Master Of None

"So I grabbed the wood from those rotting treants and it's not rotting at all anymore. I would say it's almost petrified now." Gil help up a piece for the broken rotting treant wood. It was clearly purified but that had led it to become a dry and petrified wood that was tougher than usual. 

"Think you can use it for arrows? I won't stop you if you want it." There was nothing else that Walker could use it for if it was good for arrows then he would let Gil have it all to himself. 

"I don't think I can carve this well enough. It is too hard for me to make much progress on. We should just give it to the wandering blacksmith. He should be able to use it better than us." The reasonable conclusion made sense since it could be used for handles to swords or other armors and weapons. 

"I want some of it. Some potions use wood to keep them from dissolving or to separate ingredients. Depending on how well they are at sealing certain ingredients maybe I will have boxes made from them." Walker knew that storing potion ingredients was very important but he had overlooked the how to when it came to them. 

"Alright, I will store it away." There was a surprising amount of the purified wood floating in the now crystal clear pool of water. If it was rotted it would easily sink down to the bottom. Walker could make out small fish and some bugs swimming in the purified water, however, he knew it would return to the original swampy state sooner or later. 

"You really went all out when it came to purifying this area. But that was reckless. What if we had not had Alice? We could have been hurt. I know you were unhappy and wanted to purify them from the rot and poison they would cause. I understand. But that was not okay to do." The lecture seemed to make Fleur shrink. Walker could tell she had not processed that there would be a threat that could hurt them. Ever since she had come to be she had been safe without much worry. Now there were threats and she had no way of knowing what was too dangerous or not. 

" We can share our feelings and wants with each other. Just get my attention next time and we will see what we can do about it. I don't want the worst to happen to my family. That includes you." The soft pat on her head made Fleur brighten up slightly but she was still timid since she had caused Walker to be so unhappy and worried. It would take some time for her to learn more about traveling. 

"Walker, have you seen what happened to the moss? There is literally no mold or fungus. There are even small moss flowers growing now. This is great!" Remey was gathering the tiny white flowers as if they were some rare commodity. "They never bloom like this in the winter. They should have a higher water elemental mana than when they normally bloom in the summer. That means they could be the best ingredient for the water affinity potions." The smile Remey had mirrored that of a child handed an entire bag of candy without parental supervision. 

"I have a fire going. Let's eat something before we move on." Su had already started a fire and in a few moments Walker had roasted some more of the ice claw owls and handed it out. Midnight had snatched up an entire one for herself making it the end of the ice claw owls but for the valuable parts for crafting. 

"Alright, let's get back to it. I want to see if we can make a decent cut through the deep swamp lands before it gets too dark and any fog sets in." There was some worry about the toxic fog that usually roamed the swamp lands. But the cold usually held it at bad since the rotting waters couldn't evaporate in to the air. 

"If that happens will you be able to purify it Alice?" Remey knew that she could use her potions to a degree but if there was a magic that could work on it better then she would feel safer. 

"Yes." Alice was sure she could purify it as long as things were not interrupted. She did eye Fleur a little since she had her magic controlled and used differently. It was a mystery that she wanted answers for but knew that Walker would say something when he fully understood how Fleur was able to manipulate someone else's mana and the light mana with natural mana. 

"That's good. I think some of my light arrows can do it too but they are kind of a double edges sword. They heal you at the cost of being shot by an arrow. Really an impractical arrow. Hence why I haven't used it at all. I still have them though." Walker had nearly forgotten the arrow that Gil was talking about. It was a strange mix but had some potential. 

"You know, if we see any very bad rotting places in the swamps maybe we can purify them. I can't believe we didn't think of it when we encountered the rotting treants. It might have been better than the water arrows." Walker pondered this while he took the lead of the party this time. He had the feeling that he would need to use his magic to make their path easier to traverse in the deep swamp lands. There was the higher possibility that they would find rotting pools and overgrown terrain. Not to mention the monsters they were sure to encounter. The rotting treants were just on the outskirts. He couldn't fathom what else there might be. 

…..

….