Molting the Mortal Coil

Sage stored the Emerald Dragonfly and took out an egg of the Steel Silk Centipede, starting to incubate it rapidly. Inside his beast bag there was three of each of his new creations. A breeding pair of rank 1 adults and a single rank 3, fully matured battler. It was far faster to link with an egg and accelerate the growth of a new insect. At the same time it was a large resource cost in energy. Linking to a fully grown and mature rank 3 was a process that would take weeks while raising one from an egg only took minutes, but he had to spend a few dozen spirit stones to accomplish it. The fully grown and matured insects were actually kept in his bag to be used along with more conventional Insect Tamer skills. While they could only perform basic commands they were still useful. He’d actually have many more if it wasn’t for space concerns. The Beast Bag was much smaller than the Storage Ring and he only had about a dozen large Insect Cages. The only downside to this whole process of growing new Spirit Insects and linking to them was that he’d end up with another unlinked fully grown insect. I’ll just have to put them to good use.

He didn’t feel any qualms about sacrificing the Spirit Insects, nor was he ever attached to them. Back in the Lang Clan he’d learned that Spirit Insects were very much like organic robots. Their souls were very weak, and it was even harder for them to become Demonic Insects than it was for a Spirit Plant to become a Demonic Plant. A Spirit Plant required a few special conditions, but mostly it was a matter of long terms of accumulation. A Spirit Insect on the other hand had to be in the right place as the right time and undergo a fundamental transformation by absorbing just the right material. Their lifespans were usually too short to accumulate over time, they were mostly all formed by pure luck.

When Sage finished linking to and growing a Steel Silk Centipede he was ready to head in. This Devil Vine had a huge flowery bloom every dozen feet or so, but Sage had learned the regular flowers were only its weapons. While the Farmer’s Library had nothing on how to become a Gardener, there was a few lines about why they couldn’t become one. The main reason was that the Demonic Plant’s seeds would not create new Demonic Plants. While a Demonic Beast could breed dozens of half-breed children, the Demonic Plant could only create pure descendants. The downside was that it took years of accumulation to create what was called a Demon Seed. Only with a Demon Seed could the Demonic Plant create a true offspring. It was much slower than Demonic Beast reproduction, but also true reproduction. The main downside of the Demonic Beast was finding a matching mate. They could mate with similar beasts, animals, or even humans when they take human form. Unfortunately all of these unions would result in different cross-breeds and they would only carry a portion of their progenitor’s power. It was truly quality versus quantity.

The secret of the Gardener wasn’t just how to control the Demonic Plants it was also a matter of learning how to make them reproduce. Sage wasn’t sure how to get a hold of a Demon Seed, but he was willing to give it a try. The majority of the flowers carried seeds that the Demonic Plant would use to make clones of itself. Spreading the seeds across its territory of influence, the cloned plants weren’t as powerful as the Demonic Plant itself, but acted like minions and carried the same abilities as the parent plant, only reduced in effect and without any intelligence to guide them. From what he observed, this Devil Vine seemed to limit itself to the vicinity of the Solarium. None of the vines extended more than about twenty feet from the Solarium, yet the Solarium itself was completely infested with it. There must be something about this place that the Vine loves, or is restricting it.

He had thought about using the Charming Lance Beetle, but that was somewhat of an all or nothing selection. If the pheromones were successful, he would be safe… if the Demonic Plant saw through him he’d have no way to escape. With the Steel Silk Centipede, Sage planned a slow conquest of the vines. The Centipede’s body was only three feet wide, but about thirty feet long. Moving closer to the Solarium he put it into action. The forward limbs slashed at any of the vines that started to move and encroach upon him while the rear limbs started to weave webbing. Soon the plants were doused in heavy layers of silk which locked down their motion. The vines attempted to sweep towards them and wrap around the Centipede’s body. Sage wasn’t sure what would happen if they succeeded, but he wasn’t about to give it a test now. Though there was no thorns on the vines, he thought there was something strange about the vapor around the flowers.

As time passed, the main entrance hall of the Solarium transformed from an overgrown wall of vegetation into a circular tunnel made of wispy white silk. The tunnel was only half the size of the original stone passage, but it was still twice the size of the Centipede and more than large enough for a person to walk through. Of course, he wasn’t about to exit the inside of the Centipede anytime soon. After a few minutes of rapid feeding and recovery of its energy, the Centipede went back to work. Even if something of value was hidden in this Solarium there was no way he was going to find it inside this jungle of vines and flowers. The Centipede slowly sealed up tunnel after tunnel and room after room. Sage hoped to find the true Demonic Plant at which point he might be able to find one of its Demon Seeds. Otherwise, he examined the rooms as they were sealed up. He hoped that the shape or any remaining large furniture might indicate the type of room it was. There was always a chance he could get lucky and find a secret treasure store or reserve.

Eventually, the Steel Silk Centipede tunneled his way into the main hall of the Solarium. They didn’t find any treasure along the way, but Sage was still astounded by what he saw. The main hall was like the famous roman colosseum had been transformed into a botanical garden. The lenses at the ceiling and the shattered glass walls might have once been a greenhouse from the look of things now. Examining the area, Sage was looking for the original Demonic Plant and not just its clones. The Centipede continued to bind up the many vines and vegetation, its motion actually startling a number of small Spirit Animals to dart off into the distance. None of the animals seemed very threatening, mostly just ones that preyed upon bugs and insects. Seeing them, Sage confirmed that this Demonic Plant was similar to other plants in that it had different insects to take care of it. Those helpful insects would in turn be preyed upon by other insects who were in turn preyed upon by small animals. The plant would expend a lot of energy fighting off bugs, but it could easily turn the animals into fertilizer. The animals living here was proof that it was easier for it to leave the animals alone and let them handle the pesky bugs.

The clone plants acted as they did before, responding automatically to the threat and trying to fight it off. They were unsuccessful just as the others before, the webbing binding them up and preventing their twisting and winding vines from capturing the Centipede. Both sides were using the same tactics, binding and capturing. The Centipede was just acting many times faster and overwhelming the mindless plants. The other reason it worked so well was that the Centipede wasn’t attacking them, just restricting their space.

Smooth steady progress carried them through the huge room, clearing out a short path before Sage realized he needed to gather more information. Choosing a new route, the Centipede backtracked a bit and forged a path towards the wall, extending its silk tunnel up the wall and climbing higher and higher. Soon enough they were near the damaged glass and metal dome, looking down at the Solarium and getting a bigger picture.

The clones of the Demonic Plant covered the whole place with thick and abundant green vines, and leaves, interspersed by snowy white blossoms that seemed to have climbed up above the dense foliage to get the spots with the best light. Looking around, Sage thought he’d found his target. While the vines and leaves looked exactly the same as the other plants, one of the flower blossoms was nearly twice the size of the others and placed at a conspicuous location against one of the walls. The spot it was at was a place where the lenses above hadn’t been damaged and the sunlight seemed to be magnified as it beamed down upon those blindingly bright white petals.

That should be the real core… How can I deal with it?