******* Practicing ********
I find one of the drug plants mentioned in the notebook. It's the only one I recognize. I wonder if I've gone near any of the others. I managed to find some schematics, but it's totally inadequate. I don't think I'd be able to recognize them even if I had them in front of me. There're many similar ones. I sigh. Yi stares at me.
"It's time for the swap," I announce.
"Already? So soon?" Yi complains.
I kiss her goodbye. Not wasting the opportunity to caress her buttocks. She doesn't waste it either. A trickle of saliva hangs when we separate.
Her twin appears. It takes her less than a second to look at me and smile. We kiss each other as a welcome.
"Where to?" she asks. She has just arrived, and is disoriented.
"That way, but we're taking a detour. The swamps are dangerous."
She nods. She looks warily at the mud. Then, we set off. It'd really be a delightful walk if there weren't dangers around every corner. Most of them are too weak, and don't attack us. They run away instead. I'd say this area is of a lower level. Apart from the swamp.
"What's that?" Yu points out.
"No idea. Let's go see."
It's a huge tree. We couldn't all together hug its yellow trunk. Its leaves are blue, with a metallic shine. We call the rest.
"It's beautiful," Liang marvels, as she walks around it.
She carries Little Stripes with her, with a rope tied around her neck. It was hard for her to put it on, she kept taking it off. It was fun to see it.
"It has a very strong qi, but I don't know where it comes from," Yi adds.
"It's really huge," Song appreciates.
Although it's not taller than the rest of the trees, its figure is imposing among them. Its trunk is ten times wider than any other.
"It must have some secret. There's something engraved here. But I don't know what it is," Shi observes.
It's true. There're bits of words hanging out there. Or maybe, it's in an unknown language. It seems to form some kind of incomplete structure. Or maybe, I'm just imagining it.
In the end, there's nothing else we can do but admire it. So, we decide to continue on our way. Nothing has come close to us. Or to the tree.
----------
I find the staff very comfortable to use. Despite being just a thick polished branch. I need to get some techniques to use it better. For now, I don't have any. Maybe, some generic ones, like applying qi to objects.
Offensively, it's not as powerful as a spear. Though, its strikes are more effective against enemies with tough skin. Or armor. Like a meter-wide turtle that's tried to bite us. I've managed to break its shell with blows.
Defensively, it's much better than the spear. It's sturdier and thicker. Best of all, it seems made for me, it fits me perfectly. I guess that's what they call finding your weapon.
We've been attacked by a pack of nine wolves, one of them equivalent to stage seven. The others below. Although, there were more, it hasn't been too difficult. Not only are we stronger, but we're getting used to fighting. I can see it in them. And in me. Are we starting to get overconfident?
"Are you going to finish?" Song complains.
"It's like a child with a new toy," Yi laughs.