of the flutes and tambourines did nothing to soothe her head. I''m richer in liquid assets than most thanks to my gold and silver, but no one would bat an eye unless I managed a business or two, and honestly, I don''t have the mind for that.


    As ostentatious as the day was, nothing much happened beyond the diverse music, plentiful food, and many fleeting faces. One memory that did strike Aloe was how Naila Asina had danced. It was rare to see the stoic girl unleashed, and even more so drunk, but at the end of the day, it was her birthday.


    Not many recognized that her dance was, in fact, a set of complex kata. The dead giveaway was that she performed the dance with her tulwars at hand, but her skimp clothing and the graceful movements reminded too much of belly dancing and soon people gathered around the seemingly expert young imperial dancer.


    The scribe of commoners ached for the day to be over as soon as possible, she never fared well around drums, and whilst they might not be drums of war, the reverberations affect both her stomach and humor deeply.


    Even when this celebration was that of two princesses and the new year''s coming, Rani-al-Sadina stole the eyes of every onlooker. Quite literally, she was born in the purple.


    And she showed it.


    The emir of Sadina portrayed purple silks more expensive than warships, golden chains heavier in coin than the coffers of entire merchant companies, and enough make-up to run a troupe of actors.


    Most people would have looked silly with such clutter of paraphernalia, basically, the person being worn by the trinkets. Few would manage to wear the expensive attire as her.


    Aloe would have blamed the success of the make-up on the sultanzade''s charm stance if it wasn''t because the needless white dust on her body came out more traditional than anything else. Sulnaya priestesses wore white for the heavens were once such color ¨C or so said the dull sermons ¨C but it wasn''t uncommon to interpret it as milky-white skin instead of white robes.


    The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    Commoners or nobles, everyone placed her eyes on the radiance of the emir. Aloe, on the other hand, preferred to avoid it. The scribe followed Fatima''s advice and shifted to the stealth stance to be less affected by the purple woman''s charm.


    This reminds me that I have yet to think of my own name for the rest of the stances. She downed the rest of her glass and stole another one from the tray of a distracted passing servant. It''s normally difficult to come up with one, but I have the perfect infusion name for stealth: subterfuge. Simply perfect. Elegant and straight to the point. Though I''ll admit camouflage is more correct.


    She was well aware that the alcohol was slowly getting on her head.


    That much was shown when the emir had disappeared from the party, her thoughts too beholden to the bottom of the glass to notice. Considering that there was no longer anyone forcing her to stay at the dull party, Aloe disposed herself to make her way inside the palace, the roaring torches illuminating the dark outside becoming too blinding for her.


    Or that had been the idea until a maid stopped her.


    "The Emir wishes your presence in her bedchamber." The maid announced softly.


    N-now? The revelation cut through Aloe''s broken stupor. Why now after so many days? Aloe wanted to cry, her thoughts and heart weighing down on her so much that she hadn''t noticed that the maid was no longer beside her.


    "Ah¡­" The scribe of commoners sighed in defeat. "Better to not make her wait¡­"


    The corridors of the palace were poorly lit and silent, all the life and the intervention of the servants drawn by the party. Someone could tell her that it was midnight and she would have believed them, though the truth was she no longer knew which day was it.


    Slowly, heavily, Aloe knocked on the emir''s door. "It is I, Aloe." The wheelchair-bound drunk woman announced.


    "Make your way in," Rani commanded.


    Aloe was not surprised to find the princess sitting in her bed donning expensive apparel. Whether it was the alcohol or the exuberant clothing, Rani looked more beautiful than ever.


    "May I ask the reason behind your summon?" The scribe diplomatically inquired.


    "Why ask a question that you already know the answer to?" The infuriatingly gorgeous woman turned a question back with another.


    "My apologies." Aloe shallowly bowed. Of course that she knew why she was here.


    "Get on the bed," Rani stated cuttingly.


    The commoner followed the princess'' order but was presented with the challenge of an unmoving woman at the edge of the bed, making her awkwardly flop onto the soft mattress until she pulled her body up without the assistance of her legs.


    "You know it is my birthday, right?" Rani said as she looked over her shoulder.


    So it''s everyone''s. The scribe kept the retort to herself and simply nodded.


    "Many people have showered me in gifts today, nobles and commoners alike," The emir explained as she slithered across the bed with sensual highlights of her bottom and legs along the way. "But I have yet to receive a gift of your own."


    "I¡­" Aloe''s mind was already sluggish thanks to the alcohol, and the fact that Rani''s naked foot played with her dress didn''t help her gather her thoughts. "W-what would you like for a gift, Rani?"


    The corners of the princess'' mouth turned upward in overflowing joy. That had apparently been the right question.


    "You," Or perhaps the wrong one.


    "I-I¡­" The commoner didn''t know how the woman did it, but she found herself blushing as if she was a clueless maiden. "I do not comprehend how this is supposed to work, my liege."


    Rani''s smile intensified and she extended her leg up in the air. Even if Aloe had never seen the emir work out, the woman''s thighs and calves were toned with perfect curves and deprived of any hairs. They were, quite literally, perfect legs.


    The foot, characterized by the shining, purple-coated fingernails, descended upon Aloe and placed itself on the collar of her dress.


    Then Rani pulled.


    There was no way for the scribe to resist the sultanzade''s clutches. Not only was Rani sober, but she had the vitality and size advantage. Suddenly she was lying on the bed, with the princess'' leg caressing her cheek. Aloe had an uninterrupted line of sight with Rani''s head, which comfortably rested on a mound of soft pillows.


    "Is it not clear?" Her lips opened to reveal glistering pearls. "I want you to please me."


    The message was clear even across the fog of alcohol. This wasn''t like the previous time, she wasn''t here to be toyed with by Rani but to please her.


    Like a prostitute.


    Ironically enough, she preferred that. It was easier for her mind to mentalize it, that she was paying a price and selling her body, than being a toy for the woman''s desires.


    "Undress me." Rani''s words were barely a whisper, but they reached Aloe''s ears easily.


    Awkwardly ¨C as she didn''t have great control of her legs ¨C but consistently, Aloe began to remove the scarce pieces of clothing from the princess until she remained totally naked on the bed. Parts of the make-up had washed away on the spots the commoner had touched the princess'' skin.


    The sultanzade heaved and panted, but as Aloe had yet to do anything at all, she could only guess this was an act to get a reaction out of her.


    But another reality presented itself as she lay in bed next to Rani as she peered into her lustful eyes. How am I to please her? Even if she had been bedded twice by two of the pillars of the degeneracy of Ydaz, Aloe had no knowledge of arousal and pleasure. Even if both of them were women, the scribe had little idea how to please herself as it was only until recently that her body had craved any attention. And even then, it was mostly the aphrodisiac''s fault.


    The only decision at her disposal, then, was to change her flow into glamour.


    But her mastery of that specific internal infusion was pathetic, and it would take long to enter into play when Rani interjected with a "Please me~"


    At first, Aloe was awkward with her touches. She only vaguely knew of the erogenous zones, mostly recalling what had been done to her. The scribe herself was well aware of that, yet the sultanzade reacted with moans, nonetheless, making her redder than she already was bound to be.


    Then charm kicked in.


    Perhaps it was the alcohol talking, but her body became a master of arousal, wielding it and distributing it. Aloe panted as her lips and hands reached everywhere, air always in short supplies. The white make-up slowly disappeared from Rani''s bronze skin and instead impregnated Aloe''s dark skin. The heat increased and increased, lust overwhelming her as she worshipped the emir''s body. Until Rani''s became a beacon of immaculate lust.


    From that instant forward, Aloe recalled not one moment of the night.

 Book 3: 70. Bedding

    Sunlight awoke the scribe of commoners. She was not mentalized to wake up whilst tangled between silk mantles and bronze extremities. Rani''s uncovered chest softly heaved up and down still trapped in a deep sleep. Only now the memories and weight of her actions last night did flow into her.


    "Oh¡­" Aloe sighed; her face pallid in shame. "I cannot believe I¡­" She didn''t allow herself to finish that sentence.


    It didn''t matter what compelled her to do what she did, what mattered was that she did it and let herself be pushed around by lust. The only disappointment and rage in her body were solely directed at herself.


    She waited on the bed, laying still as the naked princess shifted from time to time, her extremities locked by her tranced thoughts.


    It didn''t take long for an entourage of maids to make their presence into the room. They knocked on the door, but as no one responded, they took the silence as an invitation.


    One of the maids gasped as she entered, her gaze locked on the scribe of commoners, but the rest went on their duties without so much of a reaction. It made sense as she looked older than the rest of the servants ¨C which wasn''t saying much as the oldest couldn''t have more than twenty-five years ¨C and wasn''t likely to have been assaulted by the emir yet.


    It spoke great length of the wealth of Sadina when Rani had maids dedicated to very small and niche activities like carrying food, opening curtains, and taking clothes out of the wardrobe. One of the girls was already waiting with a comb in hand to groom the sleeping beauty.


    Of course, none dared to pester the princess until she woke up. It wasn''t like they would let her sleep until she pleased, but it was clear that they were forbidden from waking her until a certain hour struck.


    Thanks to the enhanced senses of her acuity ¨C which Aloe had donned well before the maids arrived ¨C the scribe noticed the bells tolling all across Sadina. Even with her acute hearing, they were nothing more than faint whispers in the emir''s chamber.


    Then, as the naked beauty shifted next to her, Aloe was overcome by a remembrance-induced panic.


    My vitality! Her eyes flared wide open, drowsiness fleeing her body. Hastily and clumsily, Aloe reached for her clothes that had somehow fallen from her body and onto the ground during the night. Inside a small pocket in the dress, nearly invisible and undetectable, she reached for a black seed with her fingertips and instantly evolved two of them.


    The sudden massive loss of vitality made her head spin, but the scribe had enough maximum vitality to not puke nor collapse by the loss of two adult-worth deposits of vitality.


    Aloe pulled her back up to the bed with her dress clutched tightly on her dress. Oh heavens, that was close. A little more and she would have discovered my maximum vitality. The commoner panted heavily, and her eyes laid on the waking princess.


    Rani peered at her with an amused expression, completely unaffected by any sleepiness.


    "Is there an issue?" Aloe questioned, internally wondering if she had somehow been too slow and the sultanzade had noticed her abnormally big vitality deposit.


    "No, none at all," Rani added with a smile. "I am just enjoying your bare and embarrassed self."


    Upon hearing those words, the scribe became conscious of her nakedness. Not only she was displaying it to the emir, but also to the many maids observing them.


    Aloe blushed brighter than the Blossomflame''s flames.


    The emir was more than pleased at the scribe''s reaction, the woman put a hand before her lips and giggled, showing some decorum even if was floundering her breasts around for everyone to see.


    "Girls," Rani clapped her hands once she was done with her amusement, "assist my scribe today too. Her mobility is lacking, and she will need someone to dress her."


    Even if Lulu did dress her every day, Aloe didn''t need any help at all to put on clothes. Still, she didn''t refuse the help. It was embarrassing being naked, and everyone in the room had already seen her, so the best she could do was end her nudity as soon as possible.


    This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    The efficiency of the maids was to be admired as they moved with such optimal movements that could only be born of ceaseless reiteration. They brought buckets full of warm and perfumed water and started wiping both women with soaked towels.


    Aloe hadn''t noticed that she needed to be clean until now, but once the film of sweat in her body was eradicated, she felt rejuvenated.


    The toiletries took enough time for more trays to pour into the room bustling with food, more than enough for the scribe too. Aloe refrained herself from talking during the whole service as neither Rani did. Silence was a beautiful thing.


    Not long after, both the emir and the scribe found themselves going to the throne room for today''s audience, most maids stayed behind to clean the governor''s room whilst she was absent.


    The audience followed as usual, and not once did Rani comment on what had happened yesternight. Neither did any of the scribes, for that matter.


    It pestered Aloe a bit that no one acknowledged it, but that was her being a hypocrite, for if someone did it, she would either fervently deny it or maintain starch silence on the subject.


    Not even when she went back to her office did anyone confront her on the last night, which led Aloe to believe she had hallucinated everything until she pressed Lulu to speak.


    "Ehm¡­ well¡­ I thought you wouldn''t have liked to talk about it." The fair-skinned girl shyly said.


    "I see¡­" It was no lie that she didn''t want to talk about it, but she wanted someone to acknowledge it at least, even if it was a pained gaze. Acting like everything was as normal when it wasn''t only pained Aloe more.


    Considering it was a common consensus everyone had wordlessly reached, the scribe decided against acknowledging the act herself. The less she thought about Rani''s tender and beautiful body, the better.


    Days passed by with the typical monotony after that. Food supplies slowly dwindled, assassins kept being silent, and tensions slowly rose. It was slow, but everyone could see that it was happening.


    The next week after New Year''s Eve, Rani called for Aloe in her bedchamber again. Powerless to refuse, the scribe accepted the summon.


    Unlike previous affairs, Aloe was forced to interact with Rani. Not only did the scribe have to please her per their accord, but the sultanzade found much enjoyment in also pleasing her.


    Previously there could have been an excuse that their interactions couldn''t be considered sex as they were unilateral, but since that day, that was no longer the case. As Aloe was ordered to please her in bed, Rani answered in kind to her caresses.


    Aloe wasn''t blind to the princess'' actions; that much became clear the next time she was summoned. What they had¡­ wasn''t simple casual sex, but something far more competitive. Much like the emir had offered, she had trained the scribe in charm, though her methods were¡­ peculiar to say the least.


    Instead of explaining the theory and instructing guidelines like Naila, Rani took a more physical approach. During each act, both women wielded charm, and with subtle movements ¨C whether sensual or strictly sexual in nature ¨C Rani corrected Aloe''s.


    She was being, quite literally, taught through sex.


    Aloe abstracted her mind during such lessons, preferring to erase all the pleasure from her mind and just focus on the instruction.


    For she knew that if she faltered even once, she might lose herself in the bottomless pit that was Rani-al-Sadina.


    The scribe had to think of it as an extension of her classes with Naila because otherwise, her heart wouldn''t be able to take it. She kept telling herself that. She was doing it for Lulu and the instruction in Nurture, nothing else, and nothing more. Nothing else, and nothing more.


    A couple of days after the last ''lesson'', Rani departed from Sadina and went to the capital under the pretense of securing more Blood of the Sultanah to calm the rising tensions. Morals and beliefs didn''t matter to people with an empty stomach, so making more fertile lands on the emirate would certainly improve morale.


    Now that Aloe was aware of the imperial''s Nurture, it was clear how the sultanzade managed to travel this fast between cities when traveling alone. She had heard from her mother how the previous emir, Hassan, traveled from Asina and Sadina on almost a monthly basis and never took more than a few days. The former scribe of commoners also liked to joke that the former emir was that hasty because he feared his sister would take his place.


    Her mother had been right on the nail.


    Rani only took three days, departure included, to come back to Sadina. Considering the woman''s vitality, it wasn''t strange as she could likely make the three-day mounted journey in half a day on foot.


    The instant the emir came back, her body still covered in sand, she summoned her scribe of commoners straight out of an afternoon audience and took her.


    Whatever conversation she had had with the sultanah, it hadn''t pleased her, and it showed in the way it domineered Aloe. What scared the petite scribe wasn''t how badly she was treated, but how little she cared.


    Slowly but surely, with each passing bedding, Aloe was less against it.


    And that terrified her.


    A few days later, her dread only increased when she received a letter with the imperial seal. This soon already? It always made her heart skip a beat when Lulu brought her one of Fatima''s letters, but this occasion was even worse, and not because of Rani''s beddings. It had only been two weeks since the sultanzade had sent her last letter demanding more aphrodisiacs when it normally would take a month if not more.


    The first line of the letter ¨C salutation notwithstanding ¨C drained the color out of her. It read:


    I have yet to receive your package.

 Book 3: 71. Light

    Sunlight scorched the sands. Their bodies too.


    Malik awaited underneath the sands like his comrades, as ill-advised as it was. Not only did the heat boil one¡¯s body, but heavens knew what awaited beneath the dunes. Their only saving grace was that it wasn¡¯t night.


    Is this the place? Zayyan questioned him in his mind.


    Yes. Malik responded him. This is the route the courier will take, there are no others.


    I am aware of that, but¡­


    It is not your job to doubt. The man transmitted his thoughts to the other.


    We are chasing something that we don¡¯t even know what it is, you can allow me to have some doubts, right? Zayyan countered.


    No. A female voice ¨C if their thoughts could be considered that ¨C interjected. Shut the fuck up already.


    The loose-tongued woman was Dareen. And her mood was perhaps the worst of the group. But no one could criticize her results.


    The courier will be moving fast, they will rush by in dweller, we cannot afford to distract ourselves or we will lose them. Dareen added over their shared thoughts. And I¡¯m running out of tobacco. I¡¯ll need to get a smoke if I am to communicate with you any longer.


    Malik sighed, or more exactly, mentally sighed and conveyed that emotion to the other assassins. Get far away behind the dunes. Tobacco smoke is too visible.


    It was problematic that the drug that allowed them to talk without making noise was also one of the most visible ones to consume. Though at the same time, it was one of the more normalized ones. No one in the city would raise an eyebrow to someone puffing some tobacco, but the problem was that they were in the middle of the desert right now. And on a stealth mission at that.


    Thanks to his heavy use of peyote, Malik could sense the tremors on the sand where Dareen was trudging as she slowly moved away from them. Not many assassins consumed the cactus as other drugs also boosted one¡¯s senses, but peyote worked the best for him.


    That was how Enlightening was, most substances gave some properties, but one had to find what was the plant that affected oneself the best and in what doses. Snake-tongues tell how the late Grandmaster Umar smoked a whole opium field in a bet and lived to tell the tale. Though stories of the man became more and more blurred as his legend grew.


    I still can¡¯t believe the old turd survive a whole minute after his death. Zayyan commented.


    Wait. Malik realized. Fuck, did I leave my thoughts open again?


    Yeah, shitface. Dareen interjected again. Pay attention to the road, will you?


    Attention span was one major problem of the assassins. Being as deep in kush as they were severely affected their capabilities to focus on a single given task. That was why they had three of them placed to capture one lone courier.


    Can I get a reminder of what we are looking for? Zayyan asked a few minutes later.


    Before answering, Malik waited for a moment. As Dareen didn¡¯t instantly go to their throats, he was sure she was on her smoke break now.


    There has been a courier going up down these lasts months across Sadina and Asina. The assassin explained. The correspondence comes from Aloe Ayad, one girl that has provided us before with some cannabis and¡­


    Wait, Ayad? Zayyan cut him off. Ayad as in Karaim Ayad? Umar¡¯s provider?


    Yeah, she¡¯s the granddaughter. Malik thought.


    Then why are even trying to steal the package? Can¡¯t we just ask her like we did with Karaim?


    The girl isn¡¯t on the business, and the plant master left it quite clear on his will that he wanted us to avoid stablishing communications with his granddaughter.


    Oh, come on! Zayyan protested. You¡¯ve said she has sold us cannabis! It would be as easy as to ask her about the package.


    No. Malik transmitted cuttingly. That girl is the scribe of commoners of Sadina, and also very close with many sultanzade, we cannot be sure of her ¡®goodwill¡¯. Besides, we don¡¯t even know if the things in the package are strictly drugs, that¡¯s why we are here after all.


    So reconnaissance? The assassin groaned.


    Nah, that courier is already dead and they don¡¯t know it. A little bit of disguised banditry. Whatever is inside, it¡¯s ours. Along with the dweller too. We only suspect it may be drugs because the addressee is Fatima Asina, one of the martial sultanzade, and she seems to have changed her behavior as of late.


    You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    Ah yes, nothin¡¯ better than a line of the good stuff to change one¡¯s mind, eh?


    Before Malik could refute that, they got intercepted again.


    I¡¯m back, stop talking bullshit. Dareen said.


    Love you too, woman. Zayyan sent a kiss over their connection.


    The two assassins continued bickering in their collective thoughts, but their howls faded to the background of Malik¡¯s mind as his skin felt movement in the sands, small tremors that got his senses active.


    It¡¯s here. He relayed his thoughts and the two other assassins suddenly became as silent as tombs.


    The sound of the shifting sands soon became audible, no need for tremor sense anymore. From their position of the dunes, the only one who currently had vision of the courier was Zayyan.


    Sights on the dweller¡¯s dust cloud. The male assassin confirmed.


    Ready to attack. The female assassin added.


    Not yet. Malik countered her. We need them closer in case you fail. Dareen didn¡¯t protest at the doubt of her abilities, redundancy was professional after all. I¡¯ll keep watch. Zayyan, you ready your knives.


    Gotcha. Zayyan taciturnly complied.


    The dweller was rapidly closing on their ambush site, less than a kilometer away from them now.


    Wait. Malik remained. Not yet. His fingers trembled with the increasing movement of the sands. Not yet. The dweller was getting close. Just about a hundred meters more for the prime spot. Now! GO GO GO!


    Dareen was fast with her teleportation, vanishing from her scout¡¯s nest and appearing two meters above ground, in the position the dweller was about to be in one and a half seconds.


    The courier reacted at the shadow cast above them by rising their head, but alas, they were too slow. In less than a breath, Dareen had dropped on top of them and locked her thighs on the person¡¯s neck, snapping it a blink later.


    Ya¡¯ know. Zayyan said as soon as the gnarly crack was echoed in their minds. If I die, I want to be a lucky bastard like the dude here. Those are a good pair of thighs.


    Malik sighed, both mentally and physically, as he left his own scout¡¯s nest. Sand poured down from his attire, a beige and light brown vest to camouflage better with the dry environment. Both him and Zayyan skid down from the massive dunes with perfect control of their bodies. The other assassin opting for a flashy summersault as he landed.


    ¡°Y-you. Took. Y-your. TIME.¡± Dareen grunted as she wrestled control over the dweller. The monster wasn¡¯t all that happy from having its rider killed.


    ¡°Here.¡± Already having expected to work with dwellers, Malik took a handful of pistachios out of his pocket and scattered them in front of monster.


    ¡°Hrar!¡± The death of their rider instantly vanished from the dweller¡¯s mind as they gorged on the nuts.


    ¡°I¡¯ve never understood why they react that way to pistachios.¡± Zayyan inquired as he closed on the corpse that the dweller had unceremoniously knocked down to the sands with their mad dash.


    ¡°Pistachios are drugs for them.¡± Malik explained as a matter of fact.


    ¡°On heavens?¡± The assassin viscerally reacted at the revelation, opening his bloodshot eyes like plates and arching his back greatly.


    ¡°Yes.¡± His cell leader confirmed. ¡°Some creatures react to some substances differently from others. For example, these morons are immune to any of the effects of opium poppies and actually love to eat them, so they are worse than locusts if they find an unprotected field.¡±


    ¡°Damn.¡± The gaze Zayyan gave the dweller was as if he gained a newfound respect for them.


    ¡°Can you two stop being the morons and help me here?¡± Dareen protested as she looted the courier¡¯s corpse.


    Malik knelt beside her and instantly snatched a letter from the corpse. It didn¡¯t say much, just pleasantries and that the delivery was six of the ¡®product¡¯ as always. The sender was the scribe of commoners herself.


    ¡°Okay lads, we are looking for six of something.¡± Malik announced them.


    On it! Zayyan told over his thoughts even if they were next to one another. Him and Dareen started inspecting the courier¡¯s body, but not even a few seconds later, Zayyan assaulted them again. Found it!


    Malik groaned over the mental shouts and went to the dweller. On the saddle a small, padded chest lay with six flasks full of a yellow liquid.


    ¡°I guess this must be the ¡®product¡¯.¡± Malik guessed and picked one of the glass bottles.


    ¡°Any idea of what it may be?¡± Zayyan looked over his shoulder. ¡°Some alcoholic beverages?¡±


    ¡°We won¡¯t know until we inspect them.¡± The leader uncorked the flask with a satisfying pop and sniffed it. ¡°Hmm¡­ smells funny.¡±


    ¡°Drugs! Bingo!¡± His comrade jumped on the spot. He tended to be too enthusiastic while on duty. Or more exactly, while high.


    ¡°Can¡¯t say for certain.¡± Malik cut the man¡¯s fun. ¡°If I die, Dareen¡¯s the new leader.¡± And took a sip of the bottle without a second thought.


    Drugs didn¡¯t work instantly, every assassin new that. Like poisons, there were very few that could knock down a person in seconds. Yet the very moment the yellow liquid wet his tongue, Malik felt a warmth grow inside of him.


    ¡°Ah~¡± He panted; the heat of the desert he had previously ignored now became oppressive.


    ¡°His connection has gone haywire.¡± Zayyan said. ¡°I think he¡¯s dead.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s still breathing, retard.¡± Dareen slapped the idiotic man on the back of his head. ¡°Either it was poison and he¡¯s dying or he¡¯s having a high.¡±


    His ears had heard the whole conversation, but his brain hadn¡¯t processed it. Yet when Malik turned to face Dareen, he felt the warmth grow. Now not only the heat felt oppressive, but also his pants.


    A primeval urge started to overtake his body, but he was an experienced assassin, and people that were led by their urges didn¡¯t last long in the job.


    Instead, he focused the warmth of the liquid in his Enlightenment, and strength surged in his veins. He was fast. He was hot. He was light. HE WAS ILLUMINATION INCARNATE.


    The next instant his surroundings blurred. When he blinked again, the dunes didn¡¯t look the same.


    What the fuck. Both Dareen and Zayyan cursed in his mind.


    What¡­? Sluggishly, Milak voiced his thoughts, for his mouth felt dry. Too dry. As if the yellow liquid had become sunlight and seared his tongue. The assassin turned his back and saw that his fellows were a few tens of meters away. What has happened?


    I¡­ don¡¯t know. The surprise was so big that it burned the curses and insults out of Dareen. One moment you were next to us, then the next¡­ you were there.


    It¡¯s not only that. Zayyan interrupted. It was as if you became¡­ light.


    I see. Others might have considered the words of the assassin madness, but the feeling in Milak¡¯s veins told him the opposite. And even if it wasn¡¯t the case, assassins had always been connected to the Greater Understanding. Foreign knowledge allocated in their minds wasn¡¯t nothing new.


    Milak knew he had become light.


    ¡°Fellas,¡± the man announced, his lips drier than sand, ¡°we have gotten a new drug in our hands.¡±

 Book 3: 72. Assassin

    Fret not, Fatima''s letter continued, I am aware you would not be so foolish to delay your delivery. I have sent for a trusty knight to investigate the missing package, and after failing to find any evidence of the location of either the package or the courier, I have determined that this must be the work of the assassins.


    Surprisingly, the mention of the assassins calmed Aloe. It was one thing being stolen by drug addicts, and the other one infuriating a sultanzade.


    As soon as this letter reaches you, please send me a package back. It needs not to be the actual product, but the more real the decoy it is, the better. This new courier will be escorted by guards, if the assassins get them again, then we will have to restructure the contents of our deal.


    This was what Aloe was scared of. What would the princess addicted to aphrodisiacs do when she could no longer get them? Would she try to seize Aloe''s secrets? Or she would be just satisfied with moving to Sadina herself? It was impossible to tell.


    The letter continued for a bit, but the message was clear: make a decoy and discover if this was the act of assassins or some lucky bandits. Fatima offered the possibility of the latter as the dweller was gone, and because the corpse of the courier was eventually found with lacerations and stabbing marks, he might have been a victim of highwaymen.


    "I want to crush some skulls." Aloe lowly groaned. Not only had she become irritable as of late by Rani''s aggressiveness, but now she was forced to go outside the palace and prepare more aphrodisiac. Which wasn''t a comfortable chore as she needed to do so in her house, with Lulu herself bringing buckets of water and dry wood to start the fire.


    "Excuse me, have you said something?" Said maid questioned her.


    "Huh?" The scribe looked at the fair-skinned young woman, only to now realize that she had uttered those words aloud instead of her mind. "Nothing, Lulu." She dismissed with a sway of her head. "Only that I will need to go to my house at some point in the near future. Also," she picked up the letter, "can you prepare some tea? One that has a yellow color, please."


    The maid struggled to comprehend the odd petition but nonetheless answered with an "Understood," and a bow.


    Whilst Lulu was gone, Aloe prepared the glass flasks. Ironically enough, those were her only real expenses as of late because she commissioned them to a somewhat known glassmaker to put fancy floral designs on the bottles. Some may consider moronic spending a whole fajati ¨C or half the monthly pay of a commoner ¨C for each batch of disposable bottles she would never see again, but it was a matter of pride.


    She had so much money because of these dealings that it was irritating to her not being able to use it. Her apprenticeship as a banker had taught her that money in a vault did nothing for the economy but was also a loss of money. Truth was, most of the vaults at Sadina were empty most of the year because the bankers spent their clients'' money to start their own businesses behind their backs.


    But no. Aloe wasted the money on the flasks because it made her feel important like she had a high-quality brand worthy of the price the odious sultanzade paid for. Pride, more often than not, was an idiotic thing without reason. And today''s pride told Aloe that she had to look like a respectable merchant.


    Once Lulu arrived, the scribe of commoners ordered her to pour the steaming tea on the half-dozen set of bottles and corked them. The maid was well aware by now that she sent Fatima aphrodisiacs on a somewhat constant basis, so the awkward expression in her visage came from exactly that knowledge.


    Her face screamed "Why are we putting tea instead of the usual stuff?" and Aloe did nothing to soothe her growing questions. Ignorance was bliss. Once corked, Lulu put the hot bottles on a padded chest and the scribe told her to give it to the courier that had brought the letter.


    During this whole process, Aloe had penned a letter telling Fatima how much she was sorry the package was lost and she sent as soon as possible a lower-grade batch for free to compensate for it. Of course, this was all bollocks.


    Just a red herring to distract the would-be-robbers.


    As soon as Lulu delivered the package and the letter, Aloe totally removed the whole event from her mind, deciding to instead worry once she received a response letter from Fatima confirming or denying her if the package had made it back to her.


    In the repetition of the boring office days, being buried in work was fun, for she was not able to think. And when Aloe was able to do so, she would ponder to herself things like "Why am I not doing more for the city?" only to then be summoned to Rani''s bedchamber and razing to the ground any prospects of prosperity she may have.


    Day by day, she cared less and less about those beddings. Not negatively, not positively. Simply, no opinion. She wasn''t able to tell herself if that was worse than hating them or not.


    Training. The scribe told herself as her body became a tool of pleasure for someone else. No different than training the other stances. She was slowly progressing in all of them. Speed was more manageable and with muscles she was building in her arms, the strength stance gave her even more power than it ever did.


    It''s better this way. Aloe told herself every day. Every morning. Every audience. Every lunch. Every afternoon. Every night. She just had to remain that way, until someday, in some unpredictable future, she would be strong enough to seize her own life.


    That future just hadn''t arrived yet.


    Sometimes she cried in her sleep wondering if it would ever come.


    A week later, a courier carrying Fatima''s letter came back to her. The pompous letter could be summarized in two key sentences.


    The package has safely arrived on my side. Fatima started with that. Then she continued with: Though I was disappointed to find it was actually not a low-grade batch but plain tea. Alas, I understand the precaution.


    The sultanzade explained that she wanted no aphrodisiac drops to fall on the hands of the dastardly assassins as they could do heavens know what with it and praised Aloe for the foresight. The scribe snickered at the fact, as she only filled the bottles with tea because she wanted to be done with the letter as soon as possible.


    Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    But now that the route was safe again with the escort of the guards, Fatima pressed hard on getting a batch to her as soon as possible.


    Aloe groaned, "Tell the guards to bring the palanquin, we are going to my house."


    "Understood," Ever-the-dutiful maid, Lulu bowed and made the preparations.


    Going out was a thing that Aloe avoided as much as she could since her limited mobility made everything a nuisance, but the oppression she felt from Rani''s erratic summons anchored her in her office, too demotivated to go elsewhere if not forced.


    Like right now.


    Lulu came a few minutes later to announce to her that the guards were already at the palace''s entrance. Even if it wasn''t needed, the maid pushed the wheelchair all the way there.


    Toughness allowed her to make the bumps of the staircase down the palace hill trivial as she rode the palanquin, but it was still an uncomfortable ride.


    When they reached the bottom, Lulu once again offered to push the wheelchair, but she was stopped by Nesrine, who had somehow appeared next to them without Aloe noticing. Not that she was paying much attention.


    As always, once at the house, one woman carried her upward and the other followed behind with the wheelchair. Already knowing the motions and the scribe''s desire for secrecy, Nesrine and Lulu went downstairs.


    With a groan, Aloe unlocked the office door and pushed herself into the room. The room was dark, that was the first sign of something going wrong.


    Once she closed onto the windowsill, Aloe saw faint glimpses of light, only to notice the source was the window and not a magical entity.


    "Fuck!" In a surge of anger, the scribe flayed her hand and dropped both pots on the ground, the ceramics crashing with the ground and shattering into a thousand pieces.


    Both the Blossomflame and Grace''s Exaltation lay in soil and clay, dried and withered.


    Dead.


    "Is there something wrong?" Nesrine voiced out in worry as her steps grew louder and closer.


    "DON''T YOU FUCKING ENTER!" Aloe growled at the guard, her hands trembling in rage. The sounds of steps instantly died at the clamor.


    It''s her fucking fault. It''s all her fault. The scribe whispered to herself, her hands wrapped around her head. I¡­ When was the last time I watered them? Did I ever allow someone to do it? No. Ah¡­ I¡­ Urgh¡­


    Aloe growled, groaned, and grunted until air left her lungs, then took a deep breath and recomposed herself. Cold fury flowed in her veins.


    The scribe pushed herself out of the room and locked it behind her, she met the other two women at the top of the staircase.


    "Everything is fine." She revealed with an absolute lack of emotion. "I need you to carry me somewhere else."


    "I¡­" Unlike the serviceable maid, the moronic guard didn''t know when she shouldn''t speak up or not.


    "Now." The scribe of commoners sternly added.


    With much confusion, Nesrine obeyed and carried her down. After locking the house, she made the guard follow her directions, even if those came in the shape of grunts. In a few minutes and many narrow alleys later, they made it to a nondescript building.


    "What is this place, venerable scribe?" Whilst she was still unable to keep her mouth shut, at least the guard had the dignity to use appropriate honorifics.


    "An apothecary." Aloe taciturnly explained. "Remain outside. You both."


    The scribe''s hostile tone was enough to make the two women not question her decision. Aloe shoved aside the unruly curtains the shop had with much disdain as they tried to tangle with the wheels of the chair.


    "W-welcome," A slow yet juvenile voice announced from the counter.


    "Where''s the owner?" Aloe spat; her visage twisted in anger.


    "Ex¡­cuse¡­ me?" The syllables spoken by the man were slow and somewhat disjointed, which only made the woman angrier.


    "Where the fuck is Umar?" The scribe reiterated.


    At the mention of the name, intelligence shone in the halfwit of a man. He vanished under the counter, only to appear behind it refreshed and way faster of mind a second later.


    "Can I know the reason for your inquiry?" He now spoke fluently, if even charismatically.


    The sudden change refreshed Aloe''s mind. I know him. Their first and only encounter, whilst somewhat trivial, was too special to forget. He''s like Umar''s nephew or something like that. His name started with ta-something. Taric? No, but almost. Tareek? Yeah, that sounds right.


    "I need to speak with him."


    "I fear that will not be possible," Tareek explained calmly.


    "How''s that?" She crossed her arms like an entitled customer.


    "Because he is dead." His voice was sharper than a blade and colder than a desert night.


    "H-how?" The revelation broke her trail of thought.


    "Sickness." The man admitted. "A few months ago. If you want to present a complaint about a product, I''m afraid you are a bit late if you didn''t know about his passing. The herb you bought is probably expired by now."


    Aloe frowned at the smugness of the clerk, her bubbling emotions only boiling more.


    "Tell me," her own voice became cold, "are you the heir?"


    "Of the business? Yes." He answered.


    "No, not the apothecary." Tareek frowned at the question, and then the scribe continued. "Of his darker business."


    The light in his eyes dimmed. "So you knew, Aloe Ayad."


    His tone devoid of life made her subconsciously shift into toughness. But Aloe didn''t let herself be intimidated. The man''s words didn''t escape her comprehension.


    "Yes, Tareek." She answered threat with threat, even if it meant little.


    "I see." His hostility diminished, if ever-so-slightly. "What can I do for you then?"


    "You stole from me." She now recalled why she had even come here. In a fit of rage, she wanted someone to blame for the loss of her nearest grace. Of course, she herself wasn''t a valid objective.


    "I do not know what you mean." He denied the question.


    "Assassins have stolen from me. You have royally screwed me over."


    "And what makes you think I am an assassin?" Tareek smiled all-knowingly.


    "Tell that to Aaliyah. Umar didn''t end well the last time they confronted each other." A void threat if the man knew anything about Aloe. That woman was but an object of hate for everyone, to everyone.


    Tareek closed his eyes and sighed.


    "Aloe Ayad, scribe of commoners of Sadina, daughter to Amid and Shahrazad Ayad, head and last member of the Ayad family, personal whore to Rani-al-Sadina," the last one hurt, "do I need to continue?"


    "What do you mean to tell me with that?" She scowled.


    "That I know everything about you." The assassin maintained his calmness.


    But that was what betrayed him. Aloe could see it; he knew nothing of her Evolution or Nurture. Or at least how the vital arts may relate to her. He only knew what the snake-tongues may whisper. After all, not once since she had gained her acuity did she ever detect anyone spying on her. One''s that she wasn''t aware of.


    "So you are aware of my relationship with Umar and my grandfather Karaim, right?" Another bluff. It wasn''t until the old man died that she had known anything about him.


    "Karaim certainly provided us, but his partnership ended with his death, if not Umar''s."


    "I could tell the emir about your location." She counterattacked.


    "I could kill you." Tareek casually threatened.


    "There''s a guard outside of the shop," Aloe explained. "And I trust my ability to survive until she comes to assist me. What will happen if I survive and live to tell the tale?"


    "Hmm¡­" It wasn''t a grunt, but more of a hum that came out of the man''s mouth. A pleased one. "I see. There is no need to spoil anything here. Nor secrets, nor lives. I offer you this," he placed his forearm on the counter and leaned on it, "no more assassins will steal sultanzade Fatima''s packages and I will let you live. In exchange, you maintain the status quo as before. The imperial family certainly wouldn''t like your past dealings with us, would they?"


    Aloe frowned. This was what she had wanted, but she couldn''t help but feel dissatisfied. And to also feel a heavy sense of foreboding. The man was too pleased with the outcome as if she had misplayed somehow.


    "I accept those terms." The scribe begrudgingly said after being unable to find where she had exactly misplayed.


    "Perfect," Tareek extended his hand to signal the end of the transaction.


    Aloe responded by pushing her wheels backward. "I will shake no hand tainted in blood and drugs."


    The response only exacerbated Tareek''s smile. "Thank you for your patronage," The young man waved her goodbye.

 Book 3: 73. Broken

    Rani pouted when Aloe told her she wanted to go to her greenhouse for a short vacation, but she didn''t shoot her petition down. All the constant abuse had seemed to make the emir more¡­ helpful. At least she wasn''t on her or Lulu''s throat now, that was all that mattered to Aloe.


    As her liege granted her a full week of holidays, Aloe disposed herself to make the most out of her outing. Going out to the desert only for Fatima''s antics wasn''t precisely efficient, so she had Lulu gather more new seeds and also a pot with some soil.


    That latter one she could have obtained in the greenhouse, but she evaluated that different soils may lead to varying results in experimentation.


    The day past her encounter with the assassin was already the time to go out. She traveled light as always, maybe bringing more food variety as jerky, pita, and cheese became loathsome after a few days, but they were the travelers'' preferred food for a reason.


    Armed with food, water, seeds, and some treats, Aloe marched early in the morning.


    She was partially displeased to become aware of Fikali''s apparent decline. She had been painfully aware last time of her decline in age, even when she originally bought it, but it was becoming more apparent with each passing visit.


    "Perhaps I should leave you on the oasis and come back by myself." Aloe offered the dweller once they stopped for the first time.


    "Wro?" Fikali moved her head away from the pistachios scattered across the rock they rested on.


    "Yeah, I don''t know how I''ll come back if that''s the case, but you are wasting away on that stable. I would prefer to have you free and happy surrounded by lush grass until the end of your days."


    "Wrooo!" That final statement made the dweller happy, and Aloe couldn''t help to smile.


    Such a simple gesture, yet Aloe couldn''t recall when the last time she had done so. It feels like it has been awfully long. Her life hadn''t been filled with happiness as of late. Even the precious metals that had energized her when she was little were nothing more than rubble to her now.


    In the eyes of Aloe Ayad, even gold had lost its luster.


    Because her body was perfectly healthy, even if she was unable to walk, Aloe infused Fikali with haste and she donned toughness. Now that her vitality was around the mark of five adults, the bumps the dweller encountered were only a vague suggestion on the back of the scribe''s mind.


    Fikali may be growing old, basically near her life''s midnight, but a dweller''s eagerness to cross the desert couldn''t be underestimated. Especially with haste boosting her speed.


    Aloe''s lack of knowledge on external infusions ¨C or rather, the flowing stance ¨C made it so she was unable to ascertain how much of a boost the dweller benefitted from the haste infusion. The scribe herself would be six times as fast with her own stance, but the same couldn''t be said for the monster.


    Alas, the real number was beyond her for a lack of proof.


    So many things to experiment with, yet no chance to do so. Time, she had plenty of; boredom and suffering were the two words to describe her miserable existence she almost didn''t dare to call life, it was the opportunity to use that time that didn''t arise.


    Her outings, which this had been the only one in months, were the only time she could experiment without risking the sultanzade''s overhearing her.


    In just four hours, she and Fikali made it to the oasis. A far cry from her original full day of walking. But the scribe was sure they would have taken less time if Fikali wasn''t this old.


    As no one could watch her now, Aloe allowed herself to awkwardly walk to the shack and leave all the luggage there. She left Fikali to her own devices as she rested for lunch.


    Aloe decided to leave the dweller to rest for the day, and she walked herself to the greenhouse when she needed it. She was slow, more than once stopping to catch her breath even if her destination was only a few meters away, but she safely made it.


    There were multiple reasons why she wanted to go to the greenhouse this time around. First, to already start with the aphrodisiac production. Second, to get some soil from the parterres. For her experiments, she had bought ''premium'' soil which was recently developed by the academic at the University of Sadina, though it was too expensive for grand-scale agriculture, it worked more than fine for casual botany and gardens.


    There were two ways to extract nectar from the grace, one less intrusive than the other. As the top of the evolved plant had a cup shape, you could pour the glowing liquid out easily. But that was messy as everything flowed away and a single drop on her skin was enough to get her going. The cultivator had learned that lesson the hard way.


    Instead, Aloe just made an incision on the stem where always and the nectar easily flowed onto the mouth of the bottle. And it was way cleaner that way as heavens knew what rested on the surface coat of the cup nectar. Dust for one.


    Once done, she carried three flasks of undiluted aphrodisiac and a pot full of greenhouse soil back to the house. Taking advantage of the fact that she was standing up, Aloe picked up the cauldron and dunked it on the oasis. Carrying a full cauldron was hard, or that was what she had expected. She shifted into strength and the weight suddenly became trivial, her strength now far greater than any soldier.


    The only real problem was her constant shortness of breath when walking.


    "Now that I think about it, I haven''t given an Infusion-name to strength. Hmm¡­" The woman hummed in thought as she walked with heavy feet on the sand. Mostly a product of the cauldron heaving her down. "I''ll give it some thought, now I can''t be bothered."


    If it weren''t because she had the foresight to bring some coal, she would now have been forced to go out again and pick up some shed thatch to light the kitchenette''s hearth as she found out there wasn''t as much fuel for a fire as she thought there was.


    After lighting the hearth and leaving the water to boil, Aloe finally sat down with a sigh of relief and began her experiment.


    In front of her laid two pots with soil. One normal and the other one an enriched version. But in both of them, a burrowed Blossomflame seed lay inside.


    "I''m not sure how this is going to exactly work, so better if I water them first." Aloe wasted a glass of her precious potable water irrigating the two small pots.


    As always, she was nervous when practicing new aspects of the vital arts. She would have expected her heartbeat to remain constant as her heart only continued to freeze and petrify as time went on at the court, but the vital arts were an exception. That irregularity in her pulse was perhaps not fear born from the unknown, but the excitement of chartering it.


    The girl dipped her fingers in the wet soil, her fingernails slowly scratching the surface until they found a kernel of warmth. Such was the magic of the Blossomflame, able to produce heat out of nowhere.


    "Okay, okay," Aloe told herself. "There''s no need for intent here, only the manipulation of my inner flow of vitality, and the outer one I want to project. I can do this; I''ve done so before. It''s just a matter to determine what is the prolonged exposure."


    Her flow of vitality was unstable, indescribable. Cool at one point, then vicious at one. If there was one epithet of constancy she had to give to the sensation it was: expansive.


    It was as if the veins outgrew from her skin like roots and settled on the pot as if she herself had become a plant, expanding as much as possible and consuming the nutrients from the ground.


    This was, of course, just a mental image. None of this happened, but the shivers on her skin were very much real to her.


    Like the first and only time she had used the flowing stance, Aloe put a cap on the amount of vitality she used. She didn''t understand if it was a necessary step of the process, but for the first attempt, it would do.


    Now that she had fice as much vitality as when she first poured vitality into a plant, it was trivial for her to drop on the seed a whole human''s worth of vitality into the future blossomed Blossomflame.


    The triviality of the action scared her and elated her in equal parts.


    A part of her told her that no person should have this much vitality, but a more conscious part of her reminded her that her enemies were leagues ahead of her. Unnatural as it may be, accumulating more vitality was the way forward.


    Her lack of active concentration allowed her to pour vitality into the seed without much effort. That''s the thing, the flowing stance of Nurture is subconscious, whilst the external infusions of Infusion are a conscious effort.


    There was still much fog in what unique flowing skills were and how they worked, but it was instinctual to use the one Aloe had originally found whilst practicing with Fatima.


    The reserve of one adult''s worth of vitality¡­


    "I need a specialized name; this is getting tedious to even think every time," Aloe interjected her own thoughts only to focus once again on the task.


    She wielded the massive deposit in her fingertip, allowing the vitality to slowly pour into the seed. Unlike Evolution, she could control the speed, even better than with Infusion, which only planted more seeds of doubt into her theory of the flowing stance and external Infusion being the same.


    The Blossomflame didn''t refuse the vitality, nor the flow that guided it. There were no visible changes, but Aloe could feel it quite literally at her fingertips.


    The seed was growing.


    The walls of the spheroid unborn plant ever-so-slowly parted to sprout. But the growth was cut short, even before the faint hint of a sprouting root appeared when the external vitality deposit drained a few seconds later.


    "O-kay¡­" The cultivator added between pants. Not fully out of exhaustion, but it certainly was a part of it. "That was a shitty growth for that amount of vitality¡­ but how much?"


    The scribe had little to no knowledge of the aspect of sprouting seed as their natural habitat was many fingers under the soil, but as she unearthed it, she could estimate the growth wasn''t as bad as she initially thought.


    "Maybe a day of growth?" Aloe expressed with more uncertainty than a strategist watching the fog of war on a map. "Parting from that asspull of a number¡­ I could do a month of growth in a day with enough rest and without even needing vitality pills."


    The sheer idea of growing plants in a few hours excited her, but she didn''t permit herself to show it. Not until she verified her hypothesis was right. Disappointment could only be born of expectation.


    She repeated the same process for the lower-grade soil of the greenhouse, but she failed to notice any visible difference in the growth of the second seed.


    "Soil makes no difference, at least in the short term." The scribe noted down. "How about trying the flowing stance in tandem with the accelerated growth infusion? Would it even work, or would the seed repel the vitality as it is already infused?"


    So she did that.


    Infusing evolved plants was always expensive, but because the base cost scaled somewhat linearly with the final size of the plant, she was able to infuse the flower in a single go without artificially replenishing her deposit after only taking a rest.


    As she didn''t want to wait more or waste vitality pills ¨C as easily cookable as they were ¨C so she went directly for the forced growth of her flowing skill as soon as she had enough vitality to spare.


    The cultivator panted heavily as she transferred her vitality to her fingertip. In less than an afternoon, she had already consumed more than her full vitality, which was led to exhaust her.


    But now that her vitality was out, she no longer needed to suffer more drainage in her body and instead steeled her will to force the growth of the Blossomflame seed.


    The seed didn''t refuse her vitality.


    "Good¡­" The words came muted from her lips. "Does this mean that flowing is not an infusion?"


    Plants and creatures ¨C she mostly guessed the last one ¨C could only take a certain amount of vitality, or rather, infusions. Karaim had made a rough guideline, but in summary, external infusions like accelerated growth took the whole space of a plant, whilst simpler ones like drought resistance only took half of that space and allowed for a second lesser infusion to be applied.


    Therefore, the inception of her confusion. Accelerated growth was a ''full-size'' infusion.


    "Well, let''s first see if the infusion has affected the forced growth rate."


    Like before, she let the flowing stance drown the seed with her vitality. Her fingertip became hotter as the time went on. It only took a handful of seconds for the external deposit she provided the plant with to disappear, but the exchange wasn''t without its results.


    Aloe frowned and unearthed the seed again, this time she could clearly see signs of early sprouting. And longer ones than she could have expected.


    The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    "Two days instead of one?" She guessed basing herself on the fact that accelerated growth duplicated the growth of plants. "I need to test this with the other pot, but before¡­ this batch of aphrodisiac has been in the fire for too long."


    Fortunately, judging by the beverage''s color, the aphrodisiac hadn''t lost any visible potency. Though she wasn''t going to try it on herself. She had no energy to deal with the consequences of consuming grace''s nectar, nor in the mood to do so.


    This time around she had brought dedicated waterskins for the aphrodisiacs, so she poured the finished product into them and then decided to do another batch before it grew dark outside. Maybe it was because she had been able to sit without being thrashed around like a sack for a while under the harsh desert sun, but this time around it was easier to carry the water back to the shack.


    Fikali lazily grunted as she passed by her, but beyond bellyflopping once, the dweller was more than happy to stay in her bed of grass. It would certainly beat her stable pen.


    With one more pot of diluted nectar boiling, Aloe focused again on her Blossomflame seed experiment. She next experimented with infusing the one in poorer soil with accelerated growth and forcing growth on it, but if there was a difference between the two pots, Aloe didn''t feel it.


    Not greatly, but she was inclined to believe that the premium soil was producing slightly better results if just to justify her expense.


    Now, logic dictated that she should go to sleep after the aphrodisiac started boiling because she had just come from a long and arduous journey and she still had six days ahead of herself, but logic had died with her innocence months ago in a golden palace.


    The cultivator decided to push herself and instead see how far she could get the Blossomflame to grow before sleep caught up with her.


    Another experiment was to try if using two adults'' worth of vitality into forced growth would linearly duplicate the relative growth time, or if somehow stacked synergistically and gave greater values.


    Short answer: no.


    Long answer: still no.


    But she believed it was because she was working with such small quantities of vitality. If her flowing stance skill was the same as the sultanah ¨C which she still had no idea if that was the case ¨C then that meant that the Blood of the Sultanah worked in orders of magnitude greater than her. Whether that magnitude was a deca or a kilo, she couldn''t tell. Heavens damn her if it was somehow in the megas or greater.


    But unit conversation was something more characteristic of a scholar, not a failed banker.


    Further testing was required. And greater vitality quantities were imperative for that.


    To not overexert herself ¨C or more than she was already doing ¨C she opted for one adult deposit worth at a time as she had been doing already instead of squeezing her body out of vitality.


    Twilight came fast and as the chilly night of the desert threatened her, she decided to pressure herself a bit. She lowered her total vitality to only a tenth ¨C or half of an adult ¨C and then started taking vitality pills.


    Because she hadn''t had any dinner yet, the pills were hastily processed and consumed by her stomach, regenerating her vitality to one point five adults each time.


    Her mathematics professor would kill her with the following sentence as you couldn''t split people in half, but she poured one and a half adults into the Blossomflame seed and then consumed another pellet to recover the lost vitality. Only to pour it again.


    By now she didn''t even need to dirty her hands with the soil as a few green sprouts finally broke through the soil. Still quite pathetic for the sheer amount of vitality she had used, which led her to believe that she was somehow doing it wrong, even if she had no proof to go off.


    Hunger still avoided her, perhaps because her stomach was literally full of grass, so she just lit a scribe''s light and continued forcing the evolved plant''s growth. By now it was taking a full minute for a vitality pill to be fully squeezed out, which made the process painfully tedious.


    As no one would force her to wake up in the morning, Aloe just continued pressing on against her best interests.


    After all that had happened, not only in Asina but also in Sadina, the scribe found comfort in simply experimenting in the solitude, darkness, and coldness of her stranded shack.


    For the first time in a long enough time that she couldn''t recall, Aloe¡­ was having fun.


    It was an awkward fun. She had never been a joyful person. Because of her privileged yet not fully bourgeois position, she had never made friends. Her fun normally came from crunching numbers on an abacus, but only when no one told her so. Inspecting a bank''s ledger was only fun when someone had already gone through it before, not when she was the one redacting it for the first time.


    The vital arts were a source of entertainment like any other. All that knowledge accumulated into something greater. Something powerful. Much like the backlogged vitality each time she evolved a plant.


    She refused to admit it, but in a very twisted and gut-wrenching way, she had enjoyed every Nurture training she had endured.


    But only the vital arts part. She would never lose herself to another person. Staying true to her own mind and heart, no matter how broken they may be, was how she wanted to live.


    Without noticing it, Aloe had almost gone through all of her vitality pills. She almost wanted to puke, and by the passing minute, it seemed like a more sensible idea as her stomach was bursting with grass.


    It was probably past midnight, but Aloe didn''t care. The only real rest she had had was when she poured the second aphrodisiac batch on the waterskins, but as the fire kept going, she emptied one of the good waterskins in a kettle and made herself a tea with dubiously old and dry chamomile.


    Probably one of the many seeds in the pantry would work for tea, but she wasn''t a teamaker, just a tired teenager with an unhealthy obsession with arcane mysticism and plants.


    Tea, as awful as the flavored water was, did help her with her madness outburst. By now the Blossomflame had taken shape and the petals started appearing. Fun fact, early Blossomflame petals were apparently white.


    Aloe continued infusing, too tired to get out of her chair, her eyelids too heavy to be kept open. Her flow of vitality was erratic, refilling and disappearing, all of that mystical energy redirected to the equally magical plant.


    Her consciousness, much like her deposit, dwindled. Until¡­


    "Hroooo!"


    A growl awoke her. Aloe''s head unlatched from the desk; a string of drool was cut as saliva had been pouring from her open mouth.


    "Eh? I fell asleep?" The scribe mouthed slowly, her eyes blinking heavily still laden with drowsiness. Then wariness settled into her. "Fikali?" She asked. "Fikali?" She reiterated louder. "Is there something wrong?"


    The cultivator pushed her chair backward to stand up, but her arms froze as she saw the door of her shack. It was slightly ajar.


    She almost didn''t react in time, but she had trained toughness specifically for situations she didn''t have time for. Something grabbed her head from behind and drove it into the desk.


    "Do not resist, Aloe Ayad." A shadowy voice spoke. The epithet was more than adequate, for the voice was undecipherable and foggy as if no person truly uttered those words. "You have made a mistake with your visit."


    For a moment she thought the voice was talking about her vacation in the greenhouse, but soon realized she was talking about her visit to the apothecary. As soon as she wiggled her head to see the person who was holding her, it was obvious that it was an assassin.


    Shadows oozed from their being, making it impossible to discern their gender, and that was without taking into account their heavy black robes. But one thing was clear, they were tall. And their strength matched their height.


    Aloe carefully thought about her next course of action. The assassin hadn''t instantly killed her, so that meant they didn''t want her dead.


    "Who are you?" She asked in feigned ignorance as she internally changed the flow of her vitality.


    "You know who we are." It wasn''t surprising to find a non-committal response.


    "My bad," The cultivator snickered as the assassin continued driving her head into the desk. She hadn''t noticed until now, but the shadowy figure had locked her arms behind her back. "I think the better question would be, what do you want?"


    "You, Ayad." The assassin answered taciturnly.


    "I fear I cannot accept that commission." Aloe maintained a jokester tone. "How about you send a letter to my office, and I will attend you between one or two business days?"


    They certainly didn''t want her dead going by the shadow''s last words, the only thing she could do was gain time. If she escaped from their clutches and shifted into haste, she was sure she could reach Fikali and run away even with her faulty legs.


    "Do you think this is a joke?" As soon as she was going to answer to irate them more, the assassin continued. "You have nowhere to come back, Ayad."


    The sheer confidence in their voice made her stumble. Whatever they were going to say, Aloe paused to hear it.


    "What do you mean?"


    "We have sent spies to Asina to poison the sultanah''s information networks. For what Aaliyah respects once the sun is up, you, Aloe Ayad, are now an assassin."


    Others may have failed to comprehend the severity of the claim, but not Aloe. She knew it well deep in her being what that meant. Aaliyah hated assassins with her heart, she had forcefully burrowed that idea into her body.


    "Oh." Aloe moaned in pain.


    No¡­ She bit her lips.


    "You seem aware of what that entails." The shadow added, their grip on her as strong as before. "You won''t be able to hide behind your emir, nor seek refuge anywhere else. If there is one person who hates us more than anyone else, it is Aaliyah-al-Ydaz. And now you''ve joined that group."


    She almost wanted to cry; nausea was assaulting her already.


    There was no escape. No hiding. As much logical as Aaliyah may appear to the whole sultanate, Aloe knew she was a creature of raw emotion. What would she do to get her? The sultanah had already processed scorn for her, only letting her away because she was inoffensive. But now that she was an ''assassin''?


    At this point, the question wasn''t how many resources she would spend to catch her, but what she would do once she was inevitably caught.


    Bile gathered in her throat as she realized that the fateful night at Asina would look nothing more than a nince-damned joke in comparison. Her erratic breath and heartbeat threatened to kill her on the spot.


    "Have you finally agreed to go out of your own volition?" The assassin asked sweetly, which greatly irritated Aloe.


    They had destroyed her whole life with a single lie, and now they expected her to go with them?


    She would never be able to see her family again, not Uncle Jafar, not Aunt Mirah, and especially not little and sweet Aya. She would have to abandon her family house, most of her fortune and savings, and any relationship in the palace. The court had been a place of pain and boredom, but she regretted not being able to say goodbye to Lulu and Nesrine. Maybe Idris and Fayruz too, her assistants had been supportive unlike everyone else.


    The only saving grace from the outcome was the death of her evolved plants in the house, now thankfully, no imperial would find them.


    Aloe laughed at the sick joke, her tone not one of madness but of comedy. Perhaps that was the true madness in herself. That was what it took to destroy everything she and her family had built, a single lie uttered to the right person.


    The assassin became irritated, they pushed their brawny arm harder into the scribe''s skull, but the time she had been asleep was enough for her to recover her full vitality deposit. Simple attacks like that wouldn''t affect a woman with the durability of six men.


    She had had a mountain sat on top of her that didn''t care if she died or lived. A drug addict that didn''t even want to kill her couldn''t faze her. And now such a mountain was chasing her, shadows didn''t even factor in her thoughts now.


    Aloe chuckled again; then finally the assassin''s irritation reached its zenith. The moment when their guard was the lowest.


    The cultivator shifted into the strength stance and pushed the shadow off with all her might. Not only her hands slipped free instantly with the sudden burst of strength, but she was surprised to find that her neck had more than enough strength to repel the arm pushing it down.


    She flayed one hand against the assassin''s torso and another on the desk to support herself. The shadow grunted at the inhumanly strong half-assed punch and Aloe was able to stand up. She turned around to face the assassin, but she didn''t run instantly. Until she was wielding the speed stance, she would have no luck in escaping from them.


    She felt it in her blood.


    The assassin was hunchbacked, a hand pressed against where she had hit them. Considering all her strength training had gone to her arms, she couldn''t even estimate how deadly one of her punches could be. But the shadowy figure showed no pain, instead¡­


    "You can walk?" Surprise. The assassin professed surprise. "Why didn''t you tell me so?"


    The words confused the scribe. Why would she have told the assassin stranger that she could walk? Aloe took a step back, her flow already halfway gone to activate the speed stance. If she could make it to the door whilst the assassin was distracted, then it would be impossible for them to get her. She would jump into Fikali and disappear into the desert, saddle be damned.


    "I didn''t want to do this, I really didn''t want to, but you forced me to." The assassin pulled an object from their belt. Aloe''s eyes open like plates at the sight.


    It was a dagger.


    It didn''t matter she was impervious to edged weapons when donning toughness, she was but a civilian, and the sheer sight of the weapon made her commit a lapse in judgment, making her rush for the door.


    With her back facing the shadow, she didn''t see the dagger flying toward her. Only how it punctured the door after it had shallowly sliced her arm.


    "Agh!" Aloe grunted at the attack, but she continued moving. It was but a scratch. Speed was almost prepared, she could do it, she could¡­


    Her body slowed down. It didn''t take her more than a blink to notice what was wrong. The dagger! She realized. It''s poisoned! I have to shift into toughness or¡­ But it was too late, she fell to the ground. She let go of the speed flow and focused on the defense stance. If she died then the increased movement wouldn''t do her any good.


    "Don''t be so scared," The assassin told as they stood over her. "It''s only a paralytic age¡­"


    Fire.


    The shadow was cut off as flames drowned them.


    The assassin screamed in pain for the first time as the searing-hot flames knocked them to the ground. Yet as hot as the flames were, when they reached Aloe in her immobilized state, they felt only warm to the touch.


    As surprised as she was, the cultivator knew right away what was happening. The Blossomflame. She was awestruck. Did I manage to grow it enough to sprout flames? Her surprise didn''t end there, as she was swallowed by the healing fire ¨C unbearable itch notwithstanding ¨C she found herself able to move.


    The fire of a Blossomflame also purges poisons, good to know. As much as she wanted to experiment with the plant''s properties, especially the offensive ones as she could finally see them in action, Aloe didn''t hesitate to run away at the first opportunity.


    Fire may be very painful, but she was aware that it scarcely killed instantaneously. She started limping away from the shack, her body still numb by the paralytic poison even if it had been removed and flew the vitality inside of her to form the speed stance.


    The cries of agony of the assassin unsettled her greatly, but she didn''t stop. The fire only grew louder and brighter even if her eyes were fully fixated on the oasis.


    "Fikali! Girl!" Aloe shouted. "Where are you? We need to go!" The scribe shouted for her mount, but the dweller gave no response. "Come on, this is no time to play hide and seek!"


    Aloe wondered for a moment if she should change her internal infusion to acuity to peer into the nightly darkness, but without the speed provided by haste, she was as well as caught. Heavens knew if that was the only assassin.


    "Fikali!" She continued shouting as she ran across the darkness of the oasis. Neither the stars nor the moon brought any light, the source of light was that of the bonfire growing in the shack. "Come on, please! I need you! Come out now¡­"


    Her words died as she found the silhouette big lump in the oasis between a few trees.


    "No. No, no. Nonononono!" Aloe rushed to the lump only to find an unmoving Fikali. The dweller''s leathery coat was cold, and a violent spurt of fire from the shack illuminated now the scene, letting the petite woman see the slice in her dear mount''s neck. "NOOooOOOO!"


    Her scream was raw and guttural, and her body collapsed on the corpse.


    "No¡­" The scribe let out a whimper. "No¡­" The tears threatened her vision to become blurry.


    The steps she heard behind her impeded her from mourning the loss of her companion and pet as the assassin appeared behind her, their body completely charred yet somehow still moving.


    "She didn''t have a season more on her body." They said as if apologizing, which only made the rage in her body grow more. "I knew you would have tried to run to your dweller, but that was before I knew you could walk again. Why didn''t you tell me so?"


    The assassin asked the same question as before, and Aloe still didn''t understand why that was supposed to be her problem.


    "I''m sorry, little plant." With those words, the assassin collapsed on the ground.


    "Eh?" Aloe blinked in confusion; her sights set on the unmoving figure.


    Against her better judgment, she crawled to the charred assassin, the shadows now gone from their body. She led her hands to the man''s face and neck, and she felt no pulse nor breathing.


    "Ah." The petite woman let out a pained moan as she recognized the nearly charred face. She gestured her mouth open again, but no words came out as her throat became knotted. Only tears poured down her cheeks.


    For she had just murdered her uncle.


    Aloe stood paralyzed in the oasis, soot and blood on her hands, her mind incapable of processing the last few minutes. Behind her, lay the corpse of her trusty and lovely steed Fikali. In her hands, lay the charred and unbreathing body of her Uncle Jafar. Before her, flames grew without a stop, the fire of the Blossomflame unnaturally crawling on the sand and burning everything it found and she owned, shack or greenhouse, the flames minded not.


    In a single instant, all she held dear and possessed was gone. Not just the ones the flames had consumed, but those she could never see again. Her family state, her family, her connections, her savings¡­


    No words nor sounds came out of the scribe''s mouth.


    Finally, something snapped. No healthy body was useful when one''s heart and mind were shattered. Something had broken, and its name was Aloe Ayad. Daughter, banker''s apprentice, heiress, scribe, cultivator, victim, broken mess, fugitive, and now¡­ murderer.

 Book 3: Addendums

    <h2>Enlightenment</h2>


    What can I say about Enlightenment that isn¡¯t already obvious? As much secrecy as the art is clouded in, it is as simple as it sounds. Enlightenment, in a few words, is a power system that allows conjurers intoxicated by foreign substances to manifest a myriad of peculiar abilities.


    Those abilities can be completely diverse and different from what you may expect from its user base, but much like its sister power system of Evolution, the end result is influenced by the source product used.


    You will not be surprised to hear that Enlightenment is an end-positive power system, after all, the other power systems of Khaffat cover the other positions. Of course, there is no law that forces the power systems of a world to fill all the categories of the source of their power, but Balance can be that whimsy if it sees a golden opportunity.


    I do not think it requires much definition, but an end-positive power system where the power comes from outside of the conjurer. The most famous power system of this category is Magic with its mages and mana. That example should work as a better explanation than any description I may give you.


    Now, where does this power come from and work?


    In two words: the cognitive plane.


    The article is silent here, it is only two words, shut up.


    As I was saying, the source and manifestation of Enlightenment is through the cognitive plane. I will not describe what the cognitive plane is, as it is basically the hardest one to explain, but in summary, it is the plane of thoughts, dreams, and ownerless information. To put it even simpler with the other planes: the physical plane equals visible and tangible reality, the spiritual plane equals the intangible and invisible reality plus somewhat part of the afterlife, and the cognitive plane is where the waste from cognitive entities goes. Anything sapient affects the place, you see.


    I know it is quite heavy to understand for someone like you¡­


    That was unnecessary, I am intangible, immortal, and cannot even feel pain, you know?


    ¡­


    Enjoy being paralyzed for the foreseeable future. Also, you are immutable now. Anyhow, where was I?


    Understanding the cognitive plane is a difficult subject even for the most brilliant scholars, so let us not focus on that, but rather on how it affects Enlightenment.


    For a person to practice Enlightenment, they need to get intoxicated. This can be either physical or mental, so yes, alcohol does work. The problem is that most alcoholic beverages affect the brain equally, so you are mostly getting the same effect from a cheap beer than from an expensive wine.


    Why does one need to be intoxicated to practice Enlightenment? Well, the answer is in the very name. People do, quite literally, try to reach a higher state of being by making their bodies unstable. This must be not a surprise to you, considering certain acid trips you have witnessed.


    Any substance that affects the body or mind could be used for Enlightenment: drugs, sedatives, alcohol, aphrodisiacs, medicine, poisons¡­ The list goes on and on.


    Now, if you thought Evolution was random, then you were right. Enlightenment is not random, but it can feel like that for an inexperienced observer. Depending on the consumed substance one effect or another will show up, but there is a certain margin of error. Because the power system depends on the conjurer¡¯s body, its constitution, health, and whatnot will affect the resulting effects.


    Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    How much the divergence between two individuals may be I cannot say lightly, but it is possible that a drug that gives one telekinesis may give another teleportation capabilities.


    This is, though, an exaggerated example.


    Once the substance has been consumed, the conjurer becomes attuned to a certain part of the cognitive plane and is able to freely draw energy from it. What this means in practice is that under the effects of that given substance, they may only use a power shaped by that localized energy. Because Enlightenment conjurers are using the cognitive plane as their weapon, it is not uncommon for most effects to manifest as mind-related abilities like telepathy or telekinesis.


    A curious fact about Enlightenment is that it directly hijacks the cognitive plane, so if a conjurer were to be present around a conjurer of another power system that boosted the local cognitive plane like a neuromancer, informer, psionic, or gnosiamancer then an interesting battle would unfold. An Enlightenment user will be able to hijack ¨C or more exactly piggyback ¨C the other¡¯s power, meaning that in the right circumstances, an untrained Enlightenment conjurer could be as powerful as an eleventh-star neuromancer or a Sage.


    Those are just hypothetical scenarios, but it is certainly possible, nothing in the Existence stops so from happening.


    Having said that, Enlightenment is probably one of the weakest power systems in Existence as it requires the user to harm themselves to ridiculous degrees to achieve something meaningful that other power systems may require only a snap of the fingers. However one could argue that such shortcoming is compensated by its massive counter of cognitive users with little to no effort.


    After all, a mage that is rivaled in power will always lose to an assassin with a poisoned dagger.


    I know I did mention I would talk about outer infusion, but even as closely related as Enlightenment is with the topic, it is better if we wait a bit longer. Let the power system shine by itself, in a bit though, I will show you the synergistic properties of the power systems of Khaffat. I also reserve the right to not explain assassin jargon like Apotheosis or the Greater Understanding, as those terms don¡¯t exactly fall under the jurisdiction of Enlightenment.


    <hr>


    <h2>Letter of a Traveler</h2>


    ¡­the contents of the letter are blurry at best and damaged at worst. You can only see certain fragments of it and can only read but a fraction of the many papers before you. They are old, torn, and partially burned. The only untarnished item you see on the ground is a seal made of pure gold and perfect craftsmanship.


    Dear daughter,


    I write from the world of Khaffat, a place far different from I have ever been before. Whilst it is not the most advanced planet I have been on, I can say with confidence that is more advanced than most in many aspects. Though more than its technological progress, I¡¯d rather talk about the climate.


    It is dry here.


    You would have hated it on here. I¡¯ve never been in a place as arid as this one. Well, one that still sustained life. Most of the surface of the planet is covered with some of the saltiest water I¡¯ve ever seen in my life, and it has been a long one so far.


    Most of my time has been spent in a country called Ydaz, which makes sense as it is the biggest country in the world and it is placed on a desert, the Qiraji, that extends well over a fourth of the whole land.


    Talking about deserts, there are many here. Sandy, frozen, rocky, jungleous ¨C if that¡¯s even a word ¨C and maritime. I¡¯d say that three-quarters of the planet could be considered a desert if you stretched the definition enough. I don¡¯t know how this many people live here.


    Coming back to Ydaz, it¡¯s a sultanate currently ruled by a rather¡­ forceful woman. You know that I like to taste the local delicacies, but in this case, they were forced down my throat. I must say this is the first time I¡¯ve been forced into carnal activities, but I know you¡¯d rather not hear that.


    What I cannot hide is the power of that woman. She¡¯s certainly the strongest entity on the planet and by a long shot. I guess that what happens when you are the de facto ruler of the biggest and most powerful country in the world and also Aligned with Life.


    I know I¡¯m not one to badmouth about Aligned characters.


    Anyhow, I enjoyed the many cultures and the diverse fauna and flora. I intuit that something has happened long ago on this planet because many animals I¡¯ve found have been modified in some way in another. The locals call them monsters. That I can understand, especially with one of the magics I¡¯ve felt waving in the locality though the name is still unknown to me, but what is beyond my comprehension is why someone would modify the fauna but not the flora.


    I expect both of my critiques to change in the future considering how agitated the local powers are getting. Like it or not, war always seems to be the largest engine of progress.


    I¡¯ll return soon to see you, but I intend to come back to Khaffat once the fires have calmed down.


    I have high hopes for this world.


    See you soon,


    Your father.

 Book 4: 1. Shadow

    The air in the lair smelled of invigorating sweetness, pungent death, and acrid stagnation. If it hadn''t been for the changes he had personally incorporated, the place would have rotten and collapsed a long time ago.


    "Master Tareek." A voice materialized behind him. From the very shadows, a person covered in black crawled, not unlike how some newborn cattle escaped from the belly of their mothers.


    That was to say, aesthetically unpleasing and perturbingly so.


    "What is the news? Did we get her?" It was mostly courtesy; Tareek hadn''t expected his agents to fail the mission.


    "Ehrm¡­" The assassin hesitated.


    "Hesitation is detection. Detection is death." Tareek recited one of his late master''s sayings. "If you have to say something, say it proudly and without stuttering."


    "I appreciate your understanding, Master Tareek." Even if he wasn''t directly looking at the assassin, he knew he was bowing.


    Master Tareek. He mused in his mind. His mentor had been a Grandmaster assassin, probably the greatest to ever exist, but he had yet to reach that milestone even if he was the head of the Sadina cell. Though being a Master assassin was more than surprising taking into account his young age. Most assassins here doubled him in age as they had once been trained by Umar, with himself being the offspring of one of those trainees.


    Hashashid Tareek, Master assassin of the Sadina cell, was only twenty years old.


    "Speak, Ahmed." He ordered his underling.


    "The scribe has fled. And she has killed Shadow Jafar in her escape." As commanded, Ahmed didn''t falter in his report, even if it wouldn''t have been out of place doing so with such dreadful news.


    Tareek took a puff out of his hashish pipe, his mind instantly refreshing. His hashashid genes made it so that if he wasn''t constantly intoxicating himself, his senses and intellect would become dull, but even after filling his lungs with cannabis, Tareek was unable to process the words uttered by his assassin.


    "Did I hear incorrectly by any chance?" The young master questioned.


    "I don''t believe so, Master Tareek." Ahmed politely replied.


    "I see¡­" Tareek picked up a mortar and pestle, and without uttering a single word, he began to mash many herbs inside of the mortar until they were a fine dust. He then poured the dust on the desk, where he proceeded to snort it all in a single go. "Explain yourself." He talked as if he hadn''t snorted a line of drugs powerful enough to collapse an elephant.


    "There was no trace of the girl this morning." Ahmed started. "Shadow Jafar commanded me to be on standby and not approach the oasis as that could intimidate his ''niece'' but after the sun came out, I found out that the plant master''s greenhouse was burned to the ground, alongside Shadow Jafar''s body."


    "How did that happen?"


    "I don''t have the slightest idea. Master Tareek." He hastily added at the end. "It was no normal fire, that much I can say. Shadow Jafar was killed by the burns, and the only way to torch a person that fast is with oil or alike, which I didn''t find in the scene."


    "So you are implying Ayad uses vital arts?" Tareek arched his brow, which slightly twitched from the drugs.


    "I cannot comprehend how Shadow Jafar would have died otherwise." Ahmed gave his honest opinion. "And whilst the plant master dealt with many curious plants I am unable to recognize, I''m not sure she was using Enlightenment. The only thing I found remotely resembling our drugs is this." He handed the master assassin a green and yellow pellet.


    "Have you checked what effect it provides?"


    "That''s the problem, it provides none." The assassin admitted. "It looks like a drug, and I found some scattered on the ground of the dwelling, but after consuming them I couldn''t take anything out of them."


    "Hmm¡­" Tareek inspected the pellet and consumed it himself. "Perhaps it''s a medicine, the scribe was known to have mobility impediments and pains. Which reminds me, how has she escaped? I saw her the other day and she was in a wheelchair. My contacts in the palace can confirm that is not a fa?ade and the girl was truly disabled."


    "That is one thing that baffles me the most," Ahmed said. "Shadow Jafar did kill the scribe''s dweller. I actually found the Shadow''s corpse next to the dweller''s. Both were left to the elements, no grave dug."


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    "I expected that much if Ayad had to do such a hastily escape but finish your report."


    "There were no wheelprints on the sand, but after searching for a while, I did find footprints."


    "Where they hers?"


    "Yes?"


    "That answer doesn''t inspire confidence," Tareek said nonplussed. "Is there a chance the footprints were yours or Jafar''s?"


    Assassins couldn''t be trusted. The great part of their jobs was to be performed under the effects of hard drugs, meaning hallucinations were a given.


    "None." Ahmed hinted at no doubt. "The footprints were small, as expected of a girl of her build, but¡­"


    "But what? Finish your sentences, man."


    "Each footprint was far apart from each other." The assassin continued. "If they were indeed hers, not only had she walked in her ''disabled'' state but done so with long strides. I doubt I could even make such long strides; it was almost as if someone teleported from footprint to footprint. If they were hers, she was basically flying. They were also too deep for someone of her build."


    "Hmm¡­" Tareek grunted in thought. "Were there a full set of footprints in each step, or only one?"


    "One," Ahmed confirmed.


    "Then it couldn''t have been teleportation." The Master ruled that option out. "Unless Ayad was teleporting herself with a lame leg, she would have left a full set of footprints. Just in case, do you remember if the footprints alternated feet?"


    "Yes." The assassin nodded. "Left-right, left-right. Nothing to hint against strides."


    "How?" Tareek picked up his pipe again, filling his body with more drugs. Especially his mind. "I believe someone using the cultivator''s Nurture and donning their ''speed stance'' could have made those strides you are talking about, but the scribe was disabled. Was she hiding it? And why?"


    As a matter of fact, Tareek had an idea. The girl wasn''t in the best of accords with the sultanate, especially its rulers. If the scribe had run away and she hadn''t shown up in Sadina yet, it was because their threat had worked. It hadn''t been a bluff; they truly had revealed the scribe''s identity ¨C or rather forged the truth ¨C to the Sultanah. Considering he had lost contact with his agent in the palace of Asina, they were either hiding or dead.


    Knowing the natural disaster of a woman that was the Sultanah, Tareek bet for the latter.


    It wasn''t a sacrifice he was going to lament: losing an assassin for a new plant master. But that was only if he had secured said plant master.


    What is she trying to manage? Tareek inquired about Ayad''s trail of thought. Not only she has killed her uncle, and according to him, they had a very good relationship, but she also is now running from the very country of Ydaz. That was without considering his own order. She personally knows what it means to cross Aaliyah-al-Ydaz, why didn''t she choose us?


    Tareek''s pragmatic mind fueled by drugs couldn''t understand the hotheaded thoughts of a teenage girl fueled by her body''s natural secretions. Mainly those that induced fear. But what he knew was that those secretions were sometimes more powerful than the hardest of drugs.


    "Tell me more about that fire," Tareek questioned Ahmed. "Did she torch her own property?" Not that it mattered if she was on the run and would likely never again have the chance to come back.


    "It seems like it." Ahmed nodded. "Both the dwelling and the greenhouse were razed, so this would appear to be a premeditated action so we wouldn''t get our hands in anything the scribe couldn''t carry in her arms."


    "Us or them." The Master assassin added.


    "Excuse me?" The Shadow blinked in confusion.


    "She could have torched her property to keep secrets away from us, yes, but whilst we are a nuisance, there''s someone who she hates and fears more."


    "I see." Ahmed nodded in understanding. "I tried to rescue anything from the scorched places, but beyond the pellets, I couldn''t find anything on the dwelling."


    "How about the greenhouse? That''s where Ayad must have kept her luminous drug." Tareek referenced the report he received weeks ago from Malik and peers about their ''lightspeed'' substance.


    "It was a greenhouse." The assassin taciturnly explained.


    "Nothing, really?"


    "Plants and fire don''t fare well together, Master Tareek." He responded. "I could recognize the charred remains of cannabis and two trees, but nothing more. I tried to grab the only plant that seemed to survive the conflagration, but when I did so, it spontaneously combusted on me."


    "Ahmed," Tareek sighed, "plants don''t spontaneously combust. Especially on people."


    "Well, it was alive before I touched it, and dead when I moved away."


    "If the plant did genuinely become aflame by no fault of your own, then how is it that you aren''t burned?"


    "Umm¡­" Ahmed turned his gaze away. "Now that you say it, after the plant died, my mind became more focused and my Enlightenment went away."


    "That''s the answer then." Tareek offered. "You were on a high, and as soon as it was over, you came to your senses."


    The Shadow gritted his teeth as to say that wasn''t the case, but he knew better than to speak against his Master.


    "So let me recap the events," said Master started, "Jafar is dead, the greenhouse is burned down ¨C alongside whatever drugs Ayad stored ¨C and the scribe is gone."


    "Yes," Ahmed said with his head straight.


    "Fuuuuck." Tareek groaned. "I''ve lost two assassins for nothing, not even getting my hands on whatever drug Ayad had. I sent Jafar specifically because he said that he would handle the situation, and he just dies to a little girl?"


    The Master assassin grabbed his pipe but held himself from taking another shot. He was aware, that even as a hashashid, his body was extremely contaminated. And time was of the essence for him now to collapse.


    "You have searched for her, right?"


    "I''ve stalked her steps for a few minutes with teleportation jumps, but the trail was never-ending, so I came to report."


    "Okay, you did well." Tareek truly believed so. Ayad was dangerous if she had managed to kill a Shadow. Even more so if that Shadow was an acquaintance. They weren''t dealing with a scared little girl, but a heartless killer. "Send Malik''s squad to follow the trail at once and then take a rest, hallucinations will only lead you to make more mistakes."


    "And what about you, Master Tareek?"


    "I?" The Master assassin grimly chuckled. "Ayad is going to try to flee the country, so it''s the perfect opportunity to accept the deal of the assassins of Loyata. The world shall know the might of the Assassin States again."

 Book 4: 2. Wasting

    Life was exhausting. Life was bland. Life was painful.


    Those were the thoughts that kept assaulting the former scribe as she strode across the dunes. Her body hurt, not just her legs, but her entire being. Especially her lungs. After performing hours of anaerobic exercise, each load of air they held hurt like the nine hells. Her body screamed to stop, but her mind was louder. Stopping was death, but her eyelids were becoming heavier by the moment.


    The unrelenting and ever-vigilant sun didn''t make it easier.


    It seemed to observe her and never moved its focus away from her, for it knew of her crimes.


    Aloe almost crashed into the sand as she sobbed, remembering the blood in her hands. It still was there, only that it had long dried and now were nothing more than crumbling scabs.


    Even though she had managed to recover herself, Aloe led her body to the ground once her speed was no longer lethal and sat down once her body stopped tumbling.


    Where she could sob in peace.


    "Ohhh¡­" She moaned, groaned, and grunted in pain. And as hurt as her body was, the origin of those noises was emotional, not physical. "I¡­ what I''ve done¡­"


    She knew everything had been out of her control, too fast for anyone to process, but that didn''t stop Aloe from blaming herself. It was just too painful.


    "Oh, Aya¡­" And that was the worst part of all. Knowing that she had left little Aya without a father.


    Aloe could live with the fact that she was a murderer. She had been living with worse for a long time, way worse, but killing one of Aya''s parents? That was killing her from the inside, one chunk at a time, to have done something so hideous if just by accident.


    Just thinking about it made her hyperventilate.


    It was simply too much to bear.


    To relax herself, she poured all her vitality into a cumin seed to evolve it into a Blossomflame. Such activity would have knocked her unconscious before, but she now had enough vitality that if she took a vitality pill at the last moment with an empty stomach, she could evolve it without issues.


    Consuming vitality relaxed her, though not as much as a good night''s sleep or a ter''nar tea.


    "Oh¡­" She moaned again. "I''ll never have one of those again, will I?" Not only she had left behind the only living specimen of Na''mul Ter''nar, but she also didn''t know how Karaim had originally evolved it. A vague hint was all she knew about the origin of the blue and white coiling tree.


    The fugitive scribe uncorked one of her waterskins and took a lazy gulp out of it. She had barely managed to recover some food and water from the flames as she hadn''t undone her luggage yet, meaning they still were stored in a thick leather backpack.


    The water tasted incredibly under the harsh sun to her dehydrated body. This wasn''t the first time she had stopped to rest, but this was certainly the first one she had drunk in many hours.


    The sun hadn''t come up when she departed from the oasis with everything that she could carry in her arms and back, and now it was already past noon.


    But she knew she couldn''t stop.


    Heavens knew what was behind her.


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    The faster she removed herself from the vicinity of Sadina, the sooner the wind would hide her footsteps in the shifting sands. For the first time ever, she wished for a sandstorm. The murderer let the hand that was holding the waterskin fall down as if it were weighed down by the very heavens.


    "That''s fine and all," she told to herself, "but where should I go now?"


    She peered to the skies, but alas, no heavenly providence came to her. Considering she wasn''t that religious of a person, that didn''t surprise her.


    "The assassins want me for some reason, perhaps I offended them by visiting the apothecary. And even if I hadn''t¡­" Aloe painfully groaned, the smell of scorched meat caressing her nose. The memory of the scorched flesh. "Yeah, now I''m definitely in their sights."


    Being a fugitive didn''t exactly trouble her, her life was getting a bit monotonous as of late, and a little excitement couldn''t do her bad. But jokes aside, it was painful to leave her previous life aside like that, discarding everything she had built and worked for. Everything vanished in a blink, with no chance of recovering it.


    "And what worries me more is the sultanate. At least the assassins want me alive, Aaliyah¡­ not so much." The fugitive chuckled, otherwise, she might have cried. Again. "She must have sent dweller riders through the roads to post my wanted face in every major city. I just can''t outrun dwellers. This also means that the border will be alerted, even more than usual."


    Escaping through Loyata was her best opportunity, but she wasn''t stupid. Sure, avoiding customs was easy if you wanted to take a detour, but there were two big problems with that.


    First, she didn''t speak Loyatan. There were workarounds but not many, and the moment a dark-skinned Ydazi young and petite woman was discovered in a Loyatan village, Aaliyah would likely send assassins of her own if just to investigate the whispers of the snake-tongues.


    Second, one couldn''t overlook the temperature. Passed the Tokal mountain range, temperatures dropped dramatically, a solid ten degrees at minimum. If she were to cross the frontier unprepared, she would freeze to death. She couldn''t downplay the freezing cold of Loyata, there were more than enough historical records and failed military expeditions to confirm that.


    Apparently, the dry cold of the desert''s night couldn''t be compared to the humid one of the tundra or beyond.


    "Ah¡­" Aloe groaned as she led her hand to her head. "I''m getting a headache. It would be so easy if I could just take a ship out of the country."


    That had originally been her intent since the moment she left the palace of Asina. To just board a boat and leave everything behind, but at that time she was hurt, still bound to a wheelchair, and guarded by soldiers directly under Aaliyah''s command.


    "I wish I had done so when I had the chance." She whispered. "It doesn''t matter leaving everything behind when you no longer have anything. If I had done so¡­" The murderer slammed her fist on the scorching sand. "¡­at least some lives would have been saved."


    Sure, she would have never learned many of the Nurture stances, but that knowledge wasn''t worth Jafar''s life nor the little time Fikali had left.


    "Oh, girl¡­" The thoughts of her dead dweller made her whimper. "Wasn''t there a better outcome, uncle?"


    Aloe recalled the last words of her uncle. "I''m sorry, little plant," he had said. The guard captain and apparent assassin was sorry for assaulting her and killing her mount, but Aloe knew that she wouldn''t have felt sorrow for killing him if he had never uttered those words. If Jafar hadn''t called her by her nickname, she wouldn''t have inspected his corpse and found out who was under the mask, never to feel the pain that was wasting her away.


    But that was fine.


    This way she could feel but a fraction of what Aya would feel. Mirrah too.


    "Ah, how long will it take for someone to find his body? Will a fellow assassin take his body to his family, or will they leave it to rot?" That thought made Aloe puke, especially after not even allowing her uncle''s body to rest as she left as fast as she could. "Please heavens, let Aya and Mirah find Jafar''s body. Give them closure, please."


    Not even when she had been reaped by Aaliyah had she prayed, or at least not consciously. But knowing how she had devastated her family who she didn''t share blood ties, made her search for a higher entity for help.


    Not for her, but for Aya.


    Aloe herself had been older when her father died, and that had devastated her. And she couldn''t say she still was over the death of her mother. For Aya to lose her father at this young age and the hands of her cousin¡­ Aloe couldn''t even imagine the pain.


    What she wanted to do was puke.


    The murderer led her hand to her mouth, fighting to keep her insides out. Must hold the food. Can''t waste the few I have.


    With a heavy inspiration, so much so to make her lungs spasm from the repeated movement, Aloe stood up. Everyone was threatening to kill her. The sun, the shadows, the sultanate, and even, her own body.


    She had no idea where to go, but getting far from Sadina would do for now before she became yet another heap of dust in the endless dunes of the Qiraji.

 Book 4: 3. Haste

    Growing used to the neck-breaking speeds brought by the haste internal infusion was hard. The beginning had been the worst part of them all. Aloe had trained with the stoic Naila Asina on how to make her mind used to the acceleration of the speed stance, but the practice was a whole other world compared to the real deal.


    If it weren''t because she could switch to toughness by reflex alone, there would have been another person she had killed.


    The best method that had worked out was to take long strides instead of small steps as if she were normally walking because she wasn''t. Her knowledge in physiology paled in comparison to what the young sultanzade might possess, but if she trusted someone in the speed stance, it was that maelstrom of blades and violence.


    Imitating Naila, whilst far from recommended, was what guided her this far. The princess had never taught her these movements, Aloe just recreated them from the many training sessions she had observed.


    Putting a foot first, waiting for it to touch the sand, and leaping with it to the next step allowed her to reach impressive speeds. Aloe flew across the sands; the speed of six people wasn''t anything to scoff at.


    It did help that she was fearless with her steps, she honestly didn''t believe that any fall at any speed would kill her because she could switch to toughness in time, but every fall was a mandated rest she lost time with as she still needed a few minutes to switch back to her haste infusion. Besides charm, speed was the stance that brought her more difficulties to activate.


    Running across the never-ending and ever-repeating dunes was a tedious endeavor of both mind and body. She had too much time to think as she was freed from everything, herself included.


    She tried to do everything automatically. Walking, running, resting¡­ If she felt thirsty, she would drink. If she was hungry, she would eat. If she was tired¡­ she always was, the only moment she rested was when her body gave up and begged for the sweet release of death.


    Aloe didn''t give to that cowardness. Tried not to.


    Not only had she pondered about that for months, but doing so now would be a disservice and an insult to Jafar. If she allowed herself to die, then his death ¨C and Fikali''s ¨C would have been for nothing.


    For better or worse ¨C especially for worse ¨C Aloe had to live for those who were behind her.


    Only one person in the world had the right to kill her, and she was barely ten.


    As for her destination, the murderer had none in mind. For the time being, she headed to the east, the exact opposite direction of Sadina and Asina. Though after multiple hours of restless running, she had come up with the resemblance of a solid idea.


    She would try to cross the frontier, yes, but not the close northern one. Instead, she opted for the eastern-most frontier with Loyata. Not only the frontier was outside of the emirate of Sadina and was instead on the poor emirate of Felcun, but right after the border with Loyata, there should be one of the biggest northern ports. Catching a ship in Ydaz would be impossible and a death wish, but doing so in Loyata should be manageable.


    And with enough luck, there should be enough traders that did speak Ydazi for her to communicate with, though she didn''t bid on that.


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    Being unable to communicate did infuriate her, but she had never once thought of leaving the country, let alone escape from it, so it wasn''t as if she had bothered to study any foreign languages.


    Ah, but where should I go? South is the only way forward, but which country? A bordering one like Pincerare or one further away like the frosted peaks of Seviren? They say that in Infume molten rocks flow on the ground like water. There were many wonders in the world, and being trapped in its nightmares for long had made Aloe ache for those faraway places.


    A small feeling of wanderlust warmed her, only for her tired body to remind her that it was no time for tourism or dreams as she was a wanted woman.


    As much haste as she had, Aloe knew that she couldn''t run all day. She had tried though. At noon, when the sun was at its most oppressive state, she found a big rocky formation that provided enough shadow to take cover underneath and shifted to the regeneration stance.


    Whilst it was far from a long rest, the recovery internal infusion did allow her to rest sice as fast as she normally could. Virtually getting an hour of rest in just ten minutes. She was, nauseatingly, untirable.


    Fatigue did accumulate, but short rests like those were invaluable. If Aaliyah had sent any of her children after her, she wouldn''t have had any chance, for if she was doing such feats of strength and endurance with this pitiable vitality, who knows what an experienced sultanzade may be able to?


    Soon enough, the glaring problem of the night became obvious. The danger was threefold.


    First, it was cold at night. Very cold. And while her clothes were meant for traveling the desert ¨C day and night ¨C she lacked any semblance of litter. No sleeping sack, no tent, not even a pillow. Though the last one could be improvised.


    Second, it was dark. She tried using the sense stance, and sure enough, the enhanced senses of acuity did allow her eyes to pierce through the night. But donning such a stance meant she was no longer running at her utmost capacity. It was almost laughable because one hour of haste-boosted striding was almost half a day of walking.


    Third, and most worrying, monsters. They weren''t called the creatures of the night for no reason. Staying unprotected at night meant risking an attack from a monster, and not the cute kind like the dwellers.


    Traveling at night was far too dangerous for far too many reasons. She still didn''t know if she was being followed, that was paranoia speaking. The only thing she could guess with precision was that Aaliyah had made her a wanted woman just out of spite. It would cost the woman nothing to do so, just a word.


    In a way, it was better to move slowly.


    In a very farfetched one.


    There would be people looking for her these days, especially near Sadina and its border with Loyata. But if she took her sweet time¡­ perhaps the sense of alertness would dwindle.


    But that didn''t sit well with her. She wanted to be outside the emirate of Sadina if possible. While Rani hadn''t expressed much disdain for the assassins, the same couldn''t be said for Naila who she had heard badmouth them more than once.


    Perhaps the muscled princess had taken offense in training an ''assassin'' like Aloe and would personally hunt her down.


    Honestly speaking, that was the worst-case scenario.


    Aaliyah would never personally hunt her, Aloe was too insignificant to get that attention, but if a master of the speed stance like Naila ¨C even if Aloe currently had more vitality than her ¨C decided to hunt her down, it would be problematic.


    Maybe Fatima would join too if only to steal Aloe for herself instead of hunting her down.


    Those were her destinies if she failed. Killed, captured by the assassins for heavens knew what, or a slave to Fatima Asina in more than one sense.


    She almost wanted to puke again just thinking about it. Fortunately, this time was easier holding it in for the sole sake of not having anything in her stomach.


    For the time being, as the moon shone dimly on the night sky and the rest of the stars didn''t provide much light either, Aloe resigned to search for the best rocky formation she could find under the guidance of acuity.


    Rocks in the frigid night of the Qiraji couldn''t compare to even her shack in the oasis ¨C even the ashen remains that were now ¨C but at least she was covered from the wind. It may not seem as much but considering she didn''t know where she was beyond the vague direction of east thanks to the sun, she couldn''t tell if this was a sandstorm-prone area.


    Aloe curled herself around her backpack, sandwiched between two massive rocks, and thought of nothing as she tried to sleep. For she had nothing else in her life now.

 Book 4: 4. Naming

    "Aughh¡­" Aloe groaned in pain and drowsiness by equal parts. "Augh, I feel like manure."


    The petite woman stood up from the rock, stretching all her extremities, and cracking some others. Waking up was the worst thing she had done, a part of her still wished to be sleeping. Forever if possible.


    "I''m alive, so that''s something." She said as she peered around her high spot.


    There were no traces of monsters nor footprints nearby, so she considered that a win, regardless of her sore body.


    "How long have I slept?" Aloe yawned midway through the sentence. "It''s around," she appraised the sun''s low position, "six in the morning? Huh, old habits die hard, I guess." Her thoughts were cut as her stomach grumbled, manifesting its emptiness.


    There wasn''t much she could eat, and what there was, wasn''t exactly glamorous, but it was high in energy. Cheese, dry meat, and pita got people far. But water got them further.


    By now the water in her waterskins was hot and tasted rancid, but it brought her back to life. She still had two more waterskins with her, so at least she could cover a few days of travel before having to worry about dehydration.


    "If I find a mountain, maybe I could climb it and find an oasis or something with acuity if I''m at the top." That was wishful thinking, but not a bad idea per se.


    For now, Aloe decided to fixate on the cheese and pita section of her rations. Dry meat would last for long, so it was better to consume the food that went bad sooner.


    "I couldn''t have known it in the palace," she rambled to herself, "but sleeping with recovery does wonders to the body. I''ve run for a full day and slept outdoors and on top of a rock and¡­ well, it could be better, but I feel rested. Without it, I would be crawling in pain."


    She hated depending on vital arts this badly, but if she didn''t, they would have most likely captured already. Dead or alive.


    Before leaving the comfortable shadow of her rocky litter, Aloe made sure she had everything with herself, and after she wasn''t justified with her paranoia, she ¨C just in case ¨C tightened everything in her person so nothing would fall.


    She told herself that she wasn''t overthinking it, that she was doing it only because with haste she moved at great speed and if she had a nasty fall, even if she wouldn''t take much damage, many things would be sent flying around.


    Once the sun threatened to fully come out from the horizon, Aloe took a deep breath and started running. Speed stance active.


    The first steps were always the most dangerous. It was all about building cadence and momentum, once her body was running at high speeds, her mind could handle most things unconsciously.


    Left, right. Left, right. Aloe repeated to herself as she made colossal strides unbefitting of her stature. The tempo was mandatory, Naila had taught her that.


    And that person was now her enemy.


    It always had been, but things considered, she didn''t harbor much animosity towards the girl. She had lowered her edge when it mattered most, and even if it seemed like a small gesture, Aloe still remembered it. Naila wouldn''t hesitate to kill her if given the chance, but the ex-scribe had the feeling that the sultanzade wouldn''t go directly for the kill. Only eventually.


    Any thought that wasn''t directed to Jafar, Aya, or Fikali was invaluable to her. Misery was slowly killing her, so small distractions like those were a heavensent.


    "Hmm, I don''t have many Cure Grass pills remaining¡­" Aloe mused after sitting down for a rest. "I know it''s my fault. If I hadn''t used them to grow the Blossomflame, he¡­" She hastily uncorked her waterskin and drank water to avoid puking. "What would have happened if I didn''t? Would everything be al¡­"


    Aloe stomped the ground and stood up, she was well aware that pondering about the past and what could have been was only a downward spiral that would make it worse.


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    She spoke from experience.


    Running all day was a dreadful experience on its own, but monotony could be worse. Her saving grace was that every hour of travel was far faster than any convoy. A scout that switched mounts at every chance could certainly keep up and overtake her, but it was a bit difficult to find someone in the middle of the desert.


    "Names, huh?" Aloe pondered as she rested on the shade of a rock. "I never gave name to some of the stances in my ''infusion-speak''."


    That was a thorn that had been in her foot for long but only now she had the silence and boredom to confront the situation.


    "What stances remain to be named? We have," she started counting with her fingers, "haste, recovery, glamour, toughness, acuity, and¡­ subterfuge. Yeah, I ended up giving stealth that name, right."


    The murderer lazily and heavily laid the back of her head to rest on a rock. If it wasn''t because she was in the shade and donning recovery, she would have fainted a long time ago.


    "That leaves me with agility, strength, and flowing," Aloe added after taking a sip of water. "How can I have gone this far without giving strength an infusion-name when it was the second internal infusion I discovered?"


    Technically, strength was the name she had originally given it. It was only a coincidence that both infusion and stance shared the name. But that didn''t sit well with Aloe. She wanted to disassociate with imperials and Nurture as much as possible.


    "Hmm, what about fortitude?" She went over synonyms first. "Nah, it''s too similar to toughness, same with tenacity. I need a more unique word¡­ Courage? Nope. The infusion does motivate me," she drew nonsense with her finger on the sand, "but it''s more about hotheadedness than anything else. That''s not courage."


    Time was cut short as the rest already approached the fifteen minutes ¨C or an hour and a half taking into account the regeneration stance ¨C so Aloe packed up and started running once again.


    She preferred to keep an empty mind to focus on her tempo when she ran, so it wasn''t until she stopped to rest an hour later that she kept thinking about the name.


    "Brawn? Might?" She hummed in thought. "One seems too pretentious, the other almost makes me look stupid."


    Aloe sighed and continued with her march; this time a five-minute rest was more than enough. She also got a few extra minutes each time she had to switch into recovery and then into haste, so even those five scant minutes were more than they actually seemed.


    "Potency!" The woman almost jumped in joy once she came up with a name she was satisfied with. It had only taken her the rest of the day, she had already set camp as the sun was disappearing already with the advent of twilight. "Yeah, it sounds very Infusion-like."


    The cultivator puffed her chest out proudly after coming up with that name. If it weren''t for these ramblings and nonsensical wastes of time, she would have lost it. And this was only the second day of her fugitive status.


    Like yesternight, Aloe traveled for a while under the gaze of the twilight until she found a rocky formation that satisfied her. The most important part of the decision was having solid ground under her rather than protection against the sun or sandstorms, because whilst dangerous, borrowing monsters scared Aloe more than sand-laden winds.


    Sleeping was as simple as donning recovery and lying down. Her body was too exhausted to stay up for longer.


    "Ah¡­" Before she knew it, she had already woken up.


    Some would curse the dreamless nights she was having, but Aloe couldn''t help but praise them. It was infinitely better to wake up the moment she closed her eyes than to have a hint of a nightmare.


    Her life was too much like one for them to also harass her in her moment of respite.


    After a light breakfast, the murderer stood up and continued with her escape.


    "What stances did remain?" She pondered on the first rest once drowsiness had cleared away from her mind. "Agility and flowing, right." The answer came to her a minute later. "That''s quite a conundrum. I still don''t know if the flowing stance is Infusion or a whole independent thing, and I haven''t tried agility enough to give it a name¡­"


    She kept mussing about those issues until the next rest.


    "I can''t give flowing a name yet, I need definitive proof that Infusion and flowing are different things or not first. But agility¡­ meh, I guess I can give it a name."


    Before randomly shooting synonyms, Aloe recalled what Fatima had told her about the stance, vaguely remembering how the sultanzade almost broke her hip again with a slip of the mind.


    "Maybe I''ll be able to train it now." Aloe mused without the intention of training it.


    Agility already looked like one of the most difficult stances, and as lethal as speed, but without the same benefits. The former scribe saw no real advantages of being extremely flexible.


    "I really like dexterity as a name," she said on the next rest, "but I can''t tell if it will be appropriate or not with my limited knowledge. Maybe ductility would be more accurate, but it sounds hooorrible¡­"


    Aloe groaned and stood up, her head had started spinning from all the thinking and she still was on the run. Forgetting that could be lethal.


    "I wish I could find a city soon if just to restock¡­" It was a dangerous proposition, but if she kept avoiding any marks of civilization ¨C even if she hadn''t done it on purpose ¨C then she would end up dead sooner or later from attrition.


    Her headaches were getting worse, to the point she thought it may be from the fatigue rather than her overthinking, so Aloe settled with dexterity if just to let the subject rest. She only hoped that her pain only soothed¡­

 Book 4: 5. Intrusive

    Her headache had, in fact, not ceased. She tried doing everything at her disposal to calm the pain, but she had no medicine to do so, nor could she waste the little water she had to refresh herself, if just by soaking a rag and washing herself a bit.


    The idea of forcefully growing a Flourishing Spring as she had done with the Blossomflame did cross her mind as she had evolved black seeds in her satchels, but alas, she had no soil to plant the seed in. And unlike the shining Myriad, she doubted the water-bringing plant would grow in sand, no matter how fine it was.


    The only real way she had to deal with her growing migraines was to rest more. Instead of ten minutes, she took fifteen.


    A five-minute difference didn''t seem like much, but it was a fifty-percent increase. And when taking into account the resting factor of the recovery internal infusion, that number was closer to half an hour more of rest for her body.


    The most difficult part of her short rests was actually not falling asleep. Whilst that virtual hour and a half didn''t exist in her mind, it truly was the case for her body. And considering she had been running nonstop for two days with dubious sleep at best, her body craved that sleep.


    It didn''t matter that she was getting like thirty-six hours of sleep every night.


    She was demanding too much from her body, and it was showing.


    If just to soothe the monotony, Aloe tried evolving a black seed. It was a simple endeavor, using up an adult''s worth of vitality ¨C she still had to come up with a term to abbreviate that ¨C was almost trivial by now.


    Making her vitality flow did release a bit of stress, but it was only a temporary measure. Though after only needing a few minutes to recover that lost vitality when wielding recovery, Aloe decided to at least evolve a black seed in each rest, if just to keep increasing her reserves.


    Nurture on its own wasn''t that powerful ¨C at her level of vitality, she was well aware of the monster and natural disaster that was Aaliyah ¨C but constantly switching stances at their appropriate times was unfathomably useful.


    Fatigue, nearsightedness, pain, shortness of breath, and so forth, all of these problems could be resolved by donning the appropriate stance.


    Having said so, Aloe didn''t have the luxury of using toughness to ease her pain. If she wasn''t wielding recovery every second of her rests, she wouldn''t have enough energy to keep moving. And moving without the speed stance active was a colossal waste of time.


    As most things went, the murderer wasn''t worried about having anyone hot on her trail. She wasn''t sure how fast assassins could move, even if she was sure they had supernatural abilities with their own vital arts ¨C Jafar himself showed the ability to shroud in shadows and Tareek could somehow augment his intellect ¨C but she doubted they could travel almost two weeks in two days and a half.


    Cultivators for sure could do that, but Aloe doubted Aaliyah would send her children to hunt her down just for the sake of logistics, and even if she did do that, they had no trail to follow. Unlike the assassins.


    "Heavens, I wish there has been a sandstorm behind me. Not to slow them, but to cover my steps." The problem with striding like crazy across the desert was that her footprints were deeper than they should be for a woman of her build and stature. "I guess I could hide in a sandstorm if anyone ever got close¡­"


    That wasn''t something she particularly looked forward to, but Aloe trusted her toughness to survive through a sandstorm. Maybe overzealously so.


    Whilst she continued marching east, Aloe knew the terrain would soon change. Geography wasn''t her forte, but soon she would reach the Whistling Sands, and past them, the Ridged Highlands.


    None were locations she looked forward to either.


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    The Whistling Sands were full of mysticism and the Ridged Highlands, whilst in the frontier with Loyata, were even more harsh than the desert. They said that, instead of sand, the ground was composed of needle-like stones that led travelers to death by a thousand cuts. And much like the Qiraji, it was a barren wasteland.


    Soon the third day came to an end and Aloe went to sleep with a heart full of dread. Or rather, more than she was normally pumping through her veins.


    It was then that she partially became more understanding of her headache.


    "Nince-damned dunes, I didn''t sleep at all the first day." She groaned in her rocky litter. "I fell asleep before¡­ Jafar," Aloe didn''t feel comfortable calling him ''uncle'' anymore after what she did, "woke me up. I had what? Two, or three hours of sleep? And that was whilst resting my head on a desk, that can''t be considered true sleep."


    The fugitive murderer forced herself to sleep as she lay on a rock.


    Unable to dwell more in suffering than that, Aloe fell asleep from exhaustion, and like the previous days, she woke up instantly with a blink and a rising sun.


    "Ugh¡­" She groaned as she emptied one of her waterskins during breakfast. "One left¡­ If I don''t find one soon, things might get dirty."


    She was being quite literal with that. Any medical field was out of her area of expertise, but she knew that in very precarious circumstances, drinking urine could save a person. She didn''t look forward to it if ever came down to it, but she was willing to do so to stay alive.


    Toiletries were a touchy subject, especially when she was on the run. Of course, she hadn''t had a bath for days now. The last one she had was on the eve of her departure to the greenhouse, which was now¡­ five days ago. As for waste management, Aloe did her business in the sands as if she were a cat. It wasn''t that bad by the sheer fact that everyone who traveled had to do so, even ''mighty'' sultanzade.


    Comparing it to when she had to be escorted by the imperial soldiers from Asina to Asina whilst she was fully immobilized in her palanquin, she had more dignity and mobility here.


    "Should I begin storing my urine?" She asked herself the gross question. "I¡­ rather avoid it until I''m really out of water. What if I reach an oasis and I now have an unusable waterskin because I peed in it?" The girl cringed at the image, cursing herself for even thinking about it.


    Aloe continued moving beneath the harsh sun, slowly but surely getting more confident with her strides. If there was one positive outcome of her fugitive status, it was that she had all the time in the world to train and grow used to the speed stance.


    Not even Naila can even dedicate this much time to training. She snickered in the confines of her mind as she soared through the sands.


    Something in her mind told her that she shouldn''t think as if she was still in the palace. Especially about the sultanzade, those were already very much in the past. But at the same time, if she wasn''t thinking about the trivial past and a semblance of normalcy, her mind wandered to... less-than-pleasing moments of her past.


    Recent or otherwise.


    The murderer gritted her teeth and continued running.


    Every time she formulated an entire thought whilst she was moving, it ended up being an awful one.


    Another advantage of her fugitive status was how fast she was building muscle mass in her legs. Even if she was quite the short and thin person, the truth was that after so many months of inactivity and lack of walking had made her thighs rather¡­ full. For a lack of better wording.


    Rani had seemed to enjoy that aspect whenever she took her, much to the former scribe''s dismay. Aloe almost crashed to the ground from the intrusive thought of the emir of Sadina, barely managing to recover thanks to her repeated practice. Mainly because it was an indecorous image that had come to her mind.


    The problem with Rani was that there were no feelings toward the woman. Aloe was so neutral toward her that it scared her. She should hate her with all her guts, yet she couldn''t. She blamed such perversion of her thoughts on the cultivator''s blinding charm stance. With Rani, there was no emotion, only blind passion and lust.


    That was yet another advantage of being a fugitive, to not have to see her again.


    Aloe stopped to rest as she couldn''t calm her thoughts about the sultanzade and was worried she would end up truly crashing because of it.


    "What about Lulu?" She wondered about the reason why the whole deal of Rani had started for. "Will she do something to her? I hope not¡­"


    The former scribe regretted leaving the maid without so much of a notice, but she regretted other things way more. What worried her more was the promise she had made with Rani.


    "I mean, I haven''t exactly broken the deal, have I?" Aloe was well aware that her words were a coping mechanism. "I¡­ please Rani, don''t do anything to her." She told to the wind, for no one else could hear her.


    The deal was that the emir wouldn''t call the maid to her bedroom if the scribe substituted her and obeyed her every call for satisfaction, but she was now unable to attend to those calls. At worst, Aloe expected that Rani would just drain Lulu of her last drops of vitality and would dismiss her from her position. That was what would have happened if she hadn''t intervened, after all.


    But if that wasn''t the worst¡­


    Aloe shook her head and stood up. Thinking about it was making her sick.


    It was then when she saw it on the horizon:


    People.

 Book 4: 6. Nomads

    Aloe instantly threw herself to the ground and forwent speed to switch for acuity. The people she had seen were far away and facing away from her, but she couldn¡¯t take enough precautions.


    In a few seconds, her senses became enhanced, and her average sight became that of an eagle.


    Even without her augmented sight, it was easy to detect the moving dots in the horizon. This part of the Qiraji was rather dull and inactive ¨C whether from animal or human life ¨C so any movement was easy to detect.


    They are many. Aloe pondered as she barely peered over the dune where she was laying on. Ah, hot. It wasn¡¯t only her sense of sight that had been enhanced, but every single sense of hers. Which included touch.


    The sun-warmed sand was already scorching as it was, but having sice as sensitive skin only made it worse. Aloe shyly led her hands inside her desert garb to avoid direct contact with the sand, but she didn¡¯t remove her eyes from the moving dots.


    Yes, they are too many. She confirmed. Ugh, they have disappeared behind a dune. Should I follow them? It was a dangerous proposition, but at the same time, they were heading in the same direction as her.


    Aloe clicked her tongue and switched to subterfuge. It was a needless risk following anyone, but she still didn¡¯t know who they were, so leaving them as they were could be more dangerous than trailing them.


    The stealth stance was one that, ironically enough, the fugitive didn¡¯t have much experience with. She kept herself under the dunes until the flow of vitality inside her changed from the sleekness of acuity to the sluggishness of subterfuge.


    The main reason why she didn¡¯t have much practice with this internal infusion was because she didn¡¯t have had a reason to use it before. Toughness, recovery, and acuity were here most used; but besides those three, the other six stances hadn¡¯t been needed until now.


    Lucky me that I¡¯ve learned all nine at least. Considering she was constantly using haste, and if it weren¡¯t for potency she wouldn¡¯t have managed to escape the greenhouse, having a lot of option under her belt was essential. Versatility is sultan.


    Normally she felt heavy when treading on sand, even if she was practically featherweight. But with subterfuge, her steps were decisive yet light. When she stepped forward, no grain of sand was displaced.


    Good. Maybe it was a bit overkill, but with her crouched figure and lack of noise, she doubted the moving figures would detect her.


    Once she reached a sizeable dune, Aloe became prone and switched back to acuity to decipher what and who she was watching.


    When she noticed them before she was only able to see a handful people, but now from her advantage point, she could see a long line of people alongside many beasts of burden, whether they were camels, dromedaries, goats, sheep ¨C though one could discuss if such could be considered beasts of burden ¨C and the occasional dweller.


    Nomads. They are nomads. Aloe sighed out of relief and turned her body to lay her back on the sand. Her body visually relaxed after the realization. That¡¯s good, it means that even if I was a publicly wanted person, they won¡¯t know. Nomads didn¡¯t tend to interact much with politics, only vaguely interacting with the populace by trading to sustain themselves better.


    Now, what should I do? The murderer peered at the clear blue sky with a soothed heart. I still have water and food, even if it¡¯s not much. Should I risk it and trade with them? Whilst they may not know of her, she couldn¡¯t erase the fact that she traded with them, meaning that there was the off-chance that a soldier in the next city became aware of her presence by word of mouth.


    Dangerous, dangerous¡­ She bit her thumb in ponderation. Her main protection was the fact that no one knew where she was directing towards. They must be going to either a body of water or a settlement to rest, so I could trail them too¡­ That presented the problem of reducing her speed, though. The sooner she got out of Ydaz, the better.


    I could travel with them too, but that¡¯s a higher degree of detection if I enter a city¡­ Ugh. Choices, choices. After being deprived of the ability to make choices most of her life, Aloe found herself incapable of settling in a decision.


    Then her stomach grumbled.


    Mmm¡­ She irritably hummed. It¡¯s dangerous, but I could try to trade with them. I¡¯m just a random traveler in search of directions and possibly food¡­ She orchestrated a background in her mind.


    Aloe shot up from her position and stood up. Damn it all, the heavens hate those who don¡¯t take their chances. She was confident in her ability to run away, so she rushed for the traveling caravan of nomads.


    To arise as little suspicion as possible, she donned subterfuge and skied down the dune where she was standing until she reached the path the nomads they had treaded. A random woman coming from the dunes might be a bit too suspicious, but a random traveler trailing behind a big convoy in a road was to be expected.


    Without further ado, Aloe switched her subterfuge off and opted for acuity as she closed on the slow-moving caravan. All things being said, there wasn¡¯t much noise around for being tens of people moving around. Some talked, of course, but prying with acuity was hard and she couldn¡¯t distinguish more than simple hush-hush.


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    She walked behind them without being too intrusive but also not hiding her presence, and it wasn¡¯t until a few minutes later that a man turned his neck and spotted her. The nomad waved at her and Aloe waved back, slightly hiding her face behind the neckerchief of her garb. The man apologized to the woman he was talking to and rushed for Aloe, all whilst flaunting a friendly visage.


    This interaction happened over a distance of more than fifty meters, but considering they were on a straight line of nothingness, it wasn¡¯t hard to communicate with gestures.


    Especially her with her enhanced sight.


    ¡°Jiselai!¡± The man saluted once he arrived to her.


    Aloe panicked for a second, recognizing the nomadic welcome expression. She squeezed her brain for the typical response of the salutation as that would lend her a more amicable treatment.


    ¡°Seladonai.¡± She responded with a degree of uncertainty.


    ¡°Ah, ¡®tis weird findin¡¯ fellas who know our greetings.¡± The nomad was more than delighted to find a wanderer who knew about them.


    ¡°I¡¯ve traveled my fair share to pick up a thing or to.¡± Aloe lied as she breathed.


    ¡°Good, good.¡± The man nodded. ¡°Ibrahim.¡± He offered his hand.


    ¡°Selaya.¡± The fugitive responded with a faux name, one more typical of southern Ydaz.


    ¡°A pleasure. But let us not stay here, anyone who knows how to properly greet someone is welcome in our caravan.¡±


    ¡°I mean not to impose.¡±


    ¡°¡¯Tis not a problem, woman.¡± Ibrahim responded with joviality. ¡°You must have traveled far and in danger if you have been crossing these sands alone, let us give you a modicum of safety.¡±


    ¡°I could do with some hospitality¡­¡± Aloe feigned indecisiveness, but finally coming around to Ibrahim¡¯s offer.


    Ibrahim walked ¡®Selaya¡¯ to the moving village that was the nomad¡¯s caravan. They weren¡¯t exactly rich, but with that number of animals with them, more than one bandit would be tempted to assault them. That was why everyone wielded a weapon. Some were small and innocuous like knives or slings, but others had swords and spears. Preferably spears, as they could be used as walking sticks.


    ¡°So, Selaya,¡± Ibrahim asked, ¡°what brings you across the Qiraji?¡±


    ¡°When isn¡¯t someone going through the Qiraji?¡± Aloe joked.


    ¡°True, true. ¡®Tis expanse knows no limits.¡± The nomad laughed. ¡°But I still would like to know an answer.¡±


    The structure of the sentence was a bit off, but nomads spoke in very old Ydazi, a dialect so pure and unfazed by time that it was almost zealous with its rigidity. That forced Aloe to ponder each and every word slowly as some words could change drastically in meaning with time, let alone idioms.


    ¡°I come from Sudea, on the Emirate of Rashit, do you know where it is?¡± Aloe used her poor knowledge of geography to the best of her extent.


    Sudea was south and in said emirate, yes, but it was closer to the Emirate of Asina than anything, so the little town stuck to a smaller section of her mind.


    ¡°That much I can say, yes.¡± Ibrahim nodded and crossed his arms. ¡°Passed there a few winters ago, maybe three.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m currently on a bit of journey to see my sister. My mother died, and whilst I¡¯m faring fairly poorly, I¡¯d like to bring the rightful inheritance to my older sister.¡± Aloe patted at her purse without much fear. Everyone knew nomads didn¡¯t steal.


    That was the whole fa?ade Aloe had elaborated. Selaya of Sudea, single and an orphan traveler in search of her older sister who she wanted to make it right and give her an inheritance she didn¡¯t deserve. The story was so random yet uncannily plausible that no one would give it much of a second thought.


    ¡°¡¯Tis much commendable!¡± Ibrahim patted her in the back. The palms sent jolts of wakefulness through Aloe¡¯s body as her acuity-boosted skin was more sensitive that she would have liked. ¡°Most people would have let their families without seeing a copper of their money.¡±


    ¡°Yes, hahaha.¡± She laughed whilst caressing her back and holding a groan of pain. She switched to recovery to heal herself a bit, even if minutes of enhanced regeneration were bound to do little to nothing at all.


    ¡°Ma¡¯, I bring a girl!¡± The nomad ignored her pain and referred to an old woman before them. She carried a long stick that she used to lead two sheep.


    ¡°Oh?¡± Ibrahim¡¯s mother turned to face them. ¡°A traveler, I presume?¡± Aloe nodded. ¡°If my son brought you here with us, I presume is because you want to travel in our company?¡±


    ¡°Not quite.¡± Aloe denied. It was a tempting proposition, but it made her too visible. And slow. ¡°I would like to trade for some water and food, if possible, before continuing my way.¡±


    ¡°Oh? You are going to travel alone?¡± The old woman in traditional clothing led her hand to her mouth. ¡°The desert is quite dangerous, young girl.¡±


    ¡°I am aware of that, but I can affirm you that I¡¯m prepared.¡± That was a¡­ half-ish truth. ¡°I¡¯m somewhat pressed for time, and whilst your convoy will bring me security, it will also slow me down.¡±


    ¡°¡¯Tis the right of the youngsters to walk to their death.¡± The old nomad said crankily. ¡°I will not stop you, but you are welcome to stay with us nonetheless.¡±


    ¡°Fret not, avoiding death is a thing I do every breathing moment.¡±


    ¡°Everyone does, girl.¡± The old woman straightened her back. ¡°Everyone fights death with each following breath, some have it easier than others, but we all fight. And I have been fighting that war longer that you, do not think that you are alone in such fight.¡±


    Aloe smiled at the nomad. Her words had been misinterpreted, but that was for the better. Everyone fought death and chose to stay alive; it was only the proximity of such death that distanced her from other people.


    It would be so easy to not take the next breath, after all.


    ¡°Philosophy aside, I would very much enjoy making my purse lighter and my backpack heavier.¡± Aloe added.


    ¡°Hmm, we do not require much of coin, as useful as it may be¡­¡± The woman said. ¡°Do you have anything to trade with? An exchange we would enjoy more.¡±


    The murderer¡¯s visage turned sour. She didn¡¯t have anything to trade with that wasn¡¯t silver or forbidden knowledge.


    ¡°I do have black seeds¡­¡± Aloe revealed. ¡°But they are few and I¡¯d prefer to not depart from them.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡± Ironically enough, the woman said it with her eyes closed. ¡°Ibrahim, do we have leftover milk?¡±


    ¡°Quite, ma¡¯.¡± The man responded.


    ¡°How ¡®bout a silver for two canteens of milk?¡± The woman offered.


    ¡°A silver for two canteens?¡± With silver she guessed that the woman was talking about a drupnari, Aloe was outraged even if she carried more than a thousand times that. ¡°Isn¡¯t that a bit too much?¡±


    ¡°We could need it ourselves, girl.¡± The old nomad explained. ¡°In a city it may be a trade good, but here¡¯s a survival good.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­¡± There was no fighting that logic. ¡°I can agree to that price, but what about the food?¡± What worried more was the water, but if she could also get some rations, better yet.


    ¡°That I cannot offer.¡± She revealed. ¡°Maybe Ibrahim can guide you to others who are more bountiful.¡±


    ¡°Thanks for the offer.¡± Aloe took a silver of her purse. ¡°I will be retrieving those canteens later if it¡¯s not much trouble.¡±


    ¡°None at all.¡± The old woman snatched the drupnari faster than Aloe could see. ¡°May the Traveler guide you.¡±


    The nomad slightly bowed, and Aloe replied in kind. She had heard about the patron divinity ¨C if that was even the right term ¨C of the nomads before, so she didn¡¯t give it much thought. Then she followed Ibrahim who escorted her and introduced her to the rest of the members of the community of nomads.

 Book 4: 7. City

    As it would appear, nomads traveled very lightly and had very few resources to spare. The reason why Ibrahim''s mother was willing to sell milk was because they were capable of producing it while moving.


    However it may be, Aloe did get her hands on some pita, cheese, and jerky. Someone offered soup, but she turned down that offer as it was too cumbersome to carry. Unfortunately enough, all that cheap and awful food ended up costing her ten drupnari in total when taking into account the milk.


    She could have eaten good food for a whole month with all that money, and she barely had obtained enough traveling rations for a week.


    What bothered her wasn''t the money as such, but that such an amount could leave a trail back to her. Or more exactly, her presence.


    Right now, no one had the capacity to know where she was, unless the assassins had some arcane abilities she was unaware of. But she would rather avoid thinking about it in case she jinxed herself.


    Ibrahim and others offered her a space in her caravan because she had been polite, but mostly because they didn''t want to see a small girl traveling the desert alone. Aloe was aware that if she was in their shoes herself, it would make her gut retch seeing so.


    Nonetheless, Aloe dismissed them saying she was in a rush, and that she knew how to take care of herself. No one believed that, not even herself, but all the nomads bid her goodbye by wishing her safe travels and the aid of The Traveler.


    She didn''t know much about the nomadic mythos, but a wandering traveler-merchant wouldn''t help her that much unless the legendary man was willing to sell her some food and drink.


    Aloe was quick in her foot, not enough to raise the suspicion of the nomads, but enough to outrun them. This was mostly because she was using the recovery internal infusion instead of haste.


    One would think that using recovery would slow her down ¨C which it technically did as she was, indeed, physically slower ¨C but being tireless and needing to breathe way less meant she could be in a nearly infinite jog without losing her pace.


    In retrospect, it shouldn''t have been surprising that not needing to rest, not tiring, and not needing to breathe would have made even a stroll march faster than a mad dash.


    Even then, it took Aloe a whole hour to finally lose line of sight of the nomads. It was then that she noticed that without haste she wasn''t that fast. She may have been running for days now, but there had been months when she hadn''t even taken a step before that. And even if she had walked with some degree of normalcy, her legs couldn''t compare to the march-tempered ones of the nomads.


    Nurture was, after all, about multipliers.


    That was something that she wouldn''t and couldn''t forget. The stronger, faster, healthier, and so on she built her body, the more increase she would see even with her pitiable levels of vitality.


    She may have almost twice as much vitality as Naila Asina, but she was one of the youngest sultanzade considering the oldest was forty-seven and she was sixteen. And one couldn''t forget that Aaliyah had had a child every year since her first one plus one pair of twins.


    Once the sultanzade became fifteen, their mother would introduce them to Nurture by force, meaning that she was competing at the same level as someone who had had access to Nurture for less than two years.


    Sure, she had only had one year herself, but Evolution seemed to synergize with Nurture far more than their barbaric reaping to grow their vitality reserves. If she wanted not to just run away but¡­ do something more drastic, then she had to grow even more.


    Even after all that she had suffered on Sadina alone, Aloe could confidently say that she only hated two people.


    Herself and Aaliyah-al-Ydaz.


    Whilst her self-hatred only grew as she grew older and there was no sign of ever stopping, she could deal with the latter.


    But for now, she ran.


    She switched recovery off, almost relinquishing the virtual six-hour rest she had, and wielded haste. Following the road would likely lead her to a city in days, if not hours, but that was dangerous.


    Aloe forwent the road for the dunes, preferring the shade of the shifting and ephemeral mountains of electrum. However, she was not dim enough to get herself that far from the road after finally having found it. But neither was she willing to risk staying close. She opted for a middle ground. Ish.


    Every rest and night, she would try to get to the tallest dune she could find and switch to acuity for a moment if she could spot civilization.


    Dunes weren''t that tall, most at least. Some reached tens of meters in height, but only because the surrounding ones were equally as tall and valleys equivalently as deep. Either way, for the end of the current day that was¡­


    "No, I can''t lose count this soon." Aloe shook her head and began counting with her fingers. "F-fourth, right?" She expressed with a hint of fugacity. "Right, right. Tomorrow''s the fifth on the run."


    On the night of the fourth day, Aloe had yet to see a city or a village. Not that she was particularly worried ¨C especially after meeting with the nomads ¨C because she hadn''t been searching for civilization until now. It was most likely that she had gone by some small villages already but just didn''t notice because she hadn''t really used it until now.


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    And whenever she was resting, she was using recovery. This meant that her eyesight was slightly diminished as her every other physical attribute that weren''t covered by the infusion.


    All in all, her diminished attributes weren''t affecting her that badly. Nurture demanded to know when it was the right time to use any given stance, and so far, she hadn''t failed that task.


    Like any previous morning, Aloe woke up on the fifth day and had breakfast. The only exception being milk instead of water.


    "Ah~" The woman moaned. "Milk hits differently in the morning. Ah, gotta love it."


    She, of course, ignored the fact that the milk was rather rancid from the heat. Though it was currently cool-ish as the sun had yet to sear the sands for the day.


    The fugitive repeated her daily patterns. Run, scry, rest. Run, scry, rest.


    The first time she noticed she was making any actual progress was when the horizon gained a white tinge.


    "I''m close to the Whistling Sands." Aloe mused at the apex of the tallest dune.


    Unlike the cream-slash-beige-slash-electrum color of the average sand in the Qiraji, the Whistling Sands had a whiter shade. Some said that in some parts the sand got so white that they hurt to look at it as they became a mirror for the sun.


    Renewed with that finding, Aloe pressed forward knowing that there should be a city close by to the border of the main Qiraji and the Whistling Sands. And beyond that, the Ridged Highlands and Loyata awaited her.


    The fugitive girl continued her path with zeal, ignoring both mental and physical fatigue. After having restocked her rations, she felt far more hopeful, especially with the milk. The little things, like better food, allowed her to walk further without truly reaching the rock bottom of her psyche.


    It wasn''t until the early night that she noticed something on the horizon.


    The desert expanded infinitely everywhere the eye could reach, but even the dimmest candlelight was a blaze in the darkness of the night. It was small and dim, but Aloe could see the hint of light dispelling the darkness at the edge of the horizon.


    She should have stopped and rested as it was getting truly dark, but the light called to her. Civilization was dangerous for someone like her, but nature was equally lethal. If she could have the comfort of walls, a roof, food, and light¡­ then that was preferable to the outdoors.


    Her dash couldn''t be called less than mad, especially because she hadn''t rested for hours as she intended the final rest of the day to be the one when she slept, but Aloe powered through the pain and fatigue to reach that near-fading light.


    But as the walls became bigger and bigger as she closed by, fear overcame her. Isn''t a random traveler at night too suspicious? She questioned. What if the guards stop me and they already have my face?


    Aloe trembled on the road, already having switched out haste for acuity as the movement-boosting infusion was too detectable even for non-cultivators. Should I switch to subterfuge and try to infiltrate the city? The murderer fidgeted with her fingers. But I don''t know how to do that. Do I just climb over the wall? But for that, I would need to switch to either potency or haste, which would make me more detectable¡­


    She had been walking forward all this time whilst thinking, and before she even noticed, she stood right before the city walls. Aloe almost jumped on the spot when she realized that her thoughts were so sluggish yet her senses so uncanny that the first thing she detected was the slow breathing of the guards right next to her.


    Or rather, still at their positions. But it certainly didn''t feel like that with acuity boosting her senses of hearing and touch.


    Shyly, Aloe pranced forward as the nighttime guards didn''t raise a voice, simply taking steps forward. And she continued. And continued.


    Before long, the petite woman was inside the city, though her heart was beating faster than it had beaten before.


    Okayokayokay. She told herself. That went well. Really, really well. Easier than I thought. Marveloustastic. Yup. Surprisingly enough, Aloe was more nervous after passing through the guards than before. She continued walking forward until the guards were no longer audible even to her enhanced hearing and allowed herself to exhale.


    "Alright, what now." She found herself in an unknown city, of unknown size, of unknown, and at a very late hour. "Everything must be closed except taverns or brothels¡­ two places I can get a bed if I''m desperate enough."


    Unless she found an inn with a tavern, finding a bed there would be hard. Contrary to popular belief, innkeepers went to sleep early. Or that was the image Aloe had as the very few times she needed a bed outside her home, it had been horrendous to find an open inn.


    "An inn feels too dangerous." Aloe silently talked to herself as she wandered the empty and mostly dark streets. At least tonight the moon was bright. "If they are going to look for fugitives, especially me, they are going to search in inns. Which leaves¡­ two less than pleasing options."


    Aloe held her need to groan and instead took a deep breath of the chilly night air.


    "One I''ve mentioned, the¡­ brothels." She rolled her eyes. "I definitely can get a bed there. No one would judge me, and it would be more discrete, but¡­ I rather prefer not to. And the other¡­ sleeping on the streets." A shiver in her spine shook her. "How curious that I can sleep outdoors in the harsh desert without problems, but I do the same in the streets I get the heebie-jeebies."


    After much pondering, Aloe decided to sleep on the streets like the rat she was. She was too anxious and mentally depleted to go to a brothel just to ask for a bed, even if they were more than willing to offer one to her. Especially if¡­ well, she truly used it. For better or worse, only really for worse, she had more experience as a prostitute than a customer.


    Before dozing off in the first alleyway she found, the fugitive first searched for any source of fresh water that she could find. Unlike Sadina, there weren''t canals ¨C as shallow as they had been ¨C in this city, if this outpost could even be considered that, but it didn''t take her long to find a well.


    The first bucket she drank in a single go, the full bucket, without breathing. Chugging like a drunkard, or more accurately and respectfully, a dehydrated desert traveler. The water was cold as the night and tasted of vainglory. But maybe too metallic. Aloe blamed that aftertaste on her active stance. The second bucket she used it to refill her waterskins.


    Maybe it was paranoia talking, but she preferred to restock in water before anything else. Who knew what could happen? Being able to run away without complications at the first notice was her priority now.


    As much as the idea of sleeping in an alley repulsed her, especially after having slept on imperial-quality beds ¨C or literally imperial beds to much of her dismay ¨C for these last months, resting on a dirty and dark street was quite the opposite.


    Still, she preferred that to dying. Or being seen as promiscuous by strangers.


    Her selected spot was one away from houses, behind some workshops, because there were no lights around and she would be gone before anyone could notice her at first light.


    With a groan, Aloe lay down, embraced her backpack, vaguely sobbed, switched her internal infusion to recovery, and finally closed her eyes to sleep.


    That worked fairly well.


    Until someone stood in front of her.

 Book 4: 8. Crack

    Aloe''s eyes snapped wide open the first moment she noticed the person before her, who might as well have been standing there for long as the regeneration stance dulled her senses, and that was without factoring in her deep sleep.


    Quickly, the girl switched to the acuity internal infusion, her heart beating faster than it was healthy. The penumbra of the alleyway slightly vanished, her eyes intaking more moonlight, and making it easier for her to see the figure standing before her.


    It was an old man. Unkempt. Ugly. Poor. Smelly.


    Her newly switched stance certainly hated that last one, making her nose itch.


    Oh, heavens damn that stench.


    Whilst she couldn''t know the man''s intentions, which her imagination mostly classified from bad to awful, she was aware that freaking out would only make everything worse. So with much composure, Aloe slowly woke up, raising her torso from the ground but still remaining sat.


    "Ehm," she started with a meek tone appropriate to the situation and her age. "Can I help you with something?"


    For the time being, she decided that acuity was her best choice. She wasn''t sure if the infusion boosted reaction time, but it certainly would allow her to notice faster if something was afoot. Then she could switch to toughness in less than a blink.


    "Who''s to say? Who''s to say?" The man mumbled.


    "I see¡­" Slowly, Aloe made a gesture to stand up. With her keen eyes, she saw that the man''s eyes were bloodshot, so it was more than likely that he was intoxicated.


    The last thing she wanted was to have her sleep interrupted by a drunk man. Or getting pissed on, which was likely to happen in an alley next to a drunkard. Their aim was notoriously awful.


    The man mumbled more, but between the low volume and the fact that she was sure it was nonsense, Aloe didn''t catch it. Taking advantage of the fact that he was distracted, she unlatched from the wall and slowly walked backward without removing her eyes from the man.


    She doubted an old man could oppose much threat to her when she had dealt with an assassin and trained guard, even if it had gone down mostly to luck. Or misfortune, considering who that person had been in the end.


    But now that wasn''t time for remorse. Once she was sure the man was far enough and not a danger, Aloe turned her back to remove herself from the streets as she was more likely to hurt herself by walking backward.


    "Where are you going, little girl?" Aloe snapped her head back at the alleyway upon hearing those words. Not because they had a threatening undertone, but because of their cadence.


    Those words have been clear and flowed as honey.


    Her eyes landed on the old man. It was a drunkard old man, she was sure of it, but now he stood straighter. She couldn''t tell if it was just the change of posture, but there was something different with the man now. Before he inspired pity, yet now he exhumed menace.


    Something''s wrong. It was a gut instinct, but it was too powerful to ignore. The only previous time she had seen a shift of behavior, specifically the manner of speech, had been with Tareek, Umar''s nephew and the new apothecary after the demise of the late one.


    An assassin? Aloe pondered on edge, her posture slightly shifting. A change in behavior didn''t outright mean the man was outright an assassin, but this situation was far from normal. The fact that he was looking at her whilst she slept certainly didn''t help.


    "Does it matter to you, old man?" She added with grumpiness, trying her best not to betray who she was.


    "Well, it certainly struck this old man''s heart to see such a young and feeble woman like yourself sleeping without even a blanket on the streets." The cadence was so uncanny when compared with his previous nonsense. He no longer appeared old, but quite juvenile. At least his voice.


    "I don''t need pity." Aloe acted as if she was a street urchin. Which was not technically far from the truth. "Nor will you get answers. Piss off, you stink, old fart."


    It was a bit cruel using such hard language if the man ended up being just an old sod, but it scared Aloe how easily the words came out of her mouth. Whilst irascible, Aloe wasn''t one to curse. At least before others. She didn''t enjoy being this volatile, even if it was supposed to be an act. Which she couldn''t trust that was the case anymore.


    "Hmm, I see, I see." The old man mussed as he scratched his chin. "Well, continue with your night, little girl. This old man is probably going to jump into a well, probably head first, to clean himself and end his life after being mercilessly assaulted this badly."


    Aloe scoffed at the man, her brows frowned in anger, and listened to his words, then she made her way out of the alleyway. "If you want to kill yourself, feel free to do so, it''s not any of my busi-"


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    She shifted to toughness the moment she heard the wind fluttering. In the blink of an eye, the old man was behind her, his body coated in shadows. Before she could fully turn her head, the man grabbed her by the neck and drove Aloe to the ground.


    If it hadn''t been for her current internal infusion, she would have suffered a contusion from the violent shock with the stonework.


    Her sight slightly spun for a moment, but in the next blink, she had recovered and had a closer sight of the man. Not only were his eyes bloodshot, but also slightly yellowy, like his crooked teeth. She didn''t need another sight to tell this man was a drug addict and an assassin.


    The shadows were more than enough confirmation for the latter.


    "Ya'' know," his voice became scratchy in age again, "they told me there was a fugitive plant master and killer, but they told me she was last seen in Sadina''s surroundings. We''re quite far from Sadina, ya'' know?"


    What was angering Aloe more about being pinned down to the ground against her will was the old man''s awful breath. She thanked the fact that donning toughness slightly diminished her sense of smell.


    "How did you know about me?" Unless the man had any paralyzing agents like Jafar had had, she didn''t fear him. Instead, she believed it was better to try to get some information as it no longer made sense to hide who she was. No matter how he had discovered it. "We are weeks away from Sadina, it''s impossible for you to have learned it already."


    Even with a courier constantly switching mounts in every town and said mounts being dwellers, it was cutting it very close for some backwater town to have heard of her. But at the same time, she still had yet to know how Enlightenment ¨C the assassin vital arts ¨C worked.


    "Distance matters not when your mind is as open as mine." The old man smiled. Which was repulsive.


    Through the discussion, Aloe had been trying to resist the man''s lock on her, more of a fa?ade than anything else, but it surprised her how much strength the man had. However, she was also quite weak as a baseline and further weakened by the defense stance. Still, she was confident in her ability to throw him off with a burst of potency.


    He had her arms pinned behind her back and he sat on her thighs, so it was impossible for her to damage him besides some loose kicks at his back without the use of the strength stance. But she opted to wait a bit more.


    "What does that even mean?" She questioned, her voice loud and distressed. Which was only a partial actuation. "Are you high?"


    "We are always high, little girl." He laughed. "If you don''t know, then you are more blind to the magics of the world than they have led me to believe. Fret not, you will soon learn about them." The old man chuckled and took out a sickly long needle from his clothes.


    Aloe''s eyes almost rolled to the back of her head at the sight of the weapon, but she held by will alone, not letting herself get intimidated. That''s enough. She wouldn''t risk being poisoned by an assassin again.


    "Get that away from me!" Whilst the sentiment was true, she shouted to gain time.


    The old man took joy in her cries of distress, but in a few breaths, Aloe had switched into the potency internal infusion. She kicked him hard with her heels, driving her feet into the man''s back. Then as he twisted in pain, the cultivator put an extra oomph on her arms to undo the lock and pushed the man away.


    Her body was certainly feeling the weight training she did with Naila. Strength flowed across her arms.


    "Ugh¡­" The air was forcefully expelled from the assassin''s lungs as he rolled on the ground and impacted the alley''s wall. The threatening needle had fallen out of his hands and skittered on the ground, far away from anyone''s reach.


    What now? Aloe suddenly froze as she noticed she didn''t have a next planned action. If she ran away, not only she couldn''t be sure that the man would just keep following her, but also she would be unable to resupply. She peered at the sky through the corner of her eye, and whilst it was no longer deep in the night, it would still take a while for sunrise.


    Do I hide with subterfuge and wait for the stalls to open? Do I just run away? I could knock him, but how? I''ve never done that. For the first time, Aloe realized she wasn''t a fugitive, but a very lost scribe. She had no idea what her next plan of action should be.


    "Hehe¡­" The old man slightly recovered, raising his torso and supporting it on the wall. "Can''t decide what to do, right, little girl?" The assassin looked at her, over her, as if he knew everything about her. "I was expecting a cold-blooded murderer, but in the end, I just got a scared pussycat who got lucky."


    The assassin raised his head and locked eyes with Aloe. They were bloodshot but resolute.


    "Back away!" Aloe barked.


    "Or what?" He chuckled again and took a step forward. It was a hard-fought one, though. He had taken a lot of abuse to his back, and regardless of his apparent strength, he was still quite old. "Be real with me here, little girl. You can''t hurt a fly. You just got a half-assed set of ideals that scream at you to not associate with the ''big, bad, evil assassins''. Am I wrong?"


    The assassin''s tone was mocking her, but those steps were no joke. She still didn''t know how the old man had closed on her in a blink before, so one step or ten might make no difference to him.


    "Back away, I said!" The petite woman shouted, trying her hardest to come up with a plan.


    Anything really.


    Yet no answer came to her. Detection was the worst-case scenario; she had expected to make the whole way to the Loyatan fjords without being seen.


    The old man snickered. "You can''t do anything to me, just surrender. You got lucky, even if you calcined that other assassin." He took another step, forcing Aloe to take one backward. "Now that I think about it, I believe I heard he was your uncle. How did it feel to set aflame your family? Did you enjoy his screams?"


    "Ah¡­" Aloe yelped at being reminded of the scene. Of how Jafar had screamed in pain at the assault of the Blossomflame and then his apology moments before his demise.


    Then her mind remembered something else.


    How badly it was broken.


    It all happened very fast, her consciousness was only partial, but she charged towards the old man. As he had done before, Aloe extended her hand and grabbed him by the neck, raising him from the ground. The assassin tried to struggle, but his strength was pitiable compared to before.


    Aloe was the strong one now.


    She could see the fear in the man''s eyes and hear the gasps of air, but that sight was substituted by one of the flames and the sound of blood-curling screams. She had killed Jafar. She had killed Jafar. SHE HAD KILLED JAFAR.


    CRACK.


    The loud snap awoke the petite girl from her trance and the first thing she saw was the assassin''s face tilted to the side, saliva drooling from his mouth, and white eyes curled into his skull.


    "Ah¡­" Aloe groaned in surprise and let go of the man''s neck.


    He collapsed to the ground.


    He wasn''t moving.


    It was a corpse.

 Book 4: 9. Murderer

    "Ah. Ah¡­" Aloe grabbed her head as she hyperventilated. Upon gazing again at the unmoving body, she hesitated and took a step backward, which caused her to trip and fall down. "Oh, heavens¡­"


    Even though she wasn''t donning toughness, she didn''t feel the pain of her butt hitting the ground. All she could feel and see was the death. She looked at her hands. They were slightly reddened from all the force she had applied.


    The sensation of strangled flesh still echoed through her bones. The crack, even more so.


    Aloe puked.


    The few rations she had consumed were evacuated promptly, but what followed were three more assaults of pure bile as there didn''t remain any more food in her stomach.


    "Ah¡­" The girl sobbed and trembled as she stood on her knees. Her legs and the old man''s corpse were now soiled by her vomit. "Not again, not again!" She cried leading her hands to her head again.


    Her throat gagged again, but no matter how hard she tried, nothing came out of her mouth. Not even saliva.


    It had been bad with Jafar, but that had been ¨C to a point ¨C outside of her control. This though¡­ her very hands shivered in strength. They remembered the snapping well.


    "I¡­" Her mouth tasted of foulness, but not that of vomit. "I killed him. I''m a murderer¡­ A murderer!"


    The murderer slammed the ground with her potency-enhanced fists as she howled. Her vision was blurry, and her extremities wavered like jelly. She hadn''t tried, but she knew she wouldn''t be able to stand up.


    "Ah¡­" She groaned again for the umpteenth time.


    Morning threatened to come by at any moment now. She didn''t know for how long she had stood there on her knees. Only that at some point her calves had begun to burn.


    She had killed someone.


    This wasn''t like Jafar. That had been an accident, this had been not. Plain old murder.


    A logical part of her brain whispered that it was self-defense, another though, it whispered how the old man ¨C assassin or not ¨C wouldn''t have been able to do anything to her. The only real danger was the needle, and she had already disarmed him. Anything beyond that point had been pure vice and deplorable murder.


    Aloe wanted to pull her eyes out if just to not see this scene.


    This had to change at some point, she knew. And as much as it hurt her, she stood up. Even with potency bolstering her body, she was down and weak. Every movement was hard fought as her heart screamed at her to just stop. To let everything go.


    Perhaps it was morbid, but she knew she couldn''t leave the corpse there to be noticed. She was on the run, and any clue she might give to her pursuers was dangerous.


    But at the same time, Aloe had no strength nor the gut to do something with the old man''s corpse. And unlike Jafar, she didn''t even know his name. She had just killed a stranger like the murderer she was.


    The petite woman grabbed the corpse by the armpits, which ended up being much lighter than she thought, even if she had potency on. Whilst she couldn''t dispose of the body, she could fake the scene. Aloe moved the dead assassin so it was sat and the vomit splatter was placed in front of it. Him. Whatever.


    With any luck, any passerby would just identify him as a hobo or drunkard. Maybe both. Then they wouldn''t give it a second thought and continue with their days. At some point, the corpse would be discovered, she couldn''t avoid that. But that was fine. By then she would be long gone, the dead man only needed to go unnoticed for a few hours.


    A hideous part of her told her to loot the body, he would no longer need whatever he carried in his person. She was horrified at her own thoughts. Yes, that man had tried to hurt her, but not kill her. And looting the body was disrespectful to the dead. Even if it was her who had killed him.


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    After that, she went to the same well as before and she cleaned her mouth from all the puke.


    Her mouth tasted of blood, and at first, she thought that her brain was making her imagine things after killing the man, but after drinking some water she realized her gums were bleeding.


    It would appear that controlling one''s strength whilst using the potency internal infusion was hard. Without noticing it, she had almost shattered her teeth and jaw.


    Aloe chuckled at the fact that she hadn''t felt a grain of pain from that, only having noticed it from her taste and sight.


    There was still a bit of time until shops opened, even if the sun had already risen, so Aloe sat on a nearby stone bench and switched to recovery. A few minutes, or virtual hours, of healing wouldn''t do much to her, but it was better than nothing.


    She felt so numb.


    Reality itself was like a mirage.


    As much as she hated herself, Aloe knew that what awaited her wasn''t an oasis but more sand. So she didn''t stop, the moment people started wandering the streets of the unnamed town, she stood up from the bench.


    The bazaar couldn''t compare to that of Sadina. It wasn''t just a fraction of the size, the place lacked the vibrant foliage and colorful canopies, and the goods also were of doubtful quality.


    Still, the food was good.


    Because she couldn''t know, how far away from the border was, or if she would find more settlements if she continued eastward, Aloe blended those questions through her speech when she bought what she needed.


    "One more thing," she told the clerk she was buying jerky from, "where''s the nearest town to the east?"


    "East?" The grown woman said. "Why the hells would you want to go east, girl? Things are too touchy-touchy with Loyata as of late."


    Aloe sighed as part of her fa?ade. "My sister lives in a village past the border, and the journey has been quite daunting, I was almost out of resources before I made it here. I just want to know where I could resupply."


    "I dread for the safety of your sister." The shopkeeper said and the petite woman just nodded. "I mean, if you continue the road to the east, you''ll find a few villages here and there. But if it''s a bigger place you are looking for, then Selen is just near there. It''s a fortress city one day away from the border."


    A few hours from the border. The cultivator corrected mentally, for such was the case for her.


    "How far is this fortress?" Aloe held her meat and handed the payment. A bit expensive as dry meat went, but considering she still had a piece of gold on her person with her drupnarea, she would never be short of it.


    "On foot?" The woman tilted her head from side to side deep in thought. "Two weeks, more if you are not ready for the highlands."


    "I see. Thanks." She left the stall and went to others to be as ready as possible.


    Across all her purchases, she did her best to hide her looks. Not only did she wear a cayora ¨C a traditional headwear of adult women ¨C to hide her hair, mainly because she was known to not use them, but she also bought some dust at an apothecary to make her skin seem fairer. Both were only botched and makeshift solutions, but it was better than nothing if she wanted to avoid getting recognized.


    Her backpack was heavier now, but she would fare far better during the night with a sleeping bag and mantle. Not only was she now restocked in food to last her for weeks, even if she could technically reach Loyata in around four days according to the words of that shopkeeper, but she also had bought some vital art resources.


    If her act of brutality had alerted the assassins, the murderer wanted to be ready. She bought a pot with soil and planted one of her evolved Blossomflame seeds there. It wouldn''t grow in the few days it would take her to get out of Ydaz, but she intended to use her spare vitality to force it to grow with the flowing stance.


    Forced Growth was what had gotten her here, so hopefully, it would also get her out.


    Now, one thing she wanted was to get her hands again on Aloe Veritas'' leaves. The only specimen in the world had remained in the greenhouse and had most likely perished in the flames like her whole life, so if she wanted a new one, she would need to evolve one herself from an aloe vera.


    Problem, trying to infuse vitality into the aloe vera and its seeds that she had bought with the intent of Evolution had failed to bring results. She had already known this, that there were special requirements for some evolutions and in the veritas case: a book. But it was a frivolous expense, and it wasn¡¯t like she found anyone selling books at this hour on the streets, so she left it for latter.


    Food, water, clothes, refuge, and would-be-weapons. Aloe had everything.


    Especially boots.


    Who would have thought that after running nonstop for almost a week at breakneck speeds would have worn down her already worn-down boots? She had paid quite a hefty price, a whole fajati for the new pair, but they were well worth the price as her feet were starting to develop blisters. And that hadn''t occurred yet thanks to the regeneration stance.


    If nothing happened, she would be in Loyata in a few days and then she could escape by boat. As much of a murderer as she was, Aloe only wanted to spend the rest of her days without needing to worry about the assassins or the sultanzade.

 Book 4: 10. Whistling

    The cultivator''s hands still trembled when she left the town. Even if she tried her best not to think about her heinous acts, her body remembered. A snapped neck left quite the impression as it would seem.


    But biting her hands off was not an alternative, so Aloe just continued walking.


    That was all she could seem to do nowadays.


    Her mind was a bit dizzy from the lack of sleep, but she pressed herself even harder than in previous days as now there was a definitive lead of her whereabouts out there.


    Which made it all the more stressful having to walk normally for an hour so no one would see a petite woman moving as fast as a dweller. She compensated the wasted time with an hour of recovery, but one couldn''t truly rest whilst moving.


    What she could do whilst moving, though, was infuse the Blossomflame. Or rather, donning the flowing stance and pouring a bit of vitality into the hot seed with her Forced Growth technique. She made it in bursts, putting an adult''s worth of vitality into the seed and then switching back to recovery to refill her reserves.


    Whilst wielding the regeneration stance, her vitality recovery speed was nothing short of staggering. It made her mouth water imagining how fast she would restore her vitality in the future when her reserves were big enough to boost any stance to rival one of the older sultanzade.


    Having said so, all this vitality shuffling wasn''t exactly the best for her rumbling and agitated brain.


    Fortunately for her headache, having plenty of water and food meant she could be more lavish with her breaks. Until now, Aloe had ignored the effects of haste in her body, but they were too obvious to continue doing so.


    The speed stance accelerated the body, but that meant also tiring and becoming hungry faster. If she was traveling multiple days per day, then she would need to eat the appropriate food for such displacement.


    Which she hadn''t done.


    Her rations had been too limited, and most of the time, her worry had been with water rather than food. After all, most people died of dehydration in the desert, not starvation.


    Not that she had had much meat before, but now she was nothing but skin and bone. Most of her meat had been on her thighs ¨C which had been rather flabby from sitting around all day ¨C and after striding for these many days, not much, if nothing at all, remained of that fat.


    She didn''t care that her backpack was heavy, even if it became heavier when she was donning haste, because that food was going to disappear soon.


    For the first day since her departure from the town which she hadn''t bothered to learn nor ask the name, Aloe ate as much as she could to recover some meat. She ate like three kilograms of cured meat in total around the whole day, which looked like a lot when she was probably hovering over the forty-kilo mark herself now, but she had found no difficulties devouring everything.


    Her most prodigious feat of strength in her escape could have not been fighting two assassins or running for days without end, but rather fighting off her mortal starvation by sheer willpower alone and then eating slabs of meat with a weakened stomach.


    As she took more breaks for that first day and also left the town proper rather late, the fugitive scribe didn''t march as long as the previous days. Also, she took way longer to eat during the breaks.


    "Tomorrow I should make it to the Whistling Sands." She commented before going to sleep.


    That night, she slept better than she ever had before. Yes, she was sleeping outdoors. Yes, she was being pursued. But having a sleeping bag, pillows, donning the recovery internal infusion, and being exhausted from trotting all day made wonders for one''s sleep.


    It needed to be said that Aloe''s bar for ''quality sleep'' was rather low.


    With the first light, she woke up, tidied up her backpack-sized camp, and left for the horizon.


    It really helped that her destination was just beyond the sun. But it was also grueling for the first hours of the day as she could honestly see nothing.


    The arrival to the Whistling Sands was not a sudden change of biomes like how she had been told with second-hand stories, but rather a very slow transition where there desert got less rocky and the sand color shifted from cream-slash-electrum to white.


    If peering at the normal sunlit sand was already hurtful, the white sand of the Whistling Sands was nince as worse.


    Aloe honestly didn''t understand why the place was called ''Whistling Sands'' in the first place. It just looked like a whiter section of desert.


    That was until the wind blew.


    The cultivator''s skin filled with goosebumps as her ears were filled with a cacophony of voices. Some whistling, some singing, some shouting.


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    "What?" Aloe stopped in place and donned toughness by reflex, but try as she may, she didn''t find anyone kilometers around her. And she had used acuity too.


    She stood still for a handful of minutes, and no matter what direction she peered, there was no hint of civilization. Yet her ears heard the song of the desert very clearly.


    "What witchery is this?" Said the woman with knowledge of three distinct arcane arts.


    By now she was absolutely sure that there were no people around her, not even animals. Not that they were exactly common where she was walking from and to. Then as she sat down to rest after having been standing up for this long like a dimwit, her acuity-enhanced ears tingled.


    "Wait a minute," she led her head to the ground as she noticed something.


    Her hands and body caused a lot of interference, mainly because she was blocking the wind, but her boosted sense of hearing still caught the sounds.


    "It''s the sand." Aloe stood up in realization. "The sand is singing! What in the nine hells!" She threw her arms in the air in a mixture of bewilderment and euphoria. "How is this possible?"


    Unable to comprehend what her own ears were hearing, Aloe skied down the dune she was currently standing and rushed for another one, only to find that this pile of sand was also making sounds.


    "Okay¡­ I know get why they call them the Whistling Sands, but honestly¡­ how the fuck?" For a moment she forgot that she was a fugitive in a race against time.


    The situation was too mystical to ignore it. She had only believed that such magical things couldn''t be seen in nature outside her Evolution.


    "The sand can''t be evolved, can it?" She honestly pondered the notion, for in her mind, any other alternative made no sense. "But sand is not alive, it cannot be evolved right?"


    Aloe grabbed the sand on the ground, not to evolve it as in any case it would have been already evolved, but to check for signs of vitality.


    Considering her knowledge of vitality had progressed significantly and she could sense vitality at a distance, Aloe doubted that was the case, but she tried doing so nonetheless.


    "Nah, it''s inert as normal sand. I can''t even find a grain of vitality here. Heh, grain." She chuckled.


    As much as part of her brain wanted to stick around and decipher the secrets of the whistling sand, Aloe knew she should stop toying around and continue with her march, as much as she dreaded the path.


    She found solace in the fact that in a few days she would be in Loyata. Now that she was on the Whistling Sands, only the Ridged Highlands separated her from freedom.


    At first, the sounds of the sands were mystical and even endearing. After spending this much time traveling alone, the whistles of the desert almost felt like company. But it didn''t take long for that positive mindset to fade away as she got a headache from the sounds.


    Whenever a gust of wind passed by, the sounds devolved from a song without harmony ¨C but a song nonetheless ¨C to a primal screech. And she didn''t enjoy being screeched at from all directions.


    Not only the sounds were loud, but also oppressive. They triggered her fight or flight response, and after being alerted so many times, her body no longer felt urgency.


    Which highly scared her.


    If she wasn''t on alert, anything could surprise her. And she was more blind than ever as the refracted sunlight seared into her eyeballs.


    After finding the only big enough rocky formation to make camp in the afternoon, Aloe pondered if she should rest for the day there. That was the only solid number of rocks she had found, so that had her worried. If she didn''t find another formation for the rest of the day, she would either need to sleep on the sand or continue marching during the night.


    Neither of those choices were good.


    But in the end, fear had won out. She still was too close to that city, town, or whatever for her liking. She wanted to get as far away from her deeds as possible, even if running away from them wouldn''t undo them. But it would keep her alive.


    She had quite the feast before leaving. The cultivator finished one durum she had bought on the town''s bazaar but didn''t quite get through it yesterday, and had almost a full wheel of cheese with some pita. Her fresh water was getting to the point that it could be called fresh no longer, but that didn''t matter to her, water was water.


    Once full, Aloe continued with the sun directly shining on her back.


    Having a satiated stomach did wonders for her throbbing headache, now nothing more than a mild migraine.


    This journey was going to be the death of her.


    Or that was what she constantly thought. A hurting body was feasible, she had had one for months, a hurting mind not so much. She hated this ever-repeating cycle of rest-headache, rest-headache, but there was nothing she could do to solve it.


    Marching was, quite literally, the only way forward.


    The problems started at twilight.


    The worst of her fears came true. Well, not the worst. The worst would have her either dead, enslaved, or with her legs useless again at a minimum. But her earlier suspicions proved to not be unfunded.


    There was no rocky ground anywhere in sight.


    It didn''t matter if she went to the tallest dune and used acuity, Aloe could not sight any solid land. No bedrock, no boulders, no arches, not even gravel. Nothing at all.


    Just an endless sea of white.


    She almost straight up puked when night came by and her hopes had been extinguished.


    She now had two alternatives: sleep on the sand and risk a monster attack when she was sleeping, or continue marching on the night and risk a monster attack she may be able to see coming.


    Dealing with so many hypotheticals wasn''t a thing she enjoyed at all, but between bad and worse, Aloe chose the safest option and continued walking.


    The night was cold and the wind was weak enough that the sands only whistled instead of singing, but that only made it worse. More ominous. Made her more anxious. If it wasn''t because the moon shone with all her might today, Aloe might have given up altogether.


    More than once she thought of switching to acuity to see better through the darkness of the night, but then she would be easy prey.


    For whatever or whoever that considered her prey.


    Paranoia and anxiety mixed into one another in an ebb and flow, she didn''t know what emotion she was feeling any longer as she raced across the dunes, her head snapping to a side every time she heard something, only for it to be a gust of wind that had taken a horrifying note by the sand.


    For the first time in her escape, Aloe felt mentally exhausted. She saw danger in every shadow and dune. Everything was horrendous and horrifying.


    Then she saw it.


    The silhouette of a person.


    But as a cloud cleared from the moon, light shone on that person to reveal red skin instead of a dark one.


    Aloe stopped on her feet out of horror. Real horror.


    The ''person'' before her finally saw her and they smiled. It was a smile that was engraved in her mind, one that no human being could perform. One that moved almost as high as the eyes and showed many sharp teeth. She had been fed stories about them, so even if it was her first time seeing them, Aloe recognized the entity before her.


    A djinn.

 Book 4: 11. Djinn

    The red person advanced through the darkness of the night, he ¨C Aloe guessed it was a he as the torso was naked and showed no breasts, only barely defined abdominals ¨C was partially obscured by a dune that hid his lower body.


    Many thoughts ran through Aloe''s head at a speed comparable to acuity, but one thing was sure in her mind.


    That being was not human.


    "Hello the¡­" The monster announced with a honeyed voice and a raised hand with a wave, but Aloe didn''t let him finish as she sprinted in the opposite direction of the creature. "Ah, so you want it the hard way." He added with confidence even if the human was already running away at a speed comparable to a dweller.


    Fuck, fuck, fuck! Aloe indecorously cursed in the confines of her mind, putting all the strength she could muster into her legs. What do I do? Do I just run away? Can I even outrun him?


    The sounds of many steps behind her told her otherwise.


    No person, not even a group of people, would make as much sound as the steps she was hearing. Not even Aaliyah had poured this much fear into her heart, and she had only the feedback of sound.


    What she was hearing wasn''t pleasant.


    Many steps followed her, but they weren''t the sound of steps she was used to or like the ones she was making by running frenetically. No, there was a crunch to each movement, as if he was personally torturing each grain of sand with every step.


    The screams of the sand sounded quite literally when the wind rose again.


    "Come ''ere~" The voice of the monster still had a honeyed tone, but it sounded more inhuman than before. "Don''t be bad, darling, and let me embrace you."


    A shiver so strong that almost led Aloe straight to the ground traveled her spine at the mention of the word ''darling''. It was puke-inducing to hear that word from a voice that was sounding less and less human by the moment.


    "Almost there, turn back~" The monster announced, and Aloe ignored his command.


    But he wasn''t being dishonest. The sounds of the myriad of steps were becoming louder by the second, alongside his voice.


    I can''t outrun him! Aloe realized in horror. What should I do? Fight? How? Her heart was beating harder than ever before, she felt as if it was going to give out at any moment now. What about¡­


    Running away and planning weren''t things that synergized, and that became lethally obvious as Aloe''s concentration faltered for a fraction of a second, breaking the rhythm of her steps, and making her trip.


    The cultivator didn''t have even time to scream as the ground got closer, but she managed to switch to toughness in time.


    The cacophony of sand-crunching ceased soon after.


    "Oh my," the monster giggled. "Have you broken your neck, darling?"


    As a matter of fact, she had not. But the creature had no way of knowing so. Nor she had the ability to know much else as her head was partially buried in the sand. The only saving grace was that the red man had yet to notice she had survived.


    What should I do? She pondered in those short seconds of peace. I am out of the speed stance, and switching back will take a minute at best¡­ Running is not an option. Aloe bit her lip at that. How pathetic it was that the most wanted fugitive in the sultanate couldn''t even run away.


    How about the Blossomflame? She almost tried to reach for the potted plant, no more than a sapling, but instantly remembered she was supposed to play dead. It''s too far away and too green. She gritted her teeth as her backpack was tightly packed and even tighter closed. If I could make it bud at least, maybe there''s a chance with it¡­ The cultivator didn''t bet on it.


    It probably can''t kill me swiftly with toughness, so I could try to outlast him by switching to potency back and forth. Aloe wasn''t a fighter, she had never thrown a punch in her life, but she had the strength of six men with her. Maybe that would be deterrent enough.


    Her time soon ran out, not because the monster approached her, but because she was without breath. The fall had pushed the air out of her lungs, and her nose was buried in sand so she couldn''t breathe.


    Nince-damned hells! She cursed, switched to the potency internal infusion, and jumped out of her hiding spot.


    Then she saw it.


    What a djinn really was.


    Because of the dune that had been blocking her line of sight, Aloe had only seen the monster''s upper body, that of a red human, but that was just a fraction of the djinn.


    The lower body was a six-legged abomination with a red-as-blood carapace, a huge stinger waiting at the end of the body like some sort of tail. The reason why she had heard so many crunching steps was because at the end of those six legs there weren''t any feet, paws, or whatever body part animals may have, but instead of feet, the djinn had needles thick as logs.


    "Oh, so you are alive?" The djinn expressed with amusement that in those seconds Aloe had been paralyzed upon seeing his monstrous shape. "I prefer it that way, there''s not much fun in eating dead game. Don''t you think so, darling?"


    If the djinn''s appearance wasn''t enough of a clue of his monstrous nature, his words certainly did the job.


    This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


    The monster slightly knelt, lowering his insect-like lower body, and extended his human arms as if to embrace her.


    "Come ''ere, I''ll give you lots of love~" He said and Aloe almost peed herself at the surreal, nightmarish situation. She couldn''t help to wonder if this was actually a product of her broken mind.


    Instead, she gathered all her might in a fist and hit the closest needle-leg with all her strength.


    "Aaaah!" They both shouted at the impact.


    The djinn''s front leg cracked after being hit, enough to have a hole the size of a fist inscribed on the surface. That had to hurt, but the human screamed as loudly if not more.


    Tears filled Aloe''s eyes and she looked at her hand.


    Her thumb was completely shattered.


    When Naila had trained her on the strength stance, she had only trained her on how to increase her strength and muscle mass, not how to use it. And it hadn''t been an exaggeration that Aloe had never thrown a punch in her life.


    Now she knew that there was technique and finesse even in the simplest of attacks.


    But there was no time to cry.


    "You little¡­" The djinn didn''t even finish his sentence as she kicked Aloe with his other front leg.


    The monster was pathetically slow compared to Naila, let alone Aaliyah, so she was able to switch to toughness in time. Having said so, the three-meter tall ¨C and even longer ¨C abomination was way stronger than the young sultanzade.


    Aloe was sent flying. Literally.


    For the briefest of instants, the cultivator lost her consciousness, but she recovered it when she was still airborne. Apparently, toughness also protected from loss of consciousness. Though what mattered more to her right now was landing correctly.


    The kick had left her breathless, and if her head were to be covered in sand again, she may not have time again for another breath.


    Curled like a ball, Aloe landed and continued rolling down a dune. It hurt, but she had experienced greater pain before. Nothing was cracked this time. She tried her best to protect her backpack with her own body as, paradoxically enough, she was way hardier than her leather backpack.


    Once more, toughness proved to be the internal infusion she was best at.


    Even with her dulled senses, she could clearly hear the djinn charging toward her. Her thumb didn''t hurt now thanks to toughness, but it was so badly bruised that watching it made her nauseous. Aloe took a deep breath and started changing her inner flow of vitality for a more tumultuous one.


    By the moment the djinn appeared over the crest of a dune, Aloe had already switched into potency.


    Focus on the legs. She told herself and raised her fists. They hurt like the nine hells.


    The djinn was slow, probably due to his big body and lack of actual feet. Still, Aloe didn''t trust her chances as the cart-sized monster rushed to her. She bit her lip and switched back to toughness, not wanting to risk it.


    She was almost blinded by the dust cloud the creature rose along his path but managed to sidestep the djinn without many difficulties. She hadn''t accounted for momentum, but she didn''t regret playing it safe.


    An inhuman guttural scream left the djinn''s jaws and he swayed his stinger around. Oh, dam- The long extremity hit her on the side, launching her a few meters away, though not as far as the leg had done.


    "Heh¡­" Aloe let out a pained chuckle as she somehow landed on her feet a few moments later despite her reduced sense of balance.


    It was amusing that she was light enough to be thrown around with each hit, yet her tenacity was great enough to shrug off such violent attacks. The red abomination charged at her again, though now that he was closer, the speed her gathered was significantly lesser.


    Barely, just barely, the cultivator managed to squeeze her strength stance out.


    And she decked one of the djinn''s middle legs.


    This time, though, she was careful enough to leave her thumb out of her fist. Whilst the punch felt a lot weaker, not having her thumb shattered even more was worth it.


    Two down. She thought even if the djinn could still stand on those legs. But how many legs would it take for the abomination to limp? Aloe was being realistic; she couldn''t kill the djinn. Not only she didn''t have martial training, but the monster looked too human for her to murder it.


    Not again. Aloe lost her concentration for a moment after thinking of the previous days'' events and she almost paid the price as she was still donning potency. Leg!


    Fortunately, she didn''t even need a blink of time to activate toughness.


    Unfortunately, this strike hit her right in the stomach and forcefully expelled all her air again.


    "Uhk!" She grunted in the air, her eyes locking with the djinn''s crimson ones for an instant. Only now she noticed that they were pure red orbs with no iris nor pupils, just sclera.


    In a perfect world, she would have switched to acuity before landing to maximize her chances of landing upright, but this wasn''t a perfect world and she would need more than two blinks to switch to that internal infusion.


    The djinn screeched again, now more animalistic than ever. He had kicked her with the wounded leg and it had dealt some damage to him.


    Aloe landed on her shoulder, which wasn''t bad, but meant that it took her time to get up. Significantly more than before. I''m getting tired. She thought whilst recovering her breath. If only I had a moment to switch to recovery to rest¡­


    The abomination charged back at her like a mindless critter. He was fast, but he lacked acceleration. That was the reason why she could avoid his attacks but not outrun him. Maybe one more leg¡­ Her whole plan was to make him hurt enough so she could outrun him with haste. Not the best one, but it was the only one that was feasible for her.


    She dodged the charge, but unfortunately, that put her below the monster''s thorax. The djinn took the opportunity and brutally lowered his body to squash her, forcing Aloe to throw herself to the ground and roll away.


    A cloud of dust blinded them both with the slam and even if she escaped unscathed, she was panting.


    Ah, how many hours have I been running before this? Her eyelids felt impossibly heavy.


    Even in her exhaustion, Aloe didn''t let her chance go away and wielded potency. Instead of a fist, she kicked the other middle leg, and while the hit made a nasty crunch, it was intact. Her legs weren''t as strong as her arms and they were the most tired part of her body after all.


    Again! Protesting against her pain and tiredness, Aloe kicked again the same leg. This kick now produced some cracks in the carapace, but still less than any of the two punches.


    The djinn grunted in pain, and she didn''t know what overtook her, but she screamed back at him. She still was wielding potency which did make her a bit bolder. The monster only stood up, so she punched the same leg in a frenzy.


    The stinger came back to her from a blind spot, hitting her before she had the chance to change to toughness. And whilst she did so once airborne, the damage was done.


    Aloe gritted her teeth, ignoring the pain through raw willpower and toughness.


    "I''ve had worse!" She shouted at the djinn in a fit of rage. "I''ve been trampled by mountains! You''re nothing!"


    Her head was spinning and her body was protesting, there was a limit to how much pain and mistreatment she could ignore with toughness. However, it truly enraged her the fact that she had indeed suffered more pain before.


    "Come ''ere, you say? Come at me, you abomination!" For the first time, she felt the true magnitude of the bolstering effect of potency. There was a fire in her that refused to be put down.


    Then, the unthinkable happened.


    The djinn turned his back and started running away.


    Aloe stood petrified for a few seconds, still donning toughness as she wondered if this was a trap, but after the djinn gathered his speed, he disappeared over the horizon.


    "Hahaha¡­" The cultivator laughed. It was a dry and coarse laugh, lacking any strength behind it. It was more of a lament than a giggle.


    The djinn was a monster ¨C an animal with her knowledge ¨C and animals didn''t fight to the death like humans if there was nothing for them.


    She collapsed a few seconds later.

 Book 4: 12. Possessive

    The news came as quite a surprise, but at the same time, she should have expected it. What person could have brewed such a potent and useful aphrodisiac if not an assassin? That left the question of why an assassin would deal with the sultanzade unanswered, but she had other preoccupations in mind.


    Fatima Asina wanted more of that liquid gold.


    "Would you believe me if I say that this is the first time I''ve seen little Aya?" Zain, her older brother said behind her. He was an expert of the stealth stance, so it took her a while to notice him even after he spoke.


    "Not really, no," Fatima responded with a sigh. "It is also my first time seeing the babe."


    Before them lay the newest inclusion to the imperial family, Aya Asina. Little more than one year old, and still uncorrupted by the hands of the Sultanah. Fatima had heard that mothers never unlatched from their babes, but since the birth of the creature, she had yet to see Aaliyah-al-Ydaz and Aya in the same room.


    "And why are you seeing her right now?" The male sultanzade asked with only the most basic curiosity imaginable. He was just bored and wasting time instead of training or whoring.


    The latter could be considered the same as training for her family.


    "Her birthday was a few days ago, so I guess I was curious. Is it not sad how there is only a maid to worry about her?"


    The maid in the room, Aya''s wet nurse, shuddered at being mentioned. People didn''t like to have the attention of sultanzade, even if the wet nurse was a noblewoman of a somewhat reputable noble house.


    "We all had just a maid to ourselves when we were little. Only those who were ill-mannered were given a guard too." To keep them in line, Zain left unsaid.


    Fatima chuckled. "I guess you are right."


    She offered her finger to the creature and the little ball of fat started suckling on it and giggling. She hadn''t ever known the taste of maternal milk, of her own mother that was.


    "So why are you really here?" Zain lazily supported his back on the door of the newborn''s room.


    "Curiosity, same as you." Fatima stood up and retracted her hand.


    Being deprived of her suckling toy, Aya started crying which made the wet nurse rush toward her and soothe her.


    "You know, there is a warrior''s tradition of comforting the little ones before leaving for war." The stealthy sultanzade voiced out.


    "We are warriors all," Fatima said as a matter of fact. "But what frankly has me weirded out is how Mother is not pregnant. I have seen her pregnant ¨C in one stage or another ¨C every day of my life for more than two decades, and now she has been without a child for more than a year."


    "Maybe she has become barren already." Zain jested.


    "I would like if that were the case, but you can never know with her."


    If Aaliyah-al-Ydaz had truly become barren, then that meant she was becoming old. And an old ruler was weak.


    But that was hard to say when half of her children looked older than her.


    "True, true." He added. "But I do not think you are here for anything related to Mother."


    "Really? Then enlighten me, dear brother." No sultanzade ever meant the word ''dear''.


    "I think this has to do with that scribe I heard so much about." Zain snickered.


    "A guess as good as any." Fatima refused to elaborate and left the room. Her brother stayed behind apparently already border of her antics.


    If there was one person she suspected of being an assassin, it was Zain, not Aloe Ayad. She already had that discussion with her sisters and the woman in question, and she honestly didn''t believe the commoner to have the guts. But if the Sultanah had publicly denounced her, it was for something.


    Something smelled afoot, nonetheless.


    And to check that, she readied herself for departure.


    Whilst she wasn''t the sultanzade with the most vitality ¨C not by a long shot ¨C nor the one with more mastery over the speed stance, Fatima trusted herself in being perfectly average. It was infuriating, but being average at everything had its perks, unlike those who only exceeded at one thing and had no hope at anything else.


    Unfortunately, free time wasn''t in abundance as of late, so she would have to go to Sadina on her own feet.


    Sultanzade were not unbeknownst to the harshness of the desert or high speeds, so Fatima donned a racing attire. It was a one-piece closed garb that protected every part of her skin from sand and the elements, beyond a pair of skin-tight glasses to also protect her eyes.


    That was definitely the most important part of the outfit.


    This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    No one gave her weird glances as she left the palace, anyone knew better than to gaze at a sultanzade like that, but she certainly was the center of attention before she left the walls of Asina.


    She made some distance before assuming the speed stance as the initial dash would blow quite the dust cloud and she was under orders to limit the exposure and knowledge of Nurture as much as possible. Though those were suggestions more than rules.


    Fatima put on her skin-tight glasses and rushed for the dunes.


    There was something liberating with the speed stance, and that wasn''t only the vertiginous movement or the feeling of air caressing her body, but also the danger.


    The knowledge that one single misstep without enough reaction time could kill her.


    That was exhilarating, exciting even.


    Not many sultanzade shared her feelings toward the stance, but she knew her half-sister Naila did. That was a speed djinn through and through.


    One had to train the speed stance not to just survive or respond to such speeds, but also to increase them. Fatima hadn''t indulged much in the latter, but her Nurture compensated for most of it.


    Her speed was so high, in fact, that she was skipping through the dunes. She was stepping on the crest of one of them, and because her momentum was so elevated, with the next step she could jump and reach the next one.


    Unfortunately, such speed couldn''t be maintained for long.


    She didn''t understand the full logistics of the stance, but the more physical speed the stance boosted, the faster the body would get tired.


    Resistance training was one of the most overlooked parts of the speed stance.


    A person couldn''t survive running with the speed stance for long periods; the higher the vitality, the shorter the time.


    Even if she trusted her body and trained it to parahuman levels, Fatima couldn''t hold her dash for more than an hour. Not that it mattered much when she could rest with a single breath after donning the regeneration stance.


    That stance alone was the reason why battles of attrition were impossible against Aaliyah-al-Ydaz. Even more so when taking into account that the creature that was her mother defied logic and was able to wield two stances.


    After a few rests and dashes, Fatima made it to Sadina at the beginning of the afternoon. She was a bit tired and short of breath as the regeneration stance, no matter how high she put it on a pedestal, wasn''t omnipotent.


    She removed her glasses and didn''t need a mirror to know that there was a very defined line between her covered parts and otherwise as the sand had incrusted on her skin.


    Making it to the palace of Sadina didn''t take long and she could have had a bath before visiting her half-sister, but she didn''t feel like it. She would need to be back at Asina tomorrow, so bathing now would make no sense, it would be just a waste of time.


    The sultanzade wasn''t surprised to find both of her half-sisters together in the same room.


    "What brings you here, Fatima?" Rani-al-Sadina, Emir of Sadina, didn''t bother hiding her animosity. Which was unexpected as she breathed masquerades.


    "So, is it true?" Fatima sat down and exhaled, everyone in the room knew what she was talking about.


    "Ayad is gone, that much I can tell." It was Naila who responded. "Apparently she had asked for a short vacation to go to her greenhouse, but the day after that our mother gave us the same news as you."


    She wasn''t talking literally, as the Sultanah hadn''t left Asina.


    Her greenhouse, eh? Fatima kept her thoughts to herself. I did ask her for more of my aphrodisiac so it makes sense she would go to her greenhouse, but they don''t know that, do they?


    "Was it not weird to you that she went for a holiday to her greenhouse?" Fatima inquired.


    "Do you believe that I am a dimwit?" Rani scowled. "This is not the first time she has gone to her greenhouse before on a leave. Not before nor after her hospitalization on Asina."


    "I cannot know that, sister." The words ''sister'' and ''brother'' meant nothing to them. "So was she really an assassin after all?"


    "I¡­" The emir gritted her teeth. It was weird for ''Miss Perfect'' Rani to lose her composure. "There were never signs of it. I never smelled any drugs from her, and I smelled her very close."


    Fatima snickered at that admission and Rani shot her a glance.


    "The only plants she has are either the pots of very normal flowers and herbs in her office and the greenhouse, which she inherited from her grandfather," Naila reported, acting as the neutral party.


    "Hmm¡­" Fatima did know that Aloe Ayad was dealing with drugs in one way or another. Otherwise, she had no explanation for that aphrodisiac. Naila''s words did bring a question to her mind. "What about the greenhouse? Can we expropriate it?"


    The cultivator wasn''t interested at all in the land, but in the plants the scribe may have grown. With luck, she could have access to the plants Ayad used for the aphrodisiac.


    "Already done so, but it is useless," Rani explained.


    It didn''t surprise Fatima that her half-sister had already taken over the lands. The law allowed governors to expropriate the lands owned by criminals, though it needed either the approval of the majority of the local noble houses or the sultanah. This last clause was because it otherwise made it easy for the governor to fabricate charges against landowners.


    The problem wasn''t that sultanzade abused their power, though, but rather how many people they made angry through that abuse. And the outcries of the people pestered the sultanah.


    "What do you mean it is useless?" Fatima said.


    "The greenhouse and the house next to it are burned to the ground," Naila revealed in her monotone voice.


    "To the ground, ground?" The sand-covered sultanzade asked.


    "To the ground, ground." The youngest sultanzade confirmed. "There are many weird things with the scene. Not only two structures have collapsed from very potent fire, but we have seen traces of blood, a dead dweller that we presume was Ayad''s, and some sets of footprints in the nearby perimeter of the oasis where this happened."


    "So there was someone else?" That was all Fatima took out of the explanation.


    "Perhaps." Naila shrugged.


    "It must have been the assassins." Rani howled. "They stole my Aloe and then hid it with their trickery, telling Aaliyah that she was the assassin herself."


    There was something wrong with her half-sister.


    Possessiveness.


    Her eyes shone in the rage of a possessive person who had been stolen from. That was dangerous as sultanzade couldn''t be tied down with people. They were superior and everyone else was just a target of their reaping. Even their own blood were targets, just ones that had to be erased instead of pruned. Fatima didn''t know if that possessiveness was born out of romance or simply fury at being stolen, but it was a weakness.


    And weakness had to be purged.


    "Either case," Fatima started, "this outcome is massively disappointing. I enjoyed my conversations with Ayad." She really hadn''t, but the scribe offered her a great chance at being the next ruler of Ydaz. Having her out of the game this soon was problematic. "So what are you going to do, Rani-al-Sadina?"


    The emir placed her hands on the roots of her hair and pushed it down, letting her mane flow. Her eyes shone purple with an uncontrolled flare of charm.


    "Aaliyah herself has said it before," she started, her composure restored and dignified, "assassins are a scourge upon these lands. We do not negotiate with them like the fool of Hassan. We exterminate them."

 Book 4: 13. Highlands

    Aloe woke up to the plucking of a burrowing owl that was trying to eat her eyeballs. All in all, she had way worse awakenings. Because she had passed out whilst donning toughness, the owl had no chance of getting her juicy eyeballs. Any shape or form of durability and defense was increased by the internal infusion, but apparently, tension and compression resistance scaled better than toughness itself.


    However it may be, once she finished that thought, Aloe jumped out of her prone position. The owl flew away scared from the sudden movement.


    "Ugh, I feel like manure¡­ At least I''m still alive, I guess¡­" Every word was hard-fought, making Aloe reach for her waterskin.


    There were no more traces of animals or monsters around her. The latter wasn''t surprising as it was already past morning.


    "I lost a lot of time." She mussed with a hand on her temples, a headache killing her. "I pushed myself there¡­" The cultivator recalled her close battle against the djinn.


    Too close for her liking, yet surprisingly feasible.


    For someone who hadn''t raised a fist in her life, she had managed to push a monster away even if she had exhausted herself to death.


    "Need to push on. I''ve lost too much time." She reiterated.


    But she knew she was still tired as she hadn''t had a recovery-laden sleep. So for the time being, she donned the regeneration stance and ate a bit. Her focus was the more perishable goods like milk and cheese. The fat contents of said goods would also help her.


    After a hearty lunch and a solid half-an-hour of rest, Aloe felt confident of continuing her journey. Perhaps it was the exhaustion, but the part of her body that hurt the most wasn''t her legs or the parts that had been hit by the djinn, but her thumb.


    Without knowing it, she had totally decimated her finger.


    "It could be worse," she whispered while shifting her flow of vitality from recovery to haste. "Not bleeding nor lost, I hope recovery will heal it."


    She wasn''t all that worried. Losing a thumb wasn''t the end of the world, even if it was from her dominant hand. The lesson she had learned from her mistake was more valuable.


    Wrapping one''s thumb in a fist was a moronic action.


    Whether the source of her headache was her exhaustion, her pain, or the noise that echoed across the Whistling Sands, Aloe ran without a care of the world beyond her. With any luck, she should arrive at the Ridged Highlands tonight.


    She took this day with more calm as she was still hurt and took more breaks, but she pressed forward as much as possible. Sleeping on the sand wasn''t a possibility anymore. Djinns were solitary monsters, that much she knew, but what if ¨C and that was a big if ¨C she found two at the same time?


    That was an unwinnable battle.


    The most acknowledgeable thing that happened in the whole day was that she had to stop and strip down to check her wounds as they started to hurt. Unfortunately, they were just bruises so she couldn''t do anything to heal them besides rest.


    Or that could be considered fortunate as they were only bruises.


    She didn''t frankly care for distinction. Her head and her body hurt too much to worry about such trivialities.


    Night soon came, but Aloe didn''t stop moving. Whilst not as bright as yesternight, the moon still shone with enough light for her to move under the mantle of darkness. The lack of light wasn''t the issue in this part of the lunar cycle, but the cold and the monsters.


    Running with haste donned made her colder rather than hotter just by the sheer amount of cold air that blew at her, but it wasn''t enough to get hypothermia. If she did get cold, during her rests she would take out her budding Blossomflame and cradle it in her arms to take a bit of its warmth.


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    It wasn''t much, and it definitely wasn''t a fire, but it was better than nothing.


    Slowly but surely, vitality gathered on her evolved flower through the flowing stance as each and every rest she at least gave it an adult''s worth of vitality.


    Using the flowing stance didn''t increase her vitality like using Evolution, or that was the impression she had had so far, but having a grown Blossomflame at her disposal was far more important than a risible increase in vitality.


    What was a bit scary, though, was how fast she regenerated vitality.


    Naila had told her that the regeneration stance boosted vitality regeneration and that using vitality and training with it did increase that base factor, but either she was underestimating the augment in speed, or the sultanzade like her were unable to train their vitality like Aloe as they only had access to Nurture.


    Unlike them, she was using Evolution too in tandem with her own flowing stance skill.


    Even though her recovery factor should have been around sice that of a normal person, she estimated that right now she was restoring her vitality at least tence as fast as when she started using Infusion for the first time after what seemed ages ago.


    Multiplying one''s vitality regeneration by a factor of ten was breathtaking and horrifying. She could restore an adult''s worth of vitality in a few minutes with recovery, which made her tremble at the idea of how fast Aaliyah might restore her own vitality.


    Still a long way to go. She told herself whilst pushing her vitality into the Blossomflame. The plant had already reached the ''white petal'' stage.


    There was one problem with all the vitality transfusion though, and that was that she was getting tired fast. For better or worse, the constant strain of vitality that she had to suffer in the court of Sadina to keep her reserve size hidden had made her quite resistant to fatigue, especially vitality-born one.


    But resistance wasn''t immunity.


    Her headaches weren''t that bad right now, but shoving vitality into the Blossomflame was tiring her, and this was supposed to be her rest period. She was balancing on a very precarious line, if she used any more vitality than the amount she was currently using, she could run into problems.


    And she was well aware of that.


    Whether it was a perk of Nurture or just her knowledge of vitality, her understanding of her own body was extensive.


    It didn''t help that she still hadn''t reached the Highlands. Aloe had been going for almost twenty-four hours straight without sleeping. And the sleep that she did get beforehand was a short nap that wasn''t even boosted by the regeneration stance.


    She was pushing herself dangerously close to a breaking point, she could feel it in her bones, muscles, blood, and the very vitality that was circling inside her body.


    Please, where are the highlands? She found herself peering at the sky on one of the many rests, Blossomflame in her arms. The sun was already coming up from the horizon and the starry mantle of the night sky was disappearing with its progress.


    "Ah.." She half-groaned, half-moaned. "Should I just sleep during the day?" The cultivator asked herself as she gazed at her trembling hands. "I do have mantles to protect myself and make a makeshift tent but¡­"


    Sleeping during the day may be more dangerous during the night but for the opposite reasons.


    Not only she would risk a heat stroke and every danger that entailed, but also visibility was greater during the day. If someone was pursuing her, which was now more likely after the events of that town, then they would see her easily when she was sleeping.


    "K-keep¡­ pu-shing," Aloe told herself. She stood up, tidied everything she had gotten out of the backpack, and marched again toward the sun.


    It took her one more hour until the landscape changed.


    "Yes!" She jumped in the air the instant the whiteness of the Whistling Sands stopped, then she remembered she was still running with haste on and she had jumped off a dune with a lot of momentum stored. "Fu-"


    The petite cultivator didn''t have to finish that word as the ground precipitated toward her, or rather, she was running headfirst toward it. Fortunately, it was more than enough time to switch to toughness and tilt her body to the side so she met the incoming sand wall with her shoulder.


    What followed was a dust cloud of monumental proportions as a projectile of around sixty kilograms ¨C backpack included ¨C impacted against a mound of sand. Half of the dune collapsed from the impact, almost burying Aloe alive.


    "Wroo!" Aloe grunted like once her dear Fikali would have done and unlatched her body from literal tons of sand. It had taken a potency internal infusion and a near-death experience. "T-that¡­ was too close for my liking."


    It terrified her how a single misstep had almost caused her death.


    The defense stance hadn''t done anything as the problem hadn''t been the impact, but the aftermath of it.


    Aloe continued to dust herself for the next few minutes as she calmly walked whilst donning recovery, still shaken from the collision to activate haste again.


    "I can do without sand for a while, maybe a lifetime." Said the desert inhabitant.


    But before her, they were finally there. Instead of the cream-electrum color of the Qiraji, or the searing white of the Whistling Sands, a dull landscape of grey lay before her.


    She had finally reached the Ridged Highlands, and grey had never looked so colorful before.

 Book 4: 14. Selen

    Aloe almost cried out of joy upon seeing the rocky ground before her, but that would have been a wasteful use of her very limited water, so instead she satisfied herself kneeling on the hard ground.


    Then she instantly regretted it.


    "Heaven almighty!" The cultivator clutched her hands in pain and noticed how there were several small cuts all across them. "T-they," she held her tears, "weren''t joking when they said the highlands led you to a death by a thousand cuts."


    For the next few minutes, Aloe sobbed and licked her wounds. She took out the Blossomflame from her backpack out of fear that it would try to heal her and instead would set ablaze the backpack.


    "Okay, you are still too young to heal, good to know." The evolved flower did partially react to her through some very slight wiggles. So minute in fact that she only really became sure after switching to acuity.


    Painfully and regretfully, Aloe soaked a rug with a waterskin and cleaned her wounds. If this was Sadina, she could have just donned toughness and forgotten about them ¨C pain included ¨C but she didn''t have the luxury to waste her only infusion on that.


    "If I could get an external infusion¡­" She mussed as she strolled across the highlands. It was weird walking on true solid ground after so long. Even the sandstone and the pavement of the town she stopped by was rather soft to the feet.


    But alas, getting an external infusion was impossible. If her theory and personal experience were right, then she would need another person to infuse her. Ignoring how much vitality that person would need to infuse her ¨C she had never infused a cultivator after all, and penetrating someone''s vitality was hard ¨C there was an issue too big to overcome before that.


    Teaching someone else about Infusion.


    Not only Infusion but vital arts and vitality itself. That person would need to be taught on sensing vitality, increasing their reserves, and then applying infusions. Aloe doubted she could ever again get to trust someone after everything that happened, let alone teach them.


    Unfortunately, she would never have the chance to wield two simultaneous stances.


    But that loss of an opportunity and future was compensated with a rocky outcrop. Sure, it wasn''t much, but her vision was blurry, her head was throbbing, and she hadn''t slept for around a day, or two if she didn''t count the pitiful nap she had after collapsing from the battle against the djinn.


    It was still early and the day and logic told her that she couldn''t go to sleep, but she also felt like dying ¨C and not metaphorically ¨C so the urge of unconsciousness won out.


    She didn''t make a makeshift job out of her litter though. First, she checked that the ground was truly solid even if she had walked quite far from the Whistling Sands, enough so that the song of the white desert was barely audible, because having monsters burrow from the ground and kill her in her sleep would be a disappointing way to die after everything that happened.


    At this point, death was just disappointing for Aloe, sadness and fear had died along the journey.


    And many other things too.


    However it may be, other aspects of her sleeping place she took into account were that visibility was low so she wouldn''t be seen from far away and that the ground didn''t bleed her to death over her sleep.


    That last part wasn''t much of an issue after extending her blanket on the ground and deploying her sleeping bag. And whilst not exactly comfortable, she used her backpack as the pillow as she didn''t want to leave anything up to chance.


    After donning recovery, it didn''t take Aloe more than two heartbeats before falling asleep.


    <hr>


    "Ooohhh¡­" The petite cultivator groaned her way into wakefulness. "Not bad, not bad." It spoke great lengths about Aloe''s latest rest that sleeping in a pile of razor-sharp needles could be considered ''not bad'' sleep.


    Aloe struggled on the sleeping bag for a few minutes, still too drowsy or unwilling to leave her hard-foaught sleep.


    Quite literally at that.


    Once she opened her eyes though, she was surprised.


    "Did I only sleep an hour?" Aloe said after judging the current position of the sun and where it was before she went to sleep, then scrubbed her eyes as if they were working incorrectly.


    She had to check on the Blossomflame, which she had left outside the backpack to not crush it in her sleep and also to let it get a bit of sunlight, and only after checking the moisture ¨C or lack thereof ¨C of the pot''s soil, she realized what had happened.


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    "How?" She howled at the heavens. "How in the nince-damned hells did I sleep a whole day?"


    Nothing answered her, except the nearby song of the Whistling Sands.


    As infuriating as it was knowing that she had lost a day of travel, she had desperately needed that rest. If not for her body, then for her mind.


    "Also, damn¡­ Twenty-five hours of sleep times six for the recovery factor¡­ that''s a hundred-fifty hours of sleep." And even with that much virtual rest, she still felt sleepy.


    After getting out of her sleeping bag, which took her more time than she was willing to admit, Aloe pondered what to do with the Blossomflame as she poured some vitality into the plant with the flowing stance.


    "It''s a bit dry, but I can''t waste too much water. Though the Blossomflame is maybe even more valuable than a few drops¡­" Her dilemma went for so long that she poured ¨C it felt wrong saying ''infuse'' as that had different connotations ¨C two adults into the evolved flower. "I¡­ should I pee on it?"


    The dilemma went on for a bit longer as she questioned her life choices. People peed on trees and grass all the time so it must be good for them, though in the end, she decided against it as she realized that she would have to carry her urinated pot with her in the backpack.


    Thinking so much about urine left her disgusted and disgruntled for the whole morning.


    Much to her dismay, Aloe watered the budding flower with actual water.


    "I hope I don''t regret it." She drank from the waterskin after giving the Blossomflame its fair share.


    Carefully, she placed the plant on the highest position of the backpack so nothing would squash it, but still closed the backpack tightly so the plant wouldn''t fly away when she was running like a madwoman.


    The logistics of carrying a potted plant across wastelands were quite tedious.


    Once she recovered the vitality she had used with her Forced Growth flowing stance technique, which wasn''t long thanks to the regeneration stance, Aloe donned the speed stance and marched forward.


    The first thing she noticed ¨C besides not struggling to fall asleep with every step ¨C when she ran was that it was way easier to plant her feet and move on solid ground. It may seem quite obvious, but her common sense had dulled after living the last few days in a frenetic invisible pursuit on unstable ground.


    That also meant that any fall would be much more dangerous, but considering the ground was easier on the feet and that she could switch to toughness in a blink, she didn''t worry about falling at all.


    Sort of.


    The sharpness of the soil of the Ridged Highlands was quite terrifying, even with toughness in play. What if any dust, or whatever there was on the ground, clung to her clothes or skin after a fall and then everything cut her all at once when she deactivated toughness?


    She feared nothing¡­ not many things when she was wielding toughness, but what happened after that did worry her. Bleeding out by a thousand cuts sounded less than pleasing.


    For her first rest, Aloe was careful where she sat. Fear was a powerful motivator and a good way to keep her guard up. Something she kind of lacked as of late, if just out of tiredness.


    Because the rocky ground was so easy on her feet, she allowed herself a longer rest as she felt like she had traveled more distance than she would otherwise have in the sandy ground. The ''longer'' rest wasn''t enough to restore enough vitality for a second round of Force Growth on the Blossomflame, but her body appreciated the rest, nonetheless.


    Once she was ready to go away, instead of switching for haste, Aloe wielded toughness to dust her clothes. She had sat on a rock instead of the ground, but better safe than sorry. Paranoia had only helped her so far ¨C or so she would like to think ¨C and the whole process only took a couple of minutes.


    Even though the landscape of the Ridged Highlands was more varied ¨C there even was grass sometimes! ¨C than the Whistling sands, it felt more monotonous to Aloe. The sight was too dull with its greys, and the song of the desert did provide her some paltry entertainment.


    At least the progress was fast.


    The only problem was the many crevices and ravines she found from time to time. Because the terrain slumped downwards rather than upwards, her visibility of the holes was great, though that meant that sometimes she had to stop on her foot to circle around some nasty drops. Too mighty to be scoffed by toughness.


    The highlands were called ridged for a reason.


    With each break, Aloe''s mood slightly improved overall. Not only was she practically in Loyata, but the growth of the Blossomflame was going smoothly. It would only take a day or two until it was fully grown at this rate. Way worse than the single night it took her before, but that time she had spent a lot of vitality pills. For that same reason, she now didn''t have many at her disposal. The term "for emergencies" now rung truer than ever.


    For a good time, she had thought she would go past the fortress city of Selen, as the landscape was dull and desertic. There was truly nothing on the horizon, so a landmark as big as a whole city was easily missable.


    On one hand, it would be nice to overshoot and already be at Loyata.


    On the other hand, though, Selen would be her last stop where she was guaranteed to find people who spoke Ydazi. From there, it would only become harder to acquire provisions. Especially considering she would only be able to trade with drupnars from wandering merchants or brokers who valued the metal.


    Her fears ended up being unfounded as night came by. Once she was thinking of setting camp, she saw light on the horizon. Dim, as always, but quite eye-catching as the moon''s size and light had been on the decrease this last lunar cycle stage.


    Though her paranoia was somewhat justified as she only saw the fortress from the corner of her eye, meaning that if she had reached her current position during the day ¨C especially morning as the sun would be blinding her ¨C then she would have most likely passed by without noticing the city.


    Aloe could have rushed to the fortress, but she decided instead to set camp. If a town couldn''t offer her lodgings at this hour, a fortress would be even less likely. She searched for the biggest rocky formation around and found a nice arch, bigger than a pavilion.


    Not that she had one herself. If she had stayed with the nomads, then maybe¡­


    With a bit of help from potency, the cultivator climbed the near-vertical surface without breaking a sweat and laid down for the night.


    From her prone position, she could see the warm lights of the fortress city of Selen calling her.


    "Tomorrow¡­" Her words weaved with a yawn.

 Book 4: 15. Rest

    The day started poorly when Aloe decided to stretch her legs whilst still drowsy and almost fell as she forgot that she was on top of an arch. Sure, if that were the case she would have reacted in time and switched to toughness even when sleepy, but nothing could remove the fear induced by the scare from her heart.


    To calm herself, she pushed a bit of vitality into the Blossomflame and also watered it. Because she was near a city, she wasn''t as frightened as before to waste water on the flower.


    Following her wasteful spree, the cultivator also had a hearty breakfast as she would restock on provisions on Selen, and if possible, also get a bath.


    "I thank the heavens for my dulled senses whilst donning any stance." Aloe kissed the loaf of cheese she was holding whilst looking to the skies in prayer and then ate it.


    The only saving grace of her poor hygiene was that she, somehow, hadn''t sweated much during the journey here. Not that she had much spare water to sweat in the first place.


    Once she was done eating ¨C she took enough time that she sneaked another flowing stance in the midst of it ¨C Aloe gathered her things and stood up, ready to go to Selen.


    As she was too lazily, and kind of frightened, to climb down the arch, Aloe stood in front of the ledge. She wasn''t that high up, only around five meters.


    "Uh¡­ you know what, fuck it." And she jumped off.


    In less than a blink, her body was already wielding toughness. As a matter of fact, because she had jumped rather than walked off, Aloe had switched internal infusion before even losing height.


    Then she impacted with the ground.


    "Huh." She groaned. "Well, that was anticlimactic. I expected more¡­ fanfare? I don''t know, maybe a dust cloud and a huge thud but¡­ yeah, nothing. Aaaanyways~"


    Disappointed with her lackluster fall which felt as if she had only jumped off from the second step of a stair, the petite woman started walking whilst shifting the vitality inside of her body to activate the haste internal infusion.


    She was careful with her speed and the distance between the city and her as she didn''t want to raise any alarms. Between the fact that her maximum vitality slowly grew and that it was way easier to run on solid ground, Aloe''s speed might even outclass that of a dweller in the sand.


    Not that she could verify that statement now.


    Aloe gritted her teeth as her mind was now filled with sad thoughts and she pushed forward with a single, focused mind.


    From the distance, she took in the details of Selen. The walls were made out of dull stone like the very ground of the Ridged Highlands instead of limestone and sandstone that would be used in traditional walls like those of Sadina and Asina.


    They were also far more utilitarian and were deprived of any actual decorations like the bright blue walls of Asina with their colossal gates. She couldn''t actually see the gates of Selen, but Aloe doubted it had one for each cardinal direction and was probably bound to be small.


    Once she was close enough that she may be detected, Aloe switched haste off and instead donned acuity. Her enhanced sight was prodigious, but not even an eagle could see kilometers into the distance with precision. What she could discern was the size and the vague layout of the city. Like every good-standing fortress city, there were seemingly no edifications outside the walls, and from her advantage point, everything looked very tightly packed.


    That wasn''t much of a surprise.


    Now that she was on a considerable elevation, she searched for the road as approaching the city from the middle of nowhere was the last thing she wanted to do. Following the same tactic from the early morning, Aloe jumped down with toughness, totally impervious to the fall.


    For the rest of the journey to the road, she switched to the regeneration stance and used her time to evolve black seeds. If she ever needed water now, her best plan of action was transplanting the Blossomflame and using the soil of the pot for a Flourishing Spring and force-grow it into maturity instead of potentially having to drink her urine.


    The sheer thought of guzzling the hot substance made her gag.


    "Ugh, why am I picturing it so neatly?" Aloe wiped the imagined taste out of her tongue with her objectively dirtier hands.


    Walking without the haste internal infusion made her unbelievably slow. Not only because she was no longer moving at sice her normal speed, but because using another infusion did diminish her base speed. Even her hack with recovery, that she had unlimited stamina with this stance, didn''t really work as she was using most of her vitality for Evolution. And the less vitality she had, the more severe the attribute reductions from the stance were.


    Dozens of black seeds later and with noon threatening to arrive, Aloe made it to Selen.


    The walls were even more imposing up close, but she didn''t let herself get intimidated. Right now would be the decisive moment. She will likely have been marked as a criminal by now, but she also was weeks away from Asina, where the news would have to travel from.


    Her safety bid on the fact that the sultanzade and the sultanah thought that she had thrice the vitality of an adult instead of sice. That meant that she was twice as fast as they would believe, so no emissaries should have yet reached the furthest point of the Ydaz-Loyata border.


    Hopefully.


    Tensions were high with Loyata, so the guards at the gates were bound to stop her, what mattered was if they knew her face or not.


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    With the speed stance ready and her best efforts to control her movement-boosted body so she didn''t appear unnaturally fast, Aloe walked toward the city gates.


    "Halt!" One of the guards announced. Both wielded pikes, even if they had scimitars too on their belts. "Reason of entry?"


    Even though the soldier was intimidating, Aloe relaxed as soon as they didn''t look at her closely. It seems they aren''t on alert. Yet.


    "Passage and rest, if possible," Aloe explained with a hint of nervousness. Practiced nervousness. After all, a woman of her stature would be intimidated by a guard talking to her even if she had nothing to hide.


    It was weird using her masquerade after this long.


    "Are you a merchant?" He inquired.


    The cultivator frowned as there wasn''t anything in her person that screamed ''merchant''. Her backpack was big, yes, but that was expected of a traveler. Especially a solitary one.


    "No, I''m not." She swayed with her head.


    "You mentioned passage, what''s your destination?"


    "What''s this an interrogation?" Aloe expressed frustration along with putting her hands on her hips.


    "Yes." The guard added taciturnly. "Tensions are rising, and we must control any movement in and out of Loyata, which I suppose is your destination."


    "I¡­ yes." Her tone was to a near growl, but she let herself be subdued. A traveler wouldn''t like to mess with the guards. "My sister lives a bit past the border and I''m on my way to visit her, will that be enough of a reason?"


    The guard didn''t comment further, not even at her outburst, and simply motioned her to pass through.


    Wordlessly, Aloe obeyed.


    This type of gate control was more a posse than anything else for the common traveler. Their true intention was to regulate commerce rather than avoid crimes.


    The fortress city of Selen was small, and that much became even more evident once she stepped in. It had an oppressive air to it, and with guards and soldiers at every corner, it felt more like an oversized garrison than an actual city.


    The sheer number of armed people made Aloe second guess herself, but it was too late to turn back now so she tightened her cayora and continued forward. She still was a bit too fresh and anxious to ask for directions, so the first thing she did was stroll around to get a feel of the place.


    It was painfully obvious that Selen was located near Loyata as most buildings, instead of being made out of stone or mud, were made out of wood. Wood was hard to come by in most regions of Ydaz, so much so, that most hearths were typically fueled with coal and some dry plants, but here it was plentiful. Or that was what Aloe thought at seeing houses with more wood than just their beams.


    Once she felt secure enough, Aloe switched haste for acuity to inspect the place better, and after she detected nothing out of the ordinary, she finally settled with recovery. For day-to-day life, the regeneration stance was certainly the best one, she couldn''t understand why Fatima and Naila had called it a useless one besides for taking breaks.


    Though at the same time, they couldn''t abuse the vitality-restoration properties like her.


    When the sun reached its zenith and her stomach growled, the fugitive cultivator finally gathered enough confidence to ask for directions. The conversation was simpler, only slightly difficulted by the thick accent of this backwater emirate, but she was told that there was only one inn in Selen, though it was a rather pleasant one.


    And also expensive.


    That didn''t surprise her as this city was more of a military outpost than anything, and money wasn''t much of a problem, even if she only carried a fraction of her fortune on her person. As a matter of fact, Aloe was elated to hear that, because if it was really expensive, then there was a high chance that the inn had a bath, and the heavens knew she was aching for the tight embrace of hot water.


    Aloe wasn''t surprised to find said inn nearly empty. From the looks of the customers with their expensive-looking silks, they were all merchants. That made even more sense as there were quite a few camels, dromedaries, and even horses on the stables adjacent to the inn. Only rich people could afford mounts.


    Hmm, a drupnarea will certainly get me a horse, but it would be incredibly suspicious to drop such a valuable coin when I look like a beggar, besides leaving an obvious trail of my presence. Not many people traded with gold coins, not even merchants. And she was likely bound to be faster than a horse.


    The passerby she had talked to wasn''t lying when he said the inn was expensive, as a single night ended up costing her two drupnari, which was basically a fifth of the monthly income of a commoner worker.


    She would have cried out of outrage if it wasn''t because a meal was included in the deal plus a bath.


    That was really the only thing that mattered to her.


    Because she was starving, the first thing she had was the meal, which was only mutton soup, but it brought her to tears being able to have a hot meal whilst sitting down and not being in a hurry. She kind of was, the fact that she was going to stay a night was enough of a risk already, but she needed the rest badly.


    She tried to ignore it to the best of her capabilities, but the wounds from the battle against the djinn still hurt especially her thumb. So a breather, even as short as one night was, was imperative.


    After having the meal, Aloe went to the bath, which had already been filled with hot water as she had announced her intentions beforehand.


    Never before had she stripped down so fast.


    Aloe threw her clothes around freely as they were basically torn rugs by this point and submerged her whole body into the water, not even rinsing before going in.


    "Oh, heavens!" The petite woman spasmed in ecstasy when she got her head out of the water. "A bath has never felt this good~"


    She almost wanted to stay here forever, escape be damned. And she almost did it, if it wasn''t because the water rapidly turned cold. Unlike the public baths of Sadina or the private baths at the palace, these waters weren''t constantly heated, but instead a bathtub filled with buckets of hot water.


    After being the only human in all of Khaffat to be sexually excited for water, Aloe was freed from her stupor and thoroughly washed her body. There was grime in places that there shouldn''t be grime after having traveled through multiple biomes and days without so much of a wet towel to clean herself.


    Once she was completely clean, she gagged at having to wear the same clothes because they weren''t only in a poor state, but even dirtier than she had been. That cemented her resolution, and she went to whatever shop she could find new clothes, especially underwear.


    Getting a new attire had been a bit complicated as she was rather small and there weren''t many tailors with readied clothing of her size. Whilst she hated to admit it, she normally bought clothes meant for children, or at least she did so before they gifted all her daily life clothing at the palace, but there weren''t exactly many children in this fortress. After talking with one of the tailors, she was recommended to get thicker clothing once she mentioned that Loyata was her destination.


    Her proudest purchase, though, was many sets of undergarments and socks.


    All in all, the clothing took a hit on her purse. This spending was no longer on the level of silver, but electrum. She faced the problem of being impossibly rich right now but being unable to spend her fortune as it was in the shape of gold.


    Because she wanted to be out as early as possible tomorrow, Aloe already bought the provisions she would need for the rest of the journey. A word with one of the many people she talked to told her that the fjord ports were around a month away, which was less than a week for her, making her able to go nonstop for the promised ship.


    With her purchases over, Aloe headed for the inn and peacefully rested all the remaining afternoon by evolving black seeds, which she had also restocked. By the time the sun went away, she was already lying in the comfort of a soft bed.


    "Things can only go for the better now." She murmured on her way to sleep.

 Book 4: 16. Mortality

    The first thing Aloe felt when she woke up was an impossible nausea. A jolt of dizziness assaulted her whole body into wakefulness.


    "W-what?" She groggily woke up, but the moment she put her torso upright, her throat gagged.


    The sensation was too sudden, and it didn''t come alone. She barely had time to react and put her head to the side as she puked her guts out.


    "Whuh?" Aloe groaned in confusion, her mind still numbed by sleep and her mouth covered in vomit. "Wha'' happened?"


    She looked around noticing no one. She truly was alone in her room. That dismissed her first thought of being poisoned. Then as she removed the sheets to stand up, she almost puked again by the sight alone.


    "Oh heavens¡­" Her face instantly was drained of color.


    Between her legs, a sea of red awaited.


    "Ugh¡­" As the nausea came again, she became aware of the cramps assaulting her torso, and only then realized what the problem was.


    Aloe shifted her internal infusion from recovery to toughness, and in a blink, most of the pain went away. Now that she was no longer assaulted by a maddening malaise, her head became clearer.


    "Oh, the mortality¡­" She cursed. "Of course, how could I have forgotten about the curse that affects and taunts me every moon¡­"


    The source of her problems was none other than menstruation.


    She was already quite weak to the female body''s monthly functions, basically becoming incapable that specific day of the month, but her usage of internal infusions only made it worse as without toughness, the pain of menstruation would be exacerbated.


    "Oof¡­" Even after having recovered her breath, she was still panting from the sickness. "H-how much blood there''s there?" Her mouth was foul with the taste of vomit and also dehydrated. "Or rather, why''s there this much blood?"


    The cultivator slowly blinked a few times to gather her thoughts before coming to a hypothesis.


    "Is it recovery?" She wondered as she rested her head on the pillow and looked at the inn''s wooden ceiling. "I mean¡­ it does boost my body''s healing¡­ so perhaps¡­" her words were pained and hard to come by, "perhaps it has increased the blood in my body?"


    She was aware that some sickness were caused by having too much on the body, or that was what the physicians said, so maybe her body healed on its own by expulsing that much blood during her period.


    "I hate it," she nearly cried.


    Even after switching to toughness, she still felt the itches and the cramps, no matter if they didn''t hurt her. The only solution that came to mind was searching for the assistance of the Blossomflame. Aloe stood up from the bed, but she had forgotten about a little detail, wielding a stance that wasn''t the sense one weakened her balance.


    The bloody and pale woman crashed to the ground.


    "Ugh¡­" Aloe groaned on the ground. The fall didn''t hurt her, but it did expulse the air out of her lungs. She never did a good job keeping the air inside them.


    She slowly crawled to the evolved flower on her backpack, but as some embers threatened to come out, Aloe realized where she was standing right now.


    A wooden building.


    If a Blossomflame had somehow set a mud shack ablaze, heavens knew what it would do to an inn made out of wood.


    "Stop!" She shouted at the Blossomflame, even if she highly doubted the evolved plant could understand her. Nevertheless, the gathering embers did seem to calm down.


    The outside of the inn, not so much.


    Aloe heard heavy steps rushing toward her and a female voice that she recognized as the innkeeper shouted at her. "Is everything alright? I heard a thud and a scream!"


    "Ugh¡­" The cultivator made an effort to stand up before deflecting the woman away, but her strength faltered and she crashed again into the ground, which made her head span around.


    "I''m going in." The innkeeper said, apparently having run out of patience.


    The mature woman opened the door and was welcomed by the picturesque sight of a bloodied bed with multiple vomit splashes and a half-naked girl lying on the floor.


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    "Oh, heavens! Is everything alright?" She rushed for Aloe.


    "Ehm¡­ yes," the petite woman responded with a hint of doubt as her thoughts were still sluggish from the nausea.


    Slowly, the innkeeper passed an arm underneath Aloe''s armpit, and she raised her upper body from the floor.


    "What happened here? That''s an awful lot of blood." The mature woman asked.


    Now, Aloe was aware that she had bled too much to be considered humanly possible. She was already quite the bleeder and if her theory was correct, she had bled sice ¨C or perhaps closer to sevice now ¨C the expected amount. No sane person would think this was the byproduct of menstruation.


    "I had a miscarriage."


    So she panicked.


    The innkeeper''s eyes opened like plates and showered in worry. "Are you okay? Do you need me to call for a physician?"


    "Uhh, no. It''s not needed," having medical attention would only expose her to more people and make her more known. "This is not my first miscarriage."


    So she panicked again.


    "T-this is not your first miscarriage?" The innkeeper''s visage of worry partially shifted to one of doubt, but very much still laden with concern.


    "I¡­ I was a prostitute." The worst part was that it wasn''t a lie. Her position hadn''t been that different from a lady of the night.


    "I see." And with that single statement, the innkeeper''s expression shifted into understanding. After all, you didn''t ask a young woman why or how she was a prostitute, you just accepted it.


    All in all, the excuse wasn''t half-bad. Not that she had been present in any birth or anything, but with her limited knowledge of anatomy, she expected a miscarriage to look an awful lot like this.


    "So," the innkeeper continued, still holding to her armpit, "will you need something else."


    "If I could get some water and warm food, I''d appreciate it."


    "Let''s add a bath to that, do we?" The mature woman offered with a smile.


    "Thanks." Aloe nodded weakly.


    Carefully, the innkeeper guided her to the bed, which had been a more daunting task than Aloe had expected as her legs behaved like wet noodles. Once she was back on the bed, the innkeeper went for the door.


    "I''ll get you some food and the bath ready," she said with her hand on the doorframe. "Faruq!" She shouted into the inn. "Get some fresh water for this girl!" Then she closed the door behind her.


    Not before long, the door opened again and a young man close to Aloe''s age entered the room. His eyes shot wide open at the sight, but he continued forward without raising his voice.


    "Here''s the water." Faruq, who looked like he was the son of the innkeeper, placed a tray with a jug of water and a glass on the nightstand and promptly left.


    They still have glass glasses here, huh? Aloe had almost expected them to bring her a wooden cup because wood was so plentiful that she thought they would prefer them to glass. Strangely, it brought her comfort that this was still Ydaz and they were drinking from glass.


    Even if she hated everything the country stood for.


    Wiggling through the dirty bed, Aloe moved her torso upwards and sat upright to pour herself some water.


    "Ah, back to life." The cold water brought clarity to her clouded mind. "At least I''m not fainting from blood loss. That could have been¡­ problematic."


    Whilst she waited for either the food or the bath to arrive, the cultivator picked up some black seeds and started evolving them to Flourishing Springs. Her vitality was slowly getting closer to sice of an adult, but by donning toughness to soothe the pain, her vitality regeneration was quite gutted. She only managed to evolve two seeds before the innkeeper came back.


    The first course would be the bath, as it would seem. The innkeeper said that this way she could clean the room whilst she was in the bath, and offered to help her in the tub, but Aloe turned down the offer. She was in a poor condition, but she wasn''t a cripple anymore.


    The thought of needing help to bathe brought awful memories back to her.


    Aloe remained in the bathtub for a long while, mostly because she didn''t have the strength to get out and the water did calm her. By the time she got out, her skin was all wrinkly, which looked quite sickly between her recent paleness and her bony extremities from starvation.


    No matter how much she had eaten these days, the damage of running for days without end without an appropriate intake of food had severely affected her body. She was recovering some fat, yes, but the recovery was slow because weight gain wasn''t affected by the regeneration stance.


    It became all the clearer of her pathetic appearance when she asked for help to get out and the innkeeper paled at her naked body. Aloe was more bone than flesh by now. The motherly woman quickly dried her and sent her to her room and soon after that bought her porridge and a sizeable steak.


    "This is too much; I can''t pay for it." She definitely could.


    "Nonsense, consider it on the house." And with a simple sentence, she had gotten a free steak.


    She was veritably feeling horrible, but not taking advantage of her poor looks was idiotic. Free stuff was free stuff. And besides she was kind of getting stolen from already with the exorbitantly high prices of the inn. Two drupnari per night was nothing to scoff at.


    It was unfortunate to spend another day at Selen, but she couldn''t go out in her current state, so Aloe spent the rest of the day pouring vitality into the Blossomflame through her Forced Growth technique of the flowing stance.


    "Heavens, these names are getting long." She mussed to herself, the pot between her legs. "That reminds me that I still have to give a name to the value of vitality of an adult''s worth¡­"


    The petite cultivator ruminated in bed as she continued using vitality up. By the afternoon, the pain had soothed enough that she no longer needed to wield toughness, accelerating her progress sice with recovery.


    Because the Blossomflame had already been quite grown, and she basically dedicated a full day to nurturing it even if she didn''t use recovery for most of it, she was able to fully grow it even without Cure Grass pellets.


    "Also need to make more of them¡­" Aloe groaned, but it wasn''t a problem. Grass was everywhere and with her new technique, evolving Cure Grass and growing a patch of it would take less than an afternoon.


    It was oddly comforting to be able to dedicate a full day to herself. Even when she was ''free'' at the palace back in Sadina, she had to watch out for the attentive gaze of the sultanzade, so there wasn''t much time for her experiments or new discoveries.


    And the vital arts were very much uncharted territory.

 Book 4: 17. Decision

    It was probably the worst decision of her life ¨C not that she had taken many ¨C but Aloe decided to stay for another day. When she woke up the next day, she was still feeling awful, and it was most likely that the exhaustion of these last days had finally caught up to her as she was no longer able to outrun it.


    She risked being detected as any moment now an emissary with her face and a capture or kill order could arrive. But if guards came for her, she trusted in her capabilities to escape them.


    Mostly.


    The true problem was that her presence and location would be known and confirmed, which would be a bummer. She truly was risking it all with this elongated rest, but it could pay in the long run. Dividends and such, she thought with a banker''s mentality.


    The innkeeper still looked at her with worry, the excuse she had come up with had been rather striking, for lack of better words. But alas, she had to interact with the mature woman if she wanted a hot meal.


    The words exchanged between them were few, the most Aloe made was pass her a fajati and ask for change. She was quickly running out of small coins, even if she had paid the tailor with electrum. The drupnarea ¨C the small gold coin ¨C still remained in her possession, but she needed it to get a boat away from Ydaz.


    Using it just yet wasn''t an option.


    It was surprising how much a warm meal could do to the body. And also a few vegetables. Her diet had been rather unbalanced these last days, even weeks now, and she needed every grain of power she could muster. The food type too if possible. Dying because her meals were unbalanced was a dissatisfying way to go.


    With her Blossomflame already grown, which had healed her once she had done so even if there weren''t many embers, Aloe''s vitality was now focused on evolving new seeds.


    Predominantly black seeds.


    She could try evolving cumin now that her vitality reserves were edging closer to sice the¡­


    "I still have to come up with a name for the term, ugh¡­" She groaned on her bed.


    Whilst she could evolve seeds at the ground floor of the inn or around Selen, she didn''t want to risk it. Nor expose herself. Not many people knew her face, so there was a chance the fated order had already arrived at the fortress city and people hadn''t put two plus two as she had arrived before the wanted poster.


    "I mean, there''s not any need to overcomplicate the word if I''m the only one who is going to use it¡­" The cultivator pondered, a handful of black seeds in her hand.


    By now her ability to detect vitality was good enough to distinguish which seeds had been evolved and which ones had not without even looking. With her constant rests and eating breaks, she was restoring enough vitality to evolve around three Flourishing Springs each hour. Which wasn''t much if she compared it to how many plants she had evolved and infused in the greenhouse, but she was doing this without the assistance of pills.


    "The unit, approximately, is an adult''s worth of vitality. Let''s say that this number is one and that it normally oscillates around a decimal part, so point nine or one point one. Yeah¡­ this makes sense¡­ so I could, yes. Perhaps."


    Aloe continued rumbling half-assed thoughts to herself. Even if she no longer had access to her ter''nar tree, her mind ached to have a moment of relief and calmness like this one. Which it showed by never completing a thought.


    It took two Flourishing Spring seeds to finally form.


    "Mansworth," Aloe snapped her fingers. "An adult''s worth of vitality, mansworth. Mmm, I like it. Simple and to the point."


    The cultivator was oddly proud of a term that she would only use and that ultimately had no significance whatsoever. She was, quite literally, taking victories wherever she found them.


    Another victory could be considered how she had been in bed for a few hours already with a chicken leg in her hand, but at this point, she was tired of eating. She was testing a theory related to starvation and vitality, as using vitality did make her hungry, but so far she hadn''t seen a difference ¨C a noticeable one at least ¨C in vitality restoration whether she was full or not.


    Still, she needed meat in her bones.


    If she hadn''t been weighing like forty kilograms, then maybe the djinn wouldn''t have been able to send her half a dozen meters into the air with a kick.


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    These last two days had been productive, if nerve-wracking. Aloe was walking close to the edge of having ''six mansworth''.


    "I''m already regretting this term." She rubbed her eyes and continued infusing.


    Whilst a difference between an increase of five hundred percent and six hundred percent wasn''t that big, nor the change was sudden but gradual and she had already been reaping the benefits, it motivated Aloe to know that she was close to that mark.


    Round numbers scratched that part of her mind that energized her.


    When she went to sleep, she had evolved dozens of seeds. And when she woke up, she felt alive.


    ''By alive'' she meant not feeling pain nor excitement, just being able to breathe without having a worry or a wish in her mind. It might seem sad, but Aloe believed a person was truly alive when they were in their most neutral state. She enjoyed neutrality and liked to express it through her impassive masquerades.


    Before the sun was fully out, she had tidied up her room, alongside her fully grown Blossomflame that now rested inside her bag. If there were any problems in the future like another monster attack, she was fully convinced that she would overcome them.


    A bed, the regeneration stance, and a full belly did good to the body.


    With nearly forty hours of virtual sleep on her person, Aloe got out of the inn. Instead of her staple desert garb, she now wore the attire she had bought from the tailor, one more suited to the colder climate to come.


    "Ah, how long has it been since I have felt confident in myself?" Never, an awful part of herself whispered.


    She did her best to ignore it.


    It was hard.


    Not only was she loaded with food and water, but also seeds and energy in her body. But even if she felt physically well, the same couldn''t be said for her mind. Aloe truly felt being suddenly spotted, so she donned the stealth stance as she pranced around the waking fortress city.


    Subterfuge didn''t make her invisible, she was well aware of that, but it did make her less noticeable. And if a person wasn''t conspicuous, why would you even fixate on them?


    She didn''t need to be invisible, just another person. Any person except Aloe Ayad.


    The guards at the door almost didn''t notice her when she left, but after they did become aware of her, they didn''t make any fuss. Calmly, without arising any suspicion whatsoever, Aloe strolled out of Selen.


    No matter how ready she was for the rest of the journey, she couldn''t help but feel giddy about it. Not because it was near to completion, but because she had lost three whole days.


    One whilst unconscious and the other two in Selen. One of those two unwillingly thanks to her mortality, and another willingly also thanks to her mortality.


    Nurture was incredible, magical, and impossible; yet it made her impotent when she needed it the most. It wasn''t enough to be tough or strong one time or the other, no, she needed both or more at the same time.


    Once she gathered enough distance from the fortress city, but not enough to shift to haste, Aloe donned recovery. Whilst it wouldn''t make her faster, at least she wouldn''t tire until the many eyes of Selen no longer had a line of sight of her.


    This section of the Ridged Highlands was quite more mountainous than the mostly plane plains she had trod so far. The terrain was still steep and rugged, but now she truly could feel the elevation on her feet as each subsequent step guided her higher up. The ground was also less hostile, with less of the needle-like substrate and more grass all around.


    Not that the grass was particularly green.


    In any case, it was as dull and gray as the landscape that it inhabited.


    Whilst there weren''t any trees around, she could recognize some flora. The aforementioned grass, some mushrooms, and living stones.


    "Hmm¡­ Are living stones evolved plants?" Curiosity got the better of her as she toyed with her thoughts and she knelt before a colony of living stones, or more commonly known as lithops by academics.


    Evolved plants didn''t overflow with vitality, or at least not the same vitality needed to evolve them in the first place, but they did have more vitality inside of them than their evolved counterparts.


    "I can''t sense anything big coming from them¡­" She mussed with a hand caressing the rock-like plant. The rockiness was more visual than anything else as once she touched the plant it felt fleshy like a mushroom. "If I only had an Aloe Veritas¡­"


    Aloe did carry aloe vera seeds to try to evolve an Aloe Veritas, but it would take a long time to make one grow, even with the assistance of Forced Growth. And it wasn¡¯t like she had another pot to carry it.


    "I could try to evolve them¡­" Her eyes darted back to the living stone.


    Evolving unknown plants, though, possessed an inherent risk. She couldn''t stop the flow of vitality midway through willingly, the only workaround she had found was putting the seeds on her hair.


    "I''ve just bathed, but it will have to do¡­" She groaned, took her knife out, and stabbed the lithop.


    The heart of the rock-like plant held a chamber with six seeds, and with a hint of disgust, she lodged one out with her knife and cleaned it with a rug. Just in case, she switched to haste. It was paranoia speaking, but if the seed did get entangled in her hair, then she could run away until the wind got rid of it as she wouldn''t be able to remove it from her fingers.


    "Or I cut my hair." She preferred the speed stance solution. More elegant.


    Aloe stood up, got away from the bleeding rock, and lodged the stolen seed in a lock of hair. Loosely enough so she wouldn''t accidentally pass out because the seed had drained her whole reserves in a blink.


    "It''s been a while since last time I said this, but evolution testing begins¡­ now."


    The moment her reserves started to drop faster than when she evolved cumin into Blossomflames, she knew she had succeeded. And she was terrified because of it.


    The cultivator broke in a mad dash to dislodge the seed, and in the few heartbeats that it had taken her to take a few steps and make the seed fall, too many things had happened.


    First, her vitality dropped by two mansworths faster than she could react.


    Second, she heard a sound.


    Third, she had miraculously avoided a shadow that had dropped on the spot where she had been.


    Somehow, a shadow-clad assassin stood behind her.

 Book 4: 18. Stepping

    "This is not working out, man," Zayyan protested behind him.


    "I hate to agree with that fucking moron," Dareen started, always the eloquent woman, "but we''ve got no trail left to follow, Malik."


    Malik sighed and rubbed his eyes. It had been a few days since they had been following the trail left by the fugitive scribe, but no matter how hard they pushed themselves, they never reached the end of it.


    And to make matters worse, a sandstorm hit this part of the Qiraji yesternight, making any previous footsteps totally gone. It was currently very early in the morning; they had stopped for the night to weather the sandstorm but continued trekking as soon as it stopped.


    "I know," he admitted. "But there''s not much we can do. Our orders are to find the scribe. And I haven''t felt anything with my tremor sense besides rodents in hours."


    "Should we go back and tell the boss man to¡­"


    "Wait!" Dareen''s words were cut out as Zayyan shouted. "Holy heavens!"


    "What?" Malik turned to face the other male assassin, only to find his eyes bloodshot. "What has happened, Zayyan?" He asked with a shade of worry.


    "I''ve just gotten a distress signal," he revealed.


    "From whom?" His squad leader questioned.


    "Old Ibrahim."


    "From whom?" The female assassin reiterated, unacquainted with the person in question.


    "Old Ibrahim, a retired Shadow." Malik elaborated. "If I remember correctly, he was acting as a watchman in Jotel. Anyhow, Zayyan, what are the contents of the distress signal?"


    "Uhm¡­" He closed his eyes and rubbed his temples, trying to make sense of it. "I can''t tell."


    "Fucking useless," Dareen swore.


    "Dareen, now''s not the time," Malik scolded her. "Try it, Zayyan."


    "Uhh¡­" Unable to focus on the telepathic signal, Zayyan got some tobacco leaves and chewed on them. It was normally recommended to smoke them for better telepathic quality, but they were pressed for time. "Nince-damned hells!" He swore with a mighty shout, and yet he was still tamer than Dareen''s foul mouth.


    "What?" Malik inquired calmly.


    "Signal''s dead." He explained. "It suddenly cut off."


    "Damn." The leader replied in kind.


    "So that fella y''all were talking about has bitten the dust?" Malik sighed at Dareen''s informality.


    "Yes," he added. "Distress signals don''t cut suddenly unless they are either intercepted or the sender perishes." And considering only assassins could intercept telepathic signals, the answer was clear for all of them.


    "Isn''t this good, tho?" Dareen said and Malik frowned at her. "Now, think about it. You said the fella was stationed at Jotel, which is in the same direction of the trail we were following, so¡­"


    "Perhaps it was Ayad who killed him." Malik continued her sentence. "That''s very much possible, yes. Comrades, we have a destination now."


    Dareen jumped in excitement at having a clear objective, though Zayyan put a horizontal palm in front of his nose to pray for the old man. A traditional Ydazi prayer that divided the eyes, one side representing the land and the other side representing the heavens. Zayyan wasn''t a religious person, no assassin really was, but they could still be respectful to the deceased.


    With reinvigorated spirits, the trio of assassins dashed for the town of Jotel, their bodies becoming mists of shadow.


    The problem of shadow-stepping, or teleportation as some others called it, was that it was very drug-intensive, especially over long distances. The range limit was sight, so even if they could move tens of kilometers in a blink if they got on top of mountains, their drug reserves would be decimated and their minds would take an equivalent punishment.


    "Oof¡­" Zayyan grunted next to them after many shadow steps. "I need a smoke."


    The assassin wasn''t asking for a breather ¨C though it was implied ¨C but to restore his reserves. Malik followed suit by taking his pipe and lighting a fire with a snap of his fingers. Pyrokinesis looked impressive, but the amount of fire an assassin could create was minuscule, even for Grandmasters.


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    One thing he had discovered after practicing Enlightenment for years was that the less physical the ability was, the more powerful it would be and less drugs it would take to perform.


    "Men. Can¡¯t last for more than a few rounds." Dareen protested but the woman took her pipe out too.


    Malik didn''t scold her, for she was true. Women did seem to handle the psychological trauma of Enlightenment quite better than men, but at the same time, women couldn''t handle as much physical mistreatment as men.


    That was why most Grandmasters were men even if women were technically more competent by default with Enlightenment. The late Grandmaster Umar of Sadina could take enough drugs to run a hospital.


    That made Malik question if there was a magic that was more inclined toward men. He was aware that Nurture, the magic of the imperials, benefited women more in a way, and Enlightenment was balanced by both genders ¨C women had it easier at the start, and men at the end ¨C so perhaps there was a third magic that men had the advantage in.


    Of course, these were just ramblings of his drugged mind.


    By focusing their shadow steps on elevated spots, they were able to traverse hundreds of kilometers in just a handful of hours, but they had taken a toll by doing so. Especially Dareen, who wasn''t used to consuming this much hashish.


    "Ugh, can''t we stop?" The woman groaned, too tired to even curse.


    "We should see Jotel in a few more steps, hold on until then," Malik ordered.


    And sure enough, after teleporting themselves a bit more, the small town of Jotel entered their line of sight, where they instantly shadow-stepped into to avoid any guards.


    "Zayyan, locate where Old Ibrahim has died, I''ll wait with Dareen."


    The assassin nodded, but he didn''t move from the spot, instead, he inspected the surroundings with his mind. Whilst the astral form the assassins could assume was useful for exploration, it was useless for everything else. The astral form couldn''t interact with the physical world, and it didn''t have eyes, so it saw through what objects should be.


    Malik didn''t fully understand how astral sight worked, as everything lost its physicality and color, turning into a monochromatic and translucent mush with a slight cyan tinge, but some enlightened assassins could guide through it with ease like Zayyan.


    "Found it," Zayyan said a few minutes later.


    Dareen stood up with a groan and they displaced themselves to the location of Ibrahim''s demise. They found the corpse of an old man with finger marks on his neck and a pool of vomit in front of him.


    "Do you think he puked to death?" Dareen suggested, but they all knew that wasn''t the case. Those fingerprints were too deep, meaning he was choked.


    Now that he had the corpse in front of him, Malik placed his palm horizontally in front of his face to pay respect to the old man.


    "It has been only a few hours, let us push to find Ayad, she must be close."


    The female assassin grunted, but she knew it would be worse if they stopped to rest. The more they closed the distance the better.


    Soon it became clear that wasn''t enough.


    "Why haven''t we found her yet?" Dareen screamed at the top of her lungs and knelt on the ground, her body finally collapsing from exhaustion.


    "Something''s wrong here," Malik caressed his forming beard after days of being unable to shave.


    "Definitely," Zayyan added with a hint of sarcasm.


    "I''m being serious here," the leader countered. "Ayad couldn''t have moved this fast by any means. And not only between the span that Ibrahim died and we made it to Jotel, but also the whole journey. We are weeks away from Sadina right now."


    "How then?" Zayyan didn''t portray as much exhaustion as Dareen, but the assassin was quite defeated too. "Are you suggesting that Ayad is a cultivator? But that doesn''t make sense, if that was the case, she would have run toward the sultanah instead of away from her."


    "But what other alternative is there?" The Shadow questioned. "We have only found footsteps, human ones. There is no trace of camel tracks nor dweller ones, how would she be able to get this far in a handful of hours otherwise."


    "So we are dealing with a cultivator that can apparently outrun shadow stepping, just wonderful¡­" Dareen protested as she rolled on the sand. "Can we give up?"


    "No," Malik instantly refuted, but then an idea struck his mind. "Zayyan map, quick."


    The subordinate assassin didn''t protest and wordlessly gave him the map from his backpack. It was actually a handful of maps. One with ciphers that hinted at some assassin outposts without actually giving the definitive solution, as who knew when an assassin could be captured. Another bunch was a more general map of Ydaz, one of them of only Sadina, and finally one of the whole mainland.


    "Look at her path," Malik put the map on the ground and pressed it against the sand. "She could try to go to Loyata, but she has predicted that the border will be carefully watched, so instead she''s going full east. Almost in a straight line."


    "So?" Zayyan asked. "If she''s going in a straight line, it doesn''t change anything. We can''t outrun her."


    "Except we can." Malik smiled. "No matter how fast she is, she will need to stop at some point, I don''t care if it''s to rest or restock. Her objective is clear, the easternmost border with Loyata. I fear she wants to catch a boat on the fjords."


    "Intercept?" The male assassin guessed.


    "Intercept." The Shadow replied. "Send a message to the nearest outpost to the border when you can. There are way more assassins in Loyata that we can ask for help than here. As for us¡­"


    Dareen preemptively groaned as she guessed what Malik''s next words were.


    "We are going to rush for Selen," he pointed it out on the map. "This is the last Ydazi bastion until the fjords, so she''s bound to stop there or at least pass nearby as it is in the middle of her path."


    "And this is your idea to outran her?" Zayyan commented after analyzing the map.


    "What do you think?"


    "I mean, the terrain is certainly unfavorable for anyone who has to trek it normally, if we moved in a zig-zag, disregarding completely Ayad''s known location, then we could shadow-step from mountain peak to mountain peak if we avoid the Whistling Sands."


    Such a location was a dead spot for assassin shadow-stepping as the place was unusually flat. They wouldn''t be able to teleport more than a kilometer at a time. He also doubted the scribe would go through that place as it was a hotspot for monsters and devoid of traveler''s safe houses.


    Now that they had a destination in mind, they allowed themselves to rest. These coming days would be trying.

 Book 4: 19. Fight

    After getting a well-deserved rest, Malik and his team rushed for the fortress town of Selen. Instead of going in a straight line like they guessed Ayad was doing, they diverted their route for the south.


    The reason why Ydaz''s coastline, at least the northern one, was awful was because of the Ridged Highlands. This uneven and rocky terrain that was even more infertile than literal sand mostly covered the coastline, making the construction of ports too costly of an endeavor to even begin with. But the mountainous terrain didn''t stop there, it also extended north where the Tehen River separated Ydaz and Loyata.


    For most travelers, the ruggedness of the terrain would be disadvantageous ¨C though the Whistling Sands were hostile enough to make merchants think twice ¨C but not for assassins.


    The constant elevation changes, especially those in the shape of tall peaks, were a heavensent for those whose movement was based on sight rather than legs.


    The detour took a bit of time, but once they reached the coastline, they were able to travel around fifty kilometers each hour. Certainly faster than what Ayad would be able to do, but not excessively fast. After all, shadow-stepping performed better over short distances rather than long ones.


    They had to unfortunately rest for a few more nights as the journey was too long and even more exhausting to perform in a single day. Perhaps a Grandmaster would be able of such a feat of strength, but alas, Malik was the only Shadow here and his specialty wasn''t shadow-stepping.


    "Alright," Malik whispered to his team. "That settlement over there is Selen, I don''t know how fast Ayad is, but just in case, one will remain back here in case she passes by, another will go forward close to the border at those mountains, and the latter one will explore the town in case she''s already there."


    "Dibs on the town!" Dareen and Zayyan shouted at the same time.


    Malik gave them a friendly hit on the head.


    "No one''s calling dips," he explained. "We will be rotating positions. The one who is most tired will remain on the town first, but every few hours we do rotate. This is a stakeout, fellas."


    "I hate stakeouts," Dareen pouted.


    "Everyone does," the leader sighed. "You will have the first turn on Selen. Your performance has been decreasing rather fast."


    That seemed to satisfy Dareen, while Zayyan seemed like he was going to protest. A sharp look was enough to shoot down whatever he was going to say.


    They quickly split the party after that. Zayyan remained behind as he was also in a poor state, whilst Malik rushed for the mountain before the Ydaz-Loyata border. He then smoked quite a bit of tobacco leaves. Not only to maintain communication media telepathy but also to detect people.


    It was wrong to say that tobacco gave one telepathy, instead, it turned the one who consumed it more empathic. In other words, suggestible to other people. Telepathy was just a byproduct of such ability when two people were high on tobacco at the same time.


    Any sign of Ayad? He asked Dareen with his mind when her time was nearing the end.


    Not that I can tell. She responded. I went to the inn and there''s a woman that fits her build there, but according to the innkeeper, she''s just had a miscarriage.


    That doesn''t fit Ayad''s profile, Malik admitted. They knew she was Rani-al-Sadina''s whore and that the sultanah had bedded her, but nothing about male paramours. There was just no chance of the former scribe of commoners to be with a child. Zayyan, you there?


    Yessir, the male assassin responded a few moments later.


    Keep eyes on the woman who has had the miscarriage. His leader commanded. I''m not sure she''s Ayad, we must play it safe. You and Dareen can switch now.


    They kept this routine for a day, shifting every eight hours so one could rest in the city, but considering the mission, no one had really slept. Aloe Ayad had killed two Shadows already, so dealing with her with only one even if there were two near-Shadows as a backup was problematic as they were very tired.


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    Malik could only hope that their exhaustion wouldn''t prove fatal.


    <hr>


    Miscarriage girl on the move. Zayyan distastefully announced over their shared connection. Dareen wanted to cringe and did, but she didn''t snark back. She would hate to be the one having a miscarriage and be referred by that trait at her back. Going for Loyata.


    Anyhow, she took a puff of hashish to reawaken herself.


    They had yet to know if the woman in question was Aloe Ayad, but considering they hadn''t seen the woman in these last hours ¨C or rather days ¨C they assumed she was the one.


    Well, Dareen did.


    She preferred killing a bystander and getting it wrong than throwing her chances of cutting this task short.


    Her sight was rather dull from the lack of sleep and the constant abuse of drugs, so it wasn''t until a few minutes, cutting close to the hour, that she made visual contact with the woman. She lazily trod the inclined terrain, yet another proof against her being Ayad, but Dareen didn''t take her eyes away from her.


    It wasn''t until the moment that the woman stopped and played with some plants on the ground that Dareen was alerted.


    Why the woman removed her hood and stabbed a rock Dareen couldn''t know, but what she did recognize was the face under the hood.


    It''s her. Dareen promptly announced over their connection and jumped into action.


    It was a misplay of monumental proportions, but her head wasn''t right from drug consumption, lack of sleep, and frustration at the stakeout. Besides, not many could react to a shadow-step at close range. Only Master Assassins and above or experienced cultivators donning one of those stances of them. The exact name she didn''t know.


    And yet¡­ Aloe Ayad somehow avoided her assault.


    In the few heartbeats that it had taken Dareen to get to the fugitive''s position, she had sprinted out of it.


    Ayad turned and looked at her in confusion, her pupils dilating at the sight of her residual shadows.


    Dareen took advantage of the surprise and lunged at the woman, yet she sidestepped as if it was nothing, her body becoming a blur. Zayyan and Malik shouted at her over their connection, but she growled at their voices as they were drowning her thoughts.


    For the next attack, Dareen wasn''t as careless. She shadow-stepped out of Ayad''s sight, over the peak of the mountains again. It would have been easy to just teleport behind her, but something she had discovered was that people always guessed their backs when they acknowledged that their opponent could vanish, even if they had no prior knowledge of Enlightenment at all.


    Instinctively, Ayad had thought exactly that as she turned to her back and now was bewildered to not find Dareen anywhere.


    Instead of remaining still on the spot, the fugitive scribe broke into a mad dash for the mountains, her intention clear.


    For some reason, she took some sort of ball out of a satchel and consumed it. Drugs? Dareen pondered as she lurched on the cliff''s edge of the mountain. They had already pondered the fact that Ayad had some knowledge of Enlightenment, but until now they didn''t have tangible proof.


    After consuming the pellet, Ayad instantly became faster.


    Even more so.


    That scared Dareen. So much so that she forgot precaution again and lunged for the woman. If she could become faster, then she could outrun them again. Unfortunately, now that Ayad was on the move, she couldn''t drop directly on top of her but instead had to shadow-step a few meters before her after calculating her speed.


    Even though Ayad only had a few blinks to react, she did react, Dareen saw it in her eyes. But her momentum was so elevated that she couldn''t just stop.


    Oh heavens, she can''t stop. Panic filled the assassin''s mind, and she gathered all her focus to instantly shadow-step away. Barely in time, Dareen managed to do so, teleporting a handful of meters behind Ayad.


    She panted from stress and heard the sound of boots scratching the ground as the cultivator stopped in her tracks. Ayad unsheathed the knife she had used before with the rock. Her hands were trembling.


    Dareen grinned at the gesture. Nice. Even after killing two assassins, Ayad was unused to bloodshed, meaning that she would hesitate.


    The assassin would not.


    The would-be-Shadow unsheathed her own knife, more of a dagger, and pointed at Ayad. The gesture was enough to destabilize the woman. That was when Dareen lunged for the strike.


    No matter how fast the cultivator was, her posture was all over the place and as she readied again her knife, Dareen vanished during her dash. Mid-sprint, she shadow-stepped on top of her.


    Ayad had expected that Dareen would be in some advantageous position after the shadow-step, so she sidestepped. And she had been right.


    Nonetheless, the assassin''s intent wasn''t to end the fight in a strike but to close the gap between them. But as she landed, a maelstrom of blades assaulted her.


    Dareen had miscalculated the cultivator''s speed, but beyond all else, her viciousness.


    Aimlessly and maniacally, Ayad hacked and slashed with her pocket knife faster than her eyes could follow. The assassin''s only saving grace was that the knife''s blade was short, so as painful as the cuts were, they didn''t hit anything vital.


    But pain didn''t matter when one was high off the rocker with drugs.


    Dareen fearlessly pushed her dagger forward and hit the petite woman''s bicep. Ayad bit her lip in pain and took a step backward, yet for some reason, her pained lips curved into a wry smile.


    "Burn," Ayad whispered.


    And Dareen''s vision got swarmed by red.

 Book 4: 20. Agony

    Aloe didn''t have time to react as the assassin lunged at her. Not only did the surprise assault block her thoughts, but the weird shadow magic they employed made it impossible to guess where they were.


    So she kept herself on the move.


    What was keeping her alive right now was the speed stance, so switching out was a last resort as it would be impossible to switch back for the rest of the confrontation.


    The cultivator reached for a Cure Grass pellet as the living rock had stolen a good part of her vitality. The effects of the vitality pill were instantaneous, but because her reserves were still rather high, the restoration wasn''t significant. Her vitality had yet to completely fill up.


    Suddenly, as she was running away, the assassin appeared before her. Aloe did her best to stop, but her momentum was too high. She put her shoulder before her to inflict as much damage as possible with the collision to the assassin, but like before, they disappeared in a puff of shadows.


    Hearing their steps behind her, the fugitive stopped and faced them. She wouldn''t like to run away with her back unprotected if she knew where they were.


    Aloe reached for her knife instinctively ¨C all movements had been so far as it was hard to think fast enough in such a frenetic environment ¨C but found her hand trembling when she did so.


    She had never pointed a weapon at someone.


    And the only real time she had fought wasn''t even against a human but a monster.


    We don''t have to do this. Those were her thoughts, the words she wanted to say, but they didn''t go past her throat. It didn''t help that the assassin took out a knife of their own and pointed it forward.


    Reflexively, Aloe almost switched to toughness but held it for the last moment. Bad, bad. They wouldn''t be able to kill her with toughness, but she wouldn''t be able to deal much damage otherwise. The defense stance would make her slower and weaker.


    The assassin sprinted at her, knife facing forward, but they suddenly vanished in another puff of shadows. They were fast, but after training with Naila, they weren''t fast enough. Sleight of hand might seem innocuous at first, but hands were already faster than legs, adding on top of that the speed stance, Aloe was used to speeds way above her league.


    Not knowing where the assassin may appear next, Aloe dashed to the side and the assassin landed where she had been a blink later. Paradoxically enough, the only spot where they wouldn''t be.


    It was cruel, but whilst they were still on their knees, Aloe lunged forward and hacked with her knife wildly. She didn''t know how to use it, so she could only hope that she got lucky. And no matter how many strikes she landed, the assassin seemed to shrug them off as if they were donning toughness.


    Then, as she ran out of breath, the assassin launched an attack. One far more certain than hers as the blade deeply gnawed on her arm, deep enough to scratch the bone.


    It was then that Aloe became aware for the first time of what it was to have her other physical attributes diminished by donning a stance. Not only her body was feebler than usual and therefore the dagger could cut her flesh as if it were butter, but there was also the pain.


    Toughness dulled the pain. Every other stance increased it.


    Aloe held her urge to scream for her dear life. The pain was bad, but she had had worse. Way worse.


    It was the pain that remained her that she had another tool to fight. One that differentiated from friend and foe.


    "Burn." It was a statement rather than a command, for a moment later flames sprouted from her back.


    The Blossomflame''s fire surged uncontrollably, mercilessly assaulting the assassin yet simultaneously healing the cultivator. Aloe''s arm itched as the flesh was patched together and the bone was covered. In a way, the itch was worse than the pain.


    Or at least distracting enough to dull the screams of agony of the assassin.


    "Ahh!" As they shouted, it became clear that the assassin was a woman. Her figure writhing in pain was an uncomfortable one, to say the least.


    Then she vanished.


    Aloe was alerted by the sudden movement, but the female assassin revealed her position as she continued to scream in agony and be ablaze. The screams were chilling, but that didn''t stop the fugitive from dropping to her knees in a mixture of exhaustion and fear.


    Oh heavens, she ruminated. It had been too much action-packed in a small frame of time. Aloe took a few breaths to calm herself and moved her hand toward her satchels to grab a vitality pill. More to calm her frenzy rather than restore vitality, but that would also be useful. The Blossomflame! She realized after seeing the flames lingering in her back.


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    Precariously, the cultivator removed her backpack, threw it to the ground, and took the pot with the Blossomflame away. The evolved flower no longer spurted flames after the assassin had gone away and her wound had healed, but the flames still lingered in the backpack.


    "Out, out!" She canted as she dusted the backpack to quench the flames.


    The success of her endeavor was¡­ minimal.


    No matter how much she slapped the fire, the orange-red flames refused to be put down.


    "Stop, please!" Aloe shouted in distress, yet somehow, her words did seem to have an effect.


    The fire didn''t instantly go out, but the flames she had been dusting finally reduced, and after some more slaps, the magical fire was no more.


    "Okay¡­" The cultivator glanced at the Blossomflame through the corner of her eyes. "This is not the first time you show you can understand me." She was truly evaluating if she had lost it and if the pursuit had finally ruined her mind, but unfortunately, this wasn''t the time to do so. "Gotta move."


    Because the Blossomflame was placed atop the rest of the contents of the backpack, only the leather flap got burned, which she considered a good omen. Yet as she stood up with her bag again on her back, the air shifted around. She couldn''t react on time as a shadow dropped on her and kicked her away.


    Much like with the djinn, she was sent away. But a human didn''t have the strength of such an abomination, so she just fell to the ground a couple of meters away from where she had been. The problem wasn''t that she hadn''t been sent flying, but the nastiness of the strike.


    Something had broken there.


    "Uhk." Aloe groaned in pain on the ground, but she didn''t switch to toughness just yet. The damage was done, so changing stances would only alleviate the pain. She still needed haste if she were to fight. "Don''t." She added a moment later as she felt warmth in her back.


    The order was directed to the Blossomflame, but the assassin looked at her attentively.


    The reason why she had refused the healing of the evolved flower was because she hadn''t used a grown Blossomflame extensively before, and the green ones she had used had withered from over-exertion, so she didn''t know the limit of the one in her back. She needed to save up any remaining magic the Blossomflame had unless it was strictly necessary.


    "Don''t?" The assassin snickered. As they talked, she realized it wasn''t the same assassin as before. They all looked and sounded androgynous, but this one''s voice was deeper ¨C not that she had heard the other talking, but rather her grunts ¨C and his thighs were thinner. "You know, we have orders to capture you, and whilst I won''t disobey them, they never ordered me to bring you intact, you know?"


    The next instant happened very fast as the assassin became a shadow and Aloe lunged with all the might of her stance toward where they had been. Her reasoning? That was the only place where they won''t be. It had worked all right the previous time.


    Her instinctive thought paid off as the assassin appeared behind where she had been prone.


    "We don''t have to do this." Aloe tried diplomacy with this assassin as it hadn''t worked with the one before, mostly by her own faults. It had been hard talking when her heart beat fast enough to bust out of her chest.


    She was also doing her best to overpower the pain in her chest, likely a broken rib that was puncturing something. The pain filled her with a sluggish agony as her thoughts and movements slowed from it, but it wasn''t anything insurmountable.


    "Don''t come to me with that!" The assassin let out a war scream and lounged at her, dagger in hand.


    Even if everything was happening fast, Aloe didn''t fail to notice the tar-like substance covering the blade. Poisoned, she realized. The cultivator didn''t switch to toughness as she was still faster than the assassin, but she was careful with her movements.


    "Why?" She questioned as she sidestepped the assassin''s movements with rather ease. It wasn''t that she was graceful, but rather that the assassin was sluggish.


    Both had been, now that she noticed.


    "Why?" They repeated with a chuckle. If it wasn''t because Aloe was used to faster-than-eyes sleight of hand, she would have missed the knife that they ¨C or he, she guessed ¨C threw at her. But not only the knife was wayward, but she also reacted with more than enough time to avoid it.


    Perhaps not much of a fighter, but Aloe Ayad had a knack for enduring and avoiding damage.


    "Because you killed her!" He finished when the throwing knife clattered on the ground.


    "What? Killed wh-" The statement left her stunned, a chance that the assassin didn''t let pass.


    He closed the distance on her too quickly to avoid the stab, so Aloe did the next best thing and grabbed the arm with the poisoned dagger. It wasn''t the best decision, not by a long shot, and that much became clear when the assassin started to overpower her even when she was using both arms.


    "Dareen! The assassin that came before me!" The figure was cloaked in shadows, yet she could feel the distress in their expression.


    "I¡­ she is dead?" Even though she was getting assaulted with a bladed weapon, Aloe was rather oblivious to her possible death and rather focused more on that of others.


    "Ye-" The shadow didn''t finish their sentence as a conflagration assaulted them both.


    It would seem that the Blossomflame had run out of patience.


    Much like the previous assassin, this one dropped to the ground and began screaming in pain. As for Aloe, she felt the pain in her chest subside and be replaced by an unholy itch.


    "Why did you do it?" The cultivator turned her face to the bag on her back and shouted at the plant inside. "I¡­ I could still have done something!"


    She had to shout with all her might as her voice was easily drowned by the screams of the assassin. Aloe was horrified, not because of the viscerality of the screams or how the assassin was dying, but because she couldn''t care.


    She was scared at the fact that this person was dying, yet she couldn''t worry about it.


    Sure, they had tried to hurt her, but it was still a person. Killing was bad, even in self-defense. Not only from a religious one, Sulnaya exalted life not death, but from an ethical and moral one too. But there she stood, looking at the assassin as they writhed in the ground, rolling in an attempt to put out the flames, but failing miserably. Considering the ground was still made of sharp needles, they were only hurting themselves more.


    Then at one point, they stopped screaming and moving.


    The assassin had died an agonizing death, and Aloe had just let it happen.


    "Ah¡­" She groaned as the flames finally faded from the corpse as if it were the assassin''s very vital energy.


    Aloe felt nothing at the sight.


    And that scared her.

 Book 4: 21. Chasm

    The cultivator had no pretensions of power or delusions of grandeur. The only reason why she hadn''t fallen to the clutches of assassins was because of the Blossomflame.


    In other words, luck.


    The evolved flower was her weapon, yes, but its overwhelming lethality was none other than the product of luck. She had only managed to stay alive during both confrontations until the Blossomflame resolved them with a single conflagration.


    It scared her to think what it would be to be at the receiving end of such agonizing flames. For her, the fire was warm and soothing. For the others, it was torment followed by inevitable death.


    Just in case, Aloe checked the Blossomflame''s pot as she had fallen on the ground multiple times during both confrontations, but because the backpack was tightly packed with food, clothes, and sleeping material, the ceramic was intact.


    "I''m tired¡­" The cultivator groaned as she stood up and walked away from the corpse. It would have been easy to loot it, but she was so disgusted ¨C not only with herself but with the world in general ¨C that she couldn''t bring herself to care. Some would say that even having such a thought passing through her mind in the first place was disgusting, and Aloe couldn''t disagree.


    But unfortunately, it was beyond her to run away with all her might. The Blossomflame had healed all her wounds, but she was as exhausted as if he had run for one whole hour without rest. She switched to the recovery stance and moved in a trot.


    It wasn''t the most intelligent thing as there were corpses behind her and she wasn''t that far away from Selen, but it would be more dangerous to be detected again when she was mortally exhausted.


    So she trotted as if there wasn''t the dead bodies of two people near her.


    Whilst moving couldn''t exactly be considered rest, the regeneration stance made it so that she was slowly recovering her breath. Most of the damage from the fight had been mental rather than physical thanks to the Blossomflame, which meant she badly needed that moment to breathe.


    It wasn''t until an hour later that she grew confident enough to wield haste again. It was a bit¡­ off-putting to use the stance just to run when she had been using it offensively not that long ago.


    Her offense had been risible, but considering she had no previous fighting experience and that she had been dealing with trained assassins, she wanted to believe that she did a decent job. The Blossomflame had done most of it, but she had survived long enough, only having been hit twice, for that matter.


    Aloe rubbed her forearm where she had been stabbed whilst she skidded through the mountainous terrain. Knowing that there had been exposed bone discomforted her, even if the wound was long gone. In a way, she was mostly concerned with the torn sleeve right now.


    I don''t have a needle or thread¡­ Holding her need to groan, Aloe stepped to rest as she felt her concentration wavering, which could be dangerous while running with the speed stance. In a handful of seconds, she had already switched to recovery, which wasn''t surprising as she had been using it nonstop these last weeks. Haste itself was entering the realm of the minute, singular, rather than minutes, but it still was a bit far away.


    As far as breaks went, this wasn''t the best of them all, but the Ridged Highlands provided her something that the desert hadn''t done: shade.


    Unless she found some big dunes, the shade had been hard to come by before, and impossible during noon, but here it was more common. She used the breathing room to gather some nearby living stone seeds as she had dropped the one she had been evolving before, and because the seed had accepted her vitality, she knew for a fact that they could evolve.


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    She wouldn''t try just yet, as it had been the exact moment when she had been evolving the seed that she had been attacked, and she still wasn''t out of danger. Until she was in Loyata, or better yet on the sea, she wouldn''t evolve these seeds as she had no way of knowing how expensive they would be.


    As far as evolutions went, Aloe had been rather lucky as the only one that took everything out of her was the Blossomflame and she was almost outgrowing the cumin seeds now with her ever-increasing vitality reserves.


    The attack had shaken her so hard that she didn''t bother evolving black seeds even if she had a surplus of vitality. The ambush showed her that would need every last grain of vitality she could muster until she left Ydaz.


    Once the exhaustion had washed away from her body, which had been rather fast now that the rest factor of her regeneration stance was nearly sevice of her default state. Fifteen minutes were converted into an hour and a half with the regeneration stance.


    In other words, mindboggling.


    It got even more absurd when taking into account sleep. Six measly hours which not everyone could live with were now forty-two virtual ones. Nearly two days with rather short sleep.


    With a groan, she stood up and switched to haste. Even one and a half hours of rest wasn''t enough.


    As she got closer to Loyata, the landscape became more and more mountainous. It partially scared Aloe, not only was her visibility severely limited now, but any falls would be more worrisome now. It wasn''t the same tripping in the desert as the worst that could happen was getting lodged into a dune than on a mountain as she could literally fall from a cliff.


    With any luck, that would mean that any would-be-pursuers would have more difficulties than her navigating the terrain.


    Aloe would have liked to say that the journey to Loyata was without any setbacks, but the ruggedness of the terrain played against her. Not only did she have to follow the existing paths as climbing mountains would only slow her down, but the dirt path she did take ¨C taking the main road would have been moronic ¨C was now cut off by a massive chasm.


    "Nince-damned hells," she muttered as she saw the remains of a wooden bridge. Carefully, she loomed into the ravine to review the distance. "That''s around, uhm¡­ too much."


    The spatial sense wasn''t one of her strong suits, but the distance between the closest sides of the chasm was around ten meters apart. Technically speaking, she should be able to do the jump. If not with the speed stance, then with the strength one. She could trust herself to jump two meters without internal infusions, but ten meters ¨C if not more ¨C was too intimidating of a task, even if she had magic that boosted her physical capabilities far beyond the needed minimum to accomplish such a jump.


    "I think I''ll pass¡­" Suicidal wasn''t one of her qualities.


    Not yet.


    Ever, if possible.


    With the regeneration stance active, as she didn''t trust herself with the speed stance this close to the chasm, Aloe continued looking for a way to cross. She hadn''t bought a map ¨C which now she considered a massive misplay ¨C but seeing how deep, massive, and overall loud the chasm was, she guessed at the bottom of the ravine the Tehen River was flowing.


    This meant that once she found a way around the rift, she would officially be in Loyata.


    That made her giddy, she was practically there, but that meant her insecurity was at new time high. Loyata would be wholly uncharted territory for her, and communication alone would be difficult.


    After a couple of hours, or a handful of evolved black seeds though that wasn''t much of a precise way to measure time, she did find a narrow enough margin that she was confident enough to jump. Yes, she had been discussing just a few hours ago about how she shouldn''t spend vitality, but being topped was making her giddy, so she thought she could spare a mansworth every once in a while.


    "Oh heavens, this is scary." Aloe fanned herself with the speed stance active, which made her hands into a blur. But she couldn''t go back now, this was the narrowest gap she had found in many hours. "Ready. Set. Go!"


    Her plan was simple, she would gather a buttload of speed with haste and once she was close to the chasm itself, she would switch to potency to boost the strength of her legs. Momentum and jump force should be able to carry her over the five meters of the darkest void with ease.


    Then, as she switched over to the strength stance at the narrowest margin between her and the chasm, something hit her in the back.


    Aloe didn''t have enough time to scream as her momentum carried her to the other side, but without the height of the jump, she collided with the face of the other side of the chasm, falling into it.

 Book 4: 22. Viciousness

    She didn''t outright die from the breakneck-speed collision as she was able to shift to toughness, but that didn''t matter when a heartbeat later she was falling to her death.


    In a panic, she grabbed the rock walls of the chasm. That didn''t do much to stop her fall, she mostly hurt her fingers as they started bleeding profusely from the friction even if she was wielding toughness.


    It did slow her fall, though.


    Crack.


    She heard the snap before she felt it, most likely because her pain was already dulled by the defense stance and her bleeding fingers.


    "AAAHHH!" Aloe let out a primordial howl as the femur of her left leg snapped like a twig, the full force of the fall concentrated in a single point. Or at least that was the only fracture she could feel.


    What followed was a series of sobs and moans as she slowly moved her body across a near-dark environment to sit down. She bit her lip hard enough to draw blood until the Blossomflame made an act of presence to do its magic.


    She almost passed out from the itching.


    The pain of healing wounds that would have taken months, if not more, to heal by themselves in a handful of seconds was way worse than what the infliction of said wounds had been. At least her femur had broken in an instant, the same couldn''t be said for the agonizingly long healing process.


    Her howls echoed through the chasm, more monstrous than human.


    As a matter of fact, she did indeed pass out. But her heightened toughness internal infusion ¨C which was now at sevice the potency of a normal person ¨C kept her waking up. Her consciousness lapsed for only blinks but did so without end.


    She was feeling the pain of the fall, of the impact against the wall, and the healing at all the same time. Toughness or not, it was maddening.


    Aloe stopped screaming, not because the pain finally soothed, but because her lungs gave out. She was growing dizzy by hurling grunts, so she just limited herself to weak whimpers.


    The cultivator gritted her teeth to overcome any and every feeling ebbing and flowing through her body. Like a tide, it wasn''t constant, but that only made it worse.


    With much difficulty and slowness, the petite woman slumped over in the humid darkness of the chasm reached for a waterskin, and took a sip.


    The water was still cold since she had gotten it from the inn''s well this same morning, and it cleared her muddied thoughts. A touch of cold against her hot pain was what she had needed.


    Someone pushed me down, she thought. I didn''t trip over anything or lost my footing; something pushed my backpack down. What, or rather who had pushed her was beyond her, but she knew it hadn''t been an accident.


    Aloe closed her eyes in expectation of the pain, and she stepped on the ground with her broken leg. She bit her lip as a jolt of pain wildly shot up her spine, but it wasn''t bad. The leg was no longer broken, just sore.


    Sore enough to make her cry, but only sore.


    The Blossomflame stopped emitting flames so that presented her with two options. Either it had run out of magical juice, or she had been completely healed. Aloe pushed her butt away from the wall to remove her backpack and picked up the Blossomflame.


    This time her backpack hadn''t become a bonfire, but that wasn''t what she cared about this moment.


    The petals of the evolved flower were partially wilted, but the Blossomflame was still far from withered. So Aloe started planning.


    Whoever had pushed her might come to check if the job was done, and she knew for a fact that assassins could disappear and appear on a whim, so perhaps the culprit was already around but out of her sight.


    To test it, Aloe lay on the ground as if she had fallen in that position and switched to acuity with one ear on the floor.


    Suddenly, she became aware of the many sounds of the chasm. They had been always there, but she had mostly ignored them as her ears had been ringing all this time from the first concussion against the wall and then the pain. What she heard now was the flowing of water, a clear indication of the Tehen River. But it was somewhat far away from her position, so she guessed she hadn''t fallen to the bottom of the chasm but was instead on a ledge-slash-ridge.


    Thanks to the anxiety and overall paranoia that she was afflicted with by staying at the court of Sadina and staying alert for any sultanzade that may take her with her guard down, Aloe had become used to distinguishing sounds. Even when she was forced to keep her vitality at thrice of a normal person, half of what she currently had, she was able to distinguish heartbeats and breathing patterns coming from the corridor outside her office.


    There were many noises in the chasm, but also an underlying echo, so any trace of human life would be exacerbated by it. Yet no matter how much she tried, she couldn''t hear anyone.


    Either they are very good at hiding ¨C which considering they are assassins it''s not that farfetched ¨C or they aren''t here. Yet. She was making a lot of suppositions, but she couldn''t know if what had pushed her had been an assassin, so she chose to be better safe than sorry.


    It would have been easy to start walking away after the first few minutes, but she didn''t. For better or worse, nobody would find her in this hole, so she had all the time in the world. She just had to wait.


    And wait she did.


    It took half an hour before she noticed something. It was a swoop of air, but then it was accompanied by low and steady breathing.


    Above me, she realized.


    Aloe maintained her eyes closed, acuity would most likely let her see in this dim environment, but for now her hearing was enough. She kept her grasp of her inner flow of vitality at hand in case she would need to switch to toughness at any moment.


    The practically-confirmed assassin stood above her perched on some part of the many ridges of the chasm''s walls for a long time. Or that was what it felt to Aloe.


    They are cautious, she uttered in her own thoughts, but it was more of a curse than a statement. That''s bad. The previous assassins had died because they were either careless or too emotional, but this one kept themselves at range and observed her supposed corpse calmly. Aloe did her best to hold her breath, but as she was donning a stance that wasn''t regeneration, that meant she would need more breath than usual.


    This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    Yet as the assassin didn''t make any moves, she guessed it was fine.


    It took the lurking figure another half an hour before making another movement.


    The air shifted again next to her, and as the assassin knelt down to personally inspect her, Aloe bolted into action with the help of the potency internal infusion.


    She kicked the figure in the shin with all her might, and as she shifted her body for another strike, the assassin disappeared into an explosion of shadows.


    "I knew you were still alive." The whispers came from everywhere.


    "Then that highlights how much of a dimwit you are if you fell for it." Aloe retorted back, but in reality, she was confused to not find pain in their voice. That kick should have shattered their leg.


    As much as she wanted to curse at the assassin, she needed the time to change her stance. Instead of the speed stance that she had used to¡­ stop the other assassins, Aloe donned the sense stance. Not only was haste useless here, but acuity would allow her to know where the assassin was before they attacked her.


    It took a few seconds which she spent full of anxiety as she was defenseless without toughness, but soon the darkness vanished to her eyes. It was still dark, but her enhanced eyes absorbed more of the scamp light there was around.


    She was unaware of what arcane techniques the assassin had, so it was more than possible that they could see her, but at the same time, so could she.


    Enhanced sight and hearing, sevice of a normal person, were able of many things in tandem. She acted as if she had no idea where the assassin was by swaying her head around frenetically, but she had seen their position since the very start on a ledge atop her.


    "Come out!" She expressed with feigned nervousness.


    The assassin didn''t respond, not that she expected them to.


    Aloe tried to think how to get to them, but truth was, she didn''t have many alternatives. As powerful as the Blossomflame was, its range was severely lacking, and she wasn''t sure if she could command it to attack in a general direction.


    Her only real way to get to the assassin was either jumping or climbing, but the latter was too slow and the former¡­ she had enough jumping for a day. Her best bet was to wait for the assassin to come to her and let the Blossomflame do the job.


    "Hey!" She shouted again to signalize growing stress.


    Whether she wanted it or not, she was in control of the situation. Her face-offs with the assassins had shown her that whilst they were slippery bastards, they couldn''t hurt her. A normal person would have no chance, but with toughness she could hold her ground, let alone taking the Blossomflame into account.


    For some reason, perhaps as an involuntary reflex, the assassin turned into shadows and vanished again. But as Aloe noticed that there wasn''t any puff of wind near her, she kept acuity on. It took her a handful of seconds to find their new position.


    This time, they were higher up. Nince-damned hells! She cursed in her mind, but the movement did give her an idea. If they keep shifting around, then maybe one of these times they will be under me¡­Going up was difficult, but down? Not so much.


    What followed was the utmost boring game of tag of all time, where Aloe would shout from time to time alongside throwing pebbles at random to get the assassin to move.


    Not everything was futile as she became aware that the assassin''s eyesight was affected by the darkness of the chasm unlike her after throwing multiple rocks and somewhat close to them and they failed to notice them until they were very close.


    Blind yet lethal. Bird-sighted yet useless. As dull as the situation was, the cultivator knew she couldn''t let her guard down. One of the assassins had already shown they had throwing knives, so a well-positioned throw without enough time to switch to toughness could spell her end.


    But from dullness and repetition, she was clued in a greater factor that the assassin''s blindness.


    Their movement.


    The puff of shadows she had seen this and all the other assassins do were a mystery to her, but thanks to the reiterated jumps of her stalker she had found out that it was based on vision. The assassin had only turned into shadows once they were looking at the spot where they would materialize at.


    This key detail was now the foundation of her plan.


    One strike. One strike was all she needed to put an end to this fight.


    Another half an hour passed by.


    Aloe was getting tired of just standing around and tried to climb up. This was of course a rouse, but the failed attempts as she hit the ground with her butt were very much real. The light was slowly dimming, it was afternoon now, if not later. She was also growing hungry, but so was the assassin. The temptation to switch to recovery was real if just to last longer, but she held acuity up.


    She started throwing rocks nonstop above her to encourage the assassin to move downwards. Not the most glamorous fight, if it could even be called a fight, but whatever led to her survival.


    Then it happened.


    The assassin moved on a lower ledge than her.


    "Come out!" She shouted like all the previous times, still throwing rocks upwards. But now, those throws had a new intention behind them.


    To muffle her steps as she crept to the ledge.


    The cultivator visualized the position of the assassin and the distance between her and them. Aloe touched her inner flow of vitality and switched it to a boisterous one instead of the sleek one of acuity. Her body was reinforced with potency a moment later.


    "Where are you?" Her scream hid her jump.


    The assassin didn''t see her jump coming. Nor did they see anymore. Aloe wasn''t heavy but dropping a few meters on someone''s head did stun them for at least a heartbeat, enough time for her to block their eyes.


    "Burn!" She ordered zealously to the Blossomflame, and the evolved plant replied in kind with a colorful conflagration.


    Screams filled her ears as the assassin writhed in pain, but no matter how hard they struggled, Aloe was stronger. She doubted that even an imperial soldier could go against someone of her strength, even if it was sevice the strength of a weakened petite woman instead of an adult man.


    They thrashed around brutally, enough so to tear her clothes and draw blood, but Aloe didn''t care. She wouldn''t die from these wounds; the pain didn''t matter if she was able to keep a lock on the assassin and their eyes until they stopped moving. Forever.


    "Hahaha¡­" The assassin busted laughing out of nowhere. Flames poured into their mouth, but the assassin didn''t seem to her. "Now I see how you killed the others and Jafar."


    At the mention of her first kill, Aloe faltered. That was the only murder she didn''t want to get reminded of. But she held strong.


    "You truly are a monster beyond human comprehension." The words hurt her heart, but she continued fighting ¨C not only against the assassin but also herself ¨C to keep her grip on. "But no matter how much you struggle, how much you run, there will be no respite waiting for you. No good ending."


    Against her better interests, Aloe asked him. "What are you talking about?"


    "You are a fool, Aloe Ayad," the assassin started and only now noticed it was a man. She blamed her slow realization on her exhaustion and dulled senses from the strength stance. "You intend to run to Loyata, but you forget Kyra''s and Aaliyah''s purge. Most of the assassins in Khaffat aren''t in Ydaz, but Loyata!"


    The words infused fear into her heart, but she remained steadfast.


    "There will be no salvation for you in Loyata! Mark my words! In less than a day, you will already be captured!"


    More assassins? The thought paralyzed her. No more, please¡­


    She opened her mouth to refute, and that was when the man took his chance and threw her to the side, the exact moment her will faltered enough for him to shove her away. But even then, Aloe''s grip was lodged on the assassin''s skull by now. She maintained her hand on top of his eyes, even if she had been removed from on top of him.


    Then, as the assassin tried to stand up, she felt it again. The exact same feeling when she confronted that old assassin in the nameless town. A viciousness inside of her, bolstered by the fire of the potency internal infusion. The fear of death, but something else, more twisted. She couldn''t let the assassin escape.


    Subconsciously, Aloe reached for the knife in her satchel.


    She took a look at the blade as the assassin fought against her grip, and in a very conscious act, Aloe plunged the knife into his throat.


    One strike wasn''t enough. She had never wielded a blade, and no matter how strong she was, skill mattered more than brute force with such weapons.


    So she stabbed again.


    And again.


    And again.


    And again. And again. And again.


    And-again-and-again-and-again-and-again-and-again¡­


    Her viciousness only ended when the fire of the Blossomflame embraced her. Not the blood, not the lack of movement, not the tiredness of her arm, but the itching of her palm.


    Aloe opened her fist ¨C the knife clattering to the ground ¨C to find her nails deeply embedded into her flesh. She removed her fingers and blood started pouring from her pink flesh, only for the wounds to be promptly closed by the arcane flames of the evolved flower.


    "Ha, ha, ha¡­" Aloe slowly chuckled as she saw the body before her.


    There was no excuse here. It hadn''t been the Blossomflame that had extinguished the man''s life.


    No.


    It had been her.


    She had murdered the man.


    Vitality, blood, and breath coursed through her body as she inhaled. The rage and the viciousness were still there, but somehow, she felt clearheaded like never before.


    Aloe laughed, cried, and screamed. She killed another person, and she didn''t feel bad about it.


    And that scared her.


    She was scared of herself.

 Book 4: 23. Scribe

    Change had come to Sadina, mostly in the shape of more work. Naila Asina could train for hours on end, but the moment she had to work for someone who wasn''t herself, then a single hour was a torturous sentence.


    For a girl who preferred the sword over the quill, office work was not for her. Unfortunately, the abrupt departure of the scribe of commoners had left her with a lot of work to do. Because the fugitive woman had been doing part of her work, but that was an unimportant detail.


    The new scribe of commoners, Naila still hadn''t learned her name even though she had been at the palace for two weeks, and could not even compare to Ayad. At this point, Naila couldn''t even care if the scribe had been an assassin or not, her work ethic had been too excellent to let it pass.


    Now I understand why Mother keeps talking about talent and exportation of education¡­ The sultanzade sighed and put the quill aside.


    It wasn''t that the new scribe was bad, but Ayad had been too competent. The only commoners who had an education in Sadina were either scholars ¨C who were snatched by Nuha, the scribe of scholars ¨C or merchants driven away by Tamara. Unlike the Nuha, the scribe of commerce did run enterprises that were affected by competition.


    So Sadina was an impossibly rich city but with little to no educated elite. Lowborn, in any case.


    Nobles surely had an education, but they were just parasites on the system. Naila couldn''t understand why the Sultanah kept them around, if she were in power, she would cull them. No questions asked. The real military might of Ydaz was that of the cultivators, not the armies of the noble houses.


    All this rambling was to say that the problem wasn''t with the city ¨C or the emirate ¨C of Sadina, but rather herself. After having had most of her workload handled by others, it was hard having to do it all herself.


    Ah, how difficult it is being a princess. Naila scoffed and went for a stroll. There wasn''t enough time to afford a training session, but nobody would howl at her if she just stretched her legs a bit.


    As she looked at the peaceful and beautiful city of Sadina through the arches of the palace, Naila could only think how badly she needed some conflict.


    "Come on, Mother, declare a war already," she commented lazily as her eyes were glued to the clear blue skies.


    Considering Aaliyah-al-Ydaz''s isolationist government, there hadn''t been a war involving the country even decades prior to Naila''s birth. The princess had never known war, but she knew fights and skirmishes. Her body ached for violence, to solve the problems with a swift and clean cut of a blade instead of a slow and messy stroke of a quill. She wanted to write with blood, not with ink.


    However it may be, she was forced to return to her office soon.


    At the door, a guard waited for her. Nesrine, a palace guard, had acted as Ayad''s personal guard in lieu of her lacking mobility. The pretense of having her around was to check if she was related to the assassins, but after weeks of observation, Naila hadn''t found anything.


    She had even reaped her not that long ago.


    It had been a difficult task as the guard herself didn''t swing both ways nor she was mandated to please the sultanzade by contract like the palace servants, but after seeding some guilt in the woman and giving her one too many beers, Nesrine had fallen to her bed.


    And Naila had gotten nothing out of it.


    Information, that was. She did reap the guard twice in their heated session, and as their eyes met, Nesrine blushed and avoided her gaze. The guard was ashamed of her actions, of course. From her point of view, she hadn''t been assaulted by a sultanzade, but rather, she had assaulted a minor.


    Whilst Naila didn''t take much joy in reaping or sex, only doing it to boost her vitality, she couldn''t help but find it amusing leading adults to bed and seeing their regret written on their faces after their heads cleared.


    The sultanzade snickered and made her way into her office.


    The thing about office work was that technically speaking, her Nurture could help her with it, but at some point, her speed was so elevated that it was detrimental. What need had she to write thousands of words per minute if she could even think a couple dozen?


    She didn''t count the time, mainly because it would make her depressed knowing how much she was losing by having to work, but a solid while later someone knocked on the door.


    "Nesrine here," the guard announced, "there is an update on the¡­ Ayad case."


    "Enter." Naila didn''t remove her eyes from the parchment, she was too behind in work to afford that.


    "It is a letter," Nesrine slid a paper on her desk.


    The princess sighed and assumed the speed stance. In the fraction of the time, the guard needed to blink, she grabbed a letter opener, slashed the paper open, and stored the knife again in the drawer. That got a step backward from the guard and minimal amusement from Naila at the reaction.


    The contents of the letter were just a report on the incident of the expropriated greenhouse. Nothing she didn''t know, besides the identification of the body that they had found there.


    "Bring me the person who has written this letter. Now." Naila''s commandeering tone made the palace guard shiver, but the woman took the letter and promptly obeyed.


    The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    It didn''t take Nesrine more than a handful of minutes to come back with the captain of the palace guard.


    "Did you call me, princess?" The man was so dull and unworthy of being called the captain of the palace guard that his name didn''t stick in Naila''s mind. Not that she was a particularly colorful woman, but if people didn''t have some fanfare or fire to them, she was bound to forget their existence.


    "Tell me why it has taken you this long to identify a corpse," the princess ordered.


    "The family of the deceased hadn''t come forward until now, ma''am." There was this hint of hate at having to hear orders from a ''child'' in the man''s eyes, but unfortunately, he lacked the spine to show more than that. "It didn''t help that the body was in a¡­ less than recognizable state."


    The excuse wasn''t that believable considering who the dead man ended up being.


    "Yes, yes, calcinated, I remember that." Naila dismissed with her hand. "Is the family here right now?"


    In any normal case, she wouldn''t care about a family of afflicted people. But they weren''t any family.


    "Yes, ma''am," the captain nodded. "Do you want me to bring them over?"


    "Yes," Naila taciturnly added. This pathetic waste of muscle didn''t deserve a scowl on her part. How could someone who had trained their bodies to such levels as the captain guard had done be so useless?


    She then ordered Nesrine to search for some documents for her after knowing who the dead body at the oasis was to have a bit more information.


    The speed stance boosted her reading capabilities, but it was more of a byproduct of her training that she could process so much information at reduced windows of time, so the stance wasn''t needed for reading. It did soothe her, though.


    After a few more minutes and a sun threatening to set on the horizon, a busty woman and a girl appeared at the doors of her office.


    "Can we leave my daughter out of this?" The woman inquired.


    "No," Naila taciturnly said as she didn''t value the mother of the girl worthy of anything more, but as the woman''s eyes scowled at her, she found a hint of amusement in the situation. "Make yourselves comfortable," she pointed at the chairs in front of her desk.


    The mother guided her daughter by the arm with care, and the girl looked like she hadn''t had much sleep as of late. Naila had never had a father and she didn''t recognize her own mother as a paternal figure, so she couldn''t even imagine what the girl must be feeling like.


    Not that she tried imagining it in the first place.


    "Mirah, am I right?" Naila questioned the mother as she tapped some scattered papers on the desk.


    "Indeed," Mirah nodded, but she didn''t add any honorifics to her words.


    Rani would probably have had her whipped or something, but Naila always considered honorifics too bothersome. She let the woman have that pitiful act of defiance.


    "Let us go straight to business," the sultanzade started, "why was your husband on the former scribe of commoner''s lands the day of the murder?"


    The little girl shrunk at the mention of the word ''murder'', but Naila ignored it.


    "Aloe was a friend of the fami-"


    "I asked why the man was there, not your life story," Naila interjected. A common interrogation tactic, destroy their argument to make them rethink their words. Non-intrusive yet astonishingly effective.


    Mirah looked at the princess with an unapologetically murderous gaze which Naila could only respect. Not many people even dared to look at sultanzade, let alone in that way.


    "My husband, Jafar, went to Aloe''s greenhouse because he discovered that Aloe had been gifting money to us through me."


    Lie. Naila didn''t have a magical ability to detect lies, but she expected the woman to lie, so it felt like a lie.


    Either way, she decided to play into the lie.


    "I guess because the captain," the sultanzade was aware of the dead man''s former position, "wanted to be the one providing for the family?"


    Mirah nodded. "He was enraged, so without thinking it twice, he followed Aloe to her lands."


    This one didn''t feel like a lie to her, but honestly, Naila was bullshitting herself into believing her own gut feelings.


    "And then Ayad killed him," the sultanzade unceremoniously said.


    The expressions of her spectators shifted drastically; this was what she had been expecting. Nesrine coughed at the mention of the scribe killing someone, but Naila didn''t care about the guard. What mattered were the faces of the family.


    Mirah''s visage twisted with rage, quite an interesting feeling for someone who had been told their husband had been murdered. Surprise was the expected reaction nine times out of ten. Though Naila guessed the woman had been long suspecting the death of her husband.


    That expected reaction was left for the daughter. The sheer disbelief in the little girl''s face made it all worth it.


    "Wait," Mirah raised her voice, "we have been told that it was the assassins who killed him."


    Of course, Naila didn''t know if Aloe Ayad had personally killed Captain Jafar, but if the Sultanah''s statement was to be believed, then the former scribe was an assassin, and therefore not a lie that the assassins had killed the man.


    "Haven''t you heard, Ayad was an assassin." So she told them that.


    "Impossible," the housewife was surprised, yes, but that reaction was not out of denial. She was completely and utterly confident that Ayad wasn''t an assassin.


    "Was?" The girl interjected with tears in the corners of her eyes. "Is cousin Aloe dead too?"


    "Ah, a slip of words," Naila admitted. "No, Ayad is very much alive and on the run. She is currently charged with murder, being an assassin, and oathbreaking."


    The last one was pushed by Rani rather than the Sultanah because there was one law that allowed people to intercede in executions in the case of the affected party by the broken oath, normally substituting the execution for indentured servitude. But Naila smelled the bullshit there. What oath had exactly been broken?


    Anyhow, that wasn''t the subject at hand.


    "Did cousin Aloe kill Dad?" The girl asked Naila. The sultanzade almost expected rage in her eyes, for the girl to make an oath of revenge or something, but no. That was the gaze of someone who just wanted answers.


    "I was not there when it happened." For once, Naila decided to be honest. "And the only person that may know the answer is Ayad."


    Truth be told, the sultanzade still doubted the former scribe was an assassin. Ayad had too many opportunities and had misplayed even more times to be one. So unless it was a recent recruitment, it made no sense in her timeline of events. Unless the very woman was a mastermind who had played them all for fools.


    Which Naila highly doubted.


    "I see¡­" The girl''s gaze fell to the ground.


    There was something in the situation that made Naila think. Something uncommon as she was more of an instincts type of gal. Mirah was a rare woman, with soft skin and silky hair for a commoner, enough so to make Naila want to reap her out of curiosity. But with Ayad in play, she had a better idea.


    The princess'' eyes diverted to a parchment mentioning Jafar''s daughter.


    "Aya, was it?" The girl raised her head, looked at her with a hint of fear, and nodded. "From what I have seen you are quite the performing student."


    Mirah grabbed her daughter to protect her and talked for her. "Yes, she is a brilliant girl with a brilliant mind blessed by the heavens and the sultanate."


    Naila could recognize the ass-kissing from days away, she had grown up in a palace of sycophants after all. That was precisely why such tactics didn''t work on her.


    "I know little Aya here is young, but I would like to present her with an option for the future." Naila Asina only wanted one thing, and that was time to herself. The disappearance of Aloe Ayad had removed that from her, so either she recovered it by baiting her, or¡­ "Would you like to be the scribe of commoners of Sadina?"


    She would steal from her.

 Book 4: 24. Hope

    Hope was an insidious, lying bastard. It always whispered warm and comforting words, to never give up and to hold your dreams, but as the rope tightened around your neck¡­ did that even matter?


    Those were the thoughts going through Aloe''s head as she lay on the ground of a humid and cold chasm next to a corpse.


    No more sunlight made its way through the slit at the top now. It may be midnight or just twilight, but she couldn''t know, nor did she care.


    "Is there a reason to keep running?" Her words were but a faint whisper, yet the perfect sound and echo of the rock walls returned the sound to her ears in pristine condition.


    The last words of the assassin had affected her badly. Her whole plan depended on running away to Loyata and then catching a boat to anywhere far from Ydaz, but now she had to deal with the fact that Loyata was an assassin hotspot.


    The possibility of the assassin lying to her with his last breath didn''t even pass through her mind. Aloe had always been great at reading expressions and emotions and lies by extension. It didn''t matter that the assassin had been clouded in shadows prior to his death, those words didn''t feel like lies.


    The worst part was that she even knew that was the case. She had just tried to ignore it until now.


    She knew of Aaliyah''s ¨C and also her predecessor''s ¨C culling of the assassins. Kyra-al-Ydaz put an end to the Assassin States, a set of microstates scattered around Ydaz and some other countries, and Aaliyah followed by erasing most of the assassin cells that remained in Ydaz.


    It was nearly impossible to eradicate a group already, especially one ridden by beliefs, so it was obvious that a set of people that could turn into shadows and displace instantly would be outright impossible. The assassins weren''t purged, they just moved to greener pastures.


    Apparently, in a literal manner.


    If it wasn''t for the Blossomflame she would be done since the very beginning. Don''t think about it. Don''t think about it. Aloe gritted her teeth trying to remove Jafar''s blood-curdling screams as he died, but it was hard when she could smell the calcinated corpse of the dead assassin next to her. His screams had been more muted than Jafar''s, but that didn''t make them any better.


    "Ah¡­" Aloe let out a pained moan.


    The irony of the situation was nothing short of comedic as she was healthier than ever before. Not only had she never had this much vitality, but the Blossomflame''s conflagration had healed every piece of her body.


    "Loyata is a death trap," that much she knew. "What can I do?" The petite cultivator did her best to hold in her sobs, but it was getting harder and harder as time went on. "I can''t go back, can I?"


    If Loyata wasn''t an option, then only treading across Ydaz by foot was her chance to reach another country.


    "No," Aloe muttered. "I would need to pass through Asina to get to Western Ydaz, and the Heaven''s Starway is the most secure and manned mountain range of Ydaz. And besides," she bit her lips, "I''d rather not go anywhere near Aaliyah. Not yet."


    Maybe ever, she left the last part unspoken.


    For now, she slept.


    Her mind, body, and heart were so exhausted that she couldn''t even be bothered by the corpse scarce a few steps away from her. She just donned recovery and closed her eyes, praying and hoping that the gesture would mean anything in her precarious state.


    <hr>


    It was impossible for Aloe to tell how much time had passed down in  the chasm, but she didn''t care much, all things said.


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    She woke up, her body temperature slightly low from the humidity and the darkness of the cavernous structure of the chasm.


    The first thing she did after waking up was take a gulp out of her waterskin and clean her fingers with a bit of water. Whilst she no longer felt the pain, blood crusts had formed on her fingertips as she had tried to stop her fall with them. It took a lot of rubbing and dyeing red and black a perfectly fine rag, but she got all the blood away.


    As she had no light with her, she performed the whole cleaning in the penumbra of the chasm, but the sense stance helped to mitigate the darkness. Even if not much daylight reached her current position, her enhanced eyes could see as if it was a particularly bright night.


    Aloe peered at the assassin''s corpse and was partially inclined to push it off the edge with a kick but held herself out of respect. Not that she was going to remain on this ledge for long.


    The advantage of her underground location was that everything was well-preserved thanks to the low temperatures, even the corpse, but she was sure the humidity would spoil others.


    The cultivator didn''t eat much, having slept next to the corpse she had personally created had removed any appetite from her person. From the corner of her eyes, she could see the calcinated state of the body alongside some pools of blood that had yet to coagulate.


    "What now?" Aloe sighed alone in the darkness.


    She was rather cold, but considering she was wielding a stance and hadn''t slept with a blanket, that was to be expected. To regain a bit of body heat, she took out a blanket and wore it over her backpack. The petite woman walked over to the ledge, looking straight down and then slowly turning her head up.


    "Down''s closer than up," she commented. "That must be the Tehen that I''m seeing."


    Whilst her eyesight was affected by the lack of light, she could vaguely see the current of the water, more of occasional glints of the reflections than anything, and especially hear it.


    "I guess this is better than nothing¡­" Aloe scratched her head, switched her internal infusion to toughness, and slowly made her way down.


    Her fingers may have been long healed, but they were numb, and the cold touch of the stone wasn''t one she was enjoying. The only saving grace of her downward climbing was that falling down wouldn''t be lethal. She had fallen from a greater height and only broken a femur, or that was what she still believed, but there wasn''t much time to ponder on her wounds as the Blossomflame healed them rather fast.


    Aloe was conscious and methodical with her steps.


    Even if she wouldn''t get hurt and the pain was greatly dulled by toughness, she would rather not go through the whole process if possible.


    Time was a fickle thing down there as she normally guessed the passage of time by looking at the heavens, but she couldn''t have taken more than half an hour to get down to the bottom of the chasm.


    To the riverbed of the Tehen River.


    Without thinking about it twice, Aloe walked to the river whilst in complete darkness and submerged her hands in the water.


    "Oh, heavens!" She snatched them fast. "That''s cold!"


    She rubbed her hands together furiously and exhaled on them to recover the lost heat.


    "Well, at least I won''t go thirsty." For better or worse, Aloe had resigned herself to wait a bit at the bottom of the chasm, if just to weather the storm that was the assassins and the sultanate. "But better look for a drier spot. And a¡­ corpseless one at that."


    She changed her infusion to acuity before walking as her descent down the chasm had been rather terrifying. Fear was born from the unknown or the known, and blindness was the paradoxical ailment that presented both aspects.


    "I guess I shouldn''t be surprised there''s less light here." Even with the sense stance, it was hard to get a good grasp of her surroundings. "If only I had some bioluminescent plant like the Myriad or the Moonlight''s Tooth¡­"


    Aloe almost slapped her face out of her head as her thoughts caught up to her words. She knelt down, groaned, and took out the Blossomflame from the backpack.


    "Mmm, warmth," she shivered in pleasure at the warm touch of the plant. Even the pot holding the plant was warm.


    Then she switched to potency and bit her thumb. The Blossomflame awakened from its dormant state upon sensing the wound and let out embers proportional to the wound. Aloe intercepted the fire with an oil lamp that she had bought. It was wasteful using her scarce oil this soon after leaving Selen, but there was no better place in Khaffat to use it.


    It took a bit of finicking to set the wick ablaze, but soon she had a dim light all to herself. "Damn, that makes a lot of difference."


    The light was objectively pathetic, but even the dimmest lights were the brightest of stars amidst a sea of the blackest darkness.


    With a lamp in hand and acuity boosting her sight, Aloe trekked across the humid cavern that was the underground in search of a better place to set camp. Her hope was like the lamp she was holding, fickle but refusing to be put out. She wouldn''t give up now after everything she had suffered, everything she had done to survive.


    Her sins were many, and that was why she had to keep running away and surviving. Extinguishing that hope would be betraying the life she had extinguished to get this far.

 Book 4: 25. Underground

    Only two epithets were needed to describe the bottom of the chasm: damp and cold. More than once, Aloe thought of changing to toughness to gain a bit of body heat, but she continued to push onward as she considered it a waste of time.


    "What infusion would boost body heat?" She realized she didn''t have the answer for it. "Would it be toughness as it helps me to survive? Or perhaps potency as it bolsters my body? No, in any case, it should be recovery as maybe body heat is a bodily resource¡­"


    Just to scratch the itch on her mind, Aloe switched stances constantly for a while, keeping them up for five minutes at a time to check if one stance increased her body''s temperature more than others.


    The three she initially thought of brought no results, so just to make her tests more conclusive, she tried the remaining five ¨C she had already tried acuity as that was her starting point ¨C internal infusions to see if any brought change.


    Short answer? No.


    Long answer? There was change. Though not in the manner she expected.


    After going through all the stances, even flowing, her body heat didn''t increase once. What did happen was that, when she shifted to subterfuge, her body temperature decreased. She had no way to check it with precision, but she had become way colder when she was donning that infusion.


    "I guess it makes sense," she muttered on the ground as she huddled with the Blossomflame to recover her heat. "The stealth stance is meant to make people harder to detect, and there are some animals like snakes that guide themselves by temperature, so it definitely makes sense that masking one''s body heat would be necessary to be hidden."


    Once she had a hearty gulp of water, she no longer was scared to run out of water with the Tehen River next to her, Aloe stood up and continued walking with acuity active.


    It was a more boring trek than any of the ones she had done before, and certainly slower as she couldn''t wield haste in this darkness without killing herself, but the fear and the paranoia did keep her guard up.


    Now that her sight was severely deprived, her other senses flourished under this isolation, especially her hearing. Aloe was more than happy to not detect any signs of life in the underground. She knew some animals or monsters could live in caves, but this chasm not only was vertical so there was nearly no way to get out, but it was too cold and deprived of vegetable life to sustain an ecosystem.


    At this point, even Aloe didn''t know how she was standing up. Sure, she was wearing the cold-weather clothing she bought at Selen alongside a mantle and the Blossomflame, but she still felt impossibly cold.


    Enough so to be constantly fatigued.


    With a tired grunt, the cultivator sat on the cold and damp stone to rest. The humidity was killing her, it was even harder to breathe than the hottest days of summer.


    "Fatima said that one of her brothers could summon fire with the flowing stance, maybe I can too?" She didn''t believe even a bit that she could achieve that. "Well, I got nothing to lose."


    For the next half hour, Aloe tried to adjust her mindset to shape her flow in vitality in such a way that once she emitted it from her body it burst into flames. But no matter how much she tried, she found little to no success. Even if she had the perfect example and image in the shape of the Blossomflame.


    The only progress in all that time was that she managed to push some vitality out of her body. That achieved nothing as it vanished into the air, but it was the first time she had expulsed vitality outside her body without sending it into a target.


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    "I guess I could use this to deplete my reserves if I ever find a sultanzade and I need to go unnoticed, but," she sighed, "the draining rate leaves a lot to be desired. It''s even less than the draining rate needed to evolve a grass seed. It would take ages, if it even offsets my natural regeneration, to drain my reserves. If I''m in such a scenario, I would be better off pushing my vitality into a cumin seed and hoping for the best¡­"


    A really stupid idea blossomed in Aloe''s mind.


    "Talking about cumin seeds, I have nearly enough vitality now to evolve a Blossomflame in one go," she took a cumin seed from her satchel and looked at it. She had to basically glue it to her eyes as the darkness of the chasm didn''t help with such finer details. "I have grass seeds, so getting Cure Grass isn''t a problem now¡­"


    Perhaps it was the exhaustion talking, but Aloe decided to evolve a Blossomflame to clear her mind. She left everything ready before going for it as she still only barely had enough vitality to perform the evolution without assistance and things could go wrong.


    First, she shifted to the regeneration stance. Her vitality restoration rate wouldn''t be enough to cover a fraction of the Blossomflame''s draining rate, but it would contribute something to the cause. Second, she held a Cure Grass pellet in her other hand.


    Her vitality pill satchel was rather empty now, enough so that the pills jiggled inside.


    It was but a drop that she offered to the cumin seed with the intent of evolving it, and it started drinking greedily as if it had been thirsty all of its life. Only now whilst evolving the seed did Aloe realize how much vitality the living stone had needed to evolve. In just an instant it had drank what the future Blossomflame seed was taking seconds.


    "Well, I will either need a lot of pills or much more vitality to evolve the living stone," and that was her conclusion.


    She was in no haste to evolve the curious plant; the only pressure was her curiosity at having an evolution at her arm''s length yet being incapable of performing it.


    Once her vitality reached around a tenth of her total reserves, Aloe consumed the Cure Grass pellet.


    "Oh, wow," she muttered after the grass kicked in. "That''s¡­ nothing."


    It actually was something, the pill did restore around a whole mansworth but compared to the last time she had used pellets to evolve something, her reserves had grown significantly since then. One mansworth was even pitiful now, and she only had six of them, though they felt like way more in her bones.


    Without much issue, she evolved the cumin seed into a Blossomflame one. She could detect it even without the vitality drainage as the seed now emitted heat.


    "Hmm¡­" Another idea blossomed in Aloe''s mind.


    She picked up the rest of the Blossomflame seeds she had evolved during all this time, basically since her departure from the palace of Asina. There weren''t many as she didn''t have many opportunities to evolve them these last months, but there were enough of them to fill a handkerchief and tie them into a makeshift bag.


    "Mmm¡­ w?rmth¡­" The coziness of the Blossomflame heat pack affected her speech as she melted in pleasure. "Oh heavens, this has been the best idea I''ve ever had."


    All things being said, the pouch wasn''t that warm, but when her bones were as chilled as they were right now, the seeds felt as warm as afternoon sunlight.


    Not great, but better than nothing.


    After being renewed by the myriad of Blossomflame seeds, Aloe continued going forward. She felt as if the cold was affecting her more now that her vitality was spent, but recovery was pulling its weight and she would only need to walk blindly for five more minutes before switching back to acuity.


    The positive ¨C if it could be called that ¨C thing of not donning haste was that any internal infusion was valid for displacing as her speed wouldn''t be affected in any case.


    The more vitality she restored, the more she could feel the heat returning to her.


    "Hmm¡­" She mumbled. "Does vitality increase body heat by default?"


    Calling back¡­ unpleasant memories, Aloe remembered that Aaliyah''s touch was certainly hot, burning even. She had ignored it because, well, there were more pressing issues at that time. Not that her mind was working correctly after being drugged with that much aphrodisiac.


    Before she realized it, Aloe found herself hyperventilating; her breath taking the shape of wakes of mist.


    "Don''t think about it, don''t think about it," she told herself in a mantra.


    No matter how long it had been since that night, it still haunted her. Even when there were more recent altercations in her mind ¨C more religious than confrontational ¨C like murder, Aloe couldn''t escape the image of Aaliyah.


    That nince-damned woman had engraved herself in her body, mind, and heart, and she had cared not for the damage she had caused.


    Aloe gritted her teeth and strode forward, trying to drown her thoughts in the plain repetition of treading the underground.

 Book 4: 26. Camp

    Acuity allowed her to dispel the darkness of the chasm to a degree, but that didn''t mean she possessed night vision. Alas, no stance granted her such abilities. A fleeting thought led her to wonder if the stealth stance could grant her that as stealth was heavily linked to night as a concept, but she had already tried that stance when performing her body heat tests and she hadn''t noticed any changes in her sight back then.


    "More vitality it is," in the end, everything amounted to that.


    If she wanted to be stronger, faster, survive mortal wounds, or see in the night, then she could only accumulate more vitality until her body surpassed human understanding.


    Humans were creatures of multiplication, and as there was not much difference between the increase of sight of five and six mansworth, Aloe poured her vitality into a black seed each time she maxed her reserves.


    "I fear running out of seeds now¡­" She had restocked everything at Selen, cumin seeds, black seeds, and more. Plus a book, with the hope of restoring her most trusted plant.


    Well, second now. She couldn''t deny the contributions of the Blossomflame.


    And she didn''t forget about all the other things she bought in the other town too. A miscellaneous collection of seeds from an apothecary, grass seeds, and a single potato. Considering how potatoes could grow anywhere and be eaten in any way, she trusted she could make it grow with her Forced Growth technique and create a crop field out of nowhere alongside the accelerated growth external infusion.


    "Hells, I almost forgot about external infusions, I''ve been using internal ones for so long that¡­" Aloe grabbed her head in distress out of nowhere as a solution for an earlier problem suddenly got an answer in her mind. "I''M A FUCKING MORON!" She shouted in despair, her howl echoing all throughout the subterranean river. "I could have infused the Blossomflame with resistance to drought all this time!"


    Answers to problems were normally like that, they only came when the problem had been long resolved. Though in this case, it hadn''t been much of a problem in the end, just a thorn in her mind as Aloe had constantly feared dehydration in the desert.


    Like she should.


    Using her water freely could have been a greater problem, though she had also thought of an alternative solution to that problem back then. But resistance to drought was the better ¨C and cleaner ¨C alternative either way.


    "These ideas depend on Forced Growth too much, when it''s far from a perfect skill," she groaned. "I needed around one hundred mansworth to grow the Blossomflame, twice at that. I still don''t know if Forced Growth works by the external infusion''s logic of size equals needed vitality to infuse, or Evolution''s random amounts, but in any case, I still don''t have enough vitality to create farmlands out of nowhere."


    Yet. She left the last word unspoken.


    Aloe wasn''t much of a superstitious person, but there was no reason to jinx herself when it wasn''t needed. And she needed to get all the help she could, even if it was a supernatural and nonsensical aid.


    The slowness of not wielding haste became all the more apparent when she took a break. She had been walking for hours now since she started yet the landscape looked all the same. Maybe there was a slow inclination leading her upwards, but not much. There also seemed to be less light than before, and as she believed the sun was still out when she left, this meant she had passed over where the chasm closed.


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    In other words, she was no longer in a ravine but an underground cavern system.


    "Alright, two options," her words sluggishly left her lips. Even whilst resting, she felt tired. "Either I turn back and I search for a way up, or I continue forward and¡­ pray for the best?"


    She squinted at her own words and evolved another Flourishing Spring.


    "When I put it like that, it feels like I''m walking to nowhere¡­ but at the same time, maybe nowhere is what I need."


    Aloe didn''t know how the assassins had found her, but she suspected it would be impossible for them to find her here. Mostly because any sane person would think she would have made her way out already or simply died. This was some twisted game of hide and seek, and the best choice was the most moronic one.


    Or that was what she preferred to think.


    "Loyata isn''t safe. Ydaz isn''t safe. The border between the two¡­ that might be the best place," she didn''t believe her words, but she needed something, even if it was lies, to keep her going forward.


    The cultivator stood up and continued treading the darkness. By now her satchel of Flourishing Spring seeds was rather full. Unlike Blossomflames, she could evolve them constantly, and because she hadn''t thrown any ¨C unless some had fallen out of her satchel from her many acrobatics, voluntary and otherwise ¨C they were taking some space.


    They were so cheap that, as a matter of fact, she didn''t even need to keep them. Having a couple of black seeds was enough. One to have a future black seed plant, and another to have a Flourishing Spring.


    "I don''t know how I have never pondered this before, but I can grow more evolved plants from other evolved plants," she almost slapped her face at such an obvious thought. "Blossomflames and Flourishing Springs have pistils and such, so I could get seeds from them."


    Not that she needed to have more than one of them right now, but the possibility of reproducing evolved plants without the need for vitality was a huge help. And even in her time in the greenhouses, her time was cut short before she could do such things.


    "Eh, I don''t need this many," and without thinking it twice, Aloe threw a handful of Flourishing Spring seeds into the Tehen River.


    This wouldn''t have consequences on the ecosystem at all. Clearly.


    It took a few hours of walking in more darkness and some more black seeds, but after what seemed to be like an eternity, Aloe encountered a bifurcation in the path. Truth be told, this wasn''t the first time she had found one, but most were rifts just a few centimeters wide. She was still skinny, but not that skinny.


    With a bit of expectation, if just to get away from the cold humidity of the Tehen River, Aloe stepped into the cavernous entrance of the bifurcation. It wasn''t as big as the river''s ravine, but her small stature was beneficial for once as she found no problem whatsoever as she trudged the narrow cave.


    At least she didn''t suffer from claustrophobia, because her shoulders ¨C or more precisely her backpack ¨C scratched the cave walls. At the same time, she guessed it was difficult to get claustrophobia from a place you couldn''t see.


    Unlike the endless course of the river, it didn''t take Aloe long to find something worthwhile after not that long. The cave path finally opened into some sort of clearing, if it could even be called that. Because of her limited vision, Aloe couldn''t tell how high the ceiling was, but she guessed it couldn''t be much. Just enough to remain out of her very limited vision range.


    The cultivator prodded around the cave opening with a hand on the wall. In less than a handful of minutes, she completed a lap around the cave back to the same entrance she had come from. The cave wasn''t that big and had a vaguely circular shape.


    But it was out of sight, and it wasn''t as humid as the river shore.


    "It beats sleeping in the cold and being drenched," Aloe shrugged, the close stone calls returning her voice back to her in a mighty echo.


    It felt wrong calling a cave colder than a yakhchal a camp, but this was the best she had at her disposal, a pocket of air in a ravine where the temperature was barely above the freezing point.


    Aloe didn''t care, or rather couldn''t care any longer, how long she had been awake. She prepared her sleeping bag, grabbed a blanket, and sneaked her way inside the comfort of the heat-trapping leather.


    She was cold, wet, and constantly edging a nervous breakdown, but the warm bag of Blossomflame seeds in her hands helped.


    If just barely.

 Book 4: 27. Soil

    Aloe woke up with a wet face. Humidity was ever-present this close to the Tehen River, but as she wiped her visage, she noticed the source of her wetness wasn''t humidity but tears.


    "Haha¡­" She let out a wry and dry laugh as she wiped her tears.


    No words left her mouth, only half-thoughts that blossomed and withered before they could be fully born. Aloe bit her lower lip and clutched the Blossomflame seed bag with all her might, trying to leave all those thoughts behind.


    In and out.


    She took slow breaths that filled her lungs with cold, stale air and did her best to wake up from her sleeping bag. No thoughts flew in her mindscape, only automatic actions that had been engraved on her body after days of the same repetition.


    From her backpack, Aloe took out her pathetic excuse of a breakfast and some water. Normally she would appreciate having access to cold and refreshing water, but now as it flowed down her throat, it felt oppressive. Just a reminder that she was in a cage of cold, just sapping more of her limited heat.


    Even her exhalations were cold now, but that didn''t stop Aloe from trying to warm her hands with them. She gave up fast, the Blossomflame seeds proved better at heating her than her own body.


    Aloe stretched her extremities, more than one bone and muscle popping back into place with the gestures. She couldn''t say she felt exhausted, she just technically had around forty hours of sleep if not more. But she couldn''t say she had the energy nor the motivation to seize her day.


    Mindlessly, Aloe searched for the cave''s entrance, only to notice she was fully blind without acuity. And even when she donned it, her eyes only caught vague silhouettes of her surroundings.


    "Too dark," she whispered quietly, yet the echoing cave walls caught the sound without problem. "There''s no light here."


    At the river and the ravine, some hint of light reached the bottom even if it wasn''t much. Truth be told, Aloe didn''t know how she could even see anything at all, acuity or not.


    Guiding herself mostly with her hands, Aloe slowly trekked the way back through crevice to the river. Fortunately, the way back was a tight enough rift that there was no way to get lost.


    The river made its presence clear way before she was able to see it with its strenuous course, the sound of water louder than the thoughts of her exhausted mind. A few more minutes later, the proximity of the river was evident as her clothes and skin began collecting small droplets of water. Even if her vision was mostly impeded, she caught glances of her breath turning into a white mist from the cold.


    The only real way to see the river with this near absolute lack of light was through the occasional refractions on the water''s surface. Though it wasn''t like she was going to fall in the river by mistake, the sounds were too loud for her enhanced ears for that to happen.


    But purposefully falling in it was a wholly different matter.


    "OH FUCK, THAT''S COLD!" Aloe powerfully shouted like never before as she took her head out of the river. She had thought to wet her visage a bit, but she had miscalculated and instead dunked her whole head into the Tehen River.


    She started shaking her head vigorously, and all the lethargy in her body suddenly vanished. It wouldn''t be wrong to say that she looked and acted like a scared cat, and she dried herself.


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    "Oh heavens," she cursed again, albeit in a more civilized manner. "I kinda needed that¡­"


    Aloe rubbed her eyes and sighed, not before a shiver went down her spine from the cold. She took out her blanket and dried her hair with it. It was less than optimal doing so because heavens knew when it would dry in this humid environment, so that meant no blanket for a while unless she wanted to catch a cold or develop hypothermia.


    "Well, no baths for a while." That wasn''t a statement, but the best attempt at comedy she could muster. "Now that I think it through¡­ No stances increase my body heat, but maybe they increase my resistance to it?"


    Sheepishly, Aloe dipped her hand into the river again after having switched to toughness.


    "Ow, cold," she removed it fast. "But maybe not as much?"


    For the first time in what felt like an eternity, Aloe removed her stance. She switched to the default one, meaning that her body wielded no stance whatsoever.


    "Oh," she gasped, "I feel naked. It''s¡­ it''s been a while since I have had my physical properties not modified by arcane powers. It''s weird¡­"


    Aloe opened and closed her hand in quick succession, testing her speed. When she was donning any internal infusion that wasn''t haste, she would be slower than usual, but not now¡­ she was in her usual state, and that felt unusual.


    As if she could no longer recognize herself.


    "Uh, what was I doing? Water, right," the cultivator dipped her uninfused hand into the water, and the cold assaulted it. "Mmm," Aloe moaned in pain at the chill and switched back to toughness in a blink. Holding her hand underwater, she swayed her head from side to side in ponderation. "I do feel the cold less¡­ I think. But I can''t tell if that''s because toughness is making me resistant to it, or the innate numbness that accompanies the stance."


    Whatever the case, Aloe decided to put an end to her experiments as she was getting very cold. Her hands were frigid and awfully red.


    Heating herself with her exhalations was useless, and her blanket was still damp alongside her hair, so the warmth pouch wouldn''t be enough. Instead, Aloe tapped directly from the source.


    "Come on, flourish!" She commanded Blossomflame, raising her hands to the heavens.


    Nothing happened.


    Her answer was nothing but the overwhelming silence of the chasm.


    "I knew it wasn''t likely to work, but I had to try," Aloe sighed and bit her finger after switching to potency.


    The flow of blood coming through the wound did warm her, but bloodletting wasn''t exactly the most optimal way to heat oneself. Embers, equivalent to the damage she had inflicted on herself, blossomed from the evolved flower and enveloped her finger.


    "Can you hold it a bit longer?" She petitioned the Blossomflame.


    Her experience told her that the Blossomflame would only obey her once she was hurt, or someone was threatening her. Now that I think about it, I was hurt all those times the Blossomflame defended me¡­ She didn''t let that thought flourish as either way it was unlikely for her to be felled fast enough for the Blossomflame to not spring into action in time.


    "Oh," surprisingly, the embers did not vanish instantly, somehow obeyed her command.


    They didn''t stay for long, but the fire was more than welcomed. And useful. Light was a scarce resource here, but with the usage of acuity, even an ember could become a beacon in this oppressive darkness.


    Aloe used the brief moment of light to the best of her extent, devouring the details of her current location.


    First, even if she already knew this, there no longer was an opening to the outside. It would be inappropriate to call this place a chasm any longer, perhaps a ravine or simply cave was more appropriate, but semantics had never been her forte.


    Second, there seemed to be an ecosystem here.


    Nothing elaborate, but the riverbed was no longer composed of hard rock ¨C or the needle-like substrate of the Ridged Highlands ¨C but soil.


    Soil!


    And what did the combination of soil and water mean? That''s right.


    Plants!


    Her vision and watching time had been severely limited so from what she had seen, there were only moulds and fungi growths around the Tehen River. Not much, but it was better than a region completely devoid of life.


    And whilst the presence of plants meant something for her vital arts, her focus was redirected to the soil.


    "If I have this much soil around and unrestricted access to water¡­ Shouldn''t I be able to grow plants without any limitations whatsoever with these traits in tandem with Forced Growth?"


    It wasn''t much, a pathetic excuse for her greenhouse and the oasis, but Aloe felt her ember of hope burn ever-so-slightly brighter. Hopefully, they wouldn''t be as ephemeral as the ones from the Blossomflame.

 Book 4: 28. Namesake

    Even with these many boons, Aloe didn''t let her hopes get too high. Soon enough she detected a critical problem, sunlight, or the lack thereof.


    "Plants need sunlight to grow," this wasn''t just common sense talking, but some of the scripts and treatises she had read from time to time in the library of Sadina, both from the palace and the university. "How do I solve this problem?"


    Aloe didn''t consider herself an intelligent person. Resourceful and wise, but not precisely intelligent. But it was that resourcefulness that she needed right now to solve her issues.


    "Drilling a hole in the ceiling is not an answer, I don''t know how thick the cave ceiling is, nor how far away it is. Hells, I don''t even have tools to drill it," her resourcefulness was proving exceedingly effective. She groaned. "If I still had a Myriad with me¡­ a stray glint of light would be enough to bring the sun down here¡­"


    Alas, the plant had stayed at the oasis. And whilst she knew how to evolve it, she didn''t have a banana at her disposal, and going out to buy one wasn''t an option when her trail was still this hot. Maybe after a few days, if not weeks, she would give it a second thought.


    "Maybe¡­ maybe I''m focusing the problem with a wrong angle," Aloe pondered. "Do I really need sunlight in the first place?"


    She recalled her early experiments with the Force Growth flowing stance technique and when she grew the Blossomflame back at the oasis most of the process had occurred at night. Not much sunlight in sight.


    "Because I do the growing for the plants myself, I don''t think I need the sunlight," she theorized. "I still have soil and water to maintain them, but to be honest, I need to run more experiments, maybe not even soil is needed to cultivate plants with Forced Growth, I just did it because I felt like it. And either way, I wanted to keep the Blossomflame alive."


    With this piece of information, she sensed her reality enlightening a bit. The darkness in her heart and mind was slightly pushed away.


    "I need to perform more tests," for once, she spoke with eagerness in her voice. "But first, sunlight."


    She had given up on the idea of obtaining sunlight this deep underground, but she would prefer if her plants ¨C future and present ¨C didn''t wilt from lack of it. And she believed she had a way to counter this, or at least, lessen the effect.


    "There''s resistance to drought and the elements, so there must be resistance to sunlight¡­" Aloe frowned and stopped for a moment to think her words. "No, that''s not quite right. It shouldn''t be resistance to sunlight, but the effects from lack of sunlight, do they have a word? Hmm¡­ it sounds stupid, but I need a clear image and a clear name for the infusion to stick."


    That was why her previous attempts to discover the stances that the imperials already knew had failed. Because she hadn''t had quite the right image. Though in this case, her problem was with external infusions rather than internal ones.


    "How about¡­ solar stockpiling?" She muttered to herself. "No that''s not quite right. They can''t stockpile sunlight if there''s none¡­ ehrm, photosynthetic reduction? Oh heavens, that''s even worse, it sounds as if I''m crippling the plant instead of bolstering it. And photosynthetic substitution? But no, this implies I''m substituting the sunlight with something, whilst my intention is to make them need less if not at all¡­"


    Aloe knelt on the ground and led her hands to her head, scrubbing her still-wet hair in search of answers. The longer she spent with them, the more furious her scrubbing became.


    "Raaaaaaaaah!" The cultivator groaned in exasperation. "Why is this hard to come up with a term for the infusion?"


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    She collapsed on the ground, tired from thinking this hard about what should have been an afterthought. Time was hard to measure here, but she had at least dedicated a solid quarter of an hour to this foolishness at the very least.


    "Honestly, I give up¡­" her voice was low and defeated. "Maybe I should go with something simple like resistance to darkness, even if it''s not wholly correct as it''s the absence of light that affects plants rather than the presence of darkness¡­"


    It wouldn''t be an exaggeration to say that she was on the verge of gouging her eyeballs out.


    "I¡­" she smacked her lips together. They were paradoxically damp and dry at the same time. "Shade acclimation? I''ve heard that in some dense forest of Loyata or Pincerare the foliage is so thick that some plants receive no sunlight, but they still flourish." Aloe squinted her eyes and tilted her head to the side. "Not bad, not bad¡­ Not exactly perfect, but I believe it gets the work done."


    Aloe stood up with a groan and grabbed the Blossomflame.


    "Alright, shade acclimation external infusion test begins¡­ now," the cultivator poured her vitality into the evolved flower with the intention of donning her an infusion with said name.


    The Blossomflame took in her vitality, which was a good signal. Infusion was more predictable than Evolution as it only needed an amount of vitality proportional to the plant''s mature state to be infused instead of a rather value. However, in the case of evolved plants, that value was twice as big.


    A few seconds later, the Blossomflame stopped taking in more vitality, only having consumed a handful of mansworth. Enough to significantly dim Aloe''s vision as acuity lost most of its power, but not enough to make her dazed or, heavens forbid, make her puke.


    "Alrighty¡­" Aloe tried putting more vitality into the plant with a half-cost infusion like resistance to drought, but as not even a grain more of vitality fit into the Blossomflame, she guessed shade acclimation was a full-cost infusion. "The Blossomflame is infused, that much I can see. But with what?"


    The only way to check for a plant''s infusion was to manually verify the effects, which was difficult and time-draining as most effects were subtle or took time to verify their effects.


    If one was doing it the non-magical way, that was.


    "I need a veritas, like right fucking now," Aloe said in frustration.


    Mostly because she was reminded of the fact that she had lost her Aloe Veritas.


    Aloe took out all the necessary materials from her backpack. She had bought multiple aloe vera seeds a while ago to get an Aloe Veritas, but this was the first time she had a chance to evolve one with everything that had happened. She recalled evolving one ages ago to test Karaim¡¯s words, but the memory was a muddy one.


    "Karaim explained that he evolved the Aloe Veritas and the ter''nar by mistake on his cultivation technique diary," Aloe narrated to herself to refresh her mind. "He only managed to find their evolutions when he tripped and the seeds merged with a book or something like that, I can''t remember it."


    Which spoke at great lengths of Aloe''s current mental state as she had read the diary multiple times, and she had gone as far as reading it every day during those first weeks at the oasis.


    "What matters is that he found out there were some conditions to some evolutions. I think I gave that phenomenon a name¡­ but I also can''t remember it," Aloe sighed exhausted at her forming headache.


    The cultivator took out a booklet she had bought dirt cheap on Selen. The pages were gnawed and the ink-work was messy, nor she had bothered to read what the book was about. After all, it would probably end in a worse state than now when she was done.


    "Okay, okay," she comforted herself as she put the booklet and the aloe vera seed on the same hand. "Aloe Veritas evolution test begins," she performed her usual dramatic stop, "now!"


    Instantly, the seed began drinking from her vitality reserves.


    That was good, but she got worried from the speed the aloe vera was siphoning vitality from her. It was mostly stress speaking as after she gave it half a thought, she realized the draining rate was lower than the Blossomflame.


    Not by much, though.


    Aloe panted as the seed took her vitality and she was still exhausted from the Blossomflame''s infusion. She had long restored her reserves to not get caught with low vitality whilst evolving ¨C she would never ever make that mistake again ¨C but the exhaustion from using up vitality still lingered in her body.


    "Ugh¡­" Aloe groaned and collapsed, palms to the ground. Then, slowly, she raised the hand that had been grabbing the seed. She looked at the booklet and it now had a hole spanning several pages downwards. The cultivator turned her hand and opened her hand, a seed lay in her palm.


    Pure black.


    Coated with oily ink.


    "Yes!" She turned her head to face the heavens and jumped on the spot with unfiltered euphoria. "Yes, yes, yes! I have an Aloe Veritas again!"


    Her inner flame grew bigger still. Nothing will douse it. She was going to be indomitable, ceaseless, unstoppable. All because she had a seed sharing her namesake in her hands.

 Book 4: 29. Plantation

    To say that Aloe was motivated was an understatement. She felt as if she was in the heavens above, but she also knew not to put the ceiling before the walls.


    "Okay, let''s make you grow," she whispered to the Aloe Veritas seed.


    This was her second time seeing Aloe Veritas seed even if it was one of her most used evolved plants, and she couldn''t remember how they looked until now. As a matter of fact, she didn''t know where the grown specimens stored their seeds as she had cut many leaves yet not once found them. But she knew for a fact that she was dealing with an Aloe Veritas in its ungrown state as the seed in her hand had the same coloration and refraction of the ink the mature plant produced.


    "Hmm, weird," Aloe muttered as she fingered around the seed. "It looks oily, but it doesn''t soil anything. No ink. No oil. Nothing. Maybe because it just looks like it and it hasn''t produced any ink yet?"


    Aloe was tempted to lick the seed to see if it tasted like the ink from the grown plant but ultimately, she refrained herself from doing so, mainly for fear that she may swallow the seed by mistake.


    "Anyhow," she started, "time to grow you."


    The good thing about Forced Growth was that the flowing stance had no real switching time like all the other stances. In a way, the time came from the vitality she was using to use her technique, which translated to time waiting to restore her vitality. This meant she basically had a one hundred percent uptime of the regeneration stance as she could now switch into it in a handful of seconds after using it constantly for these last weeks.


    The cultivator forced her vitality on the oily seed, but after wasting around five mansworth, her body gave out.


    "Oh, I''m too tired¡­" Aloe looked at her hand and noticed she had a bit of difficulty seeing it, and it wasn''t because of the darkness surrounding her. "I must be doing something wrong, it makes no sense that I need to waste hundreds of mansworth to grow a single plant, especially small ones like these."


    Aloe stood up and rested her back on a wall. This close to the river every surface was cold and damp, but she was too tired to walk back to the crevice she slept in.


    Lazily, she reached for water and some food. She still had food for days, but days weren''t enough when she needed to hide herself from assassins who were actively searching for her.


    "I have that potato and I could grow it¡­ but how much vitality will it need to grow?" She pondered the answer for a time, but alas, the only way of knowing so was trying.


    For starters, Aloe started infusing the plants she intended to grow down here. She still was too exhausted to infuse more Blossomflames ¨C which she wholly intended to ¨C but there were others that she expected to need less. Firstly, the potato. If she really wanted the potato to be her source of food, bountiful harvest would have been the better infusion, but she doubted that the plantation would get far without shade acclimation.


    As the tuber wasn''t an evolved plant and its mature size wasn''t that big, Aloe almost didn''t feel the infusion take a toll on her. Almost. She was feeling rather lethargic as of late, and she couldn''t pinpoint the cause. Was it from the cold? An old wound? The stress from the fights and the murders catching up to her?


    The murderer tried not to think about it, she had avoided thinking so for a long time, but the eerie silence of the chasm gave her too much time to think.


    However it may be, Aloe redirected her next efforts to the Aloe Veritas, to infuse it with shade acclimation. She was honestly prepared for the worst. Not only it was an evolved plant, but the veritas was way bigger than the Blossomflame. She didn''t expect the infusion to take more than her whole reserves, and even if it did, she could stop mid-process as this wasn''t an evolution, but she doubted she could take on depleting her reserves again without a longer rest.


    "Ah, this does remind me that I need to evolve the grass seeds and infuse them with shade acclimation."


    Stolen novel; please report.


    She practically did so in an afterthought. Even when she was just a beginner, Cure Grass hadn''t presented a challenge to her. Now with her six mansworth under her belt, even less so.


    Aloe evolved and infused ten seeds and planted them near the riverbed, where the soil was the softest. Ten seeds weren''t much considering she was dealing with grass, but it was better than nothing. It was Karaim with the Cure Grass that had taught her that evolved plants could create offspring and populate an expansive area like the oasis had been.


    For now, that would need to be enough.


    Being next to the Tehen River was as close to torture as her situation got, so Aloe decided to pack her things and get back to the crevice to get a better rest.


    Her intention was to only take a nap, but truth be told, she had no idea how long she had slept. Her exhaustion had been replaced by drowsiness, no matter if with recovery she had slept more hours than her body needed.


    Whilst she wasn''t exactly hungry, she was a bit peckish, so Aloe gnawed some jerky as she prepared to infuse the veritas. She had some vitality pills at hand, but she still was reticent to use them as their amount was limited and heavens knew when assassins would drop on her.


    And considering how had been her experiences with them, she meant that quite literally.


    The murderer took a deep breath and let her vitality flow into the oily seed. The thing about Infusion was that she could control the vitality output to a degree, so she slowed it as much as she could, and whilst she couldn''t slow it enough to be offset by her vitality restoration ¨C not by a long shot ¨C her efforts weren''t in vain.


    As she poured vitality into the Aloe Veritas, she managed to restore a whole mansworth after putting in three of them. Not great, but quite the good pace. Her vitality, and by consequence her regeneration, would continue growing, after all.


    In the end, the veritas took five mansworth, which only left her at half her deposit by regulating her flow of consumption, but she was still exhausted by the end. What affected her wasn''t how much vitality was left in her reserves when she ended her evolutions or infusions, but how much vitality she had spent.


    And five mansworth was practically a Blossomflame.


    "Hmm, I should be able to evolve a Blossomflame without needing to use Cure Grass pellets now." Not that she was going to do so now as she had more evolved seeds that she could count in her satchels, but it did motivate her having reached that milestone. Aloe let out a yawn. "Well, time to expand the plantation."


    This time she left the sleeping bag and the backpack behind as it would be a bit tedious to store everything and carry them up and down each time she wanted to go to the river. Before, she had carried the luggage with her because she feared an assassin attack, but now it should be around two days since she fought those three assassins, meaning that if they hadn''t found her since then, she could lower her guard.


    Slightly, at least.


    Once at the riverbed, Aloe made a hole with her fingers to put the veritas seed inside and then pondered about her Forced Growth technique.


    "I must be doing something wrong, I just must," she muttered whilst squatting in front of the planted seed. "If my theory about my flowing stance skill being the same as Aaliyah''s¡­ then it makes no sense at all how I need hundreds of mansworth to grow a single plant. She must have more than a hundred mansworth of deposit, perhaps a thousand, but that still wouldn''t be enough to grow a parterre, let alone farmland¡­ How does the blood of the sultanah make¡­"


    Providence struck her as an idea blossomed in her mind.


    "Blood of the sultanah¡­ blood¡­ vitality¡­ It can''t be right?"


    But it could.


    The only real way to know for certain was by trying it, so Aloe switched her internal infusion to potency ¨C darkness filling her vision in the process ¨C and bit her index finger. The wound was big enough to let a big droplet of blood out, but before doing so, Aloe turned her finger to face the heavens.


    She needed to modify her blood first.


    Instead of putting her vitality with the flowing stance directly on plants, she kept the vitality with the Force Growth intention on her blood, specifically that drop of blood trying to flow downward.


    A single mansworth, not much, not enough to make a visual difference. That was how much she put in that drop.


    She felt nausea and dizziness assault her as she did so. Using vitality could lead to dizziness, but she hadn''t wasted enough to reach that point. The corners of her mouth curved upward; this could only mean she was on the right path.


    With much expectation, Aloe turned her finger and put it on top of the hole where the infused Aloe Veritas seed was.


    Then, the drop fell.


    As if by magic, the soil greedily drank her blood. To dispel the darkness surrounding her, Aloe donned the sense stance again. The ground, or rather some grains of dirt, trembled. Where the hole had been, the soil was displaced and in real time a sprout grew from it.


    It stopped soon after, the sprout didn''t end up bigger than a fingernail, but that didn''t matter at all. She had only used a single mansworth and got the progress of what would require a dozen if not more of them.


    "Oh heavens," Aloe''s mouth curved in a smile leagues uglier than a djinn''s, that was just how much elation she was in.


    A single drop of blood was enough to birth a plantation from nothing.

 Book 4: 30. Army

    His position involved a lot of document shuffling. Not only were most people in Loyata illiterate, but they were also quite stupid. For better or worse, Hassan was one of the few who could write in common Loyatan and the only one in Asayn. People didn¡¯t care he was using a Ydazi dialect instead of the nomads¡¯ historical one, not even state documents used it, he was just taught so because of his imperial status.


    ¡°Hm,¡± Hassan grunted as he read one of the most recent documents. He had received one similar a while ago, but now he also got a copy in Loyatan. It was weird for documents to be so important that they got translated.


    ¡°Do you know what this is?¡± He asked Grandmaster Nugar.


    ¡°Hmm,¡± the old assassin grunted and snatched the parchment from his hands. ¡°Yes, I¡¯ve heard of this, the cell in Sadina is looking for a girl. They wanted her to be their plant master but she¡¯s on the run and has apparently killed her fair share of assassins.¡±


    Hassan knew how lethal assassins could be, even if he wouldn¡¯t be personally challenged with something short of a Grandmaster, but for a ¡®girl¡¯ to kill multiple of them, then she couldn¡¯t be anyone. Either a turncoat assassin or¡­ no, that was the only possibility, really. There wouldn¡¯t be any fugitive cultivators, Aaliyah wouldn¡¯t allow that.


    Though at the same time, Hassan was one himself¡­


    ¡°What is the name of this girl?¡± He asked Nugar. The problem with assassin script was that they tended to omit the most relevant information. He understood it was a concern of secrecy, but it was of utmost tedious character. ¡°If she¡¯s from Sadina, maybe I would recognize her.¡±


    Nugar raised his frowns in doubt as if saying ¡®you don¡¯t even know the names of your underlings, how are you going to know that of a random girl?¡¯ And whilst that was true, he had enough presence of mind to keep those words to himself.


    ¡°Lemme see,¡± the assassin started parsing the text to decipher it.


    Assassin script was heavily encrypted and even if Hassan should be able to decrypt it with ease, there was a mystical component to it. It wasn¡¯t like you could only solve it with Enlightenment, but their drug magic put them in the right state of mind to decrypt it in a matter of seconds rather than hours, if not more.


    And Hassan did his best to stay out of the influence.


    He was practicing with Enlightenment, yes, and his Nurture had grown stronger in great strides thanks to their synergetic properties, but he couldn¡¯t afford to down tens of different herbs per day like the assassins. His mind would turn to mush if he did so. And that was without considering the adverse effects on the body when combining certain drugs.


    Booze proved to be the best ¡®drug¡¯ so far as it mostly bolstered the body. The increase in strength was mostly mental, liberating the limits of one¡¯s body, but exactly for that reason did it synergize so well with Nurture.


    ¡°Girl¡¯s name is Aloe Ayad,¡± Nugar answered.


    ¡°Oh fuck,¡± Hassan cursed at the mention of the family name.


    ¡°What¡¯s the problem?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s only one Ayad family in Ydaz, let alone Sadina, and I kind of¡­ killed their matriarch.¡±


    The Grandmaster chuckled. ¡°Well, you certainly are living up to the title of assassin. But what would lead you to do so? I don¡¯t think this is a noble family of yours.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t do it on purpose,¡± Hassan started, ¡°when I was already sure I was going to be dethroned as Asphyxia, the plague that assaulted my emirate amongst many others, I decided to infiltrate someone showing the symptoms on the palace to slow down the local bureaucracy, somewhat of a parting gift for my half-sister.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t condemn you, that certainly did buy us time, and it wasn¡¯t like we¡¯re vulnerable to sickness. Quite the opposite,¡± the old assassin smacked his lips together. ¡°So that hijink killed that matriarch.¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± the former emir nodded, ¡°though I only learned of it months later. What I¡¯m more worried about now is her daughter, Aloe. She¡¯s the last of the Ayads, and the fact that she on the run and has killed multiple assassins is quite problematic.¡±


    ¡°Are the Ayad special?¡±


    This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t say so, but their founder member was close to Aaliyah, and after hearing she has bested many assassins it could be possible Aaliyah had made them cultivators behind our backs.¡±


    ¡°Hmm, Ayad. That rings a bell. Ayad,¡± Nugar pondered. ¡°Cultivator, plant master, Ayad, assassins¡­¡± His eyes shot wide open. ¡°Wait, wouldn¡¯t that founding member be called Karaim? Karaim Ayad?¡±


    ¡°Perhaps?¡± The assassin was right when he thought Hassan didn¡¯t know the name of his underlings. Most names of lesser people were beyond him.


    Though there was some offset of assassins that he could almost classify as equals, the hashashid. But that was a whole other matter.


    ¡°That was the plant master of Sadina, the best in the world. If her granddaughter is certainly on the loose then¡­ we are not dealing with just a cultivator, but also an assassin and a plant master.¡±


    ¡°Who are these plant masters?¡± Hassan inquired. ¡°You usually use that term for the herbalists that provide you with drugs, but I haven¡¯t seen anything unusual with them.¡±


    ¡°They don¡¯t have anything unusual,¡± the Grandmaster responded as a matter of fact, ¡°they just provide us with the highest quality of herbs they can, more than your typical herbalist.¡±


    ¡°Then what makes this plant master such of a danger?¡±


    ¡°Karaim Ayad, amongst our circles, was thought to be the reason why Grandmaster Umar was so powerful. His plants were otherworldly, and some attribute the death of Umar to the fact that Karaim passed away and couldn¡¯t supply him with plants any longer, therefore cutting his power and his lifeline.¡±


    ¡°So we are dealing with a more powerful assassin than normal,¡± Hassan summarized.


    ¡°Indeed,¡± Nugar nodded. ¡°But you know how much of a synergy Enlightenment and Nurture can have. If Ayad is a cultivator like you suspect, then perhaps we are dealing with a Grandmaster in terms of power.¡±


    The cultivator-assassin scowled. ¡°That,¡± he emphasized with his finger, ¡°is problematic. Especially when these reports indicate that she was heading to Loyata last time she was seen.¡±


    ¡°Do you believe that she¡¯s after your life?¡± The old man inquired.


    ¡°I would not cross out that possibility¡­¡± Hassan was a coward, he would do anything to avoid death and obtain power, but a single Grandmaster wasn¡¯t that intimidating. He could not only rival them and had some of them at his disposal, but he also had an army.


    A gathering army of assassins.


    ¡°We must accept the proposal of the Sadina cell,¡± Nugar voiced out.


    ¡°Are you sure?¡± Hassan frowned. ¡°I understand the need to capture, if not put down Ayad, but their petition is more than that. Declaring the Assassin States again will lead to immediate war. Even if we can buy our coexistence with the Loyatan Coalition, we will have the unmatched power of Ydaz at our doorstep.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no rush,¡± the old man calmly stated. ¡°There¡¯s a simple way to take Master Tareek¡¯s offer of a restoration of the states.¡±


    The cultivator¡¯s frown intensified. ¡°And that is?¡±


    ¡°Escalation.¡±


    Hassan and Nugar exchanged gazes, but the latter finally gave up with a chuckle. A very morbid one.


    ¡°I would have gone right for the throat if Umar was still alive, but we can¡¯t afford to do so now. We must instead bolster our forces whilst weakening theirs. We bide our time.¡±


    ¡°So what we were already doing?¡± Hassan scoffed at him.


    ¡°A bit more involved, but yes,¡± Nugar admitted. ¡°We have an army, but it is smaller than theirs, and our elites ¨C whilst more numerous ¨C are of lesser quality than theirs too.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m a sultanzade, I was involved in military affairs, tell me something that I don¡¯t know.¡±


    ¡°We aren¡¯t fighting a big war, but a series of small ones, guerrillas if you will,¡± he took a pipe out and lit it with a snap of his fingers. ¡°We excel at skirmishes, and we are faster than them, or more mobile at the very least. We undermine their center of operations, we poison their wells, we sow discontent with their government.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not foreign to frontier skirmishes, you will need to do better,¡± Hassan crossed his arms, ignoring the Grandmaster¡¯s pipe fumes.


    ¡°We are assassins, we attack in the shadows, we don¡¯t do ¡®frontier skirmishes¡¯,¡± Nugar scowled at him. ¡°With Master Tareek¡¯s help we can use Ydaz¡¯s assassin cells to just chip at the country.¡± He put emphasis on the just word.


    ¡°Just chip?¡± The cultivator¡¯s interest was piqued. ¡°Now that¡¯s unconventional. What do you intent with that?¡±


    ¡°We need years for this war, if we are as aggressive as we are being now, we risk much. For starters, we tone down the trade restrictions to make it seem as if we have surrendered¡­¡±


    ¡°Then we slowly increase them again.¡± Hassan interjected.


    ¡°You are getting it,¡± Nugar chuckled, his laugh laden with puffs of smoke. ¡°Gradual escalation, slow enough that it just seems like a natural progression of events rather than something forced that must be answered.¡±


    ¡°So when Aaliyah responds¡­¡±


    ¡°It will be far too late,¡± the Grandmaster completed the sentence.


    ¡°I must pen a letter at once,¡± Hassan¡¯s eyes shone in determination.


    He needed not to be hasty. He had more to win by playing the long game than the other sultanzade. He was getting his two daily reapings, following a strict schedule even if he wasn¡¯t in the mood or his body couldn¡¯t handle such vicious quantities of sex every single day. Assassin herbal medicine helped with that, though it was also partly to the detriment of his body. The cultivator-assassin was still getting used and ironing out the kinks of Enlightenment-Nurture, there were many things yet to be discovered. He knew it.


    Currently, the flowing stance was his main focus as it was the only stance that expelled vitality outward, and Enlightenment seemed to recover vitality through drug consumption. However, that was still in the works too.


    He was only twenty-six years old, but he could rival assassin Grandmasters and the oldest of sultanzade. In a few years, once he unlocked the secrets of the vital arts, that gap would only grow.


    And unlike his mother that safekept and obfuscated knowledge to harmful degrees, he didn¡¯t have such a limitation and had an army at his disposal to dispense said teachings.

 Book 4: 31. Growth

    It was just a drop of blood, she had shed many others if just to set ablaze the Blossomflame, yet this one in particular tired her to no end. Aloe collapsed on the ground on her bottom, her eyes still locked with the sprout before her.


    "Something''s wrong," she peered at her hands, which slightly trembled. "There''s more here than just putting vitality in my blood, more than just spending it¡­"


    She had no idea what exactly the cause was, only that she felt drained. Enough so to not be able to do a follow-up test.


    The cultivator donned the recovery stance and filled her belly with food and water. Not even the dry meat could make her recover her energy, nor the frigid water vanish her lethargy.


    For now, Aloe went back to her dry crevice and slept.


    In what seemed a blink, she woke up completely rested, not having a way to check for how long she had slept.


    "I¡­ how long have I been down here?" The petite woman questioned as she effortlessly trekked across the tight cavern passage back to the river. "I feel like I''ve only been a day down here, but it must have been way longer. I mean, I slept at least thrice here¡­"


    She decided to ignore those thoughts, if more time went by without her noticing, the better. With any luck, that would mean that the assassins would lower their guard in the future and she could got past them unnoticed.


    "So what was I doing?" She mused once she arrived at the river. Today the darkness of the chasm felt ever-so-slightly darker.


    The veritas sprout remained basically as she had left it, but the Cure Grass had shown some minimal growth. Which made sense, as it was grass and she had left it untouched.


    "Hmm¡­" Aloe squatted in front of a pathetic growth of evolved grass and pushed a mansworth through normal Forced Growth. "Yeah, small plants grow way faster." She said after she almost had a fully grown blade of grass in her hands. "I guess I should be evolving all my grass seeds into Cure Grass so they grow naturally."


    It was a trivial effort to evolve and infuse all the Cure Grass seeds, no matter if there were hundreds of them. With the recovery internal infusion, she regenerated a whole mansworth in a handful of minutes and when she was a newbie in the vital arts, she could already evolve tens of grass seeds with her pitiful reserves. Considering how stances worked by boosting existing traits and she was a master at using vitality compared to the sultanzade, even her meager reserves meant her regeneration stance was a force to reckon with. Albeit only on the vitality restoration side of the stance. Vitality was not an issue.


    The real bottleneck was time.


    Evolution had a limited draining rate, so she couldn''t just evolve seeds faster. She could evolve them in bulk though. By definition, Evolution was the act of pushing vitality into undeveloped living beings with the intent of transforming them. Nothing stated that you could only evolve one at a time if you threw a wave of vitality at them.


    The same was true for Infusion. The Cure Grass seeds were so trivial that she evolved the hundreds she had at her disposal in just a couple of rounds. The endeavor did leave her a bit tired, though she couldn''t tell if it was from the vitality usage or the effort of the myriad of evolutions and infusions she had casually performed.


    To rest, Aloe started seeding the riverbed with the hundreds of seeds, only putting them underground by a fraction of a fingernail. Most people wouldn''t consider gardening as an activity to rest, perhaps a noble lady with some liking for botany, but since her first days at the greenhouse, nurturing and cultivating plants allowed Aloe to pass the time without even noticing.


    The cold and the dampness of the environment ¨C not even considering the darkness ¨C did ruin the mood a bit, but at least her blanket was now dry, which helped keep her body heat. Once she no longer felt the pressure of the vital arts on her body, the cultivator restarted her experiments.


    "The blood of the sultanah is known to turn deserts into farmlands," she narrated to herself, "having said so, I should be able to turn this small patch of soil more fertile with a single drop."


    Aloe repeated the same steps as before: she switched to potency, bit her finger, switched to the flowing stance, infused vitality in the pouring blood, and finally let the drop fall onto the soil.


    A simple process indeed, but it was strenuous. As the Forced Growth was completed and the blood left her body, Aloe felt her vision wane once more, the darkness becoming faintly thicker.


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    "Hmm¡­" Vague ideas flourished in her mind, but she didn''t utter them yet. If she was right, she would need more samples either way.


    The subject at hand now was the soil beneath her. The Aloe Veritas had grown faster with her infused blood than with just the Forced Growth technique even if the amount of vitality provided had been the same, but it was far from enough to grow it.


    The same couldn''t be said for the Cure Grass.


    There was a big difference between a plant nearly as big as her and a handful of grass, and it showed. With her first attempt at infused blood, she had only grown the veritas by a bit; but with her second attempt¡­ it seemed there was more than enough vitality for a single blade of grass as in a wave, the surrounding blades started to grow too.


    As far as vital arts went, this wasn''t the flashiest display of magic, but it left Aloe without words, nonetheless. She saw multiple blades of grass grow in real time before her, growing millimeters per second until they finally settled in their fully grown state a few seconds later.


    The grown grass blades nearly formed a perfect circle, with the blades at the center the most grown, and the ones at the edges being just sprouts.


    Aloe couldn''t help but smile at the sight of the growth. It wasn''t the healing fire of the Blossomflame, nor the second sun of the Myriad, or even the winds sultanzade could apparently summon with the flowing stance, but this¡­


    She giggled.


    "Doesn''t this magic put me at her level?" It was a pathetic excuse of a replica, but technically speaking, she had shown the prowess of Aaliyah.


    Of the sultanah of Ydaz.


    Her body was ecstatic in giddiness, but she knew better. Her vitality was still far away from most sultanzade, let alone the sultanah. And she also had to progress in the vital arts. There were many things from Evolution ¨C her own vital art ¨C that she didn''t know, and perhaps there was a plant more powerful than the Blossomflame out there.


    Which was hard to imagine after all the feats of strength a single flower had accomplished.


    "There''s a big leap between a patch of grass and a farmland but¡­" Aloe giggled. She giggled out of joy. "It''s not an insurmountable one."


    So she got to work.


    This wasn''t just about the growth of her plants and plantations, but also personal growth. She needed more vitality.


    For a while now she had known that the more expensive it was to evolve a plant, the more vitality it would grant her, so she didn''t bother with things like Cure Grass, but she didn''t have unlimited supplies of seeds like black seeds or cumin, so that was her next objective.


    A few steps downriver, Aloe infused a handful of those seeds with acclimation.


    The good thing about black seeds and cumin was that in their grown state, they were just flowers, barely a step above herbs. They certainly weren''t a colossal type of flower like the Flourishing Spring, which reached a meter with ease, or a Blossomflame that had a diameter of almost half a meter if she left the leaves to grow free.


    For the time being, she focused her efforts on the black seeds and their plants. She wasn''t at the point where she could evolve Blossomflames nonstop yet, and unlike the black seeds, she had plenty of unspent cumin.


    Aloe watered the planted black seeds with a single drop of her blood, and that seemed to be her limit, as she fell to the ground from her squat, her head spinning.


    Blood infusion was leagues above any vital art magic she had performed, especially on how much it taxed her body.


    As she rested for the umpteenth time of the day, Aloe was reminded of her mortality. Thankfully not menstruation ¨C she at the very minimum still had two weeks before that ¨C but other bodily functions.


    "How long has it been since I''ve defecated? Or peed?" Truth was, she didn''t know.


    Her body still was processing the encounters with the assassins, let alone her mind, and until now she had been on edge. She had gone days without evacuating, which couldn''t be healthy at all.


    To preserve the sanctity of her meager refuge, Aloe walked downriver for a while and then let nature run its course.


    Doing one''s business in the desert was simple and clean, you had an infinite litterbox in arm''s reach. But she was in the Qiraji no longer.


    Aloe had to¡­ well¡­ she was grateful there was plenty of water to thoroughly clean herself, no matter how cold it may be.


    Now that she was on a cleaning spree, Aloe took the time to undress herself and wipe her body with a towel. Jumping into the river to wash herself like she had done so often in the oasis was not an option. She may have the strength and several other physical qualities of seven people, but swimming in the Tehen River would definitely kill her.


    Fortunately, she had a spare set of clothes, the torn desert garb she had used to get to Selen. Which wasn¡¯t much, but it covered her and that was what mattered. Carefully, she rinsed and washed her stripped clothes in the river. She wasn''t sure if fur should be washed in water, and now that she thought of it, she should have asked the tailor before buying Loyatan traveling clothes.


    Frustratingly enough, it ended up being harder to find a place to let the clothes dry than washing them. To let them dry she had to do the whole journey to her crevice, where it was dry, then find small protrusions on the wall that would be strong and big enough to support the heavy and slippery wet clothes.


    Having them dry this close to the cave walls would probably leave them dirtier than they were before, but at least now they were free of her bodily fluids. By that, she meant mostly sweat, but there was some blood here and there from the mistreatment she had endured during her fights against the assassins. Especially the first one that had left a torn sleeve she couldn''t fix.


    She hadn''t expected it, but it ended up being quite a productive day. She had cleaned herself up, washed her clothes, calmed herself enough to empty her bowels, planted three different plantations, and progressed on her quest for personal growth. Maybe, and just maybe, it had been more mental than physical.


    Which wasn''t a bad thing at all.

 Book 4: 32. Blood

    Aloe started the day with the most tedious and exhausting activity: evolving a cumin seed. She barely teetered on the edge of being able to evolve them without external assistance, so not evolving a Blossomflame when her reserves were topped off was a great misuse of her time and resources.


    As painful as using up ninety-nine percent of her vitality in one go was, because she wasn''t restoring any vitality with Cure Grass pellets, she didn''t suffer from any strong nausea or vomiting.


    By all means, she should. When she was beginning with the vital arts, using four-fifths of her reserves in one go would totally and utterly devastate her but her resistance to vitality depletion had grown by leaps since then. If she limited herself to her own vitality, then only mild headaches would assault her. But going beyond it was still a no-no.


    The problem with the chasm was that she didn''t have much in the department of leisure and entertainment, the only real thing she could do to pass up time was either sleep or explore.


    And whilst the latter sounded good on paper, the truth was it was miserable navigating through the wet chasm in absolute darkness.


    "Maybe if I get enough vitality, I will be able to see in the dark¡­" Aloe mused to herself as she rested near the Tehen River with her eyes closed to listen to the flow of water. Though there wasn''t much difference between keeping her eyes open or otherwise.


    She had spent the morning counting how many seeds she had remaining. She hadn''t gone through all types yet, but what mattered to her right now were the black seeds and the cumin. For the latter, she had so many that the cumin seeds she planted yesterday would already be plants without her assistance before she ran out of them. The same couldn''t be said for the black seeds.


    "It''s trivial to evolve Flourishing Spring now," she talked aloud to entertain herself, "they barely take more than a mansworth to evolve, and I feel like the ''headache threshold'' is not only dependent on the total vitality I spend each day but how much pressure the individual spending puts on me. I mean, I evolved and infused hundreds of Cure Grass yesterday and I was only affected by the blood infusion."


    Aloe was aware that exhaustion did slowly pile up, but if she was intelligent with her spending, her breaks, and the usage of recovery, then she could minimize her exhaustion and pains many times over.


    Currently, she was limited by time.


    Time to increase her reserves.


    Time for her plantations to grow.


    Time for her cro¡­


    "Oh heavens, I totally forgot about the potatoes!" Aloe led her hands to her head. "I could have run out of food if I didn''t notice before long."


    The cultivator went back to her crevice and retrieved the single potato from her backpack. The tuber proved to be quite a resilient specimen as it had already some growths on its surface.


    "I''d love to infuse you with bountiful harvest," she said whilst heaving the potato in her hand along the way. "Alas, I doubt you will survive here without shade acclimation."


    As she had done on the oasis, Aloe broke the potato into pieces after having infused it, and then she planted them on the riverbed.


    "Hmm?" She frowned as she looked at the ground with all the might that the sense stance allowed her. "Has the soil expanded?"


    For some time now she had been thinking about how she would run out of soil and how she would be forced to search for another patch, probably at the other side of the river; but out of nowhere, her arable land had expanded, if ever-so-slightly.


    "Are these the effects of the infused blood?" That was the only thought she could come up with. "I mean, I''ve never seen the blood of the sultanah in effect, but if it can transform the desert into farmlands¡­ then it must be something like this."


    She saved herself from commenting on how pitiful of a comparison it was between their powers. Aaliyah could create hectares of farmlands with one drop if snake-tongues were to be trusted, Aloe had used more than one and had accomplished an increase of a squared meter, if not less.


    It would have been easy to demoralize herself with this trail of thought, but she avoided it altogether.


    She just needed time.


    Now that she was free of headaches, as infusing a single potato didn''t even count as exercise, Aloe infused a drop of blood again. This time to grow the tubers. With practiced ease, she bit her finger and dropped her infused blood at the closest point between all the potato chunks.


    The visible change was minimal as she was working with four plants instead of one, but all four of them did spawn sprouts. They were rather small, but it was far better than anything she would have accomplished with good ol'' Infusion.


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    Accelerated growth was incredible for huge plantations, especially considering the hereditary properties of the external infusions, but infused blood proved quite better for localized crops. If she had an orchard, then having trees growing at twice the normal speed would save her collective centuries, but in a small potato patch, that time saving would only amount to a few months.


    The use of infused blood absolutely devastated her, it hurt her more than evolving a Blossomflame even if it required a fraction of vitality, but after having performed a handful of them, Aloe had an inkling of what was happening.


    "The blood infusion¡­ it doesn''t only consume vitality," otherwise things didn''t add up in her mind. "I''m not sure of it, but I believe it also consumes maximum vitality straight from my reserves."


    She didn''t have enough proof to boast such a claim yet. If she had diminished her reserves, she had definitely offset them with the multiple evolutions she had performed meanwhile.


    "But¡­ but then it would make sense," she muttered with a finger on her lower lip. "Why would Aaliyah be so reticent to distribute her blood if it only cost her easily regenerated vitality?"


    Because it wasn''t regeneratable.


    "Each time someone demands her blood to renew a farmland¡­ she''s consuming her vitality."


    So many thing things made sense now if she was right.


    The thought of Aaliyah doing something good for the world never crossed her mind, nor was she considering that right now. Aloe wasn''t pondering how many lives the sultanah was saving by literally bleeding out for her country, but rather how many people she was raping to do so in the first place.


    It took Aloe a solid minute to realize that she wasn''t just scowling, but also growling. Her blood burned as she seethed.


    It was impossible for her to remove the blood of the sultanah from her mind, so she repurposed those negative thoughts into something more constructive.


    "How much maximum vitality is she consuming with each drop of blood?" There was no way for her to reach a conclusive answer, but pondering for answers did relax her, and above everything else, distract her. "I don''t even know how strong the scaling of the blood infusion is. It could be linear, exponential, or something else. Perhaps instead of diminishing returns, there''s¡­ incrementing gains."


    It made sense for her as even if Aaliyah had hundreds of times her reserves, the increase in area was quadratic after all.


    "Quadratic, huh? Assuming if we are working with a square, even if a circle makes more sense for expansion and surface¡­" Aloe pondered about her mental image and the words she had used. "Hmm, I guess it doesn''t really matter, both have squared values. Base for a square and radius for a circle. Anyhow, maybe that means that the formula for blood infusion efficiency has a squared value, which scales greater the larger that squared value is¡­"


    Doing math was surprisingly refreshing. The thing that was mortally exhausted was her body, not her mind, and even if she didn''t particularly enjoy numbers, she had been forced to crunch them in both of her jobs.


    "One mansworth what could be¡­ around a one-meter radius of effect?" She was making numbers up, but considering she wasn''t a scholar, she could afford the eyeballing. "So technically speaking, if the consumed vitality is the squared value ¨C which doesn''t make sense if it''s another variable in any case ¨C then putting two mansworth means I''ll have an area of effect of¡­ uh, I''m too lazy to make the calculations, four meters of radius. I don''t care about the actual area."


    Aloe stopped thinking for a moment and revised that number in the small chance that she forgot what two times two was. She had studied very advanced math like trigonometry and some physics when she was younger, but even exponents weren''t something she used when she was a banker''s apprentice, let alone a scribe.


    "Yeah, four meters of radius. I need to check if that''s true."


    She had been resting for a while on the comfort of her blanket, but she still felt somewhat exhausted, so she lazed around for five more minutes and took a hearty gulp of water before trying something else.


    "Hmm, I''m almost out of well water, should I do something about the river water when I run out of mine, or is it alright to drink straight from the river?"


    She always boiled the water in the oasis because she was mostly dealing with stale water, but the river¡­


    "I mean, they got the well water in Selen from a nearby aquifer, and that one must be connected to the Tehen River, so there should be no problem if I drink straight from it. What''s the worst that could happen?"


    Diarrhea.


    That was the worst that could happen.


    The crux of the question was whether that sickness would be fatal or not. Which could happen, especially to a person as weakened as her.


    "I guess that if I get sick, I could just wield toughness for a while. Unlike recovery, it hasn''t shown any¡­ adverse effects."


    She would never forget that bloody night in Selen for the rest of her life.


    "Talking about blood, I''ve postponed this enough. Time for the two mansworth test."


    The steps were almost ritualistic in nature. She would change her internal infusion to potency, bite her finger, draw some blood, infuse it with the flowing stance, let it drop, and then shift to recovery to restore the lost vitality.


    There was no added difficulty when dealing with two mansworth with flowing stance in comparison to the previous attempts. Yes, this was the first time she was using the stance with more than one mansworth, but she had worked with higher amounts of vitality before with Evolution, so she found no problem there.


    The issue was when the blood left her body and dropped to the soil.


    "Oh heavens, that''s trippy." Aloe almost fell to the ground as an impossible nausea assaulted her. Like when you got up from your chair too fast, but in a way prolonged manner, and nothing actually like the analogy in the first place. "I can''t say how much maximum vitality I''ve lost here, but it''s uncomfortable, to say the least."


    She was used to obtaining it, not losing it, after all.


    Whilst not outright instantaneous, the effects of her infused blood became apparent as it didn''t stay on the potatoes ¨C that was the crop she chose as food was more important to her right now than any other plant ¨C but extended to others like the Cure Grass. She couldn''t tell if the effects of the Forced Growth reached other plantations, but the blades of grass that had yet to grow finally matured as they needed far less vitality than any other plant.


    "Okay, good, good!" Aloe clapped with some trepidation, even if it was to dust her hands. "The range does indeed scale up with vitality consumed, that''s good to know!"


    This meant she was a step closer to understanding the power of the sultanah because using one hundred mansworth for a Forced Growth meant the range of the effect would reach up to ten kilometers in range, which was certainly in line with the farmlands the blood of the sultanah could create.


    "In the future," Aloe dreamt, the acute loss of vitality making her dizzy, "I''ll turn these lands green."

 Book 4: 33. Gathering

    Using up twice as much vitality as she was used to certainly took a toll on her body. Which infuriated Aloe to no end. If Aaliyah could spend hundreds of mansworth in a single blood infusion, she wouldn''t allow herself to fall behind, even if her total reserves weren''t anywhere near close to a hundred to begin with and the woman had a half century head start.


    It was a matter of principles.


    Unfortunately, practicing and augmenting her reserves wasn''t something she could speed up. Evolution took a lot from her, and blood infusion even more.


    So she slept.


    Sleeping was easy, but staying awake was not.


    Her sleeping bag should smell like death after these many days without being washed, but even with acuity active, Aloe didn''t smell it.


    Days slightly blurred with one another as she repeated the same routine. She woke up, had breakfast, tended her plants, and then did whatever she could the rest of the day. Her current life was very low maintenance, so she didn''t have much hunger. And the same could be said for her plantations. Because they were on the riverbed, there was no need to water them.


    Her reserves slowly grew as she evolved plants, but she soon ran out of black seeds. The plantation was still there, so she would get them back in the future, but for now, she could only evolve cumin. Which was painful.


    "When did it change?" Aloe drowsily asked herself. "At some point Blossomflames were hard to evolve, requiring a lot of preparation, but even then, it was only nauseating to evolve them. I would puke, but I wouldn''t feel pain. So why now that I can evolve them without assistance, do I feel pain? I don''t like pain. I hate it¡­"


    The cultivator sobbed as she went on to her next task.


    She was alone at the bottom of this chasm. Unlike the oasis, she had no dweller to give her company, nor she could see the sun. But if she went outside, they would pursue her¡­


    Tiring and painful, such was her miserable existence.


    Aloe continued evolving plants.


    "I¡­ if I have more vitality, I will feel less pain. It will only be a fraction of what I¡¯m feeling if the vitality I consume is only a fraction of what I have¡­"


    That was the reason.


    Her only saving grace was that she only needed to dedicate her day to evolving Blossomflames, meaning she could rest all the time. She would prefer if she didn''t need to do so, but her body yearned for the breaks. Perhaps this wasn''t the hardest she had pushed her vitality, but it certainly was the longest. So far, she had only gone in huge bursts of vitality spending, not sustained efforts. Aloe couldn''t afford to not grow her reserves; heavens knew if the assassins would find her any day now.


    Perhaps she was just lucky. Perhaps they were looking for her at this exact moment and it was only pure chance she had gone unnoticed.


    It was unlikely, of course, she had been down here for days and she had not heard so much of a whisper, let alone the movements of assassins, but she couldn''t help but be uneasy.


    After having nearly depleted her reserves again by evolving another cumin seed, Aloe stood up. "I can''t stay still; this cave is going to be the end of me otherwise." Every minute she stayed still, she could feel herself withering.


    With a groan, Aloe trod the darkness of the chasm. It was hard moving around the damp cavern when her vitality still hadn''t recovered, but she needed some to move her body. Her father always said that stagnation was the worst thing that could happen, whether it was to a person or society as a whole; though she was incapable of recalling the exact words at this moment.


    It only took a few minutes before she inevitably slipped and she fell to the ground. The cultivator had scratched her hand, but her body was so numb that she couldn''t feel the pain. She turned back and went for the Blossomflame, and whilst the evolved flower healed her, her intention was to make use of that fire.


    She still had some oil remaining in her lamp, even if it wasn''t much. Now that she was growing Blossomflames she could sustain fires for longer, so she didn''t think much of using her little oil for this expedition.


    "This is better," she whispered to herself.The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    Her vitality hadn''t quite been restored, but acuity was already pulling its weight by allowing her to see around the chasm as if it was a bright night.


    "I recall seeing some mushrooms and mold around here¡­" She stopped in her tracks and pondered on her words. "No, not mold. It''s another thing. They have a name, but I can''t quite remember it. I''ve got it on the tip of my tongue¡­ ugh¡­"


    Unable to recall the name of the plant she had seen, Aloe strolled next to the river whilst searching for the local flora. Perhaps they could be edible, but her intentions with them were obvious.


    She wanted to evolve them.


    If there was one thing that always fixed her mood, that was finding new evolutions.


    Technically speaking, she had done so with the living stones before she fell into the chasm, but she was several mansworth away before she could make any solid attempt.


    "I also need more vitality pills, and I do have the Cure Grass already, but I¡¯d rather not eat the grass directly¡­ I guess I could grow an aloe vera, but that means growing even more plants." Aloe groaned in exhaustion at the idea of managing more plantations.


    The problem with her current method of growing plants was that it was very vitality-intensive and taxing. She couldn''t just perform blood infusions all the time, otherwise, she may lose all her vitality before she killed herself from overworking.


    "Who would have thought that it was this difficult to grow plants without sunlight?" She continued talking to herself, if not, her ears would start ringing from the silence.


    Not that it was dead silent this close to the river, but her brain had long filtered out the noise of the flowing water.


    "I''ve only been here a few days, right?" Truth be told, she had no idea.


    Her body was mortally exhausted by the constant use of vitality, but she worried more for her mind which was slowly withering away from the constant darkness. Sometimes she would just hurt herself to light the Blossomflame. Those magical flames not only brought her some change in her monotony, but they were also beautiful in their contained destruction.


    Unlike the fires of the Blossomflame, the flame of the oil lamp wasn''t warm. It was hot. The difference may seem to lie only in semantics, but the Blossomflame would never harm her, this fire ¨C on the other hand ¨C definitely could and would if given the chance.


    Aloe was very tempted to burn herself with that small flame, a part of her mind whispered to her to do so; but logic won, and she simply continued to walk.


    She didn''t start to gather any plants until her vitality reserves finally filled back up. Being topped off certainly helped with her vision, but there was a mental component. As if ninety-nine percent of her reserves and being full were worlds apart, even if that wasn''t the case at all.


    After many days, her eyes had already adapted to the darkness, and with the help of the lamp and acuity, Aloe didn''t have much difficulty guiding herself around the chasm and gathering plants.


    The first one she found was a green substance growing on a rock akin to mold.


    "No, it isn''t mold. Ugh!" Aloe groaned in frustrated agony. "Why can''t I remember the name?"


    Still unable to recall the plant''s name, the petite woman scratched the surface of the rock with her knife and put the scraps of the plant inside one of her satchels. She''d rather not evolve any plants outside the comfort of her camp, last time she evolved a plant outside it¡­ ended up well, but better not to tempt luck again.


    The next item she gathered was some sort of white mushroom with a thick stem and flat head.


    "Mushroom or fungi? I remember reading the difference, but I can''t recall it¡­ I¡­ damn¡­ Today I''m a bit slow-minded."


    Aloe sat down and had a gulp of fresh river water. She had already decided that at the faintest sign of aches or cramps, she would switch to toughness so the river water wouldn''t kill her. Five minutes into her break, some semblance of coherent thought finally made it through her sluggish mind.


    "Okay, so fungi are like the root or what''s underneath and the mushroom is like¡­ the fruit? I don''t really know, mushrooms are¡­ weird."


    She had read many botanical texts from time to time, and one thing was certain about these little specimens. They confounded the scholars. Mushrooms felt and looked like plants, but they weren''t plants. They possessed no flowers, or seeds, or needed sunlight to grow. It was as if they were their own thing. But that was for the scholars to discuss, for what Aloe respected, fungi were plants.


    "Instead of seeds, fungi use spores to propagate," Aloe mused, more or less paraphrasing a treaty she had read a while ago. "This means if I want to evolve them, I would need to focus these spores, which should be on the little folds underneath the mushroom''s cap."


    Evolution needed the ungrown state of a living being, so if she didn''t know about spores, Aloe would have been unable to evolve any type of fungi no matter how hard she tried.


    For now, she cut one of the white mushrooms and put it on a satchel. According to her very limited and second-hand knowledge, there should have been more than enough spores for all her lifetime in that single cap as fungi germinated in the hundreds instead of tens like most plants.


    As the lamp''s flame started to dim, Aloe made her way back to the camp, though did so from the other side of the riverbed. She was partially scared of jumping across the Tehen River, but she waited until the river narrowed and the flow was calmer, in case she fell in.


    Which she didn''t, but there was no reason to take risks.


    But considering the amount of water flowing through the river, the Tehen was deeper than it was wider, which made it way scarier and intimidating if she ever fell inside. There she would find another ravine, only more narrow, colder, and devoid of air.


    On her way back, she collected two other mushrooms. One black and brown, and one gray and brown. Perhaps they were the same ones as colors were very muted with the limited light at her disposal, but she decided against that idea as she found them in different colonies.


    "Lichen!" Aloe shouted in a stroke of brilliance. The constant refreshing and usage of botanical terms brought the word she had been searching for all this time. "It isn''t mold, but lichen!"


    Being able to remember such a little thing brought joy to her withering mind, more than the gathering of many new plants.

 Book 4: 34. Knighthood

    "You need to explain yourself," Rani stated authoritatively as she crossed her legs, looking at Naila over her shoulder from her seat.


    "There is not much to be explained, truth be told," Naila nonchalantly added.


    "It would seem that actually performing your duties has made you less suited for your position," the emir scowled. "Why have you given that child that surname?"


    "Law states that if a knighted family were to be without heirs and their inheritance muddled, a sultanzade can preside over the case and designate another heir so the accolade does not perish alongside its last member." The imperial scribe informed with graceful eloquence.


    "I do not know how to react," Rani sighed. "Should I be impressed by your knowledge and application of laws, or should I be irate at your independent decision-making without informing me?"


    "Neither are exclusive," Naila grinned.


    The emir sighed again. "You are becoming more eloquent with each day that passes, and I do not like it." Rani stood from her pillowed chair and grabbed a cup of wine as she strolled around her room. "If you had only begun taking your duties seriously since the beginning, maybe the outcome would have been different¡­"


    That part was no more than a whisper, especially as she talked with her lips on the goblet, but she should know better than to whisper in the presence of a sultanzade. Changing to the sense stance was no more than a reflex to Naila, after all. And it wasn''t hard to discern which ''outcomes'' she was talking about.


    "You should not dwell on the past, sister," the word never meant anything to them. "Nor on the bottom of a wine glass."


    "You do not give me orders, Naila," the emir''s eyes shone with a powerful, royal purple.


    "Mere advice they were," the young sultanzade deflected with a half-bow.


    But she couldn''t deny her half-sister was right with her better grasp of diplomacy and deception. After finally having to do her own work, Naila had acquired a knack for it, even if her true passion was bashing skulls open. There was a big difference between knowing how to do something because the imperial tutors had taught her so and applying said wisdom to real life.


    Doing so had awakened a sleeping part of her brain.


    Diplomacy wasn''t her calling, but Naila couldn''t refuse there was some usage to it; especially if it let her see those ugly expressions on Rani''s visage.


    "Will you tell me then why you have given this Aya girl the surname of Ayad?" The emir said as she rubbed her temples.


    "Well, Aya Ayad sounds funny¡­" Upon seeing Rani''s frown, Naila acknowledged she was courting death if she continued this path. For better or worse, the emir''s Nurture was stronger than hers, even if she had little to no martial prowess; so she relented with her teasing. "You were partially right, it does not bode well for our reputation to have a knighted lineage extinguish, so I extended Aloe''s knighthood to the girl."


    "That is what I wanted to hear," Rani nodded. "Now spew out what I should hear."


    There was no lying to this woman, especially if she flaunted her charm so indecently, prompting Naila''s body to reflexively respond.


    "If the word of the continued existence of Ayad''s name reaches our fugitive''s ears, there is a chance that she will come back."


    "Why would she do so?" The emir squinted her eyes.


    "If we are protecting her family name, this means we are willing to protect the whole family. Whose head she was for a time," Naila gestured with her hands to give more eloquence to her words. Cheap tricks to enhance one''s speech.


    "Sound logic, indeed." Rani peered at her with a hint of¡­


    Was that fear?


    Naila wasn''t the best person at reading emotions, but she knew how to read an opponent''s movements, and how to counter their blade. And she knew how fear smelled. Perhaps not abject horror, but there was a degree of intimidation.This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    "But that raises another question, why would you like to have Aloe back with us? I do not recall you being exactly friendly with her."


    "When have I been friendly with someone?" That got a snicker out of the emir. "Only after we lost her, I noticed how competent our scribe was¡­"


    "My scribe." Rani corrected.


    Naila rolled her eyes. "How competent your scribe was, so it would not only benefit Sadina to have her back but also me."


    "Well, at least it soothes me to hear your interests are purely selfish," the emir said as if she didn''t have any other intentions. "So I must assume you haven''t reserved a spot for this girl as the future scribe of commoners so you could just groom her?"


    "How audacious of you talking about grooming, sister," the imperial scribe put extra emphasis on the word now.


    "It is mostly out of logistics and semantics," the older sultanzade downed her wine in one go and poured herself another glass. "Grooming is one of the many activities we must perform to polish our servants, but you will never catch me doing so to minors. Now, I know your response will be that you are both ''minors'' but be honest with me, how old will that girl be when you are of age? Eleven? Twelve?"


    "It seems there has been a misconception," Naila didn''t let her half-sister''s words affect her. "The verb groom has many connotations, but perhaps someone as lewd-minded as yourself may not understand that." That got a twitch from Rani, and she rejoiced at it. "I simply want to prepare our future scribe; I have already talked with Nuha to provide her with the best education in Sadina."


    "Yeah, I have heard of it," the emir responded with a sulk. "So you truly have no intentions with the daughter of the late captain guard?"


    "Not yet at least," she was planning very ahead of time, something she had never done before, so she may have to discard the plans. That much was true in warfare. "And I cannot say I am at a lack of reaping targets. However it may be, I prefer my targets to be older." And to feel the regret of their actions. But she left that unspoken. There was no need to talk of her fetishes with her half-sister. "In any case, I would target the mother rather than the daughter."


    Rani slightly opened her eyes upon hearing those words, a hint of amusement and horror in her gaze. "You are truly the daughter of your mother, now I understand many things."


    "Says the spitting image of her," Naila spat the venom back.


    No sultanzade wanted to be compared to Aaliyah-al-Ydaz. Perhaps the best ruler Ydaz had ever had, but also the worst mother in all of Khaffat. Progress and stability didn''t justify being a bitch.


    As she had only been summoned to talk about the recently comically named Aya Ayad, Naila took this schism as an opportunity to stand up and leave.


    "Leaving already?" She could hear the intoxication in Rani''s words. In the half a second she had turned her head, the woman had poured herself another glass.


    "So much wine will affect your figure, sister." Instead of emphasizing the effect on the mind as it was typically done, Naila attacked the emir''s image. A fa?ade she cared more about.


    "I will take your advice into account," she lazily mumbled. "I pray to the heavens your little machinations bear fruit and give me back what is mine."


    Rani-al-Sadina''s delusions were too many to be counted, but Naila almost laughed upon hearing the starting statement of her sentence. Sultanzade didn''t pray to the heavens, they seized what they wanted. And her half-sister seemed to have forgotten that, too used to her courtly life.


    As Naila opened the door of the bedchamber, she encountered a guard with an envelope in his hand.


    "Ah, honorable sultanzade," the man avoided her gaze as he had been one of her many targets and still felt the regret. It was poorly seen amongst the imperials to reap guards and soldiers as they had to use their vitality for the country, but it wasn''t as if it was prohibited.


    "What do you bring there?" She commanded authoritatively.


    "A letter for the emir, honorable sultanzade."


    "I see¡­" Naila snatched the letter from his hands and before the man could protest, she went inside the room again and slammed the door in front of him.


    "I heard it all," Rani interrupted before she could speak. "Give me the envelope."


    With much technical prowess, the cultivator switched to the speed stance and threw the paper to the emir. She caught it midair without difficulty, but her feat went unnoticed. Many people didn''t notice how parchment couldn''t fly in a straight line without bending, and neither did Rani.


    "Hmm~" The emir hummed as she read the letter. "How curious¡­"


    She threw the letter in the air, which Naila took as an invitation to read it, so in a blink, she went over the whole room and picked up the paper before it even started to fall.


    "Why are they relaxing the embargo?" Naila questioned as she read the letter about the Loyatan embargo. "Didn''t they want war?"


    "Oh dear, it seems you are still lacking some training in warfare."


    "Pardon?" The younger sultanzade''s muscles tensed and she snickered. "If I trust something it is my education in warfare."


    "No," Rani instantly shut her down. "Your education is on martial aspects. The battles, not the whole war. This," she pointed at the letter, "is about the politics of war."


    "War and politics don''t mix." She refuted.


    "You are still green if you think that is the case," her eyes shone purple as she chuckled. Naila couldn''t understand why the woman bothered to hide her lips behind her hand if everyone could hear how nasty she was being. "If one doesn''t want war, they lift the embargo. They don''t just ''reduce'' it."


    "Then what does this mean if you are so sure of warfare?" Naila crossed her burly arms.


    "Oh, easy. Escalation." The emir murmured a scary word with extreme nonchalance. "We had only expected war before, now we are certain of it."


    A normal person would be taken aback by such news. War was a dreadful matter after all, but after hearing those words, Naila felt the stress she had accumulated in court leave her body. The image of death and violence made her excited, made her¡­ aroused.

 Book 4: 35. Roasted

    A sweet perfume, a soft caress, the warm rays of sunlight, the feeling of skin meeting skin by a partner on the other side of the bed, the pleasure of fingers seeking more pleasure eagerly, the exchange of kisses that didn¡¯t necessarily need to be lip to lip... Individually they were gorgeous things, but when put together¡­ it felt wrong enjoying them.


    ¡°Ah!¡± Aloe woke up from her sleep with a jump. ¡°I-it was just a dream. I think?¡±


    It was hard distinguishing from what a dream and a nightmare was supposed to be.


    ¡°I¡­ at least it was Rani, it could have been worse if I dreamt of¡­¡± Her words were cut off as she felt bile gathering in her throat. Aloe took a pained inhalation and prolonged her exhalations as much as possible. ¡°I didn¡¯t puke. That¡¯s progress, isn¡¯t it?" She giggled, if just to not cry.


    Dreams no longer could be classified as such since long ago. This wasn¡¯t just since that fateful night at Asina, but even months earlier after her mother¡¯s death. She had not suffered from such nightmares when her father had also perished from sickness, but she had been young then and hadn¡¯t truly assimilated the weight of his death until way later.


    And unlike her father that she had seen slowly wilt away, her mother¡¯s demise had been a merciless slap. Too sudden.


    In a matter of a few months, too many things had happened to take into account. Her mind just couldn¡¯t process them all at once, there was not enough space for that.


    But disgustingly enough, the image of the emir of Sadina kept those nightmares away.


    It was her mind playing tricks on her, Aloe knew it. She hadn¡¯t enjoyed those beddings, but her body did. And unlike the depravity of the sultanzade¡¯s mother, Rani had her consent. Even if she had bought it as if Aloe were a prostitute.


    She hated associating Rani with something warm and soft when she was just one of her many ailings, but she felt so cold¡­


    The depths of the Tehen River constantly sapped her strength, her heat, her life, and her mind. So it wasn¡¯t surprising that said mind tried its best to compose itself, even if it was through absurd lies.


    Aloe couldn¡¯t deny a part of her was longing for the soft blankets and the warm awakenings, though.


    But she couldn¡¯t dawdle on her mind.


    She stood up from her litter and directly went to the river, skipping breakfast altogether. She felt dirty and had an imperious need to clean herself, even if she only had a towel at her disposal.


    ¡°Ah¡­¡± Aloe moaned in pain at the cold touch of the soaked towel.


    Dust easily clung to her skin with the dampness of the chasm, but what irritated more were the secretions of her own body. Those weren¡¯t limited to sweat alone, and Aloe was disgusted to find another type of dampness on her underwear. As much as she hated it, her body had reacted to the wet dream.


    ¡°I¡­¡± She was at a loss of words as she tried to justify herself. ¡°I preferred when my mind was free of such depravities.¡±


    The petite woman couldn¡¯t remember when she started feeling this way. This¡­ active. Was it when she used the Grace¡¯s Exaltation and her body ached for pleasure ¨C real pleasure ¨C for the first time? Was it when she was defiled? Or perhaps by one of Rani¡¯s many ministrations that had corrupted her mind and heart?


    She had no answer, and that unsettled her.


    Instead of lingering in the essence of erotism, she decided to cool herself by washing her clothes in the river and donning new ones.


    Besides laundry, she had many tasks to fulfill. She had many plants to try Evolution on, new and old, but that was more a secondary task. The living stones had seeded a hint of fear in her heart, and she wanted to have a bit more vitality before trying to evolve new plants. Seven mansworth seemed like a solid yet close enough mark before going on an evolution spree.The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.


    And she didn¡¯t forget that she needed to make new vitality pills.


    But she left all of these for later.


    Her current focus was on her plants, especially her edible ones. Or rather, her edible one. Potatoes would grow faster than the Blossomflames and the veritas so it was a smaller investment than the others.


    Investment.


    Growing plants had now turned into an investment after her discovery of the infused blood. She could trade permanent vitality ¨C which she could regain either way ¨C for enhanced growth, a supernatural one at that.


    She gave another drop of blood to her potatoes to start the day. With any luck she would be able to harvest them in a day or two.


    The act did leave her dizzy, so she finally had breakfast. After filling up her stomach with rapidly aging food, Aloe pondered about her options.


    ¡°I could evolve more veritas, or rather, I should,¡± she heaved her handful of aloe vera seeds in her hand. ¡°I can only make a limited number of them with the book at my disposal, but they are cheaper to evolve than the Blossomflame whilst still being several times more expensive than the Flourishing Springs, meaning I won¡¯t tire as much but still reap the benefits. Besides also having more than one veritas at hand.¡±


    If she intended to evolve all the seeds in her possession, she would need many veritas leaves. And she didn¡¯t have the patience to wait for the plant to regrow them once the time was right, so it was better if she grew several of them.


    Aloe didn¡¯t evolve many Aloe Veritas, only two more. Her reason was twofold. She didn¡¯t need that many and she wanted to reserve the book for other evolutions in case the new plants also shared their requirement. Which wasn¡¯t unheard of as that was how Karaim had also evolved the Na¡¯mul Ter¡¯nar. As for her other reason, Aloe also wanted to have aloe vera.


    Munching grass was NOT an option. She wanted to keep things as civilized as possible, and while she didn¡¯t have a mortar and pestle, she would find a way to make new pills.


    This day ended with more potato sprouts, a new plantation in the form of aloe vera, an expansion of her veritas parterre, and another evolved Blossomflame.


    The cultivator wanted to do more, but her headache had become so throbbing by the end of this last evolution that she nearly couldn¡¯t hear her own thoughts. She was pressing herself not only by performing so many evolutions in her suboptimal environment, but also by consuming her vitality with the Forced Growth blood infusions.


    As efficient as they were, they took a toll on her body.


    It took two more days, or what she assumed were days, for the potatoes to grow with her repeated blood infusions. If she felt well-enough during each day, she would also perform a classic Forced Growth as it didn¡¯t demand as much from her body as the blood infusions or the evolutions did.


    For once in her life, Aloe enjoyed getting her hands dirty. The chasm¡¯s soil was frigid, but they had spawned full-grown and normal-looking potatoes nonetheless.


    ¡°I hate that I don¡¯t have a cauldron to make soup, but I have pan somewhere, so I guess I could make roasted potatoes.¡± She said with a still dirty potato in her hand.


    What she called a pan was no more than a ceramic bowl with a lid small enough that couldn¡¯t be called pot. Perhaps a saucepan, but that was being generous too.


    With her pocketknife, Aloe cut her potatoes, not without washing them first, of course. Her peeling abilities left a lot to be desired, so much so that she gave up and just put the skin and all inside. It wasn¡¯t as if it wasn¡¯t edible, and she had thoroughly rinsed them.


    For the fire¡­ that was a bit more complex. With a bit of finicking, Aloe managed to hold the ceramic bowl on top of a Blossomflame with anything she had sparing around, and to light the fire she kept cutting herself.


    Quite the rough and bloody cooking set up, but being near a fire for a solid hour was well worth it all the blood she had lost. Not that she had lost much as she was careful with her cuts so not much blood spilled over, and the Blossomflame had enough time to seal the wounds before she could suffer any significant hemorrhage.


    In the end, she had to cut the cooking short as the Blossomflame lost much of its potency and she didn¡¯t want to be unarmed in the case of an assassin ambush.


    The low intensity of the fire and its intermittent flames didn¡¯t make for a good roast.


    ¡°Mmm~¡± Aloe hummed as she put the poorly cooked potatoes in her mouth, a tear in the corner of her eyes. ¡°It tastes like crap.¡±


    It was awful. There was no sugarcoating possible. But the food was warm and different from everything she had eaten all these days. But above all else, it was cooked food. Grown and prepared by her own hand. It wasn¡¯t much, but it was something and her dwindling sanity appreciated it.


    ¡°Ah¡­¡± She groaned as she rested her back on the cold wall. It was killing her after being hunchbacked over the fire for a whole hour. ¡°I thank the heavens for my lack of sense of taste.¡± It also helped that she could dull that sense at will.


    Sleep overpowered her after having a real meal for the first time in ages, but before drowsing off into a nap, Aloe switched her regeneration stance that she still wielded as she had been evolving some Flourishing Springs during her cooking session to make better use of her time. The reason for doing so was because she feared the coming of her internal clock.


    She, never ever again, wanted to be caught by her menstruation whilst donning recovery, so since yesterday she had been switching out of it before sleeping as she feared the day was coming. Even if that severely affected the quality and quantity of her sleep.


    Thankfully, her suspicions proved correct as two of her ¡®days¡¯ later, she bled once again.

 Book 4: 36. Routine

    Aloe woke up in pain and blood. Fortunately, she had enough foresight to wield toughness before going to sleep, meaning her cramps didn¡¯t jolt her into wakefulness and insanity. Any other internal infusion amplified her sensation of pain, which was already abnormally high during menstruation, but toughness had severely numbed her.


    There were occasions where being this numb to pain could be detrimental, but right now it was a heavensent.


    ¡°This is not much blood, that recovery-boosted menstruation was a nightmare.¡± Having expected her cycle to come for a while, she had avoided ruining her underwear with the usage of towels and rags.


    Since young, or more accurately five years ago or so, she would suffer from extreme nausea, period cramps, and blood loss. Her mother always told her that the pain lasted for many days, but she always felt all her pain gathered in a single one, even if she was numb in the days to come.


    Unfortunately, such activities were routinary, so she went to the river in a tranced practice and washed herself with spare towels. Once she cleaned most of the mess, she proceeded to wash all the textiles she had soiled.


    ¡°I guess it¡¯s nice knowing I¡¯ve been down here for a month¡­ but I¡¯d prefer another way of telling time.¡± Aloe moaned and groaned in exhaustion.


    The day was wasted.


    Toughness allowed her to cope with the pain, but she had lost a lot of blood and the nausea wouldn¡¯t stop. Her vitality was also diminished by the hurt state of her body. Donning recovery would have solved many issues, but it would have left her vulnerable to the pain. Not only would she start feeling it, but it would be amplified.


    Considering she typically cursed everything that composed this world in a blind rage when suffering her period cramps, she wasn¡¯t in position to withstand amplified pain when she was weakened by her poor environment. This wasn¡¯t like the inn in Selen where she had a bed, warm food, and¡­


    Aloe rushed to the Blossomflame.


    ¡°Nince-damned hells!¡± She cursed as the plant didn¡¯t shower her on fire. ¡°Why aren¡¯t you healing me? I¡¯m hurt! Why?¡± Some hints of water appeared in her eyes.


    After shaking the pot a bit, she gave up.


    ¡°You did try to heal me on Selen,¡± she muttered with a defeated tone. ¡°Is there something different? Is it because I washed the blood away? Maybe because I fell from the bed and hurt myself? No, I think I fell before you tried to heal me¡­ Aaaah!¡± The woman groaned in exasperation as she madly scratched her scalp.


    For a last attempt, she bit her finger ¨C through toughness as she didn¡¯t want to feel any pain, even if it took her ages ¨C to make the evolved flower heal her.


    Embers appeared at the hint of a wound, but they were just that. Embers. No conflagration assaulted her body whole to fix her.


    ¡°What are you implying? That there¡¯s nothing wrong with my body? That I must eternally undergo this pain and that is somehow natural? Because I refuse to accept that!¡±


    Aloe pouted at the potted plant and threw a pebble at the river. She couldn¡¯t work in these conditions, so without eating, she went back to sleep.


    As far as awfulness went, Aloe felt fine enough when she woke up the next day. Or whatever the time was.


    ¡°Huh, I could have re-infused the potatoes.¡± She mussed as she ate her potato breakfast. She was so disappointed with her lack of foresight, that she couldn¡¯t bring herself to curse. ¡°There was this infusion about taste, I can¡¯t remember what it was called right now, but I could use it. I have vitality to spare, and honestly, even if I didn¡¯t, having tasty food will do me better.¡±


    As she tried to remember the name of the infusion that improved taste, Aloe gave her potato plantation its daily dose of blood. Her current idea was to get enough potatoes that she would never need to blood infuse them again and instead let them grow naturally. She was already at the point that she could grow the potatoes needed to indefinitely sustain herself, so the only improvement possible was to reduce their vitality upkeep.


    ¡°What plants do I have right now,¡± she extended her fingers and started counting, ¡°potatoes, Cure Grass, black seeds, Blossomflames, aloe vera, Aloe Veritas¡­ and that¡¯s it? I think so. Hmm¡­¡± The petite woman swayed her head from side to side as she pondered. ¡°I should plant some cumin. Wait, didn¡¯t I already? Hells, I¡¯m so absentminded as of late.¡±The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    Aloe checked for cumin plants, but as she found none, she guessed that even if she intended to plant cumin, she had just forgotten to do so.


    ¡°This is the lowest priority crop right now,¡± she wiped the humidity off her forehead. ¡°I still have a lot of cumin seeds to evolve, and it isn¡¯t like I can evolve more than a handful of them each day. I should get around making vitality pills, but that also requires growing the aloe vera¡­ Ugh.¡± She groaned in annoyance.


    The nausea and sickness from her cycle was still affecting her today, so there would be not one more blood infusion today. But as she didn¡¯t have much to do when she was resting after evolving Blossomflames, Aloe picked up some of the grown Cure Grass and started working with it.


    ¡°Let¡¯s call this¡­ reserve vitality paste. I¡¯ll rather not eat it, but it¡¯s nice to have a cushion for emergencies.¡±


    To mill the evolved grass into a paste without a mortar and a pestle, Aloe used her resourcefulness, which in this case was using her ceramic pot and an elongated rock that could pass for a pestle if one squinted their eyes a lot.


    Grinding, milling, powdering, however you wanted to call the action of turning herbs into fine paste, was an endeavor so repetitive but of low intensity that it was the perfect activity to perform as her vitality slowly restored herself.


    She may be able to restore a mansworth in a handful of minutes, but as she needed six of them to evolve a cumin seed, that meant that she could only evolve one every half an hour. And that was without taking into account her fatigue, which meant she had to rest more.


    The worst part of the regeneration stance was that it didn¡¯t erase fatigue. Maybe it could alleviate it, but its effects weren¡¯t as significant as its healing or vitality restoration factor.


    Milling grass in complete darkness and dampness was something Aloe had never imagined doing, but here she was, and she was enjoying it. Her mind was sometimes feeling like a trap, so just being able to do a repetitive task without thinking about anything was liberating.


    Healthy? Probably not. Effective? Up for discussion.


    After what felt like an hour, she was done with the Cure Grass and had a fine paste at her disposal. She left it all on a stone slab waiting it to dry. It would have dried faster away from the river, but it wasn¡¯t like she was in a haste to use it.


    Nowadays her time was mostly spent on cooking as the Blossomflame wasn¡¯t exactly the best source of fire. Well, it was, but she didn¡¯t want to amputate her hand each time she wanted to boil a potato.


    ¡°Hmm, still thinking on the infusion¡¯s name.¡± Aloe mused as she stirred the ceramic pot.


    She had already washed it after using it for the grass, and now she intended to have some boiled potatoes. The Blossomflame¡¯s fire was potent, but too erratic, and if she pushed it too much, the plant would also wither.


    It was for that reason she wanted more Blossomflames, to rotate her fire consumption and avoid needless withering.


    The problem with her ceramic bowl was that it was small, so she had to smash the potato to boil it, otherwise it wouldn¡¯t fit in.


    ¡°Better taste!¡± She exclaimed at her revelation as she cut her wrists to fuel the fire. ¡°Damn, I didn¡¯t remember that the name was this bad. I should think of a new one.¡±


    Unfortunately, her mind wasn¡¯t at its strongest today, so Aloe let the poor name Karaim had chosen fly for now and just infused the potato. Because she now knew of internal and external infusions and how to access the flow of vitality of other living beings, the cultivator was able to shift the potato¡¯s flow and remove its shade acclimation infusion and substitute it for better taste.


    Compared to dealing with the flow of people like that one time with Fatima or dwe¡­


    ¡°Oh¡­¡± Aloe whimpered. Not because of the pain of her wrist in flames, but the one in her heart. ¡°I was doing so well; I hadn¡¯t thought about Fikali for so long¡­ dunes.¡± Even her curses were weak.


    She spent the rest of her cooking session and lunch break brooding.


    Yet again, Aloe went to sleep after that. Each time it was easier, if not by much. But that was what mattered, that there was a change, even if it was infinitesimally small.


    The next day she felt better, so she allowed herself to perform two blood infusions. With the first one the potatoes finished growing, so she not only replanted some of them, but she brought the excess to another ¡®field¡¯ ¨C even calling them parterres was exaggerating as she was using patches of soil ¨C to plant them there as she still had some leftover potatoes.


    ¡°Dunes, once I have more vitality I could grow any plant on a whim.¡± She was still far from that, but being able to grow potatoes in a handful of days without much investment was prodigious.


    The envy of all cultivators, bodily and earth-wise.


    Her second blood infusion of the day was used for the Aloe Veritas. It wasn¡¯t that she had any need for the plant just yet as she was going to wait before trying to evolve the new plants, but there were other aspects of the veritas that interested her.


    And there was an advantage with the veritas that she couldn¡¯t exploit with the rest of the plantations. She was pushing her Forced Growth on a single plant, not multiple, which greatly increased its effectiveness.


    Sure, the veritas was next to the Cure Grass, so some potency was lost here and there, but most of the blades were grown by now anyways.


    With a single drop of her blood, the Aloe Veritas underwent days of growth over seconds before her eyes. The leaves and its characteristic silhouette were already well-defined, and Aloe guessed it would take only two more drops for the plant to be fully grown.


    ¡°The potatoes take a drop less to be fully grown, and there are several of them, but they are also smaller. A grown veritas is big, I mean, it has like a radius of a meter, whereas the potatoes are slightly bigger than my fist. Is size just the only factor, or does its evolved status also influence the growth rate?¡±


    She left the question for later as it was bound to answer itself in the future, not that she could do anything about it even if she had the answer.


    After performing her daily routine, plus washing herself as she was starting to smell, sleep beckoned her once more.


    Perhaps mind-dulling, but she preferred this routine than to having to fight her inner djinns. Anything else was better than that.

 Book 4: 37. Parchment

    In the following days, Aloe dedicated all her blood infusions to the Aloe Veritas. She went easy on her body and just performed one per sleep cycle as exhaustion kept accumulating no matter how much she rested. Even if she was rested for the first time in her life, Aloe felt the pains of her menstruation last for more than a couple of days.


    Her poor state of living amplified every pain she was subjected to.


    Once she had to skip the veritas to drop some blood on her potatoes. She had many in reserve and more growing on plants, yes, but her traveling rations were now practically nonexistent so potatoes were the only thing she could consume.


    "The first thing I do when I get the veritas working properly is check if any of the mushrooms I''ve found are edible. These potatoes are going to be the death of me."


    In the end, her initial estimates about the veritas were wrong, and she needed three blood infusions to grow the Aloe Veritas to maturity. Overall¡­ it was quite a lot of time. It had taken her around a week to grow it, when with accelerated growth the plant would have grown naturally over a month. Yes, it was a three hundred percent increase in growth but considering she could only focus on one plant at a time, it was no longer as impressive.


    By the time the veritas no longer benefited from the effects of her blood infusion, all her other plants had long shown signs of sprouting, and her field of Cure Grass was long grown.


    "Alright, does this work?" Aloe carelessly cut the grown veritas leaf and it started writing itself as soon as the ink made contact with her hand.


    Name: Aloe Ayad


    Species: Human


    Description: Female member of the human species, a species known for their ingenuity, high adaptive capabilities, and societal structure.


    Internal Infusion: Acuity


    "Nice, nice," she calmly voiced out as she read the text on the Aloe Veritas'' leaf, albeit with some difficulty thanks to a certain omnipresent darkness.


    Nothing that a bit of wrist-cutting couldn''t solve.


    Even if she liked to joke about her casual usage of the Blossomflame, she had noticed how there were some vague traces of scars on her wrists, even though the Blossomflame had perfectly healed every wound until now. She let it pass for now, mainly because she didn''t know if the problem was with her always cutting the same spot or because the flower was losing its potency. She would have her answers in a matter of weeks, if not days when the rest of them grew.


    "I knew that the veritas would work, but I can''t help but listen to how the whispers of anxiety said that I would somehow botch it," she told herself as she cleaned her ink-laden hands on the river. "Well, it''s now time to check if I have any new edible plants in my reserves. But before that¡­"


    She grabbed one of the potatoes in her cooking pile and cut another veritas leaf.


    Species: Solanum Tuberosum


    Sobriquet: Potato


    Description: Member of the Solanaceae family, a species known for its perennial growth in harsh environments, and nutritional value.


    External Infusion: Shade Acclimation


    "I had to check if they were actually infused with shade acclimation, it was gnawing me inside," she let out a sigh of relief. "This reminds me of something¡­"


    With the potato still in hand, Aloe interfered in its flow of vitality and changed its external infusion. The cost of doing so was minimal, and soon the intent of the potato''s vitality had changed.


    As Aloe moved to cut yet another leaf from the Aloe Veritas to test that she had changed the potato''s external infusion, she noticed something in the corner of her eyes. It was very dark at the bottom of the chasm, but also very static. The glints from the water''s surface weren''t many, so every time she detected some change, her head instinctively darted towards it. Even if it had been so far only the imagination of her mind.


    Until now.


    She almost expected an assassin attack as she had only perceived some change in the corner of her eyes, but as she waited and looked around, she found nothing. With her ink-coated knife, Aloe cut herself again to turn on the Blossomflame, but no drug-addict shadow was visible nor attacked her. Instead, she looked downwards, where she had dropped the previous veritas leaf.


    It wasn''t obvious at first, but something in the back of her mind told her that something was off, so she re-read the parchment-looking plant again.


    Species: Solanum Tuberosum


    Sobriquet: Potato


    Description: Member of the Solanaceae family, a species known for its perennially, growth in harsh environments, and nutritional values.


    External Infusion: Better Taste


    "Oh, heavens," she gasped and frowned. "Can veritas leaves update by themselves?"


    The cultivator thought she was imagining things, high on some substance like her pursuers, so she grabbed the leaf with her information and changed her internal infusion.


    Name: Aloe Ayad


    Species: Human


    Description: Female member of the human species, a species known for their ingenuity, high adaptive capabilities, and societal structure.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    Internal Infusion: Toughness


    "Dunes," Aloe cursed. "How haven''t I found out about this before?"


    Probably because she threw aside every used Aloe Veritas leaf to return them to nature and never bothered checking them again after that. Not that she had used that many leaves on herself to notice changes in internal infusions and switching the external infusions of plants was a somewhat recent trick.


    "I guess this is neat but it¡¯s not really useful, is it now?" She was proud of her resourcefulness, but her dulled mind couldn''t come up with any application of this self-updating feature. "Maybe it works on evolved plants too, but that is more of the same, I''m just saving a leaf and¡­"


    The petite woman turned her face to look at the Aloe Veritas. She had only removed two leaves from the evolved plant, but it was looking rather naked now.


    "I can''t use them up at this pace until I grow more of them. But, and just maybe but¡­" Aloe knelt before the veritas and switched her sense stance for the flowing one.


    The first lesson she had learned with her Forced Growth technique was that it could affect a mature living being like a sultanzade in their prime. So perhaps it wasn''t just growth in age but in any shape or form.


    Aloe took a deep breath and poured vitality into the veritas. She knew that a single mansworth wasn''t going to cut it and she would need to use more. As she poured vitality, the cultivator settled on five mansworth if just because it was a round number.


    "Ah," Aloe slightly panted in exhaustion. "At least I can control the consumption rate, unlike Evolution," she pouted, "and also limit how much vitality I want to put in."


    Working with precise amounts of vitality was hard as even her ''mansworth'' were pure approximations of an adult person''s reserves, though the amount was closer to the amount needed to evolve a black seed as that was the amount she was most used to.


    Much like when she had discovered the technique with Fatima, and perhaps because she was also working with a grown living being now, the Aloe Veritas visibly grew before her. It was as if it was healing in real-time as the parts she had cut coagulated and closed, not just with a crust, but with the parchment of the plant''s surface. A bit more and then it gained a pointy tip of a grown leaf, even if it was still shortened after being cut.


    "Alright, I can heal plants, that''s good to know," Aloe chuckled. "Plants already healed me, and now I can heal them. I wonder what will be next."


    She sat down and had a bit of water while donning the regeneration stance as the massive usage of vitality had left her blind to the oppressive darkness.


    "It feels so nice, breathing, yeah¡­" Her thoughts were muddled, but she felt a budding peace inside of her. Her reality had gained some semblance of equilibrium as she became able to heal and be healed. "I doubt I can use this on myself, though. The flowing stance works very similarly to Infusion, and considering I can''t apply external stances to myself¡­"


    That didn''t stop her from trying, but she needed more than a few seconds to find herself incapable of pushing vitality into her body with the flowing stance.


    With a groan, she stood up and went to do the actual activity she had planned before she had distracted herself with these many new discoveries.


    She wanted to test if any of her new mushrooms were edible with the Aloe Veritas descriptions of the plants, but because she had only gathered the spores of the fungi and she didn''t want to contaminate her samples with the ink, so she decided to take another stroll along the river.


    In another time, she would have groaned and protested about leaving her comfort zone, but right now, there wasn''t much comfort to be had. She enjoyed having an excuse to move around, to exercise her ailing body. Considering she had been forced to run for her life when she got out of her wheelchair, Aloe never had the chance to appreciate her regained ability to walk.


    The feeling was liberating in its mundaneness.


    It was hard telling how long she had been away as she gathered mushrooms, but she guessed at least two hours as she moved a handful of kilometers with the round trip.


    Because she only had three types of mushrooms ¨C she hadn''t picked up any lichen as she doubted it was edible, to begin with ¨C and had only removed two leaves so far from the veritas, Aloe decided to inspect all these new kinds already.


    The results were¡­ something. They could have been better.


    Species: Amanita Phalloides


    Sobriquet: Death Cap


    Description: Member of the Amanitaceae family, a species known for its striking white color, phallic shape, and lethality after consumption.


    The moment she read the description of the white mushroom, Aloe instinctively threw the mushroom into the river and switched to toughness.


    "Oh dunes, oh shit, oh fuck," she rushed to the Tehen River to clean her hands. "I''m okay, right? It said consumption so I should be fine. Right?" She asked the heavens, but nothing answered back.


    With a lot of care, Aloe picked up the satchel where she had stored the death cap''s spores and put it far away from her camp. She didn''t throw it away as it was a perfectly good satchel, and she still wanted to use the spores to try for an evolution, even if the end product may result in increasingly toxic fungi.


    The next mushroom she tried, the brown and gray one ¨C which ended up being whiter ¨C proved a much better find.


    Species: Psilocybe Semilanceata


    Sobriquet: Liberty Cap


    Description: Member of the Hymenogastraceae family, a species known for its edibility, nipple-like protrusion, and psychoactive properties.


    "I¡­ I don¡¯t want to deal with drugs, but at least it is edible." Taking into account who her pursuers were, she preferred not to think about hallucinogens. "Maybe if I cook them a lot the effect will be lost. I''d prefer eating something more than potatoes, that''s for certain."


    The last mushroom, the black and brown, proved dull in its description. There wasn''t much to highlight with it. Whilst it wasn''t toxic, it didn''t specify edibility, so Aloe decided not to risk it. She had enough with the hallucinogenic mushrooms already.


    "Quite the productive day," Aloe mumbled over one of her very slow cooking sessions.


    She wasn''t cooking with the ''liberty cap'' yet as a single mushroom didn''t give for much of a meal, but as she prepared the potatoes, she planted the spores she had at her disposal.


    And there was a very big advantage of working with mushrooms.


    Her knowledge of fungi was scarce and riddled with lagoons, but she knew for a fact that they didn''t require sunlight to grow, so instead of giving shade acclimation to the spores, she gave them accelerated growth, which would facilitate their proliferation.


    It took her one whole hour to cook her potatoes, but with her newfound Forced Growth healing trick, she realized she could give the Blossomflame more oomph in its fire as it would wither slower. Or rather, she would offset the withering with her vitality.


    She would rather not use this tactic, however, as it was very vitality expensive. Having multiple Blossomflames in parallel seemed like the better strategy, once she had them.


    But her day wasn''t over with the meal. Not by a long shot. Before even wanting to check for plants and evolutions, she had concocted a use for the Aloe Veritas. One wasteful use that didn''t make much sense to exploit on her time at the oasis, but now it was impossibly appealing.


    Aloe cut the biggest leaf of the Aloe Veritas straight from the root, something she didn''t commonly use as the tip was more than enough for plant identifications. But what she wanted to do now required the maximum amount of space available.


    With the utmost care in all Khaffat, she removed the leaf without its ink meeting her skin. Her plan required a blank veritas, or more specifically, a clean parchment. She waited a bit for the cut to coagulate so she didn''t prompt the leaf by mistake and then she soaked the tip of her knife in the wound.


    The thick sap of the Aloe Veritas clung to the tip and then, very roughly, Aloe dragged the knife''s tip across the blank parchment. Her strokes were rough, unpracticed, and quite honestly, pathetic.


    But that didn''t matter.


    The petite cultivator smiled as her traces slowly gained a cohesive shape.


    What was she doing?


    Simple.


    She was drawing.


    In the confines of the deepest darkness, Aloe Ayad used her knife as a brush and she drew on the surface of the Aloe Veritas parchment. And she rejoiced herself in one of humanity''s basest activities of recreation.

 Book 4: 38. Giggles

    There were no words to describe how much Aloe had needed to draw. Not just as an activity to pass the time, but as an outlet for her stress and frustration. Her skills were crude ¨C even if she had good calligraphy from her previous profession ¨C as she was working with a knife instead of a quill, but she promised herself she would get better. She wanted to stay here at least until she evolved all the plants she had gathered so far, so she still had a while to get good at ''veritas etching''.


    For now, she practiced her strokes as she didn''t have much parchment to work on. The veritas healed slowly and healing it with Forced Growth was a misuse of her much needed vitality, so until the rest of the Aloe Veritas she had planted grew, she would have to limit her parchment usage.


    But overall, she felt happy. It was a flawed happiness, definitely not one a person should have as she only was escaping reality to the best of her ability, but it was happiness, nonetheless.


    Who would have thought that eating warm food and drawing could do so much for someone''s mental health? That was what Aloe told herself as she kept practicing to pass the days.


    Her new blood infusion priority was the Blossomflames. All being said, she should be growing an aloe vera or two to make new vitality pills as she already had a Blossomflame, but the slow cooking and lack of light were killing her. If she had multiple Blossomflames then she could allow herself to light them without worrying about them withering from overuse.


    She expected her Blossomflames to grow significantly in the coming days as she planted every seed she evolved, which was several seeds each day. Though she still had some in reserves in her little heat bag as temperatures were still low in her crevice and she preferred to have some external heat source to not suffer from hypothermia.


    Almost a week after having grown the first veritas ¨C it was hard keeping track of the time as she couldn''t tell how long a ''day'' was ¨C the first Blossomflame finally grew. It took a lot of time as the blood infusion''s power was spread between multiple flowers, and like before, she also had to share the blood with the potatoes.


    And talking about food, it surprised her how fast her edible mushrooms were growing. Fungi growth time had never come up in her research, but Aloe was pleased to find that after a week under the effects of accelerated growth, the ''liberty caps'' ¨C she had never heard that sobriquet before ¨C were mostly grown.


    They still looked a bit small compared to the ones she had found naturally growing on the riverbed, so she decided to wait a few more days before risking a high by consuming the hallucinogenic mushrooms.


    Aloe wanted to do something with the Blossomflames. Not just use them as makeshift hearths, but also as lighting and heating. But there were some problems with that. The main part of her camp that would benefit from the heat of the Blossomflames was the crevice where she slept but planting them there presented some issues.


    Namely the lack of water and soil.


    It seemed stupid to behave as if water was a problem when she lived next to a river, but she had no way to transport it beyond her saucepan. And the capacity of such ceramic was limited. Now, she could make the soil in the crevice more fertile with multiple blood infusions, but that was an even more limited resource.


    In her greatest strike of brilliance, Aloe tried searching for clay. By all means, it was a good idea. If she found a deposit of clay, nothing would stop her from making more ceramics even if they were poor quality. But that meant being able to find clay.


    She wasn''t exactly a cosmopolitan as Sadina wasn''t that big, but Aloe was far from a survivalist. She didn''t know what clay looked like in nature, or where to look for it. She only had a hint that there should be clay at a river like the Tehen, but that was where her knowledge ended.


    For now, she left the idea on the side. It could be useful, but she had to organize her thoughts a bit first.


    "I could grow Flourishing Springs for irrigation¡­" That was the compromise she settled on. "If I plant the Flourishing Springs seeds I already have evolved and let them grow by their own account, maybe then I''ll have enough time and resources to spare some blood infusions for my crevice."


    Her top priority was getting enough Blossomflames to sustain constant fires, using them as a heating system for her litter was a secondary goal for after the former had been accomplished.Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    At another point in her life, she would have been stressed out of her mind from having this much work, but her current enlightened self couldn''t help but appreciate the mindless and difficult work. Keeping herself occupied was what kept her from collapsing and crying herself to sleep.


    After having grown the second Blossomflame, food became more delicious. Because she could use two of them to cook instead of one, that meant that she was no longer left with half-cooked food. She couldn''t even care that she burnt her potatoes on the first try, charcoal tasted divine.


    A few days later, two more Blossomflames finished growing naturally without her assistance, alongside a patch of mushrooms. Now that her potatoes were many and that she had enough of a backlog of food and evolved plants, she allowed herself to only perform blood infusions every other day to recover herself.


    "I''m going to regret this, aren''t I?" Aloe groaned as she gathered a handful of her edible mushrooms.


    The veritas specified they were psychoactive, meaning that she would have a trip at best. What could happen at worst she couldn''t guess.


    To play it safe, she decided to make a ''soup'' with a potato and a handful of liberty caps. She first roasted them in the ceramic pot by themselves over a whole Blossomflame session to make the mushrooms lose their potency. Then she went over two more Blossomflames to make the soup.


    She was playing it very safe.


    "Come on, flare, you little girls." Slowly but surely, Aloe was getting better at commanding the Blossomflames. Truth be told, she had no idea how she was doing it, but she was maintaining their flames for longer after she had already been healed.


    This meant less wrist-cutting, but the toll on the Blossomflames was the same. A normal person would be enthusiastic about suffering less, but at this point, Aloe could no longer feel the pain of her cuts. If she wasn''t donning acuity, her sense of pain would be dulled. Even more so if she switched to toughness right after. The constant mistreatment of her body had the positive outcome of her being able to switch faster to acuity and recovery, but she would still need some months before reaching levels equivalent to toughness.


    The cultivator was happy enough to continue stirring her soup and ''fan'' the flames more.


    Overall, the cooking session spanned well over two hours, more than enough time to evolve two cumin seeds as she had nothing better to do as she kept cutting her wrists. This cooking session finally revealed to her the extent of the scars on her wrists. The reason why she had them wasn''t because the Blossomflame was losing potency, but because they were utterly decimated. Not even two newly evolved flowers were able to erase the scars.


    Whilst¡­ worrying that the Blossomflames could only heal so much sustained damage, Aloe decided to keep cutting herself on the same spots as that was a better alternative than covering her body with scars.


    "Well," she started with a hint of fear as she moved the saucepan away from the Blossomflame. "Time for the taste test."


    Switching out of acuity was a must when she was eating as her taste would be otherwise enhanced, and her cooking was scrappy enough with good ingredients for her to taste literal garbage with a gourmand''s tongue. Even then, it didn''t matter what internal infusion was used. Any worked as long as it wasn''t acuity. But this was not the case currently.


    The cultivator donned toughness in fear of the mushrooms.


    Her mind was her palace, her only safe and sacred place, even if she constantly thrashed it herself. But that was more reason for not allowing a substance to denigrate it more.


    With a trembling hand, Aloe drank directly from the ceramic pot.


    "Hmm~" She moaned with pleasure at the hot liquid. The coldness of the Tehen River always sapped her heat, so any source of warmth was appreciated. "I don''t know if it¡¯s the introduction of a new flavor, but this soup actually tastes good." Said the woman with default little-to-no sense of taste, further dulled by her current infusion.


    Aloe greedily drank from the soup, swallowing potato chunks and mushrooms whole. She hadn''t noticed she had been this desperate for good food until now, even if she could barely taste it.


    "Maybe it tastes better if¡­" In a lapse of judgment, the cultivator switched toughness for acuity. Suddenly her senses expanded. "Oh," she moaned again, "that''s way better than before!"


    In an epicure trance, Aloe devoured the remaining contents of the pot. Her tongue exploded in flavor, and her senses were way more expanded than before by her recent increase in vitality reserves. It was water with potatoes and mushrooms, but¡­ it tasted so good~


    "Ah," Aloe panted. "Yes, it was a good decision growing these mushrooms," she giggled.


    The petite woman sniffed the empty bowl, the food may have satiated her hunger, but not her gluttony, so she started licking the ceramic clean.


    "I need to do this soup again," she continued giggling. "Ah, the headaches are gone, hehe¡­"


    Aloe left the pot on the ground and stood up, but suddenly found out that her sense of balance which should have been boosted by acuity was mysteriously gone.


    "Oh, woah, dizzy," the cultivator giggled as she attempted to regain her footing. "Why is everything so¡­ bright?"


    The sense stance allowed her to see better in the dark, but that didn''t mean she could see well. Or at least, this well. Aloe turned her head to see her four Blossomflames burst into flames. The deflagration was beautiful, and the flames were friendly, but the sudden imagery was so violent that she couldn''t help to backpedal.


    A bad idea for someone with a diminished sense of balance.


    Before she could become aware of it, Aloe tumbled down and fell into the Tehen River.

 Book 4: 39. Water

    Cold.


    That was the first thing Aloe felt. The second was breathlessness. Water poured inside her nostrils and mouth, filling her lungs with the frigid liquid.


    Her thoughts were sluggish but primal. If she remained here, she would die. But her mind was not that of an animal but a cultivator. She shifted her internal infusion to recovery. Perhaps she was no longer able to breathe, but as her body assimilated this new flow of vitality, it needed way less oxygen to sustain itself.


    The regeneration stance couldn''t create oxygen out of nowhere, what it did was make the body more efficient at using what it had available.


    The coldness haunted her, threatened her. Without acuity, she was unable to see where she was, but she doubted it would have been useful when the Tehen was a river as deep as it was. Her body weighed her down, and the water in her lungs pushed her down with lethal intention.


    The darkness, the coldness, the water, her stance¡­ everything drained her strength.


    Yet she sought for the air. Aloe swam upwards.


    But the current was stronger.


    She had been fooled by the surface speed of the river, the full force of the water was magnitudes stronger beneath it. Aloe grabbed the walls of the river, her fingers scraping against the smooth stone with all the strength she could muster.


    But even though her fingernails scratched the stone and bled, her grip wasn''t enough. The current pushed her away, thrashing her body across the river, only to violently impact against the wall of the other side. The hit forced her to gasp, pushing even more water into her lungs.


    Her vision became blurrier and blurrier by the instant, the Tehen sapped her heat and strength by the blink, and her air was running out. No matter how much she could adapt to her environment with Nurture, humans weren''t built to live underwater.


    The current kept pushing her downstream and her thoughts were becoming more and more muddled, unable to come up with a response to her situation. It didn''t help how the flow of the water was pushing and thrashing her head around, making it impact against the hard stone.


    She couldn''t even groan in pain, there was not a bubble of air left in her body. Her consciousness threatened to disappear at any moment now.


    In her mental darkness, weakened by the literal one and the mushrooms affecting her mind, Aloe only managed to muster a thought.


    Is this the end?


    It was a pessimistic question. A half-realization of the situation she was in. A bit too late as she struggled to keep her eyes open.


    Is this the end? Really?


    Sarcasm, but above all, hate populated her thoughts.


    After all I''ve gone through, after all I''ve endured, this is what it takes to get me down? A nince-damned slip and a bit of water?


    Aloe would have laughed if it wasn''t for the fact that there was no air to carry the sound.


    I refuse.


    She wasn''t talking to anyone. She wasn''t cursing the heavens. She wasn''t even talking to herself. She simply refused everything.


    Her mind recalled the many events that had brought her here: her sins and those of others. There was too much hate in her body, and it threatened to burst out.


    I WILL NOT DIE HERE.


    It wasn''t the cry of a person desperate to live, but the curse of a spiteful woman. She wouldn''t allow herself to die until she had accomplished the goals she had set for herself. Until she could taint her own sins with enough blood that it would overshadow the little drops that were previously shed.


    Aloe donned potency.


    There was no longer any need for recovery as no trace of air lingered in her body.


    She wasn''t fueled by air any longer.


    Spite and life kept her moving in a macabre union.


    A single push of her arms moved her meters ahead. When a little and weightless body like hers suddenly put as much force on an armful of water as seven men, common sense and physics stopped working.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.


    Even if she was drowning, even if she was dead-cold, even if the water in her lungs pushed her down and the water on the river pushed her downstream, Aloe pushed the water.


    Her arms screamed at the violent force she was applying, but she cared not for their safety. They could break and snap for all she cared. What mattered here was that she lived.


    She could only see darkness.


    She could only feel coldness.


    She could only taste water.


    She could only hear silence.


    But even if her nostrils were filled with unbreathable substances, she could smell victory.


    Her consciousness was fleeting, but she felt the warmer air on her arms. Her body may have been submerged, but her hands found the surface. Without much thought, Aloe grabbed the ledge of the river and put all her might in her arms, throwing her whole body a solid meter into the air.


    The collision against the ground was hard, but she couldn''t care about such frivolities. The cultivator rolled on the ground and placed her face looking towards it as she proceeded to throw up all the water in her system. Even if she was out of the water, she was still drowning. She couldn''t empty her lungs fast enough.


    Instead of trying to think of a plan to survive, Aloe let her instincts reign free. Without so much of a second thought, she donned recovery, mustering the most infinitesimal fraction of natural healing she could muster to prolong her breath if just by a second.


    She gasped, puked, gagged, and thrashed as her mouth and nostrils disposed of the water. Her lungs were burning. That wasn''t how lungs worked.


    She hit herself.


    The motion was more of a frantic spasm than premeditated, but it did help her shake out of her fit and expulse even more water out of her lungs.


    Air was hard to come by. Logic told her that she should be able to breathe on the surface, but heavens knew how much water still was in her lungs. Aloe tried to search for her camp, for the Blossomflames, but she couldn''t see anything in this darkness. Recovery was keeping her alive, so switching to acuity was not an option.


    Mindlessly, she crept forward with her arms. She only needed to go upstream and she would inevitably find her Blossomflames. But as she tried to push forward, the violent coughs seeped away all her strength. It didn''t help that her heart was beating erratically.


    Her consciousness switched on and off intermittently, her memories were as liquid as the cause of her detriment. She didn''t know how or when, but she was standing up and walking, her active stance not that of regeneration but defense.


    Not. Dying.


    That wasn''t how the toughness internal infusion worked. It wouldn''t slow her death, it just made her more robust to any type of damage, but it wasn''t of use once that damage was done.


    Yet Aloe pushed forward, ignoring the pain and her dying body.


    Walking. Slowly. No destination in mind besides forwards. Common sense had long stopped working, the only thing that mattered now was willpower.


    It was impossible to tell where she was, all she could see was black. Her ears finally stopped ringing or being numb ¨C she couldn''t differentiate what the case actually was ¨C but it didn''t matter when her brain couldn''t process the sounds. It all blended on the same nondescript noise.


    The movement was fully automatic, there was no conscious thought behind her actions, especially when she was only awake half of the time. But in those moments of wakefulness, she felt her muscles tensing up, becoming unruly, and increasingly hard to contract.


    The next moment she was conscious, she was on the ground.


    The one after that, she was up again.


    And down again.


    And up again.


    When was the last time she had breathed? Not that her mind could form such complex thoughts, but it tried either way.


    Then, warmth.


    The increase in temperature jolted her awake. She noticed the plants on her feet, the Cure Grass. She had trampled over the plants with her unconscious stroll. But that was of total inconsequence.


    The fire crawling in her skin was not.


    Not once before had healing been this painful before.


    Aloe collapsed on her knees as her lungs began to burn even more than before. The Blossomflames'' fire was healing her body, but like healing an arrow wound without removing the arrow''s head, the water trapped inside her was boiling in her lungs.


    The petite woman tried to scream as she writhed on the ground, but no sound came out of her lips, only more water and some steam.


    She felt her body being cooked from the inside.


    The pain threatened to make her pass out even when she was donning toughness, the internal infusion that brought her superhuman pain tolerance. Water shouldn''t boil like that, especially inside of a person, yet it did.


    Aloe spasmed and jerked around as her throat was seared by what should have been healing her. It was a feedback loop. The more her Blossomflames tried to heal her, the more damage they dealt.


    She had suffered a lot, she had experienced a lot of types of pain, but as her innards were set ablaze she acknowledged this one was the worst.


    It didn''t matter she hadn''t breathed for heaven''s knew how many minutes, the Blossomflames and toughness kept her from dying. Instead, she experienced more pain.


    Water. Fire. Steam. Pain.


    Water. Fire. Steam. Pain.


    Not only did toughness help against loss of consciousness, but so did the Blossomflames. The compounded healing of the four evolved flowers was so great that she wasn''t allowed to lose consciousness.


    The cultivator jerked, puked, ached, healed, and suffered, but above else, she lived.


    Death wasn''t an option.


    And she learned to regret her decision.


    At one point, once the word ''time'' had lost its meaning, the Blossomflames stopped combusting. Perhaps they withered from their continuous conflagrations, but Aloe nonetheless coughed, her body jerking violently at the intake of air.


    Then she laughed.


    "Ha¡­ ha¡­ ha¡­" It was a painful crackle, a maddening recreation of her previously intoxicated giggles. "Hahahahahahahaha¡­"


    Her diaphragm hurt from the rapid movements; her lungs still burned even if they were ''healed''. But she continued laughing.


    All of this from one slip.


    It was utterly comical.


    By all accounts, a jest. But such trivial actions had shown her something. The frigid water had reminded her how her spark of life had slowly faded in this darkness. But the violent embrace of death had rekindled it.


    Aloe laughed for she was alive. For she had recalled she had a will, the will to live.

 Book 4: 40. Council

    A war council was the last thing Naila expected to come out of Rani''s mouth. Though at the same time, it wasn''t like it came directly from her.


    "As you may have noticed or heard," Rani announced to her council, "assassin attacks have intensified as of late, alongside the growing dissent and starvation."


    The good women ruling Sadina had been gathered in Rani''s barely used office. Everyone was here, the two princesses of Sadina, Tamara, Ruhena, Nuha, and that new scribe of commoners. Naila had yet to learn her name even though she had been with them for over half a year. The woman would be substituted in a matter of years by a pawn of her own device.


    And talking about pawns, the comically named Aya Ayad was standing up behind the scribe of commoners as she had been placed as her apprentice. Whilst the girl lacked experience due to her young age, she showed great interest and intelligence. Not only did she appear brighter of mind than the former scribe of commoners, but her education was pointing towards being better.


    Naila had investigated Aloe''s background ¨C out of duty rather than interest ¨C when she had been declared an assassin, and she was surprised to find out how the commoner had gotten an education equivalent to that of kings. Sadina was the scholar capital of Ydaz, but even then, the results of the sultanzade''s digging were confounding.


    Yes, the former scribe was the daughter of another emir''s personal scribe and a wealthy businessman, but by all means it was rather odd to see lowborn people this educated in so many fields without being affiliated with the sultanate.


    Aloe Ayad''s loss was becoming more and more pronounced as time went on. She wasn''t an unpolished gem by any metric, but she was a diamond that only lacked a firm polish to be one of the best.


    But enough dwelling on the past, the former Ayad matriarch was a footnote in Naila''s machinations. She didn''t intend to usurp the Emirate of Sadina as her half-sister had done, but having another seat in the shape of the scribe of commoners would allow her to tip the scales in her favor.


    Mainly reducing her workload.


    ¡­Her machinations still needed a bit of ambition, truth be told.


    For now, she tuned in to the discussion.


    "The main problem is the assassin¡¯s choosing of targets," the new boring scribe of commoners said. "They have focused on key infrastructures like wells and farmlands, and whilst not lethal and commonly superficial in nature, their continued attacks are generating a lot of unrest."


    "We already know that, Shula," Rani told the scribe as she massaged her temples. "I would love some new insights rather than facts I have heard ad nauseam."


    Shula, got it. Naila acknowledged the scribe''s name, only to forget it the next instant.


    The newly appointed scribe of commoners cowered at Rani''s aggressiveness and added nothing more to the discussion. That was why her name never stuck to Naila''s memory, the woman was too scrupulous and pathetic. Ayad wouldn''t have been so passive, even if she was not the most active or talkative woman.


    Rani sighed in disappointment. "Anyhow, I have someone that wants to speak with all of you. You can come in, Fatima."


    "Ugh, finally," her other half-sister barged into the room. "I was tired of waiting."


    "You just arrived," Naila added. She had heard her arriving as she was wielding the sense stance.


    "No one likes snitches," the oldest sultanzade squinted at the youngest.


    "Fatima, no fighting." Whilst it wasn''t a plead, Rani''s voice did convey genuine exhaustion. "You told me you wanted to be at our meetings, but you have yet to tell me why you are in Sadina in the first place."


    "Right," Fatima snapped her fingers. "I did forget about that." The sultanzade cleared her throat and straightened her posture. She almost looked royal and everything. "Our dear Mother, Aaliyah-al-Ydaz, has sent me here to enlighten you on the end of the Pax Qiraji."Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    Some of the members of the meeting gasped at the revelation, namely Tamara and that scribe whose name had been erased from Naila''s mind.


    The Pax Qiraji, or the peace of the desert, was an edict that their mother had proclaimed early into her reign. It was initially enacted as a statal declaration of peace meanwhile the sultanate accepted their new sultanah as it wasn''t a great idea to declare war as a newly appointed monarch. But as the years went on, Ydaz proliferated on its peace, no longer needing Kyra-al-Ydaz''s expansionist wars to sustain its economy.


    Most of that effect was thanks to Aaliyah-al-Ydaz''s centralized government, as unlike Naila''s grandmother who was always waring and whoring on the new territories of Ydaz, her mother kept herself in the capital, allowing the whole country to benefit from the Blood of the Sultanah.


    "I hypothesize the reason why you came," Rani started, "but could you elaborate on why Aaliyah wants to put an end to a prosperous semicentennial peace?"


    "Oh, how fancy, semicentennial. What will be the next term you use? Half-a-tenth lustrums?" Fatima snickered.


    "I am being serious here, Fatima," the emir frowned.


    "My apologies, your question was so devoid of thought that I guessed you were jesting."


    "Some of the people here are not as bright as us." Now, Rani didn''t look at anyone as she said that, but Naila''s hyperattentive eyesight boosted by the sense stance caught the slightest flicker of eyes toward her.


    The imperial scribe didn''t add anything to the non-verbal comment except a scowl. Rani dared to talk about her like that when there was only one reason why one would put a stop to a period of peace.


    "Simple," Fatima said, "the Heavenly Descendant wants to annihilate the Loyatans before they can hurt us more."


    This time no one gasped. Everyone here was well aware of the possibility of war, even the young Aya. However, everyone was expecting the Loyatans to break the peace, not Ydaz herself.


    "So when is this war declaration coming?" Rani questioned the foreign sultanzade. "Are you here to notify us in advance that we are already at war?"


    Fatima''s mouth twisted in the utmost djnnish smile she could muster, the corners of her mouth as high as her nose.


    "Well, that depends on you," she announced.


    Rani severely frowned at her words and finally straightened up. Not even when Fatima had talked about putting an end to the Pax Qiraji had she been this perturbated.


    "What do you mean by this?"


    "Exactly what you are thinking," Fatima added.


    A series of confused gazes flew across the room, no one daring to speak and interrupt the princesses.


    "What are you musing about?" All except a third princess.


    "Ah, Naila," the older sultanzade giggled, "you do not get it, do you?"


    "No, stop with the subterfuge and speak plainly," the younger sultanzade responded stoically.


    "Very well," Fatima raised her palms in a traditional Ydazi defensive manner then bowed with a grin on her lips. "By decree of Her Youthfulness Aaliyah-al-Ydaz, Sultanah of Ydaz, Emir of Asina, Ruler of the Qiraji, and Heavenly Descendant, the management and command of the war efforts in the conflict against the Loyatan Coalition will be given to the Emirate of Sadina and their controllers."


    Naila heard a cup fall to the ground and shatter, whose it was, she didn''t know.


    This progression of the events was¡­ unexpected.


    "Speak frankly with me, Fatima," Rani said in a very serious tone, her eyes flaring purple. "Is this one of your jokes?"


    "I can assure you it is not." Whilst the princess showed no seriousness, there was no hint of comedy either in her mannerisms. "Mother is quite literally leaving Sadina the decision-making in the war. Albeit with the caveat that she may step into it whenever she pleases."


    That last part was to be expected. Their Mother was just declaring them generals ¨C emphasis on them as Fatima specified the Emirate and not just Rani as the commanders ¨C and no matter how wise a general may be and how much power they may have in the army and a state of war, the one who ruled the country was the monarch.


    "Hmm," Rani put a hand before her lips as she pondered. "I was expecting something, but¡­" she gave Naila another subtle glance. "Yes, this makes sense."


    There was something wrong in that gaze, Naila could feel it in her bones. She understood the previous one as her half-sister underestimated and undermined her, but this one was wholly different.


    She had tried hard to put herself into the court affairs as of late, especially as she intended to use Aya for said affairs, so she needed some understanding of them in the first place. But even with her newly acquired worldview, she was unaware of something. And it was irking her.


    "Understood," Rani accepted Fatima''s words with chilling calmness. But what shook Naila more were her next words. "Fatima, I declare you regent vizier of Sadina until my return from Asina," the emir announced as she stood up.


    "What?" For the first time in their meeting, Fatima lost her cool. "What about Naila? She''s the imperial scribe of Sadina, she has acted before as the regent emir ¨C let alone vizier ¨C so why should I do it?"


    "Foolish girl," Rani casually told her older half-sister. "Naila is coming with me to Asina, of course."


    "What?" It was time for Naila to lose her cool too. "What are you planning, Rani? What is that wicked mind of yours concocting now?"


    The emir cackled. "You should reserve that question for your mother. We are going to meet her at once."

 Book 4: 41. Reserves

    To say that the near-death experience of drowning in the river had scared Aloe was an understatement. The pain induced by the Blossomflames'' very healing wasn''t forgotten either. She was already paranoid about the assassins being in every shadow, and her mistake didn''t help her confidence and anxiety at all.


    So she took the decision to play it safe.


    Leisure time and wasteful use of vitality were cut to a minimum. Whilst she didn''t remove the mushrooms from her diet after that fiasco, she was even more careful with cooking them. First, she left them to dry for a whole day, and only then she would cook them to near charcoal. And even with such precautionary measures, Aloe wouldn''t eat the meal unless she was in her crevice and well secured under the effects of toughness.


    No other stance no more.


    Unfortunately, she couldn''t just live on potatoes, otherwise she would have kept the mushrooms away. And whilst she didn''t particularly enjoy the taste, it was better than to keep eating potatoes each and every day.


    She no longer had any traveling rations at all. She had tried rationing it as much as she could, using chopped jerky in soups to give it flavor and extend its duration as much as possible, but as the second month ticked by, such frugal tactics didn''t prove to be enough.


    Yes, the second month.


    For better or worse, her femininity allowed her to keep track of time. She could only guess when she would bleed, but toughness made the act trivial either way. Losing between one or two days each month was painful, but it was better than writhing in pain. The dampness of the chasm didn''t help at all with her health.


    Even with her frugality and paranoia, Aloe was able to run some long term tests without dedicating them any meaningful resources. The most important one was on the shade acclimation external infusion. The taste was simple, have three potatoes with different infusions planted. One had accelerated growth, another had shade acclimation, and the last one had none.


    Plants shouldn''t grow without sunlight, that was the extent of her mostly surface-level knowledge, but she wanted to put it to the test.


    The result was expected.


    The shade acclimation potato sprouted a bit in that month, which was how fast ¨C or rather slow ¨C potatoes grew in actuality, even if the vital arts had totally and utterly messed her common sense applied to plants. The other two didn''t germinate. Well, they had some growths on their skin, but nothing worthwhile, more fungal growth than anything else.


    Her second test was a more¡­ unorthodox one.


    From the many treaties she had read, apparently, some plants that she took for granted didn''t exist as such in nature and were products of human-intervened breeding. Selective breeding, if she recalled correctly the term.


    Now, she didn''t intend to make new plants by making chimeras out of them. That was Evolution''s task. No, her intention was to see if she could ''combine'' infusions.


    But alas, no matter how hard she tried, that project didn''t come to fruition. She hadn''t given up just yet, but her attempts to breed two sets of mushrooms with different infusions didn''t result in offspring that would inherit both. The reason why she chose mushrooms, specifically liberty caps, was because she couldn''t get plants to grow without the shade acclimation external infusion.


    "It''s a long-term project, Aloe," she told herself. "The studies showed that it takes generations of breeding chosen specimens to give a desired result."


    She doubted her very words as the Aloe Veritas would have shown by now a double external infusion parchment description because it didn''t make sense that ten generations down the line one specimen would spontaneously generate two of them.


    To see if it was even possible for the veritas to show two infusions at the same time, she infused a potato with two half-cost infusions. She still had the veritas leaf with her, even if she had thrown it into the river with the potato in a fit of rage as it showed that it worked.


    Species: Solanum Tuberosum


    Sobriquet: Potato


    Description: Member of the Solanaceae family, a species known for its perennially, growth in harsh environments, and nutritional values.


    External Infusion: Resistance to Drought, Resistance to the Elements


    "Awful names, Karaim. Awful names," she cursed her long-dead grandfather. Just reading the description again put her in a foul mood.


    Evolution had spoiled her and made her think that results were instantaneous even when she was dealing with plants. Some even took years to grow, for heaven''s sake! But that didn''t mean she had the patience to cultivate the same fungal colony for months.


    She still did it, though.


    There was just nothing better to do down here.


    "I need to get out of here," she kept telling herself, but she wanted to have more vitality before doing so. And also evolve the plants she had gathered.


    Much to her dismay, in this whole month, she had only grown her reserves by a single mansworth. Which was a lot, all in all being said, but it could be so much more. The blood infusions still were necessary from time to time, and that heavily slowed down her reserve growth.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.


    But she had had enough.


    Aloe felt her sanity dwindling as if it were a tangible liquid whose level was just barely at her feet. She needed variety, she needed to grow faster. Sultanzade could reap twice a day, and assuming they did, that meant Aloe was barely ahead of their growth. If she wanted to compete with people who had military and martial training as a civilian, she would need an overwhelming amount of vitality, not just a bit more.


    Her decision wasn''t to evolve more cumin seeds, she just couldn''t. She was evolving multiple of them per day and that was taking a toll on her body. Evolution wasn''t meant to be used that repeatedly.


    But she could try looking for more intense singular evolutions.


    She instantly discarded the living stones. Even if it had been two months since she had tried to evolve them, the memory was still vivid in her mind. She still hadn''t enough vitality to do so. Perhaps once her reserves hit the double digits she would try. Emphasis on try.


    No, her first attempt would be one specimen she wanted to dispose of as soon as possible.


    The death cap spores.


    Truth be told, Aloe didn''t fear them. Toughness could make her inhumanly resilient, and the multiple Blossomflames at her disposal would prevent her from dying even if she wanted to.


    She had learned that lesson the hard way.


    And her control of the Blossomflames was nothing short of admiration-worthy and miracle-working. With double digits of Blossomflames under her wing now, not only was cooking trivial, but she could afford to keep one alight each day for an hour. It wasn''t much, just a fraction of the day, but it was something. It was free lighting, heating, and company as she didn''t need to pay for it. Her control of wounds and commands over the evolved plants had grown enough to keep a Blossomflame flaring for however long she wanted whilst she didn''t allow the wound to close.


    She had tried drying Cure Grass and using it as a fuel for fires, but the dead blades burned too fast to even work as a light source, let alone a fire. Her best bet for unlimited fires was still growing an overwhelming amount of Blossomflames.


    From time to time, she had transplanted some Blossomflames around the riverbed, because if she had them placed together, the conflagration caused by a measly wound would be shy of a city-wide fire. This meant she could comfortably move to the outer boundaries of her camp to try evolving the death cap whilst still being in the range of a single Blossomflame.


    One day she would make the crevice''s soil fertile and transplant some of them there, but right now, she valued her reserves more than a good night''s sleep.


    Aloe ''preheated'' her Blossomflame by biting her finger. Just a healthy dose of paranoia to check that the evolved flower did, indeed, work.


    "Oh, I''m scared. What if this new plant is really toxic?" Nothing assured her that was the case. As a matter of fact, nothing assured her that she would be able to evolve it in the first place. "Okay, okay. I can do it," she fanned herself with both hands and took a deep breath before grabbing the death cap spores.


    There was several of them as dealing with spores was way different than with seeds, but with all her experience in managing vitality, she was able to focus and lock her flow of vitality into a single spore.


    "Alright, it''s been a while since I''ve said this. Death cap evolution test begins¡­ now!"


    Aloe''s gaze instantly turned serious as the singular spore started to accept her vitality. She rejoiced that her first attempt was successful, but right now she had to focus on evolving the spore.


    She was donning toughness as a precaution, so there would be no free grains of vitality for her over the evolution''s course by donning recovery. Instead, Aloe had a handful of vitality pills in her other hand. The aloe veras had long grown, so in her free time ¨C which was always ¨C she milled Cure Grass and coated the resulting mush with aloe vera sap.


    These new pellets were way inferior in quality to the original product as she lacked the same resources she had in the greenhouse. First of all, no sunlight to dry them. This may seem trivial, but with the copious humidity of the chasm, it was needed even more than before. Secondly, her lack of tools. She had to leave the finished pellets on the stone to dry, which was a bit yucky, but if she left them on any rag, they would stick to it and make a mess.


    In other words, she was doing what she could with the tools at her disposal.


    The drain of the death cap spore was sufficiently slow that even if it drained her whole reserves - and the spore was on its way to doing so ¨C there was more than enough time to take the Cure Grass pellets.


    She even remembered to keep her stomach empty!


    Though at this point, it was a given. Just like keeping recovery off whenever she felt she was nearing that time of the month.


    The low drain rate, though, was very relative. It was significantly faster than the Blossomflame''s, but because her reserves were eight mansworth big ¨C large? Massive? Truth be told, she didn''t know how to classify the magnitude of her reserves ¨C she now had more of a breathing room even if the drain was stronger.


    Still this was just her mental image, the spore absorption rate was prodigious compared to previous evolutions.


    However, because of the comparatively faster rate, Aloe had to consume her vitality pills rather early, otherwise her body wouldn''t have time to digest and absorb the vitality. The loss wasn''t massive as she started taking them at a tenth of her reserves, and it wasn''t like she had a limited amount of pills any longer, but minimizing losses was important as there was a limit on how fast her stomach could absorb vitality.


    If she reached that critical point, then she would no longer be able to restore vitality or evolve the plant.


    Her backup plan for that was to run to the river and scratch her hand against the stone to separate the spore from her skin. As always, Evolution targets glued to her skin and refused to let go by any means. She was more than disposed to cut off a patch of skin or flesh to remove the evolving spore from her body if it ended up reaching that point.


    "Nothing that the Blossomflames can''t heal," she said aloud as she still poured vitality into the spore. She was on her third pill now. "Now that I think about it, aren''t I too over-reliant on Blossomflames?" A part of her was scared of how she was willing to sacrifice her own flesh without batting an eye.


    As she was right about to take the fourth pill, the spore stopped taking her vitality.


    The cultivator couldn''t help but exhale in relief. It had been a lot of vitality, but nothing insurmountable, and she was thankful for it.


    "Not too shabby, only around ten mansworth," Aloe opened her hand to reveal a single spore emitting the faintest glow imaginable, which already revealed its evolved status. Her mind was already making plans about gathering several of them to have a non-Blossomflame source of light. "Let''s hold our dwellers for a bit. I need to check if this spore is highly lethal or something along those lines first."


    Carefully, she placed the spores on her hand on a boulder and cut a fresh veritas leaf. With some difficulty, she placed the glowing spore on the bleeding cut as, unlike seeds, the spore was very small and she couldn''t grab it between her fingers and let it go.


    When the parchment on the leaf started shifting, Aloe thought for an instant that she had wasted the leaf on herself, but she soon noticed that the spore was no longer in her hand.


    The Aloe Veritas leaf revealed the following information.


    Species: Radiating Undergrowth


    Sobriquet: White Hole Cap


    Description: An evolved member of the Amanitaceae family, a species known for its ability to grow anywhere, radiate indefinitely, and its absurd nutritional value.


    Alignment: Void, Death

 Book 4: 42. Undergrowth

    There were some things wrong with the description she had before her eyes namely, how it was highlighting both a Death alignment and a high nutritional value.


    "I''m no scholar but these two words¡­ they don''t exactly fit together," she didn''t know how to make heads or tails out of the situation. "I''ve only seen the Death alignment once before, and that plant gave me so many heebie-jeebies that I didn''t plant it. At least this one isn''t giving me instantaneous repulsion, so¡­ maybe it''s alright?"


    Her tone betrayed any semblance of confidence her words may portray.


    "Also, Void?" She reread the alignment section. "That''s a new one, right? Which ones have I seen so far? Let''s see," she started counting with her hand. "There''s Information and Arcane from the veritas, Life and Chaos from the Blossomflame, Light from the Myriad, Time from the Nature''s Bounty," she was still a bit sad that she had never seen that plant grow as it had a promising future, "and Death from the Thousand Cuts."


    That last one was the one was the plant she had never planted as just having it around horrified her.


    "I''m surprised I even remember the name when I threw it as soon as I evolved it, I guess it really made an impression on me, huh?" Aloe scooped the evolved spore out of the veritas wound, which was a bit hard as it was completely covered in ink and its glowing properties were voided by it. "Yeah, Void''s a new one. That makes it the seventh, wait¡­ the eighth alignment I have found. I wonder if there are more."


    Alignment was a word devoid ¨C pun intended ¨C of meaning for her. Sure, some alignments did make sense, but not all of them. And in her mind, she was relating the word alignment to element as it made no sense to her otherwise.


    "I can get behind things like Life and Light, but what does Arcane and Void entail? Especially Arcane. Aren''t all evolved plants magical or am I missing something?"


    Aloe left the glowing spore on top of a boulder and rubbed her temples with her clean hand. Evolutions always exhausted her, and one as expensive as this one even more so, but it was the questions without answers that drove hooks into her mind.


    "The Death alignment has me a bit scared but considering the last and only plant I saw with that alignment made me cringe and given I still have yet to feel anything, not even a gut feeling, I''d say I should plant it." The more she talked to herself, the better the proposition sounded. "But what''s a white hole? Does the grown mushroom have holes and is still white? Otherwise, I can''t understand the meaning of that sobriquet."


    The concept of a white hole was quite a curious mental exercise as she tried to imagine something like that, but the only image that came to her mind was a drill hole in a marble slab.


    "Anyhow, I still have to go over some points of the description," she had latched on to the ''absurd nutritional value'' part, but there were two other significant ones. "Okay, how much of the ''grow anywhere'' part is true and how much is an exaggeration? Can you grow anywhere?"


    Aloe tried talking to the spore, but it failed to respond to her. She didn''t lose anything for trying as she had confirmed that the Blossomflames could understand her even if they couldn''t talk back. Maybe one plant in the future will be able to talk. She had had those thoughts more than once already.


    "Next, ''radiate indefinitely''," she read. "Radiate what? I guess it''s light based on the spore, but it could be heat or something else. This choice of verb is quite vague."


    After going over the Aloe Veritas'' description of the Radiating Undergrowth, Aloe failed to see any critical issues with it. She wouldn''t try to consume it anytime soon as the Death alignment was as off-putting as the absurd nutritional value was enticing.


    "I''ll plant it somewhere far, just in case. Considering it''s a mushroom, it should grow fast and without needing sunlight, but an accelerated growth infusion won''t hurt."


    Before infusing it, Aloe waited a bit. Not only to restore her vitality, which had hit rock bottom but also to rest. Evolutions weren''t nearly as taxing as blood infusions, but she had consumed ten mansworth in one go, an unheard amount until now, even if she had almost that in total vitality reserves now.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    The cultivator left the spore on the boulder and ''rewarded'' herself with a cooking session. She was used to cutting herself by this point to light the Blossomflames, and now that she could control them well enough to only cut herself a handful of times during a whole session, but she still dreaded those sessions.


    Even when she put two Blossomflames in parallel to increase the heat, her cooking sessions still would last half an hour. She wasn''t unfamiliar with cooking sessions that long, even before the whole chasm fiasco, but it was different when one had to constantly control the fire.


    For heaven''s sake, she had to motivate the fire!


    Literally!


    Blossomflames did grow hotter and brighter if she whispered them words of motivation and encouragement. How did that work? She had no idea, but at the same time, she was objectively a witch who used different magics. The irony was palpable.


    As she wielded recovery in her cooking sessions, mostly to ease her healing, by the time Aloe had eaten she had long restored her vitality.


    "Ah," Aloe groaned as she stretched after finishing her meal. "Time to infuse this Radiating Undergrowth." The name resonated with her more than the sobriquet.


    A fleeting thought crossed her mind making her wonder if the spore would have taken root already as the veritas stated that it could grow anywhere, but she discarded it as she had only taken an hour to get back to it.


    "Okay," she cracked her neck. "Let''s see how much vitality you need to be infused, evolved mushroom."


    Aloe started infusing the Radiating Undergrowth spore with the accelerated growth external infusion. And she infused. And she continued infusing. By the time she had spent a whole nine mansworth on the infusion, she felt something was wrong.


    "How much vitality do you eat?" She incriminated the innocent spore. "I need to do something about this."


    As she didn''t want to break the tether of vitality between her and the spore, she kept her finger pinched and trickled small amounts of vitality into it ¨C enough so that she would still restore vitality with recovery ¨C to keep the infusion process up indefinitely.


    "Two alternatives," she told herself. "Either I keep putting vitality inside of it without falling asleep until it''s full, or I stuff myself full of pills until the spore itself is full." Silence permeated the bottom of the chasm. "I kinda prefer the former option, it can''t take that much vitality, right?"


    It did.


    Aloe pinched the bridge of her nose and rubbed her eyes as she let out a sigh of exhaustion. She was donning recovery and had infused already twenty mansworth on the spore. Yet it showed no signs of stopping, she couldn''t even feel the vitality she had put inside already.


    "Am I missing something? Like¡­ literally? It''s as if my vitality is being erased instead of absorbed." She rubbed the corners of her eyes. "I¡­ was my whole theory of plants needing an amount of vitality proportional to their mature size wrong? Either that or¡­ this mushroom is really big. Like impossibly so. A tree can take around one mansworth to be infused, so even if I take into account the Radiating Undergrowth''s evolved status that doubles the cost¡­ the numbers still don''t make sense."


    She was at an impasse. Her body was hurting from using so much vitality without resting, but at the same time the sunk-cost fallacy was hitting her hard and she didn''t want to lose her progress.


    "I¡­ does it even matter?" She realized a critical problem with her actions. "It''s a mushroom, it doesn''t need shade acclimation and it will grow fast, so I don''t even need to infuse it with accelerated growth. Hells! I''m not even in a hurry to see it grown!"


    Aloe finally decided to give up on the Radiating Undergrowth''s infusion as it was too much of a resource siphon to be viable, even if her curiosity was urging her to check how much vitality the evolved mushroom would need to evolve. Was she really close to the infusion point or was she far away? Could a living being reach the three digits in vitality cost?


    Her experiments didn''t end quite yet as she left the spore on top of the boulder. If the veritas description was right, then the spore should be able to grow on that boulder. If it didn''t¡­ well, she would evolve more of them in the future, once the cumin seeds were no longer as feasible to evolve as they were now.


    "Oh¡­" She groaned in a mixture of horror and laziness. "I will need to plant death caps, that''s bad¡­ very bad¡­"


    Whilst she highly doubted any common poison could kill her in her current state ¨C thanks to the Blossomflames rather than her toughness ¨C she still didn''t want to be subject to the inevitable pain that would follow by being poisoned.


    "Maybe I could train my tolerance to poison and practice toughness by eating them," she said jokingly, though she couldn''t help but linger on that thought. "Nah, just kidding. Unless¡­"


    She was effectively immortal under the watchful fires of the Blossomflame, if she consumed poisons, she could develop furthermore her beloved toughness internal infusion like she constantly did with recovery.


    "Would that only reinforce my poison resistance or toughness as a whole?" It scared her that she was even pondering it, but if she was willing to withstand the pain, nothing was stopping her.


    Nothing would stop her.


    "Let''s put this idea on the backburner¡­ for now."

 Book 4: 43. Spore

    It would have been easy to go directly for the next evolution attempts, but Aloe had learned the need for a good rest. She had used thirty mansworth in a matter of hours, far more than she had ever consumed before, and even if she felt well at that moment, she knew she would face the consequences later.


    And face them she did.


    When she woke up the next ''day'', she felt like an absolute pile of manure.


    "Ugh, I knew it." She groaned her way out of bed, her body numb from the extreme vitality consumption and her head throbbing in protest. "I can''t keep mistreating my body this way. Ugh, I feel like puking."


    She did not puke, but that didn''t mean her nausea magically vanished. Whilst the day wasn''t wasted from her ''vitality hangover'' like it would be with her menstruation, she was forced to take it slow. After resting and having her fair share of food and water, she only evolved two cumin seeds the whole day. Which, to be honest, was infinitely more than what she was doing in Sadina or during her escape.


    "I guess it''s a good time to make an inventory of the seeds and spores I can evolve," she lazily waltzed across her riverbed camp in search of her future evolutions.


    There weren''t many untested seeds and alike at her disposal. The ones she had fresh on her mind were the uninteresting mushroom, the edible one, and the lichen. If she was lucky, she would be able to evolve one of them. However, she would try to maximize her options and opportunities by trying to find some hidden evolution requirements.


    In her satchels and some forgotten corners of her pockets and backpack, she found around seven different kinds of seeds ¨C less than ten for sure ¨C she had obtained either in Selen or the small town before that. She wasn''t expecting much from them, mostly because she recognized some of them even if she couldn''t put a name on them, but she was going to try for different requirements, nonetheless.


    Today, she rested. Tomorrow, she would experiment.


    <hr>


    Morning was a¡­ concept down there. Sunlight didn''t reach that far down, not that it could as there was a ceiling over her head, so morning was when she woke up and night was when she went to sleep. Still, breakfast wasn''t something she looked up to. Because of the long cooking sessions, Aloe couldn''t be bothered to prepare breakfast each time she woke up, so before going to sleep she left some soup resting overnight that she would heat when she woke up.


    It was odious having to cut herself first thing in the morning, but the food was already done and the time she needed to spend was only on how warm she wanted her meal.


    "Let''s go with the liberty caps first," Aloe told herself after finishing the soup. "I don''t know if they will evolve, but if they do, there''s a high chance that they will be also edible, meaning that I will have even more food at my disposal. I wonder if evolved liberty caps will taste differently¡­"


    For the first time ever, the cultivator decided to think with her stomach. She was used to thinking with her mind, her heart, or even her greed, but not her stomach. That was very much a new one for her.


    Getting access to liberty cap spores was easy as she had a whole field of them. Unlike her other plants, they were more¡­ amicable to the idea of growing on a literal rock. Not that they could. If one mushroom could, then that would be the recent Radiating Undergrowth.


    "Or lichen," she mussed. "Lichen can do that, can they? Maybe they aren''t ''literally'' growing on stone though¡­"


    When one was as devoid of entertainment as Aloe, maundering was a given.


    Once again, she found herself with copious amounts of spores in her hands. Not all of them were visible to the naked eye, especially with her limited visibility, but she could sense the vitality inside of them. The ever-present darkness of the chasm had done wonders for her ''vitality sense'' as it was getting easier and easier to detect the specific vitality of a living being, even from afar.


    She had the feeling that this ''sense'' may actually be one and that it was boosted by acuity.


    Her mind locked on a specific spore; its vitality was infinitesimal compared to the mushroom it came from. Aloe''s mind focused on a single thought: intention.


    And that intention was to transform the spore in her hand into a new form of life.


    "Liberty cap evolution test begins¡­ now!"Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.


    And it failed.


    The spore on her hand refused to accept her Evolution-intended vitality.


    But Aloe didn''t allow herself to be discouraged by the fact. She knew that plants ¨C or mushrooms or whatever ¨C could have hidden requirements to evolve. Maybe not all of them could evolve, but she had to try.


    She went with her only tested requirement so far: books. Even after evolving, a handful of Aloe Veritas, the old booklet she had bought had more than enough content to be used and exploited.


    The cultivator pressed her hand against the gnawed parchment of the book and forced her intent and vitality into the spore once more.


    "Liberty cap evolution test two begins¡­ now!"


    Aloe''s lips instantly curved upward when the spore started accepting her vitality.


    "Two for two, atta girl!" She praised the little spore, though her expression soured the next moment. "Hmm¡­"


    The spore was accepting her vitality slowly. Not incredibly so, but the pace was slower than the Blossomflame, let alone the Radiating Undergrowth.


    "Ah¡­" She sighed. "I mean, it''s great to have a new evolution and all, but at the same time, I would prefer really expensive ones."


    Her ''dream'' was to have an ascending ladder of evolution costs, so in theory, she could constantly increase her vitality at accelerating speeds without suffering the consequences of evolving multiple plants on the same day.


    "Alas, it would seem a girl can only dream."


    Aloe was happy for her own success, she really was, but she knew she could be happier. And that made her sad.


    The spore ended up taking around four mansworth to evolve. Way more than a Flourishing Spring, but somewhat less than the Blossomflame. Now her prayers were redirected to another place.


    "Please be a useful plant," she closed her hands into fists and raised them above her head as if she was squeezing the luck out of the heavens.


    Then it was finally time to cut a veritas leaf and coat the spore with its ink. The evolved spore was no different than the other ones ¨C unfortunately, no Radiating Undergrowth scenario ¨C besides having ever-so-slightly more vitality as it was now a different species, which allowed Aloe to separate it.


    Otherwise, the situation would have quickly escalated into a mess as she tried to search for the evolved one with little to no success. She made a mental note to only leave a spore on her hand if possible when she was evolving fungi.


    Once she let a drop of ink fall on the spore, as dropping it directly on the plant would have caused her to probably lose it forever, the parchment of the veritas began shifting and forming whole sentences. No matter how many times she saw the scene unfold before her eyes, the magic of how the ink gained sentience to displace itself into words would never cease to amaze her.


    The process ended after a few seconds and the parchment now read:


    Species: Psilocybe Adhlucinor


    Sobriquet: Dream Spore


    Description: An evolved member of the Hymenogastraceae family, a species known for its vibrant colors, gas pustules, and hallucinogenic properties.


    Alignment: Information, Life


    "Uhh¡­" Aloe squinted and groaned with her mouth half-open as she reread the parchment. "I don''t think this will be edible. And even it is¡­ I don''t think I''d like to eat it. The term ''gas pustules'' is already making me nauseous."


    Now that she was sure the danger had passed, Aloe cut herself and invoked the fires of the Blossomflames next to her to get a better look at the parchment to evaluate the plant. She hadn''t done so before out of paranoia, if the evolved spore was dangerous, then she didn''t want her lifeline to have exhausted part of its power.


    "There are no red flags on the name and sobriquet that I can see, so that''s good." Not always the names were self-describing, and this seemed to be one of those cases. "The description is¡­ lacking. Two physical details and only one about its properties. It could be better. Could you do better?"


    Aloe shook the Aloe Veritas leaf as if she was extorting it, but the leaf didn''t exhibit any of the spontaneous changes it could produce.


    "It was worth a try," Aloe groaned. "Vibrant colors normally indicate poisonous things, but I feel like the veritas would have said so if it was the case. Gas pustules though¡­ I guess it''s a property too," she wasn''t enthusiastic about that one. "Surely that hallucinogenic factor is related to the gas. I won''t know if I should eat them until they have grown, but for now, it''s better if I plant them away from the riverbed. Maybe the river as a whole, I wouldn''t like some gas polluting the water I''m going to drink."


    She gave a bit more thought to the veritas'' description, but she found herself groaning once more as it was too lacking for her tastes. Not all descriptions could be winners.


    "I''m struggling to find any uses right now," she scratched her scalp furiously. "If this came to me a year ago when I was dealing with the sultanzade and the assassins, maybe someone would have bought it, but now¡­ this just sounds like a more potent version of the liberty caps." Shivers went down her spine as she recalled her frigid encounter with the river. "I''m going to plant it if just out of morbid curiosity, but I''ll need to watch out for any possible intoxication."


    Instead of planting it so far away from her camp that it went unsupervised, Aloe decided to plant it a bit over the boundary but downstream so if it affected the water, at least it wouldn¡¯t be what she would drink.


    "Okay, infusion time. Let''s hope you don''t take unlimited amounts of vitality to be infused, will you?" She whispered to the Dream Spore.


    Literally. It was a Dream Spore''s spore.


    Like before with the Radiating Undergrowth, the petite cultivator opted for the accelerated growth external infusion as fungi wouldn''t need shade acclimation to grow. And like its small ¨C relatively speaking ¨C evolution cost, the evolved spore didn''t need much vitality to be infused.


    "Oh, that''s a solid number, around a mansworth to be infused, and that''s taking into consideration that it''s an evolved plant. Good to know."


    She marked the spot where she planted the Dream Spore spore ¨C this alliteration would be the death of her ¨C with a pebble circle, and she went on with her day.

 Book 4: 44. Alignment

    The next day, Aloe relaxed with the evolution experiments. She wasn''t in any real haste, and she no longer had her sanity trickling out of her body thanks to the growing supply of Blossomflames and light, so she dedicated the day to unwind, draw a bit, and evolve more cumin seeds.


    It may seem like a joke, but she was getting good with the knife. Aloe didn''t have many references to draw, so she found herself drawing the same things over and over again, namely her plants. This contributed to her progress as she was making them better with each iteration. She even planted a Flourishing Spring to be able to draw it.


    She took the sketches of the plants she was satisfied with to the crevice to store them there. Aloe Veritas leaves seemed to be more like parchment than she initially believed as some of her early leaves were still as fresh as when she cut them a month ago, just a little stiffer, but that was a plus. This motivated her to keep drawing as her drawings wouldn''t deteriorate.


    "I would like to have some pigments to give some color, though." Alas, the only real paint she had was the veritas ink. "Maybe if I grind some Blossomflame leaves and mix them with the veritas ink it will turn red."


    Ideas like those were plentiful, but their success was null more often than not. That didn''t stop her from trying, like she was doing with her selective breeding experiment.


    After she ended her drawing session covered in ink as she wasn''t careful when she was practicing ¨C it didn''t matter if the parchment''s surface was covered with her description ¨C Aloe decided to take a ''bath''. It was a strong word calling those times she wetted a towel and cleansed herself with it a bath. She once thought to boil a bit of water in her ceramic pan to not chill herself to death, but it was too much time to boil barely a few glasses of water.


    And besides, if she wanted to heat herself, she could always cut herself.


    In the sense that a Blossomflame would shower her in flames, not because she wanted to heat her body through hemorrhage. Though she couldn''t deny that also worked. The human body did tend to heat up when losing blood, if the blood loss was minimal, of course.


    Some part of her was scared of her growing dependency on Blossomflames, but another just whispered "They are so useful and comfortable though¡­"


    Ironically enough, Aloe wanted to discover new evolutions to depend on them rather than continue depending on the Blossomflames. Distributing her dependency and such. She had high hopes for the Radiating Undergrowth as they would seem to provide both lighting and rations. Even if she was hesitant to eat them once they grew. But that was weeks away, she needed to think of the protest.


    But that was for tomorrow, today she slept.


    And sleeping was just a blink. Recovery allowed her to sleep with ease, and more often than not, without dreaming. That was the true blessing of the stance. Why she didn''t dream or have nightmares ¨C most of the time ¨C whilst donning that internal infusion was beyond her. She was just glad about it.


    After having breakfast and gathering her seeds, Aloe proceeded to run her evolution experiments.


    "Unknow seeds evolution test begins¡­ now!" She pushed her vitality and intent into the seed whose nature she hadn''t bothered to check with the veritas. "Hmm¡­"


    The cultivator wasn''t surprised to find her test ended up in failure.


    "Okay, time for the requirements tests." The first one was the book one.


    Which failed.


    After recalling the description of the Na''mul Ter''nar and checking that of the Aloe Veritas and the Dream Spore, Aloe noticed that all the plants that required a book had evolved into plants with the Information alignment. That didn''t mean much to her other than it was obvious when put into words. But it did give her an idea.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    "If Information evolutions require books, then evolutions with other alignments may require related items to their alignment," she theorized. "Most plants by default are Life, and they are alive, so I don''t know how much of a requirement that is. Light must be any source of light, which makes sense as the only Light plants I have evolved were under direct sunlight."


    Those plants in question were the Myriad and the Grace''s Exaltation.


    "But beyond these three alignments, I''m out of ideas. Chaos¡­ many plants I have evolved had a Chaos alignment like the Myriad, the Blossomflames, and the uhm¡­ how was it called? The Chlorotrophy? Yeah, I think that was the name. Those are three plants with Chaos, but all had either Life or Light alignments too, so I don''t know what influenced their evolutions. Fire still is a solid clue for Chaos though¡­"


    She would be lying if she wasn''t making stuff up and gaslighting herself as she went on. Her excuse was ''they are only theories'', even if they were ¨C most likely ¨C nonsense.


    "Next on the list of alignments: Time," she waited for a few seconds, waiting for her brain to come up with something. "Yeah, no idea. The only plant I have seen with it was the Nature''s Bounty, and that also had Life. I can only guess that time needs to pass as a requirement for such plants, but time will always flow so¡­"


    She gave up and went for the next one.


    "Arcane is a curious one, I have seen it a lot of times. The Na''mul Ter''nar, the veritas, the Moonlight''s Tooth, and the Flourishing Spring," she took a deep breath after her enumeration. "This may be the most common alignment after Life. But I also have no idea how to get a requirement out of it. The ter''nar and the veritas were evolutions via book, and the moonlight and the spring had Life alignments too¡­ Maybe life is just the most important requirement? But that''s a bit too redundant, isn''t it? Evolution can only evolve living beings."


    Aloe stopped herself there as it would seem that if she continued down that path, she would spend all day arguing philosophy with the darkness.


    "What alignments remain?" She pondered for a moment and counted with her fingers. "Void and Death, those are the last ones, hmmm¡­" The cultivator hummed deep in thought. "I can imagine what could work with Death, but when I evolved the Radiating Undergrowth and the Thousand Cuts, there was no dead matter around me. But that abomination of a seed had also Life, so I can discard it."


    What ensued was a series of groans and scratches on her scalp.


    "Void is the only one I have no answers for, but at the same time, I have met some requirements for it to evolve it. The Radiating Undergrowth is Void and Death, so I must have met one requirement. Which alignment was it, then?"


    Aloe was, of course, ignoring the obvious question of "Do all plants need to meet requirements to evolve?"


    Which could or could not be the case.


    "I''d like to guess Death is influenced by dead things, even if I have no proof. And unless Evolution itself is saying that I am dead inside, I''d say Void was the real influence here." Truth was, Aloe couldn''t distinguish if her last comment was a joke or not. "I have a good theory of what could be the requirement of Void: darkness. I mean, it makes sense. If I''m right about Light being well¡­ light, then Void should be darkness."


    The number of ''what ifs'' the foundation of her thesis was grounded on was looser than a tower of grains of sand. And she knew it.


    "Now, if the requirements I''ve come up with do make sense and are true, then every time I try to evolve a plant right now I''m meeting the Life, Void, and maybe Time requirements. I''m basically ninety-nine percent sure of the requirement for Information, so I should work on Light, Chaos, and Death."


    A Blossomflame could meet two of those requirements if she was right with her theories, so she focused on the latter. Considering the sprawling size of her garden, obtaining dead matter wasn''t much of a problem. But to be thorough, Aloe cut a flower from her cumin plant and burned it with a Blossomflame. This way she would undoubtedly have a dead plant in her hands.


    "Alright, I should have seven of the eight possible requirements now. Perhaps. Maybe," her tone provided no confidence at all. "Let''s see if this seed will evolve with any of these requirements."


    News flash, it did not.


    According to her hypothesis, she had already tried Life, Void, Time, and Information; and after showering the seed in light and fire from a Blossomflame and putting it next to the dead cumin flower, no evolution occurred.


    "Oh well," Aloe sighed, but she wasn''t disappointed. This was the reality of Evolution. She had failed tens of them, maybe a hundred already with all the different seeds and species she had tried. She was no stranger to failure.


    But she would be lying if she wasn''t frustrated. This was the perfect moment to prove her ¨C admittedly makeshift ¨C theories. If a single seed evolved through being in contact with Blossomflame fire or dead plants, she would feel validated.


    "Six more seeds to go, I believe!" So, she tried with the next ones.

 Book 4: 45. Cotton

    Aloe had the bad trait of believing her spontaneous theories as the absolute truth, and that way of thinking punched her in the gut when she went through half of the seeds and all of the requirement conditions she had thought of and found no new evolutions.


    "Not all plants have evolutions," she told herself and laughed it off.


    If the normal evolution process didn''t work, Aloe then went for the book method. If the book didn''t work, it was time for the dead plant. If being in contact with the dead plant didn''t work either, her last alternative was to bathe the seed in question with an onslaught of a Blossomflame.


    "Why isn''t it working?" She shouted and slammed the stony ground. "I''m meeting the requirements, aren''t I? Then why haven''t any of these four seeds evolved?"


    The cultivator washed her face in the river to relax herself. She was getting too worked up by her failures. She wanted to believe that her theories were right, that she had finally found the truth behind the requirements of Evolution. But success was a cruel and fleeting mistress.


    "I¡­" Aloe sighed. "Unknow seed number five evolution test begins¡­ now," she added with a tired voice.


    But her eyes shot wide open as the seed started accepting her vitality. She was excited by the evolution, but a part of her hated how it was a normal evolution and she was unable to test her theories.


    The seed drained her vitality at a considerable rate, barely faster than the Blossomflame, but not as much as the Radiating Undergrowth.


    "Tch," Aloe tsked her tongue in disappointment. She wanted expensive ¨C but not overly so ¨C evolutions so she could train better as the Blossomflames were already falling a bit behind.


    She took a deep breath and recovered her cool. Soon her reserves were going to be depleted, so she consumed a vitality pill, instantly recovering her a little less than a mansworth. But as soon as her vitality recovered, the evolution drain stopped.


    "That''s a waste of a perfectly fine pill," she puffed. "Oh, well, it''s not like I''m running out of them or anything."


    Because nothing was stopping her from planting aloe veras or Cure Grass, and she had a lot of free time on her hands, her vitality pill stockpile was at an all-time high, standing around the three-digit mark. Unless she was dealing with expensive evolutions or tried to infuse the Radiating Undergrowth again, she would probably never get near clearing that pile. It certainly didn''t help that she just kept making new ones in order to perfect her craft.


    "That was around¡­ eight mansworth?" She pondered as she fixated on her inner flow of vitality. "Hmm, it may be better to evolve this plant instead of the Blossomflames now. And it isn''t like I need many more of them. Perhaps I could directly plant them instead of evolving cumin seeds now."


    As a cultivator, she had done many things with plants, but planting an evolved plant that she hadn''t personally evolved would be a first.


    "For now, let''s see what this plant is all about," Aloe walked back to the camp ¨C she developed a tendency to evolve plants outside of it just in case something happened ¨C and cut a veritas leaf. "Mm."


    Aloe harrumphed as she wasted the leaf when a drop of ink hit her skin in her haste, making her cut a new one. This new leaf thankfully didn''t start shifting its random scribbles until she placed the new seed, which was almost as black as the ink itself, on the bleeding cut. The ink of the parchment shifted to reveal new words.


    Species: Gossypium Levitas


    Sobriquet: Cottonpull


    Description: An evolved member of the Malvaceae family, a species known for its ability to produce antigravity fruits and big sacks.


    Alignment: Life, Space


    Many things about the description surprised her but Aloe couldn''t help but fixate on one in specific.


    "Oh, so it was a cotton plant seed?" Neither the root of the species name nor the family name rang any bells, but the sobriquet could only mean one thing. "How is it that I haven''t evolved a cotton plant seed before?"Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    Aloe scratched her seed, but her question somehow devolved as she thought about it.


    "Why did a herbalist sell me cotton seeds, though?" That was really intriguing. "I mean, a herbalist is not the same as an apothecary, but why one would be carrying cotton plant seeds anyway?" She thought about it for a moment but ended up groaning in frustration when no answers came to her. "Bah, this is not worth my brain power."


    More pressing matters were calling her.


    "That''s a new alignment, Space, huh?" She removed the Cottonpull seed from the Aloe Veritas cut before she could lose it. "I have no idea what the requirement of the Space alignment could be unless it is¡­ outdoors?" Aloe looked at her surroundings. "Yeah, I doubt it."


    She groaned at a loss. Once she thought she had an idea about alignments, suddenly one more appeared.


    "With this one, they now make nine. There must be more, right? I can''t stop finding them. But at the same time, that is the number of the hells¡­ What if¡­?" Only time would tell. "Enough with alignments, let''s focus on the plant."


    As always, Aloe reread the Aloe Veritas description in case she lost something of vital importance.


    "Only two characteristics in the description, I think I''ve never seen this few ever," she put a finger in her underlip. "No, the Myriad also had only two characteristics." Another description flashed in her mind. "Dunes, there''s another one with fewer characteristics. The Chlorotrophy had only one characteristic if I remember correctly. Huh."


    More than surprised about the characteristics, Aloe was bewildered at the sudden clarity of her memory.


    "This Cottonpull doesn''t look dangerous which is good, but what is this ''antigravity fruits'' that the veritas mentions? Like¡­ do the cotton balls not respect gravity? I need to grow it to understand this description. Also¡­ big sacks? I wish it''s something else rather than the things my rotten mind is making me think."


    Aloe shuddered at the disgusting images her mind was manufacturing, even if she didn''t put a name to them.


    "Overall, I can''t say I''m excited about this plant, but at least I will be able to evolve them now instead of Blossomflames to increase my reserves¡­ once I plant more cotton plants."


    The petite woman couldn''t hold the groan at the idea of having to make a new plantation from scratch. She was in no haste to start evolving the Cottonpulls just yet as she needed a bit more vitality before being capable of evolving them without external assistance.


    Instead of going directly for the Cottonpull''s infusion, Aloe proceeded to cook her lunch. Which was just a handful of roasted potatoes and overcooked mushrooms. Using up the entirety of her reserves had exhausted her, though not hurt her. She had mistreated her body so much that she would need more punishment to feel pain from a single evolution.


    The only thing that saved her food from being overwhelmingly oppressive was that she reinfused all the potatoes and mushrooms with better taste so at least she was eating quality food.


    "I''d like to have some oil and salt¡­" She hummed in thought. "I could try finding salt rocks, at least I know what those look like." That clay idea she previously had had gone nowhere because she didn''t know how clay looked in the wild, after all.


    Aloe noted it down on her ever-growing list of things she would inevitably forget. Nothing stopped her from actually writing it down on veritas parchment, just laziness.


    Truly the enemy of mankind.


    "Ah," Aloe groaned and stretched after finishing her food. At this point, doing so was routine. Her lack of movement kept making her extremities fall asleep. "Time for infusing the Cottonpull."


    Unlike the unheavenly aberration of the Radiating Undergrowth, the Cottonpull''s infusion didn''t require limitless vitality. Quite the opposite, in fact.


    "One mansworth," she heaved and toyed with the seed in her hand. "It can''t be bigger than a normal cotton plant then."


    She recalled seeing a cotton plant plantation once when she traveled with her family years ago across the farmlands, and whilst they were bigger than her ¨C her current self, not her child self ¨C they weren''t that voluminous. Way smaller than most trees as they were just tall shrub-like plants.


    "Is it me or I am finding a lot of things that require one mansworth as of late?" The values weren''t exactly one mansworth, but she was right in finding that number in many places. "Is it inten¡­ Nah, Aloe, this darkness is making you imagine wild things. First the nine hells and now this. You silly girl."


    The cultivator laughed her wild thoughts away and planted the Cottonpull on a new plantation area. There were many patches of soil upriver that were free, only taken by single Blossomflames that Aloe had left there as there were no more places for them and she wanted them scattered for emergencies.


    Her camp had significantly expanded in size as she continued to reclaim those limited patches of fertile ground along the riverbed.


    "Now for the normal ones." The rest of the day was dedicated to infusing the rest of the cotton plant seeds she had with shade acclimation and planting them.


    As expected, they needed half of the Cottonpull''s vitality. Actually, they took a bit less than that, so that told Aloe that the evolved version would be ever-so-slightly larger.


    She was fidgeting to start accelerating their growth, but because blood infusions would set her backward, she satisfied herself with putting a few mansworth worth ¨C she was regretting the chosen name more by the day ¨C of vitality into a cotton plant with her flowing stance''s default technique. The cotton shrub only sprouted with that meager use of vitality, but if she was ever in need of more cotton plant seeds, she had better ways to grow it faster.


    The day was over in a flash, tomorrow she would tackle the rest of her seeds and fungi.

 Book 4: 46. Heiress

    The walls of Asina lured the eyes of the beholder with their vibrant blue as always. Rani had made her go to the capital on a whim, and whilst she was an expert of the speed stance at this point, Naila didn''t have a potent enough Nurture to match the emir''s pace. Older sultanzade could make the round trip between Sadina and Asina in a single afternoon, Naila though, had needed a whole day for one way only.


    "Quite pathetic, really," Rani taunted behind her.


    "I¡­ only¡­ have¡­ so¡­ much¡­ vitality¡­" Naila explained between pants. She was already slow enough for her half-sister''s taste, so it was obvious that Rani hadn''t let her rest for the whole journey.


    "You could do better," the emir snickered as she continued walking toward Asina, her stance already switched off. "You need to reap more."


    "How do you intend me to do so?" The young sultanzade protested. "I''m seventeen! And I''ve been reaping to my limits these last months!"


    Rani shrugged without looking back at her. Naila preferred that either way, she wasn''t in the mood or had the strength to talk. She just took off her traveling glasses and donned the regeneration stance to recover her breath.


    They entered the city uninterrupted ¨C obviously ¨C and were met by the wide main avenue but, above all else, the golden dome resting atop the palace of Asina. As ostentatious and beautiful it was, Naila could only consider it an eyesore as large metal surfaces tended to blind passersby.


    The city of Asina was livelier than Sadina as the Emirate of Asina didn''t share borders with Loyata. And even if it did, food was plentiful here by the sole virtue of being the home of the Sultanah.


    "Rest until sunset, meet people or whatever, I''m going to pick you up at that moment," Rani told her when they arrived at the palace, and, without any further hesitation, she left her alone.


    Even if she had grown and spent most of her life in the palace, Naila felt no nostalgia whatsoever now that she was back. And she had been away for almost two years now, which was a lot of her life considering she wasn''t even eighteen.


    For starters, she directed herself to the baths. She wanted to clean herself but also relieve some stress. Unfortunately, there weren''t any servants she considered worthwhile. It seems today will mostly be reaping rather than pleasure. Naila picked up the first manservant she saw and threw him in the bath where she drained him dry. Sultanzade had a reputation to uphold, and a good female cultivator knew that the strength stance boosted downward musculature too.


    She would have to drink a contraceptive tonic afterward, but it felt good being filled once in a while. Rani didn''t seem to share the same thoughts as her, though. Naila had barely seen her lying with men since she became the imperial scribe. Which, to be fair, was a wise choice when she had a charm stance as powerful as hers. Considering how much she abused it, not even contraceptives could cancel out the fertility properties of the stance.


    That wasn''t a problem for Naila as she rarely used the stance, maybe to make a hard-to-get target succumb to her to bed them, but that was all. However, in most cases, she preferred to be forceful instead of using such underhanded tactics.


    One of the bath maid''s helped her bathing after she was done with that man, and she took pride in making him unable to walk straight out of the bathing pool.


    There was still some time for the sunset, but truth be told, Naila didn''t want to meet with anyone. Her half-siblings were odious at best, and she didn''t want to meet with her wet nurse, especially not after¡­


    Her resentment at Aaliyah-al-Ydaz reignited with that memory. It wasn''t enough to break all her fingers to convince her to lay with someone, the Sultanah also had to force her to reap her wet nurse, arguably the woman who had been her mother unlike her actual one.


    Naila went to the gardens as the nausea was overpowering her.


    She was actually thankful that she had been sent to Sadina only weeks after that. Her heart couldn''t take meeting her mother''s eyes after that. The woman who deserved to be called mother. She had acted as if she didn''t want to be in Sadina for a while when she first arrived at the emirate because she really didn''t want to be a scribe, but in hindsight, she was grateful for the opportunity to avoid her.


    And she continued doing so.


    For the first time in ages, Naila didn''t feel like training. Not only was she nauseous, but also exhausted from the journey. That didn''t stop her from seeing some sultanzade training.


    Cultivators were violent by nature, Nurture inscribed that in someone''s heart, but the sultanzade had the rage of their upbringing etched into them. Oh, how ferocious were the children of Aaliyah-al-Ydaz! Naila carefully observed as a duo of the older sultanzade practiced with the flowing stance. She hadn''t had much success with it so far, but it was just a question of time before she learned.


    For there was no one with more rage in their heart than hers.


    Aaliyah-al-Ydaz was right in her teachings; cruelty and harsh discipline were what people needed to grow. Naila could feel it in her bones if she hadn''t had such difficult lessons, she wouldn''t be nearly as capable as she was. That was exactly why she hated the Sultanah so much.


    Respect and hate weren''t mutually exclusive.


    As the sun came down, Naila sensed Rani appear behind her. Even if she hadn''t seen her, even if she hadn''t heard her, the woman had too much of a distinctive aura to be hidden. And besides, the effects of charm stance weren''t limited to sight alone.


    "Come on, it is time," the emir of Sadina spoke with a crestfallen tone.


    Her imperial scribe didn''t defy her orders, for now, her half-sister wasn''t her enemy, but another person sharing her blood.


    Expectedly, Rani guided her to the Sultanah''s office. Naila was forced to switch off her sense stance as the smell of incense and sex was too overwhelming for her. As always, it wasn''t hard to find a place to sit in the seat-infested room. Out of her mother''s many obsessions, her collection of unique seatings was the one that surprised her the most.


    "That was fast," Aaliyah-al-Ydaz lazily commented as lay on a sofa with a glass of wine in her hand.


    The three imperials ignored the yelping boy underneath the Sultanah. The little man was fighting for his life, trying his hardest to push himself inside his liege, much to Aaliyah-al-Ydaz''s amusement. It didn''t surprise Naila the least that the boy was barely older than her.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    "Whuh?" So heightened was his lust that the boy only now noticed the presence of princesses.


    Even then, the Sultanah didn''t let him go free until he liberated his seed. With his visage redder than a tomato and his body still naked, the boy fled the office as he fell more than once on his way out with his arms clutching his clothes.


    "I thought you did not want to sire more offspring," Rani commented after sitting on a throne.


    "A cultivator of my pedigree has ways to avoid pregnancy by their will alone," Aaliyah-al-Ydaz responded as if she could go against the laws of nature.


    "Aaliyah," Rani started, "are you sterile?"


    Naila coughed and her body jerked at the sudden question, almost asphyxiating herself in the process. She knew Rani had a special relationship with their mother, but not one so¡­ disrespectful. Naila could never.


    "You would like that, would you not?" The Sultanah teased her. "But no. I told you already how to manipulate one''s body, it is not that difficult to become infertile at will."


    That sounds¡­ useful. Naila thought to herself after recovering her composure. Even if the imperial tonics were useful to avoid unwanted pregnancies, they were ¨C in simple words ¨C yucky.


    "I see," Rani''s visage portrayed derision. "Anyhow, that is not why we are here, and you know it."


    "Enlighten me, daughter, if you know so much," the half-naked woman finished her glass of wine.


    "What games are you playing?" The emir of Sadina went for the throat.


    "As I have told you, enlighten me." The emir of Asina snickered at her.


    "Is this about the inheritance of Ydaz?" Rani''s amethyst eyes flared with life.


    "You would like to know, would you not?" Their mother countered.


    But Naila didn''t stand around with her arms crossed. One of those words was very wrong. "What is this inheritance you are talking about?"


    "Oh, dear Naila. I forgot you were here," Aaliyah-al-Ydaz responded in faux surprise.


    Liar. Naila denied her in her mind. You have noticed me from the very beginning. Someone as acute as the Heavenly Descendant just didn''t forget people were before her. She could choose to ignore them, but she would be very aware of them. And besides, there was a greater lie uttered by the woman. There was nothing ''dearly'' in her tone.


    Love was not a concept Aaliyah-al-Ydaz understood.


    "What was Rani-al-Sadina talking about?" She reiterated. It felt wrong to use her half-sister''s full name, but the formality of the dialect required it.


    "Nothing much, just how I designated you as the heiress to Ydaz." The Sultanah calmly explained as she inspected her fingernails.


    "You what?" The calmness wasn''t reciprocated by Naila. "You cannot do that!"


    "I am afraid I can, I am the ruler of these lands."


    "But-"


    "Are you trying to ''but'' me? You can do better if you are a daughter of mine," Aaliyah-al-Ydaz interjected her.


    "With due respect, my Sultanah," Naila restarted her response, "the Sultanate has a long tradition of its ruler achieving their position through strength. Designating an heir would cause strife and undermine centuries of tradition."


    "Tradition means jackshit," the Sultanah coarsely countered. "And once more, I am the ruler of these lands. If I say you are my heiress, you are." Her voice left no space for discussion.


    What are you? A man-child? As much as she wanted to utter those words, Naila held herself. But she couldn''t go without fighting.


    "Then I refuse the status and the title," the young sultanzade added.


    "I would still force you to be my heiress."


    "An heiress that performs none of her imperial duties is not useful to you. You would not make me an heiress as you hate inability."


    "And I would beat you senseless till you accepted. Those tactics have already proved effective against you."


    Naila physically recoiled at that last verbal exchange. The Sultanah had hit her where it hurt the most. But she refused to be intimidated so easily.


    Not anymore.


    "Then I would try to defeat you and become the Sultanah the legitimate way."


    Aaliyah-al-Ydaz smiled. She actually smiled. Not some sort of djnnish grin or sly curvature of the lips, but an actual nince-damned smile like a real person. The warm smile of a mother.


    The sight sent shivers down Naila''s spine.


    "You have some guts, I will give you that," the Ruler of the Qiraji raised her hands in defense. Even then, the action that at most would mark them equals in a verbal exchange could only be seen as a polite admission of defeat. Or more exactly, a consolation prize. "You are free to try at any point. I will not refuse your challenge regardless of the time or place."


    Naila knew her mother was speaking the truth. Aaliyah-al-Ydaz would give her the opportunity to kill her like she had done with her very mother before.


    "I will reserve the exploitation of those rights for now," Naila bowed down. "What I would like to know at this moment is why you even want me to be your heiress. Surely Rani is a better option for a ruler than me."


    "She is not," Aaliyah-al-Ydaz sternly answered, and Rani recoiled as she had been slapped. "And do not overthink it, the only reason for your selection is just because I please it. No more, no less."


    No matter how much she tried, how hard she pushed her sense stance, Naila couldn''t get a read on her mother. The woman was truly unflappable. She couldn''t tell if she was being truthful or not.


    "Will that be all?" As the Sultanah talked, she gathered her wild mane in a bun, leaving her previously covered breasts with her hair now on display.


    Naila''s breathing stopped at the sight. Even if she wasn''t wielding the charm stance and she was her mother, Aaliyah-al-Ydaz''s Nurture was too strong. It was impossible not to feel attracted to her heavenly body.


    That made her gag.


    "No," Rani taciturnly interjected. "We are not here for inheritance discussions, Aaliyah. And you know it."


    The monarch snickered and stood up, her breasts breasting boobily¡­ erhm¡­ bouncing powerfully with the movement. It infuriated Naila to no end that she couldn''t separate her eyes from them, that her progenitor''s beauty directly ate at her thoughts and poisoned her mind. Aaliyah-al-Ydaz walked toward her bed and draped a shawl over herself. Whilst it was translucent, it did a great job at covering the massive mounds.


    Enough to dispel the enchantment she had put on her.


    "I do know it, but I will not answer until you put it into words yourself, daughter." Even if the word wasn''t directed at Naila herself, she couldn''t help but feel aversion to the word daughter. It was impossible for her brain to connect with the idea that Aaliyah-al-Ydaz was their mother, even though she knew it well.


    "I can understand putting an end to the Pax Qiraji," Rani started. "I am surprised that it lasted this long, but what is completely beyond me is why would you give us the military command of this campaign."


    "Is it so hard to understand that I want my future heiress to gain some military prestige and accomplishments before she ascends to the throne?"


    Yes, Naila thought, and by the looks of it, so did Rani. There was more to it, they both knew it, but so they did know that the Sultanah wouldn''t answer that question.


    "Do we need to declare war immediately?" Rani instead focused on the how of the inevitable war instead of the why.


    "You do not," the Heavenly Descendant responded. "But the more time you take to declare this war, the more hurt the country will be. And the heiress would not like to reign over a singed land, would she?"


    Something over her choice of words felt wrong, but Naila couldn''t point out what exactly.


    "I see," the emir of Sadina bowed slightly. "I will ask for a year of preparation before the official declaration."


    "Sure, you do you," Aaliyah-al-Ydaz lazily supported her back on the wooden supports of the canopy of her bed. "Sadina has complete control over the military at the moment." Until I interfere, she left unsaid as it was obvious.


    "I will ask for the support of the other emirates to strengthen our border with Loyata and provide manual labor for the affected villages and cities."


    The response of the Sultanah was a simple gaze filled with condescension. "Such petitions must be made to the emirates themselves, not me."


    "Understood," Rani stood up and left the room, her expression an unmoving wall. No goodbyes were needed nor wanted.


    What is she planning? Naila couldn''t help but try to dissect the thoughts of her mother. Something was very wrong with her awkward plans and executions. The imperial scribe of Sadina felt as if she was missing a key detail. The greatest ruler Ydaz had seen couldn''t be willing to execute such foolish strategies.


    Being left alone in the office with Aaliyah-al-Ydaz filled her with unease. She preferred being trapped with nine Grandmaster Assassins before the Sultanah of Ydaz, and that was taking into account that the door to the office was wide open. Naila rushed outside, but she didn''t fail to notice how their mother wasn''t looking at her as she left but at Rani.

 Book 4: 47. Death

    Aloe woke up as if she never went to sleep. She couldn''t quite exactly put it into words, but even if she felt rested, her mind didn''t share the same rest. From her perspective, she had closed her eyes and opened them a moment later. This had already happened before with the recovery internal infusion, so as of late, she was leaving burning patches of Cure Grass to work as some sort of time tracker. If they were burnt when she opened her eyes, then she would have fallen asleep. And that was the problem.


    They were always burnt.


    The fires had long fizzled out whenever she woke up, meaning she had fallen asleep, but she never perceived it. It was an odious thing as her body was completely rested with a good night''s sleep, but her mind just continued to work as if it had been awake for days.


    "Can I get a tranquilizing plant or something?" She talked to the plant in her hands. It was the boring and useless brown mushroom she had collected days ago. "I''m getting the feeling that recovery isn''t as useful for sleeping as I originally thought. Can''t you just evolve into another fungi that helps me sleep?"


    She no longer had any seeds left to evolve, so it was time to tackle the last two fungi.


    "I mean, I could try sleeping without recovery, but that will only trade the exhaustion of my mind for the exhaustion of my body." There was no winning. "So, yeah. I''d prefer it if you become some sort of sedative. Can you?"


    Talking to unevolved plants was useless, she knew that much. But considering one of the requirements to evolve Information plants was to get them in touch with a book, then maybe talking to them would influence something?


    Aloe was at her wit''s end.


    The cultivator sighed and picked up some spores from the mushroom cap with her knife. With some difficulty, she slowly removed them with her vitality sense ¨C as it was impossible to see them otherwise ¨C until only one was left on the tip of the pocketknife. That lone spore was placed on her fingertip.


    "Mushroom whose name I no longer remember evolution test begins¡­ now."


    Failure.


    Her hopes had already hit rock bottom, but that didn¡¯t excuse her from wordlessly attempting to evolve the spore by putting it into contact with the booklet for the Information test.


    Failure. Again.


    "That much was to be expected," she groaned. "Well, time for the Death test. Will the dead matter finally bring results?"


    Aloe grabbed her dead cumin flower sample and put it on top of the invisible spore. She knew she had a spore and a dead flower on her hands because she could feel the infinitesimal vitality of the spore, but none from the burnt flower. Then, with an intent of Evolution, she pushed her vitality into the spore.


    Yet another failure.


    A half-groan half-sigh left her mouth as she scuttled over the Blossomflame for the Light and Chaos requirement test. She left that one for last in the case that the fire from the evolved flower burned the sample to ashes.


    Her paranoia was, unfortunately, unfounded as the spore refused to accept her vitality.


    "Nince-damned hells!" Aloe cursed. "Can''t I get just one damned evolution to test my theories?" Her opportunities were dwindling and limited.


    Unceremoniously, the petite woman threw herself to the ground in a childish fit of rage. She had switched unconsciously to toughness, so even as she slammed the rocky surface in her tantrum, she was unable to hurt herself.


    After five minutes, Aloe recomposed herself and washed her hands in the river to remove any contaminants and dust. It was time for her last attempt. Her last plant.


    "You are my last shot," she whispered to the patch of green-yellow lichen in her fingertips. "No more plants down here, no other seeds that I have bought. Come on, let''s end on a high note."


    But before doing so, Aloe had to make some preparations¡ªmental ones, at the very minimum.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    "You know," she continued talking to the lichen. "There''s a reason why I left you for last. Because I didn''t know how to deal with you. I''m far from an expert, but I know lichens are even weirder than fungi. You are a symbiont, a chimera of creatures. Fungi, algae, grass, plants in general¡­ Who knows what''s inside of you? And who knows how to evolve you?"


    That was what Aloe had feared.


    As she peered into her vitality sense, she could distinguish multiple pulses from the lichen. It was hard to describe it, but it was like distinguishing water and salt from seawater. The salt was dissolved and not visible, but you could tell it was a different element. Yet the two elements combined created a new one.


    Aloe tried focusing on the fungi part of the lichen, but it didn''t accept her vitality. And that was even without an Evolution intent, just an Infusion one. She repeated the same process on the plant side of the lichen, and she failed again.


    "It''s like you have forgotten you used to be two different beings." Aloe mused to herself deep in thought. "So perhaps¡­"


    Instead of tackling both separated aspects of the plant, she infused the whole in a wave of vitality rather than focusing on a single spore or seed as she had traditionally done.


    And it worked.


    "Good, good," she nodded to herself and stopped pushing vitality inside. That had been the Infusion test. It was time for the one she wanted. "Lichen evolution test begins¡­ now!"


    Her visage turned sour when the whole refused her vitality. Just in case she had failed in her attempt as pushing vitality into a collective was something she wasn''t experienced with, she tried again.


    Another failure.


    "Ehrm¡­" Aloe chuckled awkwardly to herself. "I still have the alignment tests!"


    Trembling, she picked up the booklet. The idea of being unable to evolve her last plant unsettled her. By all means, it shouldn''t. She had already evolved many plants and the living stones were still there, but she didn''t want it to end like this. It was too anticlimactic.


    "Lichen Information evolution test begins¡­ now!" The symbiont refused to accept her vitality. "I¡­ I must have failed to infuse the lichen as a whole. Lemme try again¡­"


    The result stayed the same.


    The book was the only successful of her evolution requirement tests, so Aloe''s panic was brought to an all-time high as she reached for the dead cumin flower sample.


    "If this fails¡­" She didn''t finish the sentence. She still had another requirement to test, nevertheless. "Lichen Death evolution test begins¡­ now!"


    Spreading her vitality over the collective, encircling both the lichen and the dead plant, Aloe pushed her intent into them.


    And it worked.


    "Oh, great heavens!" Her visage was twisted by a mixture of bewilderment and acknowledgment. "I knew I was onto something with the requirements!"


    This acceptance of vitality just revealed to her that the evolved version of the lichen would be of the alignment of Death. And more importantly, that her theories were right.


    That was really the only thing that mattered to her.


    Being right was a powerful motivator.


    "Also, dunes!" Aloe quickly snapped out of her stupor as the lichen drained her reserves at a fast pace.


    Having a good understanding of vitality, Aloe knew that she didn''t have enough vitality to evolve the lichen in those scarce seconds. But at the same time, she was too elated to give up the evolution, so she pressed forward.


    The vitality needed to evolve it would be greater than the Radiating Undergrowth which stood at an impressive ten mansworth, so she would need to pull every trick in her book to ease the evolution process.


    First, she slowed down the drainage rate to the best of her extent, which wasn''t much. Evolution, unlike Infusion, had a fixed drainage rate, but with her mastery over vitality, Aloe could cheat a bit. If only ever-so-slightly. Pathetically so, really.


    Next, she donned recovery. Evolutions were fast, but every grain of vitality she could restore was crucial. And besides, her regeneration stance was getting more powerful by the day. Not only because she was increasing her reserves, but also because she regenerated so much vitality by herself naturally.


    It couldn''t be stressed enough that stances were multipliers of base values.


    Finally, Aloe had many Cure Grass pellets at hand. She would need to limit their usage till the very depletion of her reserves as the more pills she took, the longer it would take them to be assimilated.


    Using the first two tricks, Aloe was able to slow the consumption of her vitality reserves ¨C her eight mansworth of capacity ¨C by a whole minute. It wasn''t much, she couldn''t restore a single mansworth in that time without assistance, but as soon as she dipped into the single digits of percentage of her reserves, she instantly recovered a whole mansworth with the first pellet.


    Subsequent vitality pills would be less effective at providing vitality over time, so pushing herself to the limits of her reserves was vital.


    Pun not intended.


    The second pill and the third one fell soon after, but Evolution was like a starving beast, and once it had some food, it was no longer ravishing its meal but instead ate more slowly. This was the only factor that allowed her Cure Grass pellets to fight against the drainage rate.


    As she got slower at absorbing vitality as her stomach got fuller, so did Evolution.


    But whatever formula followed both cases, it wasn''t the same. Evolution''s rate was always faster than Aloe''s, meaning that she soon hit the critical rate where she had to shove her mouth full of pills to match the consumption rate.


    It was a lot of vitality, and she was getting tired of only forcing the rate to slow down, let alone using up that vitality.


    But she did it.


    After consuming enough pills that she puked grass the instant the lichen stopped sapping at her vital energy, Aloe had achieved her much-desired evolution.

 Book 4: 48. Mycelium

    Aloe almost collapsed into a puddle of vomit from exhaustion. Instead, she was able to catch herself, and only soak her hands in vomit.


    "That''s a new record," the cultivator said between pants. "I kinda lost count of the pills I took, and I don''t know how many I had before starting, but I''d say that was around a twenty mansworth evolution cost. Nice."


    She was delighted with the result; this was what she was searching for: a middle ground to work as an anchor point for the inevitable living plant evolution.


    "Eight for the Cottonpull, ten for the Radiating Undergrowth, and now twenty for¡­ whatever this is." Truth be told, Aloe still hadn''t seen what the evolved lichen looked like as she was still donning recovery, and she had no intention of switching it off just yet as she was on the border of depletion.


    Sluggishly and blindly, Aloe walked to the Aloe Veritas. She knew the layout of her camp from memory, so she had no difficulties walking in complete darkness. Though for the cutting process, she first had to cut herself to have some light.


    Even if she only lost a single drop of blood from the cut as a bit of blood stuck to the knife, the motion made her dizzy. This was the first time she had spent this much vitality in one go and a simple wound like this one was magnified many times over. Even the Radiating Undergrowth infusion fiasco had been spread over several hours. Aloe simply took a deep breath and switched to acuity.


    With her vision recovered, she looked at the evolved lichen and it was¡­


    "Pink?" Aloe put her finger before her eyes and inspected the new lifeform. "Hmm, it has quite a vivid color and it''s very shiny. Also," she pinched the evolved lichen, "rather gooey."


    As it refused to separate from her body, Aloe cut a veritas leaf and then carefully dipped her finger on the wound so it only touched the pink plant.


    "Now, let''s see what you are." The parchment''s ink splotches shifted and assembled into readable text.


    Species: Torpor Mycelium


    Sobriquet: Slowtide


    Description: An evolved member of the Chrysotrichaceae family, a species known for its ability to slowly expand over any terrain and trap prey in its non-Newtonian surface with soporific properties.


    Alignment: Death, Space


    There were many things to highlight about this new evolution, but Aloe''s first reaction was¡­


    "Holy shit," she threw all decorum out the window. "Soporific properties? Were you listening to me before and evolved into something I wanted?" Aloe brought the pink fungi closer to her face and sniffed it. "Doesn''t smell soporific I can say that much¡­" She blinked a few times. "Why did I do that?"


    She had no answers to that question.


    "Anyhow¡­ I don''t understand what the description is talking about surfaces there. Complex words and terms, they sound scholarly, though." This was the first time Aloe failed to comprehend a veritas description due to a lack of knowledge. "The ''expand over any terrain'' part is also weird. It says expand, not grow, but it''s also lichen so¡­ what does this really mean?"


    Lichen grew on many surfaces, especially the one she had collected as it was a growth on a stone wall. But something struck her as odd in the description even if she couldn''t quite put her finger on it.


    "I''ve been jumping all over the place, but let''s go back to the start. The name is Torpor Mycelium, which indicates two things: it''s related to sleep in some way or shape, and it is a fungus." That struck her as odd as fungi weren''t quite exactly a lichen, or rather, the inverse. "And there''s also the sobriquet. Slowtide. Tide, ocean connotations. Could it grow into some kind of liquid? It''s gooey now, after all."The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    Not all names could be this closely inspected, but Aloe couldn''t help but find more and more contextual clues to the Slowtide''s name.


    "What about the ''slow'' part? Slow indicates movement, can you move?" The cultivator asked the gooey mycelium on her fingertip. It failed to respond. "I think this is just my paranoia talking," she sighed. "Finally, the alignments. I knew it would be Death because it has evolved after being in contact with dead matter, which, by the way¡­ Yay!"


    Aloe jumped on the spot in a cutesy manner after her theories and requirement materials proved to be correct.


    "I love being right," she giggled, then coughed on her first. "Even though it has the Death alignment, I''m not getting any instant heebie-jeebies so I can assume the mycelium isn''t¡­ bad. Also, the Space alignment. I saw it for the first time yesterday and now all of a sudden I have two evolved plants ¨C fungi, thingies, whatever ¨C with it. Not that it changes anything."


    After discovering the new alignment with the Cottonpull evolution, Aloe had no idea what Space''s requirement would be besides jokingly commenting on it being outdoors. Which she technically was, if one stretched the sense of the word a lot.


    "Let''s plant you," she told to the Slowtide. "You are kinda sticking to my fingertips a bit too much." Aloe tried to unlatch the evolved lichen from her. And failed. "Maybe a whole lot too much."


    The cultivator frowned and switched to potency. With the help of the internal infusion, she had no difficulties pulling away the Slowtide, but the fungi took a bit of her skin with its departure.


    "Nince-damned hells!" Whilst it wasn''t much skin, mostly dead tissue, it still hurt, nonetheless. The nearby Blossomflame seemed to agree with her as it lit itself and healed her with a handful of embers.


    Even if the healing fires had already restored her finger, Aloe still blew on her fingertip and licked it.


    "I shouldn''t have licked it," she realized a bit too late. Luckily, she didn''t instantly fall asleep in a manner worthy of comedic works. Or die. But she didn''t fear that outcome. "Maybe the soporific properties need more¡­ of an oomph to work."


    Aloe shrugged and planted the Slowtide on a stone wall, though ''stick'' would have been a more apt verb. Like the Radiating Undergrowth, she wanted to test the growth properties of this evolved being. And considering the Slowtide''s form was a lichen, it should have no issues whatsoever with growing on a vertical surface or outright rock.


    If not¡­ well, she could and would have to evolve more of them in the future. Even if the Slowtide had taken her a lot of vitality, it was still waaay less than whatever the living stones'' evolution was.


    "I need to check later if that vitality estimation of twenty mansworth was even accurate, I did take a lot of vitality pills, after all."


    She was still recovering vitality from all the Cure Grass pellets she had consumed as her stomach was lacking behind greatly, even though it was practically empty with all the puking she had done.


    "Oh right, I still haven''t washed my hands, nor the puke stain." Her excuse was that she was excited her last plant was a hit. She couldn''t even be disgusted at having her hand covered in vomit, she had done way worse, namely every time she wanted to do her business.


    Before going to eat, Aloe cleaned herself ¨C full body now that she was already washing herself ¨C and that puke pool. She used one of her more mistreated rags for the task. Slowly but surely, she was running out of ''fine'' textiles, all of them becoming just rags.


    Once she had her meal of mushrooms and tubers, Aloe went back to the evolved lichen at the wall and proceeded to infuse it. And infuse it. And infuse it.


    "Am I being the victim of some sort of cosmic prank?" Aloe asked the heavens, and they refused to answer back. "How is it that in a question of days, not only do I find an evolution that takes unheavenly amounts of vitality to be infused, but also a second one?"


    Indeed, much like the Radiating Undergrowth, even after pouring two whole reserves of vitality ¨C she slowed the infusion rate and restored it with recovery over a long period ¨C the Slowtide was nowhere near to being infused.


    All the vitality she had poured into it was just a grain in the desert.


    "How big are these plants?" She shouted, her voice coming back to her in a very distorted echo. As it would appear, the only answer she was going to get was her voice. "Maybe I was right in thinking that my theory on ''size equals vitality cost'' with infusions was wrong. It makes no sense that out of nowhere I find two evolved beings that have virtually infinite size."


    She had in mind that perhaps she didn''t have enough vitality to infuse these beings as they were too big for her at the moment. But that was too difficult to accept. It had to be her theories that were incorrect rather than her being too weak!


    "This really put a dent into a girl''s morale, huh¡­" Aloe half-sighed half-groaned. "Well, I should now have enough vitality to evolve Cottonpulls without external assistance after this, so that should be my next target. But first, I will need to grow more cotton plants."


    Spending her blood on infusions wasn''t an option as she barely had the eight-ish mansworth to evolve the Cottonpulls, so between today and tomorrow, her duty would be that of boosting the growth of the planted cotton plants with her Forced Growth flowing stance technique. If she evolved enough cotton plant seeds, then she could switch to evolving death caps. And if she evolved enough death caps, then it was time for the Slowtide.


    And if she went over that point, and even managed to get her vitality reserves to match that of future living stones'' evolution¡­ then perchance it would already be time for the next step.

 Book 4: 49. Accelerate

    With all her plants, fungi, lichens, and whatnot; Aloe had finally evolved all the living beings in her possession that could be evolved currently. Well, maybe except for herself, but Evolution could only affect non-developed, non-grown living beings.


    Her main chore for the day was growing the cotton plants she had sowed so she could evolve more Cottonpulls in the following days. Blossomflames still worked just fine, but if she wanted to grow her reserves faster and without pushing herself through multiple daily evolutions, she needed to up her game with more expensive evolutions.


    For today, she poured twenty mansworth into the most grown cotton plant and also evolved a cumin seed. After that, she was so exhausted that she couldn''t move her body without heavily panting.


    At least cooking didn''t require sweat and tears, just blood.


    The next day was a bit more of the same, except she was able to evolve two more cumin seeds as she hadn''t been decimated by evolving a twenty mansworth lichen.


    As always, she planted all the Blossomflames she had been evolving, and by this point, the numbers were getting ridiculous. If she controlled her words and wounds, she should be able to keep the fires up indefinitely.


    She brought her potted Blossomflame to the crevice alongside her litter a while ago, but she had yet to find a way to keep a Blossomflame going all night long. She couldn''t talk to them or keep her wounds open whilst sleeping, after all. The best plan of action was still transplanting several of them so the passive heat emitted by the evolved flowers was enough to keep her warm and cozy.


    "Can''t waste vitality on something this trivial," Aloe muttered to herself. "I''m teetering the boundary to evolve Cottonpulls without assistance, I can''t waste it."


    The next ''day'' ¨C she was getting the feeling with each passing sleep cycle that she wasn''t even close with her guesses ¨C wasn''t enough to have the cotton plant grown just yet. Forced Growth was just that inefficient. The difference between her default flowing stance technique and the blood infusions was day and night, but at the same time, one was free, and the other one had a steep cost.


    She had yet to put it into numbers, but a single blood infusion had a cost of several Blossomflames'' worth of vitality gain. A couple of her days at best, a full week at worst.


    That was why she was so reticent about using them.


    Blood infusions were undoubtedly powerful, but also a major setback. Perhaps once she was dealing with more costly evolutions like the Radiating Undergrowth or ¨C even better ¨C the Slowtide, then she could afford to perform blood infusions in a trivial manner.


    Those days were still far away, though.


    In the end, it took her a couple of days more to have a fully grown cotton plant. Fortunately, cotton was a plant she knew well as some nobles liked to grow them for their gardens and greenhouses ¨C beyond the obvious textile applications ¨C so she knew that the seeds were to be found inside the fluff of the cotton balls.


    Instead of just gathering the seeds, Aloe also harvested the cotton. Not that she had a place to store it.


    "Hmm, I can''t process the cotton for textiles, but it is fluffy. Maybe I could use it to make pillows and add a bit of a cushion to my sleeping bag." All her education leaned towards economics and diplomacy, subjects which were useless when what she needed more now was artisanal wisdom.


    The single cotton plant she grew didn''t produce much cotton, mostly because it had only matured, not flourished. Aloe expected to have much more cotton in the future, but for now, enough to make a small pillow was sufficient.


    "Alrighty," Aloe dusted her hands after placing all the cotton on her backpack. "Time to evolve a cotton seed."


    She had her vitality pills at hand''s reach, but she fully expected to have enough vitality by now to evolve them without assistance as the growth of the cotton plant had taken way longer than she had expected. Enough for her to draw the plant in its multiple growth stages.The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    As it was a requirement-less plant ¨C placeholder terminology ¨C Aloe infused it straight away, providing her vitality without the need for catalysts. Obviously, the cotton plant seed eagerly accepted her vitality and intent.


    "Oh, catalysts," she mused. "I like that name for the alignment requirement items and conditions."


    The drainage was faster than the Blossomflames'', but she had had worse. When she was done with it a couple of minutes later, she was panting from the evolution process. Even if it was way cheaper than the Slowtide, she had expended her entire reserves in that single go.


    "No pain, only exhaustion. That''s good," she told herself.


    Vitality spending played a role in her exhaustion, but the major actor was without a shadow of a doubt the number of infusions-slash-evolutions she performed. Perhaps trivial amounts didn''t influence like with the Cure Grass, but anything beyond or close to a mansworth could already strain her if she did it repeatedly.


    "Gotta check in the afternoon if repeated Cottonpull evolutions mess me up." Aloe groaned as she stood up and went to plant the newly evolved seed.


    Over these last days, all her newly evolved plants had grown, but as she was frugal with her blood infusions and most of her evolutions couldn''t be infused with accelerated growth, their growth had been tame so far. The Cottonpull wasn''t a fungus and the Radiant Undergrowth and Slowtide were uninfusable which meant they were growing at half the speed ¨C or rather, their normal speed ¨C though the growth rate of the latter had surprised her.


    The evolution that had progressed the most was the Dream Spore which was slowly getting to the ''cap state'' as she liked to call it. By that, she meant that the mycelium of the fungi had finally grown and soon the mushroom ¨C the visible fruit of the fungus ¨C would start to grow. For now, it was just a sprout. Or whatever the fungi equivalent of it was.


    "Why are mushrooms this weird?" Aloe asked herself the same question that all botanic scholars did.


    Going back to the Slowtide, the lichen seemed to grow faster than her other patches. Though that was a bit of an exaggeration as in all these days, the Slowtide had grown from a pinky fingernail to a thumb in area.


    "I guess it makes sense for an evolution whose description talks about expanding," Aloe mused as she caressed the gooey growth. "Maybe I can''t infuse it because it has no limit to its size?"


    That was her favorite theory on why the Slowtide seemed to accept limitless vitality without being infused. The problem with that theory was that the Radiating Undergrowth should also have infinite size by proxy.


    Which was, statistically speaking, unlikely.


    She smelled her finger and even licked it, but she still was unable to witness any of the Slowtide''s soporific properties. After that, she washed her hands and proceeded to cook her meal for the day. She had never enjoyed eating, but her enthusiasm was at an all-time low after eating the same food for weeks without end.


    There was a limit to how many ways potatoes and mushrooms could be cooked, especially when her only ingredients were potatoes, mushrooms, and water. Not even salt.


    Aloe was surprised at her own resilience. It bewildered her as she wasn''t even wielding toughness all the time, but acuity, which should be the stance that would allow her to push through any mistreatment. By all accounts, she didn''t think a person could just survive on potatoes, mushrooms, water, and air, but she was doing just fine. Maybe she would like to add sunlight to her diet, but beggars can''t be choosers.


    After eating and drawing for a bit, Aloe evolved the next Cottonpull. She was panting heavily by the end of it, but still no pain.


    "Okay, this is a massive upgrade," she added after recovering her breath. "Two Cottonpulls are around four Blossomflames, and I normally evolve three per day, and the exhaustion will only get better the more vitality I have. I''m making big numbers!"


    She refused to compare them to that of the sultanzade, especially the sultanah, otherwise, she would become instantly depressed.


    "How much vitality am I gaining per evolution, though?" Such was a tough question that she hadn''t even managed to answer with the Flourishing Springs or the Blossomflames as the amount increased per evolution was infinitesimal. "I need to keep track of evolutions starting now. I''ve got two Cottonpulls evolved, and I''ve started somewhat past the eight mansworth mark. If I continue counting the evolutions, then once I have evolved one hundred Cottonpulls, I''ll have a good estimate of how much a single one provides. Simple and clean arithmetic!"


    That was without considering potential losses in the form of blood infusions if not other sources.


    "For now, I''m still ahead of the curve," Aloe reassured herself. "Sultanzade can only gain around three-fifths of a mansworth per month, and I''ve obtained a whole one this last month even when accounting for blood infusions. With Cottonpulls, my growth should only accelerate."


    There were many things to be done in her little enclave, but Aloe decided to cut today short. The Cottonpulls had left her truly exhausted even if she wasn''t writhing in pain. Sixteen mansworth was nothing to scoff at, even if she had done much worse. For the first time in a while, Aloe went to sleep with a smile on her face, knowing that her progress would inevitably accelerate, and her vital arts along with it.

 Book 4: 50. Training

    It was tiresome to harvest her potatoes and mushrooms and then replant them, but that was what a woman had to do to eat. Even then, what was more tiresome was to re-infuse all the food from their respective internal infusions to better taste. Now, Aloe had gotten wise and re-infused all the liberty caps she had to better taste already as she had fields of them, and they didn''t require the shade acclimation infusion.


    That penultimate statement may be an exaggeration, but she had planted so many of them and they already grew fast enough that even if she doubled her food intake, she wouldn''t run out of them. So making better taste their default infusion was the right choice.


    Nothing would save her from re-infusing the potatoes before each meal, though.


    The next day was way easier on her body as she slowly adapted to evolving Cottonpulls.


    "I know each plant ¨C every living being actually ¨C has their own flow of vitality, but as I''m getting the hang of the cotton''s flow, it''s becoming easier and less taxing to evolve them. I wonder if this phenomenon could be exploited?"


    Short answer, no. She had evolved so many Cure Grasses, Flourishing Springs, and Blossomflames that she had lost count and, even then, she couldn''t evolve them in a repeated and abusive manner without facing consequences.


    It would take her at least a week to run out of cotton plant seeds at this rate, time which the other cotton plants would use to grow and the grown one to germinate. In other words, she didn''t need to worry about her supplies.


    But the crops she wanted to be grown weren''t the cotton plants ¨C in a few weeks she would have too many to even store ¨C but the evolved ones. The first one to achieve a mature state was looking to be the Dream Spores, which Aloe¡­ wasn''t the most enthusiastic about. But a new lifeform was a new lifeform.


    If it didn''t finish growing in the coming days, impatience would get the best of her, and she would force the Dream Spore to grow. That was the most likely outcome.


    "Huh, that almost sounds like a threat. I''m gonna force you to grow!" She chuckled to herself. "I mean, I can force people to grow, that much is true. Kinda."


    To kill time meanwhile, Aloe decided to train. She could feel herself withering away, that much wasn''t new, but it wasn''t only mentally, but physically as well. And what was the best way to fight her decay but boost her default strength?


    Fatima and Naila had taught her how to train the strength stance, but she didn''t have at her disposal the same tools she had at the palace of Sadina. Dumbbells were her preferred choice, especially when she was still wheelchair-bound, but now she would need to perform more overall body-intensive exercises.


    "Ugh!" Aloe groaned as she tried a push-up.


    A single one.


    "Okay," she sat down after completing the single push-up. "I may or may not be slightly out of shape. I mean, I could do them easily with potency, but that undermines the whole point of building up strength. Though now that I think about it¡­ recovery should be fine, should it not?"


    Aloe donned the regeneration stance and took a deep breath. She felt her inhalation explode in oxygen content.


    "Alright, gimme two!" She cheered and coached herself as there was no one around to do so. "Ooone," she said with some difficulties, "aaand two."


    She then collapsed on the ground.


    "I didn''t account for the fact that recovery weakens me physically. That is quite the important factor." She took a gulp out of her waterskin. "I mean, there are advantages in being physically weaker to train my strength and muscles, but perhaps the best choice will be to go uninfused and only activate recovery to rest."


    So she did that. With some difficulties. Aloe tried to do a ten-push-up repetition, and whilst she managed to do so, it took her embarrassingly long to finish. By the time she finished with the tenth one, her arms had become wet noodles.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    "Oh, I''m out out of shape." Aloe collapsed on her belly and rolled on her back. The cold touch of stone was rather appealing after such intensive exercise. "It seems I will need to add training on to my daily duties¡­" She sighed. "At least this will have a reward in the long run."


    Truth be told, even with her lacking diet and lack of movement, Aloe was in a far better state ¨C physically speaking ¨C than when she was still in a wheelchair. Or so she liked to believe. At least now she was moving her body, as little as she did, so there was no chance for her muscles to atrophy again.


    After another grueling repetition, Aloe rested as lunchtime was nearing. No better activity to rest than cutting one''s wrists and lighting fires. Even though she was eating a lot of food thanks to her constant use of vitality, she felt even more peckish after exercising, so she went for a double cooking session and made herself a handful of potatoes and a whole bowl of mushrooms.


    Instead of going straight for more exercise, she decided to evolve the second Cottonpull of the day. It was exhausting, but like when one was exhausted by a day at the office, the exhaustion from using vitality and doing exercise wasn''t quite the same.


    "It''s like using different muscles," she murmured after planting the newly evolved cotton plant seed. "In the office, you use your brain; during exercise, you use your body; and whilst using vitality¡­ something else. Yeah¡­ this wasn''t quite the analogy I had thought, it sounded better in my mind."


    As her arms were still sore from the push-ups, Aloe opted for doing some sit-ups. Those were even more grueling as she didn''t have much elasticity or strength in her back, so after only five of them, she was utterly devastated.


    "Okay, no more sit-ups for a while¡­" She panted even after having donned recovery. "How about squats?"


    Squats proved to be far easier for her as her legs still remembered her grueling escape across the Qiraji and beyond, so at least she had some muscle mass left even after these last months.


    "Is it normal that I feel more energetic after moving this much?" She told herself with a hint of worry. Grand escape notwithstanding, Aloe hadn''t exerted herself much like¡­ ever.


    Not in this way at least.


    Most activities had left her panting, but not struggling and numb.


    For the rest of the day, Aloe spent it thinking of different training exercises that Naila had taught her, though most were in a sitting position as Aloe wasn''t in a position to do anything else back then.


    "Oh, I totally forgot about stance training," she snapped her fingers in realization. "I could be training acuity and haste even with minimal movement. And considering my vitality reserves are more than twice as massive as when I stopped training¡­ I should probably do that."


    She could already imagine herself being unable to use the haste internal infusion because a single step would trip her. At least her toughness activation was so fast and second nature that she doubted the speed stance would ever kill her.


    "I''ve got no cups, so¡­ juggling it is?"


    One of the many speed stance training exercises Naila had taught Aloe that didn''t require footwork was juggling. Considering the stance accelerated every slight movement, an already hard task like juggling could become nearly impossible.


    On her first attempt at juggling, Aloe almost killed herself. That was a bit of an exaggeration, at most she would have just lost an eye ¨C which she could probably recover with the Blossomflames ¨C as she threw a pebble directly at her head as she miscalculated the speed.


    "Oh¡­" She turned acuity on and noticed how the pebbles had cracked in two and left a dent in the wall. "Dunes, haste can turn things like slings utterly terrifying."


    Not that they weren''t already, she had seen people dent iron helmets with them. Aloe could easily recall soldiers training with them in the barracks of Sadina when Ja¡­


    "Don''t think about it, don''t think about it." Aloe grabbed her head and repeated that mantra to keep a certain name from surfacing. "Deep breaths, deep breaths¡­"


    Even if she was wielding the sense stance, the darkness felt more oppressive than ever.


    Aloe switched her infusion for potency and cut her arm. Her slash was so visceral that she carried away chunks of flesh with the edge of the knife.


    She couldn''t care less.


    "Burn bright!" The cultivator commanded and the three nearest Blossomflames were set ablaze.


    The conflagration was powerful, but greater was her distress and control. Living flames swirled around her and her arms, covering her in a maelstrom of healing and warmth. Aloe hugged herself as the triumvirate of evolved flowers dissipated the darkness.


    For better or worse, she was alone down here. It was silent, it was damp, and it was cold, but she also had the power to make it lively, dry, and warm. It wasn''t only her body and her vital arts that she had to train, but also her heart and mind. She would defeat no one with a broken self. She needed to be stronger in all aspects. She promised herself that.


    What hope could she have at defeating someone else if she couldn''t defeat her inner djinns first?


    "Burn!" She shouted again even though her body was now devoid of wounds. That didn''t matter, for she commanded the Blossomflames, and they would obey. "No darkness will defeat me! Do you hear that?"


    She shouted to the heavens.


    They didn''t answer back.

 Book 4: 51. Sunlight

    Sunlight warmed her skin. The lovely touch of the sun''s embrace made her drowsy. There was no better feeling than lying on a soft surface whilst at the mercy of the life-giving heavens. She knew she had to wake up, but it was so comfortable¡­


    "Wake up, silly goose." A charming voice caressed her ears, but she chose to ignore it. "I see¡­ so that is how you want to play?" Then she was softly booped on the nose.


    What made Aloe open her eyelids wasn''t the soft touch, but the giggles that ensued.


    "Finally. You took your time." The enticing female voice told her, though she couldn''t still see her as the sun blinded her after having her eyes closed for so much time.


    "Whuh?" Aloe mumbled and tried to continue talking, but something pressed against her lips.


    Someone else''s.


    The kiss didn''t end there as the intruder forced her tongue into Aloe''s mouth, and as much as she wanted to push her again, she found herself accepting the tongue and meeting it with her own. The invading mouth was sweet as if it had just eaten a dozen desserts and also an expert with its movements.


    As soon as she was running out of air, the assaulter removed herself.


    She separated her lips slowly from hers, and a silvery bridge formed between the two sets, though it inevitably snapped and collapsed on Aloe. She couldn''t help but feel excited at the touch of intertwined saliva on her cheeks.


    Finally, her eyes acclimated to the sun and she was able to see the perpetrator.


    "You slept for a long time." Rani caressed her clean cheek with the back of her hand and wiped the wet one with the other with a finger, which she proceeded to lick clean. "You are a bold one to leave me waiting."


    "Huh?" Aloe jolted into wakefulness and pushed herself away from Rani, almost falling from the sofa she was resting on in the process. "Why are you here?" Then she looked around her. "Where am I?"


    "You truly are still asleep," the amethyst-eyed sultanzade giggled. "We are in our palace, where if not?"


    "Our palace?" Aloe frowned, still backpedaling in her prone position. But try as she might, she wasn''t able to unlatch herself from the gemstone eyes of the woman.


    Beautiful as always.


    "Yes, our palace~" Rani pranced forward, placing herself on top of Aloe. Her breasts swayed deliciously with the motion and her perfectly curved thighs locked her in place. "Where else, my love?"


    "My¡­ love?" A powerful nausea assaulted the petite woman.


    "You surely are absentminded today." The bronze-skinned woman caressed her cheek again. "Maybe this will help you awaken your brain¡­"


    Rani grabbed Aloe''s hand and placed her under her purple top. The sultanzade''s breasts were perfect as always. Not too big, not too soft. Just perfect in every possible category.


    "What are you doi-" Aloe tried to protest, but suddenly found out where Rani''s other hand had gone. "Ah~" The petite woman moaned as the beautiful princess caressed her folds.


    "Do you remember now, my love?" Rani''s words were melting her mind, and her caresses were melting her body.


    "Y-yes," Aloe responded with difficulty as she held her moans. "I remember, my lo¡­ my lo-lo¡­"


    She felt her mind split into two and bile gather in her throat.


    "No!" She shrieked. "I won''t fall to your charms again!"


    Rani smiled at her, and the sun turned black.


    <hr>


    Sunlight woke her up. Aloe shook around against the blankets until the light finally became too oppressive to remain in the world of dreams.


    "Eh?" She mumbled as she noticed where she was. "The shack?"


    The petite woman stood up from the bed, but she was still very drowsy and when she did so, she met with the ground as she fell. Her reflexes were good, but her body wasn''t. She managed to wield toughness in time, but she blocked the fall with the side of her face.


    "Ugh¡­" The stance numbed her from the damage, and she simply stood up as she groaned. "Why am I here?" She caressed her head as she walked to the main room of her shack.


    Everything was as always. There were parchments and ink on top of the desk, scattered Aloe Veritas leaves on the ground, and many amphoras filled with water on the corner. But one thing was different, and that was the pot slowly cooking over the hearth.


    Aloe walked toward it and sniffed the brewing cream-colored concoction. "Stew? But who has made it?"


    It smelled too good to be hers.


    Seeking more sunlight, the cultivator opened the door out of the shack, and the sight surprised her. The oasis and the desert stood eternal, but a silhouette waited on the horizon.


    "You certainly took your time to wake up today, heh." The person said.


    Even if the person was backlit, she instantly recognized the voice.Stolen story; please report.


    "K-Karaim?" Aloe expressed with copious amount of doubt.


    "Karaim?" The old man chuckled. "Would it kill you to call me ''grandpa'' for once?"


    "How are you here?" She ignored him.


    "How am I in my own house?" Karaim blew and closed on her. "Wake up, kid, we gotta keep trying to find new plants today too before they come for this week''s goods."


    "Who is ''they''?"


    "Umar and company, of course. Wake up," he slapped her on the back of her head. "You wouldn''t like to keep the assassins waiting, would you?"


    "N-no. Not at all." Aloe caressed where the old man had hit her. "But shouldn''t you be¡­ gone?"


    "Gone? I''m too youthful to die!" Karaim put his hands on his hips and let out the loudest cackle ever. "We stand eternal. We are perennial."


    "Perennial?" The word sounded all too familiar in such a context.


    "Yup. Though you better wake up before she gets here."


    "She? Who?"


    Before the old man could answer, the sun turned black.


    <hr>


    Sunlight caressed her body. Every single corner of it. Aloe woke up to find herself naked lying on a white silk.


    "Ah!" She yelped and covered her body even if there was no one around. Nothing around. "W-where am I?"


    She could only see three things: the sun, the light-blue heavens, and the endless dunes of the desert. No matter where she looked, she couldn''t find anything else. Not wanting to die in the desert, she stood up and tied the white silk around her torso. It was then that she noticed how hot was the sand under her feet.


    "Ow¡­" She moaned as she switched to toughness. "What am I going to do now?"


    There was only one answer to that question: walking.


    Aloe could smell as the hot sand burned her soles like hot coals as she walked. Burnt meat. A smell so powerful that even through toughness she could appreciate it. But she was unable to feel pain.


    So she continued walking.


    For minutes. For hours. For days¡­


    "No, it can''t have been days," she muttered with a dry mouth. "The sun has yet to set¡­ actually, has it moved?"


    It hadn''t.


    "What is happening?" Aloe shouted to the heavens.


    Answer they did not.


    But change was made.


    Over the horizon, Aloe saw some greenery.


    "An oasis?" She jolted into wakefulness. Into life.


    The cultivator started rushing to the greenery and the vibrant colors became bigger and bigger as she ran.


    "Something is wrong. It''s approaching too fast," she stopped dead in her tracks. "How''s still approaching if I''m standing still?"


    She hadn''t been moving towards it, the greenery had been the one approaching.


    Impending doom filled her heart.


    Total desolation.


    You better wake up before she gets up. Karaim''s words resonated in her mind.


    "She''s approaching!" Aloe let out a blood-curdling scream and started running in the opposite direction, but her legs failed her as soon as she did so, and she collapsed on the burning sand. "No!" She wailed like a tormented soul.


    But as she started crawling, the sand under her became lush grass.


    It was too late.


    She was here.


    "Where are you running?" The voice was too captivating and alluring. Aloe couldn''t help herself but turn over and look at its source. A mountain claded in muscles, a natural disaster wearing bronze skin, a monster bolstering amethyst eyes peered directly into her soul. "Was it once not enough?"


    "No! Get away from me!" Aloe thrashed her arms around as she pushed her butt backward, but when she did so, she felt unbearable pain. She looked down to find her legs twisted in unnatural angles and blood oozing freely underneath her cloth. "Ah¡­"


    No words left her lips anymore, only weakened whimpers.


    "You will never escape me," Aaliyah announced as she grabbed Aloe''s forearms and pushed her into the ground.


    Not again. Not again! NOT AGAIN! The petite woman thrashed and howled both in mind and body. As she opened her eyes to watch her inevitable suffering, her eyes met the darkened heavens.


    The sun had turned black.


    <hr>


    Sunlight was¡­ pale and dim. Reality seemed¡­ off. Aloe¡­ cried.


    The petite girl was hugging her legs in a fetal position, trying to fight against herself but losing regardless of how hard she tried. Only whimpers escaped her mouth.


    Did anything matter anymore?


    Then a sound.


    It was a curious harmony of perfect rhythm. It was a sound that no ordinary instrument or living being could produce. It had a metallic undertone, and even if it wasn''t getting louder, it certainly felt like it.


    Unable to focus on her suffering any longer, Aloe raised her head.


    The world no longer looked natural. The colors were desaturated, as if everything had turned grey, except the fading horizon had a slight cyan tinge alongside the edge of every object and surface. She was in a city during the day, but there weren''t people walking around the street.


    Something was walking, but definitely not people.


    Silhouettes made out of fog, forming and vanishing every other moment. It was like a painting that was even erased and redrawn every so often. Weirdly enough, even if the inhabitants of the city were ethereal, the buildings around had impossible detail. They felt even more real than reality itself, they were as if an artist had spent their whole lifetime drawing a single wall, their every crevice and nook.


    And that was repeated for every other object.


    The world seemed as if millions of artists had spent all their strength ¨C their last breath ¨C until they finished the utmost definition of every detail. Each work wasn''t the work of a single draftsman, but countless of them.


    Aloe stood up, and that was when she saw another person. Or what it looked like it.


    "What are you doing here?" They asked with a masculine and ragged voice.


    "Where is ''here''?" Aloe asked back.


    "We are in the¡­ world of ideas. Where the thoughts and dreams lay." The man answered, and with each word, he became more and more defined. "But you shouldn''t be here, Aloe Ayad."


    "How do you know me?" The cultivator jolted into wakefulness at the mention of her name and switched to toughness, yet her body refused to obey.


    She looked down and realized the problem.


    She had no body.


    Much like the fog beings walking around, she was ephemeral. Unsubstantial.


    "What''s happening to me?" She cried in distress.


    "I already told you; we are in the world of thoughts. And you are¡­ well, your own mind. Your cognition, if you will."


    "That makes¡­" sense. She kept the word to herself. It didn''t really make any sense, but she could somehow understand it. "Answer my other question."


    The old man chuckled. "Hustle your memory a bit."


    He spoke enough words now that his visage finally stopped being ephemeral and became a well-defined portrait.


    "Umar?" Aloe responded.


    "Yes and no," she frowned at his noncommittal answer. "I am Umar''s¡­ cognitive imprint. He''s long gone, and I''ll be too myself not long from now. Maybe another year if I manage to fight cognitive decay."


    "What''s happening?" She asked to the¡­ spirit of the deceased assassin.


    "You should tell me that," the ghost shrugged. "I am the lasting remnant of a powerful mind, and you are¡­ quite the pathetic girl."


    "Hey!" Aloe protested and stomped on the floor. The impossibly detailed road refused to acknowledge her existence.


    "You don''t look nor feel like an imprint, you feel¡­ alive," Umar''s apparition mused.


    "I am alive!" The cultivator protested. "I was¡­ dunes¡­"


    "It seems you have your answer, whatever it is. See you never again, I guess."


    "Wait!" She stopped the vanishing man. "You need to explain to me a lot of things. Too many in fact."


    "I can''t waste my limited computational power answering your questions. The world of thoughts has been quite the enlightening experience, pun intended," he chuckled, "but I need all the strength I can muster if I still want to reach Apotheosis, even if I''m dead."


    "Apotheosis? What are you talking about?" Aloe stepped toward him.


    "Too late," Umar announced. "Wake up."


    And the world turned black.

 Book 4: 52. Hallucinations

    Darkness was all she saw. All-consuming. Ever-present. An eternal mantle of coldness and hostile penumbra. In that absolute void, Aloe cried. She gagged for air and writhed on the cold stone floor.


    This was reality.


    Her awful and cold reality.


    But it beat half of those sunlight apparitions.


    "Ah," she groaned and without thinking it twice she donned potency and snapped her pinkie like a twig.


    The Blossomflames instantly responded to her mistress'' wounds and vanished the darkness with their warm fires. She felt the pain of the broken bone and the itching of the healing, but Aloe couldn''t be bothered to change her internal infusion to toughness, instead, she chose acuity.


    Pain was a human sense like any other, but she was so numb, so cold that she couldn''t feel it. Or at least, other feelings overwhelmed it, drowning it and silencing it.


    Fear still reverberated in her bones.


    The Blossomflames may be able to heal wounds, but scars never heal. They stayed for eternity forevermore.


    Her eyes acclimated to the light of the fires, and with a noncommittal hum, Aloe was able to keep the Blossomflames burning for a bit more even if she was already healed.


    "You¡­" She moaned in protest at the being in front of her. A creature the size of a human head with sickly pustules reminiscent of the buboes of a plague bearer. "I should burn you alive."


    The being she was talking to was none other than Dream Spore. A violet-blueish mushroom with orange pustules that glinted once exposed to light.


    Everything she had experienced was nothing more than the fabrications of the evolved mushroom.


    "You little nasty bitch," Aloe was too infuriated to keep her composure. "Come on try to give me an excuse."


    The Dream Spore responded by exploding one of its pustules.


    Having experienced this before, the scarce moments before she fell asleep, Aloe knew not to inhale the stuff. She switched to toughness and waited for the spores to dissipate.


    "You fucking dared to ejaculate your spores on my face again, you nince-damned aberration?" She kicked the mushroom with all her might, and it went flying on a perfect arc into the Tehen River even if her strength had been diminished by her current stance. "Serves you right!"


    Aloe collapsed on the ground, her bottom forcefully hitting the hard rock, but toughness negated any damage. The cultivator looked at the soil before her where the mycelium of the Dream Spore still remained alongside the bottom part of its stem.


    "Should I allow you to regrow after everything I went through because of you?" She asked herself more than to the fungus. "Is the experimentation and side effects that may come with you worth it?"


    She chose to sleep on it.


    Her stomach may be empty, and she had woken up from a long and horrifying dream, but she couldn''t be bothered to think anymore. Aloe simply walked inside her dry crevice and lay on her fluffy litter. She then inflicted herself with controlled wounds that let today''s potted Blossomflame burn slowly and whispered endearing words to the evolved flower before donning recovery herself and going to sleep.


    When she woke up after a dreamless sleep, she was fully healed and the potted flower was partially withered.


    "It must have been burning for a few hours to be in this state," Aloe mumbled as she removed herself from the sleeping bag.


    With a groan and a stretch of her every limb, she picked up the potted Blossomflame and went back to her riverside camp. She picked up some potatoes and liberty caps from her vegetable pile and threw them inside the saucepan. It only took her a cut on her wrist, a few compliments, and some drops of blood on the duo of Blossomflames to keep them burning for a few minutes without assistance.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    As the fires burned and her breakfast slowly heated up, she transplanted the half-withered Blossomflame and put a new one in the pot.


    "This one is going to need a full week to recover." She guessed from experience, she had seen many withered Blossomflames by now.


    Now that she could afford to keep fires burning with minimal input and oversight, the cultivator evolved a Cottonpull in the meanttime.


    "This is what¡­ the thirteenth one?" She threw the evolved seed in the air and caught it once it fell with a flick of her wrist. "I''m certainly feeling a bigger increase of vitality compared to the Blossomflames, but I''ll need to evolve way more to have an accurate value. If I could evolve three per day, I could be done in a month instead of two, but that''s too greedy. I don''t think I could handle it."


    She was feeling less and less disoriented with each consequent Cottonpull evolution for two reasons. First, her vitality reserves were growing so she was no longer completely depleting herself with every evolution. Just almost. And second, she was becoming acquainted with the inner workings of the cotton plant seed''s flow of vitality.


    Aloe pushed her hair to the side ¨C it had grown quite long these last months without being cut ¨C and planted the evolved seed next to its companions. The first Cottonpull to be planted showed the common shrub-like silhouette of the cotton plant, but it was far from having matured, let alone ready to flourish.


    "I should do something about this hair," she said whilst handling the tips of her wild mane. "I could cut it with my knife, but that will look horrible. Though at the same time, it''s not like there''s no one around to watch me, not even myself. The best mirror I¡¯ve got is the water¡¯s surface, and I can only see my reflection whilst burning a Blossomflame¡­"


    For the time being, Aloe decided against cutting her hair. Even if it was cumbersome to have it this long as it itched her more, the truth was, the advantages were superior. Not only did the long hair allow her to trap more body heat, but also it made it easier to go unnoticed once she left the chasm.


    Whenever she did that.


    There was also the fact that, apparently, her long hair was naturally straight, which was incredibly curious as her hair was curly by default. She had never allowed her hair to grow this long until now.


    After having her breakfast, Aloe performed her habitual stretches and walked back to where the Dream Spore had been standing the day before.


    "Alright, what should I do with you?" She questioned as she sat with her legs crossed. "You seem capable of instantly knocking someone without any type of drug resistance into a dream¡­ but I''m not so sure of it."


    Aloe scratched her scalp as she recalled what had happened that day when she fell into the Tehen River.


    "I only became intoxicated when I switched to acuity, and ever since then, I haven''t been high in the slightest when I eat the liberty caps with toughness on, this means can only mean that acuity boosts a sense that affects my resistance ¨C or rather, weakness ¨C to drugs."


    Further evidence was that she had eaten near-burnt mushrooms with recovery active instead of toughness, and if she was intoxicated, it wasn''t enough to make her act unwisely. The sense stance was the only possible stance that could have produced this phenomenon.


    "Now, you being the little squirter that you are, you burst all over my face out of nowhere when I was using acuity as it is impossible to see a thing down here."


    The more time passed, the clearer the image of her forced dream was becoming. It had been the day the Dream Spore had finally matured; the mushroom having fully sprouted from the mycelium. So, of course, Aloe went to inspect it.


    Only for said mushroom to expulse a cloud of orange spores directly into her face.


    "I''m unsure if I could use you as a weapon," she continued talking to the evolved mycelium. "You only knocked me out because I was using acuity, a normal person or an assassin may not be instantly affected by your tricks. Let alone a nince-damned sultanzade."


    She was obviating the fact that she could instantly knock down any cultivator wielding the sense stance, but she doubted she could get near one or catch one when their senses were so augmented when such a stance was active.


    "But¡­ you do have soporific properties, which the Slowtide has failed to portray just yet. So¡­ and I''m regretting saying this, I will give you another chance. There''s too much I don''t know yet about you and your hallucinations. How fast can you force someone to sleep? Do you always produce these hallucinations? Like the Blossomflame, could I control these hallucinations myself?"


    Aloe absolutely hated what the Dream Spore had made her go through. It had led her to parts of her mind she would rather avoid forevermore, but disregarding and discarding such a powerful tool without experimenting with it first was moronic.


    "Also, that last hallucination with Umar¡­ it felt too real. I can''t remember the details completely, it all felt like a dream, but I clearly remember how it didn''t feel like the rest. Like it didn''t feel like any reality I have previously experienced."


    The Dream Spore''s mycelium, unlike the extremely active mushroom, failed to respond.


    It would seem answers would have to wait until the mushroom regrew.


    "Well, we''ll see each other again in a few days-slash-weeks. I expect other evolutions to have fully matured before you by then."

 Book 4: 53. Gazed

    Even if she now had permanent access to light, Aloe found herself aching for sunlight after all these months. But she knew going out just to experience sunlight was dangerous, so she prepared herself a shopping list to serve as an excuse.


    "What do I need?" She asked with her pen-knife and veritas parchment in hand. "Some cooking utensils, more vegetable varieties, and perhaps some new clothing. Otherwise, I think I''m doing fine." She etched her need in the leaf even if she wouldn''t be carrying it with her. "Well, if I could get my hands on banana seeds, I could maybe evolve a Myriad. That would be an infinitely better way of having light than using Blossomflames, and technically speaking, I would have a day and night cycle down here."


    For now, she decided to ignore the logistics of setting up a Myriad in a way that the light of the sun would reach down here.


    She pondered over some other things she could buy, but she needed to be frugal. Beyond her single drupnarea, she was on a tight budget. And if she still wanted to get on a ship after the sandstorm she lifted with her escape passed by, then she needed that gold coin.


    Aloe got herself dressed, cleaned and groomed her hair so she didn''t look like a wild beast, and made her way downriver. Her attire was composed of the Loyatan winter clothes, her backpack devoid of most of her possessions to leave space for whatever she bought, and a Blossomflame.


    That last one she used to illuminate her way through the chasm as she preferred having a light source if possible.


    The trek following the course of the Tehen River was a slow one. She couldn''t afford to wield haste down here as the ground was too slippery, so the next best thing was using recovery and moving on a constant trot as it took her longer to tire herself whilst exercising under the effects of that internal infusion.


    It was a lot of dead time, but Aloe only managed to evolve a single Cottonpull as they utterly decimated her, and she was unable to evolve more.


    "Should''ve brought cumin instead of cotton," she grunted.


    After many hours, the composition of the walls changed significantly. Namely, she was able to see some terraces. The section of the chasm where her camp was located had mostly flat and vertical walls, but these ones were more oblique with more than one flat platform and far more rugged cliff faces.


    This told her she was no longer in a chasm, but a ravine. An open clench.


    "Nighttime?" Aloe mused to herself. "I can''t see the ceiling even with acuity, and it''s very dark, so I guess I arrived when the sun''s still down."


    The cultivator shrugged, and with a grunt, she began climbing the walls. Even though she was donning potency, Aloe wouldn''t have been able to climb them without gear as she was doing if it weren''t for their slight slant. The main problem wasn''t that it was hard climbing up, potency was doing most of the work, but that the rock was sharp.


    As she constantly grabbed the jagged and cold rocks, Aloe found her fingers being cut and bleeding. The strength stance weakened the toughness of her skin, so it made sense that the smallest contact with a sharp edge could open a wound.


    Aloe simply pushed through that pain.


    She had had infinitely worse.


    And even if she hadn''t, the Blossomflame at her back kept sending small embers at her hands to patch up the equally small wounds and bruises as they surfaced, which also worked as the perfect auxiliary light source.


    The only rest she knew was whenever she found a platform to rest on, and she could go almost half an hour without finding one big enough to rest on. She wasn''t the fastest climber ¨C nor did she need to be ¨C as the strength stance weakened her stamina, speed, and whatnot.


    On the next platform she found, her stomach grunted.


    "Ah, this much climbing is making me hungry," Aloe groaned and started searching her backpack for the provisions she had readied. Just a handful of baked potatoes. "Dunes, they are cold."Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.


    That much was to be expected, but Aloe preferred her food warm whenever possible. And right now, it wasn''t. She shrugged and with a wry smile, ate through her cold baked potatoes and took a swig of her waterskin.


    "At this point, it will be day already when I reach the top," she grunted as she gnawed on her cold potatoes.


    Climbing as fast as she did was only possible thanks to her internal infusions. Potency boosted her climbing prowess, recovery made her recover faster whilst resting, and toughness prevented her from being fearful of falling. These three factors combined were what allowed her to climb what felt like kilometers in a handful of hours.


    Then finally¡­


    "Light!" Aloe exclaimed with her head glued to the stone wall. She was so high up now that the surface was no longer damp, only cold.


    No matter at what angle she twisted her neck, Aloe was not capable of seeing the sky just yet, so she continued to climb until she found another resting place. This one was so small that her butt barely fit, but she managed to sit by putting her backpack on her lap.


    For the first time beyond practice sessions, the cultivator donned the agility stance. Or as she liked to call it, dexterity.


    The first time she had used the stance had been an awful experience as her body was hurt and her bones shifted into places bones shouldn''t be, but she feared the pain no longer. Not only was she no longer injured, but she also had a Blossomflame at hand.


    The effects of the dexterity internal infusion were pronounced as she had barely used it and when she had done so, it had only been with vitality reserves almost a third of her current ones. Her neck bent to impossible degrees as she almost placed it perpendicular to the stone wall at her back. The near-right angle made it possible for her to see the sky.


    Dark blue with tinges of orange.


    "Oh, early morn!" She almost jumped in glee before remembering her precarious position. And if she fell, she wouldn''t like to activate toughness before having time to put her neck back into its place. The sheer image sent shivers down her spine. "Gotta hurry for sunrise then."


    Aloe locked her neck back in place with a satisfying crack and donned potency again. She was only several tens of meters away from the ravine''s edge.


    A breeze, basically.


    "One¡­ last¡­ push!" Aloe jumped out of the ravine by throwing herself into the air with a push of her arms. Sometimes she forgot that having the strength of nine people was significant, especially for her low weight.


    She didn''t gain much height as she was tired, but she switched to toughness as the outside soil grew closer to her.


    "Oof¡­" She groaned when she collided with the ground. "Hey, grass!" She noticed the patch of grass before her and pushed herself out of the dirt. "It''s been a while since I''ve last seen normal grass."


    Aloe threw her backpack on the ground and proceeded to stretch her arms and legs. More than one responded to the treatment with a nasty noise as they snapped back into place.


    "Sun''s not out yet, nice!" She pumped her fist in the air and recovered her backpack. "Let''s get somewhere high to have a good look at it."


    Her body and mind craved sunlight. Real sunlight, not the poor and haunting substitute the Dream Spore''s hallucinations had forced on her. As she proceeded to walk towards the biggest hill ¨C or more accurately mountaintop ¨C she could see, Aloe took another hearty gulp of her waterskin. Unlike her previous misadventures across the Qiraji, she was no longer scared of running out of water.


    It was weird for her to see this clearly even if it was still technically night. She wasn''t donning acuity, but her eyes had grown used to the darkness after these months. After many months, Aloe used haste again to transverse hard terrain.


    The increase in vitality made it hard for her to navigate the rugged terrain of the Ridged Highlands as she had basically doubled her movement speed since the last time. Still, she hadn''t been using that internal infusion nonstop for a whole month without learning something.


    Even if her speed was that of nine adults, for her it had only increased by a factor of two, so she had no problem adapting quickly to the increased pace as humans were creatures of multiplication. She hadn''t increased her speed by a factor of eight hundred percent, but one hundred percent from her normal haste speed.


    That didn''t stop her from falling more than once during her trip as she tried to outrun the rising sun. Thankfully, the moment she fell to the ground, it only took her a few seconds to switch back to haste.


    When the ascent got more perilous, she switched to potency to climb with her hands instead of her feet as she was dealing with more vertical walls than pre-established paths as time went on.


    In a matter of minutes, Aloe had fallen several times, switched infusions tens of times, and traveled a handful of kilometers in all axes.


    There she stood. At the top of the world. The tallest mountain her sight could gaze upon. She finally switched to acuity and her eyes started to burn. The sun had yet to come out, but her eyes were no longer used to even a hint of its light.


    A few minutes later, the heavens finally shone. Sunlight announced the arrival of its progenitor as the sun rose from the horizon. Powerful, destructive, life-giving, warm, blinding.


    "Ah¡­" Aloe moaned as a part of her remembered what was like being under the attentive gaze of the sun.


    Then, her hyper-perceptive sense detected them. The rhythm of steps. The shadows of the horizon. The smell of smoke. The sun in all of its mercy revealed to her the figures of hundreds, if not thousands.


    "Ah," she moaned again, but the tone had completely subverted.


    What she gazed at was but a marching army.

 Book 4: 54. Marching

    "We are running out of time," Grandmaster Nugar stated after barging inside the room.


    "I''d prefer if you waited a bit before informing me," Hassan calmly responded as he stood up from bed, moving his arms gracefully to let the two Loyatan beauties next to him keep sleeping.


    At first, he didn''t like Loyatan women much, they were too pale for his taste. But with time, Hassan understood the truth of the world: all women should be appreciated. It also helped that this duo in particular were buxom vixens with delightful golden hair and powerful blue eyes.


    "We don''t have time for this!" Nugar grunted as Hassan donned his clothes.


    "You know best that this is training," the cultivator added. "But if I can mix pleasure with work, I would be a fool not to take the chance."


    "Bah!" The old assassin stomped out of the room and the young sultanzade followed suit.


    It truly had been an important training session. The blonde pair hadn''t been prostitutes, but assassins. The reason why he had reaped part of his manpower was because he had personally taught them how to detect vitality and reap it. Yes, he could have taught them how to reap without actually reaping them, but his time was gold, so compensation was to be expected.


    The reason why he had chosen women ¨C besides enjoying their company far more than men ¨C was because it was way easier for them to reap. A man offering his body was a pervert and a molester. But a woman? Those were just called whores and left alone and taken advantage of.


    Which played into their favor.


    "I''ve gotten scary reports," Nugar informed him as they walked along the installations.


    "Is it the Sadina stuff?" He guessed and the assassin nodded. "What now? It was already tiring enough knowing that Aaliyah had given control to my younger sisters. I swear to the heavens, nothing good can come out of it. If Aaliyah is willing to give power away, it means that she''s planning something nasty."


    "The armies are gathering," the Grandmaster elaborated. "Not just Sadina''s or Asina''s, but even the southern emirates. Whilst they haven''t done much besides public labor, the number of soldiers gathering close to our borders is staggering."


    "We already knew this. Rani was planning an invasion in a year''s time; we should still have a few months."


    Nugar''s expression soured. Hassan''s statement didn''t comfort him in the slightest. "Can you remind me how that intelligence came into your hands?"


    "Well, I have good genes." His joke was met by a stern expression. "Being sour will not help your decision-making," Hassan puffed. "It was my half-sister''s fault. Naila." He added for clarification as he had a lot of half-sisters. "She is pretty new to the political and subterfuge field, so she hasn''t noticed that she had unwittingly added a mole to her inner circle. Got to give it to the Sadina cell, they have facilitated this intelligence gathering."


    "So the information is truly verified?" Nugar still presented some skepticism.


    "I mean, the one gathering the information is an assassin, so if you do not trust your own people, it is your fault."


    "Ours," the Grandmaster corrected.


    "What?"


    "Ours," he reiterated. "For better or worse, you are now an assassin, even at the level of a Shadow with Enlightenment alone. You are in our brotherhood, remember that."


    "I do, I do," Hassan solemnly said.


    A joke about being in the brotherhood sprouted in his mind, but he decided not to tell it considering how moody Nugar was. That didn''t mean he didn''t draw a smile on his visage as he thought about the joke and the women he had just left behind completely spent.


    "Let''s get started," the ex-emir said after they made it to the war room. He extended a series of maps, most detailing the border between Ydaz and Loyata. "Regardless of Aaliyah''s machinations, it is a fact that the sultanzade of Sadina is now in control of the military."If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    He placed several wooden blocks that represented the military force of Ydaz.


    "Those are a lot of troops," Nugar commented.


    "Indeed," Hassan admitted. "But this can play in our favor." The Grandmaster Assassin frowned but let him continue. "No matter how competent my half-sisters may be, they are young and green. And they are dealing with the personal armies of different emirates, meaning there''s no loyalty, no cohesion, no nothing. The only thread that ties all these soldiers together is the word of the sultanah."


    "So what do you intend? Generate strife between the soldiers?"


    "That would be good, yes, but I must inform you those tactics will have limited success. I expect every independent army to have their emir or imperial scribe with them, meaning they will not get too rowdy. And if they did, the sultanzade leading them would beat some sense into them with flesh. Either with their own or the soldier''s."


    Nugar''s frown intensified at that statement.


    "What?" Hassan shrugged. "There are a lot of ways to get the loyalty of men and women, and carnality is a solid one. It is a win-win for both parties."


    "I see¡­" The old assassin realized the hidden meaning behind the sultanzade''s words, though Ydaz''s uncommon tactics and societal structure still unsettled him. "The sultanzade will copulate with their own soldiers to boost discipline whilst they boost their individual strength."


    Hassan''s answer was a smirk. "It is commonly not recommended to weaken one''s manpower, but they will have limitless soldiers at their disposal. If I have to take a wild guess, Rani will use this as a recruitment effort. ''The best night of your life if you join our ranks'' or something like that. Men will fold easily over such tactics, women though¡­ Rani''s probably the only one who can recruit them that way."


    "Is this sister of yours this¡­ charismatic?"


    "Not really," Hassan admitted. "But Rani''s charm stance is on par ¨C kind of ¨C with Aaliyah''s, even if there is an order of magnitude between their vitality reserves. Manpower will not be an issue for Ydaz, the bottleneck will be at the supply lines."


    "Yes," Nugar lurched on the map. "The Qiraji is a harsh place, and beyond the established roads, it''s impossible to survive out there. Especially with a marching army. Do you think they will maintain a defensive position?"


    "No," the emir hastily replied without thinking it once. "Aaliyah will forbid them from playing defensive. We are already taxing them with guerrillas, skirmishes, and the embargo. They will attack."


    "So should we play defensively?"


    Hassan''s smile turned into a djnnish one. "No."


    Nugar let out a sigh, already fed up with the young man''s convoluted way of words. "Explain yourself."


    "The assassins have a greater advantage with their hit-and-run tactics the more difficult the terrain is. And defending a fort is, obviously, not running." He pointed at the forests next to the border north of Sadina with a stick. "A forest will remove the line of sight for the Ydazi soldiers, but that''s all. It''s not exactly hard terrain, even if they are not used to it. Now," he moved the stick south to the desert, "sand is hard to fight on. The softer the sand, the harder it is. Peyote is also more effective on sand and rock than soil, so there is a solid balance between the territorial advantage and the tactical one."


    "Do you intend to attack Sadina? Are you crazy?" Nugar slapped the table.


    "Oops, should have been more conscious of what I pointed at." Hassan moved his stick to the west. "No, we cannot attack Sadina. Attacking any emirate bordering Asina is a death sentence. And besides, the Qiraji is not the harshest terrain at our disposal."


    Nugar noticed where the cultivator was pointing at now. The Ridged Highlands and the Whistling Sands.


    "Higher elevation and difficult terrain are optimal for shadow stepping and disadvantageous for common soldiers, even sultanzade, to a degree." Hassan elaborated.


    "But what about the Whistling Sands?" Nugar pressed. "Even your claim of difficult terrain is relative."


    "Actually, I don''t intend to use the Whistling Sands as a trap, but as a base." Nugar was tired by now of arching his brows, so he simply waited for the cultivator to continue. "It is the most deserted desert of Ydaz. Pun not intended. There are no people, only monsters. And even then, few of them. I do not intend to use monsters as part of our war machine as they are too frightful, but they are a deterrent enough that any invasion on the Whistling Sands will take weeks if not months. Soldiers are creatures of superstition, if they feel like they are bound to perish when they are doing something, they will not do it, even if it is the sensible option."


    "So we form our main base in their own territory?"


    "Exactly," Hassan pointed at him with the stick, which Nugar pushed down the tip with a hint of frustration. "For that, though," the cultivator continued unruffled by the gesture, "we need to be the first to attack with our armies whilst they are still building theirs. East and north will maintain a defensive position, focusing on guerrilla attacks against any pushing army, whilst we attack from the west and take the Ridged Highlands and the Whistling Sands."


    "You are confident with your strategy," Nugar remarked.


    "Well, I have been taught the most advanced military strategies and I know all the weaknesses and strengths of each side. And I know one thing, if we march our army and we take the west of Ydaz before they can react, my dear sister will panic, and my mother will be infuriated."


    "Isn''t the whole strategy dependent on the inexperience of the leading sultanzade of Sadina?" The old assassin crossed his arms.


    "You¡¯ve got it wrong, Nugar." Hassan started laughing and hitting the table. "That is not the strategy at all. There is only one way to win this war, and that fostering the hate that has been brewing for decades and fulfilling the wish of every sultanzade." The cultivator-assassin grabbed a wooden piece bigger than all others and placed it right on their planned battlefield. "We need to assassinate Aaliyah-al-Ydaz."

 Book 4: 55. Reclusion

    "Nope, nope, nope. Fuck that shit." Aloe cursed as she hastily left the mountain''s peak, not even bothering to climb it down and instead donning toughness and constantly jumping to her death.


    If she wasn''t nince as tough as any other person, that was.


    Maybe even way more as she was a sturdy gal, and Nurture was all about boosting base values. And Aloe could physically sustain a lot of abuse.


    She was well aware that the Loyatan army wasn''t here for her, the conflict between Loyata and Ydaz had most likely finally erupted, but she didn''t want to get caught between two clashing armies.


    And besides, long hair or not, she was quite a recognizable person. There wouldn''t be many young and short Ydazi women here with glistening emerald eyes like hers. That was the only trait of her person that she considered beautiful, everything else was utter garbage.


    Aloe couldn''t even care that she had seen the sun for less than five minutes, she rushed the fuck back into the ravine, like she would say in her current unstable state. The sun would always be up there, her life not so much. Nor the marching army.


    For her mental sanity, Aloe didn''t instantly jump back into her misery hole but waited around an hour with acuity active to give her goodbyes to the sun for a season at the very least. Maybe even more. Nobody could tell ¨C not even the heavens ¨C how long this war would last.


    She also wielded recovery for a bit to get a bit of ''sun¡¯ faster, though she doubted that had any effect. Before the sun had fully grazed the spot where she had come out of the ravine, Aloe had already made her way back inside.


    "Dunes, that was scary," Aloe mumbled to herself as she walked alongside the Tehen River.


    The way down the chasm had been way faster than upwards as she could just jump several meters down with little to no consequences. Most of the time the Blossomflame in her backpack didn''t even show embers, though the fatigue and stress her knees were building up was considerable.


    "I had hoped there wouldn''t be a war, but I guess this has been brewing since far before my departure from Sadina." The cultivator scratched her scalp in frustration. "Maybe I could take this chance to make a run for the ports of the fjords, but knowing my luck, a Ydazi warship will sink whatever vessel I''m traveling on even if it''s a civilian one. Yeah¡­ it''s scary how easily I can imagine that."


    Aloe had learned the hard way her luck was incredibly polarizing. Either she was the most fortunate woman in Khaffat or the incarnation of misfortune. The worst cases were when both things occurred at the same time when she had incredible luck and misfortune so they ''canceled out'', but the bad luck always left lasting wounds and fortune rarely gave lasting boons.


    So playing it safe was her only real alternative.


    The following days were quite stressful as her mind loved to play tricks on her in the form of auditory illusions as she heard the sounds of marching armies. That was, of course, impossible. She was hundreds of meters underground and several kilometers away from where she had spotted the army. And even if armies were slow, they should already have left the nearby area by now.


    Her mind, though, didn''t seem to comprehend that.


    Her paranoia was at an all-time high, and the fact that two days after having spotted the army her cycle came in didn''t help at all. In fear of being caught at her lowest, Aloe didn''t leave her crevice for the whole day. Eating was overrated, after all.


    The truth was, she probably inflicted more damage on herself by forbidding herself from eating during her period than what an assassin attack could have caused to her. There were some types of damage that the Blossomflames couldn''t heal, and nutrition-based damage was uncharted territory. What even counted as a wound for the fire flower? Stress and fatigue certainly didn''t, nor did menstruation.


    During that awful and fearful day, Aloe didn''t evolve a single Cottonpull as she couldn''t muster enough courage to drain her reserves.


    The previous and following days she wasn''t as affected by her paranoia. A ''week'' after her little outing, Aloe had brought her Cottonpull evolution count to twenty-five. A quarter of her self-imposed milestone.


    "I don''t want to extrapolate numbers just yet ¨C I want the biggest sample possible before crunching numbers ¨C but I guess that I should be able to evolve three Cottonpulls per day in a week or so. So that should accelerate my pace a bit."Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.


    With her limited knowledge of botany and the textile industry, Aloe guessed her Cottonpull would still need a few months to fully grow as she recalled hearing it was a bi-yearly harvested plant in the fields blessed by the blood of the sultanah. And technically speaking, she had the same setup going on here.


    She wasn''t in any rush to have her first Cottonpull germinate, especially when she was not even close to the twenty mansworth mark yet. Her original plan was to leave the chasm once she had enough vitality to evolve the living stones, but considering how there was a war going on¡­ she was amenable to changing her timeline.


    Perhaps even years.


    Playing it safe wasn''t an exaggeration.


    Aloe didn''t want to leave anything up to chance, every time she had done so before, it always played against her. She preferred growing roots on the chasm floor before letting an assassin or a sultanzade catch a glance of her hair.


    Perhaps extreme solitary reclusion wasn''t the best choice, but Aloe wasn''t known for her marvelous decision-making. Yet for better or worse, those decisions had kept her alive until now. And she intended to keep it that way.


    Another week went by. One of her weeks, at least.


    Her estimates were on point, as eight days later she was able to start evolving three Cottonpulls per day without overexerting herself. She was nearing closer to the halfway point of her short-term milestone when her camp finally saw a change.


    One a bit too visual for her liking.


    "Dunes, that''s bright!" Aloe averted her gaze after coming out of the crevice as it looked like a second sun descended into the chasm.


    She had a good guess what the source of the light was, but until she saw it with her own eyes, she couldn''t be sure. The light wasn''t as potent as the sun like the Myriad had been but, combined with her active sense stance and the fact she wasn''t used to having much lighting here, it left her blind.


    To counter her visual difficulties, Aloe wielded toughness. Not only was her sense of sight diminished by virtue of donning anything else besides acuity, but the defense stance also granted her more tolerance to being blinded. Having one''s corneas melted did count as damage and it was one of the resistances her favorite internal infusion provided.


    "Hmm, I wonder if I could be able to be infused with shade acclimation to resist this?" It was a good question, but it made her mad remembering she couldn''t try that whole field of Infusion because she couldn''t infuse herself externally and she had no one to try it with.


    Aloe blinked several times until her eyes finally acclimated to the light.


    "Yup, as I guessed." Before her lay a mature Radiating Undergrowth. "Weren''t you supposed to have infinite size?" She pondered and crossed her arms as she pouted. "What a way to throw off any theory I make."


    The grown Radiating Undergrowth looked¡­ like nothing she had ever seen before. It was as if light itself had taken shape in a three-dimensional object and then it warped in the vague shape of a mushroom. The mycelium was completely normal, but the mushroom was made of light and painful enough to get hurt by watching it for a long time.


    The mushroom itself looked like the silhouette of a death cap, only purely white as it was only light, but there was something more to it. The light slowly bent at the edges and degraded into shades of purple and blue with an undertone of pink, highlighting the white shape of the fungus'' fruit.


    "Trippy," she commented as she walked around the mushroom. Light distorted as she moved, but the silhouette of the phallic cap remained static. "Even more so than the Dream Spore''s acid trip."


    Aloe approached the evolved fungus and like any normal person that had a miniature sun before her, she tried to touch it.


    "Huh?" She groaned as she found herself unable to touch the Radiating Undergrowth. "What''s happening here?"


    As she moved her finger toward the mushroom, she felt a force repelling her. The closer she got, the stronger the force became. It was as if the very light had become tangible, and it was pushing her away. The invisible force became so strong well into the colorful halo of the Radiating Undergrowth, that no matter if she pushed her whole body weight into her finger, it wouldn''t advance a millimeter more.


    "Will you," she pushed, "allow me," and put more strength, "to touch you!"


    She tired herself out before getting nowhere close.


    "Okay, have at it!" Aloe switched her internal infusion from toughness to potency and threw a fist at the mushroom.


    The mushroom defied her will and Aloe''s attack stopped midway through. She started putting so much force in her fist as she pushed that she could feel the blood vessels in her temples pop and more than one bone in her fist crunch.


    "Alright, you win." Aloe raised her hands and walked away from the Radiating Undergrowth. "Haha, you fell for it! Haste-boosted Drop-Kick Attack!"


    The cultivator switched to the speed stance and dashed toward the mushroom, which she proceeded to kick with all her momentum. She fell on the ground as she felt as if she had kicked a solid wall.


    "Motherfucker!" She cursed and clutched her foot in pain.


    The Blossomflames seemed to think along the same lines as Aloe was aided by two different sources of fire with her recovery. The pain was substituted by itches, but both quickly vanished.


    "Doesn''t something smell burned?" Aloe looked downward to find a strand of smoke coming from her boot. "Oh¡­ it would seem that maybe, just maybe, the radiating part of the description wasn''t only light but also heat. I should have expected it."


    Aloe took her boot off and inspected it. Fortunately, the damage was minimal so she wouldn''t need to wear a boot with a hole for the following months.


    "Talking about the fungus'' description," Aloe waddled to her veritas'' leaf pile as she calmed herself and picked up the Radiating Undergrowth''s one. "Grow anywhere?" She looked at the rock substrate where the mycelium was. "Check. Radiate indefinitely? Check." That one didn''t need further confirmation as her footwear almost took a casualty. "Absurd nutritional value?"


    The petite woman squinted her eyes to their utmost limit whilst still being open. Now, after everything she had experienced would she dare to test that last part?


    Probably.

 Book 4: 56. Lighting

    "Okay, there''s a bit of a problem with the logistics first," she mused as she pondered about the ''absurd nutritional value'' statement of the Radiating Undergrowth''s description. "Hmm, I''m liking the lighting though, I can read the veritas without donning acuity or burning a Blossomflame. How weird to suddenly have access to free lighting. But that''s beside the point. How am I going to harvest this mushroom if I can''t get anywhere close to it?"


    The answer was quite simple.


    She had realized this from the very beginning, even if the White Hole Cap seemed to defy all laws of physics she was aware of, the mycelium seemed to not share any of its properties.


    "From one to ten, how painful will it be to eat a thing that has literally seared a boot?" She pondered the answer. "I guess a nine. But science must be done, and I''m getting tired of the same food all the time."


    Was thinking with her stomach a good move? Nope, not at all. But she had already experienced infinite pain and near-immortality, so she was willing to give it a try. But she was getting ahead of herself, she first had to harvest the mushroom.


    She read the Aloe Veritas parchment in her hands again.


    "Actually, screw it. This light is too useful, I can''t sacrifice it, let''s evolve a new one and then eat that."


    Evolving a Radiating Undergrowth would force her to break her Cottonpull evolution streak and add noise to her experiment, but after pondering it for a while, Aloe considered it wasn''t much of a problem as the death cap spores only needed two mansworth more than a cotton plant seed to evolve.


    In any case, it would be a counterbalancing effect from any loss induced by her cycle.


    Aloe dedicated her first infusion of the day to a new Radiating Undergrowth spore. She was pleasantly surprised to find that she only needed a single vitality pill ¨C even if she took two just in case ¨C to evolve the spore. The best course of action would have been to use the grown Radiating Undergrowth''s spores, but¡­


    "Does it even have spores?" The cultivator questioned with a glowing spore on her hand. "I can''t physically approach it without being repelled and burned, so I can''t tell¡­ Anyhow, this spore is giving me ideas. In the future, when I switch from Cottonpulls to Radiating Undergrowths to increase my reserves, I could store spores instead of planting them to have eternal lamps. I think I had a glass flask somewhere¡­"


    Accumulating bioluminescent spores to have a perpetual source of lighting was an incredible idea, but also a long-term one. She still had to evolve fifty Cottonpulls or so before getting to evolving new Radiating Undergrowths. The good news was that once she finished gathering her samples, she would likely have more than the ten mansworth required to evolve them.


    Before she forgot, Aloe planted the newly evolved spore close to the evolved death cap and went to heat up her breakfast.


    "I think I''ll end up eating the Radiating Undergrowth before the second one has grown, I''m fed up ¨C quite literally at that ¨C with all of these potatoes and liberty caps." She mumbled over her reheated meal.


    For the rest of the ''morning'', Aloe proceeded to harvest all that could be harvested, whether it was potatoes, mushrooms, or cotton plants for their fruits and seeds.


    "It''s so weird to call cotton a fruit, but it''s one. Cotton balls are not flowers, after all. This is even weirder than acknowledging tomatoes are fruits," she mumbled as she harvested the white puffs of the grown cotton plants.


    Now with the glowing assistance of the mature Radiating Undergrowth, it was far simpler to perform such tasks. She no longer required acuity to see, let alone harming herself to light a Blossomflame. However, she couldn''t avoid that last part if she wanted to have warm meals.


    Aloe wasn''t the most efficient cultivator as her knowledge of cultivating and harvesting plants was self-taught and acquired, and whilst some farmers may also be like that, they would likely have years if not decades of accumulated knowledge. Even though she had been in the business for more than two years now, she had only been able to dedicate a couple of months to botany prior to her escape.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    Scribal duties and whatnot had dictated too much of her recent life.


    She preferred not to elaborate on what that whatnot was all about.


    The harvesting had taken a lot of her time, and cooking was more of the same gruel. It was painful having such quality ingredients thanks to the better taste external infusion be spoiled by her lack of other ingredients, condiments, and poor cooking ability; but she was already performing at the maximum of her current limitations and capabilities.


    "Stupid army and stupid war¡­" Aloe groaned and grunted as she cut herself to rekindle the duo of cooking Blossomflames. "I would be seasoning my food with oil and salt now and would probably have a bigger pan than this¡­ thing." It took a lot of willpower on her part to not swear. "I could have reacquired some of my lost plants by now too. Ugh¡­"


    Once she was done with her meal, both cooking and eating it, Aloe proceeded with her second evolution of the day. This one now was the appropriate cotton plant evolution. Because her vitality reserves were oscillating around the nine mansworth mark now, the exhaustion she felt from the complete evolution was severely less taxing.


    However, she doubted she would be able to perform a third evolution today as the Radiating Undergrowth had required external vitality sourcing, which taxed her body.


    As anything vitality-related was off-limits for the rest of the day, Aloe dedicated the afternoon to more training.


    She collapsed after ten push-ups.


    "How¡­ is¡­ it¡­" she mouthed between pants, "that I can perform impossible feats of strength for a woman of my build but the moment I do trivial exercises I am one step away from the grave?"


    Aloe lay on the ground with her extremities extended. Her arms were trembling from the exertion, she almost couldn''t feel them.


    "Like, really. Why? I''ve climbed a whole ravine and a mountain in a matter of hours without so much as a break, but ten push-ups are the death of me. How does that even work?"


    She continued asking those questions as she rested before going to her next exercise. Each repetition was only formed by a series of ten, and she always rotated the type of muscles she was using as Naila had taught her to not put too much stress on them.


    The constant exercise made her sweat like a pig. Though most of the dampness on her skin was from the river rather than her sweat. No matter how scorching the heat was or tiring the activities she was subjected to, her skin didn''t seem to sweat much. Rani had seemed to enjoy that from her, but that wasn''t something Aloe wanted to linger on.


    "Hashish!" Aloe let out a cutesy sneeze. "Dunes, I''m going to catch a cold at this point. I had forgotten I could do so as every time I clean myself I wield toughness to not freeze myself."


    As always, the defense stance proved to be her most useful and versatile tool.


    Aloe wiped her skin with a towel to remove all the accumulated moisture and repeated every repetition she had done. By the end her every muscle and bone was sore.


    "At least it''s way easier on the mind doing exercises with light. Heavens bless, I didn''t know I needed light this badly." Once more, she thanked the heavens for the presence of the Radiating Undergrowth as she wiped with her towel for the last time.


    With a single evolution, her camp had gone from a poorly lit place that was fueled with blood to a room lit by the sunrise, albeit with a curtain covering the windows. Aloe''s analogies weren''t the best. It was good lighting ¨C especially because it was free ¨C but she would appreciate it if she had more of it.


    As much as she tried to deny it, Aloe was a greedy soul. If she could have any resemblance of comfort and luxury, she wanted as much as possible.


    The maturity of the Radiating Undergrowth ended up being the only highlight of the day, so Aloe''s life at the bottom of the chasm continued as normal, if ever-so-slightly brighter.


    With three Cottonpull evolutions per day, she was able to massively increase her reserves and progress on her self-imposed one hundred evolutions quest.


    But the real change came a week after that. Her count had passed the seventy-evolutions mark, but that wasn''t important at the moment. A new Dream Spore mushroom had started growing from the old mycelium, but it still needed a bit more time to achieve maturity. The accelerated growth was certainly pulling its weight.


    No, what caught Aloe''s attention was the Slowtide.


    The evolved lichen had been growing in the wall she had placed it on since then, but as a lichen, there was no state of maturity. Or at least not one she could discern. No, the change was more subtle. Before, the Slowtide was just the size of a thumb, basically nothing for a lichen. But after these many weeks, it had reached the size of a person.


    Why was this change so important? After all, it had just grown as the veritas'' description had indicated.


    Because it had reached the ground.


    And it was growing on it.


    "Oh, dunes." Aloe suddenly realized the problem with the lichen. One that she should have put more thought into after she had theorized about its infinite size when she failed to infuse it. "It''s going to grow into my crops, isn''t it?"

 Book 4: 57. Expansion

    The cultivator scratched her scalp at the headache of a problem before her. The Slowtide wasn''t that expansive, only around the surface of an average person as it decided to grow on an oblong shape biased toward the ground. The highest part of the bright pink lichen reached a bit higher than Aloe''s breasts, but it expanded beyond the point where the cavern wall met the bedrock and grew about a foot and a half on the ground.


    Aloe''s feet, not that unsettling unit that the assassins used to measure distance. I mean, who standardizes foot size and then uses it as a unit of measurement? Crackheads, all of them.


    "I won''t deny, though, this is a bit of a problem," she abandoned her inner jokes as it wasn''t the moment. "I mean, how long has it been since I planted the Slowtide?"


    She tried to think of an answer. And tried. And tried some more.


    "Oh, I''m screwed," Aloe realized. "I can''t remember when I planted it. My sense of time is totally and utterly decimated."


    The petite woman scratched her head some more trying to come up with an answer, but her mind was currently devoid of any thought. The average state of a cat, basically.


    "Let''s assume¡­ two months, for now." She gave up and settled with approximations. "If the Slowtide has grown this much in this time ¨C and we assume linear growth ¨C then it will take about¡­ four months before it reaches a crop? I mean, it''s not that bad, and I could easily replant the affected crops in question in that time frame, but if it continues to expand, maybe I should do something about it. Maybe."


    There were many things Aloe could do with the Slowtide, truth be told, she didn''t even know if she would stay that many months down here, though she''d rather not think about that right now. But what she did next was, without a shadow of a doubt, not the best decision.


    "Plop." She booped the slimy surface of the Slowtide.


    There was something about the light refracted on the surface and also the bright ¨C almost delicious-looking ¨C pink color of the evolved lichen. However, all her curiosity vanished as her finger started plunging into the slime. And then continued sinking, without stopping.


    Aloe frowned, but she refused to panic. Maybe it was her twisted sense of safety thanks to her many Blossomflames, but losing a finger didn''t seem that much of a problem for her. Instead, she just yanked her finger out.


    Or at least tried.


    "Come. Out!" She pulled her finger out without applying much force as she feared she would dislocate it. Perhaps she didn''t fear pain, but it was better to avoid it if possible. "Alright, it would seem I have become stuck. I need a new plan of action. What did the veritas say about the Slowtide?"


    The parchment talked about something about surfaces, but Aloe wasn''t familiar with the term, making her incapable of deciphering anything from it.


    "Hmm, what about that prey part? The description said it trapped prey inside it, or something around those lines¡­" Her mind started sowing and blooming thoughts as if it was soil affected by blood infusions. "Trap. Prey. Slowtide. Slowness. Movement? No. The Slowtide does not move, it expands. Maybe the slowness references something else? Hmm¡­"


    It was a foundationless thought, but she tried, nonetheless. Aloe switched her toughness she had prepared beforehand for haste.


    Then she pulled with all her might.


    Her finger was released as if she was never trapped and she was thrown backward, rolling on her head, and ending up sitting again a few steps away from the Slowtide.


    Maybe a bit too much might.


    "Ouch¡­" She grunted by reflex as she didn''t really feel the pain with toughness active. Yes, she had also activated it by reflex. "How does this work?" She looked at her finger. It was a bit bruised but otherwise intact. "Slow things sink into the slime, fast ones don''t?"


    Aloe tried again by putting her finger inside. As she caressed the slime, her finger slowly sank if she didn''t fight against gravity. But with a single fast pull boosted with haste, she removed her finger as if there was nothing there in the first place keeping it lodged.


    "Not too shabby, though I fail to see any applications besides traps." And she doubted those traps would work as no one in their sane mind would step into bright pink slime. "But how does this work? How can a solid become liquid when force is applied? Hmm¡­ this sounds like the opposite of quicksand. If you are trapped in that the best course of action is not to struggle, and move slowly, but here if you move fast and struggle, you can remove yourself¡­ Scratch that, this doesn''t even work as a trap then, the only thing it can trap are things that can''t even move."Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.


    Still, there was one more property described by the veritas that she was interested in.


    "Paraphrasing the veritas description and reading between lines, it seems that the soporific properties apply to trapped prey¡­ well, time for further testing¡­"


    Of course, Aloe didn''t submerge herself in the Slowtide but instead put her finger inside again. She was still donning haste as toughness would be counterproductive when what she wanted to test how strong the lichen''s sedative was.


    The first finger hastily sunk, but even after five minutes, Aloe felt no difference in her wakefulness. So she put one more finger. Then another. And more. Before she knew it, her entire left hand was submerged in the slime. Even if still no sleepiness overcame her, Aloe couldn''t her but frown.


    "How deep is this pool of slime?" Her whole hand was inside the Slowtide by now, but Aloe had yet to find the bottom of the pool.


    So she pushed deeper.


    And deeper.


    By the time the slime was reaching up to her elbow, Aloe decided to stop, otherwise, she was foreseeing her fall into a bottomless pit of slime.


    "Why am I not surprised?" Aloe mumbled after removing her arm with a fell swoop. "I mean, I know I''m dealing with magical plants, but a bottomless pit should at least faze me a bit."


    Instead of being bewildered by the Slowtide''s apparent endless depth, the cultivator thoroughly washed her arm. She didn''t want any of the mycelium to stick to her skin, or heavens forbid, start growing on it.


    "So far no soporific properties have been detected," she commented as she dried her arm. "Do I need to take a bath in the slime to feel them? If that''s the case, that will be a hard pass on my part. This does increase the value of the Dream Spore in retrospect, though, if I''m able to command the dreams as I do with the fire of the Blossomflames."


    However, her tests were far from over. The next one was trying to see if the wall section of the Slowtide had also immeasurable depth.


    "Is it called ''depth'' if the distance is applied on the horizontal axis, though?" She pondered aloud as she rammed her fist into the liquified wall. "Ow!"


    The Slowtide refused to accept her hand and deflected it. Aloe clutched her hand and blew on it. It ached quite a bit as had been using the speed stance.


    "Aren''t you supposed to accept fast things?" Aloe tried punching the ground section of the floor in case it had been a problem with the wall, but her fist was repelled too. "Am I stupid?"


    She asked the heavens, and they failed to answer back. Which she took as an implicit confirmation of her supreme intelligence.


    "Hmm¡­ hitting it too fast turns it into a solid. But if I just move fast, it becomes a liquid?" Aloe tried experimenting with what she had already taken for granted.


    The results were the following:


    One: when slowly applying force, the Slowtide acted as a liquid.


    Two: when hastily applying force, the Slowtide acted as a solid.


    Three, and here was the kicker: when hastily applying inwards force, the Slowtide acted as a liquid.


    "Wait, wait, wait¡­" She caressed her chin deep in thought. "I think I''m beginning to understand the ''hunting'' habits of this lichen. If something walks on top of it, then it will sink inside. Then if they begin to struggle, the surface becomes a liquid, making it harder for them to escape. But if the target was running instead of walking, they would be able to just walk on top of it¡­ which makes sense, kind of, as the Slowtide wouldn''t be able to trap a fast-moving creature."


    In all honesty, Aloe''s brain was steaming by now. She couldn''t comprehend how a thing could be both solid and liquid when being applied force in both instances. That felt somewhat more magical than the bottomless properties of the Slowtide.


    "I can''t believe I''m saying this, but I''m going to test this. It''s now or never, after all." Her plan was to run on top of the Slowtide, and if her theories failed¡­ well, only one leg would fall inside as the evolved lichen''s surface was but a puddle in size at the moment. "Better to test it now before it expands to a pool."


    Aloe took a deep breath and donned haste. She was getting jittery as this was going to be the most dangerous experiment she would perform so far. It could cost her a leg! And she was well aware of what life was without them. Too aware.


    "And one. And two. And¡­" She broke into a dash before counting up to three and ran over where the Slowtide was. Just in case, she ran with her left side hugging the wall. If she lost her leg, at least she would lose the one she had less coordination with.


    It had taken only five seconds, but when she stopped with her sprint, her heart was already going thrice as fast as it had been beating before.


    "Dunes, I think I missed." During her whole dash she didn''t feel the feedback on her feet change, and even if her hypothesis was correct and the Slowtide had turned solid underneath her, it would have induced a change of feedback on her spring. And it wasn''t unlikely she missed it as the puddle was small. "Once more I guess¡­"


    The petite woman walked back to the starting position of her dash, still hell-bent on sacrificing her left leg if one was going to take the hit. Now, as she broke into a sprint, she was more careful to land her step into the lichen instead of aimlessly running in fear.


    And it worked.


    Her left foot felt a difference in springiness as it came back up, and she stopped her movement after experiencing so. After having taken a step or two away from the Slowtide, of course.


    "Hmm, it was actually kinda springy under my foot. Like some sort of jump pad like the tensed textiles that the soldiers use for training. I didn''t guess it would also be bouncy. It''s not much of an important feature, but it''s nice knowing it. Now for the dipping test."


    Aloe was way less fearful of this experiment even if it required her putting a foot into the Slowtide, just for virtue of being able to sit whilst doing so. That way she wouldn''t fall into the bottomless pits of slime.


    And sure enough, her foot easily sunk into the mycelium. With a proper application of haste, she was able to remove it without any complications.


    "This may be more useful for home defense than I originally thought¡­ but not by much. I could trick an assassin or alike to fall into it, though." She didn''t count on it. "Now, where are the soporific properties I have been promised?"


    Even after dedicating the rest of the day searching for them, Aloe came empty-handed in her quest for sedatives.

 Book 4: 58. Compound

    Whilst it was unfortunate that Aloe was unable to find her much-desired sedative, she chose not to dwell on it. She had more things to do. Namely, keep evolving cotton plant seeds.


    Now that she could evolve three seeds per day without harming her frail body, it only took her a bit more than a week to reach her much-awaited hundred-evolution milestone.


    "It''s taken a while, but I''m done!" The cultivator celebrated with the hundredth Cottonpull seed in her hands as she raised it in the air. "Time to crunch numbers."


    She planted the Cottonpull, even though it wasn''t like she needed any more of them. A single evolved plant was normally enough to satisfy her needs, but a hundred of them¡­ well, she now had something worthy of being called a plantation. Space was free in the bottom of the chasm, even if she had now covered hundreds of meters of riverbed with her plants.


    Soil patches were rare ¨C useable ones at least ¨C so for every half-dozen plants, maybe there was a region of nothingness for another couple dozen meters. She did her best to put Blossomflames in every patch for lighting and heating, but she had long planted them as her reserves had run out after only evolving Cottonpulls for this long.


    And most of the Blossomflames were in her main camp, either way.


    Aloe cut a new veritas leaf to note down numbers and grabbed her pocket-pen-knife.


    "Alright, one hundred Cottonpull evolutions in a period of¡­ one month? I should have kept a closer watch on the time, dunes." She groaned. "Eh, I can extrapolate the amount of vitality I can gain in a day once I have the amount Cottonpulls gives me per evolution. Alright, I began this experiment with something more than eight mansworth, let us say eight-point-one mansworth to be conservative. And now I have¡­"


    Measuring vitality amounts was a very complex subject. The best way she had to do so was by using black seeds and evolving them into Flourishing Springs, and even then, that was an approximation.


    But it was the best she had.


    Trivially, Aloe poured one mansworth into the black seed and a few seconds later she had an evolved water-producing plant, or rather, its seed.


    "Hmm¡­" She mused on the results brought by the evolution, comparing the used-up vitality as a fraction of her total reserves. "That feels like one-tenth of my capacity so¡­ I have now ten mansworth?"


    The number was so round, perfectly so, that she had the best specimen to try it with. Aloe stood up and walked to her colony of death caps. They had originally been at the border of her camp, but her stubbornness with planting all the Cottonpulls she evolved now made it look as if they were in the very heart of the camp.


    That was how far her crops reached.


    Just in case, Aloe donned toughness whilst handing it, even if she doubted the lethal fungus could kill her. It wasn''t much of a problem as it had been before as she now had unlimited light on her camp thanks to the Radiating Undergrowth. She sat on the cold rock floor of the chasm and slowly removed the spores on her knife tip with her vitality sense until only one remained.


    This one she poured her vitality into.


    Instantly, she knew she was going to cut it close, but over what side of the edge she couldn''t tell. This was but a gut feeling. She was tempted to wield recovery whilst evolving the Radiating Undergrowth, but she decided against it as it would mess with her measurements. Instead, she had a vitality pill close at hand.


    But as it would seem, all her worries were unfounded.


    By the time the vitality drain of the evolution slowed down significantly, she still had around ten percent of her reserves remaining. When it finally stopped, that number went down to five percent.This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    "Alright, not too shabby. Slightly over ten mansworth then. The exact amount is¡­" She performed some quick mental arithmetic. "Ten-point-fifty-two mansworth? I''ll probably have gotten that wrong, though. Anyhow, rounding numbers and then subtracting the starting point from the final one brings a variation of vitality of¡­ two-point-four mansworth. Pretty good."


    The sheer amount of vitality she had acquired was astonishing. She remembered when she barely had that much mansworth worth of reserves, and now it was but a fraction of her total.


    "Two-point-four divided between one hundred that makes it¡­ zero-point-zero-two-four mansworth, or twenty-four milimansworth if you will, per Cottonpull evolution." Aloe frowned. "Who am I even referring to?"


    She''d rather not think about it.


    "This means I need forty-two Cottonpull evolutions to gain one mansworth, which ¨C factoring in that I can only evolve three per day currently ¨C amounts to fourteen days. Let''s say two weeks as it sounds better. Hmm¡­" Aloe hummed pleased with her progress. "This means that I can gain around two mansworth per month, which is way ahead of the curve compared to the two-thirds of the sultanzade. Still not fast enough though."


    If she kept her current speed, that would mean she would only grow by an advantage of sixteen mansworth per year compared to the imperial cultivators.


    "Wait what?" She realized the magnitude of her numbers. "Oh great heavens, I''m gaining twenty-four mansworth per year!"


    Aloe led her hands to the head as she comprehended how colossal the number was. In her almost two years since she had found out about the vital arts, she had only obtained ten mansworth. Yet her current projected growth estimated that she would earn double that amount in half the time.


    "Wait¡­ isn''t this growth¡­ exponential?" Exponential growth was a word that was easily thrown around in any field in which mathematics was vaguely related, but few people understood its magnitude. "And I''m not even talking about the difference between my original reserves and my current ones, but my growth. The more I evolve, the more seeds I can evolve per day as I get used to the flow of the plant and I gain more tolerance. And sure, there''s a hard limit before my body starts aching from the multiple usages of vitality, but I still have the Radiating Undergrowths ¨C plus the Slowtides ¨C so it''s not farfetched to consider that they will grant a proportional amount of vitality compared to the Cottonpulls. Which will allow me to slightly ''bypass'' my daily limit of evolutions¡­"


    There was one word original from her first line of work that defined her current projected growth. And it made her mouth water.


    "Compounding," Aloe murmured. "The¡­ the growth I''m experiencing is not exponential ¨C those things don''t tend to appear in nature ¨C but compound. Oh heavens, there''s an interest rate in my life, and it''s not in the form of debt, but in my growth!"


    There were few more beautiful words in the Ydazi language than the word ''compound'', or that was what Aloe thought.


    "But this is still suboptimal. I''ve been evolving cotton plant seeds, but now I can switch to death cap spores to further my growth speed¡­ or not?" She realized a problem with her reasoning. "Right now my growth is this fast because I can evolve three Cottonpulls per day, but if I switch to Radiating Undergrowths, I will only be able to evolve two of them. And that''s with plenty of difficulties, not a breeze like at this moment¡­"


    She started etching numbers and projections on the veritas before her. It was weird doing complex calculations after this many years, even when she was serving as the scribe of commoners of Sadina things like division were uncommon. Her work was making decisions and obeying the emir, not crunching numbers, after all. But now all her knowledge as a banker was being helpful.


    "I reached the ''three evolutions per day'' mark with Cottonpulls once I was around nine mansworth according to my projections. I doubt the cutting line is one mansworth over the evolution cost, but rather a percentage. The variation in percentage of one mansworth when the base cost is eight is twelve-point-five. Let''s say I''m wrong with the numbers and round it up instead of down, so fifteen percent of the base cost plus total, or one hundred and fifteen percent of the evolution cost to get to the ''three evolutions per day''. Applying this variable to the Radiating Undergrowth nets us a value of eleven-point-five mansworth. Once again, let''s assume that I''m the worst mathematician to ever exist, and let''s round it up to twelve. This means that I''ll need two extra mansworth beyond the death cap evolution cost when it starts being optimal. Ah¡­"


    Aloe took a well-deserved breath after her continuous rambling.


    "Dunes, it feels odd thinking this much and this hard after so long." She lay on the ground and peered at the darkness of the chasm. Not even the Radiating Undergrowth''s light was able to reach the cavern''s ceiling. "This means I will need another month before having to start evolving undergrowths, but that''s not a bad metric at all. Not at all¡­"


    Weirdly enough, the petite woman felt exhausted, even more so than when she exercised. Aloe''s eyelids heavied down on her and she slipped into unconsciousness as her mind stuck itself in the idea of compound growth.

 Book 4: 59. Revelation

    They were forced to mobilize. Loyata and their assassins had declared war on them before they were completely ready. Her half-sister utterly hated having her hand tipped, but Naila was thrilled.


    There were a lot of things yet to be done, but as the northern frontier they shared with the Loyatan Coalition began to be chipped away from skirmishes, they had to dedicate a fraction of their gathered army to safekeeping operations. The assassins had chosen the most cowardly of ways to try to ensure their victory, but Naila couldn''t be mad at them. Her whole style of fighting was also exploiting the weaknesses of her foes, even if she was more straightforward than the elusive assassins.


    But those skirmishes were distractions, the real front was the east of Ydaz. Even though the Ridged Highlands and the lower Tehen River were of the best natural defensive positions of Ydaz, the combined effort of Loyata and the assassins had managed to utterly violate the standing forts with their surprise attacks.


    Not only had they managed to hide an army right until the border, but they had used their assassins in the most aggressive manner Naila had seen. At the height of the night when most soldiers were sleeping, they had infiltrated inside every neighboring fort and outpost and curtailed their necks. Ruthlessly efficient, undetected.


    Then it was time for their army to push forward as they would meet little to no resistance.


    It had taken three days for that news to reach Sadina. Enough time for the marching army to entrench themselves in the advantageous position that was the Ridged Highlands.


    "I do not like this," Rani had said during an emergency military council back when that news arrived.


    Fourteen sultanzade attended the meeting. There were more in Sadina, but war was a play for them, either an act of theatre or a board game. But there weren''t many more of her half-siblings in Sadina, not all emirs, imperial scribes, or sheiks had made an act of presence. They did contribute soldiers as they were mandated by Aaliyah-al-Ydaz herself, but that was it.


    The same day the demise of the bordering emirates became known, Rani gave the order to march.


    As someone who was used to speed, Naila couldn''t say she enjoyed much the snail''s pace of their marching army. She was the head of the army, and she hated that. She wanted to be on the frontlines now! She wanted blood on her hands and face! She wanted to cut the life out of her enemies!


    But alas, she was forced to remain still as she was carried along with her many half-siblings in an endless parade across half of Ydaz. Such was the difficulty of being the co-leader of the war effort, being carried in pillowy palanquins, fed grapes, and having horny soldiers willingly climb in her bed. Oh, the misery!


    Naila couldn''t help but look forward to the conflict, not only for her own burning desires but as a learning experience. There were many sultanzade here, especially old ones, and this would be the first time for her to see them in true battle, not pathetic skirmishes on the border or training sessions.


    And considering her three best stances were speed, agility, and stealth, she had the perfect toolset to analyze them. Most expected her to be an abrasive and hotheaded juggernaut, but her skillset was focused on furtivity and surviving attacks through evasion or deflection.


    With each update from the scouts, Rani''s behavior intensified. It was becoming more and more obvious that she was not ready for war, she had wanted more time, and all her studies had focused on diplomacy and politicking, which was the opposite of warfare. Fields that were supposed to prevent war from happening in the first place.


    What was Mother thinking about giving the command of the military to us? Naila kept asking herself. Rani wasn''t a soldier, and Naila herself admitted she was still green. They weren''t the worst choices, but neither were the best ones.


    "Something is wrong here," Rani mused with her hands on a desk. For the first time since¡­ ever, the emir of Sadina wore clothes that wouldn''t be considered slutty. Though it was a far cry from armor, Rani''s military uniform provided a lot of protection.


    It never ceased to surprise Naila the logistics of the Ydazi military as they could bring with them a mahogany table as big as one out of the feast hall without issues.


    "You will need to specify," Naila joined her. "What doesn''t make sense? Why isn''t the Loyatan army moving? How did they rape our defenses in a single night?"Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    "No, I easily understand those points. Anyone with half-a-wit does, Naila." The imperial scribe of Sadina frowned but didn''t respond to that jab. "No, the problem is intelligence. They knew when to attack, how to attack, and then when to stop. Their leader is far too competent and too knowledgeable. Ugh!" Rani made a gesture to flip the table but held herself at the last moment. "I''m not qualified for military operations, nince-damned Aaliyah, why me?"


    So she''s also got those thoughts herself, huh? Naila already had difficulties reading people, but Rani''s near-constant use of the charm stance made the woman especially difficult to read.


    "You know who would have been one competent on leading armies¡­ Wait." Naila suddenly stopped midway through her sentence. It had started as a joke, but she realized something.


    "Who? What are you talking about?" The amethyst-eyed emir looked at her with frustration.


    "Comprehension of the geography, knowledge of the inner workings of the Ydazi military, martial and strategic competence¡­" Naila spoke to herself.


    "What are you mumbling about?" Rani demanded.


    "Hey," Naila turned to face her half-sister as she scratched her lips deep in thought. "Do you not think that the mysterious head of the Loyatan army has the qualities of Hassan?"


    "What are you¡­" As she was about to protest, the imperial scribe''s words struck deep in her mind. "That little snake!" Rani slammed the desk. "Of course! Now it all makes sense! This correlates with the reports of the unnaturally strong assassins I''ve been getting. That fucking manwhore is the one plotting behind the shadows. It was not enough to release a plague in my palace but now you must force me to go to war! Oof¡­" By the end of the sentence, the emir of Sadina was seething.


    Naila couldn''t help but snicker at her half-sister''s words. "Were you not the one who made him leave?"


    "Not now, Naila!" The imperial scribe raised her hands in defense as the emir''s eyes shone purple.


    "Okay, okay," she added calmly. "But what was that about the strong assassins you have said? I have not heard such reports."


    "It had been rumors and speculations of the scouts, I had honestly considered snake-tongue''s nonsense, but now I am not so sure."


    "What are these reports about?" Naila pried for information.


    "The scouts that have managed to come back alive did report how they have seen shadows who were faster than camels and strong enough to clash blades against soldiers."


    "That last one does not seem as unlikely as the former," the young sultanzade said with her arms crossed.


    "Assassins are commonly known to be feeble and fickle. Their foul magic destroys the mind and the body, so assassins do their best to never be caught in close combat as they would be unable to fight back."


    "I guess it makes sense, not even I can clash swords with most soldiers, only redirect them." Naila mused. "So what is your conclusion, Rani?"


    "I believe our dear brother," Naila almost laughed at the beginning of the sentence as half of the words were already lies, "has joined the order of the assassins."


    "I cannot say I have met much with Hassan, but from what I have heard about his reputation, he is a proud leader and brilliant strategist. I doubt he would like to bend the knee to the assassins just by principles alone."


    "Naila, oh dear Naila." As Rani''s words overflowed with the charm stance, she almost believed the woman cared for her. "That snake will do anything to be in power. Principes? Do not make me laugh. He is not even a snake, but a rat. Vermin!"


    "Yeah, I get that our half-brother is less than human, but that is not all, is it?"


    "I wish," Rani gritted her teeth so hard that Naila heard them. "No, I suspect that him joining forces with the assassins was only the beginning. Now all of their uncommon tactics begin to make sense to me in retrospect. I knew he had some ties with the assassins to avoid Sadina getting terrorized by them, but I did not expect he could join them that easily."


    Naila didn''t say anything but couldn''t help but think that Rani''s hate toward the assassins was nothing short of zealous.


    "Watch out, sister, you are starting to resemble our mother." She ended up adding, the temptation had been too hard to resist.


    Rani scowled at her and her perfect coiffure collapsed as a single strand fell before her eyes, blocking its amethyst colors. "Do not dare joke about that."


    "Then calm down," the younger sultanzade suggested. "More than one of our siblings are listening, you know?"


    Upon hearing her sister''s words, Rani donned the sense stance and turned her head from side to side. Yes, they were alone in the tent at the moment, but sultanzade were sneaky and insidious bastards by nature. Some were probably listening from kilometers away if their area of expertise was the sense stance or had a potent enough Nurture.


    The commander of the Ydazi forces took a deep breath and recovered her composure. As much as she hated to hear it, Rani was the spitting image of Aaliyah, only if more whore-ish and less soldier-like. However, that military uniform did bridge the gap a lot. The only real difference between the two women right now was their height.


    "My mind has been occupied with the counteroffensive and my sleep has been lacking, I apologize for my outburst," Rani replied with a diplomatic tone. In other words, she meant nothing of what she had said. "But the revelation that I have reached is truly severe. Naila, if your theory of our vanished half-brother Hassan being the mastermind behind the Loyatan invasion is true, I surmise that is not the worst of our problems. I do believe that Hassan has shared Nurture with the assassins."


    "What?" Naila and other voices spoke at the same time as some of the sultanzade that had been listening in rushed into the tent.


    Their surprise didn''t come from the fact that their half-brother had betrayed them and shared their imperial magic with the assassins ¨C they couldn''t care less about that ¨C but from the fact that they were already visualizing Aaliyah-al-Ydaz''s response.


    The sultanzade, the powerful superhuman warriors of Ydaz, trembled in fear at what would happen.

 Book 4: 60. Lively

    Even though her calculations told her she was on track for greatness regardless of what she did, Aloe couldn''t help but press herself forward. She had nothing to do now besides evolving and training, after all.


    She couldn''t wait to change her evolving habits from Cottonpulls to Radiating Undergrowths, so she wanted to get that optimal vitality as soon as possible.


    Growth was paradoxically slow yet fast. Compared to any other type of growth, Aloe was ahead of the curve by leagues, both in vitality and Nurture. But precisely because she knew her numbers were so massive, she wanted them even larger and faster.


    Aloe drowned herself in a puddle, waiting for tomorrow as today was too slow for her.


    Slowly ¨C agonizingly so ¨C but surely, she made her underground camp habitable and able to suit most of her needs. The Radiating Undergrowth provided light, the Blossomflames provided heating and cooking, normal cotton provided insulation and comfort, and the liberty caps and potatoes were her source of sustenance.


    She had all those plants providing for her, but a thought in her mind couldn''t stop gnawing at her. "What if I had more?" She kept herself asking. Her suffering wasn''t one of perfectionism, but greediness. She wanted more. She needed more. It was an unconscious effort that drained her energies, Aloe couldn''t control it, but her body ached for more.


    A splinter in a wound that the Blossomflames couldn''t heal.


    Training her body closed off the sounds of her mind. The more she steeled her body, the more silent her inner djinns were.


    "Ugh¡­ ugh¡­" Aloe panted as she heaved a boulder up and down. It was difficult doing so, but her strength was greater than a human being should possess. "And¡­ ten!"


    The boulder almost as big as her made a dust cloud once Aloe let it fall to the ground. Her hands and arms trembled, but her heart pumped full of vitality. Lively.


    "Training with potency certainly has its advantages, but I need more data before coming up with a conclusion. I can''t yet tell if weight training is more or less effective than without it."


    She was utterly spent after lifting a rock that even two soldiers would have struggled to carry, but it wasn''t that difficult for someone with the strength of twelve people. Maybe even more.


    "Well, I think I''m ready to start evolving death cap spores now," she commented as she wiped her sweat off and undid her ponytail. It was awkward having to tie it as she had never had enough hair to do so, but training was a harrowing experience if she left it free.


    Over these last weeks, Aloe had been growing her physical capabilities ¨C muscle mass just one of many ¨C and her vitality reserves. She was not quite there on the optimal value she had calculated to start using Radiating Undergrowths as her default evolution, but impatience was getting the worst of her. She needed change, and the Cottonpulls had yet to fully grow even if they were taking quite the unusual shape, and her single Dream Spore still had to regrow.


    Though both were close.


    Her excuse for breaking her ''promise'' to herself was that she also needed to train and become acquainted with the death cap spores'' flow of vitality to evolve them far more efficiently.


    The cultivator donned toughness and made a small incision on a mushroom of her death cap colony, then slowly, she removed the spores on her knife until one remained.


    Evolving a Radiating Undergrowth, whilst not trivial, was easy. She had well over a mansworth excess of the vitality needed to evolve it, so she didn''t suffer from pains.


    The same couldn''t be said for the exhaustion.


    "Oof¡­" Aloe panted as she was done with the evolution of the new specimen a few minutes later. "No matter how much vitality I end up getting, spending two digits will always leave me breathless, eh."A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    Aloe chuckled to herself and got up. Considering the evolved spore could grow anywhere, she had better hurry up before it started growing on her knife. This new Radiating Undergrowth was planted far from the former two to distribute light across the chasm as efficiently as possible. She had clear it in her mind that she didn''t want one growing in her crevice. Sleeping next to such bright light, especially the closer you got to it, would have been a near impossible task, even if it provided her with the warmth she very much needed.


    She was more than happy enough to sleep with a potted Blossomflame.


    "Maybe I could already spend a bit of vitality on blood infusions?" The petite woman mused once she started cooking. "Hmm¡­ maybe after I have started with three daily undergrowth evolutions, otherwise I will handicap myself and will only be able to evolve one per day."


    Such was the inevitable repetition of routine. A series of highs and lows so temperate that meant nothing for the current self. Yet they were a key factor in one''s future.


    Exercising. Cooking. Eating. Evolving. Washing. Resting. Sleeping. Many actions could describe Aloe''s activities in the underground, yet she constantly felt as if she was drowning in mundanity doing nothing, no matter if she didn''t have a moment to breathe from the moment she woke up since the moment she went to sleep.


    Insidious hooks that drove and were driven by the mind.


    Twelve.


    That was the amount of mansworth she needed to evolve three death cap spores per day. A number that she reached one week later. Her recovery internal infusion now worked at speeds her younger self back at the oasis would have thought outright impossible. Besides having far larger reserves, she had also extensively trained her body''s innate regeneration by pushing herself this hard and far.


    Aloe could restore a mansworth, the very amount of vitality a human possessed, in five minutes.


    And that number would just inevitably grow larger and larger and larger.


    "Why do I feel this¡­ empty when I have so much?" The cultivator opened and closed her hand repeatedly as a Radiating Undergrowth spore rested in her palm. "So empty yet lively?"


    Her body felt more alive than ever before, more energized and active than those days she sat behind a desk, even before the events of Asina. Yet her mind¡­ her mind lagged behind. A shadow of what her body was.


    "Only after I evolve the living stones¡­" She promised herself and planted the new spore.


    Exercising. Cooking. Eating. Evolving. Washing. Resting. Sleeping.


    It took one week before the chasm suffered any change.


    "Hmm?" Aloe looked at the darkness-coated ceiling of the chasm as she heard something. "What was that? An earthquake?" She knew what those were, but she couldn''t say she had ever experienced one. A few motes of dust and pebbles fell all around her camp, but after a few minutes, the movement and the sound stopped. "Huh, weird."


    She let it pass as even if the sounds had been quite astounding once she wielded acuity, the tremors were quite acute.


    "I wonder if I should do some endurance training in the river?" So soon were her thoughts replaced by another thing. "Maybe if I catch hypothermia or something I could train toughness, but would the Blossomflames protect me against such afflictions? Hmm, I need to talk about it with the pillow."


    And then she promptly forgot about that too. Truth was, she was reticent to train her toughness internal infusion as it would involve putting herself in too much danger for her liking. And she already felt like it was her strongest stance by far.


    When she woke up the next day, she was surprised to find another change.


    "Finally!" Aloe jumped on the spot as her eyes landed on a matured and flourished Cottonpull.


    Unlike the Radiating Undergrowth who had a binary switch from growing to matured, she had been able to see and document the Cottonpull''s growth as it acted as a more traditional plant with stages. Those documents consisted of crude sketches of the Cottonpull in its diverse stages of growth more than actual theory and annotations.


    The reason why Aloe knew that the Cottonpull had truly flourished was because her vitality sense told her so. Plants ¨C any living being, really ¨C emitted some sort of sensation beyond their latent vitality. It wasn''t of quantity, but quality. Seeds were a buzz, growing plants were an occasional static discharge like that one you got when you wore wool, and finally, matured plants were a constant thrum not unlike the beating of a heart.


    She was getting the latter impression from the Cottonpull before her.


    Aloe approached the Cottonpull with acuity active as the Radiating Undergrowth''s light didn''t quite reach here, but her first impression upon seeing it was¡­


    "Big¡­" The cultivator peered at the sack hanging above the main plant.


    It was an uncommon sight, though not fully physics-defying. The Cottonpull''s sack looked like a bag that had been filled with balls and left hanging on a clothesline. Only that instead of pointing downward as it should, the sack''s bottom pointed to the heavens with its mouth pointing to the ground.


    "How do you work?" Aloe mouthed as she slowly put herself under the sack. The interior would have been dark if it weren''t for acuity. "Yup, those are balls."


    As she looked upward, the petite woman saw multiple balls resting in the sack, but somehow, they defied gravity and refused to come down.


    "Alright, I can think of some applications¡­ but first let''s get one out of there."

 Book 4: 61. Applications

    Aloe played it smart with the Cottonpull''s sack as she could already predict the future, the image impossibly clear in her head. If she broke the sack, the cotton balls would be sent flying, and she would be unable to recover them.


    Her imagination was completely unfounded, but there was no reason to go against it. And she''d like to think she was beginning to understand some logic behind the inner workings of the evolved plants. And her misfortunes.


    Carefully, she pulled on the root of the sack¡­


    "It''s really hard not to think about some things when you have that shape, ya'' know?" She told to the Cottonpull.


    The evolved plant failed to answer.


    "Bah!" Aloe groaned and let her impure thoughts go away as she pulled. "Hmm¡­ quite the pull you got on you."


    She would like to blame her lack of strength on acuity, but between her increased vitality and her strength training, donning non-potency internal infusions didn''t reduce her physical prowess as much as it originally did.


    "Maybe the better haul of the plant aren''t cotton balls, but the sack. Dunes, this is quite the strong textile!" She pulled hard but still found herself unable to pull the evolved plant''s pouch more than a few centimeters toward her. "Ugh, potency it is."


    Her sight slightly diminished as she activated the strength stance but compared to the darkness she had been drowning in these prior months, she had more than enough light to work with.


    With potency active, it was trivial to pull the sack down, so she had to control her strength so she didn''t tear it or anything. What she feared most now was breaking the pouch away from the main plant as that seemed like the weakest link as some twigs had snapped as she pulled.


    "I hate being this short," Aloe mumbled as she got the sack close to her.


    The protective film of the evolved cotton plant was quite large, more than enough to fit five Aloes on its volume, and because there weren''t enough cotton balls inside yet, she had to pull the sack close to the ground before her short arms could pick up one.


    "Theeeere!" She grabbed a cotton ball with her fingertips and slowly released the sack. "Next time I should jump for a ball instead of bringing the sack toward me."


    The cultivator said with a pant and focused on the magical cotton ball in her clutches.


    "Huh, it is pulling upwards, but an individual cotton ball doesn''t have much pull. Also," she changed how she was grabbing the cotton as it was beginning to tear by its fibers, "it seems its pull is stronger than its tensile strength, which is¡­ bad. This means that I won''t be able to make floating textiles, which ¨C to be fair ¨C I doubted I could do in the first place. But it would have been nice having that opportunity."


    Grabbing the cotton ball with both hands, Aloe proceeded to inspect it, but she failed to notice anything eye-catching from it.


    "It just looks like a way-bigger-than-average ball¡­ of cotton." She frowned. "I''m really stupid today, huh."


    Aloe sat down with an intensifying scowl directed at her dirty mind, but no matter what angle she looked at the fluff of cotton from, her previous statement seemed to hold true. It was a big cotton ball that just so happened to fall upwards. And had the size of a human head.


    "Falling upwards, what an oxymoron." She released a bit of her grip, and the cotton already tried to escape her clutches. She tested it again and the more she tried, the more the feeling was like having something slipping out of your hands rather than a force pulling on her. "Also, how does this work? I remember having another plant that defied gravity, the Moonlight''s Tooth. But that one had an Arcane affinity, yet the Cottonpull has a Space one."


    She had every Aloe Veritas description of the evolved plants fresh on her mind as every time she had remembered one, she noted it down for posteriority. Both plants she mentioned had a Life alignment and they only diverged with their secondary one.


    "Does this entail anything? Other Arcane evolved plants like the veritas or the ter''nar haven''t shown such behaviors, nor other Space plants for that matter. The only other Space evolution I have is the Slowtide, which I don''t know if it could be considered a plant. For the lichen thing, not because it''s now a pool of slime. Plants can be slimy, right?"


    Aloe slapped herself the next moment for divagating this much.


    "Ow!" Then she remembered she was still donning strength. "I think I broke something."


    The Blossomflames hastily caught on to her exaggeration as they failed to provide a single ember in response to her ''wound''.This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.


    "Let''s assume for the time being that this atypical gravitational behavior is not bound to alignments. Which¡­ makes sense?" The cultivator pondered for a moment as she caressed the cotton ball on her lap. "The moonlight had seeds that floated around her as a defined center of orbit, whilst the cotton of the Cottonpull points upwards. These may not even act under the same phenomenon after all¡­"


    But Aloe knew what she was sputtering about was nonsense that she didn''t fully understand. Her lessons in astronomy had been few and had had a more theological underlining than a scholarly one.


    "Now, what applications can I give to these balls?" Aloe raised the cotton fluff above her head. It was off-putting moving the ball around as it didn''t weigh anything, and the pulling force that it had was minimal. "I mean, the most obvious application would be flight¡­ but why am I not enthusiastic about it? It is flying, the human desire to touch the heavens! But¡­" The petite woman looked around her and looked at the darkness and damp rock that surrounded her. "Maybe once I''m on a more open field I would be happy to try it."


    As she continued thinking, Aloe realized there weren''t many applications she could exploit from the Cottonpulls. Emphasis on she.


    "I mean, any type of pulley would benefit from the Cottonpulls but," she looked around, "I can''t say I have those things. The best thing truly is a flying machine but not that I can build one down here and¡­ how many evolved cotton balls would I need to do so? A single sack can exert a lot of tension, but that doesn''t directly translate to weight. I couldn''t pull it with acuity on, but it was trivial with potency, so this sack should be exerting an upward force lesser than my body weight. Maybe with three of them, I could fly¡­ but that sounds really dangerous. I would need to be donning toughness all the time and have several Blossomflames with me to make it safe, I don''t think this has a future."


    She played with the cotton ball a bit more to see if she could come up with any ideas, but those seemed to run dry today. As she stood up, her mind slipped for a moment and she let the cotton ball go, which promptly disappeared into the darkness of the chasm.


    "Oh well, I have one hundred planted Cottonpulls, I could lose thousands of cotton balls and don''t even notice it."


    That raised the question in her mind of how high the balls would end up going, but as she had no way of answering it, she abandoned the thought.


    She went on with the rest of her day as she tried to come up with other applications for the antigravitational cotton. There had to be something beyond a flying contraption that she couldn''t build with her limited resources.


    "Hmm, I could stuff my backpack with it." She thought as she performed some sit-ups. "I don''t know how efficient this cotton is, but if I were to compress it and stuff it together inside the seams, couldn''t I make my backpack near weightless?"


    Making her baggage lighter wasn''t much of an application, though. Not only was she stronger thanks to her exercise routine, but if she ever had to carry a heavy load, she could just wield potency.


    "I don''t lose anything by trying." The cultivator wiped her sweat and proceeded to collect cotton balls.


    Using potency and jumping for them proved to be the better method, if a bit more physically demanding considering some balls were as high as three meters. Not difficult though, that height was almost trivial now. But it was true she missed from time to time. Physical prowess didn''t correlate to physical skill, after all.


    "How do I store them, though?" That problem was resolved in a handful of seconds as she simply threw the balls inside her crevice. "First try!"


    Aloe noticed how the cotton balls'' gravitational pull wasn''t that different from the attraction their non-evolved counterparts experienced with normal gravity. With a bit of finesse and aiming towards the ground instead of up ¨C which was a bit counterintuitive as, after all, the balls fell upwards ¨C she was able to send the balls into her crevices from the spot of the mother plant.


    She failed a shot or two. Or three.


    But that didn''t matter. Much.


    The grown Cottonpull only ended up having around thirty balls, but considering how much the sack was sagging by the end as it started collapsing on its weight, Aloe decided to leave some behind. For her preliminary tests, she didn''t need that many cotton balls.


    The textile work she could do was pathetic at best considering she didn''t have thread and needle. For her first experiment, she filled the cover of her pillow with the evolved cotton, taking out the normal one. She tried fitting inside as much fluff as she could, but because the Cottonpull''s cotton was bigger and stuffier than the normal one, so only twenty balls ended up fitting inside.


    But she had the feeling that if she tried harder, she could put even twice that amount inside the pillow cover. Maybe if she cleaned the cotton and processed it.


    "Yup, that''s quite the pull," Aloe said with the pillow trapped in her hands. "I guess I could do with it some¡­ inverted weightlifting? Pulling exercises? I''m not exactly sure how to describe this activity. Anyhow, the cotton''s pull seems to stack as it is way stronger than a single ball, but still¡­ it is quite lacking. Even if they are the size of my head, an individual ball doesn''t have much pull. Way more than a normal cotton ball as things weigh massively more the bigger they get, but they are still quite small. And still cotton."


    Aloe tried running some rough calculations by grabbing a normal cotton ball and putting it on one palm, and then grabbing evolved cotton and putting it underneath her other palm. Both pushed on her, just in different directions. Now, normally it would be impossible for a person to tell a difference with values this small, but with the help of acuity, she had a waaay easier time comparing the magnitudes.


    "Okay, I may be eyeballing this by monumental proportions, but I believe a Cottonpull''s cotton weighs ¨C or the equivalent of weight for it ¨C a hundred times that of normal cotton. I think." After applying some simple math, she concluded the value of her pillow''s pull. "Two kilograms. All that cotton for two kilograms or so of weight which¡­ is not that bad, honestly. I could cram them even further together, so I could technically put balloons on my backpack to not only be weightless but also reduce my weight¡­"


    But the more she crunched the numbers, the less feasible the whole project seemed. She would need thousands of evolved cotton balls to make a dent in her weight, and that was without considering the fact that the materials needed to keep the cotton in place would also weigh them down. Calculating such variables would require complex equations and fields of mathematics that she didn''t have the brainpower for.


    "Hmm, maybe once I get out, but right now, I don''t see a future for the Cottonpull." Aloe would try experimenting with the evolved plant more, but it would fail to bring results she was satisfied with.

 Book 4: 62. Surreal

    Sunlight warmed Aloe''s skin, it was truly the most pleasurable of caresses. However, that could also be attributed to the women surrounding her. The bed was so massive that she couldn''t see the end of it, big enough to fit Rani at her side, a half-naked Naila, Fatima spreading her legs before her, and¡­


    "Mirrah?" Aloe half-said half-moaned as Rani decided it was a good moment to caress her nether regions.


    "Yes, Aloe?" The housewife asked seductively. Her naked body matched that of the three princesses in beauty, but her breasts were peerless. Providers of life worthy of legends.


    The petite woman''s sight was tainted in pink, and then she saw the glowing yellow liquid spread across her body and covering Mirrah''s breast. Ah, it looks so delicious~ Aloe couldn''t help thinking. And as if she were reading her mind, Mirah closed on her and put her mythological cleavage before Aloe.


    "Come on, feel free to drink~" The middle-aged beauty offered her left breast, its nipple perk and overflowing with nectar.


    Aloe almost moved her head forward to suck on the teat like an infant, the temptation was great, but repulsion overtook her.


    "No!" She screamed. "I can''t do this to you! Not after¡­ Not after!" Aloe bit her lips as she was unable to utter the words. "I can''t tarnish your memory like this after what I''ve done to you! Cease this at once, I know it''s a dream!"


    Aloe shouted to the heavens, and they responded.


    Sunlight turned into darkness, and the figures of Mirrah and the sultanzade trio collapsed into puffs of mist. Before she noticed, she was back in the cold and unhospitable chasm gasping for air.


    "Why is it that in most of these dreams there''s someone naked?" Aloe mused, though she had an inkling of an idea of the why, she just didn''t want to put it into thoughts, let alone words.


    The cultivator clutched her chest as she slowly calmed her breathing, the spores had long gone away, but she was careful around the Dream Spore.


    "That was some progress, though. Not only did I regain consciousness at the first dream, but I was able to dispel it at will." This was far from her first attempt at dealing with the regrown Dream Spore, but the results were overwhelmingly satisfactory. "I could do with less¡­ horny dreams, though. They make me uncomfortable."


    She felt especially repulsed by the last one. A part of her could understand longing for Rani. Whilst it wasn''t a healthy relationship by any means, she had willingly walked into it; and partially tried to enjoy it. Fatima was also understandable, the woman ¨C whilst a paragon of stupidity ¨C was certainly attractive with both good looks and a defined body. Mirrah and Naila, though?


    She couldn''t help but feel disappointed with herself.


    Naila was a minor, no matter how many members of the palace she had already bedded. And Mirrah¡­ Aloe couldn''t deny she had felt attracted to her more than once, her beauty was unparalleled by anyone who wasn''t a cultivator donning the charm stance, but she had killed her husband. Even if it was a dream, an unconscious hallucination, Aloe gagged at the idea of that sin.


    There were fewer worse things than killing someone''s spouse and then laying with said person.


    Aloe went to the river and submerged her head in it, not only to cleanse those sins from her but to wash away the horniness and the spores from her body.


    "Ah!" She emerged half a minute later with a groan. "I despise the Dream Spore, but dunes, it is effective. I hate how well-rested I feel even if I can''t have been out of commission for no more than a handful of hours."


    Since she started her experimentations with the evolved liberty cap, Aloe had set one of her ''Blossomflame chronometers'' to check how long the mushroom put her to sleep or how long it would take her to wake up. More often than not, she would have just been sleeping for a couple of hours, which was surprising as she didn''t have more than a handful of micro-dreams in that span.


    "It''s weird how all the dreams are ''lucid'', or at least I can remember them, but time is so distorted in relation to real-time." Aloe mused as she dried her hair, which was more of a chore now with her long mane. "How long was this last dream? Two minutes? But it has been more than a couple of hours in real life¡­ Maybe this could work as a strategic combat sedative. Even if they had an impossible willpower and woke up immediately, they would still be out for an hour. Further experimentation needed."


    These attempts to recollect information from the Dream Spore with each experiment reminded Aloe of the earlier days at the greenhouse, where everything vital art-related was unknown.The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    "I mean, I still don''t have much idea of what I''m doing, but I can testify with utmost certainty that I''m doing better than at the start." Aloe placed the towel she had just used on a clothesline she had set over the chasm''s width, otherwise no clothes would dry here.


    And she wasn''t patient enough to dry textiles with a Blossomflame.


    "I want to continue working with the Dream Spore, but my body has had enough lucid dreaming for a while, time to exercise a bit. But before that, evolution time!"


    The cultivator grabbed a spore from a death cap and evolved it. Simple as that. Truth be told, it took her more time to separate the spores in the knife than to evolve the spore.


    "Two out of three today." She said with the glowing spore in her fingertip. "Now that I think about it, I am planting a lot of them. Unless I start eating them ¨C which I still don''t know if I should ¨C the chasm is going to turn brighter than the outside."


    She chuckled at the idea. It was so¡­ unreal. This place had been a cage of darkness, but because she was now on pace for evolving a hundred Radiating Undergrowths per month, darkness would be a thing of the past.


    "Hmm, undergrowths can grow anywhere, and whilst I''ve not tested it for everywhere, maybe I should think of planting them in more uncommon places. There''s a limit on how far I can plant them within a logical distance."


    Her solution? Planting them on the walls.


    Not that this was a new idea, mushrooms already grew on walls after all. What were mold and lichen but fungal growths that told gravity to fuck off?


    "Climbing here will be a tiny bit difficult, though." She mused as she looked around her camp.


    Unlike the open section of the chasm ¨C in other words, the ravine where she had entered from ¨C with its rugged and terraced walls, the section of her camp had very smooth walls, likely a product of the Tehen River.


    Aloe turned acuity on and began exploring the walls of her camp for any spot minimally climbable. With her enhanced physical prowess, she was confident in performing improbable acrobatics, so anything worked.


    She tried several methods of climbing without much support like jumping from wall to wall to preserve her height, but even in the narrower sections of the chasm, the walls were too apart to do so even with potency. And even if she could, such demanding activity would tire her to no end as any other stance beyond recovery would diminish her stamina.


    "Lemme try something stupid," she mused before donning potency and leaping a few meters in the air without gathering any momentum.


    Having thirteen mansworth allowed her to perform legendary feats of strength as if they were casual exercises, but there was a limit to what she could do. That especially became apparent after she passed the ten mansworth mark, her stance multipliers seemed to no longer scale linearly with her mansworth, but she still had too little evidence to confirm such a devasting claim, so she refused to acknowledge it for now.


    Still, even with that possible handicap, Aloe jumped ten meters into the air without much trouble. Even now, the mental image of a woman as frail-looking as her stood out as the surreal product of a feverish mind.


    Moving midair was difficult as she lacked balance as she was still using the strength stance instead of the sense stance, but that wasn''t much of a problem for her current idea.


    Punching.


    Without any hesitation at all, Aloe punched the rock face before her. Having the virtual strength of fourteen adult men, her punches packed quite the punch. Pun intended. But doing so wasn''t without consequences. By donning potency, she had made herself physically frailer.


    Her ears met the disgustingly wet sound of her bones cracking and her hand exploding.


    That didn''t matter whatsoever to Aloe, though.


    Only that she managed to chip the stone wall.


    But with any action, there would be a reaction. The strength of fourteen people condensed on her fist and then suddenly decelerating on an immovable object meant that her body was propelled backward at great speed. In a blink, Aloe''s back had met the wall at the other side of the chasm, but by then she had already changed into toughness, so the impact wasn''t even able to push the air out of her lungs.


    If all her other stances currently augmented her capabilities by a factor of fourteen, then toughness did so with a factor of twenty.


    Or that was what she imagined.


    A few seconds later, Aloe fell to the ground, and not even her knees processed the impact from a height of ten meters. She had difficulties even processing the pain from the punch even if it had shattered her hand. Her many experiences had made her dull to pain, and the defense stance magnified that by many degrees.


    She didn''t even need to cross the Tehen River for several Blossomflames to start healing her.


    "Ah," Aloe groaned in a muted manner. Even if she couldn''t feel the pain, the itch of having her shattered bones regenerated and snap back in place still provided her with discomfort.


    A minute later she was patched back up, her hand whole as if nothing had happened. She still gestured her hand open and closed to verify she hadn''t lost any motor functions.


    "Not bad at all," she commented about the healing of the Blossomflames and the hole in the wall.


    The cultivator donned potency again, jumped over the Tehen River, and with a quick switch to acuity midair, she directed herself to the small rift she had created. She wielded the strength stance again to support herself with only her fingertips and then pressed the newly evolved Radiating Undergrowth spore on the stone wall.


    It had needed a bit of work to get it off her finger as in these few minutes it had already entrenched into her skin, but with a bit of finagling, she was able to leave it stuck on the wall.


    Aloe unlatched herself from the wall and fearlessly fell with toughness activated. When she landed, she stretched her extremities.


    "What a refreshing workout!" She groaned in pleasure after more than one joint popped into place.


    Once upon a time, Aloe Ayad would have hated exercising herself, but now she rejoiced before the idea of having to perform these painful and body-intensive acrobatics for each future death cap spore evolved. Her real life could no longer be distinguished from that of dreams and fairy tales as everything turned into a surreal mush.

 Book 4: 63. Board

    The sounds of the Whistling Sands were getting into his mind, that was something Hassan hadn''t accounted for. Most assassins, though, ignored the song of the dunes as they were high out of their minds. The tent''s curtains suddenly flapped open as a man entered, the song of the Whistling Sands infiltrating the tent until the flaps closed behind.


    "Ah, Grandmaster Ragnar, we were waiting for you!" Nugar announced enthusiastically.


    "Nugar, my friend!" The Loyatan met his fellow Grandmaster in an embrace. The massive man had a joyful expression. "You truly have gathered quite the army here. This cannot be called a gathering of shadows no more, but a darkness!"


    Both men laughed at the wordplay heartily enough for Hassan to think he had lost some joke in translation, after all, the two were speaking in Loyatan.


    "Such is the result of our new brother, Shadow Hassan." Nugar pointed at him.


    "A Shadow did all of this?" Ragnar''s eyes opened like plates.


    "I was a prince before this," Hassan added. "And there''s not much difference between our might."


    "A cocky one, aren''t you?" The newcomer Grandmaster responded in Ydazi.


    "His words aren''t without any backing," Nugar said. "You''ve heard about how we are teaching our assassins the magic of the imperials, right?" Ragnar nodded. "He is the one teaching all of them, and he has discovered many synergies between our magics, or vital arts as he calls them. Even if he is a Shadow and not an especially powerful cultivator, he is at the level of a Grandmaster."


    "Wait, really?" Ragnar''s smug collapsed after his friend confirmed Hassan''s statement.


    "Indeed," Hassan interjected. "I would have loved to have more time to discover the intricacies of the conjoined vital arts, but alas, we had to strike swiftly, otherwise we would have lost the prime opportunity of a disorganized enemy army."


    "I wanted to ask about that, why gather all of us?" Ragnar questioned. "Is this Aaliyah as powerful as they say?"


    "Even more so," the cultivator snickered. "Follow me."


    Hassan removed himself from the tent and the assassins followed suit. He directed to a nearby cave where some assassins were working on a task he had handed them. Even when they had been provided many gags, more than an inhuman scream reverberated across the cave.


    "What are those wails?" Ragnar asked without portraying much worry.


    The cultivator-assassin smiled and snapped his fingers, flames erupting from his hand with the gesture. A combination of assassin pyrokinesis and a simple fire-emitting technique from the flowing stance. Both could only produce sparks with his humble Nurture and Enlightenment, but when combined with one another, they turned into¡­ something more practical.


    A ball of fire spawned on top of him, illuminating the dark cave for everyone.


    "Is this one of the synergies you mentioned?" The Grandmaster tried his best to not leave his mouth gaping open.


    "With Nurture I can constantly burn my vitality, but those flames can only come out of my body. Thanks to Enlightenment I can, more or less, spawn them away from my main body after establishing an anchor point connected to my mind. The fire isn''t very expansive, but it is certainly hot. This is the first instance of ranged attack of any of the vital arts that we have seen."


    "I can see that¡­" Ragnar muttered with his eyes glued to the ball of fire. "If you can create more forms of non-melee ways of combat, then ''revolutionizing'' Enlightenment will be a term that falls short."


    All vital arts were born from the body, so no technique or skill from any of them had a way to harm from a safe distance. But once they were brought together¡­ the squishy assassins no longer had to worry about being in harm''s way.


    "I can see my fire cantrips have bewildered you, but there is something you should be paying attention to." Hassan referred to Ragnar and pointed at one part of the cave.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    "Gods'' unbent!" He cursed in Loyatan. "What are those?"


    Before them lay a swarm of humanoid monsters, captured, pinned, and gagged. Assassins and common soldiers kept guard so they couldn''t escape.


    "Djinns," Hassan explained. "They are a type of Ydazi monster. They can mimic human speech, but they do not seem to fully understand it. The mythology around them is that they trick travelers into granting them wishes to kill them, but their preferred hunting tactics are either outright charge at travelers with their colossal legs or slowly drug them with the pheromones they have for sweat."


    "Are they not human?" Ragnar asked with a hint of skepticism. "They certainly¡­ look like it." His eyes focused on a female djinn with an exposed chest, like all other djinns. The specimen in question has long black hair and a pair of disturbingly big breasts.


    More repulsive than attractive.


    "They are not." The sultanzade stoically answered. "And those are the pheromones talking. Your eyes are focusing on a female one, that is why it looks human to you. Remove the tobacco from your system and look at a male one."


    Ragnar did as Hassan suggested, it wasn''t a problem for a Grandmaster to decide to be unaffected by the drugs they consumed, and he gasped.


    "Their skins are red!"


    "Any type of vital art that boosts the senses makes one more affected by the djinn''s pheromones. Tobacco empathy for Enlightenment and sense stance for Nurture. It is quite easy to avoid if you are an assassin not high on tobacco or a cultivator wielding another stance, but common people are easily affected by them."


    "So what are you doing with these djinns?" Ragnar questioned him.


    "Beyond gathering pheromones as they can be used as either drugs for assassins or weaponry against soldiers without experience of the vital arts, there is a factor that interests me more about them," Hassan said. "Can you see their tails? Those are called stingers, and they pack quite a potent poison. Enough to down a ''jotunn'' of yours."


    Until he saw them in person, Hassan considered them legends. That was the problem with monsters, they were so shrouded in mysticism that it was hard to tell the truth apart from the fable.


    "What creatures are there in these lands for these djinns to need such potent poison?"


    "None, actually. They seldom use their poison for this reason, it makes ''hunting'' too easy for them." The cultivator shrugged. "But that does not mean we cannot use it for us."


    Ragnar''s eyes focused on a pile of barrels at the corner of the cave, and how an assassin that had recently ''milked'' a djinn dropped the poison into an open barrel.


    "Why do you need that much poison?" The Grandmaster questioned. "This should be more than enough to poison the whole Ydazi army."


    "The army, he says." Hassan laughed and Nugar followed.


    "Am I missing something?" It would seem Ragnar didn''t enjoy being laughed at. "Where else would you use it?"


    "To weaken a goddess, of course." The sultanzade stated as a matter of fact.


    "This Aaliyah of yours?" Hassan nodded, and then Ragnar frowned in realization. "Wait, weaken? Not kill?"


    "We could make her drink tence those barrels and we would only cause her a stomachache," Hassan replied. "It is not an exaggeration why people pray at her like a goddess. Unlike the pagan gods you have on Loyata, she is very much a god roaming on earth."


    "Is this god¡­ess of yours this powerful?" Ragnar made an unnatural pause on the word that Hassan recognized as a problem of translation. Loyatan, or at least the dialect they were using didn''t distinguish between gods and goddesses, they just had a neutral term that could be classified as ''divinities''.


    "Even more so," the sultanzade calmly added. "We will be using every tool at our disposal. Venom, poison, pheromones, blades, lives, Shadows, Masters, Grandmasters¡­ we will throw everything at her, and even then, I am not sure of the outcome."


    Ragnar''s joyful expression was substituted by one of complete seriousness. "Grandmasters are powers that can move nations."


    "And Aaliyah-al-Ydaz is a power that can move the world." Those weren''t words of praise, but a horrifying statement of truth. "She needs to die for this world to change, she is a paragon of stagnation and preservation of an old world."


    The newcomer Grandmaster didn''t elaborate on that.


    Before they could continue their conversation, an assassin appeared before them in a puff of shadows.


    "Grandmaster Nugar, Shadow Hassan!" She announced with a knee on the ground. Hassan recognized her as one of the reconnaissance units he had trained on the stealth and sense stance. "I bring important news!"


    "Speak, assassin," Nugar said in an uncommon display of might and superiority deserving of his rank.


    "Our hidden agents have heard that the leading sisters of Sadina have discovered your affiliation with the order." She informed calmly.


    "What are you going to do with this information, cultivator?" Nugar asked him.


    "Hmm¡­" Hassan rubbed his chin. "Personally? Nothing. It was a matter of time before they discovered, I did not exactly hide my trail. But they have discovered it at the perfect moment," he smiled. "That was not your whole report, was it?"


    "No," the recon assassin bowed. "They have sent a sultanzade to inform the Sultanah herself about your betrayal. They expect that by informing her of how you are teaching us Nurture, Aaliyah-al-Ydaz will join the fright and will her to reach their encampment in a handful of days."


    Nugar and Ragnar gasped at the news, especially Nugar who lost a bit of color as he was more aware of what the presence of the Heavenly Descendant implied. Hassan, on the other hand¡­


    "Perfect," he smiled. "Now all the pieces are set on the board."

 Book 4: 64. Ideas

    Working with the Dream Spore was a complex matter, mostly because Aloe lost any notion of self whenever she fell asleep. Which was always instantaneous if she was donning any internal infusion other than toughness. Especially if her active infusion was acuity.


    But dreams could be manipulated, so Aloe worked on her lucidity.


    Sunlight met her eyes. It was a tainted one, deprived of color as the world worked on a greyscale, with only a hint of cyan habituating the horizon and the edges of some items forming ghostly silhouettes.


    "It has taken a while, but I''m finally back!" Aloe groaned in satisfaction at her work, even if she didn''t possess any lungs or vocal cords in this form to make that sound possible.


    She was back at the grey world, or the world of ideas, as Umar''s ghost had called it.


    "Now, where am I?" she pressed her hands against her hips or tried to do so as she had no corporeal body, whether in tangibility or shape.


    Unlike her first time, she no longer found herself in the middle of a street, but nowhere. Dunes of colorless sand and a black sun were all that she saw.


    "Am I even in the Qiraji? The dunes look¡­ weird."


    It was hard putting into words what Aloe was seeing. She saw dunes, yes, but they were poorly defined. They felt like abstractions of dunes, a poor drawing, or a clay sculpture without any details, not the real deal but a poor approximation.


    "This is the complete opposite of the city I was in the first time," she realized. "Everything was hyper-detailed, more real than real life. But this feels like¡­ the background of a painting, only a stroke on a canvas as no more detail is needed. What in the nine hells is this world?"


    Aloe had met the true solitude of this world. She had been forced to run away from civilization and had been in seclusion for a few months now, but this wasteland¡­ felt even more lonely than loneliness itself.


    "Actually¡­ am I in one of the hells?" She tried to recall the Sulnaya teachings from her youth and the information about the nine hells.


    The heavens were the first one, the tallest of them all. A hell, but one where suffering had been reduced to a minimum, the closest reality could get to paradise. That was the aspect that made Sulnaya believable to most practitioners. It didn''t promise pain to go away, but it endeared to go forward, that it would lessen, that everything would get better.


    The earth was the second hell, or where people lived. According to religion, people ascended from the lower hells to the earth based on their actions. That judgment continued on earth, and if they were good, just, and prolific, then they would ascend to the first hell. Otherwise, they would descend again to a lower hell.


    The third hell¡­ well, that was where the issues started. Sulnaya only preached about the first two hells and just explained that the rest were just messes of increasing suffering. An ''explanation'' was that no one could know about the lower hells as everyone forgot their experiences when they changed layers, but that excuse falls apart when you start asking how people know about the heavens then.


    The only real lower hell that there was information about was the last one, the ninth hell.


    Oblivion.


    A place where only the most despicable of beings end, a place where there''s nothing at all. An infinite void of darkness and suffering.


    "Not that different from my life," Aloe chuckled in self-deprecation. "But it doesn''t make sense if I''m in a lower hell, how am I remembering my life then coming back to it at will then? Can I have some answers?"


    Aloe asked the heavens.


    They failed to answer.


    "I don''t know why I bother," she shook her head and sighed. "Anyhow, I should explore this place. I can now wake up at will, so maybe I can find something. Someone."Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.


    Her thoughts went back to Umar.


    "Nince-damned old man abandoned me without giving any answers." The incorporeal woman pouted. "If I find him again, I''m going to give him a beating!" She looked at her lack of fists. "An earful!"


    Moving across the indefinite sands, Aloe noticed how much the environment blurred into itself. Reality struggled to keep itself in place: intangible, ethereal, imprecise.


    "This is going to sound weird¡­ but it''s as if the dunes don''t know they are here, as if they lack a perception of themselves." The more she looked at a specific dune, the more defined it became; no longer swaying around and merging with other heaps, but its own entity. "This world is making my mind huuuuurt?"


    Aloe peered at the horizon, a beacon of light forming at a powerful and bright point. She turned her head to the heavens, and sure enough, the sun was still in its place in all its black glory.


    "Huh."


    Having nothing better to do, the cultivator strode toward the brightness. Moving across the strange world was even more strange as she had no body, so her movement was not limited to her physical capabilities, but her mental ones. The corners of her vision blurred as she rapidly approached the light. Yet the closer she got, the more her speed seemed to decrease. Not at a fault of her own, but because the world got more defined as she approached. Distance became a palpable thing, a value and not a suggestion.


    In a handful of seconds, her speed ground to a halt, and the landscape became detailed. There was still sand around, but the dunes were no longer untextured blobs of translucent clay, but piles of individual grains of sand. The more she walked forward, the more defined they turned. The change in landscape had grabbed her attention so much that she failed to notice the changes in the most important landmark.


    What she had seen wasn''t a beacon, but a city.


    "Oh, this is weird." She suddenly found herself transferred to the city walls, but her size was not the one she expected.


    Everything overwhelmed her in size.


    Aloe was already small, but suddenly, everything became massive. Too complex for her tired mind to understand. The shadows of mist resembling people appeared again, confirming that she was, indeed, in a city.


    She looked around her elevated position on top of the city walls and found a blinking mist shape moving around. Like before, the shape of a person appeared and disappeared every so often, as if someone was drawing and erasing it, only capable of updating the picture every handful of seconds.


    The even-less-defined mist shape of a woman trailed behind the moving person, and the more she looked at them, the more defined they became. After a minute, they were no longer a blur, but a guard with a pike in hand. And like her first impression, it was towering over her. If it wasn''t because Aloe thought she was the one getting smaller rather than the other way around, she would have said that the guard would be five meters tall.


    "This is¡­ interesting and all, but where am I?" As much as she wanted to toy with this ''world of ideas'', what she wanted more were answers.


    Without hesitation, Aloe dropped from the city walls down to the streets. The fall wouldn''t have hurt her when she still had her real body, so without one it was even harder to break the ankles she didn''t have.


    "This street is big and there''s a lot of people¡­" The houses she passed by had even more detail than the original street she had been on, enough so to hurt her eyes ¨C or what she had for them ¨C and the passersby were redrawn at a faster rate than normal. "Does the amount of people influence the redrawing time? I guess it makes sense, after all, if I look at someone they get more defined and detailed, so perhaps the mist beings can detail each other."


    The more she walked down the populated streets, the smaller she felt. The increasing amount of detail was hurting her in ways she didn''t believe possible, but the pain wasn''t a deterrent for her, so she continued going.


    "I don''t know how to explain this, but when I''m here ¨C in this world ¨C I feel more¡­ lucid. As if answers come alone to me, I''m more¡­ enlightened."


    Something about her words felt odd, unbecoming of her. Influenced by outside forces she couldn''t quite acknowledge as they were understanding. Outside of the perception and senses of humans.


    "That reminds me, where''s Umar?" By now her size had decreased to that of an infant, maybe a babe, but her voice kept the same ring.


    People towered over her to colossal degrees, but she wasn''t scared as more than once she had passed through the misty beings. She couldn''t interact with them, nor could they. Defining them was the only thing that she could do to them, and they appeared to be unable to reciprocate.


    "Umar!" Aloe shouted as she didn''t have any better way to search for the old man''s ghost. "Are you here Umar?"


    She continued shouting and walking for a while, but nothing changed. Well, change that she could see. Orbs of black and red materialized in the distance, but Aloe failed to notice them. And so did the orbs with her.


    "Ugh, everything''s turning blurry," she yawned. "I think my time in this world is coming to a close for now."


    As the cultivator said so, she noticed something on the horizon. It had always been there since the start of her walk, but only now had her mind decided to acknowledge it. What seemed to be worlds away from her with her diminished size, Aloe saw a dome. The light of the dark sun reflected on it, revealing a metallic surface. And even if the world of ideas was deprived of color, Aloe could ¨C somehow ¨C tell it was golden.


    "No¡­" She took a step backward by reflex. "No, no, no! How? Why? WHY? Why here?"


    Aloe grabbed her head, and she collapsed to the ground as she began panicking and hyperventilating. Before she could muster a second thought, she was removed from this hell.

 Book 4: 65. Nutritional

    Waking up from a Dream Spore-induced slumber wasn''t exactly comfortable, but Aloe appreciated the good sleep that accompanied it. Even more now that she had grabbed a blanket and stuffed it with cotton so it worked as a makeshift bed. A poor man''s sofa was a better description.


    The first thing Aloe did after waking up was evolve a death cap spore to meet her daily quota. Now that she had this much vitality, she no longer felt mortally tired after each evolution, even if she was spending vast amounts of vitality.


    "Hmm?" An idea suddenly blossomed in her mind. "What if I put a Radiating Undergrowth on a Cottonpull cotton ball? Undergrowths technically grow anywhere, and if it works, wouldn''t I have moveable light? I could also simulate a sun down here!"


    Though that last point wasn''t of much importance as she had already planted some Radiating Undergrowth spores quite high up.


    "Well, I''ve gotta try it now, if only out of morbid curiosity." Aloe picked a cotton ball from the nearest Cottonpull sack ¨C yes, nearest, more had grown already since her first experiments ¨C and placed the spore well inside the cotton ball. "Truth be told, I don''t expect it to work. It needs to grow mycelium before making a mushroom, and even then, surely the grown undergrowth will weigh more than the cotton ball. But, oh well, I don''t lose anything if I try."


    For now, Aloe left the spored antigravitational cotton ball in the entrance of her crevice, lodged in a depression on the ceiling so it wouldn''t escape.


    "And talking about undergrowths¡­ I''ve pushed this matter away for far too long now."


    The hundred or so Cottonpulls she had planted weren''t the only crops that had finished ¨C or were near ¨C growing. The second Radiating Undergrowth she had evolved had reached maturity a few days ago, but she had left the matter aside.


    "Okay, let''s do a bit of recap here, where''s the veritas leaf of the undergrowth?" Aloe went back to her crevice and searched on her stacked leaves as she used her potted Blossomflame as a light source.


    Description: An evolved member of the Amanitaceae family, a species known for its ability to grow anywhere, radiate indefinitely, and its absurd nutritional value.


    "Absurd nutritional value, alright," she mumbled. "Are there any chances that absurd nutritional value means something totally different from what I''m currently thinking?"


    The answer was yes. The alternatives were exaggerated or abstract concepts like ''negative'' nutritional value, but considering she was dealing with magic, anything was possible.


    "I can''t keep running away from this, I''ve gotta try it. The heavens don''t bless the cowards, only the bold. And the gamblers." She said to motivate herself. "Most gamblers stop with their bets before the heavens can bless them, after all."


    Aloe Ayad had never placed a bet in her life, though she had gambled with her life. As a matter of fact, she was quite the expert on that latter point.


    "The weak point of the undergrowths must be the mycelium, so I¡¯ve got to attack there if I want to get anywhere near the fungus."


    As the Aloe Veritas description stated, Radiating Undergrowths radiated indefinitely, and quite potently at that. So potent, in fact, that the force created by the radiation of light and heat physically prevented anything from getting close.


    Aloe had tried once to drop water on the surface of a Radiating Undergrowth in one of her many experiments, and whilst results varied, the water never got close to the mushroom. Either the water evaporated before touching the mushroom''s halo, or if it reached that point, the pushing force was so strong that the droplets just skittered across an invisible surface until they fell to the ground or finally evaporated.


    She thought of using the Radiating Undergrowth to cook once she became aware of how fast it brought water to a boiling point, but the idea never caught on as if it could melt the tip of her boot with a single exchange, she had no idea what sustained exposure to the mushroom may do. Call it paranoia or call it precaution, but Aloe didn''t want her only cooking utensil to be destroyed, so she settled with her reliable Blossomflames. Even if it took her ages to cook.


    Now, whilst it was unintentional, Aloe had set herself for success with her first Radiating Undergrowth as she had planted it on a boulder that she could freely move. When donning potency, that was. She was a bit sad about having to destroy her first specimen of the evolved death cap, but it was the easier one to mess with.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    "Sorry girl, sacrifices have to be made for the furthering of human understanding." Nonchalantly, Aloe raised the boulder above her head and sent it crashing to the ground. "Dunes!" She exclaimed after seeing that the big rock was mostly unscathed from the impact. "I would''ve preferred to avoid this, but seeing how hard this boulder is¡­ it seems I''ve gotta do it myself."


    With a deep breath, Aloe punched the rock. She switched to toughness at the last movement possible, so whilst she avoided scratching ¨C let alone shattering ¨C her hand, she had only managed to chip the boulder.


    "Well, it seems today''s exercise routing is boxing training." The cultivator cracked her knuckles and proceeded to beat down the innocent boulder.


    It took her several potency-toughness punches before the boulder started cracking. If it weren''t for the fact that her switching time between stances she commonly used was nearing her reaction time, this endeavor would have taken way longer.


    "Dunes, I''m getting hot from exercising this close to the undergrowth." Between the movement and the constant radiation, her skin was covered with a lot of sweat.


    She removed part of her clothes and continued punching. Even if in her mind she was the fickle girl she had always been, the daily and uninterrupted training sessions had made her gain a bit of muscle mass. Still a far cry from what the sultanzade typically boasted, but far more than one might expect from a scribe.


    A few seconds later, the boulder finally cracked in one sudden fissure. Aloe expected the rock to crack open with a bang, but the separation ended up being quite silent. Her punches had certainly been the loud part.


    "Huh?" Aloe mused as she saw the interior of the bisected boulder. Mycelium had penetrated deep inside it. "Looks¡­ fleshy. But why is there only one mushroom with this much mycelium, shouldn''t there be more?"


    The cultivator groaned and let the thought rest, she didn''t have enough knowledge of fungi to even know if that was a valid question or not.


    "Time to remove the mushroom, somehow."


    The bisected bolder offered almost a perfect diagram of a grown Radiating Undergrowth and its mycelium. The evolved fungus had transformed the rock with its mycelium beneath the surface, but on top, it portrayed its radiating mushroom. As she had supposed, the mycelium was without radiating properties, so she was able to stab the mycelium with her knife.


    "Ugh, feels fleshy too¡­" As someone who had done a lot of disgusting things in her life to survive, Aloe still felt repulsed by the touch of the mycelium. And she wasn''t personally making contact with it.


    With careful and totally not botched incisions, Aloe was able to separate the mushroom from the mycelium. Once it lacked any support, the Radiating Undergrowth fell to the ground, and it started to smoke and sizzle.


    "That can''t be good¡­" Aloe took a precautionary step backward.


    But soon enough, the mushroom started to flash and become dimmer. With each burst of light, a bit of wind was pushed around. At first, they were slow, but the more time passed by, the faster and brighter the flashes became until they suddenly stopped.


    The chasm became darker with the disappearance of one of the Radiating Undergrowth that had been providing its lighting.


    "Okay¡­" The cultivator blinked as she was partially blinded by that last flash even though she had been donning toughness. She waited for a few seconds, if just not to tempt fate. "It seems it has¡­ stopped?" Even a few seconds later, nothing combusted into flames. "Okay, thank the heavens for my paranoia. I know nothing has occurred, but it could! It just didn''t."


    After validating herself, Aloe approached the mushroom lying on the ground.


    "Oh hey, look! It is a mushroom!" Instead of a silhouette of pure light, a white mushroom not dissimilar from the death caps it had evolved from rested before her. "I suppose I can eat it now?"


    Aloe grabbed the non-radiating mushroom now with toughness still on, and whilst it was a bit hot to the touch, it was nothing she couldn''t handle. Then she started cooking. The cultivator lit her double Blossomflame hearth to heat the water and chopped the Radiating Undergrowth mushroom in the meantime. The evolved fungus looked no different from a normal one from the inside, so she reserved that memory for her sketches and then rinsed the chopped bits.


    As she wanted to test the ''absurd'' nutritional value of the Radiating Undergrowth, she decided to make a soup with just that, even if it may end up tasting either foul or insipid.


    Once the water was boiling, she unceremoniously dropped the chopped evolved mushroom inside and let it stew. Because the punching, the cutting, and the cooking had taken a while, Aloe proceeded to evolve the last Radiating Undergrowth of the day. This one she planted on a nearby boulder instead of some wall to compensate for the now diminished lighting.


    And who knew, if the fungus resulted in a solid food source, she may end up eating it and all. Such was the cycle of life for a cultivator and their produce.


    "Time for the taste test!" Aloe announced once she considered the meal was done cooking.


    Her hands trembled as she grabbed the bowl and led it to her mouth. Just in case, she was near not two, but three Blossomflames, and she was also donning toughness. If that wasn''t enough, she had a way or two to force herself to puke. Unfortunately, she had become quite an expert on it.


    Finally, she let the soup meet her lips. A piece of chopped Radiating Undergrowth entered her mouth.


    "Hmm, not bad." She pondered with her mouth half full. "It could do with other tastes. I can make a solid meal with all my vegetables now, but I would appreciate some salt."


    She let the mushroom shimmer in her mouth a bit in case something ¨C quite possibly explosive ¨C occurred as she had more likeliness of surviving if she could spit it out immediately.


    As nothing happened over the next few minutes, Aloe swallowed.


    "I kinda feel full already," she added after consuming the contents in her mouth. She waited a bit more before eating again, but as nothing else happened, she continued eating until she finished the bowl. "Quite full," Aloe burped as she placed the bowl down.


    Nothing else happened at all. No accidents, no violent death, not even a hint of pain. That being said, she didn''t eat for the next two weeks as hunger completely avoided her.

 Book 4: 66. Blur

    If the lack of a day and night cycle didn''t mess with Aloe''s perception of time enough already, her lack of hunger put the nail in the coffin. Not needing to eat meant that she didn''t have a natural clock to measure the passage of the day, and she now had more free time on her hands as the many hours she dedicated to cooking had vanished.


    It also didn''t help since a while ago now her cycle had been erratic at best. Sometimes it took far more weeks than it should have, which partially scared her. Though, at the same time, curses weren''t without their blessings, and not having to bleed for what felt like months certainly was one of the biggest blessings there were.


    To counteract her erratic menstruation, Aloe stopped donning recovery to sleep. Whilst she would rest less each time she went to sleep, that was a sacrifice she was willing to make to avoid making her crevice into a pool of blood. And it wasn''t much of a problem as it originally would have been as the Dream Spore left her well-rested with her dream experiments.


    The Radiating Undergrowths provided unlimited food and lighting.


    The Dream Spores provided quality sleep.


    The Blossomflames provided warmth and healing.


    She had everything she needed in her hand''s reach. She had no reason to leave her little bright hole underground. She had all the time in the world to slowly experiment and grow in power.


    Slowly but surely.


    All the previously listed factors accumulated in a singularity, making her incapable of acknowledging the passage of time. Hours, days, weeks¡­ all but just a blur.


    Before Aloe noticed, she had already reached the point of optimal evolution for the Slowtide, which was twenty-three mansworth. A staggering amount of vitality by any metric, but still not enough to fulfill her wishes. She would still need far more for that, orders of magnitude more.


    But when it was time to evolve her first Slowtide after ages, she reached a conundrum.


    "I can''t plant more of them, they grow too fast, and they don''t seem to stop. I don''t know how many I will need to evolve before reaching the necessary vitality for the living stones'' evolution, but at the very least, it''s safe to say it will be more than a hundred Slowtides. Too many. This¡­ pool of slime growing hundreds of times faster will be a problem."


    The Slowtide hadn''t grown that much in all this time, only about the size of the sand bathtub she had in her home back in Sadina, so around four square meters. That was only after a handful of months, so by itself, it wasn''t much of a problem, but the constant and unrelenting growth and her knowledge of the evolved lichen''s infinite infusion cost made her assume with confidence that it wouldn''t stop growing.


    A few square meters a year wasn''t a problem, but a few square kilometers each year? Now that was a catastrophe in the making.


    This wasn''t the first time Aloe had had that thought, so she tried some tactics to slow down Slowtide''s growth. First, she tried to burn the slime with Blossomflame, and whilst it seemed to work, it had taken her hours to chip away a few centimeters. Her next idea was planting a Radiating Undergrowth next to it. The strategy behind it was that the evolved death cap expelled great amounts of heat, so that would already make it hard for growth, but if the evolved lichen ended up getting too close either way, then the halo of infinite repulsion of the Radiating Undergrowth would definitely stop the pink slime from expanding.


    And, surprisingly, that idea did work.


    She had planted the Radiating Undergrowth between the Slowtide and the Tehen River as she feared the ever-expanding slime would contaminate the waters. Once the success of the evolved death cap was proven, she planted another one between the bright pink slime and her camp, so the Slowtide now could only expand upwards or away from her.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.


    That brought her to today. The only planted Slowtide was ''contained'' but she was worried what would happen if she planted the one she was going to evolve.


    "It''s too dangerous for no apparent benefit, I''ve yet to perceive these ''soporific properties'' of the Slowtide, I have to destroy any Slowtide I evolve. It''s the only way."


    It hurt her having to destroy the living beings she was pouring so much vitality into to evolve, but that was the only way. She couldn''t risk that much just for morbid curiosity.


    Aloe grabbed one of the patches of lichen she had been growing. Just in case, she had crops of everything she could evolve even if she didn''t need more. Currently, she had black seeds, cumin, aloe veras, cotton plants, liberty caps, death caps, lichen, and finally, living stones. Because she didn''t know how long those took to grow and she had a limited number of them, she decided to plant them instead of leaving them to rot in a pouch. She gave them shade acclimation and left them to grow at their own pace without external assistance as she still didn''t feel close to being able to evolve them, but she was going to try in the near future if just to check how far away she still was.


    Evolving a Slowtide was trivial as she purposely had waited before having the optimal amount of mansworth to be able to evolve three of them per day. Still, spending twenty mansworth in one go totally exhausted her even if the process was devoid of pain.


    "More. I need more vitality," Aloe talked to herself between pants as now a patch of bright pink slime rested in her fingertips. Then it was time to destroy the plant. "I don''t blame you," she told to the Slowtide, "such is your nature to expand, but I''m worried what will happen if I allow you to expand freely."


    Aloe donned toughness and approached a Radiating Undergrowth. There was a faster way of disposing of the Slowtides than slowly roasting them with the Blossomflames.


    She pushed her finger against the halo of radiation.


    No matter how much strength she applied, how many bones she broke even through toughness, Aloe was incapable of pushing through the halo of colorful violet-pink-blue of the Radiating Undergrowth. It was a wall of infinite pushing power that repelled her from moving closer.


    This also meant that the nascent Slowtide wasn''t trapped between a rock and a hard place, but a hard place and the hardest place.


    Even through the pain, the flames, and the smoke, Aloe held her finger against the Radiating Undergrowth until she felt the vitality from the Slowtide completely extinguish, its life force vanished from existence.


    "Ah," she groaned as she clutched her hand. "This hurts even through toughness. Blossomflames, heal me."


    Aloe was nowhere near a Blossomflame''s effective radius, but upon hearing her words, several of the evolved flowers woke up from their slumber and formed strands of fire across the air to connect with her burnt finger.


    So severe had been the burns from the prolonged exposure that the tip of her finger had turned into charcoal and her nail had partially melted. And all of that was only able to cause her a ''pestering'' amount of pain.


    Nothing that magical healing fire couldn''t solve.


    What was more surprising was that after donning recovery for five minutes after that, not only she was patched up like new, but her vitality reserves were full again. She dedicated a lot of time to building muscle mass to make her strength stance stronger and also did some exercises to practice her speed and sense stance. But without a doubt, the stance she trained more was the regeneration one.


    Every action she took basically pushed her vitality restorative capabilities.


    Her current recovery infusion allowed her to restore almost her maximum reserves in five minutes.


    Which meant she was slowly making it combat-suitable. The main reason why the sultanzade told them regeneration was a bad stance was because it couldn''t be used in combat scenarios, it was too slow for such purposes. But she now restored around a tenth of a mansworth per second.


    "I still need a way to use that vitality up, I should try to find how the sultanzade perform their flowing stance techniques. My current advantage is not the size of my reserves, but how fast I can restore them as the imperials don''t have a fast way to expulse their vitality as I do."


    Aloe was confident that most of the power behind her recovery internal infusion came from the fact that she was restoring tens if not hundreds of mansworth each day. Even the sultanzade who did use the flowing stance wouldn''t be spending that much vitality.


    "How am I at the bottom of a chasm, devoid of any need to work and also self-sufficient, but work keeps pilling up?" The cultivator groaned at her growing list of duties.


    She had to increase her reserves; keep herself alive, heavens knew when a random assassin would drop on top of her; practice with the Dream spore, she still had to make any significant progress; evolve the living stones; find a use for the Slowtide; train every one of her stances, both in prowess and switching time; and last but not least, discover new flowing stance techniques.


    "Hells, there are probably more items in that list I have forgotten."


    She had a lot to do, but she also had a lot of time. All in the world. It just blurred so easily¡­

 Book 4: 67. Far

    It spoke at great lengths about Aloe''s common sense and mental state when she considered burning her fingertips to charcoal a normal thing and a necessity.


    Each day she would evolve three patches of lichen, and each day she would obliterate three patches of Slowtide alongside her fingers. They had started to lose some sensitivity because of that¡­


    Nothing that donning a bit of acuity couldn''t solve if she wanted to make use of her fingertips, but she did her best to minimize the damage by always using her left hand and the same finger.


    The damage did slowly spread though. It wasn''t significant but she was aware of how her sense of touch was slowly disappearing around the nearby areas. The only saving grace was that her motor functions weren''t affected by the repeated radiation and healing.


    "I can''t keep this up," she told herself after healing her hand thrice today. "I need to evolve other things. I need to evolve the living stones."


    It was a growing itch. She had known for months that they could be evolved and required a lot of vitality, so she wanted to know how much. She had several times the vitality she had had since then, surely she was now able to evolve it. At least she should try.


    With growing anxiety and jitters, Aloe stabbed open one of the living stones she had planted. She had planted them months after coming down here, and yet they were already grown. How long had she been at the bottom of the chasm?


    Not that asking questions would get her answers. Not that she couldn''t leave either, she wouldn''t allow herself to do so. Too dangerous. She had to stay here, heavens knew how far and wide they were searching for her, not just the sultanate but also the assassins. There were enemies at every corner, at every shadow, she couldn''t allow herself to walk freely without contingencies ready.


    And there was no better contingency than unheavenly-sized reserves.


    Aloe grabbed the living stone seed, and without thinking twice, she pushed her vitality inside it with the intention of evolving it. It was but a reflex by now, no need to even muster a thought, just put her will into motion.


    In that instant, as the vitality flowed out from her fingertips, her vital force being sapped by the yellowish seed, Aloe comprehended two things.


    First, she was evolving it by having the seed in her fingertip.


    Second, SHE DIDN''T HAVE ENOUGH VITALITY.


    She had already known that the living stone evolution would require a lot, but by the time her mind recovered some lucidity, she had already lost five mansworth, and the drain rate had barely slowed.


    There was no time to think, no time to ponder, to make decisions.


    Aloe instinctively acted.


    She switched to potency, grabbed her knife, bit her lips, and brought down the edge. Her vision turned red for a moment, then the sickly snap reached her ears. Nausea assaulted her.


    "FUCK!" She shouted and rolled on the ground as pain jolted her fully awake.


    Most of the time she was getting hurt she donned toughness, so she was used to pain being numbed, but because she had to keep potency on for the cut, the sudden cut sent her whole being into a panic. A person''s body wasn''t supposed to be sliced like butter.


    She switched to toughness the next instant, and she already felt the heat of the Blossomflames as they started to bloom with fire, but she couldn''t stop hyperventilating as her finger bled. Her mind knew that she was fine, that she was in no danger, but her body couldn''t comprehend that.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    That feeling got worse when she saw the other half of her finger on the ground.


    She puked.


    The gesture was so sudden and visceral that she almost choked, and when she was done, her throat hurt from all the contents she had released.


    This was the first time emptying her stomach after having consumed Radiating Undergrowths so the vomit looked quite funky. But she couldn''t bring herself to worry about that.


    Now that a seed wasn''t leeching at her reserves beyond her control, Aloe grabbed her cut finger and pressed it against the wound.


    "Please reattach, please reattach," she prayed to the heavens. Then she switched her words, not praying, but commanding. "Reattach my finger!"


    Fires orbited her body in tendrils of blaze, and with soft caresses, they approached her finger and focused on the line that separated both parts. Aloe didn''t have to pray to forces that ignored her when she could wield her own.


    The itch was one of the worst she had ever suffered.


    Reattaching bone marrow and muscle tissue was somehow even worse than being steamed inside out. Thankfully, the pain was localized to a single digit instead of her whole body.


    A few tendrils of fire also went to her lips as she had punctured them by biting on them whilst she still had been wielding potency, but so awful was the pain in the finger that she hadn''t noticed until now.


    Soon, the itches and pain subsisted.


    Aloe collapsed on the ground, spent by the experience.


    "Oh heavens," she groaned next to the pool of vomit. "Why did I not evolve it through my hair?"


    Because she was impatient. Because she was tired. Because she needed some change in her life, and in a twisted way, she had been granted that wish.


    She brought her finger to her mouth and licked the blood again as if that was going to alleviate the phantom pain and itches she felt. When she noticed it held in place and she could move it, she also kissed it repeatedly.


    "Future undiscovered evolutions will always be attempted through hair contact, got that?" She told herself before standing up.


    There was a lot of cleaning that needed to be done.


    Aloe washed the puddle of vomit away and then cleaned her hands. Unfortunately, her kidneys failed her from the surprise, so she also washed herself alongside her clothes. Donning toughness made her impervious to the low temperatures of the Tehen River, basically immune to hypothermia.


    She didn''t fail to notice the white-ish color of her vomit. As her other earthly byproducts looked normal, she hadn''t even questioned whether undigested Radiating Undergrowths could look this differently.


    "Hmm, now it makes sense why I don''t need to eat after eating undergrowths. The last time I ate was a week ago, but there were still some intact leftovers inside my stomach, meaning that more than giving me the energy to go for weeks without eating, it''s closer to the fact that I digest them slowly and continuously. Nice?" She added with profound confusion at the end.


    That realization didn''t make much difference to her, but surely a scholar would appreciate it. Not that she was going to share that information. Not that she could in the first place.


    Once she was composed, relaxed, rehydrated, and not having a heart rate above one hundred, Aloe reflected on what she had experienced.


    "Okay, so how much vitality was that? Five mansworth in five seconds? Maybe a bit more?" She bit her fingernails as she continued pondering. "So far I''ve seen a similar pattern for evolution costs and draining rates. Maybe I can extrapolate a formula or at least a result. I need to crunch some numbers."


    Aloe cut an Aloe Veritas leaf and started inscribing numbers on its surface. These were rough approximations at best, she didn''t have definite values of how the Evolution drain rates actually worked, just gut feelings. But she had evolved so many living beings by now that those gut feelings were quite accurate. Or at least accurate enough for her liking.


    The aspect of this drain over time was similar to a sigmoid function, though Aloe wasn''t quite sure that was the name as it had been years since she had studied mathematics, no matter how advanced they were. In other words, it started with an elevated and constant drain, and towards the middle point it rapidly descended, until finishing with a low and constant drain as the evolution approached its maximum capacity.


    How pronounced that decrease of this formula was Aloe couldn''t tell. Her confidence in mathematics was only so high, and her abilities most likely were even lower. There was also the fact that the initial elevation and the final depression didn''t have the same length ¨C the former was way longer, meaning there was no symmetry ¨C and the fact that this function didn''t extend to infinity and was instead limited in time.


    She went over the numbers multiple times, making different estimates until she was ''satisfied'' with one. That was the light way to put it into words.


    "Fuck!" She swore and smashed the veritas leaf before her. She had unconsciously switched to potency, so the leaf ended up in nothing more than small pieces and a splotch of ink as it exploded from the overwhelming force.


    The cultivator couldn''t even bring herself to care about how she had dirtied another set of clothing on the same day. The only thing in her mind was a number.


    "One hundred," she muttered under her breath. "One hundred nince-damned mansworth!" Aloe let out a primal howl.


    She still was far away from her goal.

 Book 4: 68. Mastery

    Mastery over her dreams was an achievement Aloe had never expected to strive for, nor obtain for that matter.


    The Dream Spores allowed her to maintain a greater lucidity and memory of her dreams as they were connected to the world of ideas. The cultivator had no idea why that happened ¨C pun not intended ¨C but the assassin that had such answers was nowhere in sight to ask him.


    "Nince-damned Umar," Aloe found herself muttering those same words each time she was unable to find the assassin''s ghost in one of her expeditions.


    She had a lot of questions about the assassin''s vital arts, and the only person who would answer was already dead. And even when she had found a way to speak with the dead, the man had just simply disappeared.


    "He did say that he wasn''t that far from dying himself," she muttered under her breath. "That the real Umar was dead, and that he ¨C the imprint ¨C would soon follow. Is he really dead?"


    Nothing and no one answered that question for her.


    Regardless of the answer to that question, Aloe still tried to search for the old assassin whenever she ended up in the world of ideas. It was still a bit random, the first dream always was, but once she regained her lucidity, the subsequent ones she had complete control over. That did mean that most of her initial dreams were of¡­ lewd content.


    She hated her mind for that. There were more pressing things, she didn''t have time for that debauchery. As a matter of fact, she had had too much debauchery for a lifetime. Maybe in the next one, she would indulge in such activities, but no more in her current one.


    Her life was now dedicated to and fueled by curiosity and spite. Those were her driving forces and wishes. Truly the most superb of feelings, living for one''s satiation of the mind and the pain of others.


    Her experiments with interbreeding infused mushrooms had yet to demonstrate any metric of success, but Aloe was patient in that regard, it was her longest-term experiments.


    After her reserves reached the thirty-mansworth milestone, Aloe thought of evolving four Slowtides per day, but that presented some issues. Namely, pain and exhaustion. She was only now spending two-thirds of her reserves per evolution, but twenty mansworth were still twenty mansworth.


    "Either until I reach a higher mastery of the lichen''s flow of vitality or greater vitality reserves, I won''t be able to evolve more than three Slowtides per day. The fourth induces acute pain, and the fifth one severe nausea."


    Aloe had a fixation for testing on her own body, so of course, she had tried to evolve five Slowtides in a single day to see what would happen. The result she had already said, but it required further elaboration. After all, by ''severe nausea'' Aloe referred to vomiting.


    It truly wasn''t a vital art experiment if she didn''t end up emptying her stomach one way or the other.


    Her experiments with the Slowtide''s soporific properties had yet to yield any results. The more time went by, the more Aloe suspected that prey had to be trapped inside the evolved lichen''s slime to be afflicted by its sleeping properties.


    The only solace she found in the lack of results from many of her experiments was training. Even if her reserves lacked in comparison to most sultanzade, she was slowly becoming a force to be reckoned with. Whilst her body was still far from being as muscle-laden as Naila''s or ¨C heavens forbid ¨C Aaliyah''s, she was building her body to be even a menace against soldiers without needing to use Nurture.


    Such was the truth of the world, people had to dedicate a lot of time to sustain their way of life, but Aloe could dedicate all her time to growing stronger. No need for socializing, cooking, or even doing her business now with the help of the Radiating Undergrowths. Well, she still had to evacuate, especially urinate, but she needed to do so significantly less.


    She was slowly sketching a formula for how the amount of mansworth affected one''s boost in physical abilities, but she needed more points to have a definitive answer. With thirty mansworth, her practical increase was closer to what twenty mansworth of virtual increase should be.


    In simpler words, there seemed to be diminishing returns to Nurture.


    That did give her hope, because depending on how punishing the equation for physical increase growth was, maybe she was nearing the level of the older sultanzade. How great was the falloff of the equation''s growth? That was the question.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    Blossomflames and Dream Spore spores did help bridge that estimated gap.


    "Could I weaponize the undergrowths?" She found asking herself one day.


    The theoretical answer was yes, the practical answer was no. The Radiating Undergrowths would also hurt her, and if she could survive them with her toughness, so could the sultanzade.


    The trust she placed in the Blossomflames wasn''t for their offensive factor ¨C no cultivator would be defeated by measly flames ¨C but for their healing capabilities. She could outlast anyone if she had enough Blossomflames on her person. And the Dream Spores were more of a crowd control factor. Depending on how long the affected target remained asleep, it was basically a death sentence.


    But those were tools, she also needed to reinforce her body.


    The advantage of Nurture wasn''t its capability of boosting one''s physical capabilities individually, but the versatility of raising them on demand.


    Donning potency when being attacked was no different from courting death as that internal infusion weakened the body and provided no way to avoid the attack like haste or dexterity could. But donning those internal infusions or toughness would make you impervious to most attacks.


    So she practiced the switching time of the stances.


    Every. Single. Stance.


    Perhaps it was overkill and needless, but even non-combat stances like charm or stealth didn''t escape her training schedule. It was painful training glamour ¨C even if it was for seconds at a time ¨C after everything that nince-damned internal infusion had made her go through, but she justified it by compartmentalizing her mind and telling herself she was practicing glamour and not the charm stance.


    All for the sake of mastery.


    Until she was able to switch every Nurture stance in the blink of an eye, Aloe wasn''t satisfied with the results. From there, she took it on as natural training, passively letting her body gain more understanding of each stance whenever she used them.


    Even though she hadn''t practiced much toughness, it possessed already a switching stance lower than her reaction time. It was certainly possible, if counterintuitive, as she could just predict when someone could attack her instead of responding to an attack. That was how she guessed cultivator battles would act out as any time the speed stance entered the battlefield reaction time meant less than nothing.


    She could already barely react to her own body whilst donning haste, how more brutal would that difference be with greater reserves?


    One of the few ''highlights'' of her experiments was when she tried to evolve another Dream Spore as the single one she had looked too ''solitary''.


    Emphasis on tried.


    "Why aren''t you evolving?" Aloe screamed in an outburst as the spore in her hands refused to evolve. This was the sixth time trying. "What in the nine hells is wrong with you?"


    No matter what she tried, getting new spores, hunting for new mushrooms in the wild in case she had confused herself and planted mushrooms other than the liberty caps, but even with that, the spores she obtained refused to evolve.


    "Am I going crazy? Am I insane already?" She asked the heavens.


    They failed to respond.


    For the first time, Aloe was grateful for that, otherwise, her claim of lack of sanity would have been confirmed.


    "Raaaaaah!" She shouted and almost punted her grown Dream Spore like she had originally done when the fungus had induced her into a dream for the first time. "No, Aloe, calm yourself. There''s no problem whatsoever. It doesn''t matter that you can''t evolve a Dream Spore at all. Nothing really matters. You can always try to grow new Dream Spores from its spores!"


    Just in case, to quell her paranoia, Aloe evolved a Blossomflame in case she had forgotten how to evolve living beings other than lichen. And, indeed, she was able to do so. It just was the liberty caps that refused to evolve.


    A few weeks later, and with a bit of the use of her Forced Growth flowing stance technique, Aloe was capable of growing a second Dream Spore via the already evolved plant.


    She forgot most of the time that evolutions were still versions of their original self, meaning that they could spawn offspring.


    Most of her days tended to be far calmer, devoid of outbursts like the ones provoked by the lack of Dream Spore evolutions, but she was getting more irritable as time went on. Not even crushing rocks with her hands was able to quench that underlying itch. The only solution was to focus on her growth, no deviations, just pure unadulterated personal growth.


    More weeks passed by as her reserves reached the fifty mansworth milestone, Aloe couldn''t hold it anymore. She had to try to evolve the living stones again. She knew she was still far, but she had to try, nonetheless.


    "Let''s see how far I can get, maybe I can slow its drain rate enough to compensate it with vitality pills?"


    Her thoughts proved to be far too optimistic as even when she was donning recovery and doing her best to slow down the evolution''s sapping of her vitality, it was still too much. By the time she ran out of vitality, she was still midway through the descending slope of the evolution cost function, having poured around sixty mansworth worthy of vitality into the living stone seed.


    At least there hadn''t been any amputations needed this time around as she had worked with her hair. And because she had it long now, she was able to cut it casually without even feeling a tug on her scalp.


    "A bit more, just a bit more." If her calculations were right, she could use all her tools at her disposal to power through the drain rate once she reached the ''low-drain stage''. "Sixty mansworth, surely with that I will be able to evolve them."


    Not even close.


    "Seventy-five, with seventy-five vitality it should be enough," she added after nearly collapsing from her failed attempt.


    Sixty mansworth was no joke, and that had only been her maximum reserves. But between the regeneration stance''s vitality restoration, manually slowing the rate of draining, and the usage of Cure Grass pellets, that number was probably closer to seventy mansworth.


    She promised herself to fulfill to goal, but for the time being, she continued with her experiments. For some of them, success must have been close at hand, she felt it. No. She needed them to be successful. She ached for success.


    To this day, Aloe still has yet to decipher why the liberty caps didn''t want to evolve.

 Book 4: 69. Meaning

    It was an infuriating experience failing at everything one was disposed to do. Aloe boiled in the hatred of frustration. Countless dreams in the world of ideas had only brought her enhanced insight, but insight was useless without knowledge to complement it.


    No matter how many times she pressed herself into one of the hells, she was unable to get anything from them. Surely the world of ideas was related to the vital art of the assassins ¨C Enlightenment as Aaliyah had once called it ¨C but her insight was not realization. There were no revelations, no answers.


    It certainly didn''t help that Umar was nowhere to be seen. Her fears grew bigger, and she was mostly sure by now that even the man''s ghost had passed away, probably to a deeper hell.


    For the first time, Aloe comprehended that people could be burnt without any fire.


    A searing that didn''t permeate in one''s body, but the mind, ever-so-fickle.


    But she couldn''t give up just yet, there was something in that world ¨C in that hell ¨C that she still had to find. Was it answers? Was it a new magic? She couldn''t tell, but the insight was calling for her, to keep prying, to satiate her infinite curiosity.


    However, her struggles weren''t without higher and more difficult obstacles. Most of the time she pulled herself into dreams via Dream Spore, Aloe was forced to see the worst part of herself, the most hideous part of her humanity.


    Lust.


    Abhorrent debauchery, the sins of the flesh all born from her twisted self.


    She could tolerate those wet dreams lying with Rani or Fatima, perhaps even a faceless mist of a person without a defined gender. But things weren''t that simple, they always got worse. Sometimes Mirrah would appear. She was disappointed with herself that she was still lusting after her aunt, not only because she was a married woman, but a widow.


    A widow¡­ of her own device.


    Yet even with the clinging blood of her sins, Aloe saw lust as something worse than murder. Because she saw that it always could get worse. And she no longer was referring to how Naila may also appear in her dreams ¨C lusting over a minor was even more deplorable ¨C but of the ought.


    Of the what could be.


    What would be next.


    What if¡­ what if the dreams could be even worse? What if in one of those dreams that she looked to alleviate her lust it was no longer Rani who appeared but instead¡­


    Aloe puked.


    She couldn''t even put it into thought. It was too much. She was too scared. Scared of herself.


    Of her twisted mind.


    She continued to evolve. To practice. To not think. To close herself off in the cold darkness of a heaven-forsaken chasm. Light she may have and have control over, but never before had she felt a more oppressive darkness over her being.


    The comfort of ceaseless repetition, of outer instead of inner growth, was one pleasure Aloe was addicted to. Nurturing herself to be greater if paradoxically feebler.


    Time had truly lost its meaning. Comfort too. Why waste her hard-won vitality into making her crevice fertile when she could just push through her sleep? She was forced to wield toughness every time she went to sleep anyway. The cyclical functions of her body had¡­ lost their rhythm.


    Ah, the effervescence of meaning. Did something have to have meaning to be longed for? To desire it? Such passions were also devoid of such ''meaning'', but somehow, Aloe still continued to push herself.


    Sixty-one.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    Sixty-three.


    Sixty-nine.


    Seventy-two.


    Seventy-six.


    Eighty.


    "Ah," the miserable bag of flesh and bones groaned as the mist in her mind slightly cleared. It was hard feeling like oneself as of late, or so those were supposed to be her thoughts. "I promised to try the evolution once I reached seventy-five mansworth. I¡­ forgot."


    With a hand pressed against her head, Aloe stumbled forward. Her walk was precarious and her posture crestfallen, yet every time she was nearing a fall, an instinctual acuity kicked in, providing her supernatural balance. It was impossible for her to fall, to get hurt, to get a cold, yet¡­ she felt so weak¡­


    Aloe opened a living stone with her bare fingers. With a single push, the plant burst open, the seeds lying free at her disposal. The mess grabbed a seed and tied it on the tips of her long hair. So lengthy it was now that it reached her knees. So... devoid of meaning.


    But yet she knew what she had to do. How to do it. What steps to take during the process. Instinctually, part of a greater whole and practiced repetition, she donned recovery and reached for vitality pills with her hand.


    "Living stone evolution test number five begins¡­ now." Her tone may be dead, but her knack for theatrics had become muscle memory. It was as if she was legally bound by a contract to put that emphasis on the last word.


    Then the process started.


    Vitality poured out of her body and into the yellowish seed with great speed. But she couldn''t stay watching. She was close to the estimated amount of vitality the living stone would need to evolve, but she wasn''t there just yet. She had to fight for it.


    For life was a constant struggle.


    No matter her mastery, it was hard fighting against Evolution itself. The drain on her reserves was powerful and even with all her might, Aloe could only make a dent on its potent pump of vitality, but making a dent was more than enough. A statement. A fact that she could make a difference.


    With her overwhelming training in vitality usage, Aloe was confident that she was the most capable user of the regeneration stance in Khaffat. Combining her mastery of the stance and her eighty-mansworth, she could now restore a half-a-mansworth per second. Mighty powerful yes, but that was only when her vitality was topped.


    The living stone seed quickly made those values meaningless as her vitality reserves were halved in less than a minute. Her vitality regeneration slowed significantly, especially when adding into play the exhaustion that accompanied Evolution, but the process was already midway through.


    It was a matter of time before the vitality drain became sustainable.


    That was one thing she had failed to account for during all her evolutions, her prodigious restoration of vitality. So far, she had only been evolving beings when she already had the needed total vitality, but when considering that she could regenerate the vitality of a person each second when using recovery, evolutions suddenly didn''t look as daunting as before.


    She had transcended the need for maximum vitality.


    Or that was what the hopeful side of her said. A prideful optimism overtook her, though she didn''t know if it was healthy. Not that anything she was doing now was.


    Then, the tipping point had been reached.


    Equilibrium.


    Her vitality didn''t wane nor restore. For the first time in her experience with the vital arts, Aloe had managed to balance the output and input of vitality. The living stone seed was draining her reserves at the same rate she could regenerate them.


    But the equilibrium was bound to be broken.


    In her favor.


    Slowly but surely, the seed''s evolution started to satiate. The rate at which it absorbed vitality slowed as its hunger was no longer ravenous. It didn''t stop sapping her vitality anytime soon, though.


    Yet even as she had her vitality drained, it reached the beautiful point she had never expected to witness. The seed was being evolved, but she was naturally gaining vitality, no need for pills whatsoever.


    She almost cried.


    It was a small thing, one bound to happen if one put a bit of thought, but her body and mind still were overflowing with joy. Taking victories whenever she found them, yes, but nevertheless ones thriving in glory.


    "Ah," she let a yelp of fulfillment. She felt as if a part of her that had been empty for a long time had now been filled.


    Should she have filled such a hole with such a milestone? Probably not. But sometimes potholes had to be filled with sand just to straighten the road.


    It took time. It took tears. It took pain. It took suffering. But it happened. The seed stopped pulling from her very being, its hunger quelled. Voracity overtaken by raw quantity.


    Aloe''s fingers trembled as she found a greenish seed on the tip of one of her locks. Her reserves were already halfway full when they processed the meaning of her accomplishment. Without thinking about it twice, without enough mental power to take a more logical approach, Aloe pulled the seed out of her hair and rushed over the ever-useful Aloe Veritas.


    With a flick of hands faster than thought, Aloe unsheathed her knife, cut a leaf, and sheathed it again. The parchment-like leaf hadn''t even started falling when she finished.


    The cultivator soaked the newly evolved seed in the bleeding cut, and as the text magically wrote itself on the parchment, Aloe felt herself validated.


    Species: Heartgrowth


    Sobriquet: Synergic Symbiont


    Description: A member belonging to no family, their species is known for their ability to mimic organs and compliment the body of their host.


    Alignment: Life, Chaos

 Book 4: 70. Secretions

    Nothing could stop the shiver that traveled down Aloe¡¯s spine when she read the description of the newly evolved seed. The seed as such didn¡¯t generate the heebie-jeebies that some other seeds may induce, her problem was with the Aloe Veritas description. Perhaps it was her tired mind, but she was imagining already awful things.


    ¡°Don¡¯t judge too quickly,¡± she told herself. ¡°Let¡¯s assess the situation one step at a time. First, the name. Heartgrowth. If it¡¯s literal¡­ it may be a bit problematic, which I¡¯m inclined to guess it is. The soubriquet sort of reinforces that idea. Sort of. Also, Synergic Symbiont? Isn¡¯t symbiosis the definition of synergy? That¡¯s a bit of alliteration there.¡±


    Aloe caressed the veritas¡¯ parchment as if that gesture would grant her greater insight of the plant.


    ¡°The description is also interesting; I¡¯ve only seen this train of ¡®belonging to no family¡¯ only once before.¡± The cultivator turned her head to face the plant in question, the Blossomflame. ¡°I ignored it at the time, but what does that really mean? Have I created a new species altogether? Do the alignments have to do something with it?¡±


    Both the Heartgrowth and the Blossomflame shared the same alignments, but as much as Aloe pondered about it, such was one of those questions without answers. Alignments were words mostly devoid of meaning, only pointing out the requirements for the organism to evolve.


    ¡°Yeah, no idea,¡± she scratched her scalp as no answers came to her.


    The rough motion and the usage of recovery made it so that she pulled out some hairs as she alleviated herself. But considering the poor state of her mane, it was most likely that those hairs were already hanging out and she had just noticed them. It wasn¡¯t like she had combed her hair recently.


    ¡°Now, the meat of the question. ¡®Mimics organs¡¯ and ¡®compliments the host¡¯. The first sounds creepy, the second too, but a bit less. Basing on my knowledge of previous veritas¡¯ descriptions, I¡¯d say the former statement is visual, whilst the latter is a functional description. So¡­ compliments the body? I can guess how I will need to test it, but I¡¯m not looking forward to it. Let¡¯s grow this bad girl.¡±


    As she had finally reached her much-awaited milestone, Aloe no longer had a need to safekeep her reserves, meaning that she could use as much vitality as she wanted to grow the Heartgrowth.


    Firstly, she infused the seed with shade acclimation as she was ninety-nine percent sure it wasn¡¯t a mushroom, so it would need that external infusion to grow down here.


    ¡°Now that I think about it, wouldn¡¯t my many undergrowths recreate the effect of sunlight on my crops?¡± Aloe scratched her nose as she planted the infused seed. The cost of infusion had been negligible for her current self, even if it had been in the early two digits. ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t really care though? I mean, I could test it, but I¡¯m in no rush, and accelerated growth will be a non-factor if I intend to use infused blood.¡±


    She patted the soil on top of the Heartgrowth seed and let the matter rest, it was time to force this seed to grow.


    ¡°Hmm, I want to test how fast I can grow a seed. Considering I have like fifteen times as much vitality as when I used to perform blood infusions, what if I use fifteen mansworth in this one? A bit of stress testing, we could say.¡± She talked to no one but herself.


    As no one could stop her, she did as promised. Aloe switched to potency with an afterthought and ¨C very carefully ¨C bit her finger. Her strength was now one of legends, if she wasn¡¯t careful, she could have bitten her finger off without noticing.


    Once a drop of blood poured from the wound, Aloe pushed her vitality into it, almost pouring enough vitality to evolve a Slowtide into it.


    Then as she committed to let the blood drop, everything went wrong.


    Her whole body went into a seizure. Her vision blurred, her ears rang, her extremities spasmed, and every hole of her body discharged as she was pushing vitality out of them.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    She puked and her vision faded to black.


    When she regained consciousness a few seconds later ¨C she had instinctively donned toughness ¨C she found herself on the ground. The infused blood drop had been soaked by the ground and the Heartgrowth was growing in real time before her eyes at a speed of centimeters per second, but she couldn¡¯t care less about that right now.


    ¡°What has just happened?¡± She asked the heavens with a hint of fear.


    They failed to answer her.


    The same couldn¡¯t be said for the Blossomflames which quickly assisted her with their tendrils of fire. Aloe herself didn¡¯t feel the pain, but she was in shock and donning toughness, her whole being was numb at the moment.


    As she felt warmth in her cheeks, she caressed them, only to find wetness. They weren¡¯t tears, but blood. The same held true for her ears.


    ¡°Ah, hahaha¡­¡± She chuckled hysterically but collectedly. ¡°It would seem every orifice has pushed something out, not only the wound in my finger.¡±


    And with that, she didn¡¯t mean just blood. She quickly became aware of the puddle of urine forming underneath her, but as she moved, she noticed the roughness of her movements. She had also soiled herself.


    It would have been easy to scream, but Aloe simply took a deep breath and reassessed the situation.


    ¡°I pushed too much vitality out of the sudden,¡± Aloe guessed. ¡°It was my body that panicked, not myself. This is like that time when I amputated my finger, and even if it was a flesh wound, my body reacted poorly.¡±


    Aloe went over the events leading up to her collapse back on her mind, and she noticed something with her vitality.


    ¡°Blood infusions use up current vitality, but also maximum vitality. By having used this much current vitality, I¡¯ve also spent a great deal of maximum vitality. The question is how much.¡±


    The cultivator grabbed a black seed from one of her satchels and evolved it. The single mansworth consumed gave her a rough idea of her current reserves.


    ¡°Oh heavens,¡± she led a hand to her mouth as she realized the severity of the situation. ¡°I¡¯VE JUST SPENT A WHOLE MANSWORTH ON A BLOOD INFUSION?¡±


    She screamed so hard that her lungs and throat hurt even through toughness, so much so that a Blossomflame had to intervene to heal her. Aloe let out a few pants and took in a few puffs of air before talking again.


    ¡°My body¡­ doesn¡¯t seem to like a having a whole mansworth being suddenly removed from it. Neither do I.¡± She mused after a while. ¡°And as much as I want to investigate the effects of this colossal blood infusion, I¡­ really need to clean myself up.¡±


    Never before had Aloe felt this dirty. It would appear that in the definition of ¡®every orifice¡¯ skin also was included in. At least it wasn¡¯t blood, just sweat, but between copious amounts of sweat, blood, vomit, urine, and excrement, Aloe felt like puking a second time. Although she doubted any vomit would come out now, most likely only bile remained in her system.


    If it weren¡¯t for toughness, she would have collapsed for a second time.


    ¡°Actually, I may be collapsing constantly, but my toughness is so potent now that¡­ I may wake up before I notice.¡± She recalled how she had fallen unconscious before and practically recovered consciousness instantly as the defense stance protected against loss of consciousness effects.


    And that was when her vitality was only around six mansworth.


    Even factoring the non-linear and non-proportional effects of vitality, Aloe still was reinforced by the toughness internal infusion by many degrees.


    The petite woman quickly undressed and dived in the river, such was her state of uncleanness that she couldn¡¯t even bring herself to fear the Tehen River. Her experiences had been traumatic, but trauma was spare change for her now, for better or worse.


    The cold water chilled her to the core, but she didn¡¯t gasp even as everything but her head was submerged in the torrent. Even before her massive increase of vitality, toughness already protected her against most temperature-based effects, and now that was amplified.


    It was hard fighting against the current of the river as she struggled with her grip on the edge of the river walls, but she managed to hold on. This was but a slightly extreme cold shower for her. Even if she was boasting toughness, strength didn¡¯t falter her. As much as shifting stances weakened her other physical attributes, Aloe had noticed that after hitting the diminishing returns of vitality, her non-boosted attributes were not as weakened as before.


    She was almost at her base level strength with toughness on.


    Now, that may even seem problematic with the girl that fell on this chasm. But such a woman existed no more. She had trained her body with the zealousness of a weakened and bored mind. Fighting the strong current of a river was hard, but not impossible by any means.


    Aloe took a deep breath and finally submerged her whole body into the frigid waters to remove all the nasty secretions that had come out from her head.


    When Aloe reemerged, she was a new woman. Her long black hair stuck to her dark skin, but there was no rigidness in her wet self, her eyes glowed emerald. Refreshed, attentive, and pristine. Uncleanness was trivial, she had better things to focus on.

 Book 4: 71. Heartgrowth

    As much as her lust for knowledge and discovery was assaulting her, Aloe still had to do some chores. Namely cleaning and dressing herself. Now not even the coldness and the dampness of the Tehen River could faze her with toughness on, but in the name of civility and decency, Aloe chose to wear clothes.


    Once she had cleared the mess she had made, the cultivator went back to where she had planted the Heartgrowth seed.


    "I¡­ I should have expected this," she muttered as she beheld the consequences of her actions.


    The hard rock surrounding the patch of soil where she had planted the centennial-cost evolution had now metamorphosed with said soil, suddenly becoming fertile ground. That wasn''t a problem, in any case, it was a positive outcome. The issue was with the things that grew in the new soil.


    Cure Grass always proved eager to grow, and even if there shouldn''t have been any seeds around, the evolved grass had somehow managed to expand in the new soil, covering many square meters of land. But that still wasn''t the problem.


    The Slowtide was.


    In just the handful of minutes she had been out, the bright pink slime had expanded a handful of meters. Severely less than the grass blades, yes, but there was a difference between an invasive species and a calamitous one.


    "Thank the heavens I planted those undergrowths¡­" Aloe let out a sigh of relief after judging the Slowtide''s expansion.


    The evolved lichen''s growth had been limited thanks to the Radiating Undergrowths acting as natural barriers, though now that side of the riverbed had been completely encased in slime, alongside a great deal of the wall.


    "How far has the blood infusion reached?" She meant it as a rhetorical question until she remembered that she could calculate the surface. "Fifteen mansworth¡­ take the formula¡­ Oh heavens! More than two hundred square meters!"


    Aloe gasped at the magnitude of her actions.


    "I was protesting at having wasted one whole mansworth but now¡­ I just¡­ wow¡­" She was speechless. "Blood infusions not only make infertile soil into fertile one but also have the properties of the Forced Growth flowing stance technique, meaning that they also grow things fast. For fifteen temporal mansworth and a maximum one I''ve grown everything this much and made the soil equally fertile¡­"


    It was a waste of vitality, she didn''t need that much soil nor to grow that many living beings in such a small frame, but the fact that she could do so was breathtaking, nonetheless.


    "I should plant new undergrowths to stop any further spreading of the Slowtide, but I have time, right now I''m more curious about something else."


    The Heartgrowth called for her.


    Literally.


    Thump. Thump. The wet pulse of the thumping plant made itself audible. Thump. Thump. It moved in a constant thrum, pumping heavens knows what in the ground, heaving and contracting. Thump. Thump. Yes, like a real heart.


    "Oh heavens, that''s¡­" She smacked her lips. "I now understand the ''mimic organs'' part. That''s¡­ very much a heart, yup. Heart."


    The visceral image of a vegetable heart pumping in place before her erased any words and coherent thought from her brain. A part of her was drawn to that oscillating movement. Aloe knelt before the green heart and placed her palm on top of it.


    Nothing exploded. Nothing killed her. Nothing attacked her. The heart just¡­ continued to perform its heartly task with its nonstop beat.


    "I¡­ expected the worst, but now I''m disappointed." The cultivator groaned. "The Heartgrowth does seem to mimic organs, that much is clear now, but what are the limitations of this imitation? Will it change shapes over time like the Chlorotrophy, or does it get assigned one upon conception?"The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    The part that interested Aloe more about the Heartgrowth was the ''complimenting the body of the host'', but she couldn''t help but feel attracted to the otherworldly sight of a heart growing from the earth.


    A beating one at that.


    Before she noticed, Aloe had grabbed an Aloe Veritas leaf and she started sketching in its parchment surface. One thing she had discovered with time was that depending on the stance she was wielding, she could improve her drawing skills. The sense stance gave her preternatural proprioception, allowing her to shape her thoughts into pictures with increased ease. Even then, she preferred the agility stance as it not only gifted her with impossible flexibility but also enhanced control over her body. A surgeon''s steady pulse was a given with that stance.


    The name of ''dexterity'' she had given for its Infusion name to the agility stance was more accurate than she had originally believed.


    Once she was over with her sketches, Aloe ¨C with the knife still in hand ¨C cut the Heartgrowth. A shallow incision where the aorta was supposed to be found in a human heart. She was pleasantly surprised to find a pressurized jet of sap pouring out of the wound.


    "It replicates a heart perfectly, even functionality, interesting¡­" She noted that down alongside her sketches.


    The cultivator was amazed too when the wound rapidly closed and healed as if there hadn''t been one in the first place.


    "Hmm, not as fast as Blossomflame healing, but it is quite fast, nonetheless," Aloe noted that last comment before leaving her knife and the parchment on the ground. "Now for the ugly test."


    Without hesitating, Aloe uprooted the Heartgrowth. If it died, oh well, but if it didn''t¡­


    "It''s still beating, that''s good¡­" She observed the motions of the plucked plant. She had been thorough with the removal so there was no way for the plant to receive sustenance from the soil. "Ah, it''s slowing¡­ It has taken a bit to do so, though. How long it was? Five minutes before a complete halt? That''s pretty good, I doubt my heart could continue beating five seconds after getting plucked out of my chest, let alone five minutes."


    The last test consisted of replanting the evolved living stone, but unfortunately, her expectations were betrayed. Even if the roots weren''t damaged and she perfectly restored the plant''s previous position, the heart failed to resuscitate.


    "How curious," she muttered under her breath. "The plant itself seems to be alive as it has yet to wither, but the functions of the organ it is supposed to mimic have ceased. Further experimentation needed."


    There were so many things about the Heartgrowth she wanted to experiment with, yet so little time in a day.


    Aloe let the matter rest for now as she had emptied her stomach with her previous regurgitation, so it was time to cook for the first time in a handful of days. She never enjoyed eating nor cooking, and with her current limited resources, that held even truer. Eating a Radiating Undergrowth soup was practically mandatory, she could free herself from the actions of eating and cooking for weeks at a time. It was a win-win scenario for her.


    She was exhausted from the Heartgrowth evolution and the massive blood infusion, so after eating, she promptly went to sleep.


    When she woke up ''the next day'', she felt worse than yesterday. Her excitement had been so great that it had hidden her exhaustion and now her body was suffering from it. Still, she was used to pain and exhaustion, so she didn''t allow herself a complete rest. She evolved five Slowtides across the day alongside simple exercises to keep her body running.


    Considering her vitality was closing into the three digits, five Slowtide evolutions weren''t as oppressive as they had once been. The problem was always when she had to dispose of them by obliterating them out of existence.


    The next time she woke up she was rested enough to continue with her experiments.


    "Alright, almost two days have gone by, and you''ve got yet to beat again." She talked to the Heartgrowth with her hands on her hips. "I guess you are truly dead, at least the heart part of you, not the plant itself."


    As previously observed, the plant had failed to show traces of withering and was overall healthy, but the organ functions continued to be halted.


    "I need to evolve another one." It wasn''t the most optimal path to grow her reserves, but curiosity was killing her, she needed to know more about her new plant.


    As she had already done it once, evolving a living stone seed wasn''t difficult even if she still lacked the necessary vitality to do so. But that didn''t mean she didn''t regret doing so.


    "Oof..." Aloe groaned in pain and clutched her heart after finishing the evolution. "Yeah, I haven''t recovered yet. This was a bad idea¡­ Oh, well, the harm''s done. Let''s plant this bad girl!"


    She instantly bounced back from her pain and burrowed the seed into the soil, but she was aware she couldn''t keep mistreating her body that way. Her heart had never hurt like that before, and it didn''t surprise her, this was her first time dealing with vitality amounts this big. Not only with the Heartgrowth evolution but also with that blood infusion.


    The phantom pain of having a mansworth removed from her body in a fell swoop still lingered in her body.


    As much as she hated it, she would need to play it safe and slow these following days before she recovered from her non-healable wounds. She was reaching the finish line; she just had to be patient and play her cards correctly. Temperance was a blessing, and impatience a curse.

 Book 4: 72. Slime

    Aloe rested for the following weeks. The massive blood infusion had wrecked her body more than she had originally thought, even five days later she was feeling a modicum of discomfort. But that didn''t prevent her from evolving five Slowtides per day. Whilst twenty mansworth were still a considerable amount of vitality, she now had frice that much, so her body could easily assimilate such taxing evolutions if she scattered them along the day and took breaks.


    However, her experiments on Heartgrowth were forced to stop regardless of her intentions. As it would seem, the seeds of a ''dead'' Heartgrowth weren''t fertile, but it wasn''t like she knew if the seeds of a living Heartgrowth were fertile, to begin with. Though common sense told her otherwise.


    A plant wouldn''t have seeds if they were infertile, after all.


    "Is the term infertile or sterile?" She found herself mumbling after the seed she had planted failed to grow days after doing so. Not even Forced Growth seemed to change that. "I mean, infertility just means lowered chances of conception in humans, but at the same time, when you say that soil is not fertile it means that nothing will grow there¡­ I never expected to have a philosophical ¨C ontological? ¨C discussion with myself about the fertility of plants."


    As she couldn''t grow new Heartgrowths from her existing one nor evolve new ones at the moment, Aloe distracted herself with other experiments.


    It frustrated her to no end being unable to find Umar in the world of ideas, but she was also satisfied with her control over her dreams induced by the Dream Spore. She could almost shift into the world of ideas at will! A bit of an exaggeration, and even if it wasn''t, there wasn''t much utility to it.


    "The world of ideas seems to be a replica of the of our world but based on¡­ observation. I guess there''s a utility as some sort of astral projection, being able to observe the real world without obstacles nor being able to be detected, but that isn''t of much use, is it?"


    Aloe had originally thought of using that connection to spy on her acquaintances but considering what she had done to half of them with her departure and that some others may be at Asina, she held herself back from doing so. It left a bad taste in her mouth to even think of trying.


    It was a cowardly thing to do.


    And she was also scared of what she might see.


    She was incapable of looking at little Aya even if it was from worlds apart.


    Her focus was now on substituting some of her daily Slowtide evolutions for Radiating Undergrowth ones to halt the growth of the existing Slowtide. The pink slime grew slowly, but just to be sure, Aloe used some of her vitality to force the radiating fungi to grow.


    There were some issues with planting on the wall though.


    "How do I climb this?" She pondered as she looked at the vertical growth of the Slowtide. It reached tens of meters high. "I mean, with a potency jump I could reach it easily, but the Slowtide underneath worries me¡­"


    Unfortunately, she couldn''t allow herself to be deterred by worry. Heavens knew what would happen if she left the Slowtide to grow unchecked. With her heart in her fist, Aloe evolved a death cap and jumped above the Slowtide to plant it above it.


    And¡­


    She was successful. After applying a bit of force, the glowing spore at her finger stuck on the wall, rooting itself to grow in the future. With the use of the sense stance, Aloe was able to control her airtime and movements, so she was able to redirect her fall to the side instead of on top of the Slowtide.


    "A bit scary, but not even close," she puffed her chest in victory. "Two more to go!"


    The Slowtide pool was so expansive that she wanted to have some redundancy so the slime wouldn''t grow around the Radiating Undergrowths.


    But before making any further attempts, she had to rest a bit. Even if she now had enough vitality to evolve eight Radiating Undergrowths in a row ¨C maybe infinite as her vitality regeneration with recovery on was no joke ¨C her body still was exhausted after any given evolution. It just so happened that the more maximum vitality she had, the lesser that exhaustion became.Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.


    Though resting for her meant different things compared to most people. There wasn''t much to do down here, after all. Her main activities that could be counted as leisure time were either drawing or exercising. It sounded preposterous to exercise as a way of taking a break, but when taking into account that her recovery internal infusion could give her a complete rest in just five minutes, and the fact that using vitality wasn''t the same type of physical exertion, it wasn''t that farfetched to say.


    After having sweated a bit, Aloe evolved a new Radiating Undergrowth and planted it on the top of the wall. No issues whatsoever. Being unable to go back to training after the interruption, Aloe decided to evolve the next death cap without resting. Her reserves had already been topped out, after all.


    She didn''t think much of it, evolving it only took her a minute, and pushing the spore into the wall even less. So she did it.


    With potency on, Aloe jumped above the Slowtide and pressed her hand against the wall. The spore had become a bit lodged in her fingerprint, so it took her a bit of finicking to get it stuck on the wall.


    Not much time, but enough to lose her footing and fall down.


    Panic overtook her mind, but her body was far calmer. She simply pressed her feet against the wall¡­


    "Oh," she mumbled in realization.


    The surface underneath her foot wasn''t a rock wall. And most importantly, she had been so calm that she had introduced it slowly.


    The Slowtide devoured her foot.


    "Move!" Aloe yanked her foot out of the vertical slime growth, but the movement killed her horizontal momentum, only the vertical one from gravity remained. "Uh, oh."


    The cultivator smashed hard against the ground. The fall hadn''t been severe, and because she was able to wield toughness in less time than it took her to blink once, she basically didn''t feel it. It also helped that the fall had had some force behind it, meaning that she wouldn''t sink on the Slowtide.


    "Ugh, that could have gone worse." Aloe groaned whilst scratching her head, and slowly stood up. "Oh," she realized.


    Of all the ways she could have stood up, she had chosen the worst one.


    Her body plummeted into the slime.


    Now it was time for her body to panic.


    Of the many internal infusions her body could subconsciously choose, it opted for recovery. Aloe already knew the liquid properties of the bright pink slime, so as she struggled against the liquid and submerged herself even more as a consequence, her breath didn''t decrease at all.


    When her body became fully covered by the slime, she finally acknowledged that and consciously chose to keep that infusion. The regeneration stance would allow her to sustain herself for minutes, if not more.


    She struggled and tried to push her body forward, but try as she might, the slime was too thick to push around for her diminished ¨C or rather, default ¨C physical capabilities. If she wanted to get out, she would need potency, but she held off on that for now. The moment she switched out of recovery, she would be in a race against time.


    How deep is this, by the way? Aloe asked herself as she had already been falling for a few seconds now. It has to have a limit, right? She wasn''t so sure of it. There''s only one way to check it¡­


    As she opened her eyes expecting to find complete darkness or severe irritation in her eyes, Aloe was greeted by a bizarre image.


    What the¡­? The space around her wasn''t completely dark but a limitless void of illuminated bright pink. How? How can I see? Isn''t this slime? She moved her hands around and there was indeed resistance, but she could see as if it was air surrounding her. The horizon looked pink, but the slime trapping her body was practically translucent.


    This¡­ is interesting. Even though she had fallen into a death trap, Aloe couldn''t help but be fascinated by the sight. Not only are my eyes not being melted by the slime or something along those lines, but I can clearly see.


    After stopping her struggle, the slime settled into place, keeping her from falling and allowing her to continue observing without fear of falling even deeper. Okay, I have a bit of time before I should start worrying about my life¡­ so let''s explore a bit.


    Aloe observed her surroundings and no matter the direction, she was unable to find any end to the slime.


    Is there no end, or can I simply not see it? She mused. Now, I don''t see the entrance, but gravity seems to be a thing here, so it must be upwards¡­ Truth be told, she should have been more scared about not finding the place where she had entered this liminal void, but she felt oddly at peace.


    Uh, oh. I fear those are the soporific properties of the Slowtide speaking. Instead of feeling ecstatic at finally having found those elusive soporific properties she had been hunting for months, Aloe panicked. Gotta get the fuck out of here.


    She sluggishly moved her head upward and looked at where the entrance should be. Well, here goes nothing. She switched recovery for potency and swam upwards with all her might. The solid slime became liquid from one moment to the other and gravity started pushing her downwards again, but her strength was far greater than any pulling force.


    It only took her a handful of armfuls to get out of the slime.


    "Aaaaah!" Aloe gasped for air, but as the Slowtide continued to push her inwards, she rushed for the edge and grabbed onto firm land, removing herself from the slime pool without thinking twice. Not a trace of slime stuck to her body. "Dunes, that was scary!" She shouted with her augmented lungs. "But¡­"


    The cultivator bit her thumb as she pondered. She had been at death''s door a few seconds before, but now, curiosity was leading her. There was an arousal in knowledge and casually ignoring death.


    "The Slowtide almost managed to make me fall asleep and possibly kill me, but I didn''t fail to notice how its insides are apparently infinite in size. I wonder if I can use this¡­"


    Fear was substituted by desire. A ceaseless and uncontainable desire to experiment to know more.

 Book 4: 73. Garden

    After a few more weeks and restoring the mansworth-sized hole that the blood infusion had made on her reserves, Aloe was ready to evolve a new Heartgrowth. Even readier than before as her reserves edged on the three digits.


    With recovery on, she had nothing to worry about as she poured her copious reserves into the living stone seed, but she still performed the evolution through her hair.


    Just in case.


    Maybe she was impervious to amputations ¨C or more exactly, could shrug them off ¨C but that didn''t mean she looked forward to them.


    Her fears soon proved to be unfounded as she finished the evolution with time to spare. Restoring one mansworth per second was a scary ability.


    "I wonder if at some point I will restore vitality so fast that evolutions won''t even be able to offset my natural regeneration?" Aloe said as she picked up the seed from the tips of her long mane.


    It was uncomfortably long by now, certainly more than a meter long, but she was curious how far she could take it. It seemed that vital arts, or a Nurture stance, boosted the growth of her hair, so she was interested in seeing what the limits were.


    But now that didn''t matter.


    "Let''s grow you, shall we?" Aloe giggled with the Heartgrowth in her hands, and she planted it near the ''deceased'' Heartgrowth.


    She didn''t want to repeat the blood infusion accident, nor halt her reserve growth for the time being, so she opted for using Forced Growth. The flowing stance technique was inefficient at growing anything, it required far too much vitality for the little growth that it stimulated, but the last time she had tried it was when she didn''t have much vitality at all.


    Her current self provided that much vitality every handful of seconds.


    Continuously.


    With a deep breath, Aloe planted her palm against the ground and focused her vitality sense on the Heartgrowth seed. It was unfortunate that she couldn''t have both the flowing stance and the regeneration stance at the same time, otherwise this would have been a much simpler process.


    "Ah, what would I give to have two infusions at the same time?" She knew the cost, and the answer was nothing.


    It was too much of a sacrifice, too much of a liability to have someone dote on her with an external infusion. And she still didn''t know if external infusions could be transformed into Nurture stances. There was a high chance that she could only use the external stances she knew of, which weren''t very useful except for longevous perennity that would extend her lifespan.


    Yes, she had tried it on plants to ensure the mythical external infusion existed and wasn''t a lie weaved by Aaliyah, or that it only worked on humans.


    "This is not the time for this," she told herself. "Focus."


    And she blasted the soil with her vitality.


    One thing she had discovered about the flowing stance was that it wasn''t really needed to compartmentalize limited amounts of vitality to push them outwards like she had been doing all this time. Like Infusion or Evolution, she could just keep pushing her vitality out with that intention.


    There were benefits and disadvantages to this method, though. If she constantly kept the flowing stance on, that meant she couldn''t use other stances. If she needed to continuously supply vitality to the stance then it was a non-issue, but she wanted to keep her vitality up. So instead of making the flowing stance behave like any other stance, Aloe compacted blobs of vitality worth ten mansworths and then shifted to the regeneration stance.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    The vitality with the Forced Growth intention still remained on her fingers, but she could push it out of her body slowly with recovery on to continue regenerating her vitality.


    "Ah yes, the poor man''s double infusion," she joked. "If I could discover other applications of the flowing stance, I could technically use two stances at the same time. One would have to always be the flowing stance, though."


    Nothing stopped her from pushing her ten mansworth of Forced Growth vitality into the seed in one go, but it also wasn''t worth it to do so. Even if the vitality had left her reserves, it still was in her body, so if she were to expulse it in one go, that would exhaust her. Better to keep a slow and steady pace and pour vitality out as she restored her reserves.


    She weaved in and out of the flowing stance as she used up the stored vitality. Using up this much vitality would have exhausted ¨C should have exhausted her ¨C but because she wasn''t going even lower than ninety percent of her total reserves, she didn''t feel the exhaustion as much.


    It was slowly building up, but it was way less significant than it should have been. Instead of a powerful exercise or something frenetic like a fight, this was more akin to taking a walk. Perhaps a few hours were a bit too much, but one hour didn''t affect one much.


    There was something beautiful about seeing plants growing at her touch too. With an uninterrupted flow of vitality, she was able to basically make any plant grow in real time, tens if not hundreds of times faster than they should.


    A bit beyond the hundred mansworth mark, the Heartgrowth was fully grown, its own pulse of vitality shifting from occasional pulses to the true thrum of life.


    "Ah," Aloe groaned in exhaustion and collapsed on the ground, her palms supporting her body from fully crumbling. "Forced Growth is soooo inefficient, early three digits for a plant this small does not bode well. I mean, it has only taken me five minutes to grow it, but heavens, I''m beaten. I want to sleep soooo badly¡­"


    Contrary to her words, Aloe rebounded with a jump and then started inspecting the grown Heartgrowth as if her exhaustion had been a mirage. Recovery tended to do that, even if it could only alleviate tiredness.


    "Alright, so this one is a liver. Right¡­" She tried to come up with a joke, but there weren''t many things one''s wit could muster about a vegetable liver. "I do wonder if it can be eaten, or how it tastes. I mean, it is a liver. Perhaps it even tastes like a normal one?"


    Whilst she was not an expert cook, she had helped her mother or¡­ Mirrah cook more than once, so she had seen her fair share of animal innards. Goat liver was quite a delicacy too.


    "Let''s go step by step first," she wiped out her drool. "The organ Heartgrowths mimic are set at¡­ birth? Sure, let''s go with that. The moment they are born and manifested as seeds, they are assigned an organ. Now I wonder, do Heartgrowth seeds of a specific organ produce the same organ or a different one?"


    There was only one way to test it.


    Aloe carefully stabbed the living Heartgrowth in search of seeds. She had become aware of this with the heart Heartgrowth, but seemingly, the seeds could be anywhere on the plant, even the outside. They seemed to not follow any given or discernable pattern.


    After removing a seed that was barely prodding out from the tissue, the cultivator planted it next to its parent. As she was still quite exhausted, Aloe searched for more seeds and planted half of the ones she found. Her next test would be to kill this new Heartgrowth ¨C then eat it ¨C and see if the seeds extracted before the plant''s death would be sterile or not.


    Fast forward to tomorrow, her experiments brought some pleasant surprises.


    Seeds originally from a Heartgrowth didn''t necessarily inherit their organ type. In this case, Aloe got a lung, which was frankly creepy as it kept filling and emptying with seemingly no purpose whatsoever. What would she do with so many different vegetable organs, she had no clue.


    The next day, she finally killed the liver Heartgrowth and cooked it. Unfortunately, this experiment wasn''t as successful. Even if the vegetable liver didn''t taste bad, it wasn''t goat liver. She wasn''t dramatically affected by her loss of possible cultivated meat ¨C growing meat from trees sounded like a dream ¨C as she had long ago given up on taste, meals, and cooking.


    The Radiating Undergrowth made everything too comfortable, and she never enjoyed eating, to begin with.


    Now, her latest experiment was a curious one. Seeds from a deceased Heartgrowth removed prior to its death were still fertile, but if she were to plant seeds taken from a dead Heartgrowth, these would never grow.


    Somehow.


    Even though she was dealing with magical plants and magical arts, that fact irritated her to no end. Even inside the twisted logic of the vital arts, seeds losing their fertility because their parent died made no sense whatsoever.


    Having nothing better to do until she started evolving her Heartgrowths instead of planting existing seeds like any normal cultivator, Aloe planted all her existing seeds. She didn''t have an answer or a justification for why she was doing so, but there was something compelling and enthralling about having a garden composed of organs pulsing and living on the soil.


    "I wonder how long it will take me to have a fully grown body," Aloe mused to herself as she overlooked her camp. "That image sounds quite¡­ exquisite."

 Book 4: 74. Symbiosis

    If she let her mind wander, time truly was a construct devoid of innate value. Before she became aware of the passage of time, Aloe was already evolving Heartgrowths. Even if she didn''t even need half of her reserves to evolve the living stones, she still had to have maximum reserves of one hundred and fifteen mansworth to avoid any exhaustion and damage from the evolution.


    Or minimize it.


    With her combined natural vitality regeneration and the recovery internal infusion, she could now evolve a Heartgrowth without going lower than seventy mansworth, but she was still using up that vitality.


    And one hundred mansworth were nothing to scoff at.


    Even though she was already at the point of being able to evolve three per day, she was utterly spent by the end of it. Sometimes she skipped her training sessions out of pure exhaustion. She was playing on a different magnitude now, no longer she was working with two digits, but three. And a person with vitality reserves on the two digits was already outrageous, let alone one on the three digits.


    The more time passed by, the more Aloe was convicted of the unnatural nature of vitality. Or at least, the accumulation of that much vitality clumped up together.


    It defied all laws of nature and everything that was sacred.


    Though not much had been sacred for Aloe since the beginning, and now¡­ even less. She had had any holiness inside of her beaten out of her.


    Multiple times.


    And those acts of repeated exhaustion had awakened something she had ignored for a long time now. To get to the point of being able to evolve Heartgrowths on a daily basis, Aloe had to first evolve Slowtides. So many Slowtides¡­ From twenty-three mansworth to one hundred and fifteen, she had constantly evolved that slime. And unlike other evolutions, she had to destroy them. A process that was far from clean.


    Destroying the newly evolved Slowtides required a Radiating Undergrowth to obliterate them out of existence. And even with toughness on, that repeated damage left sequelae behind.


    More than once, Aloe found her hand trembling out of nowhere.


    She had exposed her hand to a lot of radiation, and it would seem that toughness wasn''t as almighty as she always made it appear to be. Especially over such prologued amounts of time.


    The trembling only got worse with time. It didn''t matter that she was no longer evolving Slowtides and burning them alongside her, the damage was done and Blossomflames ignored it.


    There had been some experiments where she tried to order the Blossomflames to heal her, she had also tried different infusions to try to boost their healing capabilities ¨C bountiful harvest did seem to make flames more plentiful ¨C but it all ended being a fruitless endeavor.


    Whatever damage she had suffered couldn''t be healed.


    It was a lesser damage, she wasn''t in pain by any means, only an occasional tremble on her left hand. But it affected her mind. The fact that she was so incapable of healing her condition when she had a physical condition far superior to any other human being corroded her psyche.


    There had to be something that could be done.


    Those exact thoughts were a poison that spread through her mind, not dissimilar to the all-encompassing growth of the Slowtide.


    Why could she sustain her body for hours without breathing, why could she jump tens of meters in the air, why could she see in pitch black darkness, why could she twist her head three-hundred and sixty degrees, why could she move faster than thought, why, why, why she could do all those feats of strength but stop her hand from trembling?


    It was maddening. Utterly deranging.


    Stop. She needed it to stop.


    But without answers or other methods, humans were led to extreme measures.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    By now her garden of Heartgrowths was a sight to behold. So many pieces of fake meat growing from the soil in a macabre yet endearing sight. It disgusted her to realize that all these organs were human ones after a scrotum and a penis grew ¨C separately from each other ¨C and she noticed that they couldn''t be from animals.


    She should be repulsed from having a cut cock and a ball sack on her camp, but when they were deprived of a full body, it was hard to feel disgusted. It awoke some sort of¡­ clinical curiosity on her.


    After those discoveries, she quickly recognized some other organs that she had failed to tag as they were too fleshy and normally kept inside of the body. One tube, not exactly cylindrical but close to it, she finally classified as a vagina. She had only seen them from the outside, but after juggling her memory and recalling some anatomical treaties, it became clear that the tube was the whole vagina rather than the nether lips people commonly saw.


    Such was the problem with the Heartgrowths, she wasn''t used to seeing organs outside of the body. Some were obvious because they would be eaten if they were from animals rather than plants, or because they would be visible from the outside like tongues, eyes, and¡­ fingers?


    "The Aloe Veritas has a definition of organ quite different from scholars, I don''t believe that fingers are ¨C or could be classified as ¨C organs." Truth be told, Aloe didn''t know the exact definition of ''organ'', but she was ninety-nine percent sure that a finger couldn''t be classified as an organ.


    From time to time, she would see Heartgrowths like those. Individual fingers, but never a full hand. Some teeth, but never a full mouth. For the latter, those normally grew on a surface similar to a jaw in fleshiness, but the shape was completely different.


    As organs piled up, a sinister idea slowly built up in the back of Aloe''s mind. Though in truth, that thought had been long seeded by the Aloe Veritas when she first read the Heartgrowth description. It was hard not to have such ideas when the description so flamboyantly flaunted words like symbiont and phrases like ''compliments the body of the host''.


    Caution and paranoia were core values of Aloe, but so were stress and impatience.


    A schism of clashing ideals was the twisting labyrinth that was Aloe''s mindscape.


    With a knife at hand and a lack of second thoughts, Aloe pressed the metal down and cut her finger.


    This was, unfortunately, not her first attempt at amputation, so she knew how to deal with it. Before her brain could register the separation between her digit and her body, Aloe switched to toughness to dull the pain. By now her switching speed was so elevated that it wasn''t difficult, and because her defense stance was also so augmented, she barely felt the pain past the initial jolt.


    She cared not for her bleeding wound, instead she calmly approached the nearest Heartgrowth to her. She would have loved to perform this experiment with her pinkie, but alas, that wasn''t the finger she wanted to remove just yet.


    "Halt!" She commanded the Blossomflames already coming to assist her. "Only heal me when I say so."


    If the magical fires closed her wound, this could get difficult, so for now, she had to do without healing.


    Without removing the finger Heartgrowth from the soil as she couldn''t afford to ''kill'' it, Aloe pressed her stub into it. Her blood poured into its green surface, and she focused on the thrumming pulse of the Heartgrowth, its inner flow of vitality.


    She tapped into it. Wielded it. Connected it.


    "Let''s hope this works," Aloe half-groaned, half-panted. "Heal me!"


    With her command, fires sprouted forward. At first, the blazing tendrils of the Blossomflame had difficulties understanding the wound ¨C if that was even possible ¨C but soon they recognized the Heartgrowth as her digit and started caressing her with healing fire.


    "Mmm," the cultivator bit her lip as the itches assaulted her. Toughness may make her numb to pain, but not the itching induced by rapidly healing a wound in seconds when it should take months if not years.


    But the Blossomflames weren''t the only ones working. As if she were a surgeon tying together tens of blood vessels, Aloe tried to connect both of the flows of vitality ¨C the Heartgrowth''s and her one ¨C into one. The reserves of single Heartgrowth were pitiful, so it wasn''t difficult as such, but complex. This was the first time she had done something of this style and caliber.


    She knew the job was done when the Blossomflames stopped caressing her with their fires. Unceremoniously, Aloe plucked the Heartgrowth from the soil, and she was pleasantly surprised to find that it didn''t die out.


    "A good first step, but it''s time for the last and most important one," she whispered in the faintest of tones.


    Aloe took a deep breath, so deep that if she switched to recovery she would not have needed to breathe for a whole day, and finally ordered her body the most dreadful of commands.


    To move her finger.


    Her hand spasmed for a moment, a gesture that filled her with trepidation, but her fears were completely dispelled as her finger wiggled up and down as she wanted.


    Then something happened.


    The Heartgrowth finger that used to be a lime-green color suddenly started shifting towards a darker one, until it gained a blackish one alongside the texture of bark, and finally, it slightly changed in size to adapt to her hand.


    "So this is what complimenting the body of the host meant, huh," Aloe mused with a smile on her face.


    A smile so twisted and abhorrent that it had no place on a human being.


    "Wonderous, truly and utterly wonderous!" She placed her other hand on her cheek and observed her new wiggling finger. The image filled her with indescribable ecstasy.


    This was the beginning of a downward spiral born out of the miracles of perfect symbiosis.

 Book 4: 75. Evolution

    Many things should be said about the grafting of Heartgrowth body parts, but the only one that mattered to Aloe was the loss of vitality. She had been long aware of the fact that loss of blood correlated with loss of maximum vitality, and amputating her fingers did ¨C in fact ¨C cause a lot of blood loss. The answer to such a conundrum was quite simple, just a healthy dose of self-cannibalism.


    She was thankfully not required to eat her finger, most vitality was stored in the blood rather than the flesh and bones, but if she drank her spilled blood back before it coagulated, she could recover her vitality.


    This meant that there was an inevitable loss of vitality, but it was minimal enough that it paled in comparison to sizeable blood infusions.


    And either way, Heartgrowth evolutions provided more than enough vitality to make up for her losses.


    The more she experimented and investigated with the Heartgrowth, the more confident Aloe felt. By all metrics, it was an upgrade. The vegetable parts didn''t feel the same exhaustion as her flesh ones, meaning she could mistreat them more.


    And more.


    And more.


    There was logic to stop at one hand, to not enhance every corner of her body. It was difficult working with some Heartgrowths as they were sometimes only bones, piles of blood vessels, or flayed skin, but that meant there was no piece of herself that couldn''t be upgraded.


    By the time she had reached one hundred and fifty mansworth of reserves, Aloe had managed to complete her left arm. An extremity fully composed of vegetable matter that obeyed her commands and behaved like a normal arm. The best part was that it could be trained like a normal one too! An arm that grew in musculature but felt only a fraction of the exhaustion.


    This was truly the most wonderful of discoveries.


    It took time, investigation, and a lot of failed attempts, but the cultivator was able to make the changes she pleased.


    One she was really proud of was reconstructing her reproductive system. She felt an unstoppable euphoria when she managed to substitute her womb with a vegetable one that didn''t suffer from her monthly bodily repercussions.


    No more timely loss of vitality, only unadulterated happiness.


    Sure, there had been many mistakes and pain in the process as she had to operate herself by opening her stomach, but between toughness and limitless Blossomflames, she couldn''t pass out, let alone pass away.


    It was a slow process that required many attempts for every substitution, but Aloe was capable of slowly bringing her body to a perfected state.


    One sublime evolved self.


    There were some parts she had been incapable of changing, either because the Heartgrowth didn''t manifest them, or because she wasn''t confident in touching them. Even as all other parts of herself vanished, her brain, her spine, and her emerald eyes remained.


    That was when she became aware of more properties of the Heartgrowth.


    Its sobriquet was the Synergetic Symbiont, and that much became clear as her vegetable body became one with her flesh body. Some fleshy organs may remain behind, but the Heartgrowth was more than capable of modifying them, making them sustainable and quasi-vegetable.


    Even the worst parts of herself were augmented.


    There was no higher elation than that.


    Her eyes slightly changed, especially the sclera as it lost part of its whiteness, but she still floundered her characteristic emerald.


    But the advances didn''t end there, oh no. Her evolved, vegetable self was just not a body, but far more. As the Aloe Veritas description had stated, the Heartgrowths complimented the body of the host.


    And it was Aloe who decided who the host was.


    Nothing stopped her from putting a Blossomflame seed in her body, forcing it to grow, and then making the local Heartgrowth act as the soil. Connected with flows of vitality, it was Aloe who truly now nurtured the plants.


    With herself.


    But this wasn''t enough. Her work wasn''t over. She needed more.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.


    Vitality was the first step, but she still lost vitality ¨C her reserves wavered ¨C whenever she evolved a Heartgrowth, so she needed far more than that. Enough vitality that not even a hundred mansworth evolution moved her reserves by a decimal point.


    Yet increasing her reserves wasn''t enough. No. Even the Heartgrowth fell short for her evolved self, she needed new, better evolutions. Evolution couldn''t be as simple, there was something she was missing, something she had long obviated because of her lack of previous knowledge.


    She thought of the requirements and catalysts for Evolution and realized that nothing stopped her from evolving a plant only once.


    Her focus was her first and most knowledgeable of plants, the one that shared its namesake with her.


    Aloe evolved the Aloe Veritas.


    But why stop at one single step when one could go even further beyond?


    The heavens were the limit.


    It took trial and error, and even when she exhausted her catalysts, Aloe found a new way to evolve plants with one of her oldest and longer-running experiments, the selective cultivation of infused mushrooms.


    That experiment hadn''t brought any results, infusions didn''t seem capable of merging, but living beings could.


    Would.


    It took many generations of already re-evolved plants combined with each other to create new specimens. She combined and combined until she discovered something that brought her infinite happiness.


    A living being with three alignments instead of only one or two.


    She couldn''t stop herself from there.


    It was a marathon to create a being with all the alignments she had found. She still didn''t know if those nine were all the alignments, so she still had work before her.


    Aloe evolved, merged, and grew¡­ all with a single goal in mind.


    Curiosity.


    Her spite became a thing of the past as she strode for that ultimate being that combined all those alignments. She tried plants on herself, though like the plague of incest desolating humans, the more evolved and merged a plant was, the lesser effects it portrayed.


    That didn''t matter to Aloe. She wasn''t on this to find a powerful plant, but one which could encapsulate all of reality. The lucidity brought by the world of ideas was of utmost importance and help during this process. Her mind had never felt this clear before.


    She, a constantly evolving self, edging closer to finding one superior to her. To be its creator.


    Such endeavor required colossal amounts of vitality as the cost of evolutions was completely random and even the most insignificant of beings could cost as much as late three digits. And by now every evolution was inconsequential as they provided no important applications whatsoever. Seemingly, Aloe had lucked out with her original evolutions.


    Reality was often disappointing.


    But the search for truth remained true and constant. And constant it was as she remained all the time on the recovery internal infusion as she no longer required of others. Her passive boost of other physical capabilities was great enough that even without donning potency, she was as strong as she had been whilst donning it when her reserves had yet to reach the two digits.


    Aloe couldn''t believe that the imperial cultivators considered the regeneration stance to be a useless one. Thanks to her practice, her vegetable body, and her massive reserves, she no longer needed to eat, breathe, sleep, and many other things.


    Truth be told, she transcended the need to eat a long time ago. Plants didn''t eat like humans did, and whilst Aloe wasn''t a plant, she could benefit from such cases. With sunlight ¨C or radiation in this case ¨C Aloe could sustain herself for a long time, indefinitely whilst bolstering recovery.


    The lack of sleep was the greatest blessing of all. She didn''t remember anymore the last time she went to sleep, and because she lacked a day and night cycle down her, for her it was as if she had been awake for a very long and endless day.


    Peak efficiency.


    Progress was constant. Progress was inevitable.


    Vitality. Evolution. Change. Mutation.


    A slow but constant growth, like a millennial tree that saw through the rise and fall of empires. Ceaseless. Dauntless. Eternal. No act was too great or too time-consuming, Aloe continued with but an idea in mind and all the time of the world.


    Soon, she reached her goal. A being that transcended animals, fungi, plants, and living beings as they were understood. A being containing nine alignments.


    And it was <u>hideous</u>.


    Words failed to describe the abominable mutation she had given birth to, for it contained all words in the lexicon and none at all at the same time. It defied logic as it was imagined. Her whole being was filled with repulsion at her own creation, and her latent lucidity finally woke up from the longest of dreams.


    "You shouldn''t exist," Aloe uttered a word after what it felt like millennia.


    It wasn''t difficult for a being of her magnitude to destroy the nascent abomination. She threw it on the Slowtide, but as she considered it far from being enough, she obliterated the slime with the many Radiating Undergrowths she could freely manipulate.


    It still wasn''t enough.


    The memory of such a thing lingered around and her insight from the world of ideas told her that the lingering memory of a being aligned to Information could be catastrophic. Not even its records could be left being. Everything had to be eradicated.


    Aloe torched her camp.


    Blossomflames drowned the whole chasm and burned everything she had created. That was fine. That was her decision. From the very beginning, she had only needed herself. That was what she told herself.


    There was no need to let anyone else behold the sight of what she had created.


    Her greatest shame.


    Without looking behind, Aloe decided it was finally time to leave the underground. She had spent too much time down here and if she remained any longer, she would remember her sins of megalomania. She had lost herself on a branching path, one diverging from her real goal, and that had almost cost herself, her sanity, and her world.


    No more.


    The time for plants and discoveries was over, she had a quest to fulfill.


    Leaving the chasm was way easier than it had once been with her evolved and lifeful self. With a handful of jumps, she made it from the bottom of the abyss to the surface.


    And the sight she beheld shook her to the core.


    Sunlight greeted her, and as much as she wanted to see the sun after so long, her eyes lingered not in the color yellow of the sun nor the blue of the skies, but¡­


    Green.


    Aloe Ayad, mother of plants, vegetable human, patron of Evolution, and cultivator found herself in a forest.

 Book 4: Addendums

    <h2>Infusion</h2>


    First of all, it would be wrong to call Infusion a power system; a complete misnomer born out of the ignorance and lack of understanding of mortals. Infusion is not aligned with any Aspect or Incarnation, so it would be wrong to call it as such. The term ''magic system'' would be correct though. After all, Infusion does engage with multiple ''magics''.


    But let me give you a better picture.


    Infusion is the amalgamation of three distinct power systems. Because Khaffat''s Locality presents three power systems, these have blended together into a fourth quasi-system that we call Infusion. The better definition, though, would be to say that Infusion is the shape that power has taken in Khaffat as Evolution, Nurture, and Enlightenment can exist independently of each other.


    Yes, you are thinking correctly, Infusion and vitality could be considered the same thing. However, semantics tend to get in the middle, and it''s hard to give a concrete definition.


    It is better to think of it as a power system, even if I have stated the opposite many times already. Just think of it as a model or an assumption like you would do with an atomic model or the direction of the current of electricity.


    What interests me about Infusion is that it allows the different power systems of Khaffat to merge together, especially in¡­ synergetic ways.


    Infusion''s power system definition would be something like: the ability to move vitality. Simple as that as there is not much else to it. If we want to specify inwardly moving vitality, we would say Nurture. If we want to specify outwardly moving vitality, we would say¡­


    Well, it depends.


    Both Evolution and Enlightenment work on the movement of outward vitality, and so does the flowing stance of Nurture.


    Let us go step by step.


    Infusion does not play much of a role in Nurture except in the flowing stance. You could say it is the exception that confirms the rule.


    Now, Evolution on the other hand¡­ You could argue that Evolution wouldn''t exist without Infusion as it requires you to push vitality to a pre-natal living being, but you would be wrong. As I''ve explained, Infusion is the amalgamation of the three power systems, meaning that specific property of Infusion actually originates from Evolution.


    In simpler words, in a world where only Evolution existed as a power system, you could still ''infuse'' your vitality in other beings. But don''t get stuff mixed, such movements of vitality wouldn''t result in outer infusions, that is the jurisdiction of another power system.


    Enlightenment doesn''t work with Infusion as you would think, this is mostly because this is the only power system of the three that works in the cognitive plane rather than the corporeal one. But one could argue that Enlightenment users get ''infused'' with the vitality of the cognitive plane to perform their magic.


    What is interesting about Enlightenment is that it performs similarly to Nurture when Infusion comes into play.


    Yes, as you will have guessed by now the source of the outer infusions is Enlightenment. It''s a bit counterintuitive as outer infusions work in the corporeal plane, but such is how the Existence works. Amalgamations sometimes become their own thing, their own¡­ Aspect.


    This becomes more logical when you ponder on how outer infusions are created: with the imagination of the user. Sure, there are many limitations, but people can make any outer infusion possible with enough conviction or knowledge.


    These outer infusions are interesting because even if they are born from a mixture of Evolution and Enlightenment, you can intercede them with Nurture. A cultivator with an established outer infusion can ''hijack'' it so it becomes a second internal infusion, or a stance as they would call them.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    Now, there''s a difference between an outer infusion and a stance. If the outer infusion is left as it is, it will only provide a static increase factor of the desired capabilities. This is especially easy to observe with the accelerated growth outer infusion that boosts the growth factor ¨C not aging factor, important distinction ¨C of the living being by a value of two. This is due to the fact that you are using their existing vitality reserves to boost their growth, not that different from wielding a stance with no previous increase in reserves.


    But an augment of static value is useless for a cultivator, they usually work in shifting magnitudes. That''s why and how they mold the outer infusion into a second stance, halving the power of their other stance but allowing them to wield two at the same time.


    You can guess which one is more valuable.


    The effects of Infusion aren''t just limited to the existence of outer infusions, though. There are far more synergetic effects like negating the loss of permanent vitality of Evolution, the body modifications of Nurture, and the physicalizing thoughts of Enlightenment.


    The first one you may understand by your own Incarnation, so let me elaborate on the following points. As you are aware, Nurture does modify the body when wielding a stance, but it does not modify it as much as it should. When active on the strength stance, the muscle mass of the body should increase many times over what it does. The fact that this does not occur is thanks to Evolution. Instead of outright increasing muscle mass, when donning the strength stance the body ''evolves'' instead of ''adapting'' to a self where it was already stronger.


    This means that in a world without Evolution, Nurture wouldn''t be as effective. The sense stance would greatly modify internal and external organs, the speed stance would need the user to lose massive amounts of body weight, and so on.


    This is perhaps the greatest and untold synergy of the three vital arts of Khaffat.


    Finally, the physicalizing thoughts of Enlightenment. By definition, Enlightenment cannot interfere with the corporeal plane, any acts that do so are because the power system is either pulling Evolution ¨C for outer infusions ¨C or Nurture ¨C for physical manifestations of abilities.


    The compounding and synergistic effects of the three power systems are what result in Infusion. A world where one of them lacked is a world where they wouldn''t have been able to exercise their utmost potential.


    <hr>


    <h2>Religion</h2>


    Sulnaya was* the religion of Ydaz, even if recently it has had a resurgence. The mandate of Aaliyah-al-Ydaz led to a degradation of the faith as the faithful were provided with everything they could wish and the very Sultanah partially opposed acts of worship that contradicted her estimated intellectualism movement. Satisfaction is the bane of faith, after all.


    Some say that Aaliyah-al-Ydaz valued her ideas more than her children, and they would be correct.


    But the Sultanah is not the matter of this document, but the religion of her state.


    What is most interesting about Sulnaya is the differences between it and other religions of Khaffat. Most other faiths preach about divinities and afterlives, and whilst the latter holds true for Sulnaya, it is in its own way.


    The faith of Sulnaya has no forms of divine figures except the Heavenly Descendant, which would be the temporal head of the faith. Even though in some branches of the faith the Heavenly Descendant is worshipped as a divinity, it is important to note that a Heavenly Descendant is a person, and therefore falls out of the definition of ''divinity'' as it is normally portrayed by virtue of being a mortal, and most importantly, real.


    Not to discredit other religions, I personally find them fascinating, but for the average believer a god you can see has more weight than one you cannot. There are other religions that have portrayed these ''gods-on-earth'' divinities before though.


    The main tenets of Sulnaya are a strong sense of community, exaltation of the flesh, sacred pregnancies and births, and a unique viewpoint on the afterlife compared to other religions.


    Some scholars have already mentioned before, but I have the pleasure of admitting that the magic of the imperials, Nurture, is part of these tenets that have to do with all flesh related. It would not be wrong to assume that without Nurture, Sulnaya would have never existed.


    However, I would like to shed some light on the afterlife I have mentioned. Other religions preach about one final afterlife after death, a paradise; some others, though, either state nothingness after death, or a cycle of endless reincarnation. Sulnaya predicates on nine hells ¨C afterlives for the sake of the argument ¨C that people live in. Depending on one''s purity of heart and communion with the flesh, they would be brought up or down into the hells. The higher, the better.


    This may be common knowledge, but there are only two known hells out of nine. Our hell, earth, the penultimate of them; and the heavens, the last hell and the one where suffering is minimized.


    Yet new proof has demonstrated that people have experienced other hells and have come back to tell the tale, I myself can corroborate such claims. We have discovered the antepenultimate hell, and we expect to find more as time goes on.


    *Sulnaya still is the official religion of Ydaz, but it is no longer enforced. Consider this a personal touch of dramatic effect.


    Excerpt of Evolution of Religion by Grand Vizier Ayad.

 Book 5: 1. Garbage

    The foliage was dense, but the pants were more. Noise filled the surroundings, not just that of the birdsong and the crunching jeering of the undergrowth, but those ragged breaths doing their best to escape.


    "It''s useless, you know!" The man calmly shouted; amusement led his voice. "Run all you want; you are only delaying the inevitable."


    Whilst it was problematic that he was losing this much time with a single head; he couldn''t deny he was enjoying it. Sometimes life was about taking pleasure in those small moments.


    Crash. Thud. "Ahh!" And a scream.


    A brilliant mind wasn''t needed to guess what had just happened. The man slowly strode to the inception of the noise. There he saw a boy with chocolate skin whimpering as he clutched his leg. Both his feet were naked, devoid of any footwear and covered in blisters, but that wasn''t the greatest of the wounds.


    "Ah," the man scratched the back of his head and clicked with his tongue. "That''s why I told you to not run. You are useless to me now with a broken leg. No one wants a cotton picker with a broken leg unless you know how to write. Do you know how to write?"


    The boy painfully swayed his head from side to side as he clutched his leg, trying to keep the flowing blood inside. Props to the boy, he wasn''t screaming, and no one would have blamed him after such a brutal wound.


    "Fuck," the man was no longer amused. "Welp, that''s a day lost. We could have avoided all of this if you remained with the rest of the slaves, but nooo, someone had to run for its freedom." He strode around the boy doing theatrical gestures. "Don''t blame me, blame yourself."


    The man took out his sword, a saber. A fire burned on his blood as his strength suddenly increased. A misuse of vitality and money, but he wasn''t that bad of a person, he would put the boy out of his misery with one swift cut.


    Rustle.


    The head of the man snapped to the source of the sound, and he took another stance, both literally and mystically.


    "Who goes there?" He asked. We are far from the heart of the Evergreen, there shouldn''t be monsters here.


    The foliage rustled again, making the man more nervous, but after a few tense moments, the source of the sound revealed itself.


    A person.


    No. A humanoid being.


    With the skin of that of trees and a crown on its head.


    "Oh, a dryad," he relaxed. "I wasn''t aware this was part of your realm. Surely you do not care about my passage, do you?"


    The dryad failed to respond.


    "Fret not, I am already going away," the man raised his hands with his weapon still on them. "You can do whatever you please with the beast boy. Uncivilized bunch, you see."


    Once more, the dryad failed to answer.


    "A-are you a dryad?" The man asked in confusion. "You don''t look quite like the others I''ve seen. Never before with a crown. That''s for sure."


    Silence.


    "Do you not know how to talk?" That''s weird, all dryads are supposed to understand any speech. Maybe no one has taught it? "A newborn, are you?"


    He got no response. He took that as an affirmation.


    "Oh, well, it seems that it is my lucky day. Lost a slave, gained a dryad." The man chuckled. "Sorry boy, can''t put you out of your misery now, dryads hate whenever any life is extinguished. Once again, blame yourself. Come on, follow me," he told the dryad after grabbing its hand.


    The dryad did as commanded, exacerbating the man''s smile.


    Whilst wielders of much destruction, dryads were pacifists. Unless their hands were tipped, they wouldn''t resort to violence. As a matter of fact, they were quite amenable. And as it good seem, newborn dryads were obedient.


    Getting out of the forest was a time-consuming task, but he managed to reach Selen before the sun came out. The city had once been a mighty fortress, but as the need for war ceased ¨C at least in this part of the world ¨C now it was nothing more than a logistical hub.


    A pitstop for more important locations.


    But there were advantages of being located at such an important hub.


    Intercontinental travel was still slow and tedious, so the foreign slaves always made their entrance to Ydaz from the fjords, but from there to the heart of the country, there were many kilometers. Selen was just one of the many pitstops from there to Asina, this just happened to be the biggest one.


    The dryad kept gawking at its surroundings as they strode around the forest, but the monster plant''s mouth truly became agape when they reached Selen. Not quite the metropolis as the capital, but still bustling with movement.


    He didn''t want anyone to steal his dryad though, so the man covered it with his cape and then carefully brought it to his safehouse.


    Complacent, the dryad remained standing in place once he finally let its hand go.


    "Now, I don''t want you running away until I find a buyer, so I''ll need some precautions." He grabbed some of the chains they normally used for slaves and locked the dryad against the wall.


    Whilst the moving plants were quite strong, they were also¡­ well, plants. Unless they were given a stimulus, they were more than happy to remain perfectly still for the end of time.


    "Nice," he dusted his hands after checking the dryad wouldn''t be moving any time soon. "Now to get paid."


    Finding a buyer in Selen wasn''t difficult. Perhaps in other cities, it would have been a nightmare to contact the black market, but between the slave trade and the offshoot assassins, it was hard to get in contact with the appropriate sources.This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


    "Quite the find product, indeed," said the gentleman wearing a mighty top hat he had brought to inspect the dryad.


    Though calling the old man a gentleman was quite the praise. He was but a bourgeois and a nouveau riche who had amassed his fortune through the slave trade and cotton plantations.


    And he showed it with his appearance.


    The old man''s hat had no business being this big. The only reason why it didn''t collapse on itself was because of the copious amounts of cotton it was made with.


    "Do you think you will sell well?" He questioned with a hand close to his weapon in case things turned ugly. Rich people may be able to afford a lot of power, but it was lent strength, most had never wielded a weapon and didn''t know how to use their gained strength.


    "Oh, it absolutely will sell!" He twirled his mustache with one hand and supported his glass cane with the other. "Not only it is quite the find to see a newborn dryad, but beyond collectors, most would like to use its properties. And there are those who would like to taste one. In what way, I cannot say, but¡­" The gentleman pointed at the dryad''s exposed crotch with his cane. "Those lips are apparently as real as that of a human, and I''ve heard they feel even better. Surely there''s a deviant out there willing to pay a fortune to try to impregnate a plant."


    "I wish," the man cared not about the plant, but how much money he could gain from it. "So how much?"


    "Ah, that I cannot tell just yet. This product is worthy of an auction," the gentleman explained. "But I can say in advance that the starting point will be at least ten drupnarea."


    The man did some fast calculations in his mind. Real hard workers didn''t use such old metrics of currency as drupnars were more than enough to measure their net worth.


    "Ten thousand drupnars?" He contained his reaction after realizing how much money he was being offered.


    "As a starting point," the gentleman reiterated. "And, of course, you will only get a fraction of that. How does fifty percent sound?"


    A fucking robbery. Those were the man''s honest thoughts, but he was dealing with the true garbage of humanity here. Maybe the gentleman was not able to kill him, but his goons most likely could.


    "An agreeable amount," he responded. Greed led people to their demise, and honestly speaking, five thousand drupnars was quite a good offer, and that amount could only get bigger.


    "Will be seeing each other next week then. Good afternoon to you, sir." The nouveau riche tipped his hat and went away.


    "So, you actually have a hole between your legs, huh?" The man crossed his arms and said to the dryad once the slave trader had disappeared. "As interested as I am, surely you will sell for more if you are a virgin. If plants can''t even be virgins. Well, isn''t olive oil virgin? Or how does that work?"


    The man remained pensive and musing as he convinced himself against putting his dick inside the plant''s hole.


    Unsurprisingly, during the following week, the dryad failed to react even once unless prompted. He left it next to a window so it could take a bit of sunlight and peed on it to water it a bit after he came drunk back to his safe house on the first day, but beyond that, the dryad didn''t seem to require any sustenance.


    The auction house ended up being quite a gaudy place with lots of decorations coated in gold ¨C though it was most likely an alloy of brass ¨C and much red cotton velvet. Even if it was a misuse of cotton, rich people loved having it everywhere as a show of their wealth. Still, quite the avenue for an underground hidden layer.


    The man didn''t bother socializing at that event, he was only interested in the profits. And, oh boy, profits he gained.


    The rich loved wasting their money and a newborn dryad turned them crazy. Not many people had a dryad, and even then, it was with the dryad''s very consent and not as a slave. If a plant could be called a slave.


    It was a golden opportunity.


    Two hundred and fifty thousand drupnars, that was how much he obtained. And that wasn''t even for how much the dryad sold for as he got only paid half. Half a million drupnars. He had never seen that much money, he doubted that much money existed before that, but as the auction paid him in bills and treasury notes, he almost choked from the amount of money his eyes saw.


    That much money changed a man.


    No longer could things be counted in what he could afford, but in what he couldn''t afford.


    And there weren''t many of those.


    A house and some slaves of his own were the first he bought. A good villa with sights of the city but far away from the noise of its poor inhabitants and the factories.


    Slave women were fine and all, but he preferred those gold-diggers that flowed to him. Ah, he had such a magnetic presence.


    "Ah~" He moaned as the woman between his legs did her best to please him, but truth be told, she was quite rough.


    He was enjoying more the fact that the woman was a fallen noble aching to recover her fancy way of life by any means. Noble whores are truly the best ones. Except this one.


    "Come on, woman put more enthusiasm!" He grabbed her by the hair and pushed her mouth to the root of his shaft. "I''ve seen retard homeless little girls sucking better than you!"


    The woman unsurprisingly gagged after a moment unable to handle the sublime manhood that she had been offered. She forced herself out and started coughing with tears coming from the corners of her eyes.


    "Useless!" He slapped her, knocking her to the ground.


    The sight of a naked noblewoman coughing on the ground excited more than her mouth had done. If he wanted any good sex, he would have picked up any slave. Those who were mothers were the best ones as not only they had experience, but it was also impossibly exciting to fuck them in front of their children. If they were girls, even better, gotta make them know that they are next.


    He truly was a good person; no other person would buy a slave mother and her daughter. He was basically a saint by allowing the family to remain together. Except the men, those he sent to the cotton fields to pocket him some money.


    Passive income was almost as good as sex.


    As the noblewoman failed to continue pleasuring her, he stood up and grabbed her by the hair. Lifting a person was hard, especially with such an awkward hold, but it was nothing that a bit of strength stance couldn''t help, especially now that he could afford the pills.


    "As it seems your upper mouth is lacking, I will have to try your lower one," he whispered to her ear.


    "No, please no!" She screamed. "You promised me that only my mouth would suffice!"


    "That was before knowing how awful your mouth was, you dumb whore!" He slapped her again and she broke down crying.


    In any case, that only excited him more.


    Then the door to his dormitory swung open.


    "Who dares interrupt me? Don''t you see I''m occupied, dumb ser¡­vants?"


    The figure standing at the door wasn''t a servant, not even a human.


    It was a humanoid being.


    "What are you doing here?" He shouted at the crowned dryad. "Don''t you see I''ve sold you? Turn back to your master before we get into problems!"


    The dryad failed to respond.


    Instead, it... she approached.


    And approached.


    Before the man could react or switch stances, the dryad had grabbed him by the head.


    And raised him from the ground.


    The man tried to fight against the dryad''s hold, but no matter how much strength he mustered, the dryad''s fingers didn''t bulge.


    What happened next chilled him to the core.


    "You truly are the worst garbage of humanity," the dryad spoke.


    Her breath was so potent that it came out in thick puffs of orange and her eyes shone with a green so vivacious that put emeralds to shame.


    Then she put pressure on her hold.


    "Stop!" The man ordered. "Do you know what you are doing? I am your master!" He wasn''t, at least no longer. Or rather, had never been.


    The dryad failed to respond.


    Instead, she put in more strength.


    And more. And more. Even after assuming the defense stance, the man felt pain as his cranium was more and more compressed.


    His vision became blurry, and the scenery melted. No longer was he in his room with a whore on his feet, but back in the forest where he had spotted the dryad, the boy from then was still there and he looked at him with fear.


    "Whuh?" He expressed confusion. "Where am I?"


    Finally, he noticed. The one the boy was looking at with fear wasn''t him. Oh no, not him.


    It was the dryad.


    "Stop!" The man screamed, flaying his body around.


    The dryad''s response was to put more strength in her grip. He heard something crack.


    "You don''t have to do this!" The man begged.


    The next crack was the last one he heard as his cranium gave up and the dryad''s fingers turned his brain into mush.

 Book 5: 2. Joy

    The sheer greenness of the scenery stunned Aloe. The soil was overflowing with grass and a thick undergrowth, the skies were partially covered with ample canopies of foliage, filtering through lovely rays of gold.


    "Ah~" Aloe moaned as she basked herself in the soft breeze and sunlight. "I don''t know what''s better: the sight or the light. Radiating Undergrowth light cannot compare to the real deal. It lacks¡­ life; unlike the sun which is truly the provider of all life."


    Aloe extended her arms, letting her thick wooden skin ¨C or rather bark ¨C enjoy the soothing light of the heavens. Her hair almost rose up to seek more sunlight, as if it were a sunflower.


    Never before had she felt such joy from the presence of sunlight, not even when she left the chasm for the first time. Now even her body took joy in it, not just her mind.


    The vegetable woman almost thought to stay there, soaking in the light, forever. It would have been so easy to take roots and just remain there for all eternity¡­


    But alas, her respite was brought short by the sounds of the forest. Or more accurately, the sounds in the forest. Even if this was her first time in a forest ¨C and she still was confused about the fact why there was even a forest here ¨C Aloe was mostly sure that screams weren''t native to a forest.


    It didn''t matter that she was currently donning the recovery internal infusion, her body was overflowing with so much vitality that her senses were increased by many degrees even if she was wielding an internal infusion that should have weakened them.


    For the first time in her life, Aloe had complete confidence in her vitality reserves. It had been so long that she forgot how many mansworth she was boasting now, the count had been lost ages ago. She was ready for whatever the world may throw at her.


    But for now, she chased that sound.


    She switched from recovery to the acuity internal infusion. The increased senses of the stance were almost too overwhelming, but even in her madness, Aloe hadn''t forgotten to train her Nurture. Whilst not trivial, it was easy for her to filter out the sounds of the forest for those she wanted to hear.


    Having senses so acute was mostly a disadvantage as they overwhelmed the brain. Hearing wasn''t only the problem, but also touch, smell, taste, sight, balance, proprioception, temperature¡­ the human body had too many senses to count, and now they all were boosted.


    At some point, training the sense stance had gone from a physical exercise to boost them to a mental exercise to withstand them.


    What surprised Aloe more was her vitality sense. Even before confining herself to a hole underground, she had been able to sense the vitality of living beings at a distance, but that was mostly limited to entities with a lot of vitality like sultanzade. Now, though, she was able to detect every individual blade of grass and leaf of a tree in her surroundings.


    And with quite the range too.


    Still, her ears and eyes could register things from further away than her mystical and intangible perception of vitality.


    Aloe broke into a sprint.


    Reality blurred as she leaped through the forest. Her physical capabilities, each and every single one of them, were the stuff of legends even when wielding a stance as innocuous as the sense stance.


    With the help of her vitality sense, she was able to ebb and flow through woods as if it were second nature for her. She could feel the vitality of every plant in her very core no matter the distance, allowing her to dodge them as if she were navigating a crowd in a bazaar.


    It was then that she saw them.


    The child and the man.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.


    She switched to subterfuge, but even with her almighty vitality, the internal infusion couldn''t make her invisible, just hard to detect. And unfortunately, she had already been detected by the man.


    "Who goes there?" The man asked with a blade in hand. Once upon a time, Aloe would have been intimidated by that, but now she didn''t even fear the obliteration of the Radiating Undergrowth.


    Aloe switched to toughness ¨C her favorite internal infusion ¨C as soon as she perceived that the man had more than a mansworth to his name. A cultivator, she thought. The vitality the man possessed was pathetic compared to her, but still quite greater than the child, so she played it safe.


    Knowing better than to fake ignorance, Aloe stepped out from the foliage unto the clearing where the man and the child were.


    "Oh, a dryad," he relaxed. "I wasn''t aware this was part of your realm. Surely you do not care about my passage, do you?"


    The cultivator woman would have inquired about the ''dryad'' thing the man was talking about if it wasn''t because her eyes were glued to the child. She had been unable to see the child before, only knowing it was a youngling from the small ringing vitality signal, but as her eyes informed her that she was seeing a boy with a broken leg, her sap started to boil.


    It didn''t even take a person with half a wit to see what the man had intended to do with that sword before she had appeared.


    "Fret not, I am already going away," the man raised his hands with his weapon still on them. "You can do whatever you please with the beast boy. Uncivilized bunch, you see."


    If the man had intended to portray innocence, he had utterly failed.


    "A-are you a dryad?" He professed confusion. "You don''t look quite like the others I''ve seen. Never before with a crown. That''s for sure."


    Crown? From all the words the man uttered, that one brought Aloe back to her senses. Ah, the veritas. She realized what he was talking about after feeling her body with her enhanced proprioception. It was true that the Aloe Veritas she had planted on her head gave her a regal touch.


    Nonetheless, Aloe was not amused by what she was seeing.


    Without even giving the man the chance to blink, the vegetable woman rushed before him with the haste internal infusion. There had been a dozen meters between the two, but at this level, her speed stance was faster than thought.


    Even her own.


    Merits to the man, he reacted only after two blinks, but by then Aloe had already grabbed him by the head, raising him up with his feet hanging a bit less than half a meter from the ground, and she exhaled on his face.


    From her mouth, thousands of Dream Spore spores erupted, completely covering the male cultivator''s face in an instant.


    A man with his pitiful vitality and not even wielding the defense stance was useless against the soporific might of the nince-damned orange spores. In the beginning, those had been a source of many headaches and much pain for Aloe, but after repeated travels to the third hell ¨C the world of ideas ¨C she was able to understand them more.


    How to wield them.


    This was her first time doing so with another person, but Aloe was able to invade and spectate the man''s dreams whilst still preserving her consciousness. She used glamour to drive the tracks of the dream a bit, though that was more of an instinct than a proven fact.


    And what she saw made her see red.


    Never before had Aloe seen such awfulness before, and she had seen a lot of stuff in her life.


    What she saw also confused her, making her think this was more of a dream than a simulacrum. Selen a city? Wealth in the hundreds of thousands of drupnars? Slavery? Aaliyah is just giving me more and more reasons to hate her. Aloe couldn''t feel rage as she was being treated as a slave in a dream. No, even worse, a potted plant. An item.


    Whilst she didn''t feel overpowering rage at that, it still made her sap boil. But soon she reached a breaking point as the man took pleasure in abusing a woman physically and sexually in the dream. Precisely because he didn''t know he was in a dream it made it so utterly despicable.


    "You truly are the worst garbage of humanity," Aloe said as she put more strength on her grip.


    The increase of force made the man snap out of his dream, but Aloe couldn''t care any less. She just wanted to destroy stuff. It''s true that she could have changed her internal infusion to potency at any point, but she didn''t want to give the man such mercy.


    No.


    She wanted him to suffer.


    No matter how much he pathetically begged, Aloe didn''t stop. As a matter of fact, those excuses only had the opposite effect and had made her put more strength. From the feedback on her fingers, Aloe noticed the cultivator switched to the defense stance to try to hold longer. Emphasis on try.


    Still, a feeble being like him couldn''t handle her. With a bit more pressure, his cranium cracked and soon her fingers found themselves dragged on grey matter. The body fell to the ground as her fingers had no longer a place to grip.


    Her fingers greedily watered on the man''s cerebral remains, finding sustenance in the red blood.


    She should have felt bad for doing such a thing, extinguishing the life of a person no matter if they were a monster or not, but that type of guilt had long perished. Aloe didn''t feel anything from that kill.


    Honestly, that was a lie.


    She felt joy. Joy in the fact that she had removed garbage from the face of Khaffat.


    Now it was the turn of the child.

 Book 5: 3. Goddess

    It all occurred in one heartbeat. In one moment, he was facing certain death; and in the other, a regal figure stood between him and the slaver. He had heard of the creatures across the ocean, but he had never expected one so¡­ arboreous.


    The monster ¨C which looked slightly female with its curves ¨C grabbed the slaver by the head and spat at him. By the time he processed what was happening, the slaver was screaming and pleading for his life, but that didn''t stop the monster from ending it.


    Casually.


    The loud and wet crunch of the skull being shattered to pieces lingered in his ears as the monster turned to face him. It was a monster alright but¡­ it was also beauty incarnate. A beige crown rested on her head where verdant vines flowed downwards like head and some of the same fleshy leaves rested around her hips giving the shape of a skirt. Her skin wasn''t made out of flesh, but bark, and a dark one at that. A plethora of plants habituated the bark, vines, flowers, grass, mushrooms¡­ the monster was but a moving forest on its own. Yet all of that paled in comparison to those eyes.


    Oh, those eyes. An emerald shine came out of them, putting to shame any gemstone. Those were but the eyes of life itself.


    When the monster stepped forward, he found himself dragging his body backward. It was an instinctual move devoid of thought, and it showed as his body screamed in pain after putting pressure on the wound he had just gotten from falling over.


    "Fret not, child," the monster said with a lovely voice of honey and sunlight.


    Fear? No, he hadn''t backpedaled out of fear, but intimidation. Intimidation from the divine beauty he was beholding. Had he found one of those monsters beyond the ocean or a goddess? No other words could describe the being he was seeing after all.


    The goddess knelt before him, and before he could even react, flames spurted out of her body. Or more concretely, from a red flower she kept at her waist. Fire soon enveloped him, but he chose not to react. If the goddess of the forest had marked him for death, he would take it on.


    What happened next, he couldn''t have expected in a million lives.


    The fire, instead of burning him, healed him.


    A warm sensation overtook him before a painful itch assaulted him. It wasn''t as bad as the pain he had been feeling, but it made him writhe and moan in pain, nonetheless.


    "Yes, the Blossomflame can be quite the blessing and the curse," the goddess announced with her lovely voice.


    Yes, everything about her was lovely. Her melodious voice, her flowery body, her glittering eyes¡­


    Not before long, the flames extinguished alongside the itches.


    "There, like new!" She added happily. "Can you stand up?"


    He heard the words, but he couldn''t react, his mind was seized by the figure before him, after all. Removing his attention from gazing at her felt like a disservice to the goddess, one couldn''t depart from such beauty. Not even to muster a thought.


    "Hmm~" The goddess hummed deliciously. "Have I gotten it wrong? Can you understand what I am saying? Do you speak Ydazi?"


    Something made him snap from his trance. The goddess had demanded a response from him, he was obliged to respond.


    The boy nodded shyly.


    "Great!" The plant goddess clapped her hands and professed happiness.


    Oh, how delighted he was to see such an emotion on such a glorious visage. The fact that he had created that happiness only made him happier in return. Wait. Is it wrong to be happier than the goddess? Before he could continue with those thoughts, the goddess talked back.The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    "What''s your name, child?" She said after placing a hand on his shoulder.


    He almost passed out from the feeling. He had never ever before had felt such elation. Being touched by the goddess herself was but the greatest of blessings.


    Then he realized he had to respond.


    "X-Xochipilli¡­" He answered shyly with a blush. "If the name may be too long for the goddess, others call me Xo¡­"


    "Goddess?" The goddess broke her contact with him as she let out a hearty chuckle. "I am no goddess, Xochipilli, I am a human like you."


    "Y-you are a human?" Xochipilli professed his doubt, even if it may be taken as an offense.


    "Well, I may not look like it. That much I admit. I have had my¡­ bouts of insanity." She said with a hint of solace. That made his heart shrink, such a dark emotion shouldn''t appear in such a beautiful visage. "But yes, a human like you."


    "T-then what was the magic you did?" He asked, not purely out of curiosity, but to hear the goddess'' voice more. "What about those healing fires?"


    "Ah," she murmured. "That''s a bit difficult to explain, but it''s not that different from the arts of the cultivator. And talking about cultivators¡­ what was that man doing?"


    "The slaver?" She nodded. "I managed to escape from their dreadful group, but that''s as much as I know¡­ One moment I was at home, the next the village was aflame¡­ When I woke up, I was in these foreign lands beyond the ocean. I only speak your tongue because of Sadam, the missionary in our village, but they killed him too¡­"


    "Shh, it''s fine." The goddess ¨C or rather, the woman ¨C grabbed him and placed his head on her bosom, where she proceeded to stroke his head. "You don''t need to explain yourself more."


    There was something heavenly about the plant-woman''s touch. The embrace had the warmth of a mother but the power of the forest behind it. They remained there, in the ground and basking in the sunlight, for a good while. The boy snuggled on the bark, but instead of feeling hard, it was as soft as a bed of grass.


    "Are you alright?" She finally broke the silence but continued to caress him.


    "Yes," Xochipilli responded with determination.


    "Good," the matronly woman gifted him another smile.


    With each word, with each touch, he continued forgetting what the goddess had said. It was impossible for her to be a mere human.


    "May I ask you something?" The boy inquired shyly.


    "Feel free."


    "W-what," he trembled and squirmed in her embrace until he was able to look her in the eyes. Her gorgeous, heavenly eyes. "What is your name?"


    "Oh, right. I forgot to introduce myself. I am Aloe Ayad."


    "Understood, Lady Aloe," the boy nodded.


    "Oh heavens, Lady? You are going to make me blush?" Aloe said with a hand on her cheek. "You are quite the charmer." The last comment made Xochipilli himself blush. "But no, Aloe is more than enough."


    "I-I see, La-Aloe." The boy continued blushing as Aloe reacted with a giggle. It felt disrespectful to her beauty to plainly call her by her name, but if those were her orders¡­


    "There are many things that I want to ask, but for now, we should get going. It wouldn''t like having a child sleeping outdoors if I can help it." Aloe stood up, leaving Xochipilli on the ground.


    "Go where, Aloe?" The boy inquired shyly.


    "For starters, to Selen. Then¡­ I have some ideas." Xochipilli shivered at the idea of going back to that city. "Is there something wrong?"


    "I¡­ that''s where they had me alongside the other villagers¡­"


    "Oh, fret not. You are not going back to that place; you have my word."


    "I-I trust you, Aloe." From everything that had happened these last days, Xochipilli had the feeling that no matter what, he could trust in the goddess of plants before him.


    Aloe judged him, inspecting him from head to foot. "You trust me, you say?"


    "Y-yes," he nodded.


    "You better not make me regret this," the plant woman placed her barky hand on his head, and he felt a warmth coming from it. "Don''t fight against it."


    "Hm," Xochipilli mumbled in agreement. He wouldn''t ever refuse her.


    Hastily, the boy felt his body heating up. A handful of breaths later, the heat hit a plateau, but the warmth wasn''t unwelcome. His body, his entire being felt¡­ more like himself. More¡­ lasting.


    "A successful attempt, but I still need to check it." Aloe yanked one of the fleshy leaves on her hips that imitated a skirt and tar started pouring out of it. "Dunes, I wasn''t careful enough!"


    Xochipilli didn''t understand why Aloe had shouted, but as the blobs of black on the surface of the leaf started to shift into words, he understood it. Well¡­ almost. He had been taught how to talk the language, so reading was a bit beyond him. Having said so, he wasn''t completely clueless.


    "Could you yank the leaf for me¡­?" The question died in Aloe''s mouth as she saw where Xochipilli''s eyes were looking.


    Death.


    Xochipilli almost collapsed on the ground as a powerful pressure assaulted his very being, an invisible force threatening his very existence.


    "Did you read it?" Aloe asked with a slow and deliberate voice, her emerald eyes raging with a potent shine.


    "N-no, I didn''t Lady Aloe!" Xochipilli instinctively responded out of fear, fear of making the goddess disappointed with him. "I-I haven''t taught how to read your tongue!"


    Not a lie, but not completely the truth.


    "I see¡­" The pressure suddenly vanished and the goddess'' intimidating visage changed into a smile. "Then it''s fine! Could you please yank one of the leaves for me then?"


    "Y-yes!" The boy responded enthusiastically, but his mind still remained in the few letters he had managed to read.


    They had said:


    Name: Aloe Ayad


    Species: Al¡­

 Book 5: 4. Perennial

    Aloe felt bad for having reacted that strongly to the kid, Xochipilli, having seen the contents of the veritas, but some things should stay outside of the minds of people. Of any mind.


    Even after being shouted at, Xochipilli dutifully obeyed him and broke one of the leaves on her hips for her. She hadn''t purposely planted them there, but the silhouette they made was too amusing to remove it. A bit of vanity didn''t harm.


    She had to remove her stances otherwise the boy wouldn''t have been able to even scratch her, so Xochipilli tore a veritas leaf and his hands soaked on the ink as she wanted to.


    "Good job," Aloe patted the child on the head, and he handed her the leaf.


    The contents on the leaf satisfied her.


    Name: Xochipilli Ce Ozomahtli


    Species: Human


    Description: Male member of the human species, a species known for their ingenuity, high adaptive capabilities, and societal structure.


    External Infusion: Longevous Perennity


    Aloe smiled at the results. Longevous perennity did, indeed, work in humans. As she had only been able to test it on plants, she feared Aaliyah had lied to her on that fateful night. For some reason, Xochipilli was taken aback by her reaction.


    Still, the contents of the veritas leaf raised some questions. Well, they had been raised way before she read the leaf, only now they were physicalized.


    "Tell me, Xochipilli," Aloe stood up and removed her hand from the child''s head. "Where do you come from? Your name is quite foreign to me, I have never heard of one like it before." Nor that surname convention.


    "From beyond the ocean," he explained shyly, avoiding her eyes for some reason.


    "Yes, you mentioned that before. But from where beyond the ocean?" The fact that he was saying he was beyond the ocean already weirded Aloe out. Beyond some sporadic islands, there was nothing out there, just an endless expanse of saltwater.


    "A land called Tecolata," Xochipilli explained.


    His accent was quite interesting when he said the name. He spoke Ydazi quite well, more with the faults of young age rather than of a strong accent, but for the first time, she experienced his accent ¨C his language ¨C with that name.


    "I cannot say I''ve ever heard of it," Aloe said with a pensive gaze.


    That seemed to disappoint Xochipilli. "But the people of this land have been at our lands for¡­"


    "Yes?" She pressed the boy to continue.


    "Well¡­" He blushed. "Not much, just a bit before I was born. Perhaps two decades ago?"


    Aloe choked on her saliva and coughed at hearing that span of time.


    "Are you alright, Aloe?" Xochipilli rushed to assist her, but the child was small and barely reached her crotch.


    "I¡­ yes," she added with a final cough. "The time you''ve mentioned has just startled me." The woman patted the kid with her vegetable hands.


    Oh, great heavens! But she was panicking in her mind. Two decades? TWO DECADES? How long have I been in that nince-damned chasm? Oh, dunes. Oh, fuck!


    The only reason why she wasn''t screaming and holding her head whilst trembling on the ground in fetal position was because there was a child with her.


    I¡­ should have guessed time had gone by a bit already, she looked around at the established forest. A bit too much. This forest certainly looks older than two decades too.


    Aloe took a deep breath. "Xochipilli, wouldn''t you know what year we are in? In Ydazi calendar, I mean."


    "I¡­ do not, Aloe," he said with watery eyes. "Sorry¡­"


    "Shh, don''t cry," Aloe knelt and patted the child again. "I''m not mad at you, I''m just a bit¡­ disoriented. I''ve been¡­ away for a long time and I no longer know¡­ when I''m living on."


    Was that dream of a city real? Aloe had originally discarded the big building and the sprawling Selen as imaginative figments of a dream, but what if the absolute garbage of a man was having a dream close to reality? Still¡­ how much has my notion of time been distorted? Nince-damned decades¡­ She had been aware that the chasm had deprived her of the notion of time before she¡­ gave in to insanity, but she had never expected that mental fog to last this much.


    "Ehrm¡­ Aloe?" The child asked shyly.


    "Yes, Xochipilli?"Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.


    "I¡­ what¡­ uhm¡­" He struggled for words, and after fighting for a bit he gave up and seemed to switch thoughts. "What did you do to me?"


    "Oh, that." Meeting a person from a foreign and undiscovered land and becoming aware that she had been hiding in a hole for twenty years at best had made her completely forget about the external infusion. "I made you live longer," she mentioned casually, her mind still trapped in those other thoughts.


    "You¡­ what?" His voice was weak, but his tone reverent. "I knew you were on a goddess!"


    "I¡­ huh?" Aloe noticed what she had told him. Fuck, she kept to herself. Two decades in a cave and you forget how to keep your mouth shut¡­ She mentally sighed, embarrassed at informing the child of his new perennial status. I should handle this. "Um, sure. But don''t tell this to anyone nor the blessing I have gifted you. Understood?"


    "Yes, goddess!" Xochipilli nodded enthusiastically.


    "I told you before, call me Aloe." She said whilst prodding her forearm. It made her uncomfortable to be called a goddess. Only one other woman had been called like that, and she didn''t want to be like her.


    "Uh-yes!"


    Xochipilli was quickly growing on him, even if she had only known him for five minutes, but something of the way he looked at her unsettled her. There was too much fervor in those red eyes.


    "I said before that I want to go to the city," Aloe started. "But are you fine with it? I could accompany you first to another place if you are uncomfortable with that."


    Her conscience wouldn''t allow her to abandon a child in the forest, and she was already a few decades late, a handful of days wouldn''t hurt her.


    "I¡­" Xochipilli mumbled deep in thought.


    Dunes, he''s so small. She had noticed before, but the kid barely reached her hips, so he couldn''t be that old. Wait. A horrifying realization startled her. Not as bad as knowing she had spent more time underground than above ground in her life, but still shocking.


    As Xochipilli still pondered on his decision, Aloe walked to the man she had just killed. Seeing the headless corpse didn''t make her feel anything. Perhaps a bit of shame for letting the child see such gruesome imagery but considering he had barely reacted and from his previous tale, he probably had seen worse already.


    Her suspicions were confirmed when she stood on the feet of the corpse and saw how small the man had been.


    No, she finally let herself admit it. He was not small, not now, not in the dream. I¡­ am the big one.


    She wasn''t overtly massive, perhaps a bit over two meters after giving it some thought and second-hand eyeballing, but still quite the change from her previous petite self.


    When has this change happened? The worst part was that she knew the answer, she had just forbidden herself from acknowledging it. Her thoughts had remained clouded in darkness for far too long. This body was just one of the many factors that portrayed her madness.


    This has been what you''ve been wishing for all your life, Aloe¡­ So why does it feel this awful? This change of size, and most importantly the fact that she had refused to acknowledge it, felt as if she had given up something very important.


    But truth be told, she had given it up long before she forwent her flesh for plants.


    "I¡­ I''ve decided!" The boy announced, making her snap out of her thoughts. Out of her inner djinn''s clutches. "I do want to follow you, go-Aloe!"


    "That''s comforting to hear," Aloe added with a smile. "But it''s "I want to" not "I do want to"."


    Xochipilli blushed at being corrected.


    "Don''t feel bad," she walked back to him and patted him again. "Your use of Ydazi is commendable for a child of your age, even more so when considering it''s not your mother tongue."


    Considering she was apparently now more than forty, enough so to be Xochipilli''s mother, it was pathetic that she could only speak a single language. However, it wasn''t like she had many opportunities to learn new ones when she had just spent more than half her life in a hole.


    She let the child roam free and inspected the man''s corpse. First, she took one of the veritas leaves from her hips and inked the corpse. She wasn''t surprised to find that the ones she had used before had already been restored to their previous self.


    Though the description she read did surprise her.


    Name: Sayf Hadad


    Species: Human


    Description: Male member of the human species, a species known for their ingenuity, high adaptive capabilities, and societal structure.


    Internal Infusion: Toughness


    Whilst it made it harder for her to treat the deceased man as a pile of garbage after knowing its name, the information she found unsettled her.


    He''s not a Sultanzade, but he was donning toughness before he died. I could tell that much without the veritas. Has Aaliyah taught Nurture to non-Sultanzade? Hmm¡­ It certainly didn''t help that Aloe didn''t recognize the surname of the man, he should have been surnamed after the city where he had been born, after all.


    Aloe sighed and let those questions rest. She would get answers sooner or later, so there was no reason to stress herself over them. For now, she looted the man''s corpse.


    Once upon a time, she wouldn''t have done such a thing. Disrespecting the dead was one of the greatest offenses a human could commit, but she couldn''t care any longer. Not only had this man been such an infection on humanity as a whole that her act had only been that of a surgeon removing a wart, but she would need anything she could get her hands on.


    Especially money.


    The massive woman ¨C you could say¡­ built like a tree ¨C was surprised by the contents of the man''s wallet. Not only it was different from the ones she was acquainted with, but the shape and materials of the money were the ones that confused her most. He had papers of multiple colors and drawings in his wallet, and from the contents of the dream and the fact that the word drupnar was written on all the papers alongside numbers, she guessed from her banker knowledge that this was some form of bank notes, not dissimilar to a check.


    He did have some drupnars on his person that she could recognize, though. But these were still different. They were coins like the ones she had known, but instead of copper and silver, they were nickel and copper. The order mattered for it seemed the copper drupnars were more valuable than the nickel ones. Her mind was already making up scenarios like "there must have been a silver shortage, and they switched to nickel", but she snapped out of them when Xochipilli walked next to her.


    "You shouldn''t watch, Xochipilli. It''s not a pleasant sight." Aloe said with a hint of shame. She should have tried to kill the man away from his highly-impressionable and young eyes.


    Instead of disgust, she saw embarrassment on the child''s visage. "Can I ask you a thing?"


    "You don''t need to ask permission every time you want to ask something," she explained with a smile. "Curiosity is good, don''t feel ashamed of it."


    "I¡­ I feel this type of curiosity is shameful¡­"


    "Nonsense," Aloe shook her head, "speak up."


    "Uhm¡­okay." Xochipilli refused to look at her, instead locking his eyes with the corpse''s clothing. "Aloe are you, by any chance¡­ naked?"


    "Oh," Aloe found herself blushing the next moment.

 Book 5: 5. Coziness

    One may think that Aloe was embarrassed by her nakedness, but she had long outlasted that type of shame. For better or worse, her life had forced her to throw away her clothes more than she would have liked. No, what made her blush ¨C her cheeks heated up, but she doubted the color of bark could change ¨C was the fact that she had been called out.


    "I¡­ have had no need for clothes for a long time. All that I had¡­ was reduced to rags. But it''s not that I need clothes with my current looks, right?" She tried justifying herself, but she felt increasingly ashamed with every word.


    "I¡­" Xochipilli blushed intensely, practically matching the colorfulness of the Blossomflame. "If you say so¡­"


    Dunes! I can''t do this! She wanted to crawl into a hole again and become one with the earth, especially as Xochipilli inspected her, trying to justify Aloe''s poor excuses to himself. Whilst there was no lasciviousness in the child''s gaze and there was nothing indecorous he could find as her bark was more armor than skin, the situation was too¡­ aggressive for her.


    Clothes! Aloe focused on her body, feeling the seeds and plants prowling on it, and she made them grow. She thought of the Cottonpull, it was the only plant that would provide any real coverage. The Aloe Veritas already did something like that, but her skirt didn''t cover much, and if she made the leaves any bigger, it would limit her movement.


    She had so much vitality that it only took her a handful of seconds to grow a Cottonpull from a seed to a fully-fledged plant, but she manipulated its growth with the experience she had obtained with the Heartgrowth and made herself clothes of cotton.


    Antigravitational cotton.


    "I should have thought this through," she mused under her breath as her head was now covered by a layer of cotton, doing exactly the opposite thing clothes should do.


    She cut the cotton and let it fly free, but the spontaneous growth of the Cottonpull wasn''t without its merits. Now she had the Cottonpull''s sack to cover herself with, and even if she was way larger than before, the sack became a passable-enough one-piece dress after she made a hole for his head.


    The sack had an ugly brown color, it was a bit hairy, and it had no holes for arms¡­ it also only reached her knees, but it was better than walking around naked.


    "Better?" Aloe asked Xochipilli.


    "I-I believe so," the child nodded enthusiastically. "But how have you done so, Lady Aloe?"


    "Xochipilli¡­" She reminded him.


    "Aloe?" He corrected.


    The cultivator hummed satisfied with the answer. "Well, it''s quite a complex subject and a secret." The boy deflated upon hearing the evasiveness in her response. "But if you behave well, I will tell you one day, okay?"


    "Yes!" Xochipilli''s eyes brightened. "I will be the bestest follower ever!"


    Aloe giggled at his enthusiasm. "Bestest is not a word, it''s simply best."


    "Best follower ever!" He corrected himself again and threw his hands into the air.


    What a lovely kid, Aloe kept to herself with a smile on her face.


    "We should get going then, but before that¡­" She knelt and removed the boots from the man. "Xochipilli, come here. Unless you are against using the clothes of the dead?"


    The boy shook his head in negation and walked to her.


    "Will the boots fit me?"


    "Don''t worry, I''ve thought about it." Aloe gave him a comforting smile. She wanted to make Xochipilli welcome, a kid of his age shouldn''t have suffered as much as he had suffered.


    Aloe led a hand to her chest, and she parted the bark from her fingers. There another of her evolutions rested.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.


    The Slowtide.


    After many experiments and no longer fearing the effects of the evolved lichen, Aloe had found a very useful way to use it. Xochipilli''s eyes widened in surprise as her arm, her whole arm, went inside of her chest. By any means, there wasn''t enough space for her arm to fit on her torso, but she wasn''t putting it inside of her chest, but another place altogether.


    Whilst not infinite, the Slowtide on her body provided her with a pocket several times her volume, enough to store a handful of things.


    Once she felt fluffiness on her hand, Aloe pulled out her arm and a few balls of cotton came out.


    "Let''s pad the boots, shall we?" She said with a smile and Xochipilli nodded slowly, still dumbfounded by her trick.


    As she put pieces of cotton on Xochipilli''s boots to fill the emptiness ¨C and it was very empty as he was a small kid ¨C of the footwear, the boy finally snapped out of his confusion.


    "How did you do that?"


    "Woman''s secret," Aloe responded with a smile.


    The truth was, even if she revealed she had been using the Slowtide, this effect couldn''t be recreated. The evolved lichen consumed anything inside of it given enough time, especially organic items like cotton. The only reason hers hadn''t done so was because it was technically herself. The Slowtide was growing on her Heartgrowth, which was simultaneously herself, so she could control the Slowtide from digesting any contents inside of it.


    Instead of a constantly growing calamity, Aloe had transformed the Slowtide into the best portable device in existence. A pocket that was several times bigger on the inside than the outside, plus negating any weight of the stored items. That was probably the biggest boon, even if she wasn''t taking advantage of that property much right now.


    And even if she was¡­ tons of weight wouldn''t faze her.


    Or so she thought.


    Xochipilli was a good kid and didn''t press after receiving such an unsatisfactory answer. After Aloe filled the contents of the boots with cotton, she dusted her hands and stood up.


    "How does it feel?" She asked him.


    The child took some shy steps before skipping around and checking the fit. "They hold!"


    "That''s great to hear," Aloe smiled at Xochipilli. "Then we should get going, let''s hope the city is not that far so we can make it before nightfall."


    As it was past noon, Aloe guided herself with the sun, simply walking to the west until they found Selen. She hadn''t deviated much when she had gone inside the chasm, and cities didn''t vanish overnight ¨C or over decades, in her case ¨C so going west should be more than enough for directions.


    Unfortunately, they weren''t able to make it before nightfall. When she had originally fallen into the chasm after being attacked, she had been walking for a few hours with haste on, but now she walked across a thick forest at a normal pace to keep up with Xochipilli.


    She could have carried him and made the journey in a matter of minutes but¡­ she doubted the kid would survive it. Especially considering how exhausted he had to be after reaching this deep into the forest.


    Better to play it safe even if they had to camp for the night.


    "Is it cozy?" She asked Xochipilli.


    Whilst she didn''t need to sleep, the child very much needed to, especially as he was already exhausted. She had given him the Cottonpull''s sack she had been using as clothes ¨C if it could even be called that ¨C to use as a mantle then had made him a makeshift litter with lots of Cottonpull cotton balls. To keep them in place she had needed to wrap Xochipilli and the balls inside the sack like a durum.


    "Yes!" Apparently, the child enjoyed being a human durum.


    Aloe stoked the fire with a stick. Making a campfire had been incredibly easy, as simple as invoking fire with the Blossomflame. Now she needed not to hurt herself or have enemies to summon the fire as she herself was the plant. Technically speaking, she hadn''t even needed to make a campfire with dry leaves and a circle of pebbles, she could have just kept the Blossomflame going all night as she had enough vitality regeneration even without recovery on to permanently keep it on.


    But no one could deny the coziness of a campfire.


    It was dark, but the joy of the wind caressing the canopies of the trees and the hints of starlight coming through the foliage made her infinitely happy. This wasn''t the darkness of the chasm or her mind, but that of the outdoors.


    And it was beautiful.


    She heard a rustle.


    Alerted she was not, for it came beside her.


    "You can''t sleep, Xochipilli?" Her tired emerald eyes met with the youthful red ones.


    "No¡­" He responded sheepishly.


    "Do you want me to make you sleep?"


    "Will you sing me a lullaby?"


    Aloe blushed at those words. "I''m afraid I don''t know one, and if I did¡­ my voice is not the better."


    "Nonesense!" The child pouted.


    "It''s nonsense," Aloe corrected him. "But I have something better than a song."


    "Something better?" Xochipilli tilted his head from inside his durum.


    "Yes," the vegetable woman nodded. "Magic."


    "Can I see it?" His red eyes shone with the campfire''s light, but also with the wonder of childhood.


    Aloe blew from his nose in amusement and nodded. She moved her head near his and blew some air, accompanied by orange spores. Xochipilli didn''t have time to react as the Dream Spore spores sent him instantly to sleep. If a cultivator couldn''t fight them, a child would be defenseless against them.


    She brushed the child''s hair with her wooden hand. Darkness still plagued her thoughts, but seeing a visage so peaceful and devoid of worry warmed her vegetable heart. She may be numb to the human pleasures now, but that image of coziness still comforted her. This kid had suffered too much already for his age, she wouldn''t allow him to suffer anymore.


    Not like her.


    Not again.

 Book 5: 6. Disciple

    "Morning, sleepyhead~" Aloe booped Xochipilli on the nose once she noticed the child was waking up.


    "M-morning?" He looked around in confusion before assimilating where he was. She didn''t blame the boy for thinking all the past events had been a bad dream, she had thought that more than once.


    Wished that were the case more than once.


    "Lemme help you getting out," Aloe carefully undid the wrapping of the Cottonpull''s sack and freed Xochipilli from its clutches. All the cotton that he had used as bed now flew free disappearing into the foliage and out to the heavens.


    "Is that fine?" He asked shyly.


    "What''s fine?"


    "The cotton," the boy elaborated. "Isn''t it expensive?"


    "No, not really?" Aloe tilted her head in confusion. "Heavens know how much I could make before I even become tired."


    "I see¡­" Xochipilli''s eyes unfocused out of ponderation.


    "Now, now. Stop thinking and have breakfast," she pushed a bowl into him. Xochipilli sheepishly grabbed it and looked at the whitish soup inside. "It''s not much but it''s the only thing I could offer you. At least it should fill you up and give you strength."


    "It''s more than enough!" He looked back up at her. "But what is it?"


    Xochipilli made that face that all children made, that face of not wanting to eat anything yucky. So much for reverence, eh? It seems not even a ''goddess'' can avoid children making that expression.


    "Mushroom soup," she explained. "Whilst it''s not bad, it also doesn''t taste like anything, so don''t worry about being awful. But feel free to call it so, my sense of taste died a long time ago."


    "I would never say such things!" Xochipilli protested and drank from the bowl without thinking twice.


    Aloe was thankful that he didn''t question where she had gotten it from. Because she had forgotten to store her saucepan on the Slowtide, she had to improvise a bit to get a container that could hold water. In this case, she had grown a Heartgrowth that imitated a cranium and molded it a bit so there weren''t sockets for the eyes.


    Quite the nifty hack, but surely the child wouldn''t appreciate drinking from a skull, even if it was made out of bark.


    Making the soup itself had been simple as, like the bowl, she produced all the necessary ingredients. Flourishing Spring for the water, Radiating Undergrowth for the mushrooms, and Blossomflame for the fire to cook it.


    Whether she wanted it or not, Aloe had become quite the multi-use tool.


    Xochipilli''s eyes closed and his nose wrinkled as he drank the whole stew in one lengthy gulp.


    "So, how was it?" Aloe asked with one hand supporting her chin, looking at the boy with amusement.


    "Mm," he cringed a bit, "¡­tasteless."


    "I guess as much," the cultivator shrugged. "I can''t barely remember the taste; it has been so long since I have eaten¡­" Her eyes were lost to the canopies of the trees as she looked upwards. Even if she was donning recovery, her body still benefited from increased agility, making her able to tilt her head ninety degrees backward no matter if she had bark for skin.


    "Then why don''t you eat?"


    "Huh?" Her sight instantly locked into the child, not unlike an owl.


    "I¡­ uh¡­" Xochipilli played with the tips of his fingers as he looked at her thighs. "If you haven''t eaten¡­ why don''t you eat? Aren''t you hungry?"


    "Oh?" Aloe chuckled at the boy''s worry. "Fret not, Xochipilli, I''m perfectly fine. I just don''t eat because I don''t need it, sunlight is more than enough for my body to keep moving." Recovery makes it too efficient to get energy out of sunlight. Radiation too¡­


    "I see¡­" He once again lost in thought. She flicked her finger at his forehead. "Ow!"


    "Stop doing that, you are going to become permanently cross-eyed if you keep doing it."


    "Yes¡­" The scolded child rubbed his forehead in submission.


    "Good," Aloe puffed her chest in victory.


    It was a bit childish, but she always wanted to teach a lesson to a kid. In the good sense, not in the¡­ Aaliyah sense.This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.


    "Well," she continued, "now that you''ve eaten, we should get going again."


    The vegetable woman stood up, picked up the Cottonpull''s sack, dusted it, and finally wore it like the makeshift dress it was born to be.


    Wordlessly, Xochipilli nodded, and they got going. She left the cranium bowl on top of the extinguished campfire, maybe with a bit of luck a lost traveler would find it and it would make their day a bit better.


    It was commendable that the child could keep walking for hours, Aloe certainly wouldn''t have been able to do that at his age, but as time passed, the greater her frustration became. It irked her to no end that the child showed no exhaustion. If Xochipilli had been a cultivator like her it wouldn''t have been a problem, but he was a normal child, and the trip was exhausting him.


    She could feel his vitality slowly dwindling.


    There was only one way to use one''s vitality without Infusion, Evolution, the flowing stance, or getting hurt, and that was pushing the body to its limits. Xochipilli may not be portraying exhaustion and projecting strength, but his reserves betrayed him. He was pushing himself so much that his vitality was vanishing.


    This couldn''t keep going.


    With a groan, Aloe picked up Xochipilli from the collar of his shirt and placed him on her shoulders. She tied the Aloe Veritas on her head like a cocoon ¨C not unlike a top knot ¨C so the leaves wouldn''t bother the child.


    "Oh!" Xochipilli expressed his amazement as he rode her shoulders.


    "Everything fine up there?"


    "Yes!" He energetically bounced on her shoulders.


    Aloe would have scolded the child for thrashing around so frenetically, probably murmuring something about making her lose her balance, but the truth was, nothing Xochipilli did could affect her. She was but a moving forest, not even a charging dweller could topple her to the ground, much less a happy kid.


    "It''s so tall!" Aloe couldn''t help but smile at Xochipilli''s contents. Her increase in size had been so gradual that she hadn''t noticed it, so even though she had been around his size once upon a time, Aloe hadn''t been able to enjoy her newfound height.


    "Is it fun to be this high up?"


    "Yesh!" The child was so ecstatic that part of his foreign accent filtered through.


    They continued slowly walking through the forest without much haste. Now that Xochipilli was on top of her she could have at least jogged a bit, but her paranoia and insecurities were greater than her vitality. What if she went so fast that she killed him? She couldn''t allow herself to hurt the first person she had managed to speak with in ages, let alone kill him.


    Humans were so fragile.


    "Uhm¡­ Aloe?" Xochipilli''s voice made her stop her trail of thought.


    "Yes?" She stopped and turned to look at him, though she kept her head turned to a minimum to not scare him. It would have been completely possible for her to turn her head one-hundred and eighty degrees after all. "Is there something wrong? Are you uncomfortable?"


    "No, not at all," he shook his head in negation. "But I was wondering¡­"


    "Yes?" Aloe enticed him to continue talking as his voice died out.


    "Well¡­ could you teach me your magic?"


    "Hmm¡­" The cultivator grabbed the child from his waist and placed him on the ground as she continued humming deep in thought.


    There were positives and negatives to sharing her knowledge with Xochipilli. If she were to teach him and trust him, then she could finally get infused with longevous perennity, but most importantly, she could obtain a second stance. Of course, if he were to betray her, then she would be arming a child with knowledge that no living being should possess.


    What would win? Her paranoia or her desire?


    Both were powerful emotions, but she knew better than being led by any at any given time.


    Xochipilli looked at her with expectation.


    "I guess I could teach you simple tricks for starters¡­" Aloe gave out to those childish eyes full of dreams. "You could be my¡­ disciple."


    "Yesh!" The boy jumped on the spot with overwhelming glee, his accent once again very notable.


    "But first, I must ask you a question."


    "Anything!" Xochipilli glared at her with giddiness and unrelenting faith.


    "Do you know what vitality is?" The child nodded repeatedly and hastily. "Okay, then for the next step. Do you know how to sense it?"


    Now Xochipilli deflated and slowly shook his head. Aloe did her best to not burst out laughing at the quick change in behavior, doing so would break the child''s heart, even if she really wanted to let out a chuckle.


    "That may be problematic, it is the most important step¡­" And the most dangerous.


    Aloe still remembered how she had unlocked her sense of vitality many years ago. In a way, this journey of debauchery started there as she was forced to go naked into the desert far away from any other signs of life. The sand burned her soles and calves, the sun lacerated her back, and she slowly died from heat, hunger, and most notably, dehydration.


    It had taken nearly her death to sense the vitality of a small seed.


    That and the lack of more life, she noted. I don''t want to lead Xochipilli to near death, and even if I were disposed to do so, how would isolate him from other living beings in the middle of a forest?


    "Uhm¡­" Xochipilli sheepishly mussed something, but the sound died in his mouth before he could even form a word.


    "What is it, Xochipilli? Speak up," she said. "I''m not mad at you if that''s what''s gnawing you."


    "I''ve heard from the slavers that there''s uhm¡­ a pill? Yes, a pill to awaken one''s vitality." Those memories hadn''t been exactly pleasing considering how much he was struggling to speak.


    "A pill, I see," Aloe patted his head to comfort him. It wasn''t the first time she had heard of these pills. They both appeared in the slaver''s dream and there were some on his corpse. She wasn''t fully sure what they did, and she had no way of identifying them, but they were in her possession inside the Slowtide. "Well, let''s look out for that pill once we reach the city, shall we?"


    Xochipilli looked up after Aloe spoke those words. It took him a second to process them then his eyes opened like plates. "Yesh!"


    "For now, let us get going." Aloe removed her hand from his head and instead gave him his hand to hold it. "We should be close to the city; I''m hearing things already."


    She wasn''t hearing them anywhere close, a few kilometers away, but that wasn''t much of a distance. Guiding herself through the miscellaneous noise, Aloe and Xochipilli walked to where she expected to find the city, and after a few hours, she was surprised by what she saw.


    Columns of smoke. Myriads of buildings as tall as towers next to each other. More vitality signals and more potent than she had ever felt. And beyond all else, a city as big if not more than Asina itself.


    They had made it to Selen, and the sight scared her.

 Book 5: 7. City

    There was something very wrong with the landscape. Buildings couldn''t be that tall, it just didn''t make any sense. At most, Aloe had seen buildings ¨C or more accurately noble dwellings ¨C with four floors, but from what she could see with her enhanced sight revealed that even the shortest of buildings had five floors, and the tallest ones were beyond the tenth mark.


    Simply mindboggling.


    She had seen this imagery before in the dream she had hijacked, but that had been a dream not a¡­ window to reality.


    "Aloe?" Xochipilli pulled on her hand and looked at her with worry. "Are you okay?"


    "I¡­" The vegetable woman shook her head to beat some sense into it. Get a hold of yourself, Aloe. How can you be so pathetic to worry a child? "Yes, Xochipilli," she smiled at him, knelt, and patted his head. "The sight has disoriented me a bit, it has been a while since I''ve seen the city."


    Aloe looked again at the urban landscape and quickly found the old keep and signs of old walls, though most things had been buried under the sprawling metropolis by now. This is definitely Selen. She bit her fibrous lip. How long has it really been? A city this big cannot be built in two decades. Nay, scratch that. Architecture cannot advance this rapidly, and those buildings would have needed advances upon advances to reach that height without collapsing on themselves.


    Her body shook at those thoughts, fear overcame her, but she didn''t allow herself to show it to Xochipilli.


    "Let''s get going, shan''t we?" Aloe held his hand again and led him to the city.


    She was surprised to find no walls this close to the border; the city simply ended, and the forest started on an invisible line. And from the looks of movement along the edges of the city, it was in constant expansion.


    Finding a way into the city even if it was open and unguarded would have been difficult if it wasn''t because of her experience of the dream. She didn''t know much about this new world she had come back to, but she had some fuzzy guidelines.


    First, she directed herself to Sayf''s safe house. It was easy to reach the slaver''s house unnoticed as it was situated close to the edge of Selen, also close to some weird metal beams on the ground that worked as a landmark.


    Still, even in these undeveloped lands, there were a lot of people.


    Thanks to the subterfuge internal infusion, Aloe was able to go unnoticed. With her new body, the rather weak stance had become more potent as her body was able to freely change in shape. She became slimmer and shorter, and her skin lost partially its bark texture, changing instead for the somewhat fleshy texture of succulents. A dark succulent, if that even existed.


    The people ignored her, but she couldn''t ignore them. Their clothes were too interesting to her eyes, even if most wore the same stuff. She was surprised to find that even the common man wore fine textiles even if the clothes themselves were simple shirts and trousers. A revolution in the textile industry, she pondered whilst keeping herself mostly in the shadows.


    Aloe was able to hide in plain sight thanks to these changes, but the stealth stance wasn''t omnipotent, and Xochipilli was still able to acknowledge her. Xochipilli constantly hid behind her, and she couldn''t blame the kid, these streets had a dark aura to them. If they were lucky, maybe a bit of her subterfuge would soak into him. His eyes opened like plates upon seeing her body shifting, but he had enough presence of mind to not talk until they reached the slaver''s house. Or rather, room.


    Unlike all those tall buildings in the center of the city, these neighborhoods seemed to be quite undeveloped as the buildings were made out of bricks and only reached around two floors in height.The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    "It should be this building," Aloe whispered.


    "What''s here?" Xochipilli whispered in kind.


    "The slaver''s house," the cultivator responded with a smile as she took out the key to his home.


    The short building ¨C by Selen''s current standards ¨C seemed to house many other doors owned by other people, so she wasn''t totally surprised to find that Sayf''s safe house was composed of a single open room. Quite spacious in square meters, but still only a room.


    She left Xochipilli to roam around, which the child used to sit on a sofa, whilst she inspected the place. Unfortunately, there wasn''t much to see besides a kitchenette, a mattress on the floor, a quite fancy toilet that she would have expected from the palace of Sadina and not a rundown shared building, and a wardrobe.


    The place she was interested in the most was that wardrobe, but she was disappointed to not find a thing inside aside from spare pants and shirts. No secret compartment, no extra money, no nothing.


    Aloe tried to put one of the shirts on, but as she was buttoning it, the first button from upwards exploded.


    "It seems I''m too big for a man''s shirt even with subterfuge on¡­" Once upon a time, she would have been ecstatic to have a chest so massive that it literally snapped shirts open, but right now she could only care about wearing clothes.


    The more time passed by, the more conscious of her nakedness she was becoming.


    The trousers were even worse. With the shirt at least she could wear it without buttoning it, but her thighs were so massive that she wasn''t able to get the slaver''s trousers past them.


    Aloe turned her face to watch Xochipilli, and she found him poking his head slightly from the backrest of the sofa. Upon being discovered, the child hastily hid behind it. As someone who had survived the public baths of Sadina during the early days of her life, Aloe couldn''t feel but a grain of shame, in any case, she was amused at the boy''s poor attempts at spying.


    And besides, he had already seen her naked for a very long time. Not that she could feel the same type of shame before her transformation as her bark was more of an armor than skin as it covered all genitalia and likewise.


    "You wouldn''t know where I could buy clothes, do you?" Aloe asked him without scolding him as she removed the slightly-too-small pieces of clothing. She hadn''t even tried the man''s undergarments. She preferred going au naturel before wearing the undergarments of a man.


    "U-uhm, n-no¡­ sorry¡­" Xochipilli apologized still hiding behind the sofa. She couldn''t know if the boy was apologizing for his lack of knowledge or his lack of manners, but both alternatives amused her. "I managed to escape from the station before the train got moving again, so I''m¡­ not acquainted with the city."


    "Sorry for even asking that," she apologized back to make the kid feel better, even if she hadn''t understood half of the words he said.


    "No, no!" He jumped out of the sofa. "Don''t apologize because of my faults! A goddess should never apologize!"


    Aloe smiled and approached the child to pat him. "If I want to apologize, I will do it, okay?"


    Xochipilli nodded and mumbled shyly but non-verbally.


    "I guess we should watch around for a tailor then," the cultivator said with her hands on her hips.


    "Won''t be a problem if you walk around like this?" Aloe looked at him, which made him panic. "I mean, not everyone could handle your great divine self!"


    Xochipilli never made her fail chuckling. "I understand what you are saying. But we also got here without problems, didn''t we?"


    "Yes, but¡­ a tailor suitable for your station will be in the middle of the city, and¡­ there''s more traffic there."


    "Yes, that could be quite the issue, I still don''t know the limits on my infusions¡­" Aloe pondered. "Subterfuge works to be unassuming, but glamour also melds my body¡­ Lemme try something."


    Instead of simply activating glamour how she had done to direct around the slaver''s dream, Aloe let the internal infusion modify her body like subterfuge had just done. Her vegetable body and Infusion synergized quite well as even if Nurture stances could modify the body, a human body wasn''t as malleable as her own.


    Glamour changed her shape differently from what subterfuge had done. The stealth stance had made her thinner, shorter, and with almost human-looking skin, if a bit too dark. The charm stance, on the other hand, made her a bit taller than her normal self, though she lost most of her actual height as the Aloe Veritas on her head became smaller.


    Her vine hair became longer, the green of the vines dulling a bit and becoming a rather human-looking brown; her rectangular body became more curvaceous with an hourglass shape, even going as far as giving her breasts, real breasts and not just mounds; her root-looking feet became into actual feet; and most importantly, her skin gained that succulent texture, albeit with a softer brown color, a shade almost similar to her original skin color.


    In other words, she became more human.


    "What do you think about it?" Aloe twirled to show Xochipilli her new self.


    "Uhhhh¡­" The boy grunted as he was left agape, then as he processed what he was looking at, he blushed. "I-I believe you s-should wear some clothes."

 Book 5: 8. Paper

    After a bit of a discussion, Aloe tried wearing the slaver''s clothes again. Her new hourglass shape actually made it easier to wear the pants, which she would have expected to go otherwise, but there still was quite a bit of an issue with the shirt. Her shoulders weren''t as broad as before, but now she packed quite the rack, which also made it impossible to button the shirt.


    With a bit of quick thinking from Xochipilli''s part ¨C who was blushing harder by the minute ¨C Aloe took the white blanket from the bed and tied it in such a way that looked like a half-decent dress. She still wore the trousers, just in case, as she still refused to wear the man''s undergarments.


    As for footwear, Aloe was pleasantly surprised to find that the spare boots she found in the wardrobe fit her new feet. They were a bit too tight for her liking, but nothing too egregious like the trousers which were close to bursting from the very fabric, let alone the buttons.


    "Should we get going?" Aloe asked Xochipilli and he nodded back. The boy left the safe house first and Aloe closed behind. "Can you keep the key? It''s hard to access the trousers'' pockets with the blanket on the middle, and my¡­ personal storage is even more difficult to do so."


    With another nod, Xochipilli accepted the key to the safe house and pocketed it. The gesture made him happy though.


    They started walking towards the city itself instead of remaining in the undeveloped neighborhoods as Xochipilli insisted that she should get quality clothes appropriate for someone of her status.


    "Uhm¡­ Aloe?" Xochipilli sheepishly inquired.


    "Yes, child?"


    "Why aren''t people¡­ questioning your looks? They are looking at you, but that''s all¡­"


    It was impossible to go through the populated streets without being noticed, so it was obvious that they would receive more than one look. And looks they received. Every passersby''s eyes locked with Aloe, but none had a puzzled expression even if she still looked very much like a human-plant hybrid.


    "Glamour, the magic I am using, makes people¡­ pleased whilst looking at me. And because people wouldn''t be pleased to look at plants, they acknowledge me like a person."


    This was, of course, a pile of camelshit.


    She theorized that glamour would work like that, but she couldn''t be sure of it, even now when it was proving to have some moderate success. Yes, they weren''t screaming at her in confusion, but she doubted she could affect the minds of the people who observed her. Though at the same time¡­ that''s how the world of ideas works¡­


    "Oh!" Xochipilli''s eyes glinted in childish joy at the explanation. "Would I be able to do it?"


    "Well, there''s not much use for you. Is it now?" She added with a motherly smile.


    "I guess¡­" He deflated a bit, but that wasn''t enough to kill his enthusiasm.


    As they walked further and further into the center of the city, Aloe couldn''t help but be in awe at the size of each and every building. Each edification felt like a megastructure, and they were still far away from the tallest ones that they could see looming on the horizon.


    Wide pavemented streets, hundreds or thousands of passersby, decorated fa?ades with glass, plenty of streetlights that were normally seen only in very select noble districts everywhere¡­


    Madness.


    This cannot be constructed in a handful of decades. She had been pondering that for hours now, but that fear beat harder and harder with each beat of her own heart.


    "Where are we going to?" The creeping dread in her heart dissipated when Xochipilli asked again with his infinite curiosity.


    "Well, I''ve found a direction on the slaver''s body," or more like his mind, "to what I think is a pawn shop. I still don''t know how expensive things may be here, but I have something that should net us a bit of money for our expenses."


    It had been through vague imagery, but Aloe managed to see that the man with the mustache and the big top hat in the slaver''s dream had a pawn shop, or at least, it felt like he had one. Navigating foreign dreams was something she was still very green at. Pun not intended.


    Her intention was to pawn her single drupnarea, as even if the currency had shifted from metal-based to paper-based, gold was still gold. No matter the place or the time, that held true.


    Once they arrived at the more urban streets, the avenues got wider and cleaner. And also more occupied. Yet regardless of the number of people watching her, none seemed to be bewildered by her looks. Even if she had covered her head with a rag to hide the Aloe Veritas, her skin black skin was very much non-human, and her hair literally had leaves on the strands.


    Even if she were not to be a vegetable human, Aloe didn''t appreciate the attention. Not because she had been a hermit for decades at the very least, but since young she already didn''t appreciate having eyes laid on her. Especially if those eyes wanted to devour her¡­


    Not anymore. She told herself and toughed out her resolve. I''m strong now, I can fight against anything. I''m not weak. Not anymore.


    There was almost a visible line between each neighborhood they walked across. With each passing crossing, the buildings and the people seemed to get fancier. No longer she saw sweaty men in suspenders, but women with frilly dress and parasols, and men with dapper suits and hats.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.


    How are they wearing such heavy clothes? They must be sweating a lot, besides also being weighed down. That held truer with the women as some wore dresses in which skirts were inflated like bells or balloons. She was tempted to ask a woman but decided against it as she didn''t know the limits of glamour, and she could get the answer from a tailor.


    "Xochipilli, tell me," she mused as they continued walking with their hands held. "You still see me as a plant, don''t you?"


    "Well," he blushed for some heavens'' forsaken reason. "I see you as I''ve always seen you."


    "I see¡­" So that was completely useless. She could have asked him for further confirmation, but that was enough of an answer for her. Xochipilli sees me normally whilst others ¨C even if I cannot read their thoughts ¨C don''t seem to question my looks. This means that there''s a suspension of disbelief with people who aren''t aware of my nature. I''ll note that down. Sometime.


    After having had all the time in the world for years now, it felt weird to Aloe not being able to sit on the ground, cut an Aloe Veritas leaf from her body, and start writing down her thoughts.


    Most of the Slowtide''s volume had been filled that way with all of her notes and sketches.


    "Why do they even make buildings this tall?" She changed the subject out of boredom. "Putting aside how difficult it would be to construct such tall buildings, it must be outrageous having to climb these many stairs to get to one''s house."


    "I¡­ don''t have the answer to that¡­" Xochipilli looked saddened at the pavement, almost teary-eyed.


    "Don''t react that way, Xochipilli." Aloe stopped and patted him with her free hand. "I was just musing my thoughts out loud, if I''m a native and I don''t know the answers, then it''s impossible for you to know them, so cheer up." She rustled his hair a bit and that seemed to do the job better than the previous words.


    "Mmm," he wiped his tears and nodded at her.


    The more they continued walking, the more oppressive the feeling in her heart became as she noticed the dream wasn''t as much of a dream as she originally thought. Her own dreams had portrayed fantastical elements, especially that world of ideas, but the slaver''s dream was almost¡­ not prophetic, but uncanny with its realism and portrayal of actual reality.


    What caught their attention next was a child on the streets thrashing papers around.


    "Today''s news! A new silver mine has been found in Tecolata! Get your news!" The boy ¨C who couldn''t be more than ten like Xochipilli ¨C thrashed papers around as he shouted at the top of his lungs. "Get your news! Only a drupnar a piece!"


    The boy stood on top of a crate and wore simple suspenders like the people back at the outskirts of Selen but with the added bonus of a beret and a bandolier where he carried more of those papers but rolled into tubes.


    Hmm, that paper looks curious, Aloe pondered. It doesn''t look like the parchment I know of at all. Also, it''s grey. Has there been also a revolution in the paper industry besides in construction and textile ones? The more she saw the current state of Selen and its progress, the stronger her doubts and that ache in her heart got.


    For a moment she thought it was some kind of scam, a child wouldn''t be selling something as expensive as paper for a drupnar, but as she saw a suited man buy one without giving it much thought, Aloe thought otherwise. Well, it''s only a drupnar¡­


    Aloe approached the crying boy and as soon as she got in front of him, his shouts died out.


    "I¡­ uhm¡­ uh¡­ get your news¡­" He whispered faintly as his eyes darted all over the place unable to fixate on one spot and he slightly blushed.


    "How much was it?" Aloe asked amused even if she had heard his shouts perfectly.


    "Uh, o-one drupnar, m-ma''am," the boy hid behind one of the papers he was selling.


    "Here you go," she placed one drupnar on his hand that she had taken out beforehand as otherwise she would have needed to almost undress herself to access any pocket.


    "Uhm¡­" He remained looking at the copper coin in his hand for a few seconds, thinking and failing to utter the words, and finally, he pushed one of those papers onto her and he ran away.


    "How cute," Aloe mused and unrolled the paper she had just gotten.


    "Uh, Aloe?" Xochipilli interrupted at her side.


    "Yes, child?"


    "You gave him a copper coin?"


    "And?"


    "Aren''t drupnars the gray ones?" He said with a hint of doubt.


    "What are you talking about? Drupnars are the¡­ oh," she noticed her mistake. "Wait, are you telling me that they have substituted the drupnars with the zinc coins, and the drupnari are now coppers?"


    "Yes, I think so? I''m afraid I''m not well-versed in the local currency¡­"


    "I¡­ what sense does that even make? The prefix ''-i'' literally means silver! If you change the coin materials, then you should change the name!" This wasn''t just that rigorous grammatical instinct that most scribes had, but her banker background speaking.


    She was more infuriated by the wrong terminology usage rather than being scammed. Or rather, scamming herself alone.


    "I don''t know¡­" Xochipilli flinched and shrank at Aloe''s heightened voice.


    "Sorry, Xochipilli, my rage wasn''t directed at you, just at society at large," she sighed and rustled the child''s hair, which he greatly enjoyed. "Anyhow, it''s time to look at this paper."


    She was surprised to find how thin the paper was and how much ink it had without breaking down. But beyond all else, what shook her more were the words. She could understand them just fine, the dialect used was a bit disorienting but not illegible, but rather how they were written.


    All the letters were exactly the same shape, no matter the position or the page.


    As a former scribe shook her and she hastily turned the pages, but beyond occasional splotches of ink, all letters were identical, and all words were leveled.


    The degree of precision was¡­ breathtaking.


    How have they done that? The text formatting confused her so much that she couldn''t even bring herself to care about the crisp drawings on some pages or the fact that there was precious paper wasted on advertisements. Advertisements! The only advertising she had ever known was the oral kind, advertising by text was¡­ unthinkable.


    "I¡­ Aloe?" The cultivator snapped out of her frenzy as Xochipilli pulled her makeshift dress.


    "Is there something wrong, Xochipilli?" Aloe was tempted to continue reading by leaving one eye on the papers and having the other look at the child, but she didn''t want to gross him out with her flexibility even though she wanted to keep reading.


    "You asked me about the date when we met, right?" She nodded at his rhetorical question. "There''s always a date on the first page of a newspaper." Xochipilli tapped with his finger at the top of the first page.


    "Lemme see¡­" As Aloe read, the papers fell to the ground.


    Her heart started beating faster than ever before. Not having her life threatened, not being boiled alive, not being raped, not being used as nothing more than a sex toy had caused her so much distress ever before on her life.


    The date read: 22nd Sawad, 832.


    The numbers felt meaningless before her eyes as her fingers trembled and she felt bile gathering on her throat. Something deep inside of her cracked. Rifts she thought she had fixed only became greater now. She felt her sanity escaping her grasp. Again.


    Her body itched, her breathing quickened, her teeth clattered.


    "A-ah¡­" Aloe groaned pathetically.


    It¡­ it had been two centuries since she had gone into the chasm.

 Book 5: 9. Pawn

    "T-two¡­ centuries¡­" Aloe started hyperventilating. Her hands trembled, her vision became blurry, her throat hurt, her heart burned.


    You should have known, she blamed herself. Of course, society can''t advance this fast in only a couple of decades. But a couple of centuries¡­


    Her jaws hung down, her mouth agape, and drool slipping out.


    Her mind couldn''t comprehend it.


    "T-two¡­" It just didn''t make sense. By any means, it didn''t. "Centuries¡­"


    How was she still alive? How had she allowed this much time to pass by?


    "Is there something wrong, Aloe?" Xochipilli asked before her. The small child had knelt down and grabbed the papers she had dropped, and even if he was handing them back to her, his mannerisms betrayed uneasiness.


    No, Aloe stopped her body from trembling and put her back upright. You cannot do that to a child. I am strong. Don''t show weakness. Only strength. I am strong. I can do it. Don''t show weakness. Display strength. Manifest it.


    The vegetable woman took a deep breath and with one hand she picked up the papers she was being offered and with the other she rustled Xochipilli''s hair.


    "Everything''s fine, Xochipilli," Aloe responded with a warm and confident motherly smile. Glamour helped so much with facial expressions that she almost believed it herself.


    That everything was under control? No.


    "We should get going to that pawn shop," she moved her hand to hold Xochipilli''s. "We are attracting a bit of attention by standing here."


    The child nodded and followed the tug on his hand. Even if Aloe portrayed utter confidence outwardly thanks to the charm stance, she had never panicked like this before in her life. Spending years in a wet chasm alone already decimated her mind, but spending centuries¡­


    She commended herself for not fainting or puking on the streets, even if she felt very much like doing so.


    Two centuries. Two nince-damned centuries. She wanted to cry. Never before in her life had she wanted to cry more ever before in her whole life, and it wasn''t for a lack of opportunity. All her mental plans and ideas suddenly collapsed as the time frame gained a zero to the right.


    No, not everything is lost, Aloe told herself to calm down. Longevous perennity is a powerful external infusion, I still have my chance. I still can complete my quest. For without it, she was nothing.


    Aloe guided Xochipilli out of the main avenue into narrow alleys. They couldn''t even be compared to the alleys of Sadina as all the buildings in Selen were several floors higher, meaning that every alley was very very dark. Whilst she didn''t have trouble with her passive enhanced sight even without using acuity, the same couldn''t be said for Xochipilli. The child put more strength on her grip as she led him across a labyrinth of darkness.


    Soon, they reached their destination. It was an entrance in one of the alleys with a few steps into the ground, the door was placed a floor underground.


    Even if it was a bit¡­ suspicious of an entrance, it wasn''t by any means an off-limits area, and by pushing the door open, they were welcomed with a well-illuminated store.


    That was what shook her more: the lighting. Not the pompously decorated room, not the fact that they were underground, but the lighting. There were several lamps placed on the walls across the open room, but she saw no fire. The light was almost as bright as the outside had been on the main avenue, but most importantly, it had a familiar touch to it. Although Aloe wasn''t able to point out why.


    It didn''t take long for a figure to appear behind the counter, and sure enough, it was the man with the mustache and comically large top hat she had seen in the dream. How does the hat not collapse on itself? Even though Aloe had seen how much of the scum the man before her was, she was more worried about his attire. She may have gotten away with murder in the middle of nowhere, but in the heart of the city¡­ that would prove more difficult.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    So she did her best and held her cravings of crushing the man''s skull with her hand, not just into pieces, but outright grains.


    "Greetings," the suited man half-bowed, "what brings such a delectable lady to a shop as gloomy as mine?"


    It would have been easy to go with pleasantries and, perhaps, it would have been the most sensible choice, but she didn''t want to interact with this man more than it was needed, so Aloe simply took her drupnarea out and slammed it on the counter, and said, "How much for it?"


    "Hm?" The man picked up the small golden coin with his gloved fingers and inspected it closely. "Definitely gold, I can tell that by weight alone, but what makes this coin worth something isn''t the gold itself but the history behind it."


    Aloe hadn''t thought about that, mainly because she had only become aware that she herself was old history not even an hour ago.


    "From the engravings on the coin, I can tell it''s an Aaliyahn drupnarea, circa six hundred." It irked her how much he was right. "Now, drupnareas only weigh around thirty grams, which is still quite a bit, but a collector may be more interested in it than a goldsmith for its historical value. How about two thousand drupnars?"


    The cultivator controlled her expressions perfectly with her glamour. Two thousand drupnars is double the coin''s worth, but that would only be in my¡­ age. Heavens, I still can''t believe it''s been two centuries. Aloe did her best to not think about it, this was not the right moment to do so. I would have accepted if it wasn''t because money seems to have been devalued ¨C mostly likely due to inflation ¨C from my time. At best, I have to assume that a drupnarea is ten times as valuable as before because bronze is. So it''s likely he has lowballed me significantly.


    "It seems I have come here only to be insulted," Aloe snatched the coin from the man''s fingers and turned around. "Come on, Xochipilli, we have no business here."


    "Wait!" The man didn''t even let her take one step. "I admit I have been a bit too brazen with my pricing. Consider the number I have stated as a starting point from the market value of gold."


    "Now we are talking," the woman placed the drupnarea back on the counter. "So, what is your offer? This relic," she almost puked uttering that word, "must hold a lot of value for collectors."


    "Three thousand drupnars," the man offered.


    Aloe tapped on the golden coin. "The worth of this coin remains on the fact that not many drupnareas of that period remain as not many were minted in the first place." The first point was just a guess, but she was sure of the latter.


    Her experience as a banker told her that most gold coin ¨C drupnarea or fajatea ¨C would have been long melted into trinkets or bars to store as cold assets, and it was true that not many of them existed in the first place as transactions that big would normally be carried out through bank notes rather than coinage. The only ones who used gold coinage were either boasting nobles or sultanzade throwing away their money.


    She was quite familiar with the latter.


    "Three fifty," he raised the price ever-so-slightly.


    "Scarcity is a good, and it is hard to put a price on it~" Aloe hummed, trying to use a bit of her glamour.


    "Four," the top hat man said whilst slightly gritting his teeth.


    "Ten thousand drupnars," she countered.


    "That''s outrageous!" The man slammed his hands on the counter and almost jumped over it. "That''s the price what I could sell it fooor¡­" He instantly noticed his mistake.


    Aloe smiled and rejoiced at his error. She could tell the man had lost his composure because of her charm stance. It pained her to use such nefarious arts, but at the same time, she was dealing with vermin. In any case, he should be thanking her for not killing him outright after meeting his eyes.


    "So what we say about five thousand?" She circled her finger on the counter. "You could get quite the return on investment."


    "I¡­" The man''s gaze switched between the golden coin and her emerald eyes. "You have a deal¡­" He finally gave in and offered her a hand with slumped shoulders, which she happily accepted.


    She almost expected foul play from the handshake, or for the man to call guards, or anything along those lines, but nothing happened. He gave her twenty banknotes like the ones the slaver had on his wallet ¨C though he called them ''bills'' ¨C that had a ''500'' written over them.


    Now, she didn''t know how much to trust these ''bills'' but the texture was very similar to the ones she recovered from the corpse, and it would be weird for the man to trick her with such an exchange. It was more of her not trusting this whole paper currency than doubting the man, after all, papers had no innate value like metal coins did.


    Even then, she didn''t notice any foul play in the man''s behavior. No erratic tics, no sweating, a constant pulse, it would seem just another transaction for him.


    After she finished counting the bills, mostly an act as it felt like she should do it, Aloe directed back to him.


    "By any chance, wouldn''t you know of a tailor?" She handed the money to Xochipilli in the meantime as she had no way of storing it without undoing her precarious clothing. "I am in dire need of a new dress, and this influx of money could be fully dedicated to it."


    She chose to say dress instead of clothing as most upstanding women on the streets seemed to wear one, whilst the commoners wore the same shirts and trousers as men.


    "Oh, but of course! I know the best tailors in Selen¡­" The scum of a man was more than glad to give her directions.

 Book 5: 10. Tailor

    As much as she hated asking for directions from what proved to be a human trafficker, Aloe was in dire need of clothing. And only the truest epitome of garbage would give a lady the wrong direction to a tailor.


    Even if the top hat man''s directions were quite clear, it took her and Xochipilli a bit of help from the locals as Selen had become quite the maze. It didn''t help at all that you couldn''t see the horizon with these tall buildings in every cardinal direction.


    The sun was almost setting when they finally found their destination. The fa?ade of the shop was quite fancy, and when Aloe swung the glass door open, they were greeted by a bell.


    "Welcome to Omar''s Fineries, how can I help you?" A man way back on the other side of the shop announced.


    "Greetings," Aloe announced. "I would like to get a dress and maybe¡­"


    "Oh, great heavens!" The man, who she could only guess was Omar by the multiple tailoring tools all over his body, screamed and rushed over her. "What''s all of this? How''s a lady as dazzling as you wearing such rags? Blasphemy I say!"


    "Like I was saying¡­" Aloe spoke again if a bit weirded out. "I would like a dress as I have had some¡­ complications."


    "Well, if you want some ready-made dresses you could go to Nasir''s shop down the street. All the products he sells are defective, but cheap only a few drupnars, like¡­ those things." She pointed all around her body.


    "I have been sent here as I have quite the disposable income."


    "Do you, now?" Omar crossed his arms in doubt.


    What''s wrong with this man? One moment his praising my beauty and the next one he''s looking at me like a beggar¡­ I mean, I do look like one but come on!


    Aloe sighed. "Xochipilli, show him."


    At her orders, Xochipilli took out the wad of bills. All five thousand of them.


    "Ehem," the tailor cleared his throat. "That is quite indeed the disposable income. I could offer you a bespoke dress, but such commissions take time¡­ and it would seem you need one now. Do you really want to spend this much?" He eyed the bills with uncertainty.


    "Quite," she nodded. "Not only do I need a dress, but also undergarments, spare clothing, and also something for him."


    "I''m afraid I don''t sell clothing appropriate for¡­ cocoas." The sheer hesitation in his words told Aloe that was supposed to be an insult directed at Xochipilli.


    Because the child himself failed to react, mostly being subservient, was the only reason why Aloe didn''t attack the tailor on sight. Though her fingers were itching for a bit of a rustle.


    "I will tell myself what is appropriate and what is not, thank you very much," Aloe added with a scowl.


    "B-but of course," Omar stuttered, not out of intimidation, but at the prospect of losing a customer. It was clear in his eyes. "I will need to take your measurements and those of the¡­ child. If you would accompany me."


    Omar started with Xochipilli, and careful to not lay a hand on his skin, he swiftly took the sizes with a measuring tape.


    "I have some trousers and shirts of his size already, all of the quality and expected of a child of an upper-class family, by all means." He explained.


    "That will be more than enough," Aloe nodded.


    She didn''t intend to expend a lot of money on Xochipilli''s clothing, to begin with. Not because she was being stingy, but because a growing child like him would quickly outgrow his clothes. That would be a misuse of their limited money.


    "Now, if you excuse me," Omar started taking her sizes.


    At first, Aloe pondered if she should change her body shape, but if she intended to interact with people, glamour was the way to go. If she wanted clothing for other forms, she would make do with simple clothing. As stated by the tailor and by what she had seen on the streets, clothing was far more common in this¡­ age.


    Heavens, I still don''t grow used to the fact that I''m¡­ bicentennial. Oh, that sounds so bad¡­


    The vegetable woman was snapped out of her deprecating thoughts as she felt the pressure of Omar''s touch on her bottom.


    "Excuse me?" She voiced out.


    "Oh, great heavens, I must apologize. My hand slipped as I was measuring your hips¡­" There was a slight blush on the man''s face, but it wasn''t the flush of shame from a person who had made a mistake, but that of lust.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    "No problem," Aloe smiled at him. "Just take into account that if you do that again you are dead." She uttered casually with the greatest of smiles boosted by her glamour.


    The man blinked thrice before his mind processed the dissonance between her words and her expression.


    "I-I wouldn''t have it otherwise¡­" He chuckled and finished taking her measures.


    Sexual assault notwithstanding, the man proved quite proficient in his job as he took the sizes and started guiding them across the shop to show them the available attires. It helped that Aloe could smell his cold sweat, which prevented her from hacking the man on the spot.


    "For your generous budget and sizes, I have the following dresses available." She expected him to show some clothes like the ones that were on display, but Aloe was dumbfounded by what she saw next.


    Omar opened a sliding wooden door to reveal a curious contraption where many sets of attire rested at. With a pull of a rope, the contraption moved and rotated, changing the dresses on display. The shelf where the dresses were at moved upwards and a new shelf with more dresses was pulled up.


    "Without any egregious modifications, these five dresses are the only ones meeting all your criteria." The tailor pointed at the piles of clothing on display.


    That was the only way to describe them, piles of clothing. Aloe had become aware how some rich-looking women wore stuffy dresses, and whilst it had weirded it out at first as they would get an insolation that way, she soon realized that the climate was more humid, and the temperatures lower compared to what she had previously experimented on Selen.


    Two hundred years ago.


    She would never that get out of her head.


    But there was still a problem with those dresses beyond how hot they might be.


    "All the dresses are gorgeous and such," some looked more like gowns than day dresses, but she didn''t comment on that, "but what about the weight? They seem very heavy to move around."


    Sure, weight was a triviality for her, but how normal women were able to wear them was gnawing on her mind.


    "These lovely pieces have been confected with the utmost quality of Cottonpull, so they are quite lighter than they seem."


    The vegetable woman''s brain disconnected, and she started hearing a buzzing sound in her ears as if she was suffering from tinnitus.


    "What?" That was the only word she was able to manage out of her lips.


    "Yes, indeed, the material allows for quite mobile pieces regardless of their size." Omar continued talking, unbeknownst of the panic going on in the cultivator''s mind.


    "Could you repeat that?" Even if her voice didn''t tremble thanks to her internal infusion, she felt incredibly sick.


    "That these are mobile pieces?" Omar said with a raised eyebrow and slight confusion.


    "No, before that. About the material."


    "About how they are made with Cottonpull?"


    "Cottonpull," Aloe reiterated.


    "Cottonpull," Omar confirmed.


    Suddenly, a lot of things started making sense.


    Aloe took a deep breath and acted as if nothing was wrong. Why are you even surprised, tens if not hundreds of cotton balls escaped all over the ye-centuries, surely one was going to make it out and get planted. Such is the¡­ cycle of nature.


    In foresight, it was obvious that it would happen. She herself had predicted the uses of Cottonpull in the textile industry centuries ago. A textile that negated weight was a valuable resource, it was only that she hadn''t had the tools to exploit that on her little hole.


    "Which dress would you recommend me?" Aloe said if only to break the growing silence.


    "I assume you would like to have a day dress," she nodded at the tailor''s words. "This golden gown is a gala dress so I would discard it immediately. This red velvet dress is meant for night parties and can get very hot, so I would recommend against it, but it can be used as a day dress. As such, I would recommend either of the last three dresses."


    The remaining dresses were outright pieces of art. The intricate craftmanship was obvious even to an untrained eye, but the quality was outstanding, nonetheless. Aloe wasn''t particularly fond of the bell skirts of all the dresses, but mobility wouldn''t be an issue in any case, especially now that she knew the truth behind the material.


    The first one was a white one with many frills that was accompanied by a wide-brimmed hat with flowery decorations on top. It was a lovely piece, but unfortunately, that much whiteness made her sick. It would be a nightmare to wash.


    "How are these dresses supposed to be washed?" She questioned the tailor.


    "There are linen underlayers to separate the skin and the dress, those are the ones that need to be washed. But in the case, the dress itself was to be soiled, then it would be like washing common cotton."


    So, suffering incarnate? Aloe kept her thoughts to herself. Washing cotton clothing was not something she was looking forward to.


    The second dress wasn''t as overdecorated as the others and it had a soothing cream and beige color, with some bronze accents. She preferred it more than the white one, but the chest¡­ That piece highlighted the bosom too much for her liking. She had been very conscious of her size since she was little, but she was now for the complete opposite reasons. Glamour made her a vixen, and that accent on the dress would attract too many unwanted gazes.


    The third dress, though, was perfect. Not as complex as the white one, and not as¡­ outrageous as the cream dress. It had some laces and frills over the chest area and the skirt ¨C she still wasn''t ecstatic about the bell skirt ¨C but they didn''t feel oppressive like on the other ones. And beyond all else, the color bewitched her.


    Soft green dyed cotton cloth.


    "Can I try that one?" Aloe pointed at the green dress.


    "Excellent choice," Omar nodded and walked to the mannequin. "Not only the soft green will compliment your gorgeous emerald eyes, but this one also has a special piece." He picked up a stick behind the mannequin, and with a soft click, the stick unfurled. "A matching frilled parasol."


    "Oh," she had seen women on the streets with those ''parsols'' before, but this one looked like on a whole other level. "Yes, I want this one."


    "Let me guide you to the changing room then before I bring the dress."


    "One thing first though," Aloe interrupted him. "I would need some undergarments first."


    "Of course, we should then¡­" His voice died out as a doubt visually appeared on his visage, he flayed his fingers around a bit as if he remembered a sensation. "Are you not wearing anythi¡­"


    "I would need a matching set," she interjected dryly.


    "I¡­ of course," Omar bowed with a bed of sweat forming on his forehead. "What would it be? Pieces like chemise, corset, and petticoats are included, but you would need a set for your legs and your lingerie. I''d recommend stockings for the legs, though pantyhose is also an option. As for the unmentionables, the option would be completely yours. Bloomers, lace, drawers?"


    Aloe failed to understand one single word of the ones Omar had just uttered.


    "I''ll trust your judgment." The vegetable woman responded noncommittally as she was unsure what the right answer would be.

 Book 5: 11. Beautiful

    Aloe waited patiently in the dressing room, which was almost as big but certainly more decorated than the slaver''s room-house. How weird it must be living in rooms instead of houses with all these tall buildings. She was forming an idea of how buildings had become this tall, but she wanted someone to answer her doubts about it rather than make blind guesses. Unfortunately, asking about construction and architecture to a tailor wasn''t the best of ideas.


    Trust was scarce, so as she waited in the dressing room ¨C it even had a set of teapots although there wasn''t a kettle to be seen anywhere ¨C she paid close attention to her senses. Even with glamour on, she could detect trivial things like heartbeats, breathing, vitality, and even heat. Only she, Xochipilli, and the tailor were in the store, and Omar didn''t seem to be doing anything to the child.


    Her paranoia was at an all-time high, she knew that the tailor had no reason to do anything to Xochipilli, especially considering how he was looking at her with those disgusting lustful eyes, but it was better to be alert.


    One thing that she noticed was that Omar had more vitality than a normal person should have. Not by much, only two mansworth, but that was already twice as much. Is this about the pills I''ve heard about and seen in the dream?


    Before she could continue with that trail of thought, Omar pushed the door open as he carried a cart filled with clothing.


    "I have brought you all the types of undergarments I have at my disposal with your sizes and that would combine well with your chosen dress. Feel free to try them. I will allow the¡­ child to bring you the dress in a bit." With that, the man left the room and closed the door behind him.


    "Alright, what do we have here?" Aloe mused as she closed onto the cart. "I recognize some pieces but others¡­ how is this supposed to even be worn?"


    She picked up a set of thin white undergarments that had a floral design and was a bit too transparent. Curiously enough, it looked like lace, the type one would use for tablecloths. She placed it in front of herself and looked at her reflection in the wall-wide mirror.


    "Is this supposed to be lingerie?" Aloe frowned. "It''s quite¡­ something."


    At first, she was going to say it was revealing, but all undergarments were revealing if worn with nothing else. The word she was seeking was¡­ lusty. It was a simple set of white undergarments with some laces and a pattern that let the skin be shown with its intermittent holes, but all of that combined into a singularity that made the textile innately lustful.


    Aloe inspected the room to check that no one was spying on her with her vitality sense, then took a deep breath before undressing. In all honesty, she didn''t need undergarments considering her bark¡­


    "Well, I guess I don''t have bark skin with this form," she inspected her naked body, twirling and looking at her back in the mirror. There was a hint of seductiveness at how defined her spine was. "Anyhow, I wouldn''t like to wear clothes without anything below, it would feel too¡­ weird."


    She didn''t know the name of each piece, but after trying them all, she noticed that all were very comfortable. That or her body had grown too numb to the casual rubbing of clothes. Her senses were so increased that they took a one-hundred and eighty degrees turn and became numb from the simple sensory overload.


    There was one piece that she didn''t fully understand, though. It wasn''t the bras, those ones she understood even if they had been a recent introduction to women''s fashion, or at least it had been before her self-imposed exile. It was a piece that covered the whole torso and was made of cotton and linen that seemed to tie to the torso. She failed to understand the function of such a piece, it almost looked like a bath shirt, but those strings on the back to tie it made it different. Also, it was very rigid, which she didn''t enjoy in the slightest.


    In the end, Aloe found herself wearing a quite big piece of those laced undergarments that covered her bosom and nether areas. Did she need something so flamboyant? No. Did it look cute? Yes. She also liked the belt that piece had and considered it quite the intelligent design to make the cloth hold to the body. The contrast between the bright white of the fabric and her dark skin was also very delectable.


    Beyond that, she wore a type of very thin and translucent white pants that reached up to her belly. More than pants, perhaps they were socks, but she wasn''t sure about that. The reason why she chose them wasn''t because they were particularly comfortable or cute, but because they hid her skin.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    The less skin she showed, the fewer opportunities someone had to discern her real self. Not that of Aloe Ayad ¨C she was sure no one remained in the world to remember her name except one person ¨C but of her inhuman self.


    "I must ask Omar if he has gloves of the same material. These sock-pants are thin enough that they aren''t cumbersome, but thick enough that my skin doesn''t look like the texture of succulents."


    A few minutes later, someone knocked on the door.


    "You can come in," Aloe said as she recognized the small thrum of vitality as Xochipilli''s.


    She was welcomed by a child casually carrying a dress bigger than himself, but what she was delighted to see was his clothes.


    "Oh, how dapper you are!" The vegetable woman presses her hands together in euphoria.


    Xochipilli was wearing a small black suit, though instead of the long trousers like the men in the streets wore, he had boyish short ones that only reached down to his knees. The suit jacket also had cutesy triangular flaps on the back, and the ribbon he wore on his neck only amplified that cuteness.


    "Ah, I want to eat you!" She was fighting against her instincts and not tormenting the child with an endless session of cheek-pinching.


    "I¡­ uh¡­" Xochipilli blushed and closed his eyes. Then she raised his arms to show the dress. "Could you dress yourself first?"


    Aloe giggled and rejoiced in the boy''s shame. She took the dress from Xochipilli''s hands, and she was surprised to find out that, indeed, the dress was very light. Makes sense, everything that should be cotton is Cottonpull instead, so the only thing holding it from flying away is the rest of the textiles that weigh it down.


    Wearing such a big and ostentatious dress wasn''t easy as there were many things in the middle, making it hard to wear it in the first place. But she could cheat a bit. Whilst not as flowing as water, Aloe had the ductility of clay and was able to push herself inside of the dress without so much as undoing a single button or knot.


    "Done," she said to Xochipilli, who promptly turned to look at her. She added a twirl to show her skirt.


    "Oh¡­" He was left agape.


    "Without words?" Aloe teased him and he just nodded repeatedly. "I will need some footwear, though, I didn''t account for this." She tapped the wooden floor with covered feet. Going back with the slaver''s boots was of poor taste, an offense to such masterwork of tailoring.


    "I will notify the tailor at once," Xochipilli bowed and left the room.


    Aloe continued to twirl and looked at herself in the mirror. Without even noticing it, she found herself smiling at her looks. She had always felt uncomfortable with her attires, even if she had the most expensive and gorgeous ones free of expense thanks to her scribal position, she never felt like she had been up to them, actively done them a disservice by wearing them.


    Not before long, Xochipilli and Omar barged into the room.


    "The young one here told me you were quite striking ¨C and I already imagined that ¨C but seeing it in person¡­ it is quite different," the tailor said with paused words. "I''ve brought a pair of satin slippers and ankle boots that I thought would fit with the dress, but I''m afraid I''ve only guessed your foot size."


    Aloe nodded and tried the footwear she was given. Considering she had been barefoot for most of her life now, there wasn''t any innate advantage to the boots, so she decided on the slippers in the end as they looked more fashionable with their green accents.


    "Do you have some gloves? I''d like to have my hands covered. Better yet if they cover my arms too," she asked whilst trying the footwear.


    "At once," Omar bowed and went to search for them. By the time she was done and selected the slippers, he was already back. "Please, try them."


    He handed her a pair of arm-length silk gloves, which she promptly wore, and looked delightfully on her dark skin. They were translucent enough to hint at her dark skin, but opaque enough to hide its true texture. The dress'' arms were also long enough that she only showed a small section of skin, hiding her true self as much as possible.


    She still kept a rag on her head to hide the Aloe Veritas, but she had a better ¨C more stylish ¨C way to hide it than with just a cloth.


    "Could someone handle me the parasol?" Aloe petitioned and soon the tailor brought it to her.


    With a swift movement, she unfurled the mechanism, and the device opened like a roc ¨C the famed flying monster of the desert ¨C spreading its wings, even if she hadn''t seen one in her life. Aloe put the parasol close to her to hide the top of her head and twirled around, the skirt lagging behind her.


    "What do you think?" She asked them whilst clutching the handle.


    "A paragon of fashion," Omar clapped at her display with calculated words.


    Xochipilli, though, wasn''t as reserved. "You are beautiful."


    It was but a compliment spoken by a child, but something about it hit her deeply. Aloe looked at herself in the mirror with her attire finally complete. She saw a buxom and tall woman with lush hair and lovely clothing instead of just a step up from a child with bags under her eyes and a poor choice of clothing. A paragon of fashion like the tailor had said.


    But beyond all else, beautiful.


    "Are you alright, Aloe?" Xochipilli asked out of nowhere with palpable worry.


    "Why shouldn''t I, child?" She responded calmly.


    "Because¡­ you are crying," he answered.


    The vegetable woman faced the mirror again and, sure enough, she was teary-eyed. Perhaps not all-out crying, but certainly now she became aware of her blurred version. She let out a silent whimper and a tear finally trickled down her cheek.


    For the first time in her life, Aloe felt beautiful.

 Book 5: 12. Urban

    By the time they left the tailor''s shop, it was already dark. The sight of the city at night was quite mystical, for it almost didn''t feel like it was night. The ever-present lamplights littered across the streets illuminated everything already, but somehow, every window from every building was also emitting light.


    Aloe could understand the city affording to light up every lamppost, but surely not every citizen could afford the oil or coal to light the fires. Unless¡­


    They rushed back to the slaver''s safe house and Aloe started inspecting the open room. Before doing anything else, she put Xochipilli to sleep. The poor child was exhausted after having walked across the forest and the city for a full day. He asked her for water, but because she didn''t know how people got water in this era, Aloe grew a Flourishing Spring and poured some water directly into a glass. Xochipilli was amazed at her water-making capabilities, but she asked him to sleep first and question her later.


    It was simple doing so after pouring a few Dream Spore spores into his water. She wasn''t sure that it would work, but she still tried, nonetheless. It strained her heart a bit forcing him to sleep, but she justified it by telling herself that a Dream Spore sleep left the body more rested than a normal sleeping session.


    When the child was already sleeping, she was pleasantly amazed to find a little half-sphere of cast iron screwed onto the wall slightly glowing. A whisp of light came from the slits on the half-sphere, so she unlatched the pin holding the cast iron, and the room filled with light.


    "I knew it!" A part of her was furious at what she was seeing, but another one was ecstatic at the applications.


    Before her, a piece of Myriad lay.


    "So I guess they found the Myriad I threw on the oasis all that time ago, huh." She pressed her hands on her hips as she inspected the craftsmanship. "How curious, they have polished the glass and given it a spherical shape."


    She didn''t know much about glassmaking or optics besides what she had been taught back in the day, but judging from how the room was illuminated, Aloe guessed that shape was this way so it dispersed light equally across the room instead of focusing it on one spot.


    "So how does this whole system work?" Aloe pondered whilst looking directly into the Myriad glass. "The light coming from this Myriad, the rest of the buildings, and also the lampposts have an orange tinge, so it isn''t sunlight, but firelight. Have they built a whole system where they carry the light from a single fire across the whole city? If that''s the case, then it''s¡­ genius."


    There was no other word to describe it.


    "Being able to passively illuminate a whole city with a single fire saves a lot in costs and time, but how do they prevent the Myriads from blinding everybody? After all, if I were to shine an undergrowth right into this Myriad, then its light would overpower that of the fire and everyone would see it¡­"


    She was really, really tempted to do so. But at the same time, she had no reason to be a nuisance to the whole city and its tens of thousands of inhabitants. Also, that may bring her into the spotlight if they were to track down the source of the light. But she couldn''t deny growing a Radiating Undergrowth and pressing it against the Myriad was highly¡­ tempting. And amusing. Especially amusing.


    "Hmm, but then what happens with the lampposts? They are outside so they should reflect the light of the sun during the day and blind everyone¡­"


    Unable to resist the impervious need for answers, Aloe left the house and inspected the closest lamppost on the street. Before doing anything, she checked that no one was close or looking at her, and once she was in the clear, she jumped up with a slight movement of her tiptoes.


    That was more than enough to reach the top of the four-something meters of the lamppost. With care, she grabbed to the post, though the metal screeched a bit.


    "Oh, come on!" Aloe groaned in protest. "I''m not that heavy!"The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    Twirling her neck around to unsettling degrees, she was able to check how the whole device worked. First, it had a half-spherical lid on top that blocked all light from the sun; this had the side effect that lampposts could only illuminate directly beneath them, but there were so many of them on the streets that it wasn''t much of a problem. Then, inside of this bowl, there was the typical glass cage used for lamps. However, instead of having the source of light down like you would have with an oil lamp wick, it was at the very top.


    The Myriad glass seemed to be glued at the highest part of the cage, meaning that there was no way for sunlight ¨C regardless of the hour of the day ¨C to hit it as it was completely surrounded by all sides.


    Except downwards, of course.


    Looking directly into the post, Aloe saw it. A second Myriad.


    "Ah, now it makes complete sense," she nodded and got down from the lamppost before something broke. "They are using a series of continuous Myriads to carry the light and judging how the lampposts are placed on the same grid pattern, I bet a mansworth that there is an underground network of them to carry the light across the whole city. Such a marvelous design."


    Aloe could never have imagined it, let alone created it.


    It was quite obvious in hindsight, but she would have never thought of putting several thousands of Myriad glasses on a line and then concatenating their light to illuminate a whole city. And this is only a frontier city in the middle of nowhere. I wonder how majestic Asina will be. The capital of Ydaz may be the cradle of her misery, but Aloe was wiser than to hate the city for just being the place where her misfortune occurred.


    This whole debacle was quite ironic as a former scribe of commoners, urban planning was part of her duties. Well, it technically was shared amongst all scribes, especially the imperial scribe, but by the whims of fate ¨C and the sultanzade ¨C she ended up doing most of that work.


    With swift movements, Aloe dusted her hands and cracked her neck.


    "I hope I haven''t ruined the dress already," she picked up the skirt and slightly raised it to check if something was wrong. "Doesn''t look like it."


    She went back to the safe house and was careful to not wake up Xochipilli, even if the spores had knocked him cold.


    "I must say, this light is quite delightful for reading at night," Aloe mused as she picked up the ''newspaper'' they had bought a few hours ago.


    There were still a few hours before the first light, so she thought it would be a great way to pass up time.


    The newspaper was a surprising advancement in technology. Even if the paper was of very poor quality, the writing was not. Such perfect calligraphy was nothing she had seen before.


    "Considering the number of my plants I''ve seen around," only two of them, "is it possible that they are using the Aloe Veritas for this perfect calligraphy? The veritas has a floral style in its scripture, but at the same time, the only thing in the world that could recreate these precise letters in each instance would be the veritas."


    For now, she let those doubts fly free and focused herself on the newspaper at hand. She had some difficulties reading as the language had seemed to evolve slightly over the centuries, so much so that her old Ydazi now felt like traditional Asayn in comparison with the modern one.


    Most of the information was quite trivial, some politics and whatnot, but it allowed her to grasp ¨C if only slightly ¨C the current landscape of the world. She was very fond of these ''comic strips'' though. Not only did they show a bit of the modern landscape, but the comedy portrayed in those drawings got a chuckle out of her more than once.


    As it would appear, the whole continent was under Ydazi control. She didn''t know how that had happened, but the multiple products announcing their place of fabrication or the politicking, mentioned multiple places like the Loyatan fjords as a Ydazi ''airport'' ¨C whatever that meant ¨C and the frigid mounts of Seviren as just a touristic attraction for the traditional family.


    If they gave her a drupnar each time she had read the words ''traditional'' and ''family'', she would have a drupnarun, which was a lot.


    One of the things that caught her attention was how some of the political parts of the newspaper referred to Ydaz as the Ydazi Caliphate.


    "So The Caliphate, huh?" Aloe groaned as she leaned her head on her hand whilst lying on the sofa. "It wasn''t enough with being the Sultanah, you now wanted to be the Calipha too?"


    Truth be told, there wasn''t much distinction between the titles. The only instance of the title of Calipha in history was with the founder of Ydaz, the father of Sultans, so no other sultan or sultanah called themselves like him from there on out of respect.


    Until now.


    There seemed to be a logistical ¨C or rather hierarchic ¨C reason for the usage of the title, though. With the new additions of Loyata, Carea, Pincerare, Infume, and Seviren under the Ydazi banner, the title of Sultanah fell quite short. And that was without taking into account the Tecolatan colonies from where Xochipilli fared.


    The title of Emir wasn''t enough for the rulers of these kingdoms under Ydazi control, so it was obvious that when they were given the apt title of Sultan, now the Sultanah needed a greater one.


    "Sultanah or Calipha, it makes no difference," Aloe let the newspaper rest for the moment. Her voice was cold, but her emerald eyes were burning. "My intent remains the same."

 Book 5: 13. Casual

    Xochipilli woke up as the sunlight filtering through the windows hit him right on the face. The young boy grunted and covered his eyes with his arm as he struggled against the sheets. It took him a solid minute before he managed to get out of bed.


    "You are finally awake, huh?" The goddess inquired over from the sofa, her voice but the sweetest of harmonies. She was reading the newspaper they had bought yesterday, but she lowered it to look at him.


    Even though she had removed her dress and was covered with a blanket, she looked as gorgeous as always. There was something in those shining emerald eyes that bewitched him, but now with the newspaper in hand, she gained an intellectual and mature touch that was hard to describe. Only the word sublime came to his mind.


    "I left some water on the table if you want," she explained before going back to the newspaper.


    The boy nodded and drowsily walked to the table and drank a whole glass in one gulp. He was still a bit thirsty, so he grabbed the jug next to the glass and refilled it. Even though he had been severely dehydrated, Xochipilli failed to feel any hunger.


    "Why am I not hungry?" He voiced out.


    "That''s the undergrowth," Aloe responded.


    "Undergrowth? Like the fallen leaves on the forest?"


    "Not quite," she left the newspaper aside and stood up.


    In doing so, the blanket fell on the ground and revealed her nakedness. Actually, she was still wearing her undergarments, which made it quite more¡­ something. What that something was, Xochipilli couldn''t describe for a lack of words but not imagination.


    The boy looked aside out of shame; he felt his face burning at the sight.


    "It''s the effect of the Radiating Undergrowth, one of my plants. Well, plant is a misnomer as it''s a fungus," Aloe continued explaining disregarding Xochipilli''s internal conundrum. "Child, look."


    "C-could you please dress yourself?" Xochipilli begged her as he kept looking to the ground.


    "It will be hard with the Radiating Undergrowth now, so first look."


    He had been taught that spying on women was bad, that there was virtue in secrecy and obfuscation, but as the goddess ordered him, Xochipilli couldn''t refuse.


    And as he looked up, he beheld another of her divine miracles.


    On Aloe''s hand, a new sun was born.


    It wasn''t spherical like the star in the heavens, but more shaped like a mushroom. Still, the light and the heat were very much real and like the sun''s. He couldn''t even worry about his one-sided shame with this sight, not that he was able to see much now with all the light blinding him.


    "This is the Radiating Undergrowth," the goddess explained. Even through the searing white light, he could still see her green glow. "It produces a lot of light and heat, which can be very useful in dark places or heating in cold ones, but it has an even better function."


    Aloe cut her hand.


    It happened so fast that Xochipilli almost didn''t process it. One moment the goddess'' hand was attached to her body, and the next it wasn''t. Even in such a visceral scene as yellow-green blood poured off her arm, Aloe didn''t show the slightest hint of pain. With her other hand, she pulled the Radiating Undergrowth out of the severed one, then threw the glowing mushroom into the air. Then she pressed the severed and decimated hand from the vicious uprooting into her stump.


    By the time the fungus started falling, her hand had healed back to its previous self. She hadn''t even used the fire from that red flower on her hips that had healed his leg two days ago. The hand had simply¡­ woven back into place.


    "When uprooted, the mushroom no longer emits heat and light so it can be eaten." Aloe swayed the mushroom around, acting casually as if she hadn''t amputated herself an instant ago. But sure enough, the mushroom hastily lost all its glint and potency and now looked like a normal white mushroom. "The good thing about the Radiating Undergrowth is that even a single mushroom provides enough satiation to keep going for a week."If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    "I see¡­" Xochipilli was at a complete loss of words.


    She had acted with such nonchalance that he couldn''t help thinking that he was in the wrong. After all, why would a goddess care about such trivialities as a cut extremity? The wound was no longer there, what told him there had been one in the first place? His faulty memory? His eyes? He had only seen a blur and interpreted it to the best of his abilities¡­


    "Then I will no longer be able to eat for the week?" He tried speaking as casually as her.


    "Oh, you definitely can. But the undergrowth will remain in your stomach," Xochipilli jerked back at that response. "Fret not, child, that presents no problems. You can think of it as¡­ reserves. You will have a few days'' worth of food inside yourself if you decide to keep eating, but I would recommend not delaying the digestion of the undergrowth for too long as I''ve only tried it myself in periods of a few months."


    "I think I can manage that," Xochipilli nodded.


    Aloe closed onto him and furled his hair. He enjoyed her caresses. Not only her hand was warm, the perfect degree of warmness, but the texture of her touches also changed with time. The first ones he had gotten when she had bark-like skin were itchy ¨C the good kind of itchy though ¨C but now with her almost-fleshy skin, they felt¡­ motherly.


    He didn''t know what to feel about that. He didn''t want them to feel motherly. Mother? He remembered. Where are you? He couldn''t remember when was the last time she had seen her. Was it back in the village? In that dark cellar? Or perhaps the train?


    "Are you alright?" Aloe asked him as she locked him into an embrace, driving him close to her dark skin. Her warm and soft skin.


    She was still naked.


    "C-could you dress up n-now?" Xochipilli flailed around as he tried to separate himself from her.


    "I guess I should, I wouldn''t like you becoming a tomato," she added with a giggle and walked toward the wardrobe, first storing the mushroom inside the small pink opening in her chest. Xochipilli turned his back to not face her whilst she dressed, but as soon as he heard the rustle of the clothing, Aloe talked. "Okay, you can turn back."


    "Already?" He didn''t turn already expecting her teasing.


    "What can I say? A woman has her tricks," the boy only knew that she was speaking the truth because she embraced him from behind and felt the dress'' fabric on his skin. "Now it''s your turn to dress. How is it that you are so embarrassed of seeing me naked, but not when you are the one undressed?"


    "Because that''s how it is," Xochipilli stated as a matter of fact. Boys walked naked. Girls didn''t. It was common knowledge.


    "I see," Aloe hummed in thought before releasing him from her clutches.


    Whilst not as fast as Aloe, the boy managed to put on his clothes in a couple of minutes.


    "What are we going to do today, then?" He asked after putting his jacket in place.


    "I''ve been thinking about the thing you said about pills whilst reading the newspaper," the goddess commented as she graciously strode to the sofa. Even if the dress and all the added paraphernalia covered her whole body, her curves were still quite obvious. "Here, for example, it says ''Ninety-nine drupnars for a charm pill! Increase your beauty with just a pill a month!'', see?"


    She shoved the newspaper in his face, but he was only able to comprehend the drawings and the number 99 with a quick look.


    "I don''t know how to read, Aloe¡­" Once more he failed his goddess.


    "Oh, sorry. I completely forgot about that, Xochipilli. Lighten up, it''s not your fault," she rustled his hair until his expression recovered. "That''s better!" She puffed her chest, a gesture that was magnified by the contours of the frilled dress. "Now, there''s a location on the advertisement, so I planned to visit the place and find that pill you said that awakened your vitality sense. Though first, we should stop at the bank, I have many old coins, and unlike drupnarea, electrum and silver won''t hold much value for collectors. They were too common."


    Xochipilli nodded. He didn''t fully comprehend what she was talking about, but she knew the importance of currency in these lands. And he couldn''t deny that being able to not only have a share of the power of the cultivators but also of the goddess enticed him.


    They left the loft ¨C as the slaver had called it once ¨C and he followed Aloe through the bright streets of the city. Like yesterday, she garnered a lot of attention, but unlike yesterday, the dress seemed to amplify manyfold her attractiveness.


    Ladies, gentlemen, and children all looked at her goddess, but none dared to approach her. As soon as they arrived at the finer parts of the city, they found the boy selling newspapers from yesterday.


    "Get your news! Fresh news from the fjords! Get your¡­" The voice died in his throat as Aloe approached him. His eyes darted everywhere, and his expression heated up. "U-uhm¡­ no takesies backsies?"


    Aloe giggled in response. "Fret not, child, no one is going to take your hard-earned money. I just wanted to ask for directions. Will that be all right?"


    "I¡­ yes, of course!" The boy with the beret nodded vigorously.


    "I would like to know where this place is," she pointed to the advertisement she had shown him before, "and the nearest bank."


    The newspaper boy gave her directions in quick succession, but Aloe seemed to catch them all. Comprehending the language was one thing, being fluent enough to engage in a high-speed conversation was another. Although Xochipilli didn''t like how close the boy was getting to as he pointed around.


    "I could guide you if the directions prove to be too hard!" He offered at the end, his eyes glinting as he recognized the greatness of the goddess.


    "There will be no need for that, thank you very much." Then she took out a small iron coin, a drupnar they were called. "I would like today''s newspaper."


    "At once!" The boy took the drupnar from her hand and handed her the newspaper. "Thank you for your patronage!"


    "What a lovely child," Aloe mused as they walked to their new destination.


    Those last words didn''t sit well with Xochipilli, surely the boy planned something nefarious and was undeserving of such praise. He couldn''t allow his goddess to be tainted by such nefarious individuals.

 Book 5: 14. Bank

    Aloe felt as if she was swimming in clouds as she waltzed across the streets. Parasol in one hand, Xochipilli in the other. The child was pouting since she had talked with the newspaper-selling boy, but the boy himself failed to realize that, and that greatly amused her.


    Cottonpull clothes were genuinely fantastic; not only did they weigh nothing, but they were as comfortable if not more than the clothes she had had during her time as the scribe of commoners.


    They said that clothes made the person, but never before she had felt that saying to be as true as now.


    She just didn''t feel beautiful, but comfortable.


    Should she relay all her backlogged issues into just an attire? No, that was perhaps the worst of decisions, but she felt well, nonetheless. At some point, she should try to work on that but for now, being comfortable with herself was more than enough.


    Curiously, the attention helped with that.


    Yesterday she was cringing at every gaze she received, nauseous by the end of the day, but now that she was dressed that wasn''t much of a problem anymore. In any case, it was a blessing.


    Each gaze brimmed with jealousy filled her with life, though some of the gazes laden with lust utterly disgusted her.


    And there were many.


    It was a fine balance. The jealousy of women, the awe of children, and the lust of men. That last one was the one that troubled her the most, because she was also feeling lust from some ladies, but women were far better at hiding it, making it more into a genuine compliment than a flirt in poor taste.


    The gazes of children like Xochipilli were the best of all as they were more innocent. They only saw beauty and were awed at it, deprived of the hideous debauchery of adults. Ah, what I would give to be a child again. To be free of the chains of lust¡­


    She put a stop to her delusions once they reached the bank. It ended up being quite the recognizable building as it didn''t have more floors than hands had fingers, and instead opted for a more wide and monolithic design.


    Even though the bank didn''t follow traditional Ydazi architecture ¨C though it might be ancient architecture by now ¨C and was built and supported by huge slabs of stone, mostly marble, it did conserve the tall and big windows that would have been expected of buildings of this size. Ydaz was the cradle of glasswork after all, and that legacy was shown as most of the glass was tainted with rich and vivacious colors, making even a dull structure as a bank into something refreshing.


    That brought Aloe a resemblance of comfort after having seen a kernel of familiar architecture.


    They made their way inside the bank, and she was surprised by how little yet how much banks had changed in two centuries. The concept and the utilities remained the same, but now more people from all strata frequented it. It seems that even the humblest of workers now have business in a bank. What is the deal? Are they giving them predatory loans by dressing them as opportunities? That tale was old as time even when she was but an apprentice, but it seemed it went from a low-scope operation to a massive one.


    Aloe walked around the bank for a while before asking a bodyguard where she could exchange old currency. She knew it was a bodyguard from his observant attitude and wide build, but she was surprised by the lack of weaponry, whether it was swords or spears. The world seems more civilized now from what I''ve seen in the streets. Except slavery. That has been forbidden since Aaliyah''s coronation, so why go backward on that?


    The clerk was manned by a young woman and Aloe couldn''t help but see herself reflected on her. A future that had never been.


    "Welcome to the Selen branch of the National Bank of Ydaz, what can I help you with?" The girl said with a practiced and tired tone, even if she did her best to hide that. Aloe had been able to detect such intricacies of behavior before her introduction to the vital arts, so with her enhanced senses, that child was an open book to her.


    Child? Aloe, this girl must be at least eighteen. She''s no child. Though at the same time¡­ isn''t everyone a child to me? She was suddenly confronted with something no woman wanted to think of: her age. I mean, I don''t feel like a grandma. I don''t even feel thirty, let alone two hundred and thirty. Hmm¡­ The cultivator couldn''t help but be interested in her warped perception of time, but the were more pressing matters at hand.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.


    "I would like to exchange some old, legacy currency I have for a more modern one if that would be possible." Aloe gave her a taste of what a true diplomatic smile was like.


    In response, the girl blushed.


    Huh, of all possible reactions, that wasn''t the one I expected.


    "B-by all means," the banker nodded with a pink hint all over her visage. "If you could place them here," she pushed a tray forward. "I must note beforehand that we do not accept all legacy currencies."


    "I pray that mine are accepted then," the cultivator smiled, leaning a bit on her glamour as she physically leaned forward, showing off her bosom before the girl. It was¡­ intoxicating to get such reactions from everyone.


    She placed her silver and electrum coins on the tray as the copper ones seemed to work just fine only that now they were ten times as valuable. Which wasn''t much, but never look a gift camel in the mouth.


    "Oh, woah," the young clerk opened her mouth in surprise as she handled the coins, "Legacy alright, these coins are from the Sultanate and are old. This drupnarun is the oldest of them almost as it''s from Kyra-al-Ydaz''s time, so about three centuries. I can trade you the rest for bills if that is fine with you, but I would like to discuss with my manager about this drupnarun beforehand though."


    "Of course, we will wait around," Aloe nodded at her.


    Before sitting in the main open lobby of the bank, the banker exchanged her old coins for bills, and the conversion rate was way better than she had expected. Probably because the silver and the electrum of the coins were now more expensive than the value of the banknotes.


    "We are quite set for now, Xochipilli," she said to the child once they sat in one of the many armchairs around.


    "Yes?" His head snapped at her upon hearing his name.


    "Between what I had already, what we got from that sad excuse of a man, and the leftover from the drupnarea I pawned, we should have enough liquid assets to go round for a while. Years if we don''t have expenses like food or clothing, but I''m not going to force you to eat undergrowths, don''t fret."


    "I can do it," the child offered himself, nonetheless.


    "I told you don''t have to," Aloe ruffled his hair. "Truth be told, I''m interested in the cuisine of this age. We have seen many food shops whilst strolling ¨C cafes, I think the newspaper called them ¨C so we could visit one once we are done with today''s business."


    Xochipilli nodded enthusiastically at the idea.


    Whilst they waited, Aloe started reading the newspaper she bought today. The information it provided was¡­ insufficient at best, but it helped her adapt hastily to these new times. After all, there was no better way to learn than reading. Or experience it oneself, but she had too much experience for many lifetimes now.


    Literally.


    Xochipilli was a bit fidgety at being at such an expensive and populated place, so there was a bit of small talk here and there. He asked her why she was keeping her parasol open inside the bank, and she responded that it was to hide the plant on her head. The vegetable woman had covered the Aloe Veritas with a clean cloth, but it still stuck like a sore thumb, so having a parasol open indoors was preferable to letting anyone see the bulb on her head, even if it resembled some traditional Ydazi headwear. I could wear a cayora, but that would only hide the veritas, not the bulb.


    One sight was more fashionable than the other and by much, so parasol it was.


    It didn''t take long for the banker to come to meet them at the spot they were resting, though this time she was accompanied by a suited man.


    "A pleasant morning to you, fair lady," the man bowed before her. "I am Najib, manager of this bank''s branch. I would like to speak with you about the Kyran drupnarun you have brought to this establishment."


    The young banker had oozed practiced diplomacy, the one expected of a clerk, but this man was brimming with sweet diplomacy, the one that gallants or conmen used. Some would say that those were the same type of people.


    Aloe said that.


    The cultivator lazily stood up and was already having none of it. Basing one''s behavior based on a single first impression was not a recommended exercise, but she was no longer playing by the same rules when she was young.


    "Let us be done with courtesies, you want something, name it," her words were as sharp as a blade.


    "Naturally," Najib''s expression slightly twitched as he didn''t expect such a cutting response, but he managed to remain collected. "Whilst we can indeed accept the Kyran drupnarun that you have brought, its value lays elsewhere. It is not every day that we find coins this ancient," those words irked her even if the coin itself was a handful of decades older than her, "and it would be better for the world if it were preserved rather than led to a foundry to recycle the electrum."


    The man was as subtle as a dweller on an orchard.


    "Name your price," Aloe said taciturnly.


    The manager''s eye twitched as his finesse fell on deaf ears. "A thousand drupnars."


    It was obvious that he wanted the coin for his private collection.


    "A drupnarea for a drupnarun, eh?" Aloe chuckled. "Sure, why not? It is too poetic to let it pass."


    Najib frowned. "Are you completely sure?"


    "Do you want your coin or not?" She stabbed him with her gaze.


    The man sighed and took a handful of bills with ''200 Drupnars'' written on them. The fact that he casually carried them on a clip indicated how little this price was for him. Spare change, really.


    Yes, she could have gotten a much better deal out of it, but as she had said, it was poetic, and it wasn''t like she was pressed for money. She had seen some advertisements of shops selling day dresses at one ten drupnars a piece, so she was well served even if she had also to cover for Xochipilli''s expenses.


    And besides, if she wanted to make money, this new age was starving for resources that she alone could provide in industrial quantities.

 Book 5: 15. Pills

    With nothing more left to do in the bank, Aloe and Xochipilli followed the newspaper boy''s directions to the shop selling pills. The shop ended up being in one of the poorer neighborhoods of the city center, that was to say: not really poor, but not quite extravagant either.


    As Aloe pushed the door to the shop open, a bell greeted them. She was forced to close her parasol as the door was a little too small, she even had to arch her back forward a bit to not hit the frame ¨C a new experience for her as she had always been small for everything ¨C which irked her a bit.


    They were instantly assaulted by a stale smell laden with wooden and herbal fragrances. Even if it was her senses that were enhanced, Xochipilli suffered far worse as he furled his nose.


    "You can go outside if the smell is too much for you," she told him with a hand on his shoulder.


    "No," he swayed his head. "I can handle it."


    Xochipilli put on a strong fa?ade, but she could see his suffering in his eyes. Those pathetic attempts at portraying strength were so cute that Aloe couldn''t help but find them endearing.


    Soon they were greeted by a female clerk with blonde hair yet olive skin, but before the woman could finish uttering her first word, Aloe detected something within her. Vitality, lots of it. Well, for a normal person. She isn''t quite on the three digits but close enough to the line of diminishing returns. Once a cultivator reached the one hundred mansworth milestone, stances scaled even worse than reaching the ten mansworth milestone.


    "Ah, clients!" She voiced out joyously. "What brings such a fair lady to my humble shop? Would it be our new stock of charm pills? Ninety-nine apiece, you won''t find them cheaper anywhere else on Selen!" The cultivator had a predatory smile, but one of casual greed instead of that of a sultanzade.


    Aloe knew she should carefully think how to interact with an obvious cultivator, and a decently strong one unlike the slaver, but what piqued her curiosity more was another thing.


    "Why ninety-nine?" The vegetable human pondered.


    "Excuse me?" The clerk''s smile collapsed and was substituted by confusion.


    "The price of the pills," Aloe clarified. "Why ninety-nine drupnars?"


    "Well, charm pills boost one''s beauty without the need to practice Nurture and they are hard to produce so the price¡­"


    "No, no," she interjected. "I understand that there are costs of production. What I am asking is because such an uneven number when you could just up it to one hundred and have a round one that could be paid with a single bill?"


    It was already surprising enough that she had managed to get a grain of information from such a random question. The pills boost individual Nurture stances, eh?


    "I¡­" The reaction on the woman''s face made the question worth it already as she portrayed the truest of confusions on it. "The market?" She wasn''t even sure of the answer. "People react better at prices that are smaller and that factor is even more pronounced as the price goes from three digits to two digits, making customers more likely to buy¡­ Wait, why am I answering this to you?"


    Aloe shrugged. "I was curious."


    "Right¡­" The cultivator squinted her eyes and slowly nodded. "Anyhow¡­ are you here to do business or just satiate your curiosity?"


    "Both, but I can guess you are more interested in the former," the dressed woman grabbed the child next to her and pushed him in front of the counter. "I wanted to awaken this child''s vitality and I''m aware that there''s a pill to help the process."


    "I mean, there is but¡­" Aloe could already tell there was more than one question in the cultivator''s head from the looks in her eyes. "The Nurture Awakening pill is a bit expensive, are you sure you want to waste on a¡­"


    "Be careful with your choice of words," the vegetable human interrupted the human woman as she swayed her parasol around.


    "¡­young child?" She finished her sentence.


    "Why shouldn''t I?" Aloe acted innocently at the question.


    "Well, there are more ways to awaken one''s Nurture, especially when the target¡­" The cultivator looked at Aloe''s emerald eyes and stopped talking. "Though I''m no one to go against a customer''s wishes."


    "How costly is this Nurture Awaking pill?"


    "The dose depends on the body weight for this specific pill, and considering the child is a bit¡­ thin of build, I''d say¡­ two hundred drupnars?"


    "Only?" Aloe was shocked by the cheap price.


    "¡­Yes?" The clerk somehow managed to teach Aloe new shapes of bewilderment with the expressive visage of hers.


    "But the charm pills are half that amount, and according to the advertisement, they must be taken each month. A one-time purchase is far more manageable. Why should it be considered expensive?"The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    "People normally don''t buy the pill, for starters," the cultivator explained. "And secondly, you can''t put a price on the beauty of a lady. Being able to passively be more beautiful and enticing without working for it is priceless!"


    Harsh words for someone who is putting a price on beauty. Aloe didn''t voice her thoughts, but she didn''t buy the sales pitch. Especially because those pills would be useless for her. Or would they? It would be moronic to discard it before trying them. These pills don''t seem to be like anything I know of.


    "Does this awakening pill take effect as soon as consumed?"


    "It does take a few minutes to kick in, but yes," the clerk nodded. "Once the foreign vitality settles on the body, the child should be able to sense it, even if at pathetic degrees. It''s only the kickstart, after all, the hard work needs to be done by him. Or other pills, if you are open to it¡­"


    "Subtle," Aloe snickered, and the cultivator unapologetically shrugged as if to say ''Had to try''. "Get me the pill for the child and whilst it kicks in, I''ll glaze over your stock."


    "One hot order of Nurture Awakening incoming~" The blonde clerk jokingly said as she went to the back store.


    Aloe turned to face Xochipilli and knelt in front of him. "You will need to take that pill. Would you be able to do that?" He wordlessly nodded. "Good boy."


    "Here''s the pill and a glass of water," the cultivator came back a minute later.


    Sheepishly, Xochipilli accepted both items and without so much as hesitating, he downed the pill.


    "Alright, that''s the kid taken care of," Aloe said. "Now, tell me what you have in stock."


    "First, I have pills for any of the eight stances," the dressed woman interjected by raising her hand. "Yes?"


    "Eight?"


    "For all purposes, the flowing stance does not factor in such counts," the clerk explained as if this wasn''t the first time that she had been asked that question, which made Aloe far more comfortable with her question-making. "Prices range a bit, Agility''s the cheapest at only nineteen drupnars, and the more expensive ones are Charm and Regeneration at ninety-nine." Aloe raised her hand again. "Why are you even raising your hand? We are not in a classroom."


    She looked at her hand. "Oh, sorry. I didn''t notice I was doing it. Anyhow, why is the regeneration pill as expensive as the charm one if ''beauty is priceless''?"


    "For many reasons," the cultivator groaned at Aloe''s antics. "Unlike the strength or defense pill that only some select workers would benefit from, the regeneration pill is quite popular. With one pill a month, you will recover twice as fast from your exhaustion and also heal a bit faster. The former is quite more important for more people."


    The way the clerk talked, and the way she used her words, raised some questions.


    "How many pills can you take?" Aloe asked the question that had been pestering since the beginning.


    "In what sense? The same type?" The vegetable human nodded. "Only one, woman. How do you not even know that?"


    "I''ve trained in more¡­ traditional ways of Nurture." It wasn''t a lie.


    "Traditional ways, eh?" The young cultivator ¨C at least compared to her ¨C looked her up and down. "So you have never taken a pill?"


    "Can''t say I have," Aloe swayed her head. She wouldn''t classify her Cure Grass pellets as the same as these pills. "I would have taught little Xochipilli here my ways, but they are too dangerous a child."


    "I know that there are some schools of cultivation here and there, specifically the imperial ones, but I''m not crazy enough to ask about yours." The clerk seemed to misinterpret her for an imperial bigshot ¨C which she had been at one point to an extent ¨C and Aloe accepted that role as it was useful. "Anyhow, these pills are crap to normal cultivators. These are only meant for common folk or rich people with no Nurture foundation. They can only be taken one of each stance for a total of eight as they provide the base stance equivalent of one Haya. You might already guess why the ''flowing pill'' doesn''t exist after knowing that."


    Aloe nodded. From her words, she guessed that pills provided a temporal activation of the stance, some sort of internal infusion with a deadline.


    "One question, though, what do you mean by ''haya''?"


    "Haya? Like the vitality unit?" Aloe deadpanned at the lacking explanation. "You really don''t¡­ bah!" The cultivator grunted and almost slammed the desk but at the last moment she feinted and grabbed a pill. "Here a charm pill. It holds one Haya, the standard vitality unit."


    Unconsciously, Aloe almost switched to the acuity internal infusion but then remembered that changing stances would shift the shape of her body, and she would prefer if her clothes didn''t drop to the ground because she suddenly lost her plentiful rack. She focused back on the charm pill. It was vaguely pink and when examining it under her vitality sense, it had one mansworth.


    "Oh!" Aloe groaned in realization. "A mansworth!"


    "A what now?" The young woman looked at her as if she had a kitten.


    "Mansworth, that''s the name¡­ we gave to the standard unit of vitality." As the clerk''s expression progressively weirded out more, Aloe refrained from elaborating. Mostly out of shame. "Yes, Haya is quite the better term. The Asayn word for ''life''."


    "So that''s where it comes from, huh." The cultivator mussed.


    "You didn''t know?"


    "I don''t speak Asayn," she shrugged. "Where were we at? Ah, yes, the pills. These pills aren''t meant for cultivators. Even if you can take eight of them, that doesn''t mean your vitality reserves will become eight Haya massive overnight. You instead would have eight independent reserves of one Haya for each stance."


    "That''s quite¡­" Aloe reserved herself from finishing that thought.


    "Pathetic?" The cultivator read her thoughts and snickered. "It should be, otherwise Nurture as a whole wouldn''t mean anything if you could just take pills to godhood. Besides, taking more than two stance pills a month is not recommended as you would be diluting your vitality. Wielding all eight stances would be as if you weren''t none at all, after all."


    "Makes sense," she nodded. "But aren''t there any pills for cultivators?"


    The clerk crossed her arms and squinted at her. "How traditional were you exactly?"


    Aloe took a deep breath and sighed, enacting the paper of a fair lady disillusioned with her school of cultivation. "Too much, too much. Would you believe me if I told you that my methods are almost three centuries old?"


    "Ouch," the blond woman was taken aback by the whiplash and nodded in sympathy. "So what are you, a little monk who has escaped a strict school and now wants to see the world by herself?"


    "You¡­ are not fully wrong," Aloe left it there. It seemed more realistic to feign innocence and embarrassment than to come up with answers.


    "But to answer your question," the clerk continued, "yes, there are cultivator pills. These can be classified into two categories: Haya pills and ''flowing'' pills."


    As Aloe was about to open her mouth to ask for further elaboration, a voice next to her exploded.


    "I can shee it!" Xochipilli expressed enthusiastically and jumped on the spot with brimming joy, a hint of her accent filtering through. "I can see vitality!" She was about to congratulate the boy, but then he looked at her and uttered words filled with dread. "Where is yours, Aloe?"

 Book 5: 16. Haya

    A pregnant silence overtook the room as Xochipilli''s words lingered. The boy himself looked around as if he had been wrong, that his eyes had betrayed him. But sure enough, with the dilation of his pupils, she was able to guess he was seeing the clerk''s vitality and also the pill''s; but when he went back to looking at Aloe, he saw nothing at all.


    All being said, she was surprised that the child was able to see vitality outright. It had taken her a few months to be able to see vitality at a distance instead of just feeling it through touch. She couldn''t help but be slightly jealous. Just slightly.


    Aloe kept her calm, but the same couldn''t be said for the cultivator of Loyatan descendancy behind the counter.


    "I was thinking the same," she muttered. "I''m not the best of cultivators, but I should have been able to sense your vitality. And I''m not. You are alive, I sense a minimum of vitality that confirms that fact, but that''s all. Judging from your¡­ assets," her eyes lingered on Aloe''s bosom a bit too long before looking back at her emerald eyes, "I''d say you have plenty of vitality. Several dozen Haya at the very minimum."


    The vegetable human carefully thought of her next words. Xochipilli had raised quite the difficult subject, though at the same time, the olive-skinned clerk had only been refraining from asking out of courtesy rather than ignorance.


    "It''s one of my many applications of the vital arts," she calmly explained as she placed a hand on the boy''s head. "Hiding my vitality is one of the teachings of my cultivation."


    Not fully a lie and truer than she would have liked. She still remembered how she had been hiding her true reserves for months whilst bound in a wheelchair and handicapping her growth in the process.


    "I can''t say I''ve heard such a cultivation style," the cultivator mused.


    "Traditional," Aloe taciturnly explained with a smirk on her face.


    Of course, everything she had said was a sweet lie at best. She wasn''t actively hiding or limiting her vitality. Her natural vitality regeneration was too fast for that to even be possible. She restored several times the vitality of the cultivator''s reserves per second.


    No, this was but a byproduct of her massive reserves. Subterfuge applied to any physical property and quality that could make you detectable, so for that internal infusion, there was no distinction between smell or traceability of vitality reserves. And even if she was donning glamour, her passive subterfuge was greater than anything the blond clerk was able to manage.


    Like what happened with the sense and regeneration stance, one could train key aspects of the stance, in this case: vitality concealment. That was why, Aloe thought, she had been capable of perceiving Aaliyah''s at such a distance even though the sultanah''s vitality should have been massive enough to don her with a passive subterfuge internal infusion. The monster wearing human skin had never needed to hide her vitality so that part of her kit was undeveloped, unlike Aloe who had been using those skills for months nonstop.


    The woman behind the counter didn''t have a lacking Nurture, but she could only be compared to a somewhat young sultanzade of Aloe''s era. The amount of vitality raised quite an interesting question.


    "We are talking about a lot of my reserves, but what about yours?" She motioned at the cultivator behind the counter. "You are quite gifted for your age. What have they been feeding you?"


    If this was her time, this woman would have needed to rape hundreds if not thousands of people to get to her current level.


    "Ah, I am but a pill maker," she said as if that was more than enough explanation.


    "What does that mean?" For the first time, Aloe didn''t need to look like a fool as it was Xochipilli who asked the question. And children could never look like fools asking questions as they didn''t know any better.


    "I make the pills in this shop," the woman responded patiently, pushing a strand of blond hair behind her ear. "It''s a really complex and protected process so I can''t explain to you the how but just note that you need a lot of vitality to make the simplest of pills."


    "Vitality as in Haya, and not your maximum reserves?" Aloe asked for clarification and the pill maker nodded. "But what about those Haya pills then? Do you make them and consume them to increase your reserves?"


    "Ah, I wish the world were that simple," the cultivator almost collapsed on the counter in exasperation. "No, pill makers cannot consume their own products. Don''t ask me why, it just doesn''t work. You need to deal with other pill makers to get any meaningful progress, and lemme tell you, we are a nasty bunch."


    Aloe snickered at the self-deprecating comment. The chuckle was completely genuine. The vegetable woman was already theorizing why pill makers couldn''t reap the benefits of their own pills, but she kept those thoughts to herself. Most likely they work like an external infusion and the same person can''t externally infuse themselves even if they have already put the vitality out of their body. She had known this since her practices with the flowing stance as she pushed the vitality out of her body and tried to infuse herself with it to no success.


    Even when she was grafting herself with the Heartgrowths, she infused them with a myriad of external infusions before substituting her flesh for them, but alas, that hadn''t quite worked. Her vitality always overpowered the internal flow of vitality of the Heartgrowth and the external infusion she had placed would just¡­ snap. Her theory at the time was that the external infusion should be applied to the whole body instead of just a section, but now she wasn''t so sure.Stolen novel; please report.


    "So pill makers work with one another to keep increasing their vitality?" Aloe asked.


    "Once more, I wish the world were that simple. But first, I must clarify something. When I say Haya pills this term incorporates both stance pills and vitality pills. The pills you are thinking of right now are vitality pills. The reason why they are all called ''Haya'' pills is because they are normally made with a single Haya."


    "So a vitality pill will provide a whole Haya once consumed?" The idea seemed ludicrous to Aloe, and she didn''t fail to portray it on her visage.


    "Once processed, yes."


    "What does that mean?" Aloe crossed her arms and pressed them against her chest.


    "The body can only assimilate so much vitality daily," the pill maker explained. "Around one-ninth of a Haya per day."


    For a moment, Aloe remained silent as she thought. No, that''s not right. Sultanzade could only absorb two-hundreds of a Haya per day, but let''s assume that''s a minimum and hers is the theoretical maximum. One-ninth of a Haya per day is zero-point-one periodic. One per nine days. Three-point-three periodic monthly. Around forty Haya per year. Accounting for the two centuries¡­ yeah, my growth is greater than that. Aloe mentally shrugged. I guess that''s the difference of the methods. Evolution-based vitality growth seems to have no daily limits, unlike their Nurture-based one.


    "That''s quite the amount," Aloe acted humbly, even if those quantities meant nothing to her if she continued her training schedule she had been following for centuries. "So you are earning forty Hayas per year?"


    "How many times do I need to say it? I wish the world were that simple!" Even though the woman was being melodramatic, the hints of tears in her eyes were very much real. "Creating vitality pills is by far the most difficult part of being a pill maker. Not only does it cost vitality, but also a fraction of your reserves, besides a lot of fatigue, mental and physical. It''s an endeavor only the most experienced or desperate of pill makers result in. Making stance pills is by far the most lucrative method to survive in this world as a pill maker without sacrificing one''s health."


    "I see¡­" Aloe responded timidly. Quite ironic coming from someone edging a mental breakdown. "Any chance you could teach me how to make vitality pills?"


    She intended to teach Xochipilli her ways in the vital arts ¨C if the boy wanted it ¨C but perhaps a few pills would help him as the earlier Hayas were grueling to obtain with Evolution as it was an exponential process.


    "Can''t," the pill maker responded taciturnly.


    "Can''t or won''t?" The vegetable woman pressed.


    "Can''t," she reiterated. "They will have my skin if I teach the method out of the school. If you really want to learn how to make them, you should go to the School of Pill Making in Asina. That''s the only place in the world where they teach people how to make pills of any kind. They accepted anyone passionate enough or wealthy enough as they are always desperate for more people to make vitality pills as most pill makers don''t want to make them. And, don''t take this the wrong way, you seem like both types."


    "I''ll take that into consideration," Aloe said with a smile. Asina was her end goal, after all. "What about the flowing pills you mentioned before? This other type of pills that exist."


    Xochipilli slightly blushed as he recalled who was the one who had interrupted the explanation. Aloe furled his hair a bit to let him know she wasn''t mad at him. The boy had a tendency to think that even if he was well-behaved and normally kept things to himself.


    "I don''t have those ones here, but ¨C in a nutshell ¨C flowing pills are pills that unlock different flowing stance techniques in your body. Mind you, you still need to train those techniques, but they unlock techniques you wouldn''t have been originally proficient with or straight up unable to perform."


    "Oh," Aloe had to put a hand in front of her face unless she wanted to show Xochipilli the nasty smile she was making. "Now that''s interesting. I always had problems with the flowing stance."


    "If you want to get them, though, you will need to go to the most expensive shops in town. And even then, it''s not likely you will find good flowing pills here. The best ones are made by actual cultivators with experience in Nurture, and all the pill makers this far from Asina are just off-shoots or people who want a quiet life. I''m the latter, for your knowledge. All the pill makers that can make the truly good stuff ¨C whether flowing or vitality pills ¨C orbit around the Calipha."


    "One last question, how much does a Haya pill cost?" Depending on the price I could kickstart Xochipilli''s training.


    "It''s hard to find them for sale as most pill makers that make them are personally hired by bourgeois as their family pill makers or perhaps directly for the imperial family," the blond cultivator explained. "And those that end up in the market are normally acquired by pill makers who want to get better are their craft. Though those would be the ''clean'' means if you perceive my intent."


    "Yes, I do," Aloe held a groan.


    Illegal trading, contraband, and a black market would always exist no matter the era, and funnily enough, it was the first thing she experienced after she came out of her bicentennial self-imposed exile.


    "But I''d like a figure," she added.


    "Hmm," the pill maker meditatively hummed with a finger on her lips. "It''s hard to come by them, but I''d say ten thousand drupnars."


    Aloe refrained from responding, but internally, she wasn''t doing so well. TWO FAJATEAS FOR A PILL? LUDICROUS! She had only seen fajateas, the biggest of coins of her time, coming from Fatima''s hand. The big gold coins were basically mythical as they held so much value transactions normally were carried by contract at that point rather than currency. And they were asking two of them for a single pill. I guess it makes sense as it''s a free and painless Haya, but still¡­


    Aloe now suddenly felt as if she was made out of gold.


    As much as she was enjoying the information provided by the very talkative blonde cultivator, Aloe wanted out as soon as possible. Who would have thought that living in a cave for two centuries would cripple her social stamina?


    Her mission was accomplished. The child had awakened his ability to sense ¨C even see ¨C vitality and she had gotten very important information on this new era of cultivation. Nothing was tying her to this store any longer.


    Aloe provided a random excuse and thanked the woman for her contributions before pushing Xochipilli out of the shop alongside her. She didn''t want to let anyone see her hyperventilate as it was starting to become more difficult to breathe and speak.


    The temptation to switch to recovery was immense, but between the fact that doing so would alter her body shape therefore making a mess of her dress, and that recovery didn''t do anything to mitigate mental fatigue, Aloe had to content herself with fresh air.


    Which did a surprisingly good job of calming her down.


    Xochipilli had been right, the air in that shop had been tough on the body. Well, he hadn''t said those words, but his body language made the child an open book.


    "What about going to that caf¨¦ we saw?" Aloe offered, even though she was in more need of a break than the child.


    "Yesh!" His accent was as obvious as her enthusiasm.


    She patted him as a reward. Ah, what would I do without this child? The vegetable woman didn''t want to think about it. She already knew the answer. She already knew she was laying all her weight on the child even if he wasn''t aware of it himself. It wasn''t the answer to her problems, it wasn''t even a good coping mechanism. But that didn''t stop her from continuing to use the child for her benefit.


    For she knew how much of a broken mess she was.

 Book 5: 17. Caf茅

    The streets of Selen were lovely, and even if the early marvel of her first impression had already worn off, Aloe was still enchanted by the sights. Even though she had experienced years in the chasm, the outside world had changed far faster than her.


    Instead of finding that oppressive, she was ecstatic.


    The old world had been a source of oppression already, so seeing it changed filled her with the soothing coolness of vitality. It was a different world, a new world she had to discover, one that still hadn''t wronged her, even if she very much intended to do so to it.


    But now wasn''t the time.


    She and Xochipilli walked with one destination in mind, a fancy caf¨¦ they had spotted beforehand. The boy skipped tiles on the pavement as he hummed happily, energized by their destination and his newfound ability to sense vitality.


    Now that he had achieved the first step of vital arts, she would be able to teach him her ways, but that was for later. Now they rested.


    Aloe had to be surefooted as the child skipped his steps. Not just to help him walk, but to be his pillar, someone where he could support himself. The child had gone through a lot, and even though she had also gone through much and more, she was an adult. That was the key difference.


    It didn''t take them long to reach the caf¨¦ in question. Such establishments didn''t exist in her time; there existed some coffee shops, but the purpose of them was wholly different from that of a caf¨¦. Caf¨¦s were gathering spots and ''restaurants'' where people could eat and rest, but coffee shops from her time were ¨C as the name implied ¨C just shops. You could get one here and there that allowed you to drink and enjoy a prepared coffee, but most likely you would just buy your grains and be done.


    The caf¨¦ had a lovely fa?ade with a turquoise canopy and many chairs and tables for those who wanted to eat outside. For those tables that were too far from the canopy, they even had their own turquoise parasols, though these ones were thrice as big as her own in radius alone.


    Even though it was close to lunchtime and from what she had gathered these places attracted more customers during breakfast or tea time, there still were some customers around.


    So far, Aloe had been lucky enough to enter enclosed spaces with few people around. She couldn''t count the bank as it was massive, and she never came close to people. But now, a budding anxiety grew inside of her. She may have not shown it, but she had issues communicating with people. She had to make an active push to talk where before words just naturally flowed out of her mouth. Who would have thought that two centuries in a chasm would have that effect? But that didn''t worry her as much.


    The problem would be her glamour.


    Part of her was worried that people would see through it, but another part of her was more preoccupied with what they could do once affected by the glamour. Perhaps the pill maker was mostly unaffected by it, but the banker girl today was blushing like crazy, and the tailor from yesterday had literally sexually assaulted her. Such offenses had never happened befo¡­ They have. And a lot. The sexual assault from the man was so pathetic and casual that she had forgotten what actual violent and serious assault was.


    Perhaps the effects no longer lingered in her new body, but they certainly did on her mind. Even after centuries. Even after the world had forgotten about her.


    "Aloe?" Xochipilli looked up to her. The child was so small that every time he wanted to talk to her, he almost had to tilt his head to the maximum. But what mattered right now were his eyes of concern.


    "Oh, sorry," she apologized. "I spaced out for a moment. Let''s get something to eat, shall we?"


    Xochipilli nodded but those words weren''t enough to dissipate his worry.


    Aloe asked at the counter for service, and she was partially embarrassed to discover that if they sat down a waitress ¨C what she assumed was the barmaid walking around ¨C would attend her. She covered her embarrassment with her skills and glamour, but the bartender had clearly seen that. Those people had a sixth sense of capturing those emotions.


    They sat down on a table on the outside and Aloe haphazardly placed her still-open parasol on the chair to provide her with some cover. Yes, they were underneath one of the table''s parasols, but she was a bit conscious of the bandana on her head. It was a bit silly, but the white cloth didn''t match her attire, and that made her uncomfortable. The parasol was a way more fashionable way to hide the plant in her head.


    I should either rip that Aloe Veritas out of my head or buy a hat, she pondered. Ah, but this parasol is too cute! If I were to wear a hat, I wouldn''t be able to carry around the parasol. Or could I? I mean, who says I can''t? Social norms? Barely heard of them either way.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.


    Whilst she was slightly panicking with fashion, Xochipilli awkwardly grabbed a small booklet ¨C page size-wise, the book was quite massive for one ¨C from the center of the table and started reading it.


    That imagery alone made Aloe snap back to reality.


    "I thought you couldn''t read," Aloe teased him.


    "I¡­ uhm¡­" The boy blushed and panicked at being spoken to. "I only know letters and basic words¡­"


    "Can you read anything from here?" Aloe grabbed the last booklet on the table. It was lined with good leather, and it had a word etched with golden thread on the cover that spelled ''Menu''.


    "Uhm¡­" Xochipilli glued his eyes to the menu as he tried to read. "Tea?" He pointed at one of the columns of the paper.


    "Correct!" She patted him. "Anything else you can read?"


    The child tried reading more, but even after two minutes and a very fried mind, he was unable to come up with a single word. It was then that Aloe read the menu and she herself was unable to understand most of its contents.


    "Huh?" She mused in dumbfounding.


    She was able to understand each separate sections'' titles like breakfast, tea, lunch, and whatnot, but the contents of each item were a resounding mess. Croissant? Brioche? Consomm¨¦? ¨¦clair? Macaron? What the fuck is a quiche? She kept the curses to herself. It was faster to name all the items she could understand than those she didn''t.


    "Actually, Xochipilli, you did quite a good job. Most of these words I can''t recognize myself." Aloe groaned but quickly switched to a sigh as she didn''t want to pester the boy with her constant groans. She didn''t want another person groaning around life like her. "Let''s just ask the waitress when she arrives."


    As it would appear, waitresses struggled to recommend anything when you had no specific tastes. Most lunches were ''light'' as she called them, liquid foods like soups in their entirety. Considering soups were the only thing she had had for centuries, even before falling into the chasm, Aloe was reticent to try them. Instead, considering she was with a child, the waitress thankfully led them to an assortment of pastries and desserts.


    Somehow, the waitress convinced them to buy two drinks each, something about tastes for different snacks or whatever. In the case of Xochipilli, he got lemonade and a cup of cocoa with milk. In Aloe''s case, she got chamomile tea ¨C her favorite one ¨C and a black coffee.


    Now, as for the pastries and dessert¡­ the word assortment made it quite justice. They got many things: scones, madeleines, caramel treats, weird tubes with chocolate, and different fruit tarts.


    She wasn''t worried about the food going to waste as she could easily eat everything, Aloe doubted her stomach had a maximum capacity any longer, but she kept an eye on what Xochipilli tried.


    "Come on, eat!" She encouraged him. "But first try everything or you will be full before getting to another pastry."


    "Yesh!" The boy nodded enthusiastically and gorged on every treat. It brought her joy how much he was smiling with each new pastry and dessert he ate. The fruit tarts seemed to be his favorite by the sheer radiance in his eyes.


    The dressed lady doubted the child could get through every course, so she calmly enjoyed her first chamomile tea in ages. Quite literally at that.


    "Ah~" She moaned in pleasure as the beverage warmed her throat. "Oh, that hits the spot~"


    Crash. Aloe carefully left the teacup on its plate and looked around. The sight was quite¡­ picturesque. A man had fallen to the ground with many papers scattered around as also a waitress had dropped a tray to the ground ¨C thankfully it was empty ¨C but her eyes didn''t linger on them however were directed at the many people in the caf¨¦ and the streets. They all were looking at her, and more than one with vibrant red and pink colorations on their visages.


    Note, don''t moan in public with glamour on, Aloe was quite aware that this mass chaos and blushing had been her work. Dunes, this is almost an area-wide attack.


    She preferred not to weaponize this internal infusion, mainly from her bad experiences with it, but also because heavens knew what a person addled with the charm stance would do. Lust was but a scourge on humanity.


    Xochipilli didn''t seem to be affected by this wave of ecstasy as he continued eating the many snacks at their disposal, though he had some coloration to his name. She blamed it on the hot cocoa he was drinking.


    Acknowledging the hysteria induced by her moaning would be no different from throwing fuel to the fire, so Aloe directed herself to pastries and tried them for the first time. She first had to remove her gloves before eating them, and she swore someone fainted when did so, but she chose to ignore it.


    "Oh, great heavens!" She almost unconsciously moaned but held herself at the last moment. "These are truly marvelous!"


    She combined the weird chocolate tube ¨C ¨¦clair, she remembered it was called ¨C with the black coffee she had gotten and the combination of the two items was utterly sublime. Holding a moan was almost blasphemous, an offense to the cook, from how exquisite the taste was. She licked the leftover chocolate from her fingertips, and she heard another crash.


    Alright, this is excessive. She thought as a frown formed in her visage. I don''t want this to happen every time I want to eat outside.


    "Could I get some privacy?" She voiced aloud with a honeyed voice laden with glamour.


    The words were meant at no one in specific, but her use of the charm stance was potent enough that she didn''t require a target, much like Rani had once done every time she breathed.


    Many individuals started furling around and clad in embarrassment after standing still for a few seconds looking at her before going back to their business.


    "Ah," Aloe sighed as she observed Xochipilli happily eating. "It seems I won''t be able to enjoy the delicacies of this new era in public." The boy raised his head in confusion as he chewed on some madeleines. "Eat with your mouth closed, Xochipilli."


    The boy nodded and furiously chewed with his mouth closed. Still, he had many crumbs around on his face. Aloe slightly raised her bottom from the chair, grabbed a handkerchief from the table, and wiped Xochipilli''s mouth.


    "Better," she added with a smile.


    "T-thanks¡­" The boy responded sheepishly before going back to the pastries.


    There were no words to describe how much she enjoyed teasing the child.

 Book 5: 18. Practice

    It would be a lie if she didn''t state how outrageous the prices of the caf¨¦ were, but at the same time, they had also eaten enough pastries to fill a sultanzade''s chamber and were also of the quality of imperial cuisine, so Aloe wasn''t that mad.


    A good exchange, one could say.


    Xochipilli ended up falling asleep by the end, so she grabbed him and carried him in one hand without waking him up. With her Nurture, such casual feats of strength were just that: casual. Even without donning potency, she could most likely all the customers at the caf¨¦ without breaking a sweat. With the strength stance, lifting things ended up being more about logistics than actual strength as most things didn''t enjoy being lifted.


    The child woke up once they were arriving at their safe house which Aloe pinned the blame on lunch time. Suddenly, a lot of people came to the streets, flooding what should have been great avenues in Sadina with ease. Xochipilli was a bit ashamed of falling asleep whilst eating, but she didn''t blame the boy.


    "It''s normal, you are just young," she told him.


    "But''s improper!" He responded back.


    Aloe snickered. "I don''t know who taught you that falling asleep is improper. Especially at your age."


    Xochipilli blushed. "W-well, did you do that when you were my age?"


    "If I did that at your age, huh?" Aloe remained pensive for a moment. "I was very busy at your age. I was always home alone and also had my studies. So I had to go to the university, cook, do the laundry from time to time, and then attend some tutoring lessons in the bank. I only had time to sleep on the night."


    That wasn''t the correct answer. Aloe had lost the intent of the original question as she reminisced the past, and completely forgot about Xochipilli. The child was now more depressed than before.


    "But my life was harder than most. I''m by far not the norm," she bowed down and grabbed the child by his cheeks. "So don''t try to compare yourself to me and brighten up that face."


    He didn''t.


    "Come on," Aloe drew a smile on his face forcefully. "Hmm. So it seems you don''t want to learn my vital arts then, eh¡­"


    That sent the boy into a delicious panic. "No, no, no! I want!" He smiled. "See! I''m smiling!"


    Aloe giggled at the child''s response and at how easy he was to manipulate. Then she ruffled his hair.


    "Let''s get home before doing that." It felt wrong calling the slaver''s house ''home'', but by all means and purposes, home to her was always where she slept. That meant that most of her ''homes'' had been hostile places rather than places of rest.


    Xochipilli was quick to remove his clothing once they arrived. She didn''t allow the boy to go around the room naked ¨C though she doubted the shy child would have done so in the first place ¨C so she gave him one of the slaver''s oversized shirts to wear as pajamas. Aloe knew that some people enjoyed nakedness, especially in the privacy of their homes, but she always preferred to be clothed at all times.


    Her latest¡­ tendencies had only arisen because she had lost all her clothing and fabrics. Now she knew that it was because of the passage of time that they all had passed to a better life.


    And besides, she really loved her dress. She also had no need to undress to keep it clean as her body didn''t sweat or produce any nasty substances like body oils.


    "So," Xochipilli sat cross-legged on the sofa, "when am I going to learn these vital arts?"The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    Aloe couldn''t help but be amused by how fast the child switched between his adoration and normal child behavior.


    "Now," the vegetable woman revealed and produced a seed from her hand. "This is a black seed. Not a remarkable plant, just used from some seasoning. But it holds a secret inside."


    "A secret?" He arched his back forward.


    "Indeed," she nodded. "This seed can evolve into a plant that produces water out of nowhere."


    "Really?" His eyes opened like plates.


    "Really." Xochipilli was so adorable that she had to fight against her most primeval of urges to not pounce on the child and toy with his round and youthful cheeks. "Here."


    She placed the seed in his hand and produced another one for herself.


    "The first thing I want you to do is sense the seed''s vitality. Can you do that?"


    Xochipilli took a deep breath and stayed silent for a moment. As it would seem, even if he was capable of seeing the vitality of cultivators or pills, the vitality of a seed was still a bit difficult as it worked on lower magnitudes. This was quite amusing to Aloe as this was the first time she detected vitality, with a seed, and even her attempt that almost killed her and seared her glutes was even harder as she had done it with a grass seed instead of a black seed.


    Whilst she was pondering if to give him a seed with more vitality to try like a Cottonpull, he finally opened his eyes.


    "I feel it," he said with a pant as if the endeavor had drained him. Which she guessed it did, he was using for the first time a sense he didn''t possess until a few hours ago.


    "Good job," she ruffled his hair, and he inclined his head slightly forward as he accepted the gesture. A smile formed on his lips, and it propagated to her. "Alright, now that you have that kernel of vitality located, I want you to think really hard about how you would like to evolve this seed."


    "Evolve it?" Xochipilli squinted and tilted his head to the side in confusion.


    "Okay, how do I explain this¡­" Aloe scratched her scalp and toyed with her vine hair. "The vital arts that the cultivators use and you''ve seen in the pill shop is called Nurture. This whole magical discipline is about reinforcing the body. But it''s not my vital art."


    "You have one of your own?" His eyes sparkled in adoration.


    "Quite," she puffed her chest proudly as she boasted. "Instead of reinforcing one''s body, you¡­ change that of the others. This is a bit of a misnomer, though. With Evolution, my vital art, you can change a specimen. This specimen needs to be young, not young as you are, but something like a fetus or a seed. Like the one in your hand." Xochipilli gave another look at the black seed he was holding. "Whilst we can''t ever be sure what an untested seed will evolve into, the same species of seed will always result in the same evolution. The black seed, in this case, will turn into a Flourishing Spring, a flower that can produce water. Do you remember the water you drank this morning when you woke up? It came from that flower."


    "Can I see it?" The boy asked with the eyes of a child asking their parents for a specific gift on their birthday.


    Aloe couldn''t go against those eyes; she had better chances against the whole cultivator world. "Of course."


    Currently, she didn''t have a Flourishing Spring on her body as it would have messed with her dress, especially because she couldn''t control the random spurts of water that it made from time to time. For a plant that didn''t have the alignment of Chaos, it was quite uncontrollable.


    That being said, it wasn''t a problem at all. Aloe simply evolved the seed on her hand and pushed hundreds of Haya with her flowing stance technique, Forced Growth. The Flourishing Spring seed quickly took hold in her hand and it exploded in growth until it reached maturity in a handful of seconds.


    "Woah!" Xochipilli''s jaw fell to the ground.


    I guess this is his first time seeing one of my plants growing in real-time. Or rather, this fast, the Cottonpull she used to cover herself with when she came out of the chasm came to her mind. Aloe covered her mouth with her free hand, but that didn''t stop the giggle coming out of her lips from the child''s reaction.


    "Could I do that?" He pointed at the grown Flourishing Spring.


    "Definitely," she admitted. "But it will take you a lot of time. You will need way more vitality than the pill maker we met had. And even if my method of obtaining vitality is way faster than hers, we are looking at the very minimum at a date of five years in the future at the earliest."


    That deflated the child a bit considering she just told him to wait half his current lifetime.


    "Don''t be sad, this is nothing more than a party trick," Aloe explained to him. "I''ve just wasted as much vitality as the woman had in her whole reserves in a handful of seconds. Surely you can do better than that, can you?"


    Those seemed to be the right words as the fire in the boy''s red eyes rekindled. Though truth be told, this expense was trivial to her. Even if she wasn''t donning recovery at the moment, she had already recovered those hundred of Haya she had expended whilst they talked.


    "Well, shall we try evolving the seed now?" She gave Xochipilli a smile. They had just started with the practice and there were many more steps to take in the path of the vital arts.

 Book 5: 19. Evolution

    Aloe wasn''t a good teacher. She was well aware of that, and it didn''t bother her. She had never taught anything, after all. To put her ideas into perspective, she essentially paraphrased Karaim''s old teachings from his cultivation technique. It wasn''t difficult reciting the booklet word for word even after so many years as she had read it many, many times.


    "So I just need to think about how I want to change this seed?" Xochipilli summarized after she finished her explanation.


    "Simple as that," Aloe confirmed with a nod.


    "Hmm¡­" It was obvious from his attitude that the boy didn''t have a clear picture, but they had all the time in the world.


    She couldn''t read Xochipilli''s mind, but every time he failed and sighed in defeat, she was there to give him advice and nudge him in the right direction. Sometimes she asked herself how she was able to push her intent into seeds and other living beings.


    A dark thought crossed her mind as she saw the child trying to perform an evolution for the first time. No, I don''t need to, she mused to herself. I already know what a human evolves into, and even if I really want to check it, I can''t just evolve a random woman''s fetus. Part of her was irked that Aaliyah had been the only one to evolve humans when Evolution was her vital art, her magic, and the only solace she could find was the fact that the woman hadn''t found out she was evolving her children.


    Or maybe she has? Aloe bit her lip with enough strength to draw some sap. It has been many years since then, and they have been using evolved plants in Ydaz for a while now. The chances that they aren''t my plants as the basis of their society but ones created by Aaliyah are non-zero.


    That irked her even more, but there was no need to rush to Asina. She could grow faster than any other cultivator, delays would only make her stronger. Still, she was very angry, and it wasn''t until she evolved her ninth Heartgrowth that she relaxed.


    By that point, the child had yet to perform his first evolution.


    "You should focus on your intention," Aloe said.


    "Intention?" Xochipilli slightly panted as he uttered that word. He had been sitting cross-legged on the sofa for a good hour now with only Evolution on his mind.


    "All vital arts are about intention," she explained. "Evolution and Infusion are about forcing change into other living beings, whilst Nurture changes yourself. If your intention isn''t clear, you won''t be able to succeed in any of these fields."


    Of course, she failed to mention Enlightenment. She was very aware of the magic of the assassins ¨C after all, it was what had brought her here ¨C but even if she had seen it in action, she didn''t have a single grasp on the field. Its existence and effects were all that her comprehension reached.


    "For Evolution, you need to visualize how you want this seed to change. To mutate it. To metamorphose it. To transform it into a new, different living being. I guessed this should be easier after seeing the result of the evolution before your eyes, but perhaps¡­" The vegetable woman melodiously hummed in rumination. "Have you seen the plant of a grown black seed?"


    "I¡­ can''t say I have," the chocolate-skinned boy responded crestfallen.


    "What did I tell you about acting this dejected?" Not only did she ruffle his hair now, but she also swayed his head around. "It''s not a child''s fault that they don''t know about the world. Especially if we don''t know if these plants grow in your land."


    Aloe unconsciously groaned and created a new black seed, this one she grew without evolving and now a nigella grew from her palm with its characteristic white flower.


    This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.


    "This is the plant that grows from black seeds, a nigella sativa," she explained and offered the plant to the boy, who graciously caressed its white petals. "In some places, it''s called black cumin, but I never called it that because I have another plant that evolves from cumin, and I didn''t want to make my head a mess."


    Nigella sativa was the name that the scholars gave to the plant, no one really called it that, maybe nigella but that was all. The reason why she told Xochipilli that name was because it felt appropriate; as if she was a teacher in a herbalism class. Calling it ''black seed plant'' had worked for her all this time because she never really used the plant, only its seeds for either seasoning or its evolution.


    "Now that you''ve seen both the default plant and its evolved counterpart, do you think you will be able to evolve it, Xochipilli?"


    "Uhm¡­ I think so?" The boy failed to portray any confidence, but that wasn''t an issue. It wasn''t like Aloe had succeeded in all her attempts with vital arts on the first time, so getting mad at the child ¨C which would already be deplorable ¨C would be hypocritical.


    Aloe patiently observed as Xochipilli resumed his attempts. It worried her that he was having this many issues as it was a proven evolution so there shouldn''t be any problem¡­ Wait, she suddenly realized something. How much maximum vitality does he have?


    But it was too late. By the time she became aware of her faults, Xochipilli''s vitality had started to dwindle. The boy had found success at the worst of times. Hastily, Aloe produced grass seeds, evolved them, and forced them to grow, but by the moment she pulled the blades of Cure Grass from her hand, nothing mattered any longer.


    "Is there something wrong?" Xochipilli said with a confused look as he saw her trying to shove grass into his mouth.


    "Xochipilli!" She almost embraced the kid but held herself and simply grabbed him by the shoulders, damned by the grown plants on her palms. "Are you alright? Do you feel unwell?" She nervously patted around his body to detect signs of pain.


    "I''m¡­ a bit dizzy, but that''s all," he responded sluggishly. "Did I make it?"


    Aloe concealed her worry behind her glamour mask. "Sure, let''s check it."


    The vegetable woman undid the bandana on her head and pulled an Aloe Veritas leaf carefully and dipped the seed on Xochipilli''s palm with the ink. The random blobs of ink in the leaf''s parchment started shifting around until they set on the following text:


    Species: Flourishing Spring


    Sobriquet: Eversource


    Description: An evolved member of the Nigella Sativa species, a species known for its ability to survive with mana alone and sprout streams of water.


    Alignment: Life, Arcane


    "Congratulations on your initiation on Evolution!" She had already recognized the slight watery glint on the seed''s surface marking it as a Flourishing Spring one, but she wanted to make it official.


    Even though the boy didn''t say anything, he took the leaf from her hands and opened his eyes in elation. As he moved the leaf up and down and did small jumps on the sofa, Aloe couldn''t help but worry about a whole other subject.


    How has he managed to evolve a Flourishing Spring? She kept those thoughts to herself. Every time I reached near depletion of my reserves I puked, and if I depleted it completely, I passed out. Not only he''s just dizzy, but he has also managed to evolve a seed that would need a bit more than a Haya to evolve when he''s a child, meaning his reserves are smaller than those of an adult¡­


    Who is he?


    She almost felt bad for thinking about that question. That usage of words practically criminalized Xochipilli for his success, and he was but a small boy who was following her teachings. He literally didn''t know any better.


    So, how has he managed to evolve a seed with less vitality than is needed, and how is he still standing? Aloe prided herself in her tolerance of pain and whatnot, so she couldn''t comprehend how a child could just be¡­ fine after such prowess.


    "Does this mean I''m like you?" Xochipilli asked after he calmed down a bit.


    "Well, there''s a few steps to get there¡­" Aloe saw those red eyes glimmering with hope and she knew she couldn''t betray them. "¡­but yes. Welcome to the vital arts and the second Evolution user in Khaffat!"


    She almost expected the boy to start jumping again after revealing that he was the only person besides her that knew about Evolution ¨C Aaliyah notwithstanding as the woman didn''t seem to be aware of it ¨C but his response left her speechless.


    "What''s our name?" The child asked.


    "What?" She tilted her head in confusion.


    "Our name!" Xochipilli reiterated, hopping on his butt. "I''ve heard that there are those called assassins with their own magic."


    "Yes, Enlightenment." Aloe clarified.


    "Then, if those that use Enlightenment are called assassins and those that use Nurture are called cultivators, and if we use Evolution¡­ then what are we?"


    "Uh¡­" Never before had she been left agape in her life. "I never thought about it¡­"

 Book 5: 20. Druid

    It was a bit embarrassing to admit how much time they dedicated to thinking of names for their current status. Not that they had much to do as they had to wait for Xochipilli to recover his vitality. Aloe wanted to offer him some vitality pills, or rather her vitality pills as now such things did exist, but the ones that she had stored on her Slowtide were at the very minimum a few decades old.


    She feared that if she fed them to the child, he would just straight up die.


    Xochipilli had no problems chewing the Cure Grass, which Aloe found a bit repulsive ¨C ironic considering her body''s constitution ¨C but he let him do it. He was chewing the blades, not eating them. Not that eating them was bad, in any case, it was optimal as that way he could take more vitality out of them, but the whole ''eating grass'' thing always gave her the heebie-jeebies.


    Not that efficiency was a problem as she could produce tones of Cure Grass before she started hitting any logistical issues with her body.


    For now, they focused on the Nurture part of the vital arts. Not only could this one be practiced with depleted vitality reserves, but also would boost Xochipilli''s survival capabilities in any environment by many degrees.


    "Have you visualized your inner flow of vitality?" Aloe questioned her disciple. It felt weird calling Xochipilli that, but by all accounts, that was his official position.


    "I think so¡­" He swayed his head from side to side with his eyes shut close. "But I''m not seeing a river like you said."


    "I¡­ this is my first time teaching someone about the vital arts and sharing information on the matter, so I wasn''t aware that the imagery of vitality was subjective," she explained with a sorry tone. "What are you seeing then?"


    "Veins, no, blood vessels." He corrected. "I see the blood flowing through my body, though it emits a crimson shimmer from time to time."


    I shouldn''t be surprised, she sighed inwardly. He has already expressed before that he feels vitality as something warm when I feel it refreshing. I guess it makes sense my chilly vitality is represented like the water of a river whilst his warm vitality is seen as the blood in the body.


    "If you have a solid imagery, that''s more than enough," Aloe comforted him. "Now we are going to try switching stances. As you may have heard from my conversation with the pill maker, there are nine, but we will only worry about eight of them for the time being. As your imagery is that of blood pumping through your blood vessels, let''s try with the strength stance, or as I call it, the potency internal infusion. For this one, you will need to imagine your blood pumping with might, or even better, your heart pushing blood forcefully."


    It took a bit of practice, several attempts, and some finesse, but Xochipilli accomplished his goal. Aloe didn''t even need to test the boy''s strength or use the veritas, she could simply read his flow of vitality and detect the forceful push of the strength stance. Now that she was more acquainted with it, she could also see the longevous perennity external infusion, though it was very hidden. Considering her vitality sense was most likely unmatched and she had difficulties finding the external infusion, she doubted anyone else in all of Khaffat could.


    "Well done!" She clapped and Xochipilli opened his eyes. "You can call yourself a cultivator now!"


    The boy calmly nodded, which disappointed Aloe a bit as she had expected more fanfare from his part after achieving his first internal infusion. Instead, he spoke.


    "So I''ve been thinking about what we could call ourselves¡­" Now, Aloe wasn''t a person led by prejudice, but when someone started a sentence with ''so I''ve been thinking'' you could expect the worst to come out of their mouths.


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    "Yes?" Nonetheless, she didn''t shoot down the child. Rather, she greeted him with open arms.


    "There''s a term for my people back in Tecolata that refers to herbalists that commune with nature. It called to me because I thought of how the terms ''assassin'' and ''cultivator'' exist in Ydazi beyond the connotations of the vital arts. Assassin is a murderer, and cultivator is one who works the earth so¡­"


    "You think our term should have existing connotations," Aloe finished the sentence and the boy nodded.


    The logic was solid, but she was more astonished by his usage of words. Many of them she wouldn''t have expected from a child. The missionary who had been working in Xochipilli''s village had certainly done a good job teaching the boy before his demise.


    "So, what''s this term you are talking about?" She asked with her hands on her hips.


    "Druid," he taciturnly responded as his red eyes met her emerald eyes.


    "Druid, huh?" Aloe hummed, the charm stance she was forced to wield to keep the dress in place made it sound like a symphony.


    "D-do you not like it?" As Xochipilli shyly toyed with his fingertips, Aloe was very tempted to tease the boy ¨C he looked so vulnerable ¨C but decided to keep those games to herself. It was becoming harder each time, though.


    "Like it?" She chuckled. "I love it!"


    The vegetable woman grabbed the human child by the armpits and lifted him in the air.


    "It''s a lovely term," Aloe groaned in acceptance. "From now on, we will be druids!"


    "Druids!" Xochipilli shouted back, his voice slightly bolstered by his fickle potency internal infusion. "Druids! Druids!" He chanted, heaving his arms up and down.


    She placed him on the ground. "Don''t get carried away too much," he booped him on the nose, which made him blush. "Ah, you are so cute! Your reactions make me want to eat you!"


    Xochipilli blushed even harder, his cheeks matching the red of his eyes.


    Aloe''s arms spasmed, almost unable to control herself. She wasn''t lying when she was saying she wanted to eat the boy. He looked so delectable.


    GET AHOLD OF YOURSELF. She reprimanded herself, not slapping her just if not to scare the child. What monstrosities are you even thinking of? She felt ashamed of herself. So ashamed that she wanted to puke even if her stomach had long digested the pastries they had eaten. Why¡­ why am I like this? Aloe looked at her fleshy hands, not composed of actual flesh but the membranes of succulents. Utter disgust filled her body.


    Of this, Xochipilli saw nothing. Glamour kept her expressions and gestures hidden making them unable for the child to interpret them, and for once, she was grateful for the deplorable charm stance. A magic almost as deplorable as herself.


    "So," the boy''s voice took her out of her trail of thought. "Now that we are cultivators and druids, when are we going to be assassins?"


    "I hope you are talking about the magical kind and not the murderer one," she said with a smile and Xochipilli blushed again.


    Aloe reacted calmly on the outside, but inside¡­ she wasn''t doing as well. Not just because of her previous thoughts, but the ones Xochipilli now arose. For the latter¡­ I already am. Many times over. Even with time, even with her heart closed, lives taken by her hand weren''t something she took lightly. She was even regretting the death of that slaver now, even if the man had been the worst type of scum imaginable. She wasn''t that type of woman; she didn''t kill without talking things first. She was a diplomat; she had been trained to be one and had worked as one. Even more importantly, she enjoyed and loved that stance.


    Murdering people without giving it a second thought¡­ that was not her.


    But she couldn''t fall into depression. Or worse, insanity. Not again. Not when she had to take care of a child.


    "I guess we could try finding one and convince them to teach us their ways," Aloe continued her previous statement with a giggle. "Though their arts, from what I know, require hard drugs to be performed, and I''d rather if you didn''t consume those substances."


    That saddened the boy, but he gave an understanding nod.


    "But why depend on the knowledge of assassins and cultivators when you have the greatest druid of Khaffat before you!" Aloe announced explosively with her hands extended.


    "Aren''t you the only one?" Xochipilli pointed out her false authority fallacy.


    Ah, it has been a while since I''ve been able to identify someone''s fallacies. It was a small game that she kept to herself, but she thoroughly enjoyed it, nonetheless. Her happiness didn''t stop her from punishing Xochipilli though.


    "Com''ere, you''ve gained yourself a session of harsh hair ruffling!" She made snatching gestures with her hands.


    "Nooo!" The boy playfully wailed and started running away from her.


    Of course, no matter how hard the youngling druid ran, the master druid caught him without even trying. Still, they both enjoyed the persecution and laughed at it. Ah, she panted from joy, since was the last time I''ve enjoyed life this much? I wish these times would last forever.

 Book 5: 21. Infiltration

    Xochipilli proved quite a capable druid. He had no problem evolving Cure Grass, but at the same time, neither had she when she had originally evolved them. The evolved grass didn''t require much vitality, so it made for better practice than Flourishing Springs. Aloe was still ashamed of having committed that mistake. She was so used to vitality being a limitless resource that she hadn''t even pondered what could have happened to a child like Xochipilli if he tried to evolve a plant he didn''t have enough vitality to complete the evolution.


    He could have died. The old druid kept telling herself, that the mistake could have killed her disciple. She wanted to make him try evolving a black seed again to document how he had even succeeded, but she also didn''t want to push the child any further.


    There was a limit to how much she could push him in a day, even if the boy was excited and wanted to try more things.


    Before things could get out of hand, Aloe set him to sleep with some Dream Spore spores. The boy was too jumpy and that unsettled her, he should have some rest, even if she had to push it onto him.


    As Xochipilli slept on the mattress on the floor, Aloe took a deep breath and undressed.


    "I''ve left this aside for too long¡­" Anything else she could mutter would be just excuses, so she didn''t bother to say any other word.


    Aloe donned subterfuge and shifted her body. Like before, her body became shorter and slimmer, no longer as voluptuous as it had been with glamour. Her skin turned darker and darker but also mate, allowing her to blend with the shadows. She looked at herself in the reflection of the mirror by the wall and saw that her eyes also shone less than before.


    "I''m still too detectable," she said with a scowl before ripping the Aloe Veritas from her head. She held much love and appreciation for the plant, but it had no business being up there besides being a nuisance.


    Dark ink flowed down from her head like coagulated blood, and even if it was sticky, Aloe felt refreshed. The vegetable human also removed any lingering plants and mushrooms from her body, only leaving behind her ivy hair as she could tie it in a bun. As there wasn''t a place to dispose of her plants, she stored them on the Slowtide for the time being. She feared how cluttered that place was becoming, and how long it would take to clean it afterward.


    Aloe took another deep breath and left Xochipilli sleeping alone in the house.


    Guided by the lingering memories of the slaver''s dream, Aloe had a destination in mind. The place where the slaver and his peers had been storing the slaves. She had intended to visit the place before, but between being amazed by the city''s grandeur and having to take care of Xochipilli, she had left the task on hold.


    She felt so dirty and miserable for having done so. It should have been the first thing she should have done after reaching Selen, but at the same time, she couldn''t afford to be discovered for the sake of strangers. What if Aaliyah heard of a powerful plant-person and put one and one together?


    Losing the surprise factor was not on the table.


    Instead of traversing the streets, Aloe jumped for the roofs. The lampposts provided too much light, so her only real way to move undetected was to jump from rooftop to rooftop. Of course, that wasn''t much of a problem for her enhanced physical capabilities, though she was particularly worried about her weight.


    It may not seem like it, but she was quite heavy. Not in the sense that she was a two-meter-tall woman and also quite wide, but her body, whatever it was made of now, was heavier than flesh and bones.


    Thankfully enough, the stealth stance seemed to take her weight into account. The internal infusion couldn''t make her mass vanish, but it could help her displace her weight more intelligently to produce less noise and prevent her from making a hole in someone''s room.


    That latter part was more important as the further she went from the city''s center, the fickler the rooftops became. Roofs went from strong materials like brick to more unstable ones like sheets of metal. Poor quality ones at that.


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    Soon she reached the outskirts of the city, and she lurched on one of the rooftops of the tallest building around overwatching her objective. It was some kind of warehouse meant for heavy-duty industry. She still wasn''t used to the technology of this era, and the surroundings were more advanced than anything else she had seen around.


    Even though she was quite exposed, the moonlight itself ignored her as her skin absorbed all the light. Her heart accelerated as she realized she was going to do something quite illegal. She may not respect the government of Ydaz, but her common sense was screaming at her.


    Not only she was going to infiltrate a private building, but she was also doing it naked.


    Part of her was scared, and another excited.


    Which was quite moronic as no being in the city would be able to faze her. A brief pulse of the sense stance confirmed her that; no vitality signs came even close to her own, and even those that she felt beneath her didn''t even reach the three digits.


    Ah, I feel like an assassin, she pondered and snickered. Maybe not the magical kind, but surely the normal one. This is what Xochipilli wanted, didn''t he? Cultivator, druid, and assassin.


    Those thoughts calmed her down, and with a slight deformation of all her ''bones'', Aloe was able to slip through a half-open skylight. Her bones ¨C or whatever she had now as substitutes ¨C didn''t even crack as she had switched to dexterity for the briefest of instants before her body started shifting, making her body even more fluid than water.


    Okay, I''m in. Now to make this infiltration worthwhile.


    As she silently strode above the beams of the warehouse, Aloe was instantly disappointed. Or rather, angry. This spot¡­ I''ve seen in the slaver''s dreams, but I don''t feel enough vitality signs to justify a trapped group of slaves. And even if there were slaves, the druid only detected signs with more than one Haya, which already disqualified those persons as slaves.


    From her conversations with Xochipilli, the people of Tecolata didn''t know of Nurture, or at least, didn''t have the capabilities and knowledge to access it.


    I prefer not doing this but¡­ it seems I will have to get personal and ask some questions. Aloe silently groaned and made her way downwards.


    The warehouse had a lot of walls and corridors, so it made it easy for her to move around undetected. If needed, she was able to walk on walls, but she preferred not to do so as she hadn''t experimented with such movement techniques.


    For starters, she sought the person who was more isolated but simultaneously had the most vitality, as it was likely that it would have some insight into the operation the slavers were running or would outright be one of the heads.


    She pondered on how to do this as she prowled on the man from above. He calmly smoked as he sat in an office. I don''t think I have enough control over the dreams to interrogate someone in them. I could barely affect the slaver''s dream, and when I did, he snapped out of it¡­ Let''s try a more classical method for now.


    Aloe dropped behind the cultivator and switched to the charm stance. It felt appropriate to call it charm stance instead of glamour as she wasn''t comfortable with what she was going to do next.


    The vegetable woman tapped on the man''s shoulder and her eyes glowed emerald as he turned.


    "Whuh?" He expressed with a modicum of confusion and drowsiness but before his mind could elaborate another thought, his eyes fixated on Aloe''s body.


    "Hello, handsome," Aloe flaunted her curves and nakedness. She wanted to cringe at her behavior, but this was what she was required.


    There was no shame in her attitude even if she was fully naked; this wasn''t like when she first revealed herself to Xochipilli and the slaver as that time she wore bark armor on top of her body. No, she was fully exposed like when she was brought to the world. There was no shame, only disgust. Mostly at herself.


    "Could you answer some of my questions?" She was green in what seduction was considered, so she did her best to imitate Rani. One of her hands she placed under her breast to move it upwards, whilst the other she used to caress the man''s chin and lips.


    "I¡­ uh¡­" The man tried forming some thoughts, but between the gazes he dedicated to her body and her eyes, he was already lost to lust.


    The cultivator ragged and lagged in every word, which made Aloe cringe internally more. It wasn''t his quickening heartbeat that disgusted her, but his rising body temperature.


    Still, he had yet to fall to her clutches, she had to strike harder. No. Softer, whilst the glass was still hot.


    Aloe closed her body into the man''s, sitting on top of his lap and pressing her bosom against his chest. The man was spasming in response to her gestures, but she wasn''t quite done yet.


    "Could you repeat that? I didn''t quite understand it~" She whispered her melodious charmed voice into his ear.


    Something in his mind broke, from his eyes she could see her clutches decimating the man''s common sense. An old yet vivid memory flashed in Aloe''s mind, one tainted in pink. She threw that image away; she was the one in control now. She was strong. Her eyes shone brighter.


    "I-it would be a pleasure, my lady." He almost begged with those words. He wanted to serve her.


    And he would.

 Book 5: 22. Emerald

    Beholden and trapped, Jawad had never felt more alive in his life. A whimper left his mouth as the incarnation of beauty sat on his lap. He wanted to struggle, to feel such a divine body, but the ebony goddess had him locked. Her thighs, so powerful yet malleable, had him in the greatest of yokes.


    "Answers first, pleasure later," she sang with a sweet voice. The warm sounds coming out of her fleshy lips almost made him come.


    "Y-yes¡­" He responded absentmindedly.


    "First, tell me about yourself," the goddess inquired as she circled her finger around his nipple. He tried looking downwards at her exposed body, but she removed her finger and lifted his chin. "Be a good boy and answer me. Are you or are you not a good boy?"


    Her voice was laced with age and wisdom, her words made him feel young again. Always he had preferred to lead the conversation, but now he understood the pleasure of being led.


    "Y-yes¡­" He whimpered in submission. "I''m a good boy."


    "Then answer." The goddess'' voice was cold, yet that frigidness only excited him more. In retribution, she grabbed his neck and put pressure on it. "Now."


    "My name is Jawad," he complied with her orders. Now that he was following her commands, her eyes shone even brighter, and he felt more pleasure. "I w-work here¡­"


    Ah, too much pleasure. It was hard for him to think.


    Smack! He jolted into consciousness as the goddess slapped him. Now he discovered the pleasures of not only being led but also receiving pain.


    "Jawad, I need you to focus." It was impossible to focus, especially after she had chanted his name so beautifully. He wanted to hump her, but his legs were pressed underneath her glorious, uncovered thighs and he had long lost sensation in his arms.


    "W-what would my fair lady want to know?" Oh, those emerald eyes. He could lose himself in those gemstones for eternity.


    "What do you do here, Jawad?" She caressed the cheek she had slapped; the tenderness following the roughness was making him go crazy.


    "I s-supervise the movement of merchandise in the warehouse," the assassin explained. "We load and unload products brought by the freight trains¡­"


    "Now, now, Jawad," she whispered. "We all know that is the official story but be a good boy and tell me about your real job."


    "O-of course, my gorgeous lady," he moaned. "We are assassins, our brothers and sisters lead an operation to bring the slaves from Tecolata brought into the fjords through the freight trains. There are no commercial lines between the fjords and historic Ydaz, so it makes the transfer of goods easier."


    "Is this operation illegal? Are these slaves certified by your dear Calipha?"


    "The only one dear to me is you, my sublime lady."


    The goddess frowned and pressed her finger into his thigh, her nail cut easily through the fabric of his trousers, but it didn''t stop there, and easily drew blood.


    "You know what I meant," she responded with disgust. Denigration was also pleasurable. "Answer my question."


    "The Calipha certainly allows slavery, but only criminal one¡­ before we can sell these slaves, we have to forge papers certifying their crimes."


    "You are resourceful ones, eh?"


    "Thank you, my ravishing lady."


    She pressed harder on her nail until it cut through the flesh of his thigh and reached the bone. He wanted to look down but was forced to look at her lovely visage the whole time. Nevertheless, the pleasure was too much for him to handle.


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    "Ah¡­" Jawad moaned.


    "Did you just¡­" The goddess sniffed and gagged. "Oh, great heavens!"


    The ebony beauty blessed him with nectar in the form of vomit. There had never been before such a glorious shower.


    "Oh¡­" She seethed and wiped her lips. "There should be slaves here brought a few days ago. Where are they now?"


    "They should already be in Sadina, my magnanimous lady," Jawad licked the nectar that had dropped on his lips, causing her to gag. "There had been difficulties, but their papers were already done, so they should be picking up cotton now next to the Tree."


    "I see¡­" The goddess looked at him with contempt and stood up. Before he could say anything, she pushed his chair to the ground. "Enjoy this, this is the last time you will enjoy the touch of a woman, you absolute scum."


    She pressed her naked foot against his face.


    <hr>


    There is nothing better than strong booze whilst smoking, or at least that was what Yusuf liked to think. He was enjoying himself in Othman''s bar down the 17th Avenue. Booze, a smoke, and solid music from the on-site pianist. There was nothing better than that.


    Some of his brethren considered his position boring as he had to sit all day on a stool drinking vodka and smoking tobacco, but he was a simple man, and he needed nothing more than that.


    He was the relay of the local branch of the Order, meaning that he was open to the telepathic messages of his fellow assassins. Most people didn''t enjoy smoking twelve hours a day, but this was life for him. And what a great life!


    Technically speaking, he didn''t need to drink the vodka, but night turns got really boring really fast. Most people here were drunk, so he felt obliged to accompany them. From time to time, he dropped a drupnar on the pianist gal to keep her playing. He was trying to woo her, but no matter how many coins she dropped on her, she never gave him a sneaky peek.


    She was lucky he liked them difficult.


    Her name was Nadine ¨C or something like that ¨C and Yusuf loved how she wore work clothes like the other drunkards coming out of the factory. Women were so hot in shirts and suspenders.


    From time to time, he puked and Nadine gave him some glances, but he knew the woman loved it. Who didn''t love a man who was on his ninth pack of cigarettes and second bottle of vodka for the night?


    Becoming an assassin was the best thing that had happened to him. He was paid for all his expenses and even more.


    If he had one more wish besides keeping his current life, it was that Nadine''s fingers weren''t touching the piano''s keys, but his own. Heh.


    Then, light.


    "Huh?" Yusuf looked around, but the bar remained as normal.


    In any case, his sudden head movements attracted attention. Othman took his bottle away whilst he wasn''t looking. The assassin scowled at the bartender, but he considered the action a blessing in disguise. He needed a clear mind to understand what had just happened.


    He lit another cigarette and bit some other tobacco leaves. He needed as much emphatic connection as possible. What he had sensed had come from his mind and not from the bar.


    It was difficult to focus with the imperious intoxication on his mind. Tobacco may damage the lungs more than anything else, but all the nicotine had turned his brain into mush by now. That or those two bottles of vodka.


    Likely both.


    Yusuf''s consciousness slipped into the world of ideas. The sounds of the bar slipped into nothingness as sound didn''t linger in this realm, not as much as the unspoken thoughts of the other men drinking, at least.


    Alcohol bolstered the voices of the drunkards too much and the cacophony almost split his head open, but he was used to these pre-hangover hangovers. His mind shook and screamed, but his will remained unmoving.


    Or at least until he saw it.


    Emerald roots grew into the realm of thoughts on the horizon, on the outskirts of the city, where their warehouse was.


    The vibrant color was shocking, especially because the world of ideas only allowed grey and cyan colors. Such presence defied the natural order. However, that was very much clear as the roots threatened to overtake the dominion of thoughts, emerald color or not.


    Then another light. Greater, more potent, more¡­ pleased?


    He finally identified the source as one of his brothers, Jawad. Yusuf saw the red dots of his eyes in the world of ideas surrounded by those blinding emerald roots.


    That''s not good, is it? He stood from the bar counter and went to the street. The fresh air hit him like a slap from his wife, but he continued walking to the outskirts.


    Until he was blinded.


    A wave of pleasure coming from Jawad threw him to the ground, and when he looked up, his presence had disappeared from the realm of thoughts. Yusuf tried sending him a signal, but his brother failed to respond. A pang of pain assaulted him after the failed communication attempt, he felt as if his skull was cracking.


    It was then that he noticed the warmth on his visage. He touched the warmth and saw the blood on his fingers. Clumsily he rushed to the storefront of the nearest shop and saw his reflection.


    Blood flowed out of his eyes and nose, yet all he could see was emerald as his sight lingered, no, refused to unlatch from the world of ideas.


    Oh, that''s bad. Unconsciousness overtook him.

 Book 5: 23. Freedom

    "Oh, great heavens!" Aloe groaned and twirled in desperation. "How awful! I''ve never felt this soiled before! And I have worked the earth for centuries!" She gagged. "Ugh, I feel the bile coming up again."


    The vegetable human did her best to keep her insides¡­ inside.


    "I haven''t touched anything, but I feel so¡­ dirty. Also, I should do something about the chunks of cranium embedded on my foot, I can''t go back home like this."


    Aloe scratched her foot against the ground, and whilst it did wash out a bit of the blood, those pieces of cranium remained lodged on her foot. Which was curious to her as her body was stone and she couldn''t feel a grain of pain coming from the sharp bones, her vegetable skin enhanced with passive dexterity was too malleable for that.


    "I need water and a lot of it. Now. Ugh¡­" She shivered as she thought of her dirtiness.


    The druid disappeared into the night searching for water, but she found none. And she wanted copious amounts of it, no shower or bath could satisfy her. Unable to come up with a better solution, Aloe left Selen and switched to haste as soon as she reached the forest.


    With her new body, the speed stance was more potent than before. Not because her plant legs were faster than her human ones ¨C which they were ¨C but because she no longer had to fear any fall. Even with haste on, her sense of balance was uncanny and her toughness legendary, so she had to fear no wounds.


    She could run with all her might.


    It was then that she noticed for the first time how massive her stamina was. All the physical capabilities that the regeneration stance should increase like breath or resting time were constantly working at degrees impossible for most cultivators strictly donning that stance.


    Tireless, fearless, and monstrously, Aloe dashed through the forest.


    Emphasis on the monstrously. The vegetation didn''t enjoy at all how fast she was moving.


    Boom!


    A sound scared Aloe even though she kept moving. And the sound kept accompanying her. What the hells is this? The faster she moved, the more repeated the explosions became. Am I doing this? At first, she was scared by the explosions, but as they didn''t stop and failed to harm her, she kept going without a care in the world.


    It only took her a handful of minutes to reach the chasm and without hesitation, she dropped inside. The spot she had chosen was so straight and deep that she reached terminal velocity before she hit the ground. Of course, by then she had switched to toughness, so she landed unscathed.


    The same couldn''t be said for the ground as the stone had met a projectile on the three digits of weight moving at terminal velocity.


    No one cried for the stone. No one ever did. But the stone did cry in protest as the bedrock was split and the fragments outright pulverized.


    But Aloe had other thoughts in her mind.


    "Water!" She threw herself into the Tehen River.


    The water felt cold to the touch, but that was all. Cold. She had the sensation that it was cold, but she couldn''t classify the feeling as frigid. After all, her body was completely immune to hypothermia, even without toughness on.


    "Oh, that feels so good!" She talked, only to realize she was underwater. Water poured inside her lungs, but she hadn''t been using them for a few minutes already, so keeping it that way didn''t bother her.


    She just took the chance to thoroughly clean every corner of her body, inside and out.


    Before she even noticed, Aloe had hit the bottom of the Tehen River. She switched to acuity, which allowed her to guess the depth she was on. Oh dunes, this is quite deep. Around fifty meters? If I had fallen this deep a few¡­ centuries ago I wouldn''t have been able to get out. Now it was trivial.


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    With a flicker of her big toe and a bit of help from the potency internal infusion, Aloe was able to leave the river. Even though she had put all her strength into the flicker, the water drained all her momentum, and she had barely reached the shore. She threw herself out of the water and puked all the water inside of her body.


    Whilst the noises that came out of her nostrils and mouth were short of hellish, she was completely calm as she still didn''t need to breathe again for a few more¡­ Hours? Huh. She was surprised by her body''s efficiency.


    But also¡­


    "Ugh¡­ I still feel dirty, why had that fucker had to¡­ Ew!" She almost puked again. "I can still feel it on my thigh even if there were clothes between us." Aloe grabbed her hair and almost pulled the vines from the root. "If water couldn''t clean me¡­ maybe fire can?"


    Aloe dropped copious amounts of vitality and grew a myriad of Blossomflames all over her body.


    "Burn! Cleanse me!" She ordered and an inferno was unleashed.


    The multiple high-powered sources of fire deflagrating at the same time instantly evaporated the moisture on her skin, therefore creating steam explosions, but Aloe couldn''t care less. The flames were just cozy for her.


    "More!" She commanded viciously.


    The Blossomflames burned brighter and started withering from the extraneous exertion, but the druid didn''t allow them to die. She pushed vitality into them through her skin, pushing hundreds of Haya into them through the Forced Growth technique. One thing she had discovered was that she could restore the potency and vitality of withered plants with her flowing stance technique. Vitality in the sense of liveliness, not the vital art fuel.


    Only after she felt somewhat dizzy for not breathing for minutes without end and spending enough vitality to evolve a farmland worth of Heartgrowth did Aloe finally stop.


    "Ah," she panted once the flames quenched. "Far better."


    Her chest heaved up and down from her exhaustion, though it was more mental than physical. She doubted she could feel the latter any longer.


    "There''s nothing before to cleanse the dirtiness of this world than fire, is it?" The vegetable human chuckled. "It feels good to let out frustration. I haven''t been able to run this freely since¡­ ever, really."


    There was a liberating sense to move freely without the fear of others. She had lived with too much fear in her body, and it was great to just¡­ be.


    Be a force of nature.


    Aloe took a deep breath and then jumped.


    Jumped with all her might. Jumped with potency on. Jumped without a care in the world.


    The chasm wasn''t fully straight so it didn''t allow her a perfectly smooth flight, she had to push herself on the walls more than once to avoid her body from colliding against them and killing her momentum, but it only took a handful of seconds to soar across the hundreds of meters of the chasm.


    Then she was out.


    And she continued flying higher.


    And higher.


    Her body reached the heavens, and she couldn''t describe how divine the feeling of having the moisture of her skin begin to frost as she reached heights no human had reached before was.


    This was freedom.


    This was life.


    All her doubts disappeared as her mind was pumped full of elation. She was strong, there was no denying that. Nothing would stop her. She would stop at no one.


    Then she began falling.


    As she didn''t want to obliterate the forest with her fall, Aloe switched to acuity to control better her airtime and also grew multiple Cottonpulls on her back and arms. Of course, the pathetic amounts of cotton she generated weren''t enough to keep her afloat, but what she was aiming for were the sacks holding those cotton balls.


    The handful of sacks presented great drag and slowed her body significantly, more than any amount of cotton would have done.


    Soon, her falling speed reached a manageable point and she took on the sight.


    The skies were dark and cloudy so she couldn''t see many stars, but her eyes acuity-boosted eyes had more than enough light to peer at the infinite forest around her that reached the horizon in all directions.


    But not only that, her eyes focused on Selen.


    "Woah¡­" Even if all the lampposts in the city pointed to the ground, she was able to clearly see the night lights of Selen from kilometers away from her privileged position in the heavens.


    Aloe took a deep breath, filling her lungs with the cold air of the heavens. She had never felt this lucid before. The beauty of the forest, civilization, and the heavens greeted her.


    It was all at her disposal.


    And her disposal alone.


    But the dreams were cut short as she lost too much altitude and Selen was cut out of her line of sight by the forest and the mountains.


    No longer enjoying the sight as much, Aloe cut the sacks and let herself gracefully fall. As graceful as a two-meter projectile could fall from a few hundred meters of height.


    "Mmm~" Aloe moaned as she stretched after having landed. "Okay, I''ve enjoyed myself too much already. It''s time to go back to the issue at hand. The captives from Xochipilli''s village are in Sadina so that should be our next destination. I¡­ can''t say I''m happy to go back. Maybe if it only had been a few decades instead of centuries¡­"


    She had long assimilated that nothing she had held dear would remain. Not her acquaintances. Not her family. Not her home. Not her greenhouse.


    But it had to be done. For Xochipilli.


    The druid switched to the haste internal infusion again and she was met by familiar explosions. Oh, hey. The explosions are back. Aloe didn''t think much of it as she went back to Selen. Her whole excursion had taken less than an hour.

 Book 5: 24. Station

    Xochipilli took a while to wake up, so Aloe bought some pastries from a nearby bakery and asked for some directions. Especially about this ''train''.


    Unfortunately for the boy when he finally woke up, the pastries were cold. Not because he took that long to wake up, but because they were from yesterday. Even in this modern era bakeries couldn''t have fresh and warm pastries as soon as they opened up.


    "They were good though," he added after he finished them.


    "I''m glad you enjoyed them," Aloe smiled at him. "But it''s time we should get going."


    "Where are we going to today?" The boy asked after dusting all the crumbles from his short trousers.


    "The station," the druid answered, but her disciple expression soured. "Don''t fret, child. It''s not going to be like last time."


    "I know," he nodded and smiled. "You are with me now."


    Nince-damned hells, I want to eat him whole. "What a charmer you are!" She kept those thoughts to herself and just ruffled his hair.


    They left the safe house and directed themselves to the ''train station''. Apparently, the metal beams she had seen laid out on the ground leading out of the city were part of this station, so even without direction it was easy to find it. Nonetheless, she thanked her foresight for asking the baker for directions as it made her look more dependable.


    The sight of the station surprised Aloe. She certainly hadn''t expected¡­ this.


    Great pavilions of glass formed the train station of Selen as hundreds, if not thousands, of people gathered. The sheer number of people was giving her anxiety. It was one thing seeing thousands walk on the streets, another was seeing them in a semi-enclosed space.


    Fortunately, they didn''t have to ask for directions now as the flow of people was enough to guide them. They stood in a queue before a massive signboard that said ''TICKETS''. Whilst the queue moved fast, it was quite long, leaving them waiting for longer than she had wanted.


    It wasn''t that she was nervous because she had just killed a man in the city barely a few hours ago. Not at all. She had just delivered justice to a criminal, and that was fine. The problem was that the criminal had been an assassin, and those rats had the uncanny ability to find her. She didn''t fear for her life, but Xochipilli''s. She was impervious to damage, but the same couldn''t be said for the kid.


    She reminisced about that interrogation and couldn''t bring herself to bring a grain of shame. She had killed a man. Unlike all the other people she had killed before, this one had not threatened her or tried to sell her, and even if it would have most likely tried to do that if given the chance, she couldn''t help but be uneasy about it.


    Not because she had killed him, but because she was going to kill him no matter how he would have responded.


    He could have been an innocent, honest-to-heavens worker in the warehouse, and she would have simply killed him for the sin of having seen her naked. An act she had forcefully pressed onto the man.


    And that scared her.


    She was scared at how she could have killed anyone at all, regardless of intentions or background. That wasn''t very human, was it?


    Her trail of thought was stopped by a pull on her hand.


    "Is something wrong, Xochipilli?" She asked the boy after looking around, but it still wasn''t their turn in the queue. She hadn''t been that deep into her thoughts.


    "What has happened with the thing on your head?" He asked with innocent, childish curiosity.


    Aloe almost asked what he was talking about before she remembered that she had pulled the Aloe Veritas out of her head yesternight.


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    "Oh, I''ve stored it," she moved her parasol to the side to reveal only her ivy hair. "It would be very suspicious if a woman walked with a plant on their head, wouldn''t it?"


    "I think¡­" The young druid responded doubtfully. "But I think it suited you."


    "Thanks for that," Aloe chuckled. "But it''s better if we blend with the masses a bit."


    Xochipilli mumbled noncommittally, apparently enjoying Aloe''s crown more than she herself had. As they waited, the boy swung the suitcase he was carrying in his other hand. They didn''t have many possessions, so they all fit in a single suitcase they had found in the slaver''s apartment.


    Truth be told, all the heavy things that didn''t require to be taken out at a moment¡¯s notice was carried by Aloe inside the Slowtide, but the boy wanted to do something, so she gave him the pleasure of carrying the suitcase around. That way both of them had their hands occupied, ones with their handhold, the others with a suitcase and a parasol.


    Soon, their turn finally arrived. Aloe had expected some fanfare on the counter, but as soon as she said "Two tickets to Sadina, please," the clerk answered with a price and as soon as she paid it, she was handed two pieces of paper that would allow her to mount the ''train''.


    "It has been quite the simple process, I expect more¡­ nuisance," she said to Xochipilli as they walked inside the station.


    "I didn''t even know you had to pay to get on the trains," the boy revealed. "They just¡­ well, shoved me inside."


    She was a bit saddened by how casually the child shared his memories. He had been kidnapped, separated from his family, and also sold into slavery, yet he was so¡­ nonchalant about it. He was stronger than she gave him credit for.


    Aloe wanted to talk with him about it, but those thoughts vanished from her mind as she saw it. A behemoth of black metal surrounded by hundreds of people.


    "Is that the train?" Her eyes shone with powerful emerald. Xochipilli nodded at his question. "And that chunk of metal is supposed to move?" The boy nodded again. "How is it supposed to move?"


    "Uh¡­" This time he remained stunned in confusion.


    "I''m jesting," she ruffled his hair. "I know you don''t know the answer. Still, I would like to have the answers¡­ Do you think if we ask the people on the train will they answer us?" The boy responded by simply shrugging. "Fair."


    Even though the place was very crowded, Aloe was able to distinguish the voices of the people shouting and the sounds of bells. As they walked around, she saw more trains that had been hidden by the one at the entrance, and as they passed the ''platforms'' as the signboards hanging by the ceiling indicated, she was able to hear the voice of a man faintly mentioning their destination.


    "The express to Sadina leaves in five minutes!" He announced with all his might but the cacophony drowned most of it.


    "Come on, Xochipilli, our train will soon leave!" She excitedly pulled on his hand and the boy followed her.


    It was a bit pathetic to admit, but she was really excited to mount this train she had heard about for all these days. The child-like wonder filled her in ways she hadn''t believed possible.


    Navigating through the literal sea of people was hard, harder than even the bazaar of Sadina, mostly because she was leading Xochipilli with one hand, partly because she was focused on pickpockets and such. No one had tried to pickpocket her yet, but it was inevitable.


    It wasn''t paranoia speaking. She was a juicy target. Beautiful, well-dressed, and accompanied by what people would consider a servant.


    In any case, it wasn''t paranoia, but her ego that was speaking. Having an inflated ego was something new to her and she still didn''t know how to manage it. She suspected that it was partially the fault of the nefarious charm stance that tended to mess with the wielder''s perception as well as the onlookers.


    It took a bit of finesse and a couple of very vital minutes, but they finally reached the man who was calling out their train. Most of the area surrounding their train was now devoid of people with only the man who had been shouting standing beside it with a metal device in hand chained to his blue coat.


    "Excuse me, is this the train to Sadina?" Aloe asked even if she was mostly sure of it.


    "Indeed, young lady." The man nodded and stored the metal device in the front pocket of his jacket.


    "Oh, please, I''m not that young." She said with a faux blush. Though her words were quite real. One person notwithstanding, she was the oldest person in Khaffat.


    "Nonsense!" The man protested. "Alas, this is not the moment for such discussion. Could I have your tickets?"


    "Xochipilli, if you will?" The druid pointed at his disciple with a movement of her head and the boy handed the brown papers to the man as his clothes had pockets, unlike her dress.


    I miss my satchels¡­ The druid kept to herself. Going from tens of satchels to no pockets at all had been a hard transition.


    "Mm," he read them and took another metallic device that he used to puncture the papers. "Here you go." He gave them back to Xochipilli.


    "Why did you do that?" Aloe asked the man. "The hole thing, I mean."


    "Have you never gone on a train before, lady?" The man inquired with a soft tone, and she shook his head in negation. "This is called ''clipping'' and my job as the ticket examiner is to check that the tickets are valid and mark them. Please, don''t lose them as we tend to do inspections from time to time once the train is up and running."


    "I''ll keep that in mind, thank you so much."


    "Likewise." Aloe gifted him a smile over the frills of her parasol. "Come on, Xochipilli. It''s time to board the train~" She did her best to hide her excitement, but she utterly failed at the task.

 Book 5: 25. Train

    Aloe had completely underestimated the capacity of the train. There had been a lot of people on the platform so she thought the insides of the train would be no different from a jar of beans with everyone pressed against one another. But surprisingly enough, the train was rather empty. She closed her parasol and hung it from her forearm.


    As they strode forward, they were welcomed by a luxurious interior with many hints of red velvet and inlays of gold. Or rather, golden touches as it was most likely gold-coated, or even cheaper brass.


    "Woah, this is very different from the train I was pushed on," Xochipilli said at her side.


    "How was that train?" Aloe continued walking down the hallway as the first seats were taken. And even if they were empty, she wanted to be as far as possible from people. She couldn''t know how glamour would sustain for long durations or what side effects could generate, especially those lust-related.


    "I¡­ uhm¡­" Instantly she became aware of how insensitive her question had been.


    "Oh, sorry, Xochipilli," the druid patted the boy''s head. "You don''t have to answer that question."


    "No¡­ there''s no problem," the disciple responded with a wry smile. "It was a dark place and there weren''t any seats. We had to sleep on the ground next to boxes that were always close to tipping."


    "Oh dear," Aloe hugged him. "Everything''s fine now, child."


    "I know, I know," he muttered, his voice mostly silenced by a powerful whistle.


    That got a smile out of her. He''s certainly stronger than me. Instead of leading the boy by the hand, she placed herself behind him and pushed him by the shoulders. They were still walking to the endless corridor that was the train once it started moving.


    "Oh," Aloe yelped. "That startled me," she said with a hand on her chest. "I knew it would move, but I didn''t expect it to be this sudden."


    Her balance was preternatural, and her feet were no different from the roots of trees, so she was completely unphased by the moving colossus that was the train, and so was Xochipilli as she still held him. Aloe looked out of the window as the outside started moving, or rather, they started displacing from the platform.


    "Ah, I get it now. All those people outside were waiting to give their farewells to the passengers." She mused as she saw almost a hundred people waving at the train.


    Xochipilli, blessed be his adorable small size, neared a window as he was unable to see what Aloe was talking about.


    "That''s a lot of people," he said under his breath.


    "Yes, they are," Aloe giggled. Even if it were her exact same thoughts, having them voiced out by Xochipilli''s impressionable and young voice made them endearing. "Hand me the suitcase, child."


    The boy shook his head in mild confusion but quickly realized his master''s intentions. With a bit of teeth clenching and holding a breath a bit too long, Xochipilli managed to raise the suitcase up to the height of Aloe''s hands. His antics were very amusing, making her ruffle the boy''s hair with her parasol hand whilst she grabbed the suitcase and effortlessly put it on one of the shelves on top of the seats like she had seen other passengers do.


    She then released the child from her teasing, and she sat on one of the seats. It wasn''t the best spot, but it was isolated enough, and they had already walked next to the windows, so it made no sense to search for other seats.


    "Are you comfortable?" The druid asked him after he sat down.


    "Yesh!" Xochipilli portrayed his characteristic accent that accompanied his excitement. "These benches are very fluffy!" He bounced a bit on the stuffed benches of the train.


    "I''m pleased you like them." Unfortunately, Aloe didn''t enjoy the same comfort as the kid. However, it was for the polar opposites. Her body was so malleable and impervious to damage that any seating was comfortable for her.


    The noise of the train was quite prevalent ¨C both the ''engine'' and the wheels ¨C even with the windows shut down, so she allowed the boy to open theirs.


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    "Be careful not to fall down," she said mostly in jest.


    Even if he did fall, she could save him before he realized. Hells, she could most likely outrun the train if she wanted, but that would most likely ruin her dress, so it was better if that didn''t happen in the first place.


    Perhaps she hadn''t enjoyed the company of the tailor who had created the work, but dunes she was enamored with her dress. She may even kill people if they ruin it!


    It scared her knowing that might as well be true.


    The wind may not be as powerful as the one she was greeted by yesternight during her run or her flight, but it was comfortable, nonetheless. Especially because she could enjoy it without needing to move a muscle. Her vitality excelled in moving, it wanted to be an active and thundering force of nature; but her body reveled in being static, a stagnant yet constant entity.


    Both options were too extreme and fatidic for her liking.


    Stagnation was deplorable and being a force¡­ she didn''t have good experiences with entities that could be classified as forces of nature.


    Xochipilli took more liking in the wind than she did, and that was fine. If he was happy, so she was. Am I a bad person for leeching of a child''s happiness? Aloe didn''t have the answer to such questions.


    The thrill of the ride quickly died down with the monotony of the train movement and its noise. Even the enthusiastic Xochipilli closed the window just to dampen a bit the noise from the outside.


    Still, that didn''t mean they were without tasks.


    Her disciple may know the eight stances that mattered now, but he needed to practice. Whilst it wasn''t the place to do heavy lifting or endurance training to boost the base values of his body, there were other stances she could make him train, besides the switching time.


    "Where''s the seed?" Aloe would juggle a seed between her hands with enhanced sleight of hand thanks to her mythical dexterity and Xochipilli had to try to find it.


    The activity looked innocent enough ¨C not that different from a game played on caravans back in her time ¨C from the outside and it worked to starve off some boredom. This training she was originally taught by Naila, the young sultanzade, only a few months prior to her exile, and it worked wonders.


    Only now did she become aware of the real importance of the exercise as her speed and sense stance reached multipliers that no mortal should possess. Acute reflexes were needed to manage any of these two stances and this simple exercise was scalable in difficulty if it was practiced by two cultivators. As soon as Xochipilli started getting a success rate higher than the fifty percent possible by randomly choosing, Aloe simply upped the difficulty.


    Once the boy grew dizzy by observing too many hands moving faster than thoughts, she let him rest. But she had a treat prepared for him.


    Aloe looked around with her many senses and once she verified no one was looking, she pulled her down her dress a bit ¨C much to Xochipilli''s embarrassment ¨C and put her hand inside the Slowtide, where she took a handkerchief full of pastries from.


    "Come on, child, indulge yourself." As soon as she finished speaking, Xochipilli jumped for the pastries, which took a giggle out of her.


    Like his breakfast today, they were cold, but she had had the presence of mind to keep the pastries that were better served cold and would survive the journey for this moment.


    Whilst the boy ate, a person approached them from behind. Aloe had sensed him walking from the very beginning ¨C she was sensing everyone on the train ¨C and knew it was the ticket examiner who had validated their tickets.


    "Tickets please," the man said with a smile as he observed Xochipilli.


    That drew another smile on Aloe''s visage as the child was finally met with another emotion that wasn''t contempt born out of racism.


    "Is it really needed?" Aloe asked with feigned exhaustion.


    "I''m afraid so, lady. It''s protocol." The middle-aged man nodded.


    "Well, I guess I can''t deny your petition then." Aloe turned to face the child. "Xochipilli, could you show this gentleman our tickets again?" She had learned that the way to refer to men was with ''gentleman'' and ''lady'' for women from the newspapers and also the tidbits of conversation she picked up from the city.


    The boy coughed as he almost choked but dutifully took the tickets out of his pockets and gave them to the examiner, who simply looked at them before returning them.


    "Excuse me," she interrupted the examiner as soon as he made the gesture of going away. "How long will this train take to reach Sadina?"


    The examiner took the device from his coat''s front pocket and examined it. "We should be in Sadina in the night-slash-early morning of the twenty-seventh, that is to say, two days from now, three in total."


    "Dunes," Aloe cursed under her breath.


    "I know the journey can be quite long and taxing for a woman of your pedigree," he said. "You are more than welcome to rest at one of the bed cars at the end of the train."


    The train examiner promptly left, but he had completely misunderstood her. The journey wasn''t long for her, but the complete opposite.


    "Is something wrong, Aloe?" Xochipilli asked as he saw her bewildered expression. Not even glamour could hide it.


    "Nothing much, Xochipilli," she pondered it for a moment but decided to reveal the truth to her disciple, if partially. "Once upon a time, I traversed these lands to get to Selen. This journey took me weeks traveling in basically a straight line, and that was with me being sice as fast as the average person back in the day."


    Now it was the young boy''s turn to portray surprise.


    "What is it?" She pulled the question off him.


    "Aloe, what does ''sice'' mean?"


    "Urm¡­" The simplicity of the question astonished her back. "It means ''six times'', in this case, six times the speed of a person."


    "Oh, I recall now," he said after scratching his scalp. "The missionary taught us about these words, but they said they were ancient and felt out of use."


    Never before in her life had Aloe Ayad felt older than now.

 Book 5: 26. Familiar

    The train had a restaurant car, but as Xochipilli still was under the influence of the Radiating Undergrowth and had eaten quite a handful of pastries, hunger avoided him. As soon as the sun started to descend on the horizon, they made their way to the bed cars. The child fell asleep soon, but the night wasn''t as simple for Aloe.


    Not only was she too paranoid to fall asleep ¨C nor did she need the rest in the first place ¨C but traffic on the bed cars proved rather high. As it would appear, places on the bed cars were limited and except for some reserved booths, it was a free for first-come first-served out there. More than once a person knocked on the door asking to share the booth, and whilst there was certainly more space for one more person as she didn''t intend to sleep on the free couch, she wanted to be left alone with Xochipilli.


    Those searching for a place to sleep more than understood once she told them nicely, albeit with a glamour-laden smile. If handled correctly, the internal infusion wouldn''t turn people into wild beasts, but simply more open to suggestions.


    As there wasn''t much to do during the night, Aloe decided to elaborate a training schedule for Xochipilli. There was Myriad light on the wagon, which she assumed came from the ''engine'' by the musings she had heard all around the train, but alas she had no new newspapers at her disposal, so she quickly ran out of tasks to perform.


    "Sleeping, huh?" Aloe sighed with one hand on her face as she peered through the window. It was dark outside, but her enhanced eyes could now see with the faintest of lights, and the night sky provided thousands of them. "I¡­ maybe I should. But at the same time¡­ I would be so vulnerable."


    That was, of course, a lie. Ignoring she could have micro-rests with the recovery internal infusion, not many people would be able to harm her nor sneak up on her even whilst sleeping. It was but a matter of comfort. Aloe didn''t feel comfortable outside the chasm. It had been too long, and the last time she had been outside sneak attacks and ambushes had come aplenty.


    The druid tuned out to the hum of the train and focused on the meaningless and few conversations happening through the train. Whilst she did so to pass up the time, she convinced herself it was acuity training.


    Hmm? She was alerted by a silent scream and focused her mind on that sound.


    "Here? Cyrus, really?" She heard the sound of a woman.


    "Doesn''t that excite you, Frida?" The man, Cyrus, chuckled. "Here on the train, the two of us, in the dead of the night¡­"


    "Now that you say it¡­"


    "And that''s enough¡­" Aloe groaned and tuned out as soon as she heard a moan. "It''s my fault for thinking someone would be attacked here. I mean, if you committed a crime on a train, how would you even get away with it?"


    Beyond that single event, the vegetable woman''s night was uneventful save for a single moment. In the middle of the night whilst all passengers were asleep the train stopped. Smelling foul play, Aloe left her booth, placing a Blossomflame next to the sleeping Xochipilli just in case.


    Alas, her worry proved nothing but paranoia as the ticket examiner greeted her and told her that they had stopped to refuel as the train could only carry so much coal. The conversation prolonged for a bit, which was mostly her assaulting the man with questions of how this ''engine'' worked. Like a fire, the driving head of the train required a lot of coal to keep going, and to not slow the train down, they stopped at auxiliary stations to restock.


    The examiner also told her that they did most of the stops at night to not pester the passengers, but that on shorter journeys in more inhabited areas, passengers and coal alike entered the train on the stations. It was only in a long journey like the express from Selen to Sadina that didn''t pass through any cities that had to stop without accepting passengers.


    The man left her once the train started moving again and before she even noticed, she was greeted by a delightful rising sun, but she left Xochipilli to sleep for a bit longer. As padded as the couches were, sleeping on the train didn''t appear to be a comfortable prospect.


    "Is it more or is the sunrise more beautiful now?" Aloe mused to herself. "Probably it''s me. Maybe I''ve learned to enjoy the world after being separated so long from it." She let out a grim chuckle.


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    The stillness of the night soon faded away as passengers started to wake up with the first light. Because the train was constantly moving at high speeds it sort of formed a sound bubble around it, which made Aloe hypersensitive to the sounds happening inside whilst dulling the outside ones. She could have exploited that, but like how that exchange between the passengers a few hours ago, it was better to not dwell on the private conversation of strangers.


    Xochipilli ended up waking up of his own accord around an hour later.


    Not wanting to needlessly waste money on the restaurant car just yet, Aloe handed him a couple of pastries and a glass of water to have as breakfast. It was a bit uncomfortable to take things out of the Slowtide, but she could deal with uncomfortable, shame not so much. If it weren''t for their private booth, she wouldn''t be so open to juggling around the items in her magical baggage.


    I should move the Slowtide, but at the same time, where do I place it? She meditated as the child had breakfast. It needs to be an accessible place but also one normally covered by clothing¡­ Maybe the chest is fine as it is. Her current shape brought by glamour also helped cover the distinctive bright pink entrance to the Slowtide as the internal infusion brought a massive cleavage alongside it.


    Once Xochipilli was done eating, he wanted to stretch his legs around a bit, so they took a short walk across the train. They found the ticket examiner on their walk, and he mentioned that they could visit the end of the train as it offered a good viewing experience. He even offered to accompany them as he reasoned that he didn''t have much to do any longer with the train up and running.


    "That''s a delectable breeze," Aloe mused once they opened the door to the outside.


    "Most ladies protest that it''s too strong for them," the ticket examiner said.


    "Perhaps that is the case for my dress. But certainly not for me," the vegetable woman replied with a smile.


    Whilst the adults talked, Xochipilli slipped between them and grabbed to the balustrade of the train''s balcony. Aloe almost warned him, but didn''t bother in the end as she wouldn''t allow the child to plummet to his death if that was even the case. Maybe the scare could beat a bit of prudence on him. Harsh, she said to herself. But most good lessons tend to be.


    But now that they were here and in the company of a local, Aloe wanted to satiate one of her many questions.


    "Tell me," she directed herself to the examiner. "I''ve noticed that the train is directed toward the desert. Why is that the case, wouldn''t it be better to continue across the forest?"


    "Ah, it''s a frequently asked question, yes." The man nodded. "The Evergreen continues along the coastline, but even if there''s greenery, the terrain is too rugged to host railways. At least ones that guide themselves to their destination without many deviations."


    "I see," Aloe had noticed the Whistling Sands in the distance, and she didn''t appreciate the familiar sight. She was more than satisfied to assume she found herself in other lands that had nothing to do with her. "Won''t sandstorms affect the ''railways''?"


    The word sounded funny to her ¨C she blamed the Ydazi language for it ¨C even if she could guess the meaning from the context.


    As they spoke, Xochipilli was more than happy to keep his eyes on the moving landscape and enjoy the powerful wind, musing a ''woah'' from time to time.


    "Up to my knowledge, there aren''t many sandstorms in the Whistling Sands." So they are still called that way. Good to know. She had guided the conversation to get that piece of information. Maybe I should take pleasure in the fact that the world hasn''t changed that much. Maybe. "And even if there were, I''d say the monsters of the forest could cause many more problems for the railways. Haven''t you noticed how in Selen there was a big open patch between the railways and the forest?"


    "Now that you mentioned, you are right," Aloe nodded. "So the monsters of the forest are more problematic than those of the desert, huh?"


    "Maybe problematic wouldn''t be the right term, but they are certainly more common. Going straight through the desert has its advantages, but disadvantages."


    "Like which?"


    "Mainly construction," the ticket examiner took his device out of his front pocket. Now that they were this close to one another, Aloe saw how it had a glass in front and some sophisticated-looking pieces moving around. "The railways are made out of steel and wood, and the forest already provided half the materials whilst making way for said railways. Though I guess we save up more materials with the need for less maintenance."


    "Interesting." It truly was. This new world of the future truly fascinated Aloe. She wanted to ask many things, like continuing talking about how the train worked as they had done whilst everyone was sleeping, but at the same time she didn''t want to pester the poor examiner more.


    "And going back to disadvantages," the man mused with his eyes glued to his device. "I guess it''s time we see one of the main ones of the desert."


    Before Aloe had time to ask what he was talking about, a loud whistle resonated across the whole train. Unlike the whistle of the engine or the one they had used to announce the departure, this one was more frenetic and beget alertness.


    "What''s that sound?" Xochipilli asked as he let go of the railing to cover his ears.


    A shiver went down her spine.


    She didn''t need to hear the answer of the examiner to know that something was approaching. Something sinister. Something familiar.

 Book 5: 27. Stampede

    It was hard to focus on the sounds whilst the rumbling of the railways, the whistle of the train, the thrumming of the engine, and the song of the sands blasted on her ears, but nonetheless, Aloe heard something treading through the dunes before she saw them. It didn''t matter if she had heard them or not, she could feel them. Feel their thirst for blood.


    "This is a message to all passengers, please close any open windows. I repeat, please close any open windows. This is for your own safety." A sound echoed through the whole train from some kind of device.


    "We should enter right now," the ticket examiner pressured.


    "What''s happening?" Xochipilli asked as they made their way back into the train.


    The man locked the door behind them before answering. "A stampede of Thousand Cuts."


    "Thousand Cuts?" The young druid repeated.


    "A type of plant that seeks life, if only to extinguish it," the examiner elaborated. "They have sharp thorns that exsanguinate any person that it''s trapped in them."


    "I knew it¡­" Aloe mused under her breath. That feeling¡­ she opened and closed her hand, remembering the evolved seed of monstrosity in her hand. But how? I didn''t plant that seed, well¡­ I guess I never disposed of it. Could it have planted itself? Or has someone managed to discover Evolution like I much feared?


    "Why do they do that?" Xochipilli asked. Even after hearing the examiner''s words, he wasn''t scared, but curious. Aloe found that endearing.


    "I¡­" The man was at a loss for words. "I can''t say I''ve ever asked myself that question, they just do that."


    An evolved member of the Centaurea Diffusa species, a species known for its ability to pursue any moving living creatures to lacerate it. Aloe recited from memory. Interesting¡­


    "So these Thousand Cuts¡­ how do they look like and move around?" Aloe finally joined the conversation.


    "Well¡­ they are just kinda like tumbleweeds, but bigger, darker, thornier, and ignore the wind. They seemingly move by their own accord and lock their sights on anything that moves regardless of the wind''s direction or might."


    "Anything that moves, or anything living that moves?" She asked for specifications.


    "Uh? The latter?" The examiner proved to be not as knowledgeable as he once appeared. Maybe it was her fault for putting him in such a high pillar, of course, no man would have answers for everything.


    "That would be enough," Aloe held a groan.


    "So," Xochipilli interjected. "Is the train always attacked by these Thousand Cuts?"


    The sight of seeing a child so excited to talk about attacks was a bit jarring, but she wasn''t going to deny her disciple his happiness.


    "Not really," the ticket examiner made a motion with his finger to follow him and started walking. "Stampedes only happen in the Whistling Sands ¨C Thousand Cuts don''t like the Evergreen for some reason ¨C and it''s not like there are that many of them. Depending on the migration of birds, we may not see them for months as the mindless plants like to pursue the birds even if they can''t ever catch them."


    "Oh!" Xochipilli''s eyes glinted with childish glee. "I would like to see that!"


    "I''m afraid you won''t be able to. The stampede is now locked onto us, and it''s not migration time, so unless a rogue roc appears, I doubt the Thousand Cuts will unlatch from us."


    "Why are you calling them a stampede?" Xochipilli continued asking. "Are they that numerous?"


    "Oh, not really, ''stampede'' is just how we call a group of Thousand Cuts, like a herd of sheep or a murder of crows. Way shorter you see."


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    But Aloe had different questions in her mind. The first one, she couldn''t share. They call it Thousand Cuts, but that''s the name given by the Aloe Veritas. Have they found out about the veritas? I guess it''s possible if they had the Myriad. Or perhaps¡­ It comes back to them having discovered Evolution; it always does.


    "How do you remove the stampede from the train?" The second question was more innocent, in a skewed manner of speech.


    "Well, if the lady wants to know¡­" The man checked his handheld device nervously as if pondering something. He sighed. "Follow me."


    As they traversed the whole train, all passengers looked nonplussed by the alert. Either it wasn''t their first time experiencing a stampede, or they at least had heard about them. Their walk was a bit slow as the examiner had to stop on every wagon to check that indeed all windows were locked, but walking around was better than doing nothing for the whole day.


    How curious that riding the train is infinitely more tedious than traveling by foot. Having made traveling this comfortable and effortless, has made it severely less enjoyable. Not that I enjoyed running for my life in the desert for weeks without end, though, but at least I wasn''t bored. Couldn''t afford to be.


    After a solid quarter of an hour, they finally made it to the first wagon of the train: the engine.


    Not only it was incredibly loud, but also very hot. But most importantly, gathered around the furnace ¨C which was being constantly filled by a man throwing scoopfuls of coal ¨C was a group of people with more than a Haya to their name.


    Cultivators, all of them.


    "Omar, why have you brought a woman here?" A burly man with exposed biceps asked. Aloe instantly found him repulsive.


    "Well, the lady asked to see how you dealt with the stampede," the examiner, Omar, replied nervously.


    Mmm, Aloe hummed. He does not look comfortable. Has my glamour influenced his decision-making even if I haven''t pushed him to do anything? That would be problematic if that''s the case.


    "Did she now?" The man chuckled and walked up to her. Because she was so tall, the man had to slightly incline his head upwards as she was a head taller. "This is no place for a lady, miss. So how about you bring that cacao of yours and¡­"


    "I could kill before you utter your next word," Aloe casually commented, pressing her parasol against the floor.


    She could deal with men bossing her around. Most had tried since she was young from her reduced stature and frail frame ¨C though she would have expected her increased height to change that ¨C but acting condescendingly toward Xochipilli was something she didn''t accept. They weren''t dealing with Aloe Ayad, scribe of commoners, a sad and pathetic girl.


    They were dealing with Aloe Ayad, first druid, a very tired woman.


    Silence lingered on the outdoor location which was the engine room. The machinery still was incredibly loud, and so was the wind, both the one being pierced by the train and that cursing through the sands. Yet all fell into background noise at Aloe''s threat.


    The vegetable woman saw it in the man''s eyes. He questioned what she was talking about, that she only had a single Haya ¨C he was that readable ¨C but he found himself unable to let out that snarky remark. For deep down, he knew it hadn''t been a threat. But a promise.


    "That''s good and all," the man shoveling coal commented between grunts, "but there''s a stampede that needs to be taken care of."


    The burly man shook his head and snapped out of his confusion, the hooks and tendrils of charms unlatching from his mind. "Of course. Fellas, let''s get this done!"


    The cultivators chose to ignore Aloe for the time being, which was the correct answer. Aloe herself chose not to kill those men. You shouldn''t think like that. She kept to herself. Maybe they are a bit gaudy, but they aren''t criminals. No person deserves to die for speaking out of place, that''s¡­ what Aaliyah would do.


    Aloe didn''t finish that thought, for it nauseated her to impossible degrees. The last thing she wanted was to be like that woman. Now that she had power, she needed to be better, not worse.


    Beyond that outburst, no one seemed to realize her internal conundrum. Not even Xochipilli as he was hiding behind her skirt. He was a child after all, and the cultivators had intimidated him. As much as he liked to think of her as a goddess, Xochipilli had no way to measure her upper limits. I doubt I can do that myself either.


    "The stampede is coming!" One of the cultivators announced, and sure enough, there it was looming on the horizon with a dust cloud trail.


    "So that''s how they look, huh?" Aloe murmured.


    The ticket examiner had described the looks of the Thousand Cuts, but it was different seeing them in person. As he had said, they looked like overgrown tumbleweeds, if just meaner looking. Instead of arboreal debris, the Thousand Cuts were composed of sturdy-looking black thorns. There wasn''t one part of the moving plant that wasn''t covered in thorns.


    The rest of the people gathered on the engine didn''t seem to see them quite yet, as they were blinded by the dust cloud. Aloe was just pondering how those mean-looking thorns would utterly thrash her dress.


    "Xochipilli, let''s go back inside." She grabbed her disciple by the hand and led him back onto the train.


    Exposing her dress and the child ¨C the child and then the dress, Aloe, for heavens'' sake ¨C to the stampede was a moronic proposal. She would be more than happy to see how the cultivators dealt with the bloodthirsty plants from afar.

 Book 5: 28. Thousand

    "They are legion!" A cultivator shouted with wariness as the dust dissipated and allowed them to see the magnitude of the stampede.


    "It''s a weird feeling, really," Aloe mused to herself back in the safety of the train.


    "What''s a weird feeling, Aloe?" Xochipilli asked at her sight, still holding her hand.


    "Did I say that aloud?" The child nodded even though it was a rhetorical question. She still found that endearing, so she scrambled his hair a bit.


    Aloe looked around before explaining herself as her next words were going to be very incriminatory. Fortunately, the ticket examiner had decided to remain with the cultivators, and she doubted the men would wield the sense stance when they were going to take on such a foe, so she considered it was safe to talk. She still picked up Xochipilli with one hand and placed him on her shoulder, though, just to be safe.


    She was so tall and the child so small ¨C sho smol and cute! She thought to herself ¨C that he would hear her better this way, especially this close to the loud engine.


    "Well," the old druid started, "the plants they are fighting are my creation."


    "Really?" Even though she couldn''t see the child from her perspective, she could still feel his eyes beaming with wonder.


    "Really," Aloe nodded. "It''s been a while since I created that first seed, so somehow it has survived since then, and then proliferated enough to create such a vast stampede."


    "Wait," Xochipilli tilted his body to the side. If she weren''t a tree of a woman, the gesture would have driven them both to the ground. "Did you make them with Evolution?"


    Aloe hummed in affirmation. She marveled at the way glamour made something as trivial as a hum into a harmonic melody.


    "Does that mean I could also create them?" He bounced excitedly on her shoulder.


    "Indeed," Aloe nodded, her ivy hair brushing Xochipilli''s leg with the movement. "Though I''d rather not have you evolve such problematic plants when there are plenty of useful ones."


    Now that she saw it before her eyes, the Thousand Cuts was the only real problematic evolution she had created. The Myriad had been a nuisance but the people of this generation had managed to convert it into a cornerstone of their civilization; and the Slowtide, whilst it was a cataclysm in the making, she alone could harness its potential. The Slowtide would really be another problematic plant if I couldn''t control it with the Heartgrowth, huh?


    She was well aware that the evolved lichen would kill her if the Heartgrowth didn''t keep it in check. In a way, it had evolved into the opposite of a symbiont, only with another symbiont had she managed to correct that.


    Xochipilli was partially deflated by her words, but the child soon bounced back as he started seeing the unfolding battle at the engine wagon. Well, battle was a bit of a misnomer. The Thousand Cuts were mindless plants that just sought life, so their pattern of attack was just rolling forward. It was more of an extermination, or more accurately, a pruning.


    Some of the cultivators had rough shields composed of wood planks and others had longswords. The design was unique, curved like a saber, but with a thicker blade. Aloe questioned herself why they were using such makeshift shields if these stampedes were supposed to be commonplace, but as soon as one of the Thousand Cuts became stuck in the wood, the reason became obvious.


    So the thorns can easily tear wood, but then they become lodged in it. A cultivator swiftly cut the Thousand Cuts that had become lodged in half, making the plant collapse as it lost its integrity. Aloe got close to the window to see what happened with the cut plant that had fallen and was rapidly vanishing as the train continued moving, and she was surprised to see that it continued to wiggle around, but it struggled to find any purchase as it was now a loose collection of thorns rather than a sphere the size of a person.


    As she heard the door of their wagon open, she saw the examiner had decided to accompany them.


    "Was the action too much for you?" Aloe questioned him.


    "Very much so, lady," the man took out a handkerchief and wiped some beads of sweat from his temples. "This is one of the biggest stampedes I''ve ever seen."


    "There aren''t many," she lazily commented as the Death-aligned plants kept swarming the cultivators.


    "You are a cultivator, aren''t you?" The examiner asked.


    "Why do you ask that?" The vegetable woman turned to face him. A smile was drawn on her face.


    "So you are one." Aloe didn''t confirm nor deny the accusation. The man sighed after realizing that. "Why don''t you help them?"


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    "With this dress? Nonsense!" She pointed at the train worker with her parasol. "It''s a new one, and I don''t want it to be torn to shreds."


    That seemed to be enough of an excuse for the examiner, but he still looked with worry at the struggling cultivators. By any means, there weren''t many Thousand Cuts, but they were big and vicious. And these cultivators didn''t have that much vitality. Considering some only had two Haya, they frankly weren''t cultivators, just hired muscle that had consumed one of those monthly pills.


    With her passive vitality sense, Aloe could easily tell which stances the ''cultivators'' were donning. The two with the swords were changing between speed and strength, making their attacks mean and swift. The two with the shields were exclusively wielding agility, which confounded Aloe, until she saw a Thousand Cuts scratch a shield-wielder but its thorn failed to find purchase. So dexterity can be used like that¡­ She was aware that the agility stance could grant ductility to the skin, but she hadn''t had many opportunities to use that internal infusion, most of her usage came from her passive applications rather than active ones.


    As for the last man¡­


    "Oh, this is going to be interesting," Aloe mused aloud as she sensed the man change to the flowing stance. By far her most uncharted stance of Nurture, even if she had used it far more than the stealth or agility stances.


    The man who had poorly been contributing until now activated his flowing stance and Aloe understood why he, the one who had the most vitality, hadn''t been doing much until now.


    For he unleashed a sea of flames.


    "Quite the interesting flowing stance technique," Aloe said mostly to inform Xochipilli of the source of the fire. "I''ve long known that cultivators can summon fire with the flowing stance but this is my first time seeing it."


    Yes, she had known since centuries ago when she was first introduced to the nine stances by Fatima¡­ Wait, was it Naila? No. That makes no sense, it must have been Fatima who mentioned it since she was the one who taught me how to use the stance in the first place. She placed a palm on the side of her head. Being unable to remember things was a bit¡­ angering, for the lack of better words. It has been centuries, but it doesn''t feel like it¡­ and it bothers me so much.


    Most of her memories were composed of mindless noise as that was what she had been doing in the chasm for most of her life, repeated activities which memories could only translate to noise. And that angered her. She was angry at herself.


    "Could I do that?" Xochipilli moved her head around frantically in awe. Well, tried to. Her neck was as immovable as a mountain after all.


    "Depends," Aloe calmed the boy down a bit instead of throwing fuel into the fire. "A person only has one flowing stance technique by default, and if yours isn''t a fire one, then you would need to be taught it."


    "Could you teach me then?" The old druid tilted her head to face her young disciple and found herself unable to say no to those sparkling crimson eyes.


    "We''ll see," she added with a mute groan, which was more than enough for Xochipilli to start hopping on her shoulder again.


    Naturally, she was incapable of teaching her disciple that specific technique as she only knew a single one. And not for a lack of trying. There must be something special, a key detail to learning flowing stance techniques, that I have missed. Oh well, we could always try the flowing pills the pill maker talked about.


    Even though she was perfectly calm and Xochipilli was giddy, the same couldn''t be said for the train workers and the cultivators. The cultivators were losing ground against the overwhelming numbers. One of the shield-bearers was bleeding from one arm, and the flowing stance cultivator was quickly running out of vitality. His flames were doing fine against the stampede, but there were just too many.


    "How is it that the Thousand Cuts can keep up with the train?" She casually asked.


    "H-how can you be so calm?" The examiner almost shouted at her, but his nervousness won.


    "These plants aren''t much of a menace, really," she mused. Her current self couldn''t begin to muster even a single grain of worry. Aloe felt no danger whatsoever from the stampede. "Could you answer my question?"


    "I¡­ uh¡­" The man pathetically clutched his handheld device as he watched the cultivators bleed. "Will you help them if I answer you?"


    "Maybe," the vegetable woman shrugged. If the train was in any danger, she would step up, she had even a plan for it. She slowly removed the glove on her left hand.


    "T-the Thousand Cuts¡­ eek!" The examiner yelped as one cut plant forcefully impacted against the glass closest to him. "They¡­ uh¡­ can match the speed of their prey."


    "But we are standing still¡­ oh!" Xochipilli interjected but quickly saw the error of his thoughts. They may be standing still, but the train was not.


    "Huh, curious." It truly was for her. Death and Life alignment? They should be Space alignment from what I''m hearing. How does that ''matching speed'' trait even work? Is it a joke about not being able to outrun death? She wondered about the common saying. Do things as trivial as jokes influence something as important as alignments?


    As much as she wanted answers, Aloe had asked these questions too many times in her life before, and she already knew she would never get her desires. Instead, she groaned, placed Xochipilli on the ground, and opened the door to the engine.


    "Heads down!" She shouted and everyone obeyed, if only because she put a bit of pressure on her glamour.


    The next instant, a conflagration like any other erupted from her hands. For the onlookers, it would look to them like the same flowing stance technique the man had used, but in reality, she had grown a miniature Blossomflame and was pushing copious amounts of vitality through her flowing stance.


    Dunes, that was close. A bit more and I would have needed to change to the flowing stance in front of them. She thanked her foresight to push a hundred Haya into her flowing stance backlog, otherwise now her dress would have fallen to the ground as she needed to sustain the fires for a solid half a minute before all the surrounding Thousand Cuts burned to a crisp.


    That had been the most peril she had been in, having people see her without glamour. Having seen how little humanity she had left.


    She had pushed all that vitality into the flowing stance whilst the examiner was clutching at his device. The man didn''t notice, but Xochipilli probably did as her shape started to shift by the end, if ever-so-slightly.


    The cultivators looked at her in awe whilst she had swiftly disposed of the stampede without so much of a scratch. She looked at the rugged men and scoffed, before going back to the train. No words were needed to tell them how pathetic they had been.


    As she decided to go back to the back of the train to continue enjoying the vistas, the examiner stopped her.


    "Didn''t you say that was the first time you''d seen a fire flowing stance technique?"


    To Aloe simply responded with an "Ah."

 Book 5: 29. Restaurant

    The best answer to the ticket examiner''s question was silence. But as she continued walking down the train and the man followed them, she answered him with a noncommittal "It was the first time I saw another person doing such a technique." Which the man accepted and stopped pestering her and Xochipilli.


    Once they were alone on the train viewer, Xochipilli took the chance to be the one asking the question. "That was the fire flower, wasn''t it?"


    "Indeed," Aloe answered with a sweet giggle.


    "What''s funny?" The child tilted his head in confusion with a forming pout.


    "Nothing, dear," she chuckled again, though this time it was from his reaction. "It''s just that plants have multiple names ¨C their species name and their sobriquet ¨C from the parchment-like plant I have shown you, and the Blossomflame''s sobriquet was something like that. Although I can''t point out quite yet the name."


    Dunes, I really can''t. That irked Aloe. The human mind and its memory were a fickle thing, and it pestered her how she could perfectly remember the Thousand Cuts veritas description even when she had seen it once two centuries ago, yet she had lagoons of memory respecting one of her most valuable plants.


    Wanting to have answers and having them at an arm''s length ¨C quite literally at that ¨C Aloe evolved and grew a miniature Aloe Veritas on the back of her hand. Even though the evolved succulent was fully grown, it looked like one of those potted ones that didn''t expand beyond the size of a fist.


    "Oh," Xochipilli exclaimed as he saw a plant appear from his master''s hand out of nowhere.


    Aloe snapped off one of the Aloe Veritas leaves and carefully drenched the miniature Blossomflame with it. These miniature plants were still an early test, something grown out of the necessity to have her plants in public places, but so far, they didn''t show diminished power. By all accounts, they were just smaller versions of the plant but retained all their capabilities.


    And if they didn''t¡­ well, she could always shove a lot of vitality into the plant to ignore any loss of power like she had done with the Blossomflame a few minutes ago. Even a hundred Haya hadn''t fazed her. The verb ''faze'' was even a misnomer as it had been so inconsequential that classifying it as an action of the magnitude of a blink was still an exaggeration.


    She rolled her eyes and turned back to thinking about more consequential but still trivial things like the Aloe Veritas leaf in her hands.


    "Can you read what it says?" Aloe handed the leaking leaf to the child as she remembered that not only she had to teach the boy about the vital arts but also to read and write.


    "Hmm¡­" Xochipilli glued his eyes to the leaf trying to decipher the meaning. "Some words."


    "Tell them to me," she pushed him to continue.


    "I read: s-species. B-b-bo-blo-b¡­"


    "Blossomflame," Aloe helped him.


    "Blossomflame," Xochipilli reiterated and nodded before continuing. "S-so-sobriquet!" He exclaimed happily after getting such a hard word. "Life, fire, flower."


    "Life and fire go together, it''s a compound word," she clarified.


    "So it''s lifefire?" Aloe nodded to his question. "That was the name you were thinking about when you giggled before, Lifefire Flower, isn''t it?"


    She nodded again. "But there''s more text to be read, come on, let us try to finish this description."


    What continued was a handful of slow but satisfying minutes as Xochipilli read the veritas description. The boy knew the words and had uttered them, but it was one thing knowing the words orally, and another thing seeing them written.


    "Good job!" Aloe praised him and patted him on the head. "You are learning fast, Xochipilli."


    "It''s because you are teaching me¡­" The boy said with a blush as he toyed with his fingers.


    Noticing that her plants were getting in the way, Aloe plucked the Blossomflame and the Aloe Veritas out of her hands, but after seeing how much the latter was bleeding, she decided to chuck them out of the train instead of storing them in her Slowtide pocket lest she ruined her dress with the ink. Once she had disposed of all the detritus, she put on her glove again.


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    Considering a handful of her plants had become known and used, she didn''t have many issues if those two also ended up being discovered. Once upon a time, she would have lost it if her plants were unearthed, whether one or many, but now she couldn''t care. And not because some had already been discovered¡­


    They continued studying for a bit, but soon they got bored and their conversation faded to the background as they instead decided to gaze at the Whistling Sands. The stampede had previously taken all their attention, but now they could calmly take in the singing dunes.


    "Why do they whistle, Aloe?" Xochipilli asked her.


    "I don''t know," she admitted, and the kid opened his eyes like plates. "Why are you making that face?" The vegetable woman pinched his cheeks. "It''s not like I know everything."


    "Ow," he simply responded.


    "It must have to be something about the sand. The whistling you are hearing is the wind traveling through the grains, but that much is only what I can tell."


    Xochipilli didn''t enquire further, and they just stood there taking the noon sun. She had grown bored of the song of the sands when she was originally traveling through this place ages ago, but as background noise on a laidback ride¡­ it was sort of appealing.


    Fearing that Xochipilli''s skin would go from chocolate to charcoal, Aloe led him back inside. She could take in the wind and the sun for all eternity, but the same couldn''t be said for the kid. Especially since he was tapping with his foot more frequently, meaning that he wanted to go away, even if he was too polite to say otherwise.


    As they roamed the train, they passed through the restaurant car they were stopped by a server.


    "You are the lady that stopped the stampede, aren''t you?" The young man asked.


    "That would be me, yes," Aloe cordially responded.


    "The chef is very thankful for your contribution and would like to reward you with a full course if you are willing."


    Aloe looked at Xochipilli and the child nervously gestured to his stomach. The Radiating Undergrowth was most likely still in effect, but she wouldn''t turn down free food.


    "We would be delighted," she answered with a bright smile.


    The server was taken aback by the gesture, but after he recovered his breath and composure, he responded. "I will notify him at once. Please take a seat," he gestured at the table next to him.


    The table was for four passengers, but he had no problem offering it to only the two of them even when there were many passengers in the car. The server even offered them one of the tables with a cushioned bench instead of those with only chairs.


    "Do you want the bench?" Aloe asked her disciple.


    "Yesh!" Xochipilli responded with glee.


    She didn''t care much about her comfort, so Aloe sat opposite to him on one of the chairs. The table was brimming with cutlery, and whilst the number of utensils wasn''t anything new from her time at the palace of Sadina, she didn''t expect such traditions to translate to a commoner place like the train. Though now that she looked around, each and every passenger in the restaurant car was well-dressed and certainly not the average worker she had seen around.


    People of different classes seemed to share the train, but they didn''t quite mix.


    "Is there no menu?" The druid asked after remembering the caf¨¦ of the other day.


    "We only serve the course of the day," the server bowed.


    "That''s fine," she answered. "I didn''t know what to ask either way." Nor I would have understood the contents. I already have forgotten half of the contents of that caf¨¦ menu. I still don''t know what a quiche is, though. Should''ve asked.


    "One last thing," the young man interrupted. "Does any of you have any allergies?"


    "Allergies? What''s that?" Aloe didn''t recognize the word.


    "I¡­ uhm¡­" The question confounded the server, but he swiftly recovered. It seemed to be a common thing for him to react that way. "It''s like a¡­ strong reaction against a substance, especially food. Coughing, sneezing, itches, any of those things."


    "No, I don''t think I have any of these ''allergies''." I doubt I can even have these symptoms with my constitution. "Do you, Xochipilli?" The boy shook his head, too nervous to speak in front of the server. "We don''t, dear. Feel free to bring anything."


    "Will do!" The server gleefully marched to the kitchens.


    What followed was truly a feast that put to shame the word ''course''. The chef was truly grateful for Aloe''s contribution and showered them with food in kind. However, at the same time, the other passengers were getting the same treatment.


    "What is this food?" Aloe asked the server as he brought a plate with some sort of red chitinous creature. "Don''t tell me it''s a djinn''s offspring."


    "Oh, heavens, no!" The young man chuckled. "It''s called lobster and it''s a sea creature. It has become quite the delicacy in the high tables of Asina."


    "I''ve lived all my life," Previous life, she corrected in her mind, "near the coast and I''ve never seen or heard of these lobsters."


    "They don''t live on the historic Ydaz coastline, nor Loyata''s, they are only seen in on the southern sultanates or the colonies of the new world."


    "I see¡­" Aloe responded without much fanfare and let the server do his job.


    Fortunately, Xochipilli was acquainted with lobsters, though he called them a poor man''s and abundant food rather than a delicacy. Still, after she was swiftly taught how to dismember the dead creature, Aloe couldn''t deny she enjoyed its taste.


    All the plates and the desserts were superb, and after they were done with the food, Aloe asked the server to send his compliments to the chef. She was getting tired of eating when she didn''t need food in the first place no matter how good that food might be, and also of being observed by so many people. There would be a point when the pride of being gawked at would surpass her social anxiety, but she had yet to reach it.


    For now, she wanted to be alone with Xochipilli and separate herself from the gazes.

 Book 5: 30. Evergreen

    Xochipilli fell asleep after eating, and Aloe didn''t have the heart to make him study more, so he left him to rest. She could have explored the train in the meanwhile, but she didn''t trust people to leave his disciple alone, nor exploration would have granted her any insight into the train. They had already gone from head to tail and there wasn''t much more to explore.


    So there she sat in comfortable silence, still like a tree until night came by and Xochipilli finally woke up. It was¡­ eerily terrifying the degree of stillness she could achieve.


    "What time is it?" The child asked groggily.


    "Early night," Aloe answered. "Is the train rocking draining your strength? You''ve slept for almost a third of the day."


    "No, it''s not that¡­" Xochipilli looked away, ashamed, so she decided not to pry any further.


    "Are you ready to continue with your studies?" The boy silently nodded. "Then let''s continue with Evolution, take this."


    She offered him a black seed. Without the need for any commands, Xochipilli evolved the seed out of his own volition. Yes, he does not have enough vitality, but he has managed to evolve it into a Flourishing Spring seed twice now. But how? If it were me, I would have puked, passed out, and most likely failed the evolution, but he''s conscious, if a bit dizzy.


    "Alright, that''s enough Evolution training for now," the old druid said after retrieving the evolved seed and storing it in her slimy pocket.


    "Already?" The young druid was shy most of the time, but he didn''t fail to express his disappointment now. "I want to do more! I can do more! I want to evolve plants like the Blossomflame!"


    "All in its due time, Xochipilli," she ruffled his hair. "You are young and don''t have enough vitality to even evolve a single Flourishing Spring without severely straining your body." How severely that I cannot tell, she kept those thoughts to herself. "If we find one of these Haya pills, a real one that will increase your maximum reserves, it will boost significantly your early growth, but for now, you must be patient."


    The child nodded sheepishly, prompting another hair ruffle from an amused Aloe.


    "Let''s continue studying, shall we?"


    Reading, writing, and vital arts, there were many aspects Aloe had to teach to Xochipilli. She asked herself from time to time if she was doing it for the child or herself, and every time she wasn''t able to come up with an answer. It always ended up with a: Well, he''s getting an education, and that''s always good.


    It was difficult teaching the boy how to write as they lacked the tools to do so on the train, and if they did, it got bumpy more than once. More than practice, they had to study the theory, which wasn''t as hard as she expected as the Aloe Veritas always wrote in perfect calligraphy, allowing her to teach Xochipilli with literally perfect examples.


    Unfortunately, night seemed to take a toll on the child, and even if he had been sleeping not that long ago, he went back to sleep a few hours past midnight.


    The poor child had fallen asleep on her lap. The cultivator wondered if she should change her internal infusion to dexterity to make her thighs even more comfortable, but ultimately decided against it as the movement of her passive shapeshift could awaken the boy.


    "You make sleeping such a comfortable endeavor," Aloe mused as she caressed Xochipilli''s sleeping face.


    She was so tempted to sleep. Not because she was tired, but because she almost ached for the release of consciousness. She had been conscious for long. Too long, too long for anything to remain in this singed earth¡­


    Having nothing better to do, Aloe evolved a myriad of plants. Not the plant, like a collective of them. First, it was the Heartgrowths to increase her reserves, but after making a pile of them she grew bored, so she switched to other more useful seeds like Blossomflame or Cottonpull. The former was always useful, especially now that she was accompanied by someone who could use magical healing, but what interested her more was the latter.


    "I''ve been feeling this for a while now, but buildings in Selen, and even in the walls of this train, I''ve been sensing vitality." She mused to herself if just to interrupt the monotony of the train''s rhythm. "I doubt that buildings are alive in this age, so this can only mean one thing. They are edifying buildings with Cottonpull."


    If just to be sure, Aloe twisted her finger into an unnatural shape and pushed it through a small indent in the wall. Perhaps she couldn''t see what was happening, but her enhanced sense of touch was keen enough to notify her of the fibers running through the walls.


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    "Oh, that''s very processed," she hummed in surprise. "It''s different from the fabric of my dress, more tightly packed. How many strands of cotton are there?"


    Aloe frowned as she moved her finger around and found that the Cottonpull fabric was very tightly packed. If it weren''t for the texture, she wouldn''t know it was cotton as it was hard to the touch.


    "I guess I now know how they can build so high," she retrieved her finger from the wall. "They are putting Cottonpull on everything to make it lighter. Buildings, dresses, the train¡­ It''s quite an intelligent application. Maybe even more so than the Myriad." She gave a look to the shining lamp in the middle of the night hanging by the booth''s wall. "No, this is one is certainly the best invention. Limitless light everywhere for the cost of a single campfire. Scratch that, the light must not cost anything on the train as they need that fire in the engine to move it."


    She had asked around and had seen some articles in the newspapers, so she had a rough idea of how the engine of the train worked. It heated water and used the steam to create movement, not unlike a kebab spinner she had once seen at the University of Sadina when she was young, only that on a greater scope.


    "Considering Cottonpull is this valuable and in high demand, I should have no problem nurturing a fortune in a question of seconds. Though I guess that would raise too many questions if a woman were to suddenly try to sell tonnes of cotton. Hmm¡­" She left those thoughts for later. She had been trained as a banker, the person managing the finances, not the one making the sales.


    When the sun made its appearance for this third day of the ride, Aloe knew they were close to their destination. They had long passed the Whistling Sands and entered again into the forest the people of this age called ''The Evergreen''. She did not need to look outside her window to know that, for her sense of vitality already showed that they were surrounded by life.


    But it wasn''t the myriad of signs of life that betrayed the closeness to their destination, but the overwhelming one looming on the edge of her senses. It couldn''t be overstated how much vitality Aloe was feeling, especially at this distance, so her mind instantly thought of one thing and one thing alone.


    The train stopped yet again to restock on water and coal, but now that she had the hindsight of the Cottonpull, it surprised her how much they had stopped to refuel. She could only assume that the train was a mechanical mount, it may not tire, but it definitely needed to eat to keep working, and they had stopped quite a few times already, especially during nighttime.


    I guess you will need to stop more if you are going this fast. Selen to Sadina in nearly three days is ludicrous. It had taken me maybe three weeks and that was sice the speed of a normal person.


    She was infinitely faster than the train now, but the timespan still left her wordless. It didn''t seem possible for technology to do this. Magic? That was perfectly comprehensible. But technology? That was harder to wrap one''s head around.


    The morning swiftly came by, now the sun was really out instead of just a spec of light on the horizon. The sunlight woke Xochipilli up, who jumped out of his prone position after he noticed where he was sleeping.


    "I''m sorry!" The child apologized with a face as red as a tomato.


    "Don''t be," Aloe chuckled. "Was my lap comfortable?"


    "I¡­ uhm¡­" Xochipilli looked around embarrassed. "Yes¡­" He admitted sheepishly at the end.


    "That''s good to hear," the vegetable woman giggled again, but now that it was more audible, she hid her mouth behind her hand. "However it may be, we should get ready to leave this booth soon. We are near our destination."


    Xochipilli nodded and grabbed the suitcase, or more exactly, tried to. Aloe had left it on one of the top shelves to not bother them, and now the child was struggling to get it even if he was on his tiptoes and hopping.


    "Need any help?" The old druid amusingly offered.


    "No¡­" The young druid refused short of breath as he continued his fruitless attempts.


    She noticed how he switched to the potency internal infusion, but even if he doubled his strength, that didn''t fully translate into twice the jumping height from his still position. Nor that twice would have been enough.


    Aloe was amused enough that she let Xochipilli continue until an alarm from the train like the one warning of the stampede sounded, but this time it was to inform the passengers that they were arriving at their destination.


    With a groan, Aloe put her hands underneath the child''s armpits whilst he was airborne and raised him enough to grab the suitcase.


    "Thank you¡­" Xochipilli said timidly after she left him on the ground.


    "Let''s get going, shall we?" To which he just answered with a nod.


    Now, as they had been distracted for a long time, they were unable to take in the sights of Sadina as once they were done the train had already reached the station, though it was still slowing down. Unlike the one in Selen, this one was more covered from the elements so there was no massive skylight that illuminated the place. Instead, they opted for many Myriad ceiling lamps.


    But that mattered not. Her eyes were locked with the powerful vitality signal she was sensing, even if there was a wall in the middle. All the passengers, including them, disembarked the train and furiously left the station, more than happy to finally stretch their legs on stationary ground.


    As they left the station, words failed to describe what they saw.


    Yes, Sadina''s buildings were taller and fancier than Selen''s, but that had always been the case as Sadina had been a trade capital and the latter a frontier town. No. It was something more¡­ primeval.


    Right after going outdoors, Xochipilli and Aloe were greeted by a tree that loomed over the Evergreen. No. It loomed over Sadina. No. Not right yet. It loomed over the world.


    "Oh," a silent yelp let Aloe''s mouth, whilst Xochipilli boasted a loud "Woah!"


    Before them lay a white and blue tree that scraped the very heavens with its height in the hundreds if not the thousands of meters.


    But Aloe''s first thought wasn''t that the tree was colossal, but instead¡­


    "What''s the Na''mul Ter''nar doing here?"

 Book 5: 31. Pharmaceutical

    Zayn Gerges opened the door to the balcony of his office. The wind was quite potent this high up, but he liked that. Not only was living this high up a symbol of his status and power, but he also enjoyed heights. He would like to climb the World Tree in Sadina for the experience alone, but alas, dryads were a zealous bunch, and they didn''t allow anyone to get close to it beyond its base.


    Most people didn''t understand the greatness of a good breeze and the heights. But at the same time, most people couldn''t spend their time enjoying them.


    They weren''t the head of the greatest pharmaceutical company in the world, after all.


    His long white mane and beard were the ones that took most of the liking in the strong breeze. His old bones? Not so much.


    Zayn was just reminded of his duty as someone knocked on the door of his office.


    "Uncle?" A sweet voice asked.


    "Come in," he lazily commented as he took in the sights of Asina. He would never tire of them. Though his opinion on the imperial palace oscillated from day to day. On the one hand, it was a beautiful piece of architecture with its golden dome. On the other¡­ it blinded everyone that dared to look at it. But such truth was the same with the Calipha.


    The door of his office, made of the finest cherry from Seviren, opened to reveal his niece. Nesrine was quite a young and bright mind, but she was too innocent to be in the family business. Yet she was quite enthusiastic about her studies, so it would be wrong to not exploit that. Chemistry was one of the greatest fields a researcher could study, and the background of her parents as engineers had certainly molded her into a unique mindset.


    Though he would like if the girl wore clothes of her adequate standing and not just that horrendous lab coat everywhere.


    "How has your time at palace been?" Zayn asked her.


    "Superb!" Nesrine responded excitedly as she adjusted her glasses. "I thought you had finally gone senile," Zayn frowned, "after sending me to the palace instead of the University of Asina, but you were right, there the greatest minds are gathered together in a single spot!"


    "I''m glad you are enjoying it, Nesrine, but you haven''t forgotten of our deal, have you?"


    "Of course not, uncle," she extended a piece of paper forward. "This is the list of the newest pill maker graduates. But I must ask, why do you want it for? To scout new hires?"


    "New hires, yes," he mused as he groomed his beard. Though not for the company. "I''ll take a look at this list later. Do you need something else?"


    "No, that would be all." Nesrine responded, not bothering to hide her eagerness to leave already.


    "One more thing." But as she was going to leave, Zayn interrupted her. "What about that compound you were researching? The one about easing the effect of that sugar malady."


    "Diabetes?" She questioned with a frown.


    "Yes, that one."


    "Well, diabetes is a growing problem in the population, and because it is caused by high sugar levels in the blood, we thought that the best way to fight it would be to target the pancreas¡­"


    "Stop yapping, girl. I know what your research is about, your mother wasn''t even born when I pioneered the field of medicine." The lecture was enough to silence the young girl. "No, what I want to know is about the compound. Does it work? Is it marketable?"


    That last question was the only one that mattered to him.


    "Uhm¡­ recent results show against it?" Nesrine responded coyly with a titled head.


    "Elaborate," Zayn grunted.


    "Insulin, the medication we have been testing ¨C which is a hormone, compound is too vague of a term ¨C is effective to prevent diabetes, the problem we have seen is that a constant usage of the defense stance is enough to boost the immune system to get the pancreas working correctly so¡­"


    "The medicine is useless as anyone with a Defense Pill will be unaffected by diabetes." He finished the sentence.


    "¡­Yes," the girl added sheepishly.


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    "Why does this sickness even exist then?"


    "Well, the rising consumption of sugar in the popu-"


    "It was a rhetorical question, dear."


    "Oh, sorry." She had the presence of mind to at least look crestfallen.


    "So the defense stance is enough to tip the scales to prevent this affliction from occurring¡­" Zayn mused as he sat on his armchair. "Yet more reasons to reduce the cost of pills so more people can buy them. You could do something useful and investigate how to produce pills without the need for a pill maker."


    "You are the one who guided me into chemistry and drug-making, uncle," Nesrine responded with a deadpan, though the rage was very much visible.


    "Right, right," he swayed his hand around. Those are useful, but for other businesses. "My fault. You can go."


    After puffing, the closest the logical Nesrine would make to a tantrum, his niece left his office, leaving him alone. Or so he would wish. Unfortunately, he had his hands in too many enterprises.


    "Grandmaster," the figure that appeared from the shadows bowed.


    "Oh, it''s you Mehmed, we haven''t met in a while." He casually greeted the Shadow. "Is there something important? I would like to rest a bit."


    "It''s important," Mehmed taciturnly responded.


    "Then out with it!" Zayn scoffed at him. "No need to idle around!"


    "There has been a murder in Selen."


    "There''s always a murder everywhere. That''s what we do."


    "It hasn''t been one of us."


    "You''ve got my attention," the old man''s visage stopped showing joviality and turned serious. His eyes shone ever-so-slightly brighter.


    "Yesterday one of our men, Jawad, was murdered in one of our warehouses." The Shadow informed.


    "Any clue as to who might have been?" Zayn asked. "A rival company? A caliphate spy? Or maybe one of those serial assassin fellas, like that Ripper I''ve heard about."


    "We¡­ are not sure, but the clues point out several profiles."


    "Do tell," the old man took out his pipe and lit it. There was nothing better than a bit of tobacco to clear one''s mind. Especially for someone of his lineage.


    "Jawad was found¡­ headless."


    "Chopped?"


    "Exploded," Mehmed answered.


    "Exploded?" Zayn frowned.


    "Exploded," the Shadow reiterated. "Someone burst the man''s head. Looking at how his body was placed on the ground and the lack of struggle, our best guess is that he was stepped to death."


    "So it must be some sort of cultivator if our killer has that much strength," the Grandmaster pondered his wording for a moment. "Yeah, that doesn''t tell us anything. Anyone is one nowadays, I preferred when that wasn''t the case. But it does fill the profile of a serial killer with the whole head-bursting deal. That''s what they do, right?"


    "There has yet to be one serial assassin to do ''head-bursting'', sir."


    "Could be the first. Who knows?" Zayn shrugged.


    "It''s the other clues that disconcert us," the Shadow ignored his comment. "We found traces of a liquid on Jawad''s chest, which we identified as sap."


    "Sap? Like from a tree?"


    Mehmed nodded. "We searched for traces of drug ¨C hallucinogens and whatnot ¨C but it was very much normal sap. One of our brethren more experienced in Nurture told us that it had an unusually high content of vitality, but that was all."


    "Was this sap Jawad''s?" He mused after giving a long hit to his pipe.


    "Not that we know of."


    "So this murderer dropped sap on our fellow''s chest for no reason?"


    "That we know of," the Shadow corrected. "But that wasn''t the last substance that disconcerted us."


    "Oh, there''s more? What now, discharge?" Zayn joked. Mehmed looked at him with dead eyes. "You are joking."


    "I''m not," the assassin sighed and took out his own pipe, though this one was loaded with hashish. "We found seminal fluid inside Jawad''s pants."


    "Inside? Oh, thank heavens." The old man sighed in relief. "For one moment you had me thinking we had a serial assassin tickling his fancy on their victims. Wait," he suddenly realized the problem with the outcome. "Was this Jawad wanking on the job?"


    "Not that we know of," Mehmed reiterated and took a hit of his pipe. "This is the thing that confound us the second most, he just seemed to release whilst he was being assaulted."


    "What a creep¡­ Wait, second?"


    Mehmed exhaled his smoke. "We had one relay around, he goes by the name of Yusuf, and he was the one who first noticed the incident, but there were some¡­ complications."


    "Stop with the suspense, you are going to kill this old man." The old man said with puffing his tobacco.


    "Prior to Jawad''s death, Yusuf felt a wave of pleasure coming from the soon-to-be-dead man. For some reason, this wave caused Yusuf to collapse and bleed from his eyes and nose. He barely stayed alive as he almost too choked on his blood."


    "Mhmm," Zayn hummed, completely unaffected by such a grotesque description.


    "Whilst we cannot tell why that happened ¨C nor why anything did, really ¨C one thing everyone agrees, and not just Yusuf, is that an emerald tree appeared in the world of ideas where Jawad''s body should be. And everyone, and I cannot stress this enough, everyone said and swore for their lives that it was emerald. It mattered not the shape of the light, but that it was emerald."


    "How curious that so many assassins agree on one color, especially considering how many of us are colorblind," the Grandmaster scratched his beard. "But color in the world of ideas, eh?"


    As a Grandmaster Assassin, Zayn knew how impossible that was. There was only grey and cyan in the world of ideas, with only the circumstantial red of the eyes of assassins. But emerald ¨C not just green, but that exact same color ¨C was an important detail. Not all of the eyes of assassins were red in the world of ideas, some were crimson and others scarlet, but they were all saying that the light that had appeared on the body was emerald.


    In a way, they were saying it was on the same level as the cyan. As the very thoughts that composed that realm.


    That was, to say the least, problematic.


    "So, let me get this straight," Zayn took a hit of his pipe. "We are dealing with an assassin that has brutalized one of our fellows, was completely undetected by all the other assassins in the warehouse, manifested their own light on the world of ideas, and then escaped without anyone seeing them?"


    Mehmed nodded.


    "Well, shit," the Grandmaster cursed. "It seems that we will need the full resources of the Gerges Pharmaceutical Company to resolve this slight. Ah, thinking about the expenses is making me dizzy already."

 Book 5: 32. Sadina

    No matter from what angle Aloe looked at it, the colossal tree covering much of the skyline was the Na''mul Ter''nar, the blue tree that Karaim had evolved whilst he was still alive, with its unnatural spring-shaped and ashen trunk.


    Everything was in flames when I left¡­ Aloe reminisced about that fateful night when her Uncle Jafar was burned to death by the Blossomflame. It still panged her but just knowing that night had been centuries ago dulled most of her feelings. So how is it that not only is the tree alive but this¡­ big?


    "Aloe?" Xochipilli tugged from her dress''s skirt.


    "Is there something wrong, child?" She calmly responded, glamour doing her best to hide her true emotions.


    "I¡­ I would like to know that," the boy inquired. "I''ve been calling you a few times already."


    "Have you?" Her visage still portrayed calmness, but now she was panicking inside. You can''t lose your cool this way, Aloe. "I''m sorry then, the sight has been quite astonishing."


    "Yeees, it has been," Xochipilli answered unsurely. "It is a big tree."


    "Indeed, it is a big tree." The two of them remained looking at the mountain of a canopy for a moment.


    "Why is it blue, though?" The boy pointed at the dark blue leaves on the horizon.


    It was a surreal image seeing how the child''s hand was incapable of blocking the sight of the tree even if it was kilometers away. It was just that massive.


    "That would be¡­ my fault," Aloe attributed herself the merit. It was better if no one knew of Karaim. And most likely, it was her fault. For years the tree had never grown, so she doubted that it experienced such massive growth in only a hundred times that period. She must have done something without noticing, for she doubted the existence of another eminence in Evolution and Infusion. "One of my experiments, we could say."


    "I could do that then?" Xochipilli''s eyes instantly lit up.


    "¡­Most likely," she replied cautiously. "But it will take time."


    The boy deflated upon hearing the answer, even if it was obvious. He was likely tired of hearing all the time by now.


    Hmm, but what has really happened? The only evolution that I know of capable of such outstanding growth is the Slowtide, and the veritas never said anything about the ter''nar growing to such a degree.


    "For now," she started, "we should get moving."


    "Where to?" Xochipilli asked as he awkwardly lifted the suitcase. It was mostly empty, but it was also as big as him.


    "That we have yet to see," Aloe said as she walked away from the station and her disciple followed behind her. "There are two reasons ¨C well, three now," she said after gazing at the blue mountain, "why I want to be in Sadina, the city we are in right now."


    "Which are they?"


    "First, I used to live here, so I would like to so how the city holds up. But I must say that so far I cannot recognize anything." The vegetable woman sighed as she was unable to point herself anywhere in the city. If I could jump, the aerial sight would give me more context, but¡­ I shouldn''t do that. For a lot of reasons. "The second is that tree. I feel a lot of vitality coming from it, and I have heard something about monsters and ''dryads'' that should be at the heart of the Evergreen, which should be that tree."


    Aloe''s attention was momentarily raptured by a woman sweeping leaves off the street. They were blue. Dunes, the leaves of the ter''nar reach here? And sure enough, a mild breeze showed them how the wind was carrying several leaves. There were touches of green but most of them were cerulean.


    "Oh, it''s so beautiful! It''s as if it''s raining!" Xochipilli commented.


    "Yes, it is quite the sight¡­" Aloe shared the sentiment, but there was a growing unease in her chest the more she saw the ter''nar leaves around. And it wasn''t because she hated to see them treated like trash when she had greatly enjoyed ter''nar tea.


    "What about the third reason?" The boy snapped her again for her attention, even if he didn''t notice.


    "The third one¡­ Well, I''ve managed to identify where they have taken the people of your village, Xochipilli. They should be somewhere in this city."


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    "Really?" The young druid said agape. "Do you think mother and father will be here?"


    "I¡­ sure," she answered with a warm smile.


    There wasn''t anything hinting at the opposite, but her innate pessimism was warning her of the worst. Life tended to be¡­ harsh, cruel, odious, and overall, the worst.


    Was I always this negative? Aloe found herself questioning her thoughts. Actually, yes. I think I''ve been always like this. Oh, well. She groaned and cracked her neck.


    "I still don''t know where they could be at, and from what I''ve heard, they could already be somewhere else. The cotton fields if I recall correctly."


    "Yes, the slavers mentioned them a lot," Xochipilli said impassively. "They would always threaten and mock us about how we would spend our short lives picking up cotton."


    "Oh, I''m so sorry to hear that." Aloe knelt down and embraced the poor child. "There, there."


    The caresses and the soft words seemed to help as emotion came back to Xochipilli''s visage. That had been the problem: lack of emotion. Rage and sadness would have been perfect responses, but apathy was the worst one a person could produce as a response to their problems.


    "I don''t know where these fields might be, or if your fellow villagers are even there yet, so our first course of action should be to look for a place to sleep in as I investigate." The old druid explained.


    Xochipilli popped his head out of her embrace. "What about me?"


    "What do you mean by that question?"


    "Will I accompany you to your investigations?"


    "Why are you asking if you already know the answer, child?" She patted him.


    "Is that a yes?" He asked hopefully.


    "That''s a no," she flickered her finger on his forehead which prompted an ouch from him. "And either way, I do my investigations when you are sleeping, so you wouldn''t be able to contribute."


    "I could¡­"


    "If you are thinking of faking you are sleeping, I will tell you that my senses are sharp enough to tell your heartbeat from all of the other inhabitants in the city from kilometers away." Aloe harshly interjected.


    "I wasn''t going to do that¡­" Xochipilli pouted with an expression that screamed ''I was going to do that''.


    "But you are more than free to accompany me for the other two reasons. First, let us look for a lodge, then we can explore the city."


    Sadina was more alive than the last time she had been here. For her, it had only been years, and whilst that was technically right, in reality, centuries had gone by. The streets were wider than those in Selen, but the alleyways were paradoxically narrower. Of course, it was without saying that the buildings were taller than the frontier town. I guess it''s no longer a frontier town as Ydaz covers the whole continent. Nor a town, for that matter.


    Aloe couldn''t say that Sadina felt like home, but ''home'' wasn''t a concept she liked in the first place. Never did, even less so now. The architecture of this unfamiliar Sadina was even more reliant on glass than in Selen, which leaned more into brick than any other material, but the presence of metal couldn''t be discarded either. Some of the taller buildings were connected by glass bridges between one another and had some curious sibling contraptions that moved up and down in opposite directions. One moved down whilst the other moved up, and people seemed to use them to travel between the many floors of the outlandishly tall buildings.


    So they''ve invented a device to avoid using the stairs as buildings got taller and taller, huh? Besides thinking it was ingenious, Aloe wanted to ride one of those platforms that were encased in tubes of glass. They looked like they would provide a great view of the city. An aerial view.


    Wanting to first find a place where they could leave that useless suitcase and rest once night came by, Aloe asked the first person she found.


    "Sorry," she stopped an old man. In her experience, those always provided the best directions. To a ''young'' lady like herself, they were quite amenable, whilst old women may act cranky. Though it was more of a fifty-fifty, old people always tended to do that. "Would you happen to know a place where we could spend the night?"


    The old man looked her up and down and smacked his lips making a wet sound. "That building over there is a hotel." He pointed at it with his cane and went his merry way.


    "Thanks!" She shouted even though the man didn''t bother to look behind. "People these days¡­"


    She groaned and noticed something that made her feel miserable. Oh no, that man was younger than me! Aahhhhhh¡­ Aloe avoided a mental crisis by a hair''s width, if only because she saw Xochipilli moving in the corner of her vision as he was already moving to the ''hotel''.


    The building proved to be nothing more than a fancy inn. Too fancy for her liking, in the sense that it made everything more expensive. She didn''t need to sleep, and Xochipilli had been sleeping on a mattress on the ground these last days, so it wasn''t like they didn''t need much. Eh, one night can''t hurt.


    The single room they rented ended up being one drupnarun a night ¨C or one hundred drupnars as they said on this coinless age ¨C and Aloe wasn''t sure if that was a lot or not. She considered it was, but it was a single night, and had already made plans to search for a cheaper place tomorrow, though today she wanted to take things slowly.


    They settled in the single-bed lodging as Xochipilli left the suitcase next to the bed. Aloe took the free time and the lack of people to take undress partially undress so she could take things out of her Slowtide. Mainly money, which she handed to the child as it would be useful to have at hand; the rest of the things that they should have out she placed in the suitcase now that they weren''t moving it around.


    "Do you want to go out and do a bit of sightseeing, or do you want to rest? I know the journey hasn''t been the easiest." She asked after she put her dress back in place.


    It was inarguably the easiest journey in her life as they had covered hundreds upon hundreds of kilometers in just a handful of days, but she couldn''t speak for the child.


    "I want to explore!" Xochipilli responded.


    "Let''s do that then!" Aloe answered with a smile. Truth be told, she also wanted to explore this new and unfamiliar Sadina.

 Book 5: 33. Height

    There was one key reason why Aloe wanted to rent the room in this hotel for a night: the elevator. That was what they called those rising platforms, and Aloe had to give them to them, those things were elevators. There just wasn''t a better name for them.


    The hotel had the name of ''Highrise'' and it wasn''t an exaggeration as it had a total of twenty floors. One thing she had noticed, though, was that each floor wasn''t particularly big. Modern Ydazi architecture preferred to expand upward rather than outward, making the skyline of the city quite fantastical, but leaving each individual floor a joke.


    Xochipilli and her were anxious to ride the elevator as they had taken the stairs first to get to the room. Xochipilli was anxious because it was a novel experience. Aloe was anxious because she dreaded her weight could collapse the whole contraption.


    She wasn''t fat, very important to remark that. It was just that¡­ well, she was built differently. Different bodily materials and a tall build tended to make people orbit the weighty side of the spectrum even if she was slim as such. For her height, at least. Being conscious of her weight was something she had never expected to experience as the heavier she had ever gotten was around fifty kilograms when she was wheelchair-bound, but normally she was in the low forties.


    Now¡­ maybe she was in the upper hundreds. If not more.


    Aloe feared no one. Her might and mastery of the vital arts had reached an unseen and unfathomable level. But she was scared of weighing herself.


    Women of her estate didn''t worry about such trivialities, or at least that was back in her age, but as she lived in a palace full of beautiful women with perfect bodies, Aloe had done her best to not step out of line. Now in this era, however, women put more emphasis on body weight and constitution from what she had seen in the newspapers, especially advertisements. Apparently, there were even pills to help with weight loss. Although she doubted such treatments would work on her. She was at her optimal weight so her internal infusions worked at her utmost maximum potential.


    "Come on, the elevator is almost here!" Xochipilli eagerly shouted, snapping her out of her fantasies as always. Which she was very thankful for.


    Whilst ingenious, elevators were djnnish contraptions. They never stopped moving, meaning that you could get stuck and maybe killed by the moving platform. Of course, Aloe wasn''t worried about that happening to her or her disciple, but the same thing couldn''t be said for the people who would be on the sibling platform.


    As the platform approached from below, Aloe took a mighty deep breath and finally stepped forward.


    The elevator groaned at her weight, its speed grinding closer to a halt, but fortunately, it was but a mere hiccup as it recovered a good chunk of its speed a moment later.


    The trial had been passed.


    She wasn''t that heavy.


    Unfazed and unaware of his master''s antics, Xochipilli hopped onto the platform and landed with both feet and extended arms. Aloe had noticed the boy had switched to the potency internal infusion to do that leap. She found that easiness and the will to use vital arts for even the simplest activities endearing.


    The elevator slowly moved upward, which made the rising motion far more dramatic than it actually was. For someone who could jump up hundreds of meters in the air, Aloe was getting a bit of vertigo from rising up a few tens of meters by the sheer virtue of the elevator''s slowness.


    Xochipilli wasn''t affected by such feelings, instead, he rejoiced in childish splendor. And she didn''t blame him, the city of Sadina certainly felt bigger than it was as they slowly rose to the heavens.


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    Oh, what a glorious vista it was!


    The morning sun illuminated the city with powerful contrasts between the sunlit fa?ades of the tall buildings and the darkened streets that lay beneath them. The colossal windows of the taller buildings of Sadina refracted the light in a myriad of shines, creating a light show that constantly shifted as they elevated further up.


    "What is that?" Her disciple pointed at a slow-moving silhouette on the horizon.


    "I can''t say I know," Aloe revealed as she saw the silhouette hiding behind the clouds. "But I can say for certain it''s not a bird."


    She could have switched to the acuity internal infusion and observed the silhouette as if it was right in front of her, but she had the feeling that they would know about it more in the future, so she let it be as there were more pressing matters at hand.


    Not wanting to be smashed by the ceiling, they left the elevator as it reached the last floor. Probably there were safety measures to avoid such a scenario from occurring, but she didn''t want to test it. Curiosity was sometimes better left as a curiosity.


    As they walked onto the top floor, they found that it was covered with not many windows, and they couldn''t get that aerial sight she had wanted.


    "I''ve found a door to the outside!" Xochipilli alerted her and he tried opening the door to the rooftop. "It''s closed¡­" The child exhaled and panted after failing to pry it open.


    "Let me see?" The young druid moved to the sight and Aloe sneakily shifted to dexterity and pushed her amorphous finger inside the keyhole, and with the help of her passive acuity, she managed to make the pins of the lock click into place. She then turned the knob to the side with her other hand and quickly switched back to glamour before her body turned into an amorphous mess. "It''s open."


    "How?" The child exclaimed and tried for himself to open the door. "It was closed when I tried?"


    "Maybe your attempts managed to unblock it," Aloe responded with a giggle.


    It was a bit petty to confuse the boy and toy with him this way, but it was too amusing to not do it.


    Xochipilli barged his way out to the rooftops with difficulties as the wind up there was quite strong and it fought against him harshly to close the door. Aloe gave him a hand and kept the door open for him.


    "Ah, what a good breeze," the old druid held a moan of pleasure.


    She hated that part of the glamour internal infusion; she couldn''t let herself express her satisfaction for fear that someone may accidentally become enchanted with her actions. Maybe Xochipilli and she were only here right now, but she didn''t know how far the effects of her powerful stance reached, and the boy wasn''t immune to it either. He was just too young to be completely affected by it, so that meant she had to also control her reactions when she was accompanied by him.


    As she took in the pleasurable wind, Xochipilli wandered from side to side of the rooftops in glee as he observed the streets below.


    "Be careful to not fall down," Aloe warned him softly.


    "I won''t!" He affirmed.


    I don''t know why I bother¡­ She held a groan. It wasn''t that she was reprimanding the child, but herself. Even if Xochipilli were to fall, she could catch the boy even before he noticed the lethality of his mistake. Though I guess it''s better if we both can avoid the scare.


    With a crack of her neck, Aloe walked to the edge of the rooftops and peered at the city from her elevated ground. The ''Highrise'' Hotel wasn''t the tallest of the buildings in the city, but it was close and it allowed her to discern where the old city was. It was so easy to see the difference between the modern and the old city as most of the Cottonpull buildings started from the old circular walls of the city that the sudden transition was almost comical in nature.


    Of course, the old Sadina hadn''t remained locked in time. Even without acuity, Aloe could see how most of the houses weren''t made out of sandstone and adobe, but brick and other materials she didn''t quite have the name for them but looked like some kind of stone. Whilst not as modern nor as tall as the buildings of the newer city, most of old Sadina''s buildings were two stories or even three tall instead of the single floor of¡­ antiquity.


    It''s only been two centuries. It''s not antique, right? Right? She asked herself in distress. Being in her hometown only made her perception of time even more pronounced and stressful. It hurt her how the only real thing that remained in her sight that was recognizable was the palace of Sadina. A place where¡­ she hadn''t been the happiest.


    Maybe not the unhappiest, but not the happiest either.


    A part of her ached for the warm touch of a bed companion, yet the other part of her had been the one that had shed her previous body as it had been too painful to keep it.


    "Perhaps it hasn''t been a good idea to come here¡­" Aloe murmured as she fought against her inner djinns on the brink of the tens of floors of height.

 Book 5: 34. Hometown

    "So, you lived here?" Xochipilli asked completely unbeknownst to the battle occurring in Aloe''s head.


    There was something awe-inspiring in the sheer height they found themselves at, but above all else, an intimidating pressure. People were never supposed to be this high up, yet as Aloe stood unfazed, a goddess with the sun and the heavens as her cloak with the wind weaving her dress like waves, Xochipilli couldn''t allow himself to portray weakness.


    The missionary had always said that in Ydaz weakness was a sin. Not even children and women were exempt from it. So he had to be strong. He had to be strong for his master. For his goddess.


    "Yes, a long, long time ago," she mused, her voice a song of reminiscence and a time long past.


    "How was the city before?" He could see it in her eyes, it was the same gaze he had when the village had been razed to the ground. The gaze of not being able to recognize one''s hometown anymore.


    "Sadina was a hub of trade with a size second only to the capital of Asina, but now if you look at the circle made by old stone walls there, you can now see how pitifully small it was."


    Sure enough, there was a clear distinction between the overwhelmingly tall buildings like the one they were standing on at the moment and the small ones enclosed in a small circle as she had said. But he didn''t think the same thing.


    "I don''t think the circle is small at all," Xochipilli said. "This city of Sadina is big; bigger than anything else I''ve seen in my life, but that doesn''t make that circle small. It''s smaller in comparison, yes, but not small."


    Aloe looked at him and gifted him with a warm and sweet smile.


    "Ah, Xochipilli, you have a gift with words," she caressed his head and hair with her soft gloved hand. "You certainly know how to win a woman with your words, you will be a menace when you grow up."


    "I don''t intend to win any woman," he pouted in refusal.


    "We''ll see, we''ll see," the First Druid chuckled.


    There was nothing more valuable than those caresses and those smiles. Even the knowledge of magic that she so magnanimously offered paled in comparison to such gestures. There was just nothing greater than them to him. One could say that he was growing¡­ addicted to them.


    "I must thank you, Xochipilli," the ivy-haired goddess said after a moment.


    "For what?" He expressed his confusion.


    "For your words made me focus more on the landscape," she revealed. "If you hadn''t questioned me, I wouldn''t have noticed how a lot of the landmarks remained after so many centuries."


    Centuries? Xochipilli nearly gasped at the long period Aloe was talking about, but then he realized how there was no reason to. She''s a goddess, after all. That was justification enough, of course a goddess would live for centuries.


    "There I can see the pronounced separation between houses that signalizes the presence of the bazaar, or what remains of it." She pointed at the locations. "There I can see the buildings that were the public baths, though I don''t know if that is any longer the case. The walls, the palace, the university¡­ There are so many locations that remain ¨C that their essence lingers on ¨C even if their shape has shifted. I guess that in a way, I am the same. I can''t help but be astonished by the atemporal sight."


    "Yes, the sight is astonishing." The disciple nodded, though his eyes were set on the backlit goddess of the green dress instead of the city.


    Aloe took a deep breath, her chest puffing far more than was humanly possible, but it mattered not because she wasn''t a human but a goddess. He was constantly reminded of it, there was no moment she wasn''t worthy of a painting at the end of the day.


    "Well, I''ve sketched a picture of the city and our location in my head, so how about we do a bit of exploration?" Xochipilli simply nodded and followed Aloe off of the rooftop.


    Descending on the elevator was painfully slow. Whilst there was a feeling of trepidation on the ascension, the same couldn''t be said for the way down. If it wasn''t because it was less tedious than the stairs, Xochipilli doubted anyone would use them.


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    The First Druid guided him out of the hotel and onto the streets. Unlike the city of Selen, Sadina was an overwhelming place. The buildings were too tall and the people too numerous. Comparing all the surrounding villages to his own, they still wouldn''t have enough people to rival the single street they were walking on. The train station certainly attracted a lot of passersby.


    "Mmm, yes. I can smell from here," Aloe said after sniffing the air.


    "Smell what?" Xochipilli asked from her side.


    "It''s a surprise," she giggled. "Follow me and you shall have the answer."


    Whilst he hadn''t paid close attention to the layout of the city from their advantage point, Xochipilli soon divined they were heading toward the old city. What used to be Aloe''s hometown.


    "What are those?" He pointed at some animals pushing a carriage. The wider streets of Sadina allowed for something that Xochipilli hadn''t seen in Selen.


    "Those are dromedaries," she explained. "Don''t confuse them with those other animals from there with two humps, those are camels."


    "The ones with one hump are dromedaries and the ones with two are camels then?" He repeated.


    "Indeed," Aloe ruffled his hair in praise. "But they look a bit different from what I remember them, I wonder why¡­"


    "Different how?"


    "Well, they are a bit taller, their legs thicker, and their humps smaller¡­ They almost look like completely different species. I wonder if this is the result of the Evergreen''s presence. After all, camels and dromedaries used to live in the desert where food and water were scarce, but the same couldn''t be said in this ever-present forest."


    "I don''t fully understand, but I''ll trust your words."


    "You should have a bit more of a backbone, Xochipilli. Doubt is not a sin, but a virtue. Asking questions when no one is doesn''t mean you are doing something wrong, but that the rest are being complacent."


    "Mmm¡­ I see." He truly did, even if his words didn''t reveal the extent of his understanding. The words of his goddess were full of wisdom after all.


    "But the biggest difference of them I''m seeing is their strength," she continued. "Carriages existed before, but they were for metropolitan transportation at most, for people. But these ones are far larger. Maybe also for the movement of people, but instead of a couple, half a dozen. I guess this is yet one of the other advantages of Cottonpull in play."


    "Cottonpull?" Xochipilli inquired.


    "The cotton they wanted to make you pick. The one I showed you before that floats."


    "Oh!" He exclaimed in realization. "The one you wrapped me with."


    "¡­Yes," she chuckled. "How amusing that you mention that."


    "How so?"


    "Follow me," the First Druid gestured with her hand.


    No words were needed to realize that they were entering the old city as they passed through an arc that physically separated both cities. Even the pavement they walked on changed with their step.


    The goddess sniffed again. Even a gesture as mundane as sniffing she made it into a drawing-worthy image. "Yes, it''s right here."


    Following some confusing turns through somewhat straight streets, they reached a wide avenue where there were multiple stalls.


    "Ah, it certainly soothes the heart knowing that the bazaar still is the bazaar even after all these many years." She twirled her parasol in such a way that it charmed his heart.


    Nothing could have prepared Xochipilli for the place the goddess had led him to. He couldn''t deny he had filled his mind with expectation, yet he felt betrayed when he saw it.


    "Oh, come on! What''s with that expression?" Aloe held her parasol with her neck and with both of her hands, she forced a smile on Xochipilli''s face. "Remove that sad smile, for you are now going to taste one of the greatest meals that have been granted to humanity from the very heavens! Sir, two durums!"


    "On it, lady!" The man at the stall shouted and started cutting slices from a roll of meat that he had spinning on a pole.


    "Is this durum this great?" Xochipilli expressed his doubt as he simply saw the man place meat and vegetables on a tortilla. It almost looked like cuisine from his homeland.


    "That and more!" With a smile she had him dancing on her palm. He needed no divine foods, the goddess'' smile was more than enough for him. "Hand me the purse."


    The disciple did as commanded and handed a couple of coins to the man and he gave her the rolled meat and vegetables.


    "Can you grab them? I need to remove my gloves first; I wouldn''t like to dirty them with oil." Xochipilli nodded and grabbed the durums.


    A simple action as simple as removing her gloves was nothing short of breathtaking. The whole activity of the avenue stopped just to peer at her goddess. He couldn''t blame the people for doing so, it was a goddess they were seeing, but it made him uncomfortable. No one but him should worship her.


    After Aloe finished taking her gloves off, she looked around to see the astonished looks.


    "Oh, right. I forgot. A woman can''t have something nice, huh?" She commented with a tired groan. "Hand me my durum, Xochipilli."


    He did and she guided him to a nearby bench, then she took the first bite. Aloe''s expression was filled with glee as she savored the food and he swore her ivy hairs snaked around, but even then, her visage seemed¡­ sad.


    "Is there something wrong?" He asked his master.


    "No, not at all," she responded with a wry smile.


    "But you look afflicted?"


    "I¡­ maybe I am," Aloe admitted with closed eyes. "My glamour is what allows me to walk between people, but at the same time, if I were to react with unrestricted emotions ¨C for I am controlling my every action every single moment so they may be tame ¨C I fear my beauty may blind them. Though I guess it must sound quite moronic when I am the one saying it."


    "Nonsense!" Xochipilli jumped out of the bench. "Your beauty is divine, Aloe! The others are at fault for being unable to control themselves like beasts!"


    "What a sweet smooth talker you are, child," she caressed him with the back of her hand. "But eat your durum before it grows cold."


    Xochipilli blushed and sat back on the bench before taking a bite of the stuffed roll. A single bite filled his mouth with flavor.


    "How is it?" His master asked him.


    There was only a single possible answer. "It''s shooo gooood!"

 Book 5: 35. Hammam

    Aloe smiled at Xochipilli''s delighted expression. Yet another person converted to the greatness of the durum. Poor are the souls that spend their lives without trying one.


    The child eagerly devoured his, but as she had to be careful not to stain her dress, she was way slower to take on her meal. The durum didn''t fill her stomach, for in a way, it was always full but paradoxically empty at the same time. Her passive recovery made it so she had enough energy to go for the whole day with sunlight alone, but as her enhanced stomach could handle limitless quantities, she could also eat to her heart''s desire. But her desire right now wasn''t to eat.


    "Here," she handed the rest of her durum to Xochipilli.


    "Are you sure?" He responded as his hands hovered over the roll. "You said you spend centuries without one¡­"


    She could see the internal conundrum of the child. On the one hand, he wanted to respect her goddess and allow her to finish her meal; on the other hand, it was a free durum.


    "My desire has already been satisfied," Aloe explained softly. "Hunger is beyond me, and I''ve already experienced the taste that has been so fleeting for so long. The one who needs the food now is you, child. You are growing, but I have long ago reached my apex."


    That was justification enough for the child to snatch the roll out of her hands and began gnawing on it like some sort of rodent. The endearing image brought a smile to her visage. As Xochipilli took his ¨C rather short ¨C time with his meal, Aloe cleaned her hands.


    Never before had she been this attentive with her looks as she really didn''t want to stain her dress. Sure, they had brought spare clothing with some cheap day dresses they had bought, but washing the dress would be a nightmare. That or going to a dedicated business for washing that she had seen in the newspapers, but no matter the age or the contents of her purse, Aloe would rather not spend money if it wasn''t of utmost importance.


    And as much as she loved her green dress, it couldn''t be classified as vital.


    Once they were done with their impromptu meal, Aloe continued guiding Xochipilli through the old town of Sadina.


    Much had changed these two centuries. The pavement was fancier, patterned cobblestone instead of sandstone; the shallow canals that carried flowing water across the city were no longer, or at least no longer visible; there were no more palm trees providing shade on the streets, instead, they were substituted with the Evergreen''s trees; the houses were taller and of different materials; and a myriad of other things.


    By all accounts, it wasn''t a bad change. Except for the canals, it made her sad seeing them drained and devoid of water. It was change, simple as that. This Sadina, even if it was supposed to be the old city, was no longer the one she had been raised in. This city no longer remembered her, which she supposed was for the better.


    The tale of Aloe Ayad, scribe of commoners, hadn''t been a pleasant one.


    As they entered the city from the east, the first location they arrived at was the public baths. Aloe had thought that the people of this age wouldn''t have liked the concept of communal bathing as they covered themselves with many more fabrics than in her time but surprisingly enough, they seemed to still be working, if just way fancier than before. They were the tallest edification of Sadina once upon a time ¨C the palace notwithstanding ¨C and it showed with its great flow of people as it still held its height in the old district of the city.


    "Hmm¡­" The vegetable woman hummed deep in thought as she twirled her parasol around.


    "What''s in your mind, Aloe?" Xochipilli asked her.


    "Well, this place is a public bath, but I don''t think we should enter," she explained. "A bath would do you good, but I fear what would happen if people were to lay their eyes on my naked self."


    "Perhaps there are private bathing locations?" The child reasoned.


    "Perhaps¡­" Aloe admitted with a hint of tiredness.


    She really wanted to explore the site, if just to see how much it had changed, but above all else, Xochipilli frankly needed that bath. They had been going all through the country this past week and the boy had never washed himself once. Perhaps the smell wasn''t much of a problem as she herself acted as a living air refresher because she constantly smelt like the forest, but she didn''t want more problems and odd looks directed to him and his looks.


    "Let''s have a look, shall we?" She finally gave in.


    The interior of the baths looked even more luxurious than the exterior, but it was also infinitely damper. Of course, they had always been this way, but for some reason now it felt more oppressive than it had been centuries ago. Her body couldn''t be harmed by the humidity and the heat, but that didn''t mean she didn''t experience its oppressiveness.


    "Excuse me," Aloe asked a clerk at the entrance. "Are there private baths?"


    "Private baths?" The mature woman expressed her confusion.


    "Yes, the child here is a bit shy, and he rather not be gazed at by others." A sweet lie, she hoped it didn''t bother Xochipilli.


    "There are no¡­ private baths, but there are private hammam booths and showers¡­" The woman responded with still glaring confusion. She didn''t blame her, who in the nine hells went to a public bath and asked for a private enclosure?


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    "Thank you so much," Aloe gifted her a smile, which made the woman blush.


    "It''s only my duty¡­" The clerk said with a lack of breath. Her visage was reddened and her skin was moist, but so were most people here. "I can guide you there if you please."


    "We would be grateful, yes."


    The public baths'' worker guided them through the labyrinth corridors of the building. All the doors that had previously been curtains separating rooms had now been substituted mostly by glass doors, which made everything feel more¡­ exposed. The steam clouded the panels, of course, but the dark and occasional beige silhouettes were very much visible.


    They passed through a long panel that showed where the main shared bathing pool had been once upon a time, but Aloe was confounded to see people, not only with taut clothes but also swimming in it. Everyone knew you couldn''t swim in the bath!


    "What''s that place?" Aloe pointed at what was supposed to be the shared bathing pool.


    "That''s the swimming pool, ma''am," the clerk explained.


    "Swimming¡­ pool?" The novel concept paralyzed her. Why waste such precious water on¡­ swimming? I guess water is not as precious as before considering the Qiraji is no more¡­


    "Indeed," the woman nodded. "It''s a hotspot for families and children. You may want to bring your little companion here. Oh, and if you don''t have any swimwear with you, we do rent the swimsuits."


    Aloe''s eyes were led to a woman the clerk pointed at.


    "We''ll pass¡­" She almost blushed at the sight of the white fabric covering the woman''s body.


    It certainly hid everything important, from nether regions to breasts with even the midriff included, but it exposed too much skin. And even if it covered the glutes, the fabric was too tight. She feared what cataclysmic psychic attack she may unleash upon the gathered families if she were to wear one of the swimsuits.


    But she couldn''t deny that it was an excellent choice to have both white and black swimwear for people of different skin tones. The contrast was¡­ delicious.


    "Here''s the entrance to the hammam," the clerk gestured with her open palms. "Please use the shower before entering." And with that, she left.


    Showers? Those are quite rare, the vegetable woman mused. Or I guess they were. Hard to get flowing water in my time, but I guess that when you can make a whole building move hundreds of kilometers in a handful of days such things become trivial.


    Now that they were alone, Aloe realized that all the steam may be damaging the fabric of her dress. For a moment, she pondered if she should stuff it into the Slowtide, but not only was the opening to her slimy pocket not big enough, the dress would become a wrinkled mess.


    "Let''s take a shower and experience the hammam," Aloe told Xochipilli as she started undressing.


    "What''s a hammam?" He asked whilst undoing the buttons of his shirt.


    "It''s complicated to describe, but in a very summarized way, it''s a steam bath. A room where you sit and enjoy being cooked alive."


    "That doesn''t sound very pleasant¡­" The child expressed his aversion.


    "Oh, it''s not that bad. You will like it, I''m sure of it." Aloe revealed. "Also, how is it that you are always embarrassed about seeing me naked, but now you are not."


    "We are going to take a bath, right?"


    "Yes?"


    "Then why I should be embarrassed? We cannot bath with our clothes on." He stated as a matter of fact.


    "Your culture and common sense never ceases to amaze me, Xochipilli."


    The child tilted his head in confusion but reddened a bit as she looked at her directly.


    "So you are embarrassed!" Aloe teased him.


    "I don''t know what you are speaking of!" Xochipilli left his clothes in a basket and rushed to the showers. "Ah, cold!" She heard him shout.


    "I forgot to mention that hammam showers tend to be cold!" She shouted back.


    Once she had disrobed herself of her many pieces of underwear ¨C as cute as they were, they were a nuisance to remove ¨C Aloe followed Xochipilli into the showers, but by then he had already gone into the hammam. Hmm, how does this work? Aloe was surprised to find a lot of levers where the showers were supposed to be. How has Xochipilli managed to get this working? But as soon as she thought that, she activated a lever that made cold water sprout from a faucet on the ceiling.


    "Yup, that''s indeed cold," Aloe nonchalantly commented. She felt the frigidness of the water on her vegetable dark skin, but not a single shiver went down her spine. Her innate toughness was too elevated for that.


    She brushed her skin and hair with the water, but as her vegetable body didn''t produce any sweat or body oils, the only thing she washed off was dust at best. Yet another advantage, she convinced herself that her madness hadn''t been a mistake. That she hadn''t been that far gone.


    As she opened the door to the hammam, a cloud of boiling steam assaulted her. It didn''t affect her at all, but she was still surprised by how thick the air felt here. It had been too long since she had been in a hammam, even years prior to her ''exile'' she hadn''t had time to enjoy one.


    "How are you feeling, Xochipilli?" She asked the boy sitting on the stone bench as he had been inside for a few minutes now.


    "Well?" He expressed uncertainty. "It''s more pleasurable than I thought, but¡­"


    "But?" Aloe pressed him for answers.


    "I don''t like this wet feeling. I don''t know if I''m sweating or if it''s the steam."


    "It''s both," she revealed as she sat next to him. "The heat is making you sweat, but the water in the air is also clinging to your skin. I cannot sweat but I also feel the wetness."


    Aloe slithered across the stone, the heat making her body more malleable than normal, even if she hadn''t switched to dexterity. She felt like melting. Metaphorically speaking, of course. Her body kept its cohesion, though that made her think if she wielded the agility stance she would be able to turn into a liquid. It was very tempting to do so if just to toy with Xochipilli. And speaking of toying¡­


    Her body but a shifting mess now, Aloe snaked behind the boy before he noticed, and she pushed him into her lap.


    "You are quite small, Xochipilli," she teased. "I can hold you in a single thigh!"


    "And you Aloe are¡­" he tried looking upwards, but the gesture was blocked by the breasts born out of the perverse charm stance. "¡­Big."


    "I wasn''t always this colossal," the old druid mused. "Once upon a time, I was just your size."


    "Really?" Xochipilli struggled to get out of her grasp; but the more he moved, the more he sank into her flesh. "When you were little?"


    "Little?" Aloe chuckled. "No, not really. Even already an adult I was barely bigger than you. However, I have noticed that people under the effects of vitality seem to grow taller. I did gain a bit of height with my first Haya if only a handful of centimeters, and the cultivator women I knew were always taller than most men."


    "Does that mean I can be a giant like you if I obtain a lot of vitality?" The young druid asked with bolstering might. He had switched to potency to break free, even if he maintained a casual tone.


    "Maybe," It wouldn''t be the first time a woman with vitality beyond the four digits is two meters tall¡­ the vegetable woman explained the child as she touched his hair. "Did you really shower?" She questioned with a frown.


    "The water was cold," the boy shrugged.


    Aloe sighed. "We are showering you thoroughly once we go outside."

 Book 5: 36. Cracks

    As well-behaved of a child as Xochipilli was, he was clearly still a child as he struggled greatly against the cold shower. He even switched to toughness to withstand it, and the water was nowhere near those levels of frigidness, but Aloe didn''t make much fuss out of it and just bathed the boy.


    Her body had already dried before she could grab the towels, as much as it was composed of vegetable matter her body still burned more potently than the average person''s, so she dried the boy with the towels and warmed him with her body.


    "Hmm~" Aloe hummed after sniffing Xochipilli''s scalp. "Far better now."


    "I see¡­" The boy responded sheepishly, his face as red as his eyes.


    "Now let''s get dressed."


    His dapper clothing was still dirty from being worn for many days straight, so Aloe pulled one of the simple attires they had brought elsewhere. She could have taken out one of the cheap day dresses to wear matching clothes, but she loved her green dress too much for that. One of the many blessings of her body was her dress, which had yet to be soiled by so much as a speck of dust, and she intended to keep wearing it until something forced her to.


    It wasn''t as if the dress was in pristine condition, nonetheless. It was very creased but considering that it was frilled already and it had many crevasses by design, it didn''t look as bad as it could have. And everyone knew that a creased textile wasn''t enough to stop wearing a piece of clothing.


    Xochipilli and she walked out of the public baths, and she felt a pang of nostalgia as the afternoon sun met her. Her hometown had changed by leaps and bounds, but that feeling of leaving the bath being born anew with the warm sun caressing your skin as you descended the marble steps¡­ It took her centuries back.


    Aloe took a deep breath as they reached the plaza in front of the public baths, just at the base of the chiseled staircase. Her lungs were filled with nostalgia of a time gone by. She almost felt whole again. But the emphasis in that almost was so potent, so great that it drowned her in despair and made her see how empty she was.


    "Aloe?" Xochipilli shyly pulled on the skirt of her dress.


    "Do you remember our objectives here in Sadina?" The old druid mused as her eyes were locked with the sun. Not even the searing violence of the heavens could harm her now.


    "Threefold they were," the boy recited. "First, revisiting the city. Second, visiting the tree. Third, see how my people hold up."


    "If I can mandate it, we will do more than to ''see''." Aloe''s gaze glided down to the boy. So small he was that she almost had to turn her head ninety degrees downward. "But for now, let us complete that first objective. Not many places remain that I''d like to revisit."


    If they even remain. The vegetable woman left that last part unspoken, for even if she knew it wasn''t likely to be the case, her heart couldn''t survive uttering those words. If there was still a heart in her chest.


    Even in the old city, Sadina still was overflowing with modernity, for lack of better words. Whilst not exactly recently, the city had been renovated, and heavens know how many times after two centuries. It was more modern than the Sadina she had lived in, and yet it paradoxically felt old. The sight of the fallen blue leaves of the colossal ter''nar gave the sight a mystical touch, yet it only alienated the memory more for Aloe.


    It felt as if the heavens were personally throwing salt on her wound and telling her this was her city no more.


    Aloe withheld all that agony and guided Xochipilli in silence through the streets. The city might be different, but if urban planning had told her something during her days as a scribe it was that streets were forever. Cancers that people kept building on without paying much attention, following a route traced by old and long-gone people. Mostly stupid people at that. So by knowing where the baths were, she was able to guide herself.


    This was no longer the city she had been raised in, yet it was still Sadina.


    That feeling kept soothing and breaking her heart constantly, like an ice bath on a hot summer day. Perhaps a great way to starve off heat, but also a better way to die from hypothermia.


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    "Ah," Aloe weakly groaned as she almost passed right beside it. The sight was so different that it was unrecognizable. Even when she knew the exact geographical position, she could only see a random fa?ade.


    Aloe Ayad was in front of her family''s estate, and she couldn''t recognize it.


    Once upon a time, her house had stood above the rest of the neighborhood. She was a commoner alright, but her family had had once upon a time almost as much income as a family of merchants, and her big two-story house definitely showed that. Yet not, it was no different from the rest of the houses next to it.


    She gathered her hand into a fist, she was so tempted to barge inside and see if even a modicum of her previous abode remained, but she was discouraged when she sensed vitality signs inside. Multiple of them, of various sizes.


    A family lived there, and it was no longer her own.


    The vegetable woman gritted her teeth and chuckled before walking the other way. She felt her blood ¨C or whatever the substance flowing through her body could be called ¨C boil with imperious rage. Not rage at the world for being so dull. Not rage at life for being so cruel. But rage to herself. For allowing this to happen. For not being strongest.


    For having taken so long.


    "What was that?" Xochipilli asked a few minutes later once they were long gone.


    "What used to be my family''s house," Aloe replied with¡­ no strength left in her body. It is ironic that my hands can turn boulders into dust, yet I cannot muster any will to speak.


    "Why didn''t we enter then?" The boy innocently suggested.


    "For it is no longer mine. It hasn''t been for a long time, apparently." She chuckled grimly.


    The child let the matter rest, but her own words got her thinking. What about the things that were inside? What about the remains? What about Mother, Father, and Karaim? She no longer needed to breathe, but her lungs stopped moving from the anguish. Aloe was but one slight breeze from breaking into tears. She had been isolated for so long just to be strong enough to complete her mission, yet now she felt weaker than ever. No, don''t cry. Project strength. Weakness is sin.


    Being unable to know where the remains of her family now rested created more rifts in her broken heart, but she didn''t allow Xochipilli to see that. To see her weakness. The pathetic pile of shit she was.


    Giving herself completely to the charm stance, she blocked any possible insight into the insides of her being. What remained was a pleasurable fa?ade that no human could decipher.


    Their next stop was Jafar and Mirah''s home, but much like her own, nothing of it remained. Even less, for no one lived on it, and after unceremoniously prying the door open with a kick, it seemed it had been uninhabited for a long time.


    Cracks beleaguered everywhere, and they weren''t in the abandoned home.


    "Which place is this supposed to be?" Xochipilli asked with his nose on his elbow. Only when she looked at him did she notice how dusty the place was.


    "The home of¡­ very good friends. Or used to be." Aloe pursed her lips. "I would prefer seeing the house occupied with another family rather than abandoned."


    They left the dusty graveyard of memories and walked to their final destination. Even Xochipilli was able to guess which one it was as her eyes were glued to it all the way there.


    "Whose home is that?" The child asked once they arrived at the base of the steps leading to the palace of Sadina.


    "It used to be¡­ mine." Considering how she was short of the ruler''s concubine, the statement wasn''t fully wrong.


    "You lived in such a big house?" Xochipilli''s glowing eyes brought her a kernel of warmth. The boy wasn''t aware of what had happened in that place, he could only see the glorious beauty of imperial Ydazi architecture.


    "It''s called a palace, but yes," she found herself letting a wry chuckle.


    Her feelings were mixed. Nostalgia and pain. Pleasure and shame. Curiosity and fear.


    Aloe took a deep breath, her jaw slightly trembling, and proceeded to walk up the many steps. They had been a source of annoyance, doubly so when she was bound to a wheelchair and had to be escorted with a palanquin to even leave the palace.


    Unfortunately for them, they were cut short as a fence atop the hill blocked their path. Guards of cultivator roots stood at the gate blocking the path. It was curious seeing people without armor or visible weapons acting like guards, but at the same time, such things were trinkets to the true equalizer of power that was vitality shaped by Nurture.


    "The Sultan is not receiving any visits today, make yourself scarce." One of the guards crudely responded.


    That was just the information she needed. The druid was aware that now Sadina was its own sultanate, no longer a measly emirate, as Ydaz had been rebranded as a Caliphate, but she needed to see it with her own eyes. Not only that there was an emir no more, but it wasn''t even the one she knew as the guard talked of a male ruler.


    A lump formed in her throat. Of course, you knew it, she told herself. Only one more person besides you can resist the cruel passage of time, and Rani¡­ wasn''t the one. Had she been a good person? No. But a part of her ached to see her again. Maybe even more than Mirah and Aya. Though to those two she felt even ashamed of thinking of seeing them. Her only wish was that she could apologize to them, but even death escaped her now. Meeting them in the heavens was impossible, and even if she were to die, she knew only a lower hell awaited her.


    Cracks formed her being as she looked at the palace she had called home for years from afar, a familiar yet foreign. Too little, too late¡­

 Book 5: 37. Questioning

    After she gave up on breaching into the palace of Sadina, they returned to their hotel room, not before having a rather expensive dinner at the hotel''s restaurant. The effects of the Radiating Undergrowth that she had fed the boy had finally faded, and she didn''t want to give it again to him after she saw how much he enjoyed eating.


    Once the young druid fell asleep, it was her turn to escape into the blanket of the night.


    Perhaps she was naked, but her night-black skin showed nothing. The effects of the stealth stance on her body almost seemed to defy the laws of nature as light refused to reflect on her skin.


    Aloe took a deep breath from her advantage point. She oversaw the nocturnal Sadina from the rooftop of the Highrise Hotel.


    Beautiful was the illuminated skyline, flared with a thousand lights all born from the Myriad. The only clue down on the streets that it was even night was that the color of the sky had changed from blue to black, yet people of this age had not to fear the darkness.


    But some might fear her.


    With inhuman prowess, Aloe jumped from rooftop to rooftop, no matter if they were tens of meters apart. Subtlety hid not only her body but also her sound, for she was even more silent than the noise of the nighttime in the big city.


    She doubted her exploration could grant any insights as Sadina was a big city, and the clues she had about the location of the kidnapped villagers were something about cotton fields. And such fields were nowhere near here.


    For today, she just stalked for assassins. It was hard overwatching the whole city, but her senses were keen. The many cultivators Sadina hosted did create some interference as once their vitality was well into the two digits, they outshone nearby people. She focused her gaze on the world of ideas, looking for the distinctive presence of assassins, but that realm became thicker and more expansive the more it was observed, and the modern Sadina couldn''t be compared to the cities of yore, not even Asina.


    Too many people lived in the city making the normally translucent buildings into solid walls of cyan.


    It is infuriating that this tool has lost its efficacy before I could even use it. Aloe murmured to herself before calling it a day. Dawn was a handful of hours away, and she found nothing.


    By the time Xochipilli woke up a few hours later, she had long dressed and even brought him a handful of pastries so they could start their day as soon as possible.


    "What is our plan today?" The child asked as soon as they left the hotel.


    "I''ve unfortunately failed to find any hints of the location of your village''s people, so we''ll have to stay on Sadina for a bit longer. So for starters, let''s find a cheap place to stay in."


    Surprisingly, it was as easy as it was said. Sadina proved to be quite a tourist spot, so there were many lodgings. Some were rather dubious-looking but considering that nothing in the suitcase was worth stealing, they stayed in the cheapest place that was clean. Yeah, that was the bare minimum. Being clean.


    "It''s the second time today," Xochipilli said as he pointed at one of the silhouettes moving in the sky. "What are they?"


    "I don''t know, but at least I can tell they are man-made." Aloe decided not to dwell on the moving silhouette in the sky. Truth be told, she actively decided not to think about anything as of late.


    For the rest of the day, they asked around as inconspicuously as possible about the cotton fields, and where the closest may be located. If she couldn''t find assassins in the night, she would have to go personally to the place where the villagers had been taken. Even if she had to search through tens of different cotton fields.


    The answers were always the same: the closer a farmland is to the World Tree, the more fertile and bountiful its produce will be.


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    "World Tree, huh?" Aloe mused as she looked at the ter''nar''s expansive canopy. It was almost a second sky. "I like that name, it''s very fitting."


    The Heart of the Evergreen, or World Tree as most people called it, was a source of richness to the soil. However, it wasn''t like people could just cultivate next to it. Dryads notwithstanding, it seemed that the closer one got to the World Tree, the thicker the foliage and the monster population became, therefore making the land even more inhospitable than an actual desert.


    But after talking about these guardians of the World Tree so much, it inevitably led to one question.


    "What are dryads?" Xochipilli asked a nice old lady they had found feeding pigeons. She had quite an amount of vitality, but the old druid wasn''t surprised to see people with Haya in their double digits anymore. What Aloe didn''t fail to notice was how there were Flourishing Springs planted all along the park. But at the same time, she couldn''t say she was surprised.


    First the Cottonpull, then the Myriad, the Thousand Cuts too, and most likely also the Aloe Veritas ¨C even if she had yet to see one ¨C as the people of this age knew the names only she should have. So adding the Flourishing Springs to the growing pile of her plants was no surprise at all. What she was bewildered by was the lack of ter''nars around. How has the tree become so massive yet failed to spread around? When they asked around, no one seemed to be aware of another World Tree, even if it were only a miniature version.


    "Dryads, eh," the old lady pursed her lips as she threw rice. "They are quite the sight, they are, yeh. You won''t see them anywhere else in Ydaz, nay, the whole world. ''Tis but only the presence of the World Tree that they are attracted to."


    "We understand that," Aloe said calmly to the wrinkled and gray-haired woman who was infuriatingly younger than her. "But what are they?"


    "It''s hard to give them a description, they are just dryads." The druid had a hard time containing her frustration. Did we choose the only senile woman in the park?


    "But if you had to?" Xochipilli asked sweetly, showing his ability to sweeten the hearts of old women.


    "Hmm¡­ I''d say they are moving plants."


    "Moving plants? Like the Thousand Cuts?" The child added.


    "No," the old woman swayed her head. "Those are mindless brutes. The dryads are sentient. Most call them monsters, but monsters aren''t plants. And they can talk."


    "Djinns can also talk," Aloe interjected.


    "Aye," the woman nodded, "but they just imitate speech like a parrot would." What''s a parrot? Aloe questioned but didn''t form it into words as Xochipilli nodded in understanding. Must be something from the new world.


    "So dryads are capable of communication?"


    The old woman nodded again. "I''ve been living all my life in Sadina, but I''ve also met them once. Or rather, I met her once. And mind you, I''ve been here a long while."


    "Her?" Aloe frowned. "Didn''t you say they were plants? How can they be a ''she''?"


    "Now that you say it¡­ I don''t really know." Heavens above, kill me already. "I guess they don''t have a gender as such, but they all look feminine. Maybe not all of them are curvaceous, but they certainly boast bountiful chests. Like just like you, lady."


    The woman unapologetically grabbed one of Aloe''s tits, but she just sighed. "So plants with breasts, eh?"


    "Aye," the old woman removed her hand though she looked closer at Aloe. "I must be going blind because you look like one yourself. Especially with all those leaves on your head."


    "Uh¡­" The old druid groaned in confusion. She''s the first person to point out my ivy hair besides Xochipilli, though he was aware of that before I switched to glamour. Has she seen through my glamour? Hmm¡­ Aloe decided not to ask the old woman about it, mostly because she wanted to be done with her and just stood up.


    Their next destination would be the World Tree, but for today they would still rest on Sadina as it was a solid day of walking away. Just like the greenhouse had once been.


    "Thank you for tolerating our questioning," Xochipilli politely bowed to her.


    "Not a problem, child," the woman responded, her eyes blinking slowly as they were worn with age. They were mostly deprived of color. "I''m just a woman whose family decides to ignore her. Any company is appreciated."


    As they were about to leave the woman alone with the birds again, another of those silhouettes passed through the sky.


    "What are those?" The child asked her for one last time.


    "Those?" She chuckled. "They are airships. Quite the recent invention. Soaring through the skies, they are the vehicle of the elite, moving through the most important cities of the Caliphate, namely Asina, as walking on the ground is too beneath them. Back in my day, we treaded through the dunes with our own legs!"


    Aloe sighed at the woman''s words. It was impossible for her to have treaded the Qiraji when the Evergreen had overtaken the desert with its forest decades, if not centuries, ago.


    "Between Sadina and Asina, eh?" The emerald-eyed woman mused with the airship in her sights.


    Still with her eyes occupied, she didn''t fail to notice Xochipilli''s attentive gaze. His yearning gaze. She had told him of her final destination, that she had to get to Asina, and that had created a bit of expectation by the looks of it. The child might not be putting it into words, but that gaze spoke thousands of them.


    "Hmm¡­" Aloe coyly put a finger on her lips. "Maybe we can ride one of these airships on our way to Asina!"


    "Yesh!" Xochipilli hopped as a burst of happiness and a heavy accent erupted from him.

 Book 5: 38. Heart

    As night came, Aloe left into the mantle of the stars again but now armed with the foresight of knowledge. There were cotton fields around the World Tree a few kilometers away from it as those were the most fertile lands of Ydaz. And people were crazy about Cottonpull. If anything could have it inside, they would put it in. Not only did it make everything it was stored in lighter, but it also worked as a decent insulator. That was why all buildings, even not egregiously tall ones, were also stuffed with it.


    A few kilometers were not much for her current self, just a suggestion of distance rather than an actual separation of space, but she still had to look around, and that took time.


    Cottonpull fields were massive, but what bewildered her most was that sense of¡­ uncanniness. She had been here ages ago, and it all had been desert. Yet now it was the most fertile land in all Khaffat. The disconnect was powerful enough to fill her with a feeling of disconcert that permeated through the whole night.


    Even without haste, her subterfuge form could move faster than the train, which allowed her to visit a handful of fields in the periphery. Not all fields were created equally, mainly in the fact that some were state-owned, and others were private ones. Surprisingly enough, the state-owned ones were the most upstanding. She had expected a full dystopia of slaves being tortured, but Ydaz didn''t seem to employ slaves.


    She hated Ydaz and all it represented with all her might, but it had never been a bad country. Only those who¡­ only the one who led it was at fault. If one were to cut the head, she was sure all the illnesses of this world would be solved.


    Her illnesses.


    As much as she hated it, Aloe stopped searching in state-owned Cottonpull fields. They hosted people for the night, but it was more of an agrarian colony rather than the pot of beans a slave barracks would be.


    Yes, she found slaves already, or at least what she thought were slaves based on their poor living conditions and skin tone, but she couldn''t save them all. It was too much time investment, and she couldn''t lose her surprise factor. Maybe a small village having escaped wouldn''t be missed, but she couldn''t free them all. Even discovery notwithstanding, the logistics of hosting hundreds if not thousands of people were absurd. She may be able to feed them all, but she couldn''t house them.


    The druid tried searching for vitality signals similar to Xochipilli''s. Not in amount, but in¡­ vibes. This was the first time she tried it, but vitality was somewhat similar when people were from the same family. A fact she only became aware of after her vitality sense reached sensitivity levels she previously thought impossible. If she found a signal that was somewhat like Xochipilli''s then maybe she could find his parents.


    Alas, the night soon came to an end, making her dash tens of kilometers back to Sadina before the sun came out. She also didn''t get as far as she wanted, otherwise, she would have lost sight of Xochipilli and she didn''t trust the world to leave the boy alone. By sight, she meant a grasp of the child''s vitality. She could pinpoint a person''s vitality over the city, especially Xochipilli as he was partially infused by her vitality, but if she got too far away no amount of vitality would help her detect him.


    "Good morning," Aloe caressed the child''s cheek as he started moving on the bed.


    "Gooood," he let out a cute yawn, "mooooorning~"


    "Come on, get dressed and have some biscuits, today we have a long day before us."


    The boy jumped out of bed as soon as she commanded it. "Where are we going to today?"


    Aloe smiled at him. "The World Tree."


    As much as he had previously insisted on carrying the suitcase these previous days, today she carried it herself. The journey wouldn''t be exactly difficult, but it would be exhausting, and it made no sense that the child had to struggle all the way there with the suitcase.


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    Not wanting to get her precious dress dirty, Aloe switched the green Cottonpull dress for one of the cheap day dresses they had bought. This one was white, which contrasted delightfully with her black skin. She forced Xochipilli to wear long trousers as she didn''t want the boy to get cuts on his legs as they prowled on the Heart of the Evergreen, but he was adamant about keeping the upper part of his attire.


    She didn''t fight him. At least his clothes were dark and easily washable.


    And way cheaper.


    Leaving Sadina was simpler than in older times as there was no longer a wall blocking the way out of the city, but its streets were way messier. It took them a handful of wrong turns before they reached the boundary between the city and the Evergreen.


    It was a jarring sight how such a sprawling metropolis started in one step, and in the next one you were inside the densest forest Aloe had seen. Truth be told, she had only seen one more, and technically speaking, it was the same one as the Evergreen expanded through what used to be all the northern Qiraji and a bit of Loyata.


    The moment they stepped into the Evergreen, Aloe felt overwhelmed. She had been sensing for long the vitality of the massive forest and its even more massive heart, but now that she was touching it, she couldn''t help but feel how¡­ familiar the vitality was.


    And it wasn''t hers.


    She bottled all her angst and walked alongside Xochipilli in silence. They had a full day of travel before they reached the World Tree, and she couldn''t dump her worries on the child. She was already supporting herself too much in him, and she felt awful about it. Physically strong as she might be, it nauseated her how she was depending so much on him. She wasn''t helping him to survive or find his family out of the goodness of her heart, but because her heart would shatter if he wasn''t with her.


    Aloe Ayad ached for the company of the child, more than he ached for hers.


    As they progressed through the Evergreen, the place became denser with its verdant foliage. And darker. The canopies of the trees blocked the sun, and even if they didn''t, this early in the morning the World Tree projected its shadow over them.


    With a groan, Aloe removed her glove and grew a Radiating Undergrowth on her hand after she saw Xochipilli nearly trip on the forest''s undergrowth.


    "Better now?" She asked.


    The boy silently nodded.


    "You aren''t very talkative today," Aloe added.


    "This forest is¡­ overwhelming," Xochipilli responded a while later.


    "Well, it''s certainly darker than the place I met you at." It felt like ages ago, even if it only had been a couple of weeks ago. I may have lived for centuries, but these last days I felt like I''ve truly lived, and I just had been dead all that previous time. She didn''t voice that out to the child but knelt down and embraced him. "Is it less overwhelming now?" She whispered in his ear.


    "Yes¡­" He answered sheepishly, his cheeks reddening.


    "Good, good¡­" The master patted her disciple, mindful to keep the second sun on her hand away from him, lest she accidentally killed him.


    Still, it seemed to be a little too close as he asked her a moment later, "Does it hurt?"


    "What? The Radiating Undergrowth?"


    He nodded. "It''s very warm. Hot even."


    "It did, once," she answered. "But now my skin is stronger than metal, and I have some¡­ degree of a connection with the plant, so even if it should hurt me more, it doesn''t as much."


    "So it still hurts?"


    "I¡­" A wry smile was drawn on her visage. "I''m rather numb to damage. I always have been."


    "Stop! Please!" Xochipilli released himself from her embrace and begged her. Their eyes met. Her dead yet glinting emerald eyes met with his lifeful yet trembling crimson ones. "You shouldn''t hurt yourself just so I can see."


    "Ah¡­" Aloe moaned as his still heart pulsed if just for one beat. Yes, this is why I need you for, Xochipilli. Not many people had cared for her; and the ones that had done so, she had betrayed them. First, she killed their loved ones; then she left them to die, imprisoned to the passage of time. It was such a marvelous feeling to have someone caring for you. Xochipilli was a weak and clueless child, but he was brimming with so much emotion¡­


    It almost made her wooden heart beat again.


    Unfortunately, she had to emphasize that almost.


    The vegetable woman relaxed her expression and drew a motherly smile, then she pulled the Radiating Undergrowth out of her hand. The gesture had been rather violent as many chunks of her hand went with it, but as soon the mushroom hit the ground and dimmed, the wound had already healed.


    "How about a middle ground?" Aloe offered him, her hand caressing the side of his head. He was so small her palm already covered it all.


    "A middle ground?" The boy mused as he laid the weight of his head on her hand. His body temperature was lower than hers, yet he felt so warm¡­


    Aloe smiled and picked up a pebble from the ground. She pressed her finger into it and separated from it. A moment later, a searing white mushroom exploded from it. Smaller than any previous Radiating Undergrowth but with the exact same potency. Well, the experiment was successful. She laughed to herself but also outwardly chuckled to Xochipilli.


    "Now we can have our way illuminated without anyone getting hurt."

 Book 5: 39. Mother

    Treading through the Evergreen was surprisingly more difficult than the desert. Yes, there weren''t as many up and downs as there were no dunes complicating the passage, nor the ground actively drained your strength as the sand sucked you in, nor there was a violent sun thrashing at your back all the time¡­ but at the same time, humidity, overgrown undergrowth, and lack of visibility were problems of their own.


    Of course, none of these affected Aloe, but the same couldn''t be said for Xochipilli.


    The first time she had done her journey to Karaim''s greenhouse she had already been basically an adult, and even if her baggage and provisions had weighed her down, Xochipilli was still a child. Children may boast of being energetic, but there was a difference between a sprint and a marathon, and adults excelled at the latter.


    Every time they stopped for a break, she ordered him to switch to recovery, otherwise he would be panting for breath.


    Yes, she could have carried him all the way there and arrived in a matter of minutes even without going at breakneck speeds, but there was a virtue to taking one''s time on the journey. Saving the villagers one day earlier or later made no difference, and she had already checked that they weren''t abused. Well, that was the wrong word. Cotton picker slaves were certainly abused as they were overworked, but they weren''t overworked to death or tortured.


    And she needed these moments of accompanied silence. Of her and Xochipilli calmly treading through the thick woods and training a bit each time they stopped for a break.


    "You are progressing fast," Aloe told him after they were over with a training session.


    She handed the boy a glass of water, which she didn''t even need to create her own Flourishing Spring as from time to time they would find wild ones. How many water-producing plants do you even need to increase the local humidity to these levels? Her dress stuck to her skin and that was even without her being able to sweat, it was purely the humidity of the Evergreen at work.


    "You are a good teacher," Xochipilli accepted the glass and took a lengthy sip.


    "You always say that, but I highly doubt it."


    "If I always say it, it must be because it''s true," he added with a smile.


    "You certainly have a silver tongue, child." Aloe ruffled his disciple''s hair. "But you are keener at the vital arts than me when I was a novice like you. So trust me here, you are competent."


    This time he didn''t retort and returned to his glass as his face gained a bit of color.


    Whilst it still took him minutes to switch stances, his switching time was growing smaller by the day. He would still need months to drive those times down to seconds, but he was doing quite well as he had to practice eight stances unlike Aloe''s three that she had starting out.


    As for Evolution, she allowed him to keep evolving Flourishing Springs as his maximum vitality kept increasing, but she still didn''t like how his vitality seemed to go into the negative each time he evolved something. It felt¡­ wrong. Unnatural.


    But she couldn''t say that to his face, not when the child had no idea what he was doing. Dark thoughts and paranoia whispered in her mind about how he could be an assassin infiltrate out to get her, but he was veritably green with the vital arts, so it wasn''t possible. And she even doubted that someone who had been exposed for this long to her glamour could be able to betray her.


    Her mind wandered back to those moments in Sadina centuries ago. It was now obvious in hindsight why she couldn''t bring herself to disagree with Rani. The emir wasn''t fully conscious of her charm stance most of the time, but she wielded it nonetheless, and Aloe was its prisoner. Her mind lied to herself about how she needed Rani instead of sacrificing herself to protect¡­


    Who was I protecting? Aloe''s breath trembled and she grabbed her head as she was unable to put a face and a name together. Oh, no¡­ She didn''t allow Xochipilli to see her motions, keeping him moving before her, but it was hard to keep herself silent. Who was she? Who I sacrificed myself for? So hard¡­ it was so hard to keep herself steady. A steady breath so Xochipilli didn''t hear her. A steady pulse so the light of the Radiating Undergrowth didn''t flicker around. A steady body ¨C for her legs faltered ¨C so Xochipilli didn''t suspect a thing.


    She was on the verge of tears before a hint of memories, a kernel of the past, came back to her.


    "Lulu," she whispered under her breath. My little, loyal maid. Oh, how could have I abandoned you? What did they do with you at the palace once I left? Did they rape you like the nefarious women they were and let you starve on the streets? Did Rani uphold the spirit of our agreement and allow you to keep working until you were old enough to sustain yourself in another line of work? Oh, Lulu. I''m sorry. I''m so sorry.


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    Aloe took a deep breath, fresh and humid air filling her vegetable lungs. Her body was very malleable even without dexterity active, which made it possible for her chest to inflate like the bags of the Cottonpull. She only realized that after she heard her lingerie protesting, the fabric of her bra almost snapping underneath her dress as she pushed it too much to its limits.


    Each action has become now but a caricature of its previous self. She chastised herself. If I don''t control myself, I''m bound to cause destruction. You''ve seen it already, Aloe. A single moan is all it takes to cause uproar. You are no longer like¡­ them. It was hard to keep her hands from trembling, but she pressed forward through the Evergreen, nonetheless.


    It must be noted that she didn''t give Xochipilli enough credit. Because the boy was wielding haste as he walked, they marched at a solid pace even if he was still a child. Faster than an adult, but not by much. The advantage of Nurture had always come from its versatility, to use the right stance at the right moment, and the little disciple had understood that fast.


    I''ve still yet to see him use toughness, though, Aloe chuckled to herself. She found his lack of usage of the defense stance amusing because she had constantly abused it in her early days. This was, of course, because she had to deal with her menstrual pains, an agony the child was blessed without.


    They continued with their cycle of breaks, marching, and training sessions, or that was the case until she detected movement on the periphery. Xochipilli still happily pranced over the Evergreen as his senses were dulled by haste, though it wasn''t like he could have sensed movement over a kilometer away from them anyway.


    Approaching. Aloe mused, internally reading for combat. I''ve detected some moving vitality signs already, whether animals or monsters I cannot say, but they kept themselves away from us. This one isn''t.


    She kept herself one step behind Xochipilli at all times so not even a speed stance-wielding cultivator could put their hands on him, but she didn''t alert him just yet. The intentions of their stalker were yet to be confirmed, and she didn''t want to scare the child. If she could resolve the matter without him even becoming aware of it, the better.


    And as she was pondering that, the figure leaped out of the bushes.


    Xochipilli turned his head to face the origin of the noise, but by then she had sidestepped to his side to protect him. But the interloper had no eyes for the child, only her.


    At first, the silhouette looked rather feral as it stood on four legs, but it took but one moment for it to stand on two.


    There she was: a voluptuous figure with shapely breasts, wide hips, and long ivy hair. It almost looked like Aloe when she had gotten out of the chasm, but there were some differences. The vegetable-looking woman was different than the vegetable woman as she wasn''t covered in bark armor, but that didn''t mean she wasn''t devoid of one. Her hands and feet were covered in what looked like wooden gauntlets and sabatons, but that wasn''t her only ''clothing'' as she portrayed leaves all across her dark green body, especially covering the sensitive bits. And if someone was yet able to think the figure before them was a human, her glowing eyes composed of only yellow sclera were more than negation enough. Those globes weren''t without their animalistic violence.


    In fewer words, sensual yet feral beauty.


    "Is it you?" The woman asked with her arms pressed close to her body, as if scared to extend them. Aloe didn''t need anyone to tell her that she was one of the dryads the old lady had talked about the other day.


    "Who are you?" Aloe asked commandingly. The master was having none of it, especially if someone, or something, was to threaten her disciple.


    "Yes, it''s you!" The dryad jumped in place, her wooden gauntlets extending into claws not dissimilar to those of a dweller''s. "I knew you were out there!"


    "I''ll not ask again," the druid said with a scowl, keeping the child behind her. "Who are you?"


    "It''s me!" The dryad smiled and pressed her claws on her chest. "I''m your daughter, mother!"


    "M-mother?" Aloe lost her composure, and she felt a growing instability inside of her. She thought herself a mother of plants¡­ but not like these. Unbeknownst to her growing discomfort, the sentient plant nodded excitedly in response.


    "But where is our other mother, though?" The creature''s head tilted to the side a bit too much to be natural, yet still preserving some air of innocence in the wrongness of the gesture.


    "O-other¡­ mother?" The instability grew greater and she felt her vision spin around. "Ah¡­" Aloe moaned as her hands trembled and she dropped the pebble carrying the Radiating Undergrowth.


    Something clicked in her mind. She wasn''t sure, but it didn''t matter if it was true or not, the thought had already rotted inside of her mind like a festering fungus. She had felt it before when she entered the Evergreen and felt its vitality, but as she now looked at the dryad, the same familiar vitality assaulted her. A part of that vitality was hers, but the other not¡­ That one laughed at her.


    The vegetable woman''s legs finally gave in, and she fell to the ground. Xochipilli cried in the background, but she could no longer pay attention to him. She was too submerged in her thoughts.


    She recognized that vitality and scared her.


    She had only brushed with it once, but its memory lingered on her very core until this very moment.


    "Ohheavensohheavensohheavens," the druid started hyperventilating as she barely held her body with her arms, her unfocused gaze locked with the ground. Something cracked. Something she had thought fixed. Something that should have healed with time. "I-it''s¡­ hers. I am a mother¡­ and the child is mine and¡­ Aaliyah''s."


    It hadn''t healed. She hadn''t healed.


    Aloe Ayad puked in the middle of the forest, letting out centuries filled with anguish, feeling once more like a broken mess.

 Book 5: 40. Dryad

    Everything moved too fast for eyes. He was already aware of his limited capabilities compared to his master, but before Xochipilli could notice, Aloe had dashed to his side and was hiding him behind her body. What''s happening?


    "Is it you?" A soft female voice asked.


    "Who are you?" His master inquired back and Xochipilli tried to see how she was talking to.


    "Yes, it''s you! I knew you were out there!" Then she saw it, a figure similar to Aloe when she had first met her. It was lither and smaller, but wilder.


    "I''ll not ask again. Who are you?"


    "It''s me! I''m your daughter, mother!"


    Mother? Simultaneously, Xochipilli thought that as Aloe expressed her own doubts.


    "But where is our other mother, though?" That was when he finally realized that the female-looking figure that had been talking was one of those dryads the old lady from yesterday was talking about. She had been right, the dryad and his master looked alike.


    "O-other¡­ mother?" Aloe''s voice trembled, a gesture so out of character that Xochipilli had not thought possible. "Ah¡­"


    As a howl left her lips, the source of light she had been carrying fell on the ground. His goddess was trembling and that scared him. Unconsciously, he took one step backward. It was a moment later that the tree of a woman that was Aloe fell down on her knees.


    "Aloe?" Xochipilli cried in alarm as his master writhed on the ground, barely holding herself on her knees with her trembling arms.


    "Ohheavensohheavensohheavens," she started cursing at speeds so elevated that it was almost unintelligible to him. "I-it''s¡­ hers. I am a mother¡­ and the child is mine and¡­ Aaliyah''s."


    Then she puked.


    Her beautiful goddess, supreme and eternal, let out copious amounts of yellow vomit like a common drunkard. It didn''t sit well with him. Not at all. Aloe Ayad, his master, was a gift of the very heavens, a true divinity, and gods didn''t portray such¡­ crude images.


    "What have you done?" Xochipilli snapped at the dryad, the culprit of this desecration.


    He started shifting the rhythm of his blood to match the potency internal infusion, but he was too green, and as hard as he pushed, it would still take him minutes.


    "What have you done?" He repeated again, saliva flying out of his mouth as he shouted like a rabid dog. He stood between his master and the culprit, loyally protecting his goddess.


    "N-no, no!" The dryad replied, her body shrunken like a scared infant and her visage crestfallen. "It''s not me!" She grabbed her face in despair, her wooden claws viciously scratching her succulent skin. "I didn''t do it!"


    "You did!" He incriminated her, his arms expanded to make his body appear bigger as if he was fighting a wild animal.


    "No! Y-you lie!" The moving plant continued protesting, amber sap poured from her self-inflicted wounds and her eyes.


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    "Then what is this?" Xochipilli screamed as he pointed at the regurgitating goddess, but he kept his eyes locked on the foul monster.


    "No¡­" The dryad collapsed on the ground, her legs failing her, and she¡­ whimpered? "No! I wouldn''t do that to mother!" The plant woman wiped her eyes with her wooden arms, but more sap kept flowing out of them no matter how many times she wiped them.


    It was then that Xochipilli noticed the dryad was crying.


    He didn''t know why or how, but the dryad was crying at the notion of bringing Aloe to such a state. But regardless of whether she felt remorseful or not, his rage couldn''t be quenched. His fist brimmed with power even if he still hadn''t switched to potency.


    That plant deserved a thousand¡­


    Death.


    Xochipilli and the dryad suddenly stopped to a complete still. No sounds nor movements coming from either of them, and exclusively from Xochipilli''s part, his nose stopped breathing and his heart beating.


    A sensation of utter decimation filled the place, of a prey being stalked by an apex predator. One wrong step would be the death of them.


    Behind him, he heard the rustling of leaves and clothes. Only then did he notice the source of the noise had been Aloe once she walked past him.


    The goddess sluggishly approached the dryad, her head was awkwardly moving from side to side like a cloth doll, and her whole body was limping and sagging with each step. Even as death incarnate approached her, the dryad refused to look away or react in any form.


    Then the most beautiful woman in the world knelt on the grass and embraced the plant. The dryad whimpered at the embrace, but Xochipilli became aware of the substance trickling down Aloe''s cheeks.


    Water.


    The dryad was crying sap, but the goddess was crying water. Like a human.


    "M-mother?" The plant whimpered pathetically. The sight was surreal. Her shining yellow eyes kept flowing with sap, and even if the creature was deprived of any irises or pupils, those eyes showed emotion.


    "Yes," Aloe whispered loud enough for him to hear at a distance with his weakened senses. "You are my daughter; I can feel it deep inside me."


    "Mother!" The dryad broke into an infantile bawl, but she returned the embrace of her¡­ mother.


    Xochipilli couldn''t understand what was happening. His eyes saw the two women embracing one another, with Aloe caressing the dryad''s hair slowly like she would do with him yet his mind was unable to wrap around it.


    Mother? He asked himself again.


    After a few minutes, Aloe undid the embrace and wiped the sap out of the dryad''s cheeks. She licked the amber liquid in her finger and pondered for a moment before growing a Blossomflame that healed the plant''s self-inflicted wounds.


    "I''ll need you to answer me some questions and do some things for me. Can you do that?" The goddess asked, her voice the utmost pleasurable of songs.


    "Y-yes," the dryad responded as she stretched her arms to her, now missing the embrace. Her greed knew no bounds. "Anything for you, mother."


    Aloe blessed them with one of her smiles and grew an Aloe Veritas on her skin, her body bountiful as the forest they were in. She broke one of the leaves of the succulent and rubbed the cut section against the dryad''s cheeks.


    "Ah, as I feared." It was a perfectly calm voice, and precisely because it failed to portray any emotion, it shook the disciple down to the core of his being.


    The voice was so peaceful that it reminded him of death, the eternal rest.


    "Xochipilli," his name suddenly came out of those hallow lips.


    "Y-yes, Aloe?" He tried his best to contain his thundering heart as he rushed to her side, but he utterly failed.


    "Let''s put your lessons to the test," she lowered the cut Aloe Veritas leaf to his level. "Can you read what it says?"


    The child grabbed the leaf and didn''t deny it or present doubt, he simply read, for such was the command of his goddess, and her word was law.


    It took him time, but he finally said aloud the contents.


    Species: Aloe Aaliyada


    Sobriquet: Dryad


    Description: A member belonging to no family, their species is known for their high adaptive capabilities, female-only population, and ability to assimilate other living beings.


    Alignment: Life


    "Good job, Xochipilli. It makes me happy you have learned this fast." Aloe congratulated and patted him after he managed to read the whole description, but as much ecstasy those words and caresses produced him, he couldn''t control the uneasiness in his heart.


    If she''s so happy then why she looks so¡­ dead? The boy chose not to voice out his thoughts. It had to be him who was dead, who was in the wrong, and not her goddess.

 Book 5: 41. Evil

    Aloe felt at complete peace. An utter and unbreakable serenity. She was one with nature and nothing could faze her. She was strong. She was indomitable. She wouldn''t be defeated.


    She wouldn''t be defeated.


    She wouldn''t be defeated.


    She wouldn''t be defeated.


    Her thoughts were a sluggish mess, and her head hurt like she was experiencing the worst hangover of her life. She should be completely impervious to physical damage, yet her throat, jaws, and hands hurt a lot. But if there was one thing she was good at, it was ignoring pain.


    Species: Aloe Aaliyada


    The thought assaulted her like a haunting torment, looming over her like a vulture ready to swoop down on a carcass. Yes, she knew what the Aloe Veritas was suggesting. Or rather, what it was confirming. She wouldn''t allow that bitter truth to defeat her. She wasn''t weak, she was power incarnate. Strength was a must.


    The sapient plant before her, boasting ivy hair like her own, was her¡­ daughter. She knew not how their species came into existence, and she doubted that woman had birthed them for she had absolutely not ¨C had she? ¨C but it was undeniable that she was their progenitor, and therefore, her mother.


    It was¡­ the most sickening of thoughts.


    Just thinking about her having Aaliyah''s children harmed her entire being. A pain from all sides and hells of existence. Her whole existence just¡­ hurt.


    Agony.


    But she kept her head up high. If not for her, then for Xochipilli and¡­ her daughter.


    It was hard containing the bile gathering in her throat. Or whatever substance her body produced now in lieu of it. Once she had thought that the main advantage of her new body was that it was free of any taint, free of having been defiled, but now¡­ it felt equally as dirty.


    If it weren''t for her quest, she wouldn''t have been able to keep going.


    Painfully, slowly, maddeningly¡­ Aloe smiled and looked at the dryad.


    "We intend to visit the World Tree, my disciple and I. Would you be able to guide us?"


    "Of course! Anything for you, mother!" The sapient plant eagerly hopped in place and accepted.


    Mother. Mother? Mother. Mo-ther. M-o-t-h-e-r. Ahh¡­ She knew the dryad was referring to her, but that word set her ablaze. And it wasn''t like the comfortable warmth she felt when caressing Xochipilli but rather being burned alive prior to the vital arts. Aloe had been thinking of Xochipilli as almost his son, she was well of the age to have children after all but actually having one of her own decimated her.


    She wanted to refute it, but she knew it was a fact. This¡­ dryad¡­ was her spawn.


    She wanted to shout at the moving plant, to be enraged by the usage of such a foul word, but¡­ she couldn''t. Whether it was because she knew of a woman who was the worst mother in all of Khaffat and didn''t want to be like her or because she truly felt that maternal connection as happiness overflowed from the dryad, Aloe couldn''t bring herself to chastise her.


    Like her, the dryad trod effortlessly through the forest as if she was perfectly conscious of her surroundings, but Aloe knew for a fact that she couldn''t. Whilst her vitality was greater than the average person and it rivaled some cultivators, those measly Haya shouldn''t enhance her senses that much.


    "Excuse me, uhh¡­" Aloe raised her voice at the sapient plant but quickly noticed a glaring issue.


    "What, mother?" The dryad turned to face her; she cutely grabbed her wooden hands behind her back as she did so.


    "Do you, by any chance, have a name we could refer you to?"


    "A name you say?" The dryad tapped her lips with a wooden claw as she hummed pensively. "No, I can''t say I have. Nor any of my sisters do."


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    Sisters. Ugh¡­ Even if she was aware that dryads were a species, Aloe almost puked at being reminded of it. She didn''t have just a "daughter", but a whole species of them.


    It was¡­ unsettling. Putting it into other words would have been problematic.


    "H-how do you refer to each other, then?" It was Xochipilli who asked. He hid behind Aloe, not bothering to hide that he didn''t trust the dryad.


    For better or worse, Aloe couldn''t say the same.


    "Hmm, by ''you''?" It appears the dryad wasn''t so sure either. "It''s not hard to know about who we are talking about. So we just do."


    "I see¡­" The disciple added.


    "Your¡­ other mother never gave you a name?" It physically hurt her to talk about Aaliyah. She could fare well if she kept it in her thoughts but voicing it out made it more¡­ real. Tangible.


    "I''ve never met her, so no," the plant answered. "Some of my older sisters say they have, but I think they are lying, to be honest."


    "She never visited you?" The dryad swayed her head at her question, which made Aloe chuckle. "Ha¡­ ha¡­ ha¡­ Of course! Of course, that nince-damned wench wouldn''t bother when visiting her dryad daughters when she already did such things to the children of her own blood and flesh!"


    In a way, it comforted Aloe knowing that Aaliyah still was the same monstrosity as always. It eased her heart and steeled her resolve.


    The dryad tilted her head to the side in confusion, a gaze devoid of thoughts. "I don''t understand. Why would you curse at other mother?"


    "Listen," Aloe stopped for an instant, realizing she couldn''t call her by her name for she lacked one, and continued, "your ''other'' mother is a very bad person. She did evil things to me before she created you."


    She doubted this specific dryad knew how they came to be, so for now, the druid had to assume that Aaliyah had created them.


    "Hmm, but how can be that evil?" The sapient plant swayed from side to side wildly, her feet rooted on the ground without so much of a movement, as she pondered.


    "Because it is," Aloe responded taciturnly, her expression growing sour.


    "But if she hadn''t done those bad things then I and my sisters wouldn''t exist, would we?"


    "You misunderstood me a bit, I didn''t mean it that way, but¡­ yes. If she had never interacted with me, you and your sisters would have never been brought to this world."


    "Then how can that be evil? Is our own existence evil?"


    "I¡­" The vegetable woman pursed her lips as she looked at the plant woman. She couldn''t say that. Tears threatened to gather in her eyes as her throat ached, but she supported herself in her glamour to keep the fa?ade. "Your¡­ existence is not evil, not at all. It''s glorious. But¡­ the methods to achieve it were not so much. It''s an important difference. But I won''t refute your existence, that I won''t."


    Because that would make her like Aaliyah.


    And there was no greater sin than that.


    No greater disgust.


    No greater evil.


    "I still don''t understand it," the dryad ground her head with her knuckles, "but you are the only mother that bothered to visit us, so I guess that makes you the good one."


    "Yes¡­ let''s go with that¡­" Aloe responded with a weak smile.


    As she started moving, the dryad who had stood in place stopped her and she clung to her arm. Whilst she didn''t react at that, Xochipilli certainly did as he took a step backward, though he still clung to her dress. It was hard to contain the repulsion from feeling her and Aaliyah''s vitality mixed inside of her. She was free of sin and completely different from her, but it was impossible not to see Aaliyah in the dryad.


    Her very essence.


    Yes, no one trait similar could be seen in the dryad to that monster, but the very energy that fueled her reminded her of Aaliyah.


    Of what she had done to her.


    "Xochipilli," the dryad said out of nowhere as she looked up at her mother. The sapient plant wasn''t exactly small, but most things were small compared to the old druid.


    "Yes? What with him?" The dressed woman asked as the addressed boy continued to hide behind her skirt.


    "He has a name. I want a name."


    "I didn''t name him. He''s not¡­ mine." She wasn''t sure if she could sire children anymore, even if there was no place more fertile than herself.


    "Don''t care," the dryad pouted. "I want a name."


    "I¡­ uhm¡­" She was at a complete loss of words. "I''m not great at naming things."


    ""Any name from you is a great one!"" Somehow, both the dryad and Xochipilli protested at the same time. This synchronization made them look at one another, and whilst the dryad smiled at him, the child simply harrumphed and looked away.


    "I will need time to think of one¡­" She responded, trying to avoid the responsibility.


    "No!" The sapient plant refused, childishly stomping on the ground. "I want one now!"


    "Uh¡­" It''s me who brought the subject up, I should take responsibility. I guess¡­


    Aloe did her best to come up with one name, but she struggled to no end. Infusion names took her days to think of, and whilst those were somewhat okay, there was the clear exception of mansworth which took her basically a month and was¡­ a travesty upon the human concept of language.


    Her eyes laid upon the dryad''s characteristic wooden claws, and words and syllables started to fly in her head. Most people of her age didn''t speak in Asayn any longer, and Ydazi had diverged substantially from the language, so maybe¡­


    "Kadashayka," she voiced out. "What do you think about Kadashayka?"


    Oh, great heavens, it''s horrible. Aloe wanted to cover her face from the shame, but unfortunately, the dryad was holding her arm, and she didn''t want to hurt her by moving it.


    "Ka-da-shay-ka? Kadashayka. Kadashayka!" The dryad repeated the name multiple times as she swayed her body around. "I love it! I am Kadashayka, daughter of mother!"


    As she saw that smile ¨C Kadashayka''s smile ¨C sweet as honey, Aloe knew by heart that there was no grain of evil in that dryad. Maybe evil had brought her into her world, but she was no evil. She was her¡­ daughter.

 Book 5: 42. Shadow

    After having granted Kadashayka a name, the three of them continued their journey toward the World Tree. However, Xochipilli pouted and whispered under his breath how he hadn''t been given one. Aloe didn''t know if he thought he was being stealthy or if he was actually making a petition, so she just ignored the boy with a smile.


    The closer they got to the Heart of the Evergreen, the darker everything became. Not because the night was drawing near ¨C though they were past high noon already ¨C but because the tree was just that massive. It wouldn''t be wrong to affirm that it rivaled some mountains. And the most mindboggling thing was that it was this dark even when they hadn''t stepped foot underneath the canopy yet.


    "Are there trees underneath the World Tree?" Aloe asked Kadashayka.


    "Yes, mother! There are many plants at the foot of the World Tree! Flowers, bushes, trees, and more! So Kadashayka says!"


    "You don''t need to describe your actions in the third person," the dressed woman put a hand before her mouth and giggled.


    "But then how will everyone know that Kadashayka is Kadashayka?" Kadashayka tilted her head to the side with inhuman ductility. There had never been a more appropriate use of that epithet, for the dryad was truly not human. Though Aloe didn''t think of it as a bad thing.


    "You can tell them," she responded as a matter of fact.


    "I can!" The dryad''s eyes opened like plates, showing her glowing yellow sclera. "I can tell everyone that I am Kadashayka!"


    Aloe smiled at the trivial realization and the gestures of her¡­ daughter. It was still awkward to think of it, especially because she was a plant, and the concept of reproduction was wholly different from a human. She may not have come out of my belly, but like a flower that pollinates or a tree that spreads its seeds, she has been born of my vitality.


    "But coming back to my question," Aloe continued, "how is it that plants can grow there? There isn''t much light here, so plants shouldn''t be able to grow."


    "The soil is very very yummy, so plants don''t need light!" Kadashayka replied.


    "Right¡­" Her mother was at a loss for words. "So how can you see yourselves there? Is it because of the light in your eyes?"


    "Our eyes?" She tilted her head again. "No, no. Eyes don''t produce light. They are glowing because of that," she pointed at the Radiating Undergrowth.


    "Oh." Just to prove her words, Aloe blocked the infested pebble with her hands. The mushroom tried to sear her hands, but she was tougher than metal now, let alone stone, so her skin just sizzled a bit.


    Sure enough, as the surroundings drowned in penumbra with the lack of light, Kadashayka''s eyes stopped glowing.


    "Interesting," Aloe released her hold on the pebble so Xochipilli could see again. "So your eyes reflect light and aren''t glowing as such. Sort of like a cat''s. But that only confuses me more. How do you then see around yourselves on the World Tree?"


    "It''s not as dark as you are thinking, mother. It''s like¡­ like¡­ Hmm¡­" The dryad closed her eyes and swayed her head back and forth thinking of something. "It''s better if you see it."


    "We''ll do that," she smiled at her cute gestures, and they continued walking.


    The journey was quite long as Xochipilli couldn''t keep up with the two women and he was too proud to be carried by either of them. Not that Aloe wanted to carry him, for she fretted that she could kill the child if she even used a fraction of her might. Kadashayka was the better option, but he vehemently refuted the proposal. The child was still mad at the dryad for the previous events, even if she was completely free of guilt. Not that he could understand that.


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    For now, they stopped to eat. Aloe got a few pastries and a cup out of her Slowtide and she filled it with a nearby Flourishing Spring. They are so common¡­ but how? No, the right question would be how is it that I haven''t seen that many in cities barring the park? Free water sounds way better than free light or lighter dresses, but I haven''t seen buildings with Flourishing Springs on them. Am I missing something? Now that I think about it, the massive pool in the public baths also didn''t have any¡­


    As Aloe lingered on her thoughts, little Xochipilli ate his pastries. Not all of them were sweets, so they worked well enough as improvised travel rations. A day on pastries won''t kill him.


    The same couldn''t be said for her and Kadashayka, who were without the need for food, but if just to get her answers on paper, Aloe asked her.


    "You''ve mentioned before that the soil on the Heart of the Evergreen was ''yummy'', Kadashayka," the dryad nodded at her words. "So I must ask, are you like any other plant? Can you sustain yourself with soil, water, and sunlight alone?"


    "Yes," the green-skinned woman nodded once more. "My sisters and I need to take root once in a while, but we are not bound to the ground like the rest of our brethren."


    Brethren, huh? The usage of the dryad''s words didn''t escape her. "So you are truly plants."


    "Shouldn''t you know?" Her daughter tilted her head to the side. "You are one yourself."


    Her breathing, heartbeat, and blinking stopped. Her eyes might not have been looking at him, but she noticed how Xochipilli was paying close attention to their conversation.


    "Don''t jest," Aloe let out a wry giggle. "I''m not a plant or a dryad, I am¡­ myself."


    "Of course! Mother is mother!" Kadashayka nodded to her mother''s words as she hummed. Whether it was out of understanding or misunderstanding, her mother couldn''t know.


    Aloe contained her tremble, glamour glaring at its maximum potency, as she portrayed pure stoicism. She was herself. It was no lie at all.


    No lie at all.


    After Xochipilli finished his food, they continued with their march. Kadashayka selected the best path for them, allowing for an effortless journey whereas before they had to go up and down valleys and tread through the treacherous undergrowth. Of course, these had only been problems for her disciple.


    As they closed onto the World Tree, darkness reigned around them as they finally reached under its canopy. Aloe was horrified at how they were still a handful of kilometers from the trunk, yet the ter''nar''s canopy still reached this far.


    How can life get this big? She constantly asked herself, paradoxically scared yet enthusiastic about the idea of this being her doing. Could this be recreated? That was one of her most common thoughts, even if she was well aware that it served no purpose whatsoever having a tree this big around. In any case, it''s detrimental. Kadashayka has said it herself, plants only grow in this darkness because the soil is too fertile. If it weren''t for the Evergreen''s bustling vitality, there would only be desert underneath the World Tree.


    The closer they got to their destination, the weirder the landscape became. Aloe had never before been in a forest, the Evergreen had been her first, but she imagined the woods surrounding Selen were pretty close to the ones she had heard of in stories or read about in botanical papers. Yet the same couldn''t be said for the Heart of the Evergreen. It was its own land with its own rules. Too much vitality, fertility, and humidity but not enough sunlight created unique ecosystems.


    In one word: fungi.


    She had noticed them since they entered the Evergreen, but the closer they got closer to its Heart, the more abundant they became. And the more massive.


    Only the size of a fist by now, but when would they stop growing? When were they the size of a head? Or perhaps as massive as a tree?


    But the fungi growths weren''t the most impressive things underneath the shadow of the World Tree. Not by a long shot. Other growths were, though.


    "What are those?" Aloe pointed at a massive arch on the horizon. Xochipilli squinted at what she was pointing at but didn''t seem to be able to see it. She didn''t blame him, even with the Radiating Undergrowth, it was dark as night here. It was only thanks to her enhanced sight that she could see it.


    "That?" Kadashayka pointed at the same place with a wooden claw and Aloe nodded. "Those are roots."


    "Roots?" The dark-skinned woman frowned before her head added one plus one together. "Do you mean that¡­?"


    "Yes," the dryad nodded. "Those are the World Tree roots."


    Massive as Asina''s walls ¨C not even Sadina''s at this point ¨C with tens of meters of height, as much in width, and taking into account that there still were a couple of kilometers until they reached the trunk, only two words came out of Aloe''s mouth.


    "Great heavens¡­"


    But above all else, Aloe didn''t fail to notice the roots were dark brown.

 April Fools - Dryad Naming System

    So, Xochipilli, I¡¯ve been thinking. There are lots of dryads, right? That means that we will need lots of names. So I¡¯ve been musing how could I name them and I came up with a few. Tell me what you think.


    Afghanistan


    Albania


    Algeria


    Andorra


    Angola


    Antigua and Barbuda


    Argentina


    Armenia


    Australia


    Austria


    Azerbaijan


    The Bahamas


    Bahrain


    Bangladesh


    Barbados


    Belarus


    Belgium


    Belize


    Benin


    Bhutan


    Bolivia


    Bosnia and Herzegovina


    Botswana


    Brazil


    Brunei


    Bulgaria


    Burkina Faso


    Burundi


    Cabo Verde


    Cambodia


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    Cameroon


    Canada


    Central African Republic


    Chad


    Chile


    China


    Colombia


    Comoros


    Democratic Republic of the Congo


    Republic of the Congo


    Costa Rica


    C?te d¡¯Ivoire


    Croatia


    Cuba


    Cyprus


    Czech Republic


    Denmark


    Djibouti


    Dominica


    Dominican Republic


    East Timor (Timor-Leste)


    Ecuador


    Egypt


    El Salvador


    Equatorial Guinea


    Eritrea


    Estonia


    Eswatini


    Ethiopia


    Fiji


    Finland


    France


    Gabon


    The Gambia


    Georgia


    Germany


    Ghana


    Greece


    Grenada


    Guatemala


    Guinea


    Guinea-Bissau


    Guyana


    Haiti


    Honduras


    Hungary


    Iceland


    India


    Indonesia


    Iran


    Iraq


    Ireland


    Israel


    Italy


    Jamaica


    Japan


    Jordan


    Kenya


    Kiribati


    North Korea


    South Korea


    Kosovo


    Kuwait


    Kyrgyzstan


    Laos


    Latvia


    Lebanon


    Lesotho


    Liberia


    Libya


    Liechtenstein


    Lithuania


    Luxembourg


    Madagascar


    Malawi


    Malaysia


    Maldives


    Mali


    Malta


    Marshall Islands


    Mauritania


    Mauritius


    Mexico


    Micronesia


    Moldova


    Monaco


    Mongolia


    Montenegro


    Morocco


    Mozambique


    Myanmar


    Namibia


    Nauru


    Nepal


    Netherlands


    New Zealand


    Nicaragua


    Niger


    Nigeria


    North Macedonia


    Norway


    Oman


    Pakistan


    Palau


    Panama


    Papua New Guinea


    Paraguay


    Peru


    Philippines


    Poland


    Portugal


    Qatar


    Romania


    Russia


    Rwanda


    Saint Kitts and Nevis


    Saint Lucia


    Saint Vincent and the Grenadines


    Samoa


    San Marino


    Sao Tome and Principe


    Saudi Arabia


    Senegal


    Serbia


    Seychelles


    Sierra Leone


    Singapore


    Slovakia


    Slovenia


    Solomon Islands


    Somalia


    South Africa


    Spain


    Sri Lanka


    Sudan


    Sudan, South


    Suriname


    Sweden


    Switzerland


    Syria


    Taiwan


    Tajikistan


    Tanzania


    Thailand


    Togo


    Tonga


    Trinidad and Tobago


    Tunisia


    Turkey


    Turkmenistan


    Tuvalu


    Uganda


    Ukraine


    United Arab Emirates


    United Kingdom


    United States


    Uruguay


    Uzbekistan


    Vanuatu


    Vatican City


    Venezuela


    Vietnam


    Yemen


    Zambia


    Zimbabwe


    ¡­


    Wait, I¡¯m not done. Some of them feel a bit too on the nose, you know? So I thought of another type of names that have more finesse to them. Listen:


    Drisdol


    Amoxicillin


    Levothyroxine


    Lisinopril


    Ibuprofen


    Amphetamine


    Amlodipine


    Albuterol


    Prednisone


    Gabapentin


    Benzonatate


    Alprazolam


    Cyclobenzaprine


    Azithromycin


    Atorvastatin


    Cetirizine


    Losartan


    Cephalexin


    Metformin


    Metoprolol


    Hydrochlorothiazide


    Viagra


    Trazodone


    Zolpidem tartrate


    Escitalopram oxalate


    Clonazepam


    Methylprednisolone


    Tadalafil


    Methocarbamol


    Fluconazole


    Sertraline


    Vibramycin


    Furosemide


    Fluoxetine


    Metronidazole


    Omeprazole


    Sulfamethoxazole


    Phenobarbital


    Armour Thyroid


    Dextromethorphan


    Metoprolol tartrate


    Meloxicam


    Pantoprazole


    Hydrochlorothiazide


    Estradiol


    Famotidine


    So¡­ what do you think? Great, right?

 Book 5: 43. Daughters

    They were close to the World Tree. She didn''t know it from the growing darkness or the increasing number of fungi. No. Not at all. It was the vitality that was telling her that. Obviously, a living being as colossal as the World Tree possessed massive amounts of vitality proportional to its size, Aloe had known that since she started infusing seeds.


    But even then, that wasn''t the vitality that was calling for her attention. The vitality that piqued her interest was¡­ hers.


    Dots on the horizon that she could only feel thanks to her enhanced and trained vitality sense. They were many, they were moving, and they contained a kernel of her vitality.


    Even Xochipilli, who was exhausted to death, gave a final sprint as they became aware of the looming presence of the Heart of the Evergreen.


    Foliage and trees became suddenly sparse, and they made almost a perfect circle as they gave into the largest clearing in all of Khaffat.


    The base of the World Tree.


    "Woah¡­" Xochipilli mussed behind her, his eyes swaying from glowing mushroom to glowing mushroom. "The mushrooms glow! Are they also evolved plants of your creation?"


    "No, they are not. Mushrooms are not plants." Aloe responded. "By being, they are not evolved at all. Just common fungi."


    Kadashayka had been right, even if the light wasn''t as plentiful here as outside the Evergreen, many fungi projected their own light, but Radiating Undergrowths they were not. Aloe didn''t even need to touch them to know they weren''t evolved fungi. She had too much experience with Evolution to tell if a living being was evolved or not at a glance, even though no real clues existed for her to tell so.


    She just knew.


    And that was what confused her about the dryads, they weren''t evolved. As far as she was concerned¡­ they were just normal plants. As normal as magical plants could get, but they weren''t plants produced by Evolution. Not directly at least.


    Xochipilli blinked in confusion repeatedly. "But how can they glow if they aren''t evolved?"


    "There are many phenomena in our world that may seem magical, but they are not related to the vital arts at all," the master explained. "These fungi have a property called ''bioluminescence'' that allows living beings to emit light, and many things can portray them, not only fungi but animals and insects too. As a matter of fact, humans are bioluminescent too."


    That confused Xochipilli even more. "But I''m not glowing, Aloe?"


    "Human bioluminescence is very, very weak. I doubt you could even perceive it whilst donning acuity. Only I can perceive it with my enhanced senses." She had¡­ become too knowledgeable of darkness and illumination with the centuries. "But that doesn''t mean that the fungi here are normal. Perhaps they are not evolved, but they are certainly influenced by the World Tree as this kind of mushroom shouldn''t be this potent."


    "So they are magical?" Aloe tapped the child on the head, prompting a weak "Ouch!" from him.


    "I just told you they are common mushrooms. One could say they are wielding their own¡­ stance." Then everything clicked. "Kadashayka?"


    "Yes, mother?" The dryad dutifully came to her mother''s side in an instant, casually putting young Naila''s speed to shame. Of course a teenager with three Haya couldn''t compare to a dryad with many more, even if that sultanzade had been a master of the speed stance.


    "Are these mushrooms infused?"


    "¡­I''m afraid I don''t understand the question," Kadashayka said sadly, like a puppy that had been scowled.


    "Ah, my fault," Aloe instantly corrected as she could read a specific type of confusion in the dryad''s eyes, even if they were monochromatic. "I should have guessed you aren''t aware of vital art terminology. It will be best if I show you instead of explaining it."


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    With sublime sleight of hand, Aloe materialized a seed on her hand. It was a simple Flourishing Spring seed; one the dryad could easily recognize. She presented the seed before her and then she applied an accelerated growth external infusion to the evolved seed.


    "Ohhh!" Kadashayka exclaimed in understanding. "So that''s what infusing something is. Yes, yes, we do that. These seeds are ''infused'' with more radiance."


    "Do you have your own name for Infusion?"


    "No¡­ we don''t really give names to anything," the dryad responded with continued sadness.


    "I guess our minds work differently. Don''t be sorry for that," Aloe patted and caressed Kadashayka''s hair like she would do with Xochipilli. The dryad must have enjoyed the gesture greatly because she started to purr. "Let us get going," her mother took her hand a moment later, much to the daughter''s dissatisfaction.


    They treaded slowly toward the World Tree, the bioluminescent fungi on the ground almost looked like it was illuminating more brightly to mark a path for them to follow, and their eyes wandered everywhere.


    "Sooo big!" Xochipilli''s head was locked upwards as his eyes followed the World Tree''s roots. Not only were they massive, but some of them also hung tens of meters in the sky, making tall arches completely impossible for human architecture to recreate.


    In all honesty, it was a frightening sight. Yes, she was mighty, but so was the sight. This tree couldn''t harm her, and her mind knew that, but her body lagged behind with its primal instincts.


    So Aloe was bewildered at the fact that Xochipilli could be so serene before such a monumental sight. Ah, how intoxicating his youthful hope is.


    Even in the nightly darkness of the World Tree''s base, its exposed roots were so laden with bioluminescent fungi that it was easy to see the silhouette of the arches. Oh, it was a marvelous outline only made better by the dream-like light.


    But alas, they weren''t alone. And as they closed to the trunk of the tree, their onlookers had finally decided that it was enough. Their eyes opened all in a chorus, colors filling the surroundings as their inhuman sclera reflected the yellow-green bioluminescent light.


    Tens, if not hundreds of dryads stalked at them at a distance, and they had made themselves known.


    Xochipilli took a step backward at the intimidating sight. He had been walking forward in their small convoy since they reached the clearing, but he had been the only one who hadn''t detected the host of plants lurking in the shadows. Aloe could only smile as he waddled to her side and hid behind her dress. The futility of the gesture only made it more amusing as he was wholly unaware that there were also presences behind them.


    Aloe could have done many things in the moments that followed. She could have comforted Xochipilli. She could have continued forward. Or she could have directed herself to the many sapient plants gazing at them. Yet all she did was calmly stand like a tree.


    Kadashayka was the one who stepped forward.


    "Sisters!" The dryads of the wooden claws shouted powerfully, a stance bolstering her body. "Hear me, for today onwards I am known as Kadashayka!"


    The other dryads looked at her with a mixture of curiosity and confusion. Some were more civilized as they stood upright on their two feet, but others were more feral as they were on all fours with an intimidating posture. Yet they voiced no comments. Whether it was for a lack of communication or out of respect, the dryads remained silent.


    "And Kadashayka must inform you of something important. Far more important than a name!" It was the strength stance the dryad was donning to bolster her shouting capacity, yet it felt like the charm one from the way the dryads looked at her. "Today I have brought our mother with us!"


    It had been as if everyone had been waiting for that confirmation. They could detect Aloe''s vitality like Kadashayka had, but only once their sister had confirmed their doubts did they accept it.


    And accept it they did.


    All the dryads, even those that seemed but rooted roots, rushed to their mother. In a matter of seconds, Aloe and Xochipilli found themselves surrounded by a legion that could only be called a forest.


    Vegetable all of them, yet distinct from one another.


    Some dryads were more humanoid, others weren''t. Not all of them had eyes, yet she could feel their gaze. Not all of them had mouths, yet she could hear their unspoken words. It was a sensation like no other. A bond she couldn''t understand but wasn''t repulsed by it. Warm wasn''t the right word, but it was suitable, nonetheless.


    Xochipilli pressed himself closer to her, his fear palpable. But she only needed a single caress to show him that he shouldn''t be scared or show the others that he wasn''t an intruder.


    There were many things that she could say. A myriad of things were already in her mind, but like water being drained from a barrel, the hole limited how much liquid could come out by the second.


    And that hole was her mouth.


    The vegetable woman took a deep breath. If quantity couldn''t make it, then she should aim for quality. A smile was drawn on her visage, her eyes shone with lovely emerald, and her lips moved with sublime grace.


    "I''m here, my daughters."


    That was the single word they needed. A green tide moved as the dryads started kneeling one after another and they all looked up to her. Kadashayka was the last one of them to kneel as she placed before her and then they all spoke at the same time.


    "Welcome, mother." The rustle of foliage accompanied their cacophony.


    Aloe Ayad had fashioned herself as a mother of plants on her mind, but now as it would seem, that title was truer than ever.

 Book 5: 44. Monarch

    In a twisted manner, the presence of her daughters was comforting. Aloe was no longer as perturbed as before once she stopped thinking about the dryads as children she might have given birth to, but something else. Some people took care of their pets like their own children, so she assimilated a similar perspective. The dryads have spawned from her being, so they deserved at least the respect a progenitor should give to their descendants.


    "Rise," Aloe mouthed, and the dryads obeyed.


    Her level of control over the relaxed Xochipilli as she felt his heartbeat slow down, but it disgusted her. This level of devotion wasn''t natural, wasn''t healthy. Children weren''t in awe of their parents, which made it easier for her not to see them as such.


    She stood still for a moment trying to think of her next actions, but the vegetable woman found herself overwhelmed. It was just too much. Maybe she wasn''t thinking of them as direct daughters, but there were still hundreds of them. And she just couldn''t process them all.


    Thankfully, she needed not to take the first step as a dryad did it for her. She wasn''t Kadashayka, but another one. Aloe didn''t know what it was about her, if her height or her vitality, but she felt older than the dryad with the wooden claws.


    This pioneering dryad was lithe, far more than a human of her height could be yet still with a somewhat voluptuous shape, but she also was one of the eyeless dryads. The sight of this sapient plant would have been once unnerving as she presented no eyeballs, nose, ears, or hair, but instead had a fungal growth of polypore ¨C that type of fungus that grew on vertical surfaces and had a terrace-like structure ¨C on her upper head that could pass up as a crown.


    I don''t know what that slaver was on when he said he hadn''t seen a dryad with a crown before. Aloe recalled her first day after coming out of the chasm. That looks very much like a crown to me, and it isn''t just her, but many others have such growths or plants on their heads. If I didn''t know any better, I''d say that man had never seen a dryad before.


    But focusing back on the dryad standing before her, she was almost more like a sapient fungus rather than a sapient plant as it wasn''t only the polypore on her head, but also her skin. Most dryads were brown or green, the colors one would associate with vegetation, but this one was white. A shade of green so light and pale that could only be called white, at least. And the reason for this was obvious: lichen grew all over her body.


    "Oldest of them all I am, oh mother, yet I must apologize for my looks." The pale dryad ¨C what one could consider the albino version of them ¨C bowed to her.


    "Apologize not, for there is nothing unsightful of you," Aloe responded. She didn''t know why she had switched to her tone of scribe of commoners, yet it felt appropriate. "There is nothing wrong with your fungal growths."


    "This one has explained herself incorrectly," she swayed her head. "Tis not the nature growing on my substratum I am seeking pardon, but for my height. There is nothing more blasphemous than standing higher than our creator."


    Aloe instantly put a hand on her hand and giggled, which arose the gaze and confusion of many dryads, the pale one included.


    "Sorry, sorry," she continued chuckling. "It is only that I care not for that. Once upon a time, even after my growth had halted, I stood at a low height myself. Most of you are taller than me than I was back then, so if I had continued to be that way, most of you would be ''blaspheming''. So, no. I do not care about such trivial manners."


    "Oh, mother," the pale dryad led her branch-thin fingers to her heart. "Your magnanimity knows no bounds."


    The mother could only smile at that, for she knew very clearly her limits. "I would never judge my daughter for things beyond their control, especially when you had no chance of knowing how I looked like."


    Kadashayka nodded at her words and many dryads imitated her.


    "May I abuse that magnanimity?" The fungal dryad asked with her body still arched in a bow.


    "Ask away."


    "May I be blessed with a name?" And that question was what caused the barely kept silence to collapse.


    "Not fair! I also want one!" A high-pitched sounding dryad exclaimed.


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    "Me! Me!" Another one asked.


    "I want a name¡­"


    "Names! Names!"


    "Desire for a name I''d love."


    "¡­" There were many of this last type, for they were the mouthless dryads, yet somehow, they were one of the loudest types.


    To which Aloe responded with a weak "Silence."


    And silence was made. The unnatural obedience of the dryads unsettled her to no limit, but she couldn''t let them act loose.


    "I am afraid I am not capable of naming you all at this current moment." She explained. "For starters, I am pressed for time, but also, my disciple here is not accustomed to your presence, so I must ask you that you give him some space."


    Even if it had been somewhat of a rhetorical petition, the dryads took a step backward, the pale one and Kadashayka included. Aloe nodded and continued speaking.


    "I intend to come back here, but tomorrow Xochipilli and I will march elsewhere. Could you wait for a name until then?" Their answer was overwhelming silence. It was a bit hard to understand, but for the dryads that seemed to be an affirmation. "For now, I''d like to know if you have food suitable for humans and a litter for him to sleep in."


    "That we do," the pale and oldest dryad responded. "We will have it arranged for your disciple, oh mother."


    With a sway of her head, the rustle of leaves became deafening as dryads started moving to fulfill her will. Her daughters may have not exchanged words, but they had certainly communicated. Many of the dryads that left to prepare her petition were mouthless ones.


    "I have many questions, and most of them will not be able to be answered in this short night I will stay here, so take this as a guarantee of my return." Positive silence, again. "But an ungrateful mother I am not, so before I do anything else, your petition I will answer, eldest daughter."


    Elder. Eldest. Fungi. Growths. Lichen. White. Crown. Hmm¡­ Aloe liked the name she had given to Kadashayka, so she felt appropriate to reciprocate in kind with the pale dryad by giving her a name in Asayn. The crowned of the daughter, white and eldest¡­ Pale Monarch, yes, that''s it.


    "Aleahilhahiba," Aloe responded. "That will be your name."


    "Honored I am, oh great mother," the eldest daughter bowed, and suddenly her gesture appeared to be more regal. "Aleahilhahiba it is I, and your commands are my pleasure."


    Many of the dryads pouted and expressed some unrest at having one of her sisters being named instead of them, but none openly protested.


    Having given her daughters too much focus for now, Aloe turned to face Xochipilli. She squatted before him and placed her hands on his shoulders, they almost didn''t fit on the boy''s small frame.


    "I know the dryads look scary to you, but I also know that you are tired. Don''t tell me you are not." Her disciple avoided her gaze. He, apparently, was going to say exactly that. "So I want you to eat and rest. It''s been a long day, and I don''t want you to be exhausted for the journey back. Have I made myself clear?"


    "Yes," Xochipilli responded sheepishly.


    "Good." Then she ruffled his hair and stood up. Her eyes landed on Kadashayka. "He''s intimidated by your sisters, but at least he knows you. Can you guide him around?"


    "It would be my pleasure, mother!" The dryad expressed with her characteristic excitement as her eyes glowed yellow, or rather, reflected more light than normal.


    Kadashayka guided Xochipilli elsewhere, and some dryads followed him. Aloe hadn''t instructed them to do so, but at the same time, they were their own independent people so it wasn''t like she could stop them from going elsewhere.


    Once the young boy was out of sight, the warm smile disappeared from Aloe''s face and she turned toward the World Tree. It was better if Xochipilli didn''t hear or see the things she was about to do.


    "Follow me, Aleahilhahiba." She chanted silently but the pale dryad heard her perfectly.


    The rest of the dryads understood her intentions perfectly as if they were connected to each other as they parted on their ways. Only the eldest daughter accompanied her.


    Aloe walked right to the trunk of the World Tree. There were many holes that there wouldn''t be on a normal tree, but this wasn''t on a normal tree. It wasn''t even a ter''nar, for the bark before her was brown.


    "Tell me, Aleahilhahiba, is the World Tree a single being?" As long as the name she had given to the dryad was, Aloe had no difficulties pronouncing it. Asayn felt more natural than normal on her tongue, perhaps because it was now closer to the Ydazi she knew.


    "No, oh mother." The pale dryad responded with her hands clasped together before her crotch. The man from the pawn shop back in the dream had been right, there was a cavity there, even if hers was practically hidden with the lichen. "The World Tree is similar to me. A result of many organisms working together with one another."


    "Symbiosis," Aloe mouthed and the dryad nodded.


    Instead of asking another question, Aloe grew an Aloe Veritas on her hand and took a leaf. She did not need word of mouth when she could see the answers with her own eyes. Aleahilhahiba reacted at the sight of the parchment-like succulent, even if she was without eyes. Her facial polypore reacted like a raised brow would on a human face, but she kept herself silent.


    The vegetable woman rubbed the cut leaf against the dark bark and the ink in the parchment shifted in response. Aloe had seen that moving ink for centuries now, yet it hadn''t stopped being magical once to her. Soon it read:


    Species: Nature''s Bounty


    Sobriquet: Thick Stump


    Description: An evolved member of the Malvaceae family, a species known for its ability to spread its roots in a wide area and boost the growth rate of nearby flora.


    Alignment: Life, Time


    Many thoughts flourished and withered her mind after reading the description. She had suspected that it could be this specific plant, especially because she had never had the chance to see this evolved plant fully grown, but the only thing she did was giggle.


    "Wide area, indeed." Never before had there been a description so amusingly humble.

 Book 5: 45. Lingering

    Finding out that the World Tree was a mixture of different beings was no surprise to Aloe at all. She had had more gut-wrenching and visceral surprises this day already anyhow.


    Maybe it was because of her prolonged time in the chasm, but Aloe had the imperious need to draw the colossal living being in front of her. She already had a veritas leaf in hand, which was all she needed, all she could have done at the depths of the earth to pass out time.


    Drawing.


    But she held herself. There would be a time to draw, but not just yet. Later.


    ¡°Aleahilhahiba,¡± she called for the attention of her lichenous daughter.


    ¡°Yes, oh mother?¡± The dryad stood dutifully still at her sight, much like the tree next to them.


    ¡°I have many questions about all of this, so many in fact that new ones keep popping up and make me forget about the originals I had.¡± Aloe smiled wryly. ¡°But one of the questions that refuses to be buried is about you and your sisters. What are dryads, Aleahilhahiba?¡±


    ¡°We just are, oh mother.¡± The polypore on her face whistled as she talked. ¡°You don¡¯t ask the tree why it takes root, you don¡¯t ask the heavens why they are up there, you don¡¯t ask the river why it continues flowing.¡±


    ¡°So you don¡¯t have answers.¡± The mother stated taciturnly and the daughter failed to answer; her overgrown face undecipherable. ¡°I should have guessed at much. If you have spawned from me yet I don¡¯t know how you have come to be, I doubt you will know it. Hmm¡­¡±


    Aloe recalled the veritas description they had obtained from Kadashayka.


    Species: Aloe Aaliyada


    Sobriquet: Dryad


    Description: A member belonging to no family, their species is known for their high adaptive capabilities, female-only population, and ability to assimilate other plants.


    Alignment: Life


    Ignoring the nauseating name, the description states dryads do not belong to any family, so that ¡®Aloe¡¯ makes reference to me rather than the family of succulents. This is not like one of the re-evolved Aloe Veritas plants, but something else. But, if that is the case, this must mean one of two things. Either dryads are a family composed of a single species or they are the result of an evolved plant.


    ¡°Do you know of anyone capable of evolving?¡± She asked Aleahilhahiba, but the dryad titled her head to the side in confusion. ¡°Right¡­ I forgot you don¡¯t know about terminology. Let me explain it¡­¡±


    Over the following hour, Aloe explained her eldest daughter about the vital arts. She shared more with her than she had with Xochipilli, because at least she could trust the ancient plant not to kill herself by mistake. Ancient? You are older than her, Aloe. What does that make me? She bickered on her head.


    Sharing everything with her had also the advantage of having her on an equal playing field information-wise, which should ease their communication.


    ¡°I have understood the concepts you have shared with me,¡± Aleahilhahiba said. ¡°And I do share your same theories about our conception, but I fear I do not have the answers myself. I do not know a person capable of wielding Evolution. Only Nurture and Enlightenment we have found across the Evergreen¡¯s expanse.¡±


    ¡°Kadashayka mentioned about how some of her elder sisters boasted about knowing their other mother, can you elaborate on that?¡±


    The lichen dryad swayed her head slowly. ¡°Boasting it was all, I fear. You are the first of our mothers we have met¡­¡± She stopped for a moment. ¡°Excuse me, oh mother, but I am not aware of your name.¡±


    ¡°I would be afraid if you did, as I have not shared it yet,¡± the mother chuckled. ¡°I am Aloe.¡±


    ¡°A wonderous and suitable name,¡± Aleahilhahiba nodded. ¡°You wield the name of plants and truth.¡±


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    ¡°I understand the part of plants, but where does this truth thing come from?¡±


    ¡°From the plant you wielded to inspect the World Tree,¡± the dryad pointed at the discarded veritas leaf.


    It took her a moment to understand Aleahilhahiba¡¯s words, but then she remembered the Aloe Veritas¡¯ sobriquet: Bitter Truth. And she realized the weight of her daughter¡¯s statement.


    ¡°Wait.¡± Aloe frowned. ¡°You know of the Aloe Veritas?¡±


    ¡°Indeed,¡± the fungal growths on her head nodded with her. ¡°May I be rude enough to demand oh mother to accompany me?¡±


    ¡°You may, and rude it is not.¡± The vegetable woman gave her a warm, motherly smile.


    Aleahilhahiba guided her into the World Tree. Such massive being was scaled up even in its crevices as even the holes that would have been by bugs were human-sized pathways here. That arose a question, though. I swear to the heavens, if I¡¯m finding a human-sized insect, I¡¯m burning this place to the ground.


    Aloe wasn¡¯t joking.


    The cavern-like tunnels were illuminated by the normal yet empowered bioluminescent mushrooms that had littered the clearing, which gave the narrow paths a somewhat mystical and almost comforting aura. The two women calmly and silently walked through the innards of the mountain-sized tree. From time to time, the tunnels would bifurcate, and some would even end to the outside in some kind of balconies. Whilst the way out seemed natural, the balconies were not as bark and branches had been displaced to make cozy oriels instead of death sentences.


    Upwards they moved for a while, perhaps for yet another hour as they moved calmly. Time had always fleeted Aloe¡¯s grasp since her transformation, but now that she was with her daughter, that was even more the case. It felt like if she stopped paying attention, days would just go by.


    But before long, their surroundings changed. The walls of the tree trunk became more porous and laden with clefts everywhere. They started as nail-thin crevices, but soon widened to human-wide, and then beyond that.


    Yet, even as the tree became hollow, no outside light reached them. For there was a ceiling above them. Wooden, much like the walls wrapping them, but different altogether. For the woods color was white.


    The Na¡¯mul Ter¡¯nar lingered on top of them.


    As they reached the apex of the Nature¡¯s Bounty half of the World Tree, they stepped into a small recess, a liminal space where there weren¡¯t any wooden walls but a massive clearing. One mustn¡¯t think that both halves of the tree were separated and one floated above the other, for the barks of both trees organically transitioned into one another, but there were also some structures that could only be classified as pillars which they held the top half of the Heart of the Evergreen.


    But even with the mystical ¨C and honestly physics-defying sight ¨C Aloe¡¯s focus wasn¡¯t on the ter¡¯nar, but the expanse of the top of the Nature¡¯s Bounty. She knew that a mature specimen was a stump and not a full tree, but now she noticed what was the ¡®cut¡¯ section of the stump wasn¡¯t composed of wood like the rest of the trunk, but a soil of some sorts. It reminded her of the Heartgrowths on her skin as she used them as soil herself.


    Aloe squatted to touch the Nature¡¯s Bounty soil, to feel it in her hands, but she couldn''t quite grab it. The soil wasn¡¯t dirt, but far closer to her Heartgrowths than she would have thought.


    Many plants, fungi, and whatnot grew on this liminal soil of the halfway point. Mainly grass. The Mother of Plants didn¡¯t need anyone to tell her that it was Cure Grass that was growing beneath them.


    Once she stood up, Aleahilhahiba continued guiding her along the path, and soon they reached the very center of World Tree. Perhaps not vertically as the ter¡¯nar section was way taller than the Nature¡¯s Bounty one ¨C though not by any means less massive if one considered its roots ¨C but certainly horizontally.


    And there a familiar sight lingered.


    It was unlike anything else she had ever seen before, yet it was familiar to her, nonetheless.


    At the dead center of the Heart of the Evergreen was the greatest of the ashen pillars that connect both of its halves. They were twisted around like a good rope, but paradoxically perfectly straight like a firm column should be.


    But she cared not for the column, but for the entities resting on its base.


    She had mentioned how a familiar sight lingered, but it was more of a feeling. Her gaze unconsciously drifted to the world of ideas ¨C she required of no assistance any longer for that ¨C yet she saw nothing there. By all accounts, it was her own imagination as nothing could remain this long nor reach this high up, but she felt a wisp of vitality lingering.


    Of a man she had killed two centuries ago.


    It was the same spot.


    Where everything had gone downhill.


    She could have lingered there, perhaps she should have lingered, but Aloe left it go. It was but a spirit of the past, and perhaps she should have let everything go as she herself was one, but only this one she allowed herself to forgive herself for.


    A casual apology for a remorse that had been festering for centuries. But those were the best ones. Casual apologies. No one liked dramatic or forced ones.


    Aloe continued walking, only dedicating a single nod to the place where a burned mark remained if just in her mind, before approaching the central column.


    The vegetable woman knelt at the base and caressed the brown plant. She needed not to look around to know that there weren¡¯t any more nearby, or to recognize it.


    ¡°How¡¯s it that only you have survived?¡± Aloe whispered to the Aloe Veritas. The one that her grandfather had once planted way before she even knew what vital arts were. It was both a miracle, an impossibility, and a fact that the succulent was lingering against all odds.


    Perhaps the Na¡¯mul Ter¡¯nar was the biggest reminder of Karaim¡¯s presence in this world, but for Aloe, this plant that showed everyone the bitterest of truths was the most important one.

 Book 5: 46. Symbiosis

    "So that''s why you were surprised when you saw me grow an Aloe Veritas, eh?" Aloe mused to her daughter.


    "Affirmative," Aleahilhahiba knelt next to her in front of the veritas. In a kneeling position, she wasn''t as toweringly tall as most of her body was legs, now putting her at a height similar to her mother''s.


    "Is this the only Aloe Veritas in existence?" She continued caressing the succulent''s parchment surface.


    "Your own creations notwithstanding, I must agree." The dryad said ''yes'' in the most complex way possible as she also nodded. That was something Aloe had noticed. Dryads were capable of speech and understanding of language, but¡­ they had their speaking quirks.


    "You mentioned before that no other people knew of Evolution. How sure of that are you?"


    "I cannot ascertain anything with true veracity¡­ but I am inclined to say that no other individual knows of your personal vital arts, oh mother."


    "Hmm~" Aloe hummed as she pondered, the glamour internal infusion giving it a musical touch.


    I''ve relaxed myself too much around her. If I were to have such a slip on a city, there would be disastrous consequences. She kept those musings to herself. At least she doesn''t seem to be affected by my glamour. Is it a trait of the dryads, or maybe because she shares my vitality? It was a question she would like answers to, but right now there were more pressing matters.


    "Why are you inclined to say that?" The Mother of Plants added.


    "Humans, across the many seasons and their cycles, have come seeking for plants you would consider to be evolved or brought some to us. If they had the capabilities to make their own, they wouldn''t have come to us. Wouldn''t keep trying to seek us."


    "Makes sense¡­" Aloe groaned and stretched her arms. "So are you by any chance the ones who gave the names to the evolved plants that are found now all over Ydaz?"


    "Quite," Aleahilhahiba nodded. "The Bitter Truth has always provided us with answers, and we have never felt like guarding that knowledge. Better if everyone knew the true name of each plant, they wouldn''t like to be misnamed."


    Aloe was going to protest over her ideology but decided to keep herself shut after realizing that the dryads didn''t share any plants. Only the knowledge of ones that were already known.


    "So evolved plants like the Nature''s Bounty, Na''mul Ter''nar, and Aloe Veritas you didn''t share?" But it didn''t hurt to ask.


    "Negative," the lichen dryad swayed her head. "No humans are aware of the existence of the Aloe Veritas, and as for the former two, the humans long decided to call their symbiosis the World Tree, and as it wasn''t sad to hear such a grand name, we didn''t bother to correct them."


    "Who wasn''t sad?" Aloe asked with a frown.


    "The World Tree," Aleahilhahiba replied as a matter of fact.


    "The World Tree¡­" Her mother repeated and the dryad simply nodded. She rubbed her temples and groaned. "Let me get this straight. Can you talk to plants?"


    "You can''t?" Her daughter asked in genuine shock.


    "Contrary to what my appearance would say I am a human, so¡­"


    "But, oh mother, aren''t you like us?" Aleahilhahiba interjected her in a rare act of disrespect and antagonism.


    "Contrary to what my appearance would say I am a human," Aloe repeated but with a stern tone, forcing the silence into the dryad. "So I am not capable of communicating with plants. I might sense them, but I cannot ''talk'' to them."


    "We cannot talk to plants either, oh mother," the pale daughter responded in a more obliging tone. "We are only but capable of feeling their emotions, or at least, that is the closest that it comes to a human equivalent."


    "I see¡­" The dark-skinned mother took a deep breath, stood up, and finally smiled. "Then maybe it can be an acquired skill. I am willing to learn it, but we will have to leave it for later. We only have a few hours left before the sun comes out."


    Aleahilhahiba stood up after her and she looked at her. Her daughter was taller than her, forcing her to look down at her. The feeling was almost familiar to her. Children notwithstanding, everyone had looked down at her ¨C down on her ¨C when she was but a petite and frail woman.


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    "What are you going to do for these remaining hours, oh mother?"


    "I''d like to keep exploring the tree. Is the upper half explorable?" The dryad nodded at her question. "That''s good to hear, but I want to check one thing first." She cut the tallest leaf of Karaim''s veritas and offered it to her daughter. "Could I have some of your lichens?"


    Having understood her intentions, Aleahilhahiba grated a bit of the lichen growing on her arms and let it fall on the bleeding cut of the Aloe Veritas leaf.


    "Hmm¡­" Aloe groaned after she read the words that had formed on the leaf. "It''s a normal kind of lichen. I was expecting something else. Maybe if I had a bigger piece of you like a finger¡­" Without hesitation, Aleahilhahiba tore one of her fingers and offered it to her mother. "Darling¡­ I was jesting."


    "Oh," the dryad let out a weak noise as she held her cut finger on her palm. "You do not need it then?"


    "No, no. I''ll take it." The mother felt reticent to let go of such sacrifice and proof of loyalty went unanswered. She tore another leaf from the veritas and rubbed the cut section of both extremities against the other.


    She almost smiled at the results.


    Species: Heartgrowth


    Sobriquet: Synergic Symbiont


    Description: A member belonging to no family, their species is known for their ability to mimic organs and compliment the body of their host.


    Alignment: Life, Chaos


    "Symbiosis alright¡­" Aloe mused even if her expression was troubled.


    She could see it with her enhanced senses and a touch of acquired wisdom: dryads were much like lichen, not quite a single individual but a collection of them. The fact that she had gotten three different descriptions out of a dryad was proof enough. But the Heartgrowth¡­ that specific plant was troublesome.


    "Is there a problem, oh mother?" Not even glamour could hide that from her daughter.


    "Not really, I''m just¡­ taken by surprise." She offered the veritas leaf to the dryad. "This is another of the plants I have evolved, but the curious thing is that I evolved them firstly when I was deep down on the bowels of the earth, so I don''t know how they could''ve ended up here and then resulted in¡­ you and your sisters."


    "If you do not have the answers, oh mother, I have even less of them," Aleahilhahiba responded after reading the veritas'' description.


    Wait. Reading? Aloe frowned as she looked at the eyeless dryad who had polypore for a visage.


    "Aleahilhahiba," she called out.


    "Yes, oh mother?"


    "How have you understood the contents of the Aloe Veritas if you lack eyes?" Another question assaulted her the next instant. "Also, can dryads even read?"


    "No, we cannot, oh mother." The eldest daughter responded.


    "So what is going on here? Have you communicated with the veritas leaf?"


    "Not exactly," she swayed her head in negation. "This is a property exclusive to the Aloe Veritas, but it always makes itself understandable to its beholders. That is to say, the information that it shares is not limited by physical constraints. In my case, I am able to understand what it means to inform, whilst some of my sisters may see intuitive drawings. One of our more literate sisters has been able to read it, as you have."


    "Interesting¡­" Aloe curled her ivy locks around her finger. "I''ve known this plant for over two centuries now, yet this is the first time I''ve heard of this property. You never cease to amaze me, veritas."


    The Mother of Plants heaved her palm up and down in a pensive state until she realized she was still holding her daughter''s finger.


    "Oh, sorry. I should fix this."


    "Apologize to me not, oh mother, for I did it out of my own volition. And worry not, for it does not hurt me like a pruning wouldn''t hurt a tree."


    "That''s good to hear, but I insist." Aloe walked up to the dryad and pressed her finger against the wound.


    A moment later a Blossomflame grew from her hand and spurted its flames onto Aleahilhahiba. Much like the dryad had said, the fire flower didn''t recognize the lacking extremity as a wound, but Aloe had control over the flower, a finesse that no one could recreate, so it obeyed her and healed her daughter.


    It took but one instant for the wound to disappear.


    "I suspect from your surprise that the Blossomflames I had planted haven''t survived?"


    "They have not, oh mother," the eldest daughter informed her. "Could I be so bold to ask you for seeds of this magnificent plant?"


    "Of course you can," she replied with a smile before shoving a hand into the cavity of her Slowtide. It was way easier to access it without her Cottonpull dress in the way. "Put your hands before me."


    Aleahilhahiba did as commanded, clasping her hands together in a bowl, then Aloe took a handful of seeds out of her chest and dropped them into the dryad''s hands. Handful in the utmost literal sense of the word. The lichenous hands overflowed with warm seeds, some of them even falling to the ground. She looked at her mother in bewilderment.


    "Are these not enough? I can give you a cubic meter if needed." Aloe asked with a mighty smile going from side to side of her face.


    "There''s no need for that, oh mother!" The dryad exclaimed in a begging tone. "These are more than enough!"


    "Good to hear, good to hear." The mother nodded to herself. "But going to the subject at hand, you don''t know anything at all about your origins?"


    "We¡­" In a rare sight, Aleahilhahiba stopped to ponder her words. "We are born from the earth. The ways and the places we do change, but it is always on the Evergreen. And the moment we are born we are drawn to the World Tree''s vitality. Nothing more we know about ourselves, except that we must have a mother. Two of them, in fact, as those are the essences that compose our own."


    "And you just know this straight after being born?" Aloe crossed her arms as she professed her doubt.


    "Are not animals that know how to walk and feed straight out of their mother''s womb? Why must it be different for plants?"


    "Right¡­" The druid scratched her scalp even if it couldn''t get itchy any longer. "There''s much¡­ mysticism in you and your sisters'' birth, enough that I won''t be able to make heads or tails in this fleeting night, so I''ll inquire further on a later date. It rests well with me knowing that no one is making you."


    "Would that be a problem, oh mother?"


    "A very big one."