NOVEL NEXT Book 1 - Chapter 25 - Jank Cultivation
"You sure you don't wanna take it to an Apothecary?" Mary called as she followed Alex running up the creaky stairs to her room. The haunted bookshelf in the hall gave a shudder as they passed. It hated sudden movement and being disregarded. Back in Mary's room, Alex snatched the orange Carrot Cardinal Core from the loot pile that Don Badger had given him as a tip. "They're expensive, yeah," Mary added, "but nice and safe. Maybe even spearmint flavoured?"
"Noooooope," Alex responded. He was already down the hallway and back in his tiny little room. Mary flopped into the bean bag with a sigh and placed Beepy on the windowsill. Beepy just beeped twice proudly, thrilled to be part of the gang. Zippy began collecting Alex's strewn socks and piling them in the corner to contain the mess. Alex rummaged under his desk through the cable and candy wrapper pile to look for Terry while asking, "You sure you don't mind watching over me during?"
"Nah, I got you," Mary answered from the bean bag. "If you spazz out, I'll just wrestle you like last time. Alex emerged from under his desk holding Terry. Terry was his green plastic dragon bong, and Terry's mouth was permanently curled into a wide, melted grin. Alex had even drawn a little mustache on the dragon's face.
"That wasn't that bad…"
"Alex, you cried in the bathtub and wouldn't shut up about Erebus and how misunderstood primordial darkness is."
"I didn't–It was a Monster from a library…apparently." he responded.
"Still a lot, dude," Mary said. "You kept on doing this weird thing with your–,"
"Don't remind me." Alex interrupted as he placed the Carrot Cardinal Core on the desk and sat cross-legged on the floor with Terry.
Truth was, Alex hated Cultivating. It was like gambling with your frontal lobe. Spin the wheel, get some Essence to make your Core and Skills stronger, lose three weeks of short-term memory and maybe a Title. Everyone's Core was different, and fusing Monster Core parts and memories with your own Essence was kind of like doing metaphysical brain surgery with a dream and a rusty spoon. Sure, there were better ways. The rich could afford Apothecaries, who refined and stabilized Core extracts sold in little bottles with branded names like "Moonlight Lightfocus" or "Dr. Axel's Power Powder." Expensive, but safe, and probably what suburban moms and corporate drones used before lunch.
Then there were injections. Liquified Cores slammed straight into your system. Maximum gain and maximum chaos, and how people ended up with snake arms for the rest of their lives. Smoking though? Smoking was in the middle of the road. More potent than dropping one raw like a candy for a little gain. Not as terrifying as jabbing into your neck and practically free. Core Lounges were a popular past activity in the city, actually. He looked at Terry and Terry looked back. This was the old-school way. Some said the only real way. Smoke it and hope it. But at least it didn't cost him every Credit he had. He couldn't afford a big change, but it should be fine. It was just one Core. He didn't think a decent Core would mutate him or make him disabled. He was pretty sure that was what happened to Jemin, even though the lizardman never talked about it.
Nope. Alex just needed a little boost. A little Essence to strengthen his Core, help with his Skills, and hopefully he'd be able to run the Dungeons and deliveries even faster. He placed the Core inside Terry's belly chamber, twisted the dragon's nose for goodluck, and glanced at Mary.
"Alright," he said while exhaling. "Wish me luck. It was a bird. How bad could it be?"
"Have you ever heard of a Carrot Cardinal before?"
"Uhh…no actually," Alex searched around for a lighter. Nothing. He looked at Mary. "Got a light?" Beepy beeped so loud it hurt Alex's ears. The little robot looked to be shaking with excitement. Mary raised a single eyebrow before smiling and picking him up off the windowsill.
"Let him show off, Alex. Jemin helped me upgrade him." she whispered.
She sat Beepy on the floor. The robot whirred with determination and roller over socks and candy wrappers like a mini commander navigating a battleground. Once in front of Alex, he extended his lego hand. The fingers split with a little mechanical chk-chk, and Beepy extended a little butane jet flame that fwsssshed to life at the tip. Beepy squealed with joy and his eyes blinked in strobe lights. Zippy stopped his sock collecting, which seemed endless, to toot-toot for his partner in crime.
"Okay, yeah! Little guy, that's awesome." Beepy made a noise that sounded distinctly like 'thank you," in tone and Alex leaned forward. He pulled.
The orange glowing Core cracked like an ice cube run under hot water. Colorful sparks leapt out and smoke brewed out in slow curls. Orange, green, and violet smoke grew heavy in Terry's bloated belly chamber. It looked like a kaleidoscope had burped. Alex pulled slowly, to make sure he got as many gains as possible. The taste hit Alex's mouth next, like citrus mixed with spice and wet bark. The Core twisted, popped and crumbled, and Alex was getting ready for the final big pull. It was how he had been taught by another street rat named Nate Paddy who had been nice before he got eaten in his sleep by a mailbox Monster. Alex started to see from another perspective, and he knew it was time. With a final deep pull, the Carrot Cardinal Core pulled through the bong. Alex inhaled as deep and fast as he could as Beepy backed up.
He sat Terry on the floor beside him and lay onto his back on the carpet with splayed arms. He stared up at the crumbly ceiling and the water stain that looked suspiciously like sentient mold. The Core had tasted…shockingly great. Tangry citrus, ancient spice, and just a little bit of bark. Almost like woody orange soda. He held it in and tried to keep it together. His lungs felt like they were vibrating and his vision tilted upside down. The colours in the room melted politely and the wallpaper peeled creepily. The room sounded like it was underwater? Or was that something like a shell cracking? Somewhere, a friendly girl's voice laughed.
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"Good luck, dumbass," Mary said as the world blinked and restarted like an old TV. Alex was gone.
He was warm, small, and stupid. The fresh wind rustled around him, tugging at the fuzz that lined his head and body. He blinked up into a sky so blue it hurt. A giant beak, momma, leaned in fed him and his sisters a fat, juicy worm. His mother chirped sweetly and fluffed his developing feathers with little pecks. His two sisters elbowed and jostled for their turn, but he didn't mind. He liked tasty things, the warm nest, his sisters, and his momma.
Another flash.
He was scared of flying, but he wanted to be a big bird like his momma and dad. So he jumped out of the nest, after his sisters. He flapped hard. And his wings caught the summer air and he wobbled, shrieked, then soared for a full minute before sputtering out into a pile of comfy leaves. Triumph. He wanted to go again.
Seasons passed in seconds or hours, Alex wasn't sure. Right now, he was the Cardinal. Who was just a Cardinal then. Migration was a party. Thousands of birds filled the skies and rode warm wind south where fruit was fat and bugs were stupid. Lots of friends, breeze, and the sky.
Then, a carrot field. Big orange stalked poked out of the tilled earth. Great for hunting. That's where he met her. A sleek, sassy bird with perfect feathers and a little spot on her beak. He puffed his chest and raised his crest on the badly built fence post. What ended up winning her over? He found the juiciest worm he'd ever found right there next to a carrot. She accepted and they were mates. As it turned out, mating involved lots of wing flapping and a cloacal kiss that felt insanely weird.
They made a nest in the carrot field high in a crooked old tree behind a loud farmer's house. The farmer broke things and yelled a lot about 'developers' and 'taxes,' and the boy who lived there threw rocks at everything. The cat wanted to eat them. But the boy yelled at the cat and threw rocks at him, so maybe the boy was good. He would swoop by and say hello to the boy every day, and the little boy would wave back and smile.
The carrots were different. Special, fancy, and very delicious. The Cardinal ate one after another because he liked them. And then one day when he woke, the worms were easier to find. He could feel them under the ground. He brought more and more and more to his mate, who sang him gentle songs and gave him warm nuzzles. He liked warm nuzzles. She liked that his feathers glowed orange now.
He was collecting worms for her. She was nesting with the almost ready eggs. He saw the boy in the carrot field and swooped by to say hello. That's what he always did. But this time, the boy didn't wave or smile. This time, the boy raised something metal.
Snap.
Pain hit his wing. He spun and fell too quickly to the ground. He hit the sweet earth with so many juicy worms. Something cracked. The Carrot Cardinal lay there dazed and thought of his nest. Of her songs and of the little eggs. There were a lot of them this year. The boy walked over and snapped his neck. The Carrot Cardinal was no more.
Alex sat up like he'd been hit with a defibrillator. His whole body spasmed, and his shirt was soaked with sweat. Right where his Core sat, behind his ribs in the middle of his chest, felt like it was about to explode. It didn't hurt exactly, but it felt ready to burst with Essence. Too much fun, or too much worm hunting? You couldn't just keep Cultivating, and every single one was a bit of a risk. You had to let the Essence settle, sleep, and hope for the best. Beepy and Zippy stared at him like he was a bomb. Mary crunched loudly on chips from the beanbag, twirling her hair, and clearly unaware of a tiny bird's emotional arc.
"How long?" Alex croaked.
Mary shrugged. "Bout an hour. Didn't seem that bad. You were making weird chirping noises and did this thing with your mouth…like a rose?"
Alex rubbed his face and hair to get rid of the weird coming too feeling that a Cultivation always brought, then said, "Cardinal got pinged. Sad farmer boy. It was a lot."
Mary crunched. "Yikes. Better than a car?"
His stomach churned. He felt wrung out and energized all at once, and like he could sprint a mile and then cry about foliage. Mary pressed "You good? Still up for the Stink Scrub? Supposed to clean out the Core." She lobbed the dirty water bottle filled with yellowish liquid at him.
He caught it with one handed with good reaction time. "Can we not? Can we just go shopping? Maybe get some food. I don't wanna poke at my Core too much right now. Feels like something will Settle." Something was brewing in his Core. Like he could smell worms under the floorboards. It felt gross but promising.
Mary perked up. "Oh? That's good then! Guess Badger didn't totally scam you out of a tip."
"I…I think I hate real estate developers now. I've never even thought about them," Alex said.
"Well noooo shit, they're buying up half the town."
"Yeah…let's just go shopping and grab a bite. Something that isn't bird," Alex said.
"Fair, I had nothing planned today besides tinkering with these two," she said to Beepy and Zippy. The boys exchanged glances like they knew their guts were about to be reconfigured and didn't seem excited about it.
"Yeah," Alex said and got up. "Let's go. First time in my life I can actually buy some cool shit and not care."
"I get to pick your outfit for the date though." Mary said and got up. Beepy rolled over to her and she picked him up like a toddler.
"What? Why? You're…," Alex stopped.
"Yes, Alex. Yes, for the love of god. I am blind. I know. You keep saying that," she shook her head. "But whatever I pick will be ten times better than you. Plus, Beepy and Zippy actually have pretty good style," she started out of the room as Beepy and Zippy cheered.
He was excited about shopping and didn't want to keep messing with his Core. Plus, he never had money. Now he currently had enough for pants without holes and maybe some food that didn't come in a can. He was excited to splurge and buy himself and Emilio something nice. He tried not to think about eggs or the cloacal kiss.
Cat condo? No. Little sweater…medium sweater? Maybe a nice pair of glasses? Hmmm…