NOVEL NEXT Chapter 111: The flower
As I slowly took in my surroundings, my mind refuse to accept what my eyes were showing me. The sky above was not the usual shade of blue I was used to seeing, no It was safe to say there was no sky at all, and that was the first detail that frightened me.
Above me, countless different-sized planets cast their gaze on the land below. There was no sun, no moon, the sky was covered in a strange purple tint instead forming a scene straight out of a painting. It took me a few seconds to recover from my immediate surprise as I lowered my gaze to scan my surroundings.
Grandmother had led us to what looked like a top of a large plain overlooking a strange field with multicolored flowers. Beyond the field, hills rose and fell in various shapes and surprisingly colors even. The only thing I could think of, my immediate reaction to the land of Gods was that It was a colorful one.
Beyond my field of vision, far across the hills, vague wisps of fog formed a shape almost akin to that of a massive wall that separated the hills from the 'other' side, whatever that was. Just then a shudder ran down my spine as my eyes widened in surprise and apprehension.
An abnormally large leg just passed through the depths of the fog...I was unable to see anything above its knee, but I had a vague guess that the owner was easily twice, maybe thrice the size of grandfather! This made me gulp down subconsciously as I turned to glance at my grandmother who still had a serene expression on her face as she took in the surrounding with her usual gentle smile.
I slowly nudged closer to her in an attempt to ease my emotions, her calm demeanor easing my mind as well, giving me the courage to ask. "Grandmother, what was that thing?" I had my doubts but I still needed confirmation.
"Hmm?" She turned to glance at me before replying with a brilliant smile. "Oh, that's a God!" She said as If It was the most normal thing. I unconsciously took a sharp breath before nodding, my mind slowly drifted back to the ancient battlefield where the massive corpses of Amanita and the Gods were still situated till this day.
"So the Gods are that big," I muttered under my breath. Although a part of me knew that our relationship with them was not considered a good one, I could not help the feeling of awe that sprang from my heart as I recalled that massive leg treading through the fog.
I slowly found myself growing more curious about the Deities, were they all so massive? Were there any smaller ones? Countless questions sprang up in my mind as my eyes darted about in curiosity, scanning the new colorful but strange place I found myself in.
Grandmother did not say anything and instead leisurely made her way down to the field of colorful flowers below. Not wanting to be left behind, especially since we technically were behind enemy lines, I hastily followed after her, careful not to step anywhere she did not.
I doubted that grandmother would fail to inform me if there was any significant danger, but one could never be too careful. Along the way, my gaze was subconsciously drawn to the starry sky below, the various planets seemed to draw me into them, the vast expanse of the cosmos, It felt as If It was silently beckoning me to come.
My legs almost unconsciously left the ground before grandmother's gentle palm settled atop of my head, with a slight chuckle she spoke. "Heh, It's still not time for you to go that far little Aether, maybe one day, but for now you are still too weak," She gently explained to which I nodded in understanding.
"Thank you grandmother," I lowered my head in respect causing her to ruffle my hair making me feel weird at the odd sensation. It wasn't unpleasant, though I guessed the reason I felt that way was because It was my grandmother. Still, I felt incredibly stifled, suffocated even inside my new body.
I knew that grandmother had explained that It was nothing but an illusion, still, I had a few doubts about that. Her magic was anything but simple after all. Suddenly a random thought made its way to my mind. 'Wait, 'if' It's actually an illusion and that she had not changed my body that means my size is still the same as I was as a Dragon, which means even in this humanoid form I should easily tower over a normal mortal right?' I wondered in curiosity as we approached the multi-colored flowers.
A soft sweet aroma trickled to my nose as I glanced at the field in curiosity. The flowers looked akin to a dancing rainbow, coming like a dream of the earth that was born into reality with the most vibrant blooms. My eyes were drawn to a half-open pink with a blush of red flower.
I slowly stretched my fingers to touch the silky petals, only to freeze. They were cold, bone freezing cold, and a lot smoother and softer than I had expected. My new spiritual vision was easily able to see traces of what looked like mana elements seep out from the point of contact.
I slowly removed my fingers and brought them closer to my face to inspect what changes this element have caused. To my surprise, It did not appear like a bad one, quite the opposite. My skin was already considered quite flawless with my grandmother's 'disguise' yet that strange element was able to enhance the skin on my fingers giving them a strange luster that caused me to pause as I turned to look at my grandmother's back.
'How could all of this just be the result of an illusion?' I inwardly lampooned yet refrained from saying anything in fear of disrespecting her. Still, I dared not touch anything else and instead was satisfied with simply watching over everything.
'Yup, I'm a tourist, I don't need to think too much about everything and Instead, I have to be careful,' I noted as my gaze was unconsciously drawn to the edge of the hills where the wall of fog was situated. 'I really hope there won't be any problems...' I silently prayed to the King.
It was then that grandmother came to a halt in front of a certain flower and beckoned me over. "Look little Aether and remember, that one is the flower of Immortality, or so the mortals like to call It," She calmly introduced such a shocking flower without any change causing me to stumble.
"I-Immortality?!" I was unable to hide the shock and alarm in my face as I studied the seemingly normal flower. It looked like a five-leaf clover, though its colors were blue, red, green, and yellow, besides that, and its somewhat large size, there was nothing unusual about it.
Nodding, grandmother slowly explained in a calm tone. "Well, for the mortals It may seem like a miraculous flower, and in a sense It is. Though It is unable to grant them Immortality, If a mortal was to consume It, he or she would indeed be able to live for a long time. About three, no maybe four hundred years before they perish," She said.
I slowly nodded, that makes sense, just then grandmother looked at me and continued. "And It is not without any side effects little Aether, just like many things in this world, remember this, free things usually cost the most. This little flower would cause said mortals to slowly lose their memories along the span of their new life making them fall into a cycle where their memories would reset. That is of course If they managed to live so far, as the flower only grants the consumer Immunity to die from natural causes,"
I once again nodded while I was inwardly very excited. 'I had just stepped into this strange land of the Gods yet I already encountered such a miraculous item, what else would I find?' I slowly took a deep breath to calm my emotions as my lips unconsciously curved upwards.
'This is fun,'