I frowned hearing the name as I tried to recall it. "I am horrible at mythology, but isn't aren't those the apples that cause trouble whenever they appear?" I asked.
Vanessa laughed hard. "Maybe, a whole apple appearing in any of the different worlds is a sign of calamity. Rumors say that a whole apple can grant immortality to anyone despite their level or ability. I personally doubt that, but drops of its juice have been proven to dramatically lengthen a mortals life span, including bringing those on the brink of death back to life." she told me.
"Any rumors on how to grow those?" I asked.
"Yep." Vanessa replied with an evil smile. "Plant the seeds and grow them." she replied.
"How expensive are they?" I asked.
"Pretty cheap actually." Vanessa replied still smiling. "Because no one will buy them."
I rolled my eyes. "Why?" I asked.
"The amount of mana required to grow a golden apple tree is similar to a world tree, but it has to be an exact mix of elements, which is a closely guarded secret. I also heard you need certain living earth and water hearts to feed the tree while it is blooming, but which ones and how many is also a closely guarded secret."
"I lost my interest." I told her turning back to my breakfast finishing what little was left. I already had plenty of work to do today, taking on a difficult experiment wasn't something I was even willing to consider.
Vanessa laughed. "I was just using it as an example. We wouldn't even be able to consider growing one until you get better at regulating the types of mana within the dungeon." she told me.
I nodded, it would be an excellent idea for later, much later. As for now I wasn't sure when I would reach level five, but I had a feeling it would be sooner than Zephirah thought it would be. Honestly I was a bit excited, I wanted to know what kind of information my father had left me. The fact that he was a Rune Emperor amazed me. I knew there was a whole tier above Rune Emperor, but I still thought it was an incredible feat. It made me wonder about my mother though. Especially since she and the Overseer seemed to be friendly. Then again I hadn't seen the Overseer interact with anyone else. She might not have been as friendly as I was assuming. That paired with the fact that both my parents seemed to be normalish humans, made me wonder what she had accomplished. Then I froze as I remembered what she said she could do. Peering into the future sounded like a double edged sword to me, especially after seeing too many movies that included self fulfilling prophecies. I just wondered, was that something genetic? Would I be able to use it once I had a higher level, or was it something specific to my mother?
I pushed those thoughts out of my mind. My next order of business was to speak to the others and get an idea of what I could do with other floors. Unfortunately that meant I would have to talk to the company. We needed seeds for a larger variety of plants. I didn't think creating several ice floors was going to be enough of a deterrent to keep others out of my dungeon.
"Any ideas on what we should do with the other floors?" I asked looking from Zephirah to Vanessa.
"Well the red grass and plants that are suitable for fire mana are a good idea for creating a floor rich in fire mana, but we should speak to Firenne before we make any decisions on that. As a fire dryad she would know more than any of us could." Zephirah told me.
"Her name is Firenne?" I asked.
"That's right you were never properly introduced. We should fix that soon, then speak to the others too. Especially Selia, she would have some plants that she will want us to grow for her use. If we can sell the medicine she makes, that would definitely bring in more money for us." Zephirah told me.
"Only if she is good at it." I reminded.
Zephirah seemed to pause in the air. "That is true." She admitted.
I smiled but nodded as I stood up while holding my now empty plates.
Vanessa moved forward taking the plates from me then pushed me back onto the bed. "Nope." she told me seriously.
"Huh?" I said confused.
"We can talk to the other girls and get their opinions on what we should get. I can also talk to the company and try getting them sorted out." she told me.
I looked at her confused. "That would help, but I want some say in all of this." I told her trying to get back up.
"You will, but right now you need to get some sleep." Vanessa told me.
"She is right Jason." Lilian told me. "You meet with the overseer, and absorbed the information I gave you. Now you need to get some actual rest."
I shook my head. "Maybe, but I have a feeling we don't have as long as you think before I reach level five and the barrier drops." I told them.
Vanessa rolled her eyes the climbed over me straddling my waist. "That could be true, and even if it is, you still need rest. Even if the barrier comes down while you are resting we will be fine. The dungeons, even on tier seven trials, aren't located too close to the towns or each other. Only the local beasts will give us any trouble. The blue grass you planted is already putting off a lot of ice mana and the badgers are in place. We will be fine." she reassured me.
"Besides, even if something gets past all of that, we have the girls and the capture stones we can use to defend ourselves." Zephirah chimed in.
I eyed the girls warily. "What is really going on?" I asked.
"Nothing." Lilian replied. "I have heard of and seen several cases where those who gain the knowledge of the Mana Lords burn themselves out because they don't allow themselves enough rest." she told me.
"While it was a bit to take in, it was only theories, and a how too." I told Lilian as my hands moved up to rest on Vanessa's waist. Honestly I was conflicted on what I wanted to do at the moment, but I knew what I needed to do.
"It is more than that Jason. All of the information that you would receive from the Rune Palace to advance in the ranks of the Mana Lord have been crammed into your mind waiting for you to reach the conditions you need to access it, or figure out another way to access it." Lilian told me. "There is no Runic Shift for the Mana Lords."
I frowned as I studied the fairy for several long moments. "And are there any negative effects to cramming all of that knowledge into me?" I asked.
"You need to get some actual rest, once you do, you will be fine." Lilian told me.
I still felt like something was up. I felt perfectly fine, and I certainly didn't feel like I had a large pool of information contained within my mind.
Despite my misgivings I wasn't against the idea of getting some more rest. I felt fine, but it had been a difficult few days, and just laying on the bed was making me sleepy, giving some credence to their claim.
Before I could agree to take a short nap the door to my room was violently pushed open.
"How did you get down here?" Zephirah demanded angrily as Firenne walked into the room a determined look on her face.
She scanned the room and locked her gaze onto me ignoring all the others. "We need to talk." she demanded.
I grabbed a hold of Vanessa's waist then lifted her off of me so I could sit up. "I hope it is important." I told her calmly but firmly. "I do not approve of anyone barging into my room without permission." As I spoke I accessed my mana in preparation to defend myself if needed. I cursed myself for not having set up new precautions.
"Firenne!" Lilian yelled angrily. "We told you he needed to rest!" she scolded angrily.
I stared at the little fairy in surprise, she hadn't seemed to be one who got angry easily.
Firenne flinched, "I know, but this is important." she insisted.
"What is it then?" I asked the fire dryad. I took my time to look her over, but instead of being attracted to her very feminine and charming figure I was looking for any signs of trouble. The girls seemed relaxed, but that hadn't stopped Seth from nearly killing me. Add the fact that she seemed to care for the fox that was now bound to me and the dungeon through the beast shard gave her a reason to want to replace me.
"Jesaline is weakening despite the bond to the beast shard." Firenne declared firmly.
I blinked in surprise then stood up. "That does sound important." I agreed.
Firenne seemed to relax when she heard me.
"Any idea what the problem is?" I asked while looking around as I had no idea.
"Her tail." Firenne replied immediately.
"She didn't have a…. oh." I replied before remembering that she was a fire tail fox. I had assumed that her tail would resembled fire if she still had it, but now I was getting the feeling that her tail was supposed to be made of actual fire.
"Yes, we need to reignite the fire of her tail." Firene told me.
I nodded then headed out of the room, and how do we do that?" I asked.
"The fires that you confiscated from that fool. One is foxfire the same fire her tail was made of. We could use that fire to ignite her tail, or if you wish to retain some of it we can take an ember from that fire and feed her a fire crystal." Firene told me.
"Do you have any idea how expensive those are?" Vanessa asked angrily.
I looked up to Zephirah. "How much?" I asked her. Since we had a sample on hand we could make more if we needed too, and I didn't think they could be more expensive than the elemental water heart we were going to put in the well.
"They are cheaper." Zephirah told me having read my mind. "They act in a similar fashion to the elemental water hearts by drawing in mana and growing new crystals around them, the biggest difference is they need fire mana to do it, and all crystals will react that way, there is no crystal heart."
I nodded. "Fine, what about the foxfire?" I asked.
"That is worse than the elemental water heart, just not as bad as the living water heart. Same for the silverfire. The heart fire is worse than a living water heart." she replied.
I nodded as we reached the first floor which was empty. I paused to let Firene take the lead, it might be my home, but I still didn't know the layout yet.
Firenne quickly led us to the guest rooms that were off of the kitchen. She pushed one door open to reveal a room a third of the size of mine with a comfortable but small looking bed. Jesaline was laying on the bed looking completely exhausted. She didn't seem to be in the same kind of danger she was in before, but she did look weaker than the last time I had seen her. Around her the other beast girls were gathered watching after her closely.
The girls seemed initially tense, but seeing me enter the room, they each seemed to relax.
"What will consuming a fire crystal do to her?" I asked curiously.
"Given her race it should strengthen her." Zephirah replied.
I nodded then opened the dungeon interface with a thought and bought foxfire and a fire crystal for a total of eighteen gold. It was a lot, but she was already bonded to us and I wasn't going to pinch coppers when it came to ensuring one of our own was as healthy and strong as could be.
The foxfire appeared in the air over Jesaline. The fox seemed to sense the presence of the fire as she opened her eyes then moved quickly. I had assumed she didn't have a tail as I never saw one, but I quickly realized that she did still have a tail, it just resembled a rat's tail which she kept carefully wrapped up under herself. That thin but long rat like tail moved out from underneath her so quickly that I stepped back in fear thinking something had been hiding under her. The tail seemed to stretch out until it touched the fire. As soon as the tail made contact with the foxfire the fire seemed to flow onto the tail encompassing it until it looked like it had caught fire.
A moment later a fire crystal appeared in front of the fox which she scarfed down like it was one of her favorite snacks.
Within moments Jesaline looked more alive and energized than she had since she arrived.
Shifting so she was sitting on her haunches, and making me worry that she would catch the bed on fire, she faced me. "Thank you." she said tiredly.
I nodded as I smiled at her. "You are welcome." I replied as I wondered how was she able to talk? Didn't the others say the fire tail fox weren't intelligent?