Alicia was riding on top of ‘Ramiel’.¹Biblical reference intended primarily the name not the lore. No, Uriel will be a separate entity. She named the large male goat turned familiar as such because it tried to ram her the first time meeting her.

• ‘Are you sure you’re not a weird off color stag with this size of yours?’
• ‘………!’
• ‘I get, I get it. You’re a goat. You also make for a good pillow.’

She - along with her following goat herd - arrived around the edge of Verdun where in the evening most of the elven patrols had returned to their village and the night watch was amidst preparation for their coming shift, this of course included Faenas who was the first to approach her. The herd of caprines were escorted by multiple cave creepers; lacking numbers Alicia had to conjure a few more to increase their coverage. Due to their skill Stealth being active they weren’t seen by many excluding Alicia, and Ramiel who could see them owing to the fact they were united by Kindred. At first when bringing it up to Faenas they considered taking only half of the herd but in the end they decided to take all of them after they got charmed by the kids. ‘I don’t blame them one bit. Ramiel needs to stay with the herd until they get used to Elves so he’ll have to stay.’

Although she offered to have some of her Cave creepers act as shepherds they declined owing to their appearance. ‘I need someone more presentable… I think I have the candidate for that, just need to convince him first. I also need some form of dwelling, can’t keep going in this homeless lifestyle… I do have a ‘home’ technically if you count that oak tree as one but that’s before I turned out like this.’ A tree of its size was more than enough for when she was a small spider but that was no longer the case now that she has grown. ‘Dwelling in a forest… has to be a cottage or underground shelter; raw materials are plentiful but processing them into something usable is going to be the challenge. What else… land surveying and clearing the vegetation should be the first steps. Tons of things to do well gotta start with something if I am to make progress…’

When Alicia returned to the great oak tree…

• “Welcome back master!”

Adorned in simple white pouf dress, a rather endowed girl in her late teens²Every country has their own definitions so think anywhere between 17-21. was enthusiastically waving and welcoming Alicia. Wavy mid back length walnut color hair, round almond eyes of citrine.

‘Did I take a wrong turn or something?’

She would’ve believed that thought, if she also didn’t extensively mark the oak tree that she knows with silken clothes she made quite a while ago.

• “Who’re you?”
• “Does the master not recognize me? I am a tree nymph!”

‘Tree nymph? Like Dryad? Isn’t that another word for spirit? Wait…’

• “From which tree did you come from…?”
• “This one right here!”

Pointing towards the great oak…

‘Yep… That’s the tree that I used to hang around.’

• “I also helped myself with one of your clothes. Do you want it back?”

‘I’ve already had enough nudes from another spirit. I don’t need another one!’

• “No! You can keep it. My treat.”
• “Thank you!”
• “Why do you keep calling me master?”
• “Because master is master?”

‘Do you have the slightest idea how little that helps me?’

Alicia’s slightly miffed look drove the girl to speak further.

“Uhm… I turned into a full-grown tree nymph thanks to the master giving me magical energy so master is master!”

‘I don’t remember doing that… consciously. I remember water spirit… - I really should come up with a nickname for her - telling me that I was ‘leaking’ energy. I thought I learned not to but I guess it still wasn’t enough.’

• “Hold still a tick would you?”
• “Hm?”

Grasping her hands Alicia used a skill she didn’t have many opportunities to use.

⟨ Soul Echo ⟩

‘Tons of skills I didn’t know of…

Now that she was close enough to touch her the beige skin looked like the inner sapwood of a tree, her chartreuse yellow eyes seemed to possess the illusion of flowing with sap and the hair having the walnut color of bark… 

You’re actually a dryad huh with that skillset… I guess I thought dryads were supposed to have… I don’t know green skin with flowers blooming out of their hair and exhibitionist behavior? Nevermind she did try to strip right then.’

• “Master… that tickles… inside? You’re very warm… and huge…”

The girl started to cuddle against Alicia's arms and started rubbing herself against it along with a pair of something else.

• “Stop! You’re making it weird! You’re making it weird!”

Peeling away the nymph from her arms;

• “That’s enough of that.”
• “A little more?”
• “No.”
• “Please…?”
• “…Maybe later”

‘Those clothes she’s wearing… quite the tight fit. Since I took reference from myself it's obvious it won’t fit her. But since they’re made from silk they have quite the elasticity to stretch so they won’t tear easily however… with the figure of hers emphasized… Yeah no good I’ll have to make something less… accentuating.’

• “Master, is something wrong?”

Alicia's lingering gaze slightly bothered the nymph.

• “Listen you gotta stop calling me master alright? I have a name: Alicia. Got it? In turn I’ll call you by your name”
• “Yes! Ma-…”
• “Ah-Aah! What did I just say?”
• “Bu-but I don’t have a name?”
• “You want one? Would be bit troubling to just forever call you ‘nymph’”
• “Yeah!”
• “Let’s see Dryad… Dry… Drys? Dryssia? How about Dryssia?”
• “Mmmh!”

The moment Dryssia attested to her new name;

>Authentication confirmed. Covenant established, redistributing power balance…

>Skills acquired.
>Deprecated skills detected. Modernizing…
>Readapting Animacode…

>Reclaiming skills…

⟨ Floral Telepathy Ⅱ  ∪⇉ ⟨ Telepathy Ⅳ∆ ⟩ ∋ 〔 Flora-Empathy 〕
〔 Chloropoeia ☆ 〕 ∪⇉ ⟨ Mimicry Ⅵ∆ ⟩ ∋ 〔 Floramimetics 〕

⟨ Toxin synthesis Ⅳ ⟩ ∩↹ ⟨ Venom Fang Ⅹ ⟩ + ⟨ Compound Synthesis Ⅰ ⟩ ∧ ⟨ Toxic Tolerance Ⅴ ⟩ ≡ ⟨ Advanced Toxicology Ⅴ ⟩ ∋ 〔 Compound Synthesis 〕

⟨ Floraekinesis Ⅰ ⟩

>Unique trait acquired.

⌈ Photoautotrophy ⌋

‘I am become plant, the devourer of stars… Excuse me what?!’

• “You’re coming with me.”

Pulling along Dryssia Alicia headed for the spirit lake.

• “M-Master wait! I-I can’t keep up.”

Turning around to look she was tripping on the smallest of roots and consciously avoiding stepping on grass and other plants.

• “Get on.”

Before she could even process what was told to her Alicia pulled her up and put her on her abdomen. Hurrying on, a pair of hands grasped around Alicia’s waist and the weight of something rested against her back.

‘Is she leaning her head on me? Whatever, if anyone knows something about her it’ll either be that girl or Sardak.’

In a little while the both of them were on the rocky shores of a lake. After letting down the girl on her back she shouted out.

• “Heeey! It’s me! Are you there?”

Rising up from the black depths, a familiar girl surfaced. Initially poised in her steps - atop water - but after noticing an unknown person next to her she picked up speed. Her admittedly impatient advances seemed to frighten Dryssia who clung to and hid behind Alicia.

• “It’s okay she’s someone I know.”

While comforting her, the water spirit came up to the two.

• “You’re real…”

Staring at the skittish girl she let out a strange remark.

• “Hey, what is it? What’s real?”
• “That’s a nature spirit… I thought they were all gone…”
• “Why? Were they extinct or something?”
• “They’re the type of spirit that’s extremely sensitive to changes to their habitat. A little drought or a storm can cause irreparable damage to their homes and they die out quickly. With kingdoms of mortal races expanding their territories and defiling forests for their own interests… You can see how they become rarity if not a myth.”
• “Dryssia?”
• “Dryssia!? She has a name?!”
• “Whoa whoa calm down we’ll get to that. Let me start from the beginning.”

Explaining everything thoroughly from the beginning took some time and as her story progressed the water spirit gradually eased up eventually having a pleased smile. With the performance of fireflies and symphony of crickets starting as nightfall began. Dryssia was collecting seeds and acorns. And to ensure not to lose her Alicia had one of her hex crawlers in her hair to keep tabs on her.

• “…I see…”
• “So you got any idea what just happened?”
• “From what you’ve said, it’s most likely that you’ve established a covenant. That’s good…”
• “What is a covenant and why is it good?”
• “Covenant is a more mature form of a contract. To run it down simply. Contracts bind spirits or elementals to another being. It is a collar that shackles a spirit to do the contractor’s bidding whether they want to or not, they are formed out of a one-sided decree that allows the caster to impose their will. While I won’t say that there aren’t any benevolent summoners they’re rarer than a generous dragon. And the nature of contracts just encourage a disparaging attitude. Maybe that’s why there are so many enraged elementals around… Spirits won’t want to be ‘friendly’ with anyone if everyone is out to get them.

Her voice had noticeable contempt as she spoke.

•  Suffice to say a spirit would fight tooth and nail to resist it. Covenants are the antithesis of contracts. They are formed out of mutual agreement. If contracts are a relationship of a slave and a master, covenants are a relationship of trust. No one is above the other in it but there are mutual benefits for it, for example shared powers. The spirit is no longer at risk of fading away if their place of provenance is somehow destroyed as the other party can supply their own energy to nourish the spirit. And in turn the host will receive boons related to the covenant spirit. It’s good for her as she won’t die so long as you’re around.”

‘That’s why she calmed down… Did I dodge a bullet there…?’

• “So what’s that gotta do with me giving her a name?”
• “Names are a powerful binding force that anchors a spirit to the host. If they’re forced upon a spirit then it forms a contract. However if they’re receptive of it and by extension, the host, it will form a covenant, simple isn’t it?

As for what you’ve described I haven’t got the faintest clue. I may be able to tell you what it is if you’re able to recreate it on me.”

‘I can… but let’s not for now… I have another person I wanna bring her to…’

• “I’ll try…-”

• “Master look! Seeds!”

Done with her collecting Dryssia came to show it to Alicia. Because she could hold so much in her arms she used her skirt and dress as a makeshift basket to amass her collection. Of course since Alicia didn’t make any spare undergarments… Everything was in plain sight. Water Spirit had a wry smile while Alicia was trying to tear her face off of her head with her palm.

‘I’m gonna have to drill some senses into her…’

• “…I’ll make a bag quickly just don’t move…”
• “Eh?”

Completely oblivious Dryssia was simply confused at their reactions.

In a teepee lone witch doctor was grinding collected herbs in mortar and pestle. His aim, to recreate the venom of the silver spirit. Though he had found promising results their potency wasn’t nearly as high as the original. In the midst of his work… spectral voice called out to him:

• ‘Sardak? It’s me, can we talk?’
• ‘Ooh, of course great loa. Would this den of mine be suitable?’
• ‘It’s okay…’

Pulling aside the cloth over the doorway…

• “Sorry for the late visit. But this is important…”

From her side Dryssia’s head peeked out, her curious stare placed at the aged troll. Locking eyes, Sardak was briefly stunned before…

• “Hoooohohohohohhahahahaaee!”

Sudden outburst of his cry scared the girl who retreated behind Alicia.

• “Grand bois!”³Literally meaning “The Great Tree/Wood'' Grand Bois is a spirit of nature, woodlands, herbs and plants in hatian Vodou. In case you haven’t noticed by now, Sardak refers to other mythological beings from Voodoo perspective.
• “The who?”
• “What a great occasion it is for a Great loas such as thee to arrive!”

Digging around his containers he brought up some plants and herbs, placed them on a wooden bowl and presented to the Dryad. Although cautious at first she eventually started to come out and started looking through the herbs, picking the ones she liked.

‘Huh, being someone who knows spirits well he sure knows how to pluck their strings just right…’

• “I was about to introduce her to you but you seem to know her anyway?”
• “Ah, yes, Woodland spirits, they too resided in our homeland… few in numbers and timid they do not reveal themselves to just anyone. But they do respond to rare herbs and flowers…”

Dryssia quickly picked the few herbs and flowers she liked and put them in her web basket. She seemed to be completely enamored with them.

• “Timid? I suppose? But she didn’t seem anything like that to me though?”
• “Yes they are shy but to whom they trust they show no constraints… If I may, could I ask where the Loa resides?”
• “I’ll show you later… I’ve become something of a… caretaker of her. I was just wondering if there's something I should know.”
• “They’re inherently good natured and empathetic… She should like honey, spices and rum.”
• “Thanks I’ll keep that in mind. We should go know… before that how’s the venom holding out? is it working? Do I need to refill it?”
• “It works wonders Great Loa, we’ve used it sparingly so there is no need for more right now.”
• “That’s great, I’ll see you later then.”

Dryssia was letting one of Alicia’s hex crawlers from earlier to touch and ‘smell’ the various flowers she took from Sardak.

• “Come on time to go.”
• “Master looks there’s Rosper and Milla flower and Gava fruits and-”

‘She’s really into botanics… Well now I really need to make something of a home otherwise it’ll be difficult to live in general.’

After making their way back to the great oak she noticed that it was way taller than she realized. Despite having a creeping suspicion that it had grown bigger, she dismissed it as her own imagination but now it was almost undeniable as the tree had grown beyond the treetop canopies casting shade over nearby trees. That tree was the oak tree she ‘lived’ at.

‘Now for the big question…’

• “Hey Dryssia? Do you mind if I cut some trees?”

Auratic

oH BOY HERE I GO SCRAPPING CHAPTERS AND MISTAKENLY DELETING MY PROGRESS AGAIN. I know I'm late but I won't compromise my schedule of 1 chapter per week.

There's a public holiday in the country I live in so I have to deal with my family more often than I do usually.

Since I spent 2-3 hours on it here's the HQ image of Floraekinesis.

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I got a new tool and I really like it.

Also this fella gave me a visit.

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I'm not expert but looking at its color and size I'm going to assume it's a Tegenaria domestica or Common domestic spider. It's shorter legs and rather bulbous abdomen I'm assume its a female since males have longer legs, larger pedipalps and more slender and shapely abdomen. Or it could be a well fed male who knows.

My tryna write:

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Btw if you can figure out the meaning behind Dryssia's name I'll give you a singular clout point.