The air was fresh and crisp, the aether clear and vibrant. Not a speck of cursed energy leaked into the sanctuary that formed around the golden sugarcane, as if an invisible boundary kept everything at bay.
In fact, Nero even suspected that if it weren’t for Virtuous Moonlight keeping him purified, entering this place would have cleared him of any lingering cursed energy, or even curses that hung onto his body. There was no actual basis for this feeling, but he could not deny how strongly he felt it.
Nero could not help but wonder if coming here would help those who had been suffering from the effects of the abstract curse. He had a feeling that it would - but the problem was that it was basically impossible to bring them here without exposing himself.
Nero focused on the clearing of around 18 square meters (200 square feet) with the golden sugarcane, almost 1 meter (3 feet) in thickness, right in the middle of it. Thin channels laden with small, smooth pebbles formed streams of flowing water within this region, carrying crystal clear water, almost imperceptible at a glance. The grass in the region was wild, and yet it did not grow taller than ankle length.
If one ignored the backdrop of a black wall of mutated, corrupted plants, the sight was like that of a carefully cultivated paradise. The reason Nero felt like it was carefully cultivated was because as he observed and appreciated the clearing, he felt a presence observing and analyzing him.
Unlike everything before, this was not an intangible sensation. Instead, he felt like the air became heavy around his body, as if sensing the contours of his body. The sensation was faint and gentle, which is why he did not resist, and stood in his place until the feeling eventually faded.
Just as Nero observed the sugarcane stalk, the sugarcane stalk observed him!
Slowly, Nero took a single step, the soft crunch of his foot stepping on fresh grass, still wet with dew clearly audible. Since there was no adverse reaction, he took a second step, and then a third.
Instead of approaching the sugarcane, Nero walked all around it, studying the massive plant, wondering how in the world he could harvest this thing. He had a strong feeling that it would not appreciate being uprooted and stuffed inside a glass orb, and an even stronger feeling that taking it on alone was not going to be easy.
"I just want to check something. Can you speak?" Nero asked out loud, unafraid of looking foolish. Considering he got no response, he took it as a sign that the plant could not.
Nero took a step closer to it, careful not to trigger any traps or cause some kind of issue. He stepped over the streams, not allowing his body to touch the water, which seemed to have no real source.
There were too many things to take note of with this Sage level sugarcane, but the thing that Nero found most interesting was how desperately the surrounding curses wanted to reach it, and yet were unable to.
By now, Nero was well aware that there was a lot more to curses and cursed energy than he, or possibly everyone else, knew. Even so, the clearing that was entirely devoid of cursed energy that somehow eluded all comprehension and understanding of humanity was a testament to what could be achieved one day.
Even now, most human settlements could only keep curses at bay through a very strict combination of routine maintenance and numerous Arcanists and even Mystics working together. Even then, curses would often invade villages and cities, wreaking havoc.
The recent Cursed tide was just one example of how devastating curses could become overnight, and how difficult they were to control. Excluding his own Virtuous Moonlight, which was an anomaly as far as Nero could tell, this clearing was the best example of the fact that one day, humanity really could build a world free of curses.
For now, though, he needed to figure out how to take back this plant. Slowly, carefully, Nero reached out to touch the plant to see if there was any reaction. He was ready to coat his entire body in Cryoflame the moment something went awry, since the flames would be more useful for non-cursed beings.
Through his gloves, Nero could not feel what the actual texture of the plant was like, but he connected with it in a strange way. Previously, he had asked the plant if it could talk, and he got no response. Yet now, he could exchange thoughts, or vague sensations of his desires with the plant.
The plant wanted to know if he could clear the surrounding curse, to which he responded he could not.
He asked if the plant would allow him to take it away from this place, to which the plant let him know he couldn’t possibly if he tried. The sugarcane was locked in place here by powers it could not explain - this was its prison and its sanctuary.
Then the communication ended. Nero tried to extend his thoughts into the plant again, but it did not work.
He was not resigned to give up just like that. He was so close, and though he did not want to do anything drastic, it wasn’t as if he was willing to give up without trying anything at all. Nero took a step back to study the plant once more, but was distracted by the sound of rumbling.
Then his eyes were pulled towards the ground, where he saw the soil beginning to shift. Something was happening.
An hour later, outside the field of sugarcane, Vanessa took a deep breath as she tried to wipe the sweat on her brow with the back of her hand, careful not to let the bloody dagger in her hand touch her face. Of course, she could not do that because she was wearing a mask, like everyone else.
The bump of her head hitting the mask suddenly reminded her of the mask’s existence. She would have felt embarrassed if she weren’t extremely exhausted.
Around the group, there were a number of cat corpses. These cats, clearly cursed, had attacked the group a short while ago, their incredible stealth nearly succeeding. If it weren’t for Dave suddenly detecting the danger, the group could have possibly all died as a result of being assassinated by cats.
"Are you alright?" Noman asked her, putting on a brave face. The kid had fought admirably, but hurt badly. He had been healed using cards, and temporary stitches, but it was unlikely he would be accompanying the group again any time soon.
In fact, of the entire group, Vanessa was the only one who wasn’t hurt. It was both because the group tried to protect her, but also because she herself was a formidable force. Her innate ability was also quite useful in a fight.
"I’ll live, but I don’t know if we’ll be able to wait all 3 hours for Nero if this keeps up," she said, looking at their group.
Dave, who was sulking in a corner, trying to ignore the pain of a deep gash in his chest, grunted.
"Who knows if he’s even alive in there? It’s been so long since we heard anything. This is a suicide mission."
"Why is it that you, who have the highest chances of survival, are the most afraid of death?" Ursula asked sarcastically, clearly also in a bad mood.
Dave only snorted in response, but said nothing else. At the end of the day, they were just a few teenagers, trapped in another dimension, surrounded by death. A few hours of waiting had clearly strained their mental fortitude. Yet the more it was like this, the more Vanessa could see how unique Nero was.
The odd thing was, Nero seemed to be under the impression that all Kolari’s were strong warriors with excellent mental fortitude. While it was true to some extent, Vanessa wasn’t impressed by most.
"There’s movement," Ursula suddenly said, standing up and looking towards the sugarcane field.
That is where the cats had come from, so the whole group was even more on edge. All four of them had their weapons raised and their cards ready, staring into the field, searching for their enemy to reveal themselves.
Yet as the sugarcane shoots moved aside, it wasn’t feral creatures or cursed monsters that appeared. Instead, a teenager bathed in blue flames, carrying his glaive casually over his shoulder, strolled out as if he had returned from a stroll.
He bore not a single sign of struggle, as his gear lacked even a single scratch. Either he hadn’t encountered any fights at all, or he hadn’t been touched once by his foes.
The prior was, of course, impossible, so that left only the latter, yet that somehow seemed even more unbelievable.
"Did you find it?" Vanessa asked, her voice somehow filled with doubt and excitement. The field was supposed to be so dangerous that the Arcanists had not dared venture in, filled with monsters and curses both.
How could Nero come back entirely unharmed, and come back so quickly? He hadn’t even used half the time given to him for the mission, which in itself seemed almost too short to complete.
"Obviously," Nero said with a smile, flashing an insufferable grin. "Are you guys alright? Did something major happen while I was inside?"
The group all looked at each other, lost for words. There were four of them, outside the dangerzone, yet why did they look worse for wear?
"Let’s just get out of here," Vanessa said, as she resisted the urge to wipe her sweat once more.