I let them drink it, and watched carefully from a distance. The baby dragon basked in a golden aura circling around him, I opened the status page to learn more.
[Blessing of the World Roots]
Great, I was able to learn its hidden ident.i.ty through the status effect. Although the extent of the benefits provided was still unknown, based on what I had seen with the giant termites, it was helpful towards your evolution. I had let them drink 2 out of the 4 portions, and now sprinkled one over my body, keeping the last one in reserve. I wasn"t able to drink it and worried that simply spraying on my body wouldn"t work, but I was also blessed.
"Sir Johra,this is amazing! Where did you get this stuff? I no longer feel hungry after drinking it."
Kueeeeee
The baby dragon was nudging Ian"s arm, expecting there to be more to drink.
"Don"t worry you can have some again next time, I can always get more."
Fortunately both reacted positively to the blessing, without any apparent side effects. Now, I had some work to do as the owner of the Pit. Using the Ownership view, I knew that there were 3 main forces.
The first were the giant termites with whom I had already come to an understanding. There were now two more forces which I had to meet with. I decided to meet with what I hoped would be the less demanding of the two, and figured I should enlist the help of my first friend.
"Ian, I"m off to meet the spirits. I think I"ll need Gwyn"s help, she can be a bit chatty so just bear with it."
"Are you friends with a spirit? I"ve already formed contracts with elemental spirits so I understand their nature well."
"Right, please bring along the last World Roots" nectar."
Ian followed me to meet Gwyn at her stream.
"Ah! Chompy is coming to see me! Flowers look, that"s my friend!"
Gwyn had spotted me in the distance and was speaking to the flowers nearby.
"Can spirits talk to flowers?"
"Even a spirit can"t talk to flowers, Johra was that the pixie friend you mentioned?"
I nodded to Ian.
She had overheard me thinking to myself, for the first time, I realised I would need to be more careful about my thoughts while next to Ian.
"Gwin you are looking great!"
"Yes! I"m fine, How have you been doing Chompy?"
[You have learned Telepathy Lv1]
"Hmm? Wait… did I just gain a skill?"
"Huh? You"re talking to me right? Is that you Chompy?
I could finally celebrate the end of my life as a mute skeleton. Of course, the sound of me cheering was still the clacking of my teeth.
"Hey you! You should speak more politely to Johra, you are just such a pixie!"
"Hm? Aren"t you that mage we saved back then? Since when have you been following Chompy?"
"Oh, was it you who gave him that strange name?"
"Aah! Let go, let go! Put me down! Why are you doing this?"
Somehow The two seemed to be fighting but I couldn"t get close so I had to somehow separate them from a distance through telepathy.
"Ian, let her go. She"s a bit naughty but still a good kid."
"No, when it comes to spirits you need to stamp out these bad habits, or else they might get out of hand."
"Let go! Put me down! Do you want me to tell King Jungryeong later?"
Pak
"Ouch!"
Ian flicked Gwyn"s forehead while still restraining her.
"Hey, Pixie! Didn"t King Jungryeong teach you how to properly treat a contractor?"
"Well…..Hmph!"
When Ian mentioned King Jungryeong Gwyn"s tone changed drastically.
"You shouldn"t treat Johra that way, ok?"
"But…"
"Ian, that"s enough! Don"t go any further Gwyn is a friend of mine."
Gwyn was finally freed when Ian learned of my displeasure.
"Pixie, I"m warning you, this time I"ll stop because of Sir Johra, Ok?"
"Hihi, Chompy is on my side!"
Gwyn quickly flew away to hide behind me as soon as she escaped Ian"s grasp.
"Gwyn stay away from me, you know it"s dangerous."
"But… that b.i.t.c.h is more dangerous!"
"Who’s a b.i.t.c.h! My name is Ian!"
"I also have a name! It"s Gwyn!"
"Kueeeeeeek"
Gwyn and Ian finally greeted each other while the baby dragon announced its hunger in the background.
"Oh, is this the guy that came out from that egg? What"s its name?"
"Yes somehow he hatched"
Gwyn"s face shone brightly, If I let her name him it would definitely be something ridiculous.
"Sir Johra can I name him?"
"Me! Me me me, I want to name! Kueeky, how about Kueeeky?"
"Well, with a name like that, when it grows up and becomes a big dragon…I would feel too sorry for it."
"Hey kid pixie stop talking! Sir, how about Mallepi? It sounds cute but cool!"
Kueeeeeeek
The young dragon seemed to like its new name.
I nodded my head in agreement.
"Tchhh! My name was better! Hmph hmph!"
Gwyn looked really upset
"Ian could you give this to Gwyn?"
"Pixie, come and drink this, Johra brought it for you."
I had never seen Gwyn eat something, I guess pixies didn"t need any nutrition to survive, but she had mouth so could probably eat and drink.
"Really? Chompy"s giving this to me?"
The best part about Gwyn was that her mood could change instantly. She was so happy drinking the Blessing of the World Roots that she finished it in one shot. I wondered how it even fit in Gwyn"s small body.
"Waaa~ this is really good! Thanks Chompy, it"s delicious! I feel like flying!"
Gwyn was flying around me, sprinkling golden dust. I opened her status page to see if anything had changed.
"Oh, Life Absorption Resistance? Since when has she had that, was it the nectar?"
"Ehehehe! So I can follow Chompy around now right?"
Gwyn seemed to have read my mind because she responded immediately.
"No, naughty pixie, you"ll just be bothering Sir Johra. If you want to come, you should ride with the other guy on my shoulder."
"I don"t want to!"
Mmmme, Gwyn stuck out her tongue.
"I"m going with Chompy!"
Gwyn rushed up to me and after opening the visor in my helmet, swooped inside of my skull.
"Oooh, I haven"t been here in awhile. Is it cozier than before? Where should I lie down?"
Gwyn lied down in my skull as stretched lazily.
"Sir Johra! Don"t let it build these bad habits, let me discipline it!"
"It"s fine Ian, just let her do as she pleases, we"ve been together like this for a while now."
"Really, Johra!"
"Enough Ian, I have some creatures I need to meet, come with me."
A grumbling Ian followed from behind as we headed off, Gwyn should play a decisive role in the next meeting. I also realized that Ian might also have an important part to play after I saw her interact with Gwyn previously.
We walked towards the lake which formed in the middle of the territory. Including the waterfall, all the water in the Pits would flow here and there were residents who lived inside.
"Nymue, come out, I know you"re there."
I projected my thoughts telepathically towards the lake.
"Shu Wook–!"
Water soared past the surface and took the shape of a small child.
"Waaa! Wha….What is that Sir?"
"Ah! I know what it is! You… what are you again? Ugh…"
Ian was staring at the lake in amazement, she had been so surprised she fell down on her b.u.t.t. Meanwhile, Gwyn was zipping around, holding her head in frustration, trying to remember.
The water disappeared and the fairy became visible, bright white clothes shone like a new dawn across her body. She had shiny silver hair with slick white eyebrows, her eyes were a deep cobalt blue, just like the color of the lake water. Her orange lips were a sharp contrast on the pale face, like the blossoming of a beautiful flower on a calm sea. She looked exactly like a fairy in one of the games I had played as a kid.
"Lord of the Pit, why have you come?"
"I"ve come to greet your people."
"We were ignored by the former king. What would the new Lord want from us?"
Nymesu was level 50 and the leader of the spirits in the lake. Almost all of its stats, except for one, were significantly higher than mine. If a battle were to take place I could only be victorious if I survived its initial onslaught.
I shook my head towards her.
"It is merely a visit to express my goodwill."
"Right, Nymesu… Nymue! It"s the traitor Nymue!"
"d.a.m.n pixie shut your mouth! Go to Oberon with that dirty shaking a.s.s of yours!"
"Pfff ~ my a.s.s is clean! Look, look! Isn"t it clean?"
Surprisingly Nymue and Gwyn had a bad relationship. I had heard the name Oberon before, wasn"t the name of the fairy king, Oberon Gengha?
Kueek Kueek
Mallepi jumped off Ian"s shoulder and barked excitedly towards Gwyn like a puppy.
"Gwyn that"s enough, we"re here to make friends."
There were about 20 spirits in the lake, all with a neutral status. Since I took ownership of the Jungle Pit, I wanted all the creatures within to have a friendly status towards me.
"My Lord, if you let such a disgusting pixie tag along, it"ll hurt your image."
"Enough! Gwyn is a friend of mine."
"If it is the Lord"s command, I can say no more."
"I have a proposition for you."
"Please, do tell"
Nymesu face held a calm expression, not betraying any of her thoughts.
"Join me, and I"ll share with you a part of the World Root"s nectar."
"Would you really…? We are just exiled spirits with hardly any power…"
"Don"t have such a low opinion of yourself. Regardless, since you"re a resident of my land, it would be troublesome if we have a bad relationship."
"Naturally, we are willing to submit to our Lord."
It seemed like the value of the nectar was much higher than I had originally thought. Her calm and collected poker face had completely crumbled when I mentioned sharing it with them. Clearly, just a short while ago, she held a wary att.i.tude towards me, but she now had a friendly status.
"Ehehehe ~ Nymue is under my friend"s command, that means she should also follow my orders!"
"Gwyn, that"s enough, you"re making me angry."
"Why? You don"t like me anymore Chompy? Is that elderly fairy better than me?"
"It"s not like that, but Nymue is an ally, so you can"t treat her badly."
"You mentioned they are under your command!"
I s.n.a.t.c.hed her wings such as one would grab a dragonfly, forcing her to greet Nymue properly.
"I apologize on her behalf for the disrespect shown."
"A small matter, we thank our Lord for his generosity."
"I"ll have the termites bring some nectar soon, in the future it will be shared regularly."
"We are forever indebted to our Lord, please let us know if you require our a.s.sistance."
"I"ll be leaving now, until next time."
I gave her a slight nod, Nymue however, had very polite farewell, grabbing both sides of her robe before bowing and disappearing into the lake.
I turned around and looked at Ian, she was still in same position, sitting on the floor while Mallepi licked her leg.
"S..sir… Johra, that fairy…. You know her?"
"It was the first time I met her"
"But, it"s the rogue fairy which the fairy king warned me about. How can you feel comfortable around her?"
It seemed like Nymue had a bad relationship with the fairy king, Oberon.
"I think I don"t need to fear her because she"s a resident here."
"Sir Johra, you always leave me amazed. First, it was your ident.i.ty as a skeleton, but also your way of thinking."
"It"s all a coincidence, I"m just going with the flow."
Suddenly, Gwyn hovered in front of Ian, sticking out her tongue and making childish faces.
"Hee hee hee~ You fell down on your b.u.m because you were surprised by the chick from the lake!"
"Tsss~ Naughty kid, don"t let me catch you!"
Kueeeeeeek
Ian chased Gwyn down for a while, trying to pinch her cheeks until they both gave up, exhausted and out of breath. Mallepi also joined in on the running game and was soon panting, so I fed him some more termite meat.
"Let"s get going, there are more creatures to meet."
"Alright! Off we go!"
Gwyn was a very naughty pixie, but somehow Ian was too susceptible to teasing. Their relationship was like oil and water, never able to get along.
"You… If sir Johra wasn"t around, I would put you in your place."
"Hmph! Hmph!"
Gwyn flew back to her resting place in my skull. I wondered If I was spoiling her too much.
Regardless, at the end of the day the inhabitants of the lake accepted the alliance. Although Gwyn and Ian were far less helpful than I had expected, the end result was still a success.
Just thinking of my next meeting brought a frown to my face, will I be able to create an alliance with them?