Desire

The Mother Tree.

It was not what Kai expected, at all. Even the idea of what he had in his head of what a tree that was called The Mother Tree could look like could never come close to the sight before him.

All the trees surrounding him were already gargantuan, each dwarfing over him in size with ease.

But The Mother Tree, that was even larger than them.

The Mother Tree rose into the sky without trouble, its tree top acting like its own dome of the area.

Looking at it closer, Kai realised that it was a dome. The tree top of the Mother Tree spread over the top of all the other trees, shielding them from the moon above. It was like a shield held by the strongest being alive, protecting those who need it.

It was an incredible sight, breathtaking even, but Kai could only feel indescribable fear when he looked at it.

Not because of the sheer size of the tree, but because of what was on the monstrous trees vast bark.

Upon the Mother Tree's gargantuan body was dozens of blotches of the purple thing Kai thought he had seen earlier.

He couldn't even describe how the purple thing looked. It looked like a liquid, but was also solid. It looked physical, yet it also looked like it wasn't actually there.

Kai felt his breathing pick up. Looking at those blotches made him feel terrified. He wanted to curl up in a ball, to just give into what The Corroding wanted.

Kai felt his breathing pick up, he felt himself start to sweat. Was it just him or was it getting hot in here? Surely everyone else had to be feeling the same-

But when he looked around, no one else was reacting to the purple. They looked at it and just shrugged it off. Why weren't they terrified, why didn't they-

A firm hand clamped down on Kai's shoulder. His neck snapped towards the hand, then back to who the hand belonged to.

Failure shook his head calmingly and said:

"Calm yourself. It's not as bad as it seems. While in the Mother Tree's dome of protection, it cannot affect you."

Failure then sighed and took his hand off Kai's shoulder. Kai felt his heart rate calm down, but he couldn't just shake off the feeling.

Noticing this, Failure sighed again and summoned something from his spatial storage.

"It seems that it is affecting you a lot more for some reason. That could be a potential problem. As for why you seem to be so sensitive to The Corroding, I would not be able to answer."

Kai flinched.

Was it affecting him more than the others? Sure, they weren't reacting, but surely that had to notice something?

Failure handed a ring to Kai. A small, unassuming silver ring.

"Put that on, that should help."

Kai frowned slightly. What good could a ring do against the pull of The Corroding?

Still, any help was welcome help. Putting on the ring, Kai looked back up at Failure and-

The feeling was gone.

Shocked, Kai relaxed for the first time in the last few hours. Ever since the air bombing, Kai had been on edge. It was mentally exhausting, it was scary.

But the feeling of fear that had been pushed upon him had vanished. He couldn't sense the attack on his soul. Even when he looked at the purple that was corroding the Mother Tree, he felt nothing.

Glancing down at his hand, Kai tried to read the description of the ring Failure gave him.

Except he couldn't.

[Ring]

????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

The question marks just kept on going and going, they didn't stop. Looking down, Kai even saw them get smaller and smaller as they even started flowing off of his status screen, floating by themselves in the air.

Confused, Kai couldn't help but look up at Failure and ask:

"What?-"

He was promptly cut off by Failure himself.

"Think of it as a gift, a farewell gift. A token to remember me by."

Kai's expression darkened.

Failure had given him another gift, and apparently this was the final one. Why was he so insistent on gifting things when Kai couldn't even reciprocate his kindness?

Failure was kind yet cunning, proud yet humble, manipulative yet naive. He truly was the most interesting person that Kai had ever met.

He wasn't going to count The Ever-changing. Sure, they were interesting, but they weren't human. They were a god, and Kai just couldn't understand a god.

"Thank you, Failure" Kai spoke, his throat dry. "You are... a good person."

Failure smiled in response.

"Thank you, my dear Kai. You're not so bad of a person yourself."

Kai chuckled softly.

Ah, what a time to be alive it was. He was about to go to war. He never wanted to go to war, yet here he was. Do or die, kill or be killed, deal or no deal.

Well, maybe not the last one, but Kai didn't really care at this point.

But Kai wanted to do something to thank Failure. He had done so much for him after all.

But Kai had nothing to offer. He wasn't a god, nor was he one of the rulers of a crowd of moon beasts. So all he could offer was this.

"Ask me one more question. You remember how the second time we met you made me play two truths one lie. Ask me one more question, and I'll promise this one's a truth."

Failure glanced at him curiously before laughing. His laugh persisted for only a few moments before he smiled and answered:

"Alright then, my dear Kai. Oh my, I did not expect that giving you a useless trinket like that ring would earn me a question from your immense library of knowledge stored inside your head."

Kai's eyebrow twitched.

"I happen to be a very avid collector of useless rings that protect me from feeling the worst feeling of fear that I have ever felt, so I feel that it's a worthwhile trade."

Failure shook his head dismissively.

"Alright then, answer me this..."

Failure looked into Kai's eyes. Kai couldn't help but think of bushes when he saw Failure's green pupils, but he had a much more important thing to worry about than what he saw in the charismatic man's eyes.

"What do you desire?"

Kai blinked.

That was what Failure decided to ask? It seemed like kind of a waste. But even though Kai thought of it as a waste, he couldn't think of an actual answer.

What did he desire? Desire was such a strong word. Sure there was things he wanted, but did he desire them? He wanted to see his parents again, he wanted to grow closer with the people he's met, he wanted to survive, but did he desire those things?

He had gone without seeing his parents for over two months by now, he could probably last another while. He wanted to stay close with Sofia, John and Noelle, but what was the chances of that actually happening? And obviously he wanted to survive, but honestly, Kai didn't hold onto that thought that tightly.

Death was only death after all, it came for everyone at some point.

But there was something else, something deep in the depths of his soul that compelled him to answer. The answer was so ridiculous to say out loud, but Kai couldn't deny that it was what he felt. It was in his very essence after all.

"I want to grow stronger."

Failure smiled softly.

"A very common desire, yet a hard one to achieve nonetheless."

Kai shrugged in response.

"I guess. And Failure..."

Kai sighed. Why was it so hard to say goodbye?

"Good luck. And thank you for everything."

Failure smiled.

"Good luck to you too, Kai."

Failure then walked off towards the Mother Tree. The abominations had yet to arrive, which was surprising. They had attacked them on the way here after all.

But since they had yet to arrive, that gave Kai time to say his goodbyes.

He started with Aldred. The large gray wolf had just finished giving the final orders to a group of moon beasts.

Kai could not even begin to imagine the weight on the old wolf's shoulders, yet Aldred beared it without trouble.

Kai said his thanks and goodbyes, but had to make it quick due to the fact that Aldred still had an army to manage.

Without delay, Kai made his way to John. The man had a resolved look on his well defined face, one that only a father could have.

John longed to see his wife and daughter again, more than Kai could probably imagine. What that kind of desire could do to a man... Kai wouldn't be surprised if John was one of the changing tides of the battle.

Especially with his innate ability. The fact he could grow more resistant to attacks and lessen the impact every time he gets hit was something Kai had not put a lot of thought into, but in a war like this, John was sure to get hit a lot.

Kai said goodbye to John, which earned him a hand on the shoulder in response.

Not wanting to be left out, Kai lifted his own hand and placed it on John's shoulder. The burly man laughed in response at the comedic act.

Sadly, goodbyes always come to an end. As Kai walked away to find the next person he had to say goodbye to, John called out:

"Remember, no more losing fights to fishes."

Kai shook his head and smiled, waving a hand over his shoulder as a goodbye.

He then said goodbye to Wa'rak. The arrogant wolf was surrounded by his team, so Kai waited until he was finished.

He also brought Umbra out to say goodbye. While there was a chance he would see John again after this tutorial, Wa'rak would remain in this forest.

But that was another problem. Umbra was born in this forest and belonged to this subdimension, so how would leaving work? Would the contract be broke or would his familiar follow with him to whatever comes next?

He would find out soon enough anyway.

He said his goodbyes to Wa'rak, Umbra following his lead and saying goodbye as well.

The pitch-black wolf responded with a nonchalant grunt before relenting and saying goodbye to them both as well.

Kai smiled sadly as they walked away and as Umbra returned to his shadow.

Next was Sofia.

The red-haired woman had her bow out. The hardwood weapon was covered with small, intricate lines and Sofia pulled the sting back and let it go over and over again.

It was probably something she done to calm her nerves, Kai didn't know for sure.

Saying goodbye to her was hard. She had done so much for him over the short time they had known each other.

Saving his life, life advice...

A lot of life advice, actually.

When he said goodbye, Sofia gave him a small hug. Kai smiled and hugged her back, but secretly blushed a little.

"Don't die, Kai."

Those words left him feeling downhearted. How was he meant to not die? He wasn't going to just hide, he promised himself not to hide anymore. He was going to confront any problems head on. So all he could do was bite his lower lip softly and say:

"Don't die either, Sofia."

Breaking off the hug, Kai smiled softly before adding:

"Also, if we see each other again after this tutorial, you owe me a drink where you tell me what you did before you became an undercover officer."

Sofia chuckled.

"Fine, but I'll only pay for one though, you have to buy the rest."

Kai shook his head, remembering what he said last time Sofia said something like that.

"No promises."

Now, it was time to say goodbye to Noelle.

Noelle had also done a lot for Kai over the two months they knew each other. She had saved him, trained him-

Beat him-

But overall, it was mainly her who made him who he was now. Her hard way of showing care made Kai stronger, he grew because of it. It may have been an extremely messed up method that did anger Kai quite a lot, but he could not deny that it worked, even if it was not Noelle's goal in the first place. All he could do was hope Noelle grew because of him too.

On the way to say goodbye though, a rather unassuming black haired woman walked up to him. She had enough beauty to catch the eye of anyone and had a small, purple earing hanging out of her ear.

The woman he rescued that night smiled, gave him a soft hug and said thank you. She then quickly scurried off to save herself any further embarrassment.

Kai was a bit shocked, but inwardly felt happy. He had saved someone after all, saving someone made him feel proud.

Was this why people became heroes in the stories? The feeling of someone thanking him was wholesome, it was a nice moment. Honestly, Kai wouldn't mind feeling it again some time.

Finally, he reached Noelle.

Even after all this time, she was still dutifully caring for her scimitar as she sat on the ground, leaning back against a tree. While before, Kai had only thought it was a waste that she wasted so much time cleaning and preparing it, now that he knew the reason he could understand why she prepped it so much.

She was going to kill the founder of all her problems, after all.

But unlike before, Noelle stopped caring to the blade when Kai approached her. A small action, but Kai didn't let it go unnoticed.

"Thank you."

Noelle looked up at him, confused.

"For what?"

Kai shrugged.

"For everything."

Those two words alone said more than a bunch of waffling could have possibly expressed.

"I see, thank you too then."

Kai smiled at Noelle's response.

He wasn't even going to ask what she was thanking him for, she wasn't going to answer that anyway.

"Well, good luck then."

Kai turned his back and walked away, he wanted to be alone for the last moments before the war.

Noelle let a tiny smile slip onto her face accidently, but she didn't get rid of it right away.

Only as she was about to tell Kai good luck too, another voice rang out across the large expanse of the Mother Tree's dome.

"It is time."