Canir decided to hang out with the group for a little bit, and some interesting things got revealed, like the possibility of feeding plants too much raw magic, which could mutate them or even lead to a whole crystallized forest. The sister's parents also became a topic, and Sophia had the idea to show her family back on Earth her domain to get them a taste of what a world with magic looks like.

"Okay, I can see now why you three like the idea of a crystalized forest so much." Ari nodded a few times while she was looking at the TV. The group had decided to watch a few movies together, namely fantasy ones that feature all kinds of magical sights, because Chloe and the sisters wanted to show the jaguar the beauty and romance of those sparkly forests.

“I’m glad you understand.” Steph, Sophia, and the pink fox sounded quite smug while they smiled at her.

“Let’s go!” Anna also seemed quite excited about it. “It’s SOO beautiful!”

“What she said!” The wolves, too, seemed to be fans of the idea.

“I do agree that it’s very pretty.” Maya also liked it. "Though, I think that those glowing forests are very much cooler! Plants that light up are super fun~.”

“A compelling argument!” Steph agreed with her. “I think I might actually like that one better, too! Bioluminescence is so cool!”

“By the way, bioluminescence is a very common mutation~.” Mira smiled at the two.

“Ohh!” They loved to hear it. “Let’s try it out the next time we have time!” The dog-girl gave Maya a thumbs up.

“Sounds like a plan!” The cat-girl was in on it.

“You two alone together?” Sophia raised an eyebrow after hearing this. “I’m not sure how I feel about that.”

“Oh, jealous~?” Smirking at her sister, Steph then put her arm around Maya’s neck, who happened to be sitting next to her when they were watching the movies.

“Not exactly.” The blonde shook her head. “It’s more like that you two are by far the biggest perverts in our group, and I’m not sure if I want to find out what you’d come up with when alone together.”

“She’s got a point!” Anna, Ari, and Chloe agreed with her.

“Do you think that little of us?!” Steph and Maya were hurt.

“Yes.” The trio just nodded.

“Let’s come up with the most perverted thing possible!”

“Exactly what I was thinking just now!” The dog and cat-girl started pouting while they looked at each other. "How about a tentacle forest?"

"Ohh!"

“I can’t say I’m surprised about that.” Sophia rolled her eyes. "Also, why was that the first thing you came up with?!" She didn't like her suggestion. 

“If it helps,” Ari joined the conversation. “I like what I saw about the crystal forests in those movies, but glowing plants also seem a little cooler to me. I'd like to help make such a place instead."

“Of course!” Maya smiled at her.

“We naturally welcome the third-biggest pervert in our group to our illustrious endeavor!” Steph’s mood seemed to be excellent. “It’s threesome time!”

“I'll ignore the last part because I know you by now, but what’s that other part supposed to mean?!” She didn’t enjoy that accusation.

“You know what I mean~.” The dog just smiled at her.

“I don’t!”

“Well,” Anna raised her hand while a slight blush appeared on her face.

“Don’t you dare to finish your sentence!” The jaguar got loud.

“Hehe.” Steph and Maya gave her a thumbs-up.

“Shush!” Ari didn’t like that, either.

“Well, I’m not sure how adding another pervert to the mix would help with the situation, but I guess you at least know where to draw the line.” Sophia scratched her cheek. “I guess?”

“I hate you all so much.” She then turned her head away because she didn’t want to talk with them anymore.

"I definitely want to be on the crystal forest team, though!" Anna faced her fellow tiger. “The glowy stuff looks fun, and I want to see it once it's done, but crystals are way cooler!”

“You’re more than welcome to join me~.” Sophia smiled at her.

“I’m totally coming with you two, as well!" Chloe joined the tiger faction. "Same reason as our princess, too!"

“The more the merrier!” The blonde naturally was happy to have her.

The girls continued to make plans for a little longer and also watched yet another movie together, but eventually decided that the day had been long enough. Once Canir headed back, everyone got ready to sleep and rest.

----------------

“Oh!” On the following morning, while everyone was in the cottage’s living room, Sophia suddenly raised her voice. “Canir forgot to give me one of his stupid fancy shrines!”

“I wouldn’t be so relieved just yet.” Mira looked at her. “Knowing him, he’s probably busy preparing something as obnoxious as possible for us right now.”

“I’m absolutely certain he is.” The blonde agreed with her. “I won’t ever let him back into my domain again, though~.”

“Good thinking!” She sounded impressed by her solution. “I think I might join you on that plan!”

“Hehe~.”

“By the way,” Noticing they were done with the topic, Steph spoke up. "I was wondering what the plan for today is. More of our own projects? The special forests, more traveling in the normal world? Or, do you want to fetch our family?” She tilted her head during the last part while facing her sister.

“I’d definitely say that the family thing will be a topic for another day.” She strongly shook her head a few times. “Mira, how complicated is it to create the mutated forests we got so excited over yesterday?”

“Just use an obscene amount of your internal magic, and you're good to go." She smiled at her.

“I’m good at that!” Sophia liked the requirements.

“We know.” Many people present had the same reaction.

“There are some smaller issues with your plan, though.” The teal fox informed her about a problem. “You still remember that I said those mutations are random, right? You all got super excited, split up in groups and whatnot, but there’s no way to tell what sort of mutation will happen. Not even that it is going to happen.”

“Ah.” The girls definitely had forgotten about it.

“There are certain plants and biomes that are more likely to mutate in the desired direction, though." As usual, Mira couldn't help but spoil them with information. “Swamps, mossy areas, and other places with natural high humidity often mutate towards bioluminescence. Basically, places where mushrooms grow well, which also have the highest chance to develop a glow under high-magic conditions. For crystallization or fossilization, depending on your goal, hard-leaved plants and trees found in hotter regions are prone to it. They aren’t able to absorb a high amount of magic, so there’s a high chance they mineralize instead of mutating. For example, the flora of the monster country of the regular world works rather well in that regard.”

“Ohh!” The blonde nodded a few times. “Very useful information! The monster country is super far away, though. While I want to go there again, it’ll take a while. Anna, are there any swamps on the way we’re currently traveling?”

“No idea.” The princess shook her head. “I roughly know where the notable cities in our kingdom are and what's special about them, but I don’t know much about the geographical properties and biomes outside of the immediate area around the capital.”

“It’s the same for me.” Ari’s knowledge wasn’t any more detailed, either.

“Aww.” It wasn’t what she wanted to hear.

“Didn’t we cross a massive swamp during our travels?" Chloe eventually joined the conversation and faced Fey with a questioning expression.

“That was over five years ago, you know?” She looked back at her. “I doubt that place would be overly helpful for you impatient lot.”

“True.” A lot of them agreed with that statement.

“Also,” The full continued. “I don’t think you need a full swamp for your project. Any swampy area would work to get a sample for your experiments inside the domain here, right?” She looked at Mira during the last bit.

"Yes." She nodded. "Though, it might be beneficial to get a few extra samples because there’s a high chance you need multiple tries to get the desired outcome.”

“Even that won’t be a problem.” Fey didn’t see an issue with that. “Swampy areas are everywhere. I can guarantee you that we will find one in not even an hour after we’re back to traveling.”

“I like that confidence!” Sophia smiled at her. “You better make sure to sniff one out if we don’t, though!”

“Sure.”

“You’re oddly cooperative with our idiocy, Feyfey!” Chloe raised an eyebrow. “What is going on?” She got suspicious.

“I don’t care if Sophia’s domain turns into a freaky attraction, so I’m all in favor if you live out your fantasies here instead of the regular world.”

“Ah, I see.” The pink fox could get behind her reasoning. “That makes sense.”

“Let’s go!” Steph had enough of the talking and decided it was time to head out.

And so, after a rough plan for the day had been formed, everyone got ready, and the group left Sophia’s domain to resume their travels, now with the daily goal of finding a swamp or swampy area.

 

 

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