Master Of None

Remey was silent while she held the fruit up. She was letting the moonlight continually bathe it and the water elemental mana in the air flow around it. The process may have finished but there was still the end of the ceremony to make it to and she had been instructed not to move until she saw that the lunar priestess had stopped the ceremony completely. 

With the amazing sight of the mana sprout growing and turning in to a fruit with an extremely valuable trait, Walker had trouble gathering his mind. Luckily, he was able to focus when he realized the garden had more activity below. 

Among the vibrant blooming fruits a few elves with tools had begun to harvest certain plants that could only be harvested at a time like this; the full moon. This was a rapid process since they had a limited time and needed to do it carefully. He was only focused on the scene for a moment though, the spirit cedar had finally reached the point in which all of the large buds would bloom. 

The buds had grown to the size of a normal child's head and were the same pale white as the moon. Small drops of sparkling water dripped off them making it appear that they were rolled in the coarse sugar from his mothers' kitchen.

Without warning the priestess's dance became more energetic and the buds split open to reveal vibrant blue flowers. The elemental mana that was released from every flower as it burst open was intense and condensed. The forest around the large elven garden seemed to shudder as it too felt this density of elemental mana. Walker could tell that all the growth of the forest was going to experience a renewed strength after this. 

The brilliant flowers that had bloomed were already fading and wilting. The petals dropped off the branches and fell toward the ground catching in the wind and drying in to the ideal fertilizer for the spiritual cedar. Walker couldn't help but feel the depression in his heart knowing that something so wonderous only lasted for a minute at most. 

The spirit cedar lost all of the petals sooner than any of them wanted it to. Yet there was still something left. There was a small grey seed left at the site of each of the flowers. They were emanating a small amount of natural mana and had a ring of hard ice around them. Trish gestured for Walker to grab one since she saw his curious look. He didn't waste a moment and used his all around appraisal skill. 

'Spirit cedar tree seed. 

The spirit cedar tree seed is very delicate. When it is created the mother tree will fold it in layers of elemental mana to protect it, therefore, causing a ring of ice to cover the entire seed. This ice will be sustained by the water elemental mana for fifty years. Upon the last of the water elemental mana becoming ice, the ice will melt and nourish the soul for the spirit cedar tree seed to grow. It will take four hundred and twelve years to reach maturity.'

Walker couldn't imagine being able to care for a tree like this in his lifetime. The elves had the time to dedicate to it but a human never would without some extreme circumstances. Trishmotioned for him to keep it which made Walker wonder why. He had a feeling it wasn't actually for him but for Remey and that Trish was entrusting it to him since he would be able to hold it while Remey cared for the fruit that came from the mana sprout. 

Before Walker could focus on anything else again he realized that the dormant full water spirit had stopped absorbing the water elemental mana and was a much darker blue color. It was even colder as well and looked like it was under some form of change. Walker fixed it back in to his cloak so that it would be safe and so he could be ready with both hands to help with any cleanup. 

The lunar priestess was moving incredibly slow and returned to the spot she had started from in her dance. Her foot rose and she stepped away from the engravings in the wood platform. She silently grabbed the ribbons still fluttering as if there was wind in reverse order. They rolled themselves up without any effort from her and she knelt down closing her eyes. 

The moon was already setting and she had finished her duty. Now that she had stopped moving Walker noticed that her breathing became elastic and sweat poured down her face. She had kept herself perfectly calm and collected through this long ceremony and was finally able to break character and show her true state. 

"That was even more spectacular than the last time. I can only see your improvement as time goes on." Trish said this while standing near the lunar priestess and offered her some mana potions. These seemed to help the lunar priestess calm down and return to a better state of breathing. 

"This moon was very pure. I have the feeling that we gained a little more than usual. I hope that the effects are as our gusts desired." The lunar priestess finally spoke to the party and smiled. There was a feeling of kindness and spiritual healing coming from her words that was indescribable. 

"Yes! Thank you so much for your help. Without you, I wouldn't have my white vine quiver." Gil had seen the end of his quest and realized the name of his new quiver. The white vine patterns that covered it were the namesake itself and furthered his love of it. He had long traveled the woods with his father and grown plants with his mother, this was the ideal quiver for him.

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