Arriving at the den a bit later than the others he came upon an animated discussion between the parasite and Mia, the former seemingly taking out its frustration on the latter
"You! What the hell did you do to me?!"
"I think you already understand so spare me the useless chatter, I'm in no mood to bother explaining"
Unlike Ellis who cared for her freedom he knew parasites weren't that big on their rights, they were parasites, it's quite literally in their name to be leeching off another more powerful being
The parasite seemed to want to argue but kept feeling repulsed by its anger, quickly calming itself down as it realized how deep the new connection was affecting it, much more than its previous connection with the now dead parent parasite
"At least tell me why you've captured me so"
"I'll explain when we get to Hortus, for now your coming with me to fetch some fruits, Mia, turn that woman into your fourth servant, she seems to be fit for the job, I will be leaving now"
Quickly giving out instructions he turned and headed out without even waiting for confirmation
The vampires were silent upon noticing his hurried actions, it was unlike the usual carefree lord who took things at his own pace
As for the parasite it had turned mum for some reason, looking like it was shaken but still followed him nonetheless
The two mad way to the forest area, speeding through the trees until they came upon a much larger clearing than before, this time with one very large pool of water, three waterfalls feeding into it with gushing currents
"My, mister finally decided to pay a visit"
The beauty sitting at the edge turned to him with a smile, eyes more enchanting than before
"Have you brought me a new friend?"
"No, I've come to take some fruits, I believe you have some ready?"
"Mmm, yes, but are you sure about the little one next to you? I dearly need such company"
"Perhaps if I find its brethren, this one is my direct servant"
"I see, what a shame"
The woman's eyes lingered on the parasite's body a bit more before she sighed, diving into the water and coming out with three plump fruit
YuJu motioned for the parasite to pick it up, which it more than gladly did, touching upon the woman's hand but feeling a bark like texture instead of soft skin making it goosebump all over
"I've got a lot of things to do during the next few months so feel free to use your fruits as seeds, I will not be coming for them anytime soon"
"Many thanks mister, I sure do hope you can find another one of your little servants on your way"
He nodded, said his farewell and left with the uncomfortable parasite and fruits
"Master...what was that thing"
A little uncomfortable with the way it had to address him the parasite asked
"A unique type of treant, by eating flesh and nurturing it in that pit it can produce fruits that grow to become trees with the same abilities, they could also be used as great supplementing food or evolution material even when it gets better food"
"SO these things are…"
The parasite turned to the three miracle fruit in its hands only to recoil in disgust, instead of plump fruit it now held three rotten bags of skin instead, each looking more disgusting than the next
"Master, what is this?"
"The fruit I told you about, its called Flesh Fruit, and it's ripe, you must eat it before it turns fresh however, once it does it will be nothing more than a seed, a defective one at that"
The parasite was a little uncomfortable with how its food looked but didn't complain, god knows how many awful things it ate since it was born
The two then moved quickly, passing one region after the other while fighting any beat who dared bar their path, it annoyed YuJu but he could do nothing about it with the parasite's none existent stealth skills, at least not in this form
Their journey took them to the tall cliff Ellis once climbed, the very same one he used the now broken vehicle's grapple hooks to quickly descend, and the one he would have to climb
"Do you have a flying form that can carry me up this cliff"
"I believe so Master"
Or maybe not
"Then it's a good time as any to test out something I've had my mind on"
"?"
"Your transformation usually takes time the stronger the form you want to take on, isn't that right?"
pαndα noνɐ1,сoМ "Indeed, it also depends on how similar my current form is to the one I'm taking, or in this case, how similar it is to my base form"
"How long does it take to transform into the form your about to take"
"Two and a half hours, give or take"
Yet another downside for the Faceless Devourer, one he just might be able to reduce
Pointing at the rotten fruit he motioned for the parasite to eat it, which it did, no without wincing at the horrible taste
"Now transform"
"Yes Master"
The parasite didn't know where its new Master was going with this, the transformation time was a solid flaw that stuck with its race throughout history, some fruit wouldn't change anything no matter how much of a miracle maker it was
Its body bloated, once more turning into the gory sight it took during transformation, to its surprise however it felt a churning within, like something inside was digging a way out, and it did, without too much struggle roots punctured a hole somewhere in the bloated mass of flesh, spreading across the body quicker than what the parasite could keep up with and turning into a something like a layer of skin that bound the flesh
If it could speak in this form the parasite would be cursing for sure, being dug from the inside wasn't pleasant but it was better than the level of pain it felt upon being covered with these skin like roots, it felt like the flesh and bones it was trying so hard to generate were being forced into place by the roots, squishing it into shape without any delicacy
The painful process was few minutes shy of two hours, halfway through warped screams filled the place as the parasite finally had a mouth to vent out the pain and frustration of this forced process
When it was finally done the parasite could only lay on the ground, ragged breaths flowing from its beak, wings heaving up and down in quick succession, beady eyes staring at the remaining two fruits with both trepidation and longing
"Half an hour less than anticipated, I can call this a success"
It wanted to respond rudely to this man who was more inhuman than itself, gulps of air filled its mouth however, no energy for words either, it just lay on the poisoned ground trying to get some rest
"Do you feel anything different?"
It glared, was the question really necessary?! Like the agony filled screams earlier weren't enough of an answer
"I mean after transformation, is there anything that feels off or better"
It got what he meant, still it took its time having its fill of air before answering with a hoarse scratchy voice
"No, I do feel sore but nothing unusual"
It paused in thought then continued
"If I were to describe the efficiency of this fruit however I would say its quite the drawback in itself, I might have taken half an hour less to transform but my form is in no good shape to do anything right after it, I will also feel burdened by the forced speed up of my transformation for a while"
It lifted one of its wings with much struggle to give an example
"Hmm, perhaps it can be mixed with some ingredients to lessen the potency?...no, it can only achieve this result by being whole, so it mean you need some sort of stimulant or supplement to endure the process, perhaps something Subrina could brew… getting off track"
Every time he saw something interesting his mind would start to wonder about its applications, such a habit needed to stop, temporarily at least, he must finish his business in Hortus and find that man as soon as possible
'This sin, its like a ticking bomb'
He didn't like having a timer, a knife over his neck that could end it all at the blink of an eye, he'd had enough of that already
'Such is life, a constant race for time, even if you turn time itself back you would still be chasing after it'
He might have the advantage of knowing the future but many held other advantages far outclassing his, including some who could continuously peek into the future as well, though with great inaccuracy
'I can only make the most of what I have, for now…'
He would wait for the parasite to replenish its stamina and get moving about, though that's yet another waste of precious time
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