It was the wooden womanly figure, but this time instead of a pinkish white, rotten wood person, it was a beautiful green maiden that looked like an exquisitely hand carved figurine that received the most care in its making. "Beautiful." Vain muttered under his breath. The wooded figure giggled and said, "Thank you."
Vain - "You can talk?"
Wooden Figure - "Is that strange?"
Vain "Um, I dont know"
Wooded Figure - "Hahahaha, I guess you wouldn't"
Vain - "..."
Wooded Figure - "...my name is Rhyme. Im a dryad. I have to sincerely thank you for saving me, Vain."
Vain - "You know my name?"
Rhyme - "Of course, didnt you see the knowledge left in the dominion core?"
Vain "Oh. Yes I did. I didn't know if any of that was real though. This world is too strange."
Rhyme - "Hahaha. That's true. Don't worry, Its very normal for you to be suspicious at first, but it's all real. Come with me, I owe you an explanation at least."
Vain nodded and followed the wooden beauty Rhyme into the middle of the ginormous tree that was at the center most part of the Pallid Rotwood forest. Inside the tree was, well it was the inside of a tree. The beautiful Dryad Rhyme waved her hand forming a table with two chairs out of the wood and grass inside the tree. Vain sat down in the closer chair and stared fixedly at the beautiful Dryad. Rhyme wasted no time and started explaining the circumstances in detail, "A very, very long time ago, I was attacked by a vicious beast that was the source of the plague you've come to know. A long story short, I ended up killing the foul beast, but it was a pyrrhic victory. I ended up being tainted by the plague even to the point of my dominion core being corrupted. All I could do to survive the corruption was to release the tainted spiritual energy to my surroundings, forming what you know to be the Pallid Rotwood forest. Years and years later, I dont know how long honestly, I saw through the trees, a little abandoned human boy that was born with a physique that could absorb the blood of creatures. To be honest, I didn't expect much of you at first. But as I watched you grow up, I started developing fond feelings towards you. You brought some excitement to my bland life that seemed to be stuck in place. Then, I saw you absorb blood from a creature that was tainted with the Pallid plague and my heart sank. However, nothing happened to you. That's when a tiny glimmer of hope started to form in my hollow, wooden heart. Then, you went through the mutation and actually started absorbing all of the disease that was spreading in the forest. What an insane little boy you are haha. But again, nothing happened, actually something did happen. You actually turned the Pallid Rot into energy for your physique and rose through the ranks at a crazy speed. When I saw this, the tiny glimmer of hope that sparked in my wooden heart turned into a raging fire. I was extremely hopeful for the first time in who knows how long. Finally, you made it to the center of the forest and met me. But to think I did something so unforgivable to the little boy that gave me hope when I first met him. For that, I sincerely apologize." Vain looked at the dryad with a confused look when he heard the last sentence and asked, "You did something unforgivable to me?" The guilty looking dryad drooped her head and nodded saying, "Yes. I just told you that even my dominion core was tainted, right? Well, I gave it to you so I could start forming a brand new dominion core right away. Thats why you lost consciousness when I first hugged you." "Oh." Vain replied blandly.
Rhyme looked at Vain and didnt know whether to laugh or cry. She said "If your body couldn't handle the dominion core, it might have exploded from the excess energy or if the core clashed with your current spiritual energy, it could have caused irreparable damage and you'd be crippled for the rest of your life." Vain's eyes opened wide when he heard this. But then he thought of something and said, "I dont have any spiritual energy though, so maybe it wasn't that dangerous?" Rhyme looked at Vain with an expression that said, "Do you even understand what you're saying?" And Vain returned her gaze with a gaze that said, "Im serious." Rhyme, seeing Vain's serious gaze, reached out her beautiful hand and placed it on Vain's chest. "You, you really dont have any spiritual energy... how is that possible?" "I dont know." Vain replied casually. "Uncle Ale can't detect my body's power. He doesn't understand it either, but I definitely don't have any spiritual energy. I couldn't learn anything Uncle Ale tried to teach me. I only have the powers I've obtained through absorbing blood." Rhyme might have been even more confused than Vain and Uncle Ale at this point. She muttered under her breath, "So it was it just your body that retained my old dominion core? But you're a human, not a demon, beast, or other race. If you were a demon or beast it could make sense. But you're not." The beautiful dryad clicked her tongue in wonder, then asked, "Can I have some of your blood to see if I can find anything?"
Vain shook his head, slightly surprising Rhyme. He said, "The rot is in my blood, won't it harm you if you take it?" Rhyme understood now why Vain rejected her. She said sweetly, "No. With just a drop of your blood I'll be perfectly fine. The Pallid Rot concentration won't be strong enough to spread again." Vain then agreed to Rhyme's request after hearing this. After all, the person that was by far the most curious about him, was himself. Rhyme then pricked one of Vain's fingers and seriously observed the blood. After a few breaths she exclaimed, "This... its not human blood at all. It's like a mixture of beasts blood with a drop of human blood." Then Rhyme thought of something and it was absolutely horrifying, she asked with a hoarse voice, "Do you absorb blood essences each time you absorb blood?"
Vain shrugged saying, "Only sometimes. I'm not sure how it works. Why do you ask?"
Rhyme thought to herself "What a monster. What terrifying potential." She then said aloud, "You absorbing blood essences is probably what let your body sustain a dominion core at the Kingsfield rank."
Vain - "Im not at the Kingsfield rank..."
Rhyme - "I poured all of the remaining rot in the forest into your body before giving you my old dominion core. It forced you to break through."
Vain - "Thank you."
Rhyme didnt know whether to laugh or cry again. She thought others would probably go berserk when they heard what she did, but the boy in front of her treated all of it like a gift. Truly a strange boy. Rhyme shrugged it off as if she was slowly adjusting to the weird boy in front of her and just said, "No problem."
The next moments were followed by an awkward silence before Vain asked the biggest question that's been on his mind, "What is a dominion core?"
Rhyme looked at him with a blank expression before saying, "Once a human reaches the Dominion Rank they will be able to use their spiritual energy to form a dominion. Each dominion is unique to an individual---."
Vain interrupted "What about a dominion core though?"
Rhyme sighed, "That's why I must apologize again. I'm truly, very sorry. A dominion core is only formed in demons, demon beasts or maybe some other particular creatures. It was a gamble I took without your permission because I saw how you handled the Pallid Rot. It was a blessing you have beast blood flowing through your veins." The beautiful dryad lowered her head, ashamed of herself. However, Vain didn't think it was that big of a deal. He figured it really wasn't that big of a gamble considering how he could control and absorb the blight. What's more, he doesn't have any spiritual energy so if it was a conflict of energies he doesn't have to worry and he doesnt have to worry about his body being too weak either. His entire strength stems from his body. Vain figured his body was much stronger than the usual person's. He wanted to console the mopey dryad so he said, "I really don't mind miss. All in all, you did me a huge favor. Besides, I really don't think I was is any danger." Rhyme raised her head, smiled, and gave Vain a meaningful stare. She then got up from her chair, walked towards Vain and gave him another hug. Vain didnt know, but Rhyme, watching him grow up all these years, felt like she and Vain were a family and she put her one family member in danger. It was not easy for Rhyme to forgive herself. After the hug was over, Rhyme sat back down and asked, "So what do you plan to do now? There's no more rot for you to absorb. Also, it will take a long time for powerful beasts to migrate into the forest now that it's clean again, meaning you won't have any blood to absorb for the time being." Vain pondered for a while before replying, "I honestly dont know. Uncle Ale will be back in five years, but I can't sit around and do nothing for those five years. I have to keep getting stronger."
Rhyme asked with some curiosity in her tone, "Why do you want to get stronger so much?"
Vain said seriously, "Because I want to live."
After hearing Vain's answer, Rhyme's eyes moistened. What a cruel world we live in for a little boy to have such thoughts. She sighed deeply and another bout of silence came, but this silence wasn't awkward. It was more of an understanding silence. A few minutes passed and this time Rhyme was the one to interrupt the silence, "You're always welcome to stay here. You may not believe it but, I see you as my own child. I've watched you grow up all these years afterall." Vain was extremely grateful. He only said, "Thank you" again. It was only two words, but to Rhyme it was twelve years of watching a little boy cry, struggle, smile, succeed, fail, and fail again. The two of them kept chatting for a little while longer. After chatting with Rhyme for a while, Vain came up with a plan for the start of the next five years. According to the lovely dryad, there is a unique space just about four hours north of Wysteria's northern gate that had an age requirement of less than twenty. (A unique space is a special space that's separate from the main world, often having its own set of rules and regulations.) This unique spaces entrance would only open for a few hours on one specific day, then close for few weeks, not allowing anyone to enter or leave the unique space during this time. This only happened once a year, making it a very popular training grounds for many families and sects that wish to hone in their youngest members. Rhyme said that this Unique space should be perfect for Vain because not only would he be able to secure the best resources the space would have to offer, but it will also be relatively safe since the unique space has a rule restricting the age to twenty and below, the danger should also be relatively low. Rhyme said she heard this from the group of idiots that Vain killed when she was observing them. The only problem being, the five idiots didn't mention the exact day, they only said that it was opening soon. This meant that Vain had to leave the forest shortly if he wanted to enter the unique space. He would also have to gather the specific information about the unique space on his own, which would be two firsts for Vain. He was both nervous and excited to see his new world for the first time. He's read a lot about it, but that's just reading. Getting to experience something was completely different from reading about it after all. Deciding to go through with this idea, Vain packed his bag, getting it ready for his trip tomorrow morning. That night, Vain and Rhyme casually chatted until Rhyme said it was getting too late for Vain to stay awake and that he needed to get enough sleep for the next day. The next morning, Vain bade farewell to the beautiful dryad after she scolded him over and over on how to stay safe and what to do if he finds trouble. Vain listened carefully to Rhyme's words and took them to heart. After she was done talking, she gave Vain a meaningful hug and then he was on his way. The Pallid Rotwood forest was very large and now Vain was at the center of it. He estimated It wood take him six days to reach the outskirts of the forest, then after that, it would only take a few hours to reach the town of Wysteria. In the blink of an eye, five and a half days passed. Vain was now at the edge of the forest. Although he was rushing the entire time, the trip to this point was very peaceful. Looking at the edge of the woods, Vain paused for a moment, then walked through it without hesitation. Vain looked at the world he was going into for the first time, but he had no expectations. He didn't care about adventures, he didnt care about scenery, foods, entertainment. None of it would affect Vain. He was as aloof as an immortal. It wasn't arrogance. It was only indifference. All he wanted to do was get stronger. Strong enough to never have to face danger. Strong enough so that nothing will dare to try to take his life. Strong enough to finally experience all that life has to offer. But before he's strong enough, nothing will satiate his urge to get stronger.