Chapter 4 - The Legend of the Dodona Tree

It's been a month since Kiichi took me to this tree. I have a small camp set up in the cave and have been fishing to regain strength. At the end of each day, I jump for the fruit until my legs fail me. Due to this, I can feel my legs becoming stronger quickly. Yesterday I touched the fruit for the first time. Today, I'll pluck it for sure. I stand under the fruit and envision myself plucking it.

Adachi: "Three... Two... One... HUP!"

I soar up towards the fruit, and everything else in the universe disappears. My goal is the one thing that matters. Before I know it, the fruit is in my hands, and I'm falling to the ground with it. As my feet touch the ground, an overwhelming sense of accomplishment floods over me.

Adachi: "WOOHOO! I'M COMING HOME, KIICHI!"

With the fruit clutched close to my side, I begin to jog back home. Now that I'm holding it, I realize the fruit is relatively large. It's even bigger than my head!

Putting the fruit aside, I'm also running quite quickly now by comparison to a month ago. I could barely jog last month, and now I'm breaking into a sprint! These are things that ordinary people can do naturally, but for me, this is incredible. The cabin is now beginning to appear through the brush. I can see Kiichi chopping wood in the yard. He sees me and waves with a smile.

Adachi: "Kiichi, I got the fruit!"

Kiichi: "I can see that! Great Job."

I stop for a second to catch my breath and hand the fruit over to Kiichi.

Adachi: "Kiichi, what's so special about this fruit anyways?"

Kiichi looks at me with one eyebrow raised.

Kiichi: "This? It's inedible. I just thought it would make a good decoration."

My face betrays my disappointment, and Kiichi chuckles.

Kiichi: "I'm just joking, Adachi. Look here."

Kiichi takes his axe and splits open the fruit. My eyes light up as I see the fruit's contents.

Adachi: "Crystals?!!"

Kiichi: "Not quite. This is condensed Dodona resin from the tree."

Adachi: "Dodona?"

Kiichi: "Come inside, and let's talk about it over dinner. You look like you could use it."

My stomach growls. I haven't eaten yet today. I quietly nod my head and follow him inside. Over the fire is a large cut of meat from a Yami boar, which is my favorite meal by far. My mouth starts to water just thinking about sinking my teeth into it. It's a boar that only exists on and near Mount Nova, and many adventurers come up here looking to hunt them. Kiichi tells me they sell for unreasonable prices to eccentric gourmets. If the Yami Boars didn't live in an intricate system of caves and tunnels, they would have been hunted extinct years ago. Kiichi is the only one who knows how to track them consistently. He says we shouldn't pursue them too often as not to endanger them any further.

We sit down at the table and begin our meal.

Kiichi: "As I was saying before, the fruit you plucked is a Dodona. Hundreds of years ago, Dodona trees filled the nation of Itamor. As medical treatments advanced, the Dodona seeds were found to have incredible healing properties."

Kiichi holds up one of the crystalized balls of resin next to the firelight.

Kiichi: "Holding it up to the light, can you see the seed encapsulated within the resin?"

Now that he mentions it, the center of the ball does host a solid object of some sort. However, the resin is murky and hard to see through without the firelight.

Adachi: "Yeah, I see it, I think."

Kiichi: "When ingested, the resin accelerates the body's natural healing factor by a thousand times. Eating it will heal any flesh wound in a matter of seconds. The seed inside replenishes one's midst instantaneously."

I'm a bit skeptical of Kiichi's claims. Seeing as he led me to believe it was inedible earlier, he may be joking around yet again.

Adachi: "Well, I'll believe it when I see it, Kiichi."

Kiichi: "Oh, believe me, I'm a bit skeptical of it too. I've never seen one before in my entire life before I discovered that tree around two months ago."

Adachi: "Didn't you just say that the Dodona trees grow everywhere in Itamor?"

Kiichi: "That was hundreds of years ago. Now, the Dodona fruit has become something of a local legend. You see, when the usefulness of the Dodona fruit was discovered, Itamor was at war with a neighboring nation. So all the Dodona fruit that could be found were harvested and sent directly to the battlefield. In the end, Itamor ended up winning the war."

Adachi: "That doesn't really explain why the Dodona fruit doesn't exist anymore, though."

Kiichi: "Ah, I suppose it doesn't. The people of Itamor didn't know at the time that the Dodona tree only produces fruit once in its lifetime. When the seeds from the Dodona fruit didn't get replanted and instead were used for medicinal purposes, there was nothing left to produce new Dodona trees. So even if Dodona trees still exist out there, their fruit has already been harvested."

Adachi: "Surely they couldn't have found every Dodona tree during that war. Weren't there still some left that had yet to be harvested? Nobody found the Dodona tree in that cave."

Kiichi: "Ah, but you forgot to factor in the human nature, Adachi. Greed. Although the nation of Itamor was well aware of the endangerment of the Dodona tree, it didn't stop them from harvesting and ingesting the seeds all the same. Rich nobles forked over hundreds of cuts for just one seed from the Dodona tree. Every adventurer in the kingdom set out to find the last of the Dodona trees to make a fortune."

It dawned on me that the Dodona fruit I plucked must be worth a fortune. There must have been over 20 resin-coated seeds concealed in that purple husk. I wonder just how many cuts, the currency of the nation of Itamor, I could get with just one seed. I could buy a Novite weapon, or maybe live the rest of my life comfortably in a mansion-

Kiichi: "Adachi! Stop daydreaming. You're not thinking of being greedy, are you?"

Ah, that I was. He's right. The number of lives we could save if we learned how to properly plant and farm these trees far outweighs a comfortable life. Once again, Kiichi displays his righteous outlook.

Adachi: "You're right. Sorry, please continue your story."

Kiichi: "Okay, well, there may be other Dodona fruit elsewhere, but they would all be in impossible to reach places. They would be in places that adventurers would never look or dare to visit. This Dodona tree is located on Mount Nova, the most dangerous mountain in the country. While that doesn't stop people from coming here searching for wealth, the chances of them finding that cave are quite slim."

Adachi: "I see. So, what you're saying is, this may be the only Dodona tree that will be discovered for a very long time."

Kiichi: "Precisely. When I plant one of these seeds, it may never grow or die before it produces fruit. These possibilities are why most people turned in seeds for money instead of risking the farming process. Indeed, farming the Dodona is a risk, but if you're willing to take that risk, thousands of lives may be saved. Because of this, I will be planting every one of these seeds, Adachi. Don't worry, though. I'll do one at a time until I get the process down. Do you want to help out?"

Adachi: "Of course! I'd love to help. Where exactly would we try to plant them? We may be on Mount Nova, but that doesn't mean the trees won't be discovered. We need to protect them from thieves, right?"

Kiichi laughs and ruffles my hair.

Kiichi: "That's my boy. You already have a proper mindset to survive in society. Keep being skeptical of people's character, and you'll do just fine, kid. You make a good point, though. I believe I have a place in mind! I'll take you there tomorrow morning, but for now let's get some shut-eye."

Adachi: "Alright! Looking forward to it."

Kiichi lays down in his bed, and I lay down in mine. I'm excited to take part in something so important, even if it is only farming.