[Volume 3: Grand Gathering]
Northern Region, Emerald Ghost Tree.
The sun was high in the clear sky, and birds chirped in the swaying trees. The countless inhabitants of the forest rose from their hibernations one after another. Many were lost to the winter, but those who survived returned stronger than before.
The aftereffects of the melting snow had yet to dissipate, leaving the forest wet and muddy. Moss grew like weeds, and water plants sprouted faster than ever.
Within the tower walls of a sealed laboratory, Petra hummed a little tune while leaning over her desk.
Beneath her was a complicated square crystal containing a branch from the Emerald Ghost Tree. The crystal glowed with runic light that flickered in a mesmerizing rhythm. Its surface was deeply carved with runes so ancient that even the High Elves might struggle to understand them.
This palm sized cube was the result of Petra's recent studies from the void walker's rune system.
She utilized her combined knowledge of ancient and lost techniques to create this miniaturized version of the barrier produced by the Emerald Ghost Tree. It wasn't enough to cover a large area, but it was enough to blanket a small tower.
Petra even felt like she might have more talent in rune smithing than in poison making, but this was just a fleeting thought.
Petra raised the finished crystal, inspecting it.
When she was sure she was satisfied, she stood up and walked through the laboratory.
Around her were many experiments, some new, some old, some successful, and some not. Some were undergoing drastic changes, while others were stagnant and unchanging.
She skipped, her carefree demeanor clear in each step.
Stopping before an array of different sized tanks, Petra reached out and twisted two of the smaller tanks away from their bases. As they disconnected, streams of transparent blue liquid flowed out, draining into a disposal channel to the side.
When the pods emptied, Petra reached in and dragged the still groggy frog from the pod and stuffed it into her hood. Following this, she dragged the blue snake from the other pod, quickly stuffing it into her sleeve.
These pods were filled with a new drug she had developed after obtaining the remnants of the creation pool from the void walker ruins.
She had used this new drug on all seven of her contracted beasts.
With the awakening of the frog and the snake, that left only the centipede in its evolutionary hibernation.
Petra looked forward, her little black eyes scanning through the dozens of tanks. Her gaze landed on the largest tank in the back. Sealed within this tank was the enormous centipede. It was undergoing a much larger change than the other six beasts.
Surrounding it were dozens of smaller pods, each containing a different type of ant. Unlike the ants born normally, these 'Ant Units' were created by Petra personally.
The array of slumbering subjects would still take some time to wake up.
She turned, skipping back through the laboratory.
Below her swayed her shadow.
It extended without light, reaching through the laboratory, and picked up her bag. Two more 'hands' extended from her shadow, one retrieving her textbooks, and the other retrieving her unfinished biscuit.
When the shadows brought back the items, Petra stuffed them into the bag and turned.
At some point, Petra's figure blinked with a dark light, teleporting her away.
-
Petra appeared in a small wooden room.
This room was rustic, cylindrical, and newly built. The walls were lined with medicinal displays, and a large counter sat opposite to the front door. The magic lanterns that freely floated around the room emitted a flickering orange glow, and five tables were left open for the unseen guests. It was comfortable, homely, and painted with warm and relaxing colours.
On display were a variety of medicines, poisons, drugs, antidotes, and experimental substances. There were live plants, dried herbs, unnamed seeds, and exotic materials.
Now, one might ask, when did Petra's mansion possess such a strange room?
The answer was simple, it did not.
Petra left through the front door.
She emerged on a hillside surrounded by farmland. Behind her stood a small tower, only three floors in height. Beneath the tower lay a great spider, carrying this small tower on its back. It lay on the ground, sleeping soundly.
Petra walked to its head.
She patted it, like one would pat a pet. This was the Tower Spider, reborn after another evolution. It was finally living up to its name.
It stood ten meters tall, and its thin body held great strength. When it stood, it towered, and when it lay, it flattened. The Tower Spider could fold its legs inward to make itself look like a small hill. This was the perfect disguise, switching between a simple hill and a mobile fortress.
Petra held up the square crystal, slotting it into the overhead signboard labeled 'Poppy's Potions'. With a flip of the sign, one could switch the barrier between 'active' and 'inactive' states.
As for the danger of putting such an important object in plain sight…
If you asked Petra if she was worried that this would ever be stolen, then the little brat would probably burst out laughing.
Those thieves and troublemakers were just simple target practice for the spider's lightning-fast attacks. Unlike normal spiders, the Tower Spider possessed incredible flexibility, leaving no blind spots around its body. Even those within its halls were not safe, they would either fall to a quick strike directly through the wall, or an unseen poison that lingered about its halls. If one were attacked, they normally wouldn't even see what killed them.
The signboard rippled, and the runic channels that had yet to be filled were illuminated by an overly excited spiritual light. The green light from the signboard spread throughout the tower, filling the walls that Petra had designed to carry this inexplicable power. Soon, these changes even reached the spider, magic threads extending down and intertwining into its carapace like calligraphy.
After this, the Tower Spider had obtained the same ability as the Emerald Ghost Tree, only with a slightly smaller range.
Petra grinned, extremely satisfied with her work.
She returned to the tower.
This tower was a mobile fortress that she had built for fun.
The first floor was designed to serve customers. It was a medicinal store that was meant to make money.
The second floor was the girls' living quarters, a place to sleep and store their things. Because of certain spatial constraints, there wasn't enough room for each girl to have their own room. The lack of room led many of the girls to sleep together during their long travels, so you could imagine Rose's reaction.
The third floor was a small laboratory. This floor was designed to accommodate a large range of fields, ranging from alchemy, tailoring, forging, and cooking. It was a kind of 'one room fits all'.
And finally, the rooftop was a large garden, one filled with a variety of poisonous plants surrounding a large pavilion.
As for the exterior, the exterior of the tower was relatively simple. The first floor had a massive deck that spanned its circumference, the second floor had four circular windows that each faced one of the directions, the third floor had two large green banners hanging to its sides, and the rooftop garden was enclosed by a cute little fence.
Petra strolled through the second floor, greeting Mell as she passed.
As she walked, she passed many bipedal ants that were hard at work filling the tower for tomorrow's journey. These small ants that looked like the embodiment of child labor were very diligent in their work, and their unseen connection made them very efficient.
Petra loved these little guys. She secretly felt that having some 'children' around who were smaller than her was a good thing, or at least, it was a good thing for her mental health.
She continued walking around until she finally found Wind.
She approached Wind, pulling slightly too hard on her dress. After a glare, she asked about the arrangements.
The girls had planned to attend the 'Grand Gathering' that was announced by the Sky Tower. This was a large event with many opportunities, some official, others not so much, but there was no lack of things to gain.
This wasn't the reason they wanted to go, however…
As it would turn out, each of these girls had a somewhat vengeful bone in their bodies. After what Owen had done, how could they possibly pass up an opportunity to cause trouble?
Even Petra was slightly surprised at the willfulness of these girls.
Naturally, she was all for it. The more chaos, the better. For this, Petra even broke her golden rule of staying away from trouble. The anger from back then still boiled in the back of her mind.
Petra discussed with Wind about their travel plans. They did not intend to just rush over, Instead, they wanted to take their time and make some money along the way.
One of the new ant species that Petra had personally designed was a combination between an ant and a dragonfly. This was a kind of carrier, one that could transport supplies back and forth at a relatively quick speed.
Using this, Petra wouldn't have to worry about dragging dozens of carriages back and forth again.
The Ant Queen liked Petra's new design so much that it started producing these new ants in bulk. The original experimental subjects came out extremely small, but through Petra and the Ant Queens combined efforts, they managed to make them reach the size of the other ants relatively quick. They had black shells with a green line that ran down the middle of their heads. It was a new foundation, a more streamlined, sleeker, and versatile ant, something that would slowly become the new standard for the Ant Queens army.
This also marked the beginning of the Ant Queens' divergence from the previous Warlord Forges.
Petra had no idea what she had done, she just liked to create, to improve. This simple minded naivete was also the cause behind her creation of the King's Hand.
Petra seemed to forget the lessons that her last life had taught her.
She slowly lit the spark for her second apocalyptic creation.
Wind opened a map and Petra pointed out where she wanted to visit.
-
Later that night, Petra was sitting in the roof garden on the back of the Tower Spider.
She was surrounded by poisonous clouds that rose from the surrounding plants and twisted in competition with the chilling wind. Around her flowed spiritual energy that was free and unrestrained, reflecting her current mood.
In her little hand was a honey glazed cracker.
She nibbled.
'Nibble nibble nibble.'
Her eyes were slightly dazed, and her mind was wandering through the vast halls that made up her Inner Library. She was lost in thought, reading within her sea of consciousness. The knowledge that she had amassed was great, so great that she felt as if her own time was not enough.
Petra read through books on Technology and Culture, History, and Humour. None of these topics were small, and none of them were simple. If Petra wanted to read through everything, she would have to spend a few years just covering the basics for one subject.
So, she did what every child with a short attention span would do and skimmed. Petra's face scrunched up, scanning through the book titles one after another. She picked something that looked good, only to realize that she didn't care. She did this a few times, slowly going through her vast library.
After throwing away yet another book, her mind twitched.
Her physical body turned, finding that Bell was approaching her slowly.
Petra bit down, eating the last of the cracker.
She didn't want the other girls to know that she was studying. She had her pride, unfortunately, that pride was a bit misplaced.
Petra looked at Bell, her black eyes swimming with starlight.
This was the troubled girl that she had picked up during the snowstorm.
She was shy and cute, with a very soft personality.
Petra felt like she was the kind of girl that would be very squishy if she poked her with a stick.
From her circumstances, Petra had learned about many new things around the continent, the Church of Light, Demon Hunters, Witches, the Four Towers, and the Impending Chaos.
All this information pointed towards one thing, and that was trouble. Petra would normally avoid this with all her tiny little might, but unfortunately, this time it involved her as well.
Petra was a witch, so she would eventually run into the same troubles as Bell, this was inevitable. It didn't matter if Petra had saved Bell or not, what mattered was her bloodline. That trace of darkness that the self-righteous Church disdained, Petra understood that there would be no peace.
In the back of her mind, she was secretly a bit excited for the day when she would once again be pursued. Although she loved her current carefree life, there was a certain line that she couldn't justify crossing without enough reason. If that day ever came, Petra would be like an unbound beast. It would be the day when the 'Poison Sea Sage' would once again return.
Bell sat down next to Petra, remaining quiet. She looked up, staring into the night sky.
This was the time when there should have been an incredibly emotional conversation, one that talked about freedom and home. Unfortunately, Bell and Petra were too awkward, choosing to stay in silence instead of having a dialogue.
The night slowly deepened.
The wind blew, carrying a wave of poisonous petals.
Although Bell did not speak, that unquellable flicker of anxiety that always grew in the depths of her chest had calmed down. She noticed this shortly after meeting Petra. For her, this little master was something more than just a home. She was a cure, a cure to something uncontrollable deep within her bloodline. As long as she stayed near Petra, she wouldn't have to worry about her Witch Bloodline going out of control and transforming her into a monster.
Bell didn't know why the other maids had chosen to follow this young child, but to her, Petra was a future, one where she could live freely, unrestrained, free from the daily pursuit of the church.
It was a wonderful life that she had never imagined.
The night passed.
When Bell awoke, she found that Petra had already left.
The sun was high in the sky, and the sound of chirping birds filled the air.
She got up, slightly groggy.
Despite her messy morning mind, Bell felt refreshed and energized.
Bell pushed herself up, ready to start another day.
As she walked out of the garden, a smile crept onto her small face.
She was grateful, and although she was too shy to say it, she could always show it in other ways. Bell had already decided to devote her life to the green haired little imp that gave her hope.
When the day came for Bell to learn about her original fate, this day's decision would echo in her mind like an unbreakable anchor. Her resolve would remain unbroken throughout her life, because she, the young Witch of History, would never falter under the banner of the Green Star.