About 1 hour earlier

  Oh thank the spirits. Eden is fine. Plantus thinks, as he blankly stares at Eden who has just woken up in front of the house. The group talks to Eden, much like you have already seen, but Plantus pays no mind to it, as he gets an alert of sorts from a transmitter in his inventory. Plantus floats away from the group, grabs his transmitter, and picks up the call.

  “Hello, who is this?” Plantus asks the caller.

  “1st class citizen Plantus, his majesty has called for you to stop at the Elder Tree with all due haste! Attendance is mandatory!” The person on the transmitter barks at Plantus.

  “Alright, alright, I got it. I will get there as fast as I can.” Plantus responds back to the person, who after hearing Plantus’s response, drops the call. Plantus quickly leaves the fields, not being noticed by the men talking near him. He also takes with him the vine orb, now in a much smaller and more portable form. The flight is a rather short one, as the distance is only around 10 miles (16.09 km), and Plantus is far faster than the vine orb could ever dream of being. After about a minute, Plant lands in front of a giant, dark brown oak tree.

  The tree is taller than the eye could see, and is the only place that has any natural light, as the tree rests below the entrance to the wood spirit cave. The top of the tree can hardly be seen as the bright light blinds those who have grown accustomed to the darkness, which nearly every creature in the cave has done to some extent. There are few branches upon the oak tree for its size, though the count still would number in the hundreds, and each one is as long as a street. The bark of the tree is clearly old and shows signs of decaying, but is still as lively and bright as a newborn tree.

  For what could Cosmos be calling me for? If I had to guess, it must be something to do with Eden. Perhaps he is angry that I helped another human, but this time committed to the task rather than give up over some simple bribes. Well, it is not like he can do much to me anyway, so there is only so much worrying I can do. Plantus concludes, as he floats down to the base of the gargantuan oak tree. Once Plantus reaches the ground, he glides over to what seems to be a hidden door. Though the purpose on why the door was camouflaged is unknown, given two guards stand right in between where the door is, defeating any stealthy reasons for this door to look this way. Regardless, Plantus walks up to the spirit guards.

  The guards are both holding a wood shield and spear. Also, there is a badge on their chest region, right around where a human of the same size would find his heart, which has an emblem of a giant tree, along with a shield on each side of this tree. Wooden bumps coat the perimeter of the circular badge, which is no bigger than a small cup lid.

  “Hello, Guards. I was told to come here; Cosmos’s orders.” Plantus says to the guards, who lower their heads for a nod, and then open the “hidden” door.

  “Follow us. You are scheduled to meet his majesty in his private quarters.” One of the guards informs Plantus, who does the same nod the guards had just done. The guards walk through the door, which is a bit too short for them so they have to compress their bodies to fit. It is a wonder how Cosmos ever enters this place with his hulking size.

  The interior of the tree is rather hollow, having just about nothing of note inside of it. All one can see are a lot of wood spirits hurriedly floating around to enter hallways made from the tree’s branches. No one pays any mind to Plantus as he enters the Elder Tree. The guards then quickly start to float up, which Plantus closely follows, higher and higher. The flight up takes longer than the fight to the Elder tree for Plantus, and the trip does not stop until they reach the highest branch.

  The rather large entrance to the innards of the branch was decorated with fine woods and brilliant gold. The doorway was mostly wood, so the gold only appeared on the large handles to open the door, along as an outlining to better define the placement of this entrance. Though there is no clear source of light in sight, the gold seems to be so bright that it illuminates the area by itself. Right above the humongous entrance is an inscription made out of a green wood that glows like an emerald. The inscription reads Cosmos in massive text, quite fitting for the large king.

  As extra as you have always been Cosmos. Plantus mocks in his mind as the guards walk up to the door. The two guards each grab their own golden handle to open the doors, and after a bit of struggling the door begins to open, albeit slowly.

  “First class citizen, Plantus, has arrived!” The two guards call out in unison right as they finish the opening of the clearly heavy doors. Through the doors reveals a massive room, full of fancy wooden carved furniture, such as a dozen or so giant wooden chairs and tables, along with a few statues of other wood spirits of similar stature of Cosmos. There were also beautiful flowers and other plants growing out of the wooden walls, none of which were the same as the other, though they all gave a sense of great value and beauty. Near the back of the large room was a throne, far larger than any of the other wood chairs, that was made in the same style as the door to enter the room. To the left of the throne was another door, though it was not as extravagant as the door to enter the current room. On the right side of the throne is a circular platform with a green magic sigil on it. Right above this sigil is the mighty king himself, Cosmos.

  Time to see whatever Cosmos has called me in for is. Plantus thinks, as he floats into the room. The guards stand by the door, unmoving. The guards leave view once the doors close.

  Cosmos glances over to Plantus with a sharp glare in his eyes, and his face is all scrunched up. Cosmos holds a pile of normal-sized papers, looking like a small chip in the massive palms of the king. Cosmos walks up to and lazily seats himself on his throne before speaking.

  “It would seem that you have arrived, Plantus.” Cosmos firmly states, looking down upon the much smaller being in front of him.

  “Of course I would answer your call anytime.” Plantus replies; no hint of respect being found in his voice. Though Plantus still kneels, or at least does an act as close as one without legs can.

  As disrespectful as always it would seem. Cosmos thinks, but pays the thought no mind. “Do you have any idea of why I have called you here today?” Cosmos asks Plantus.

  “Would it have something to do with Eden?” Plantus hastily replies. Cosmos puts his head up in thought for a little while, scratching his chin, once Plantus asks this.

  “Well, how should I word this, you are half right. I did need to supply you with these-” Cosmos says as he tosses a small leather bag he grabbed out of his inventory. Plantus catches it and notes what is inside from what the system informs him: 1 gold coloured apple, 4 green coloured apples, and a keg of spirit whiskey, 2 gallons (9.09 l) in total.

  “You are to give the golden apple to Eden and the green ones for his comrades. Also, inform them that their living quarters are being moved elsewhere, with Eden getting his own home and the others getting a shared home.” Cosmos orders Plantus in a courageous voice. Plantus does his nod in agreement. Cosmos continues on after this:

  “But I must inform you of another thing, Plantus. As you are well aware of, I have made the decision to switch a lot of our production to more combat ready supplies, and I would wish for you to do the same. The head of external affairs and espionage, Venus Snare, has reported upon some information regarding “A Legacy’s Myth”.” Cosmos states, bringing about shock to Plantus upon such knowledge.

  Traces of “A Legacy’s Myth”!? If this is true, then this could very well be the next catalyst of another war within the tower’s many factions. It would seem I should obey this military supply increase demand from Cosmos, no matter how much I wish for it to not come to that. If more learn that there is even the slightest of chances that any remnant of that man is left, then all hell will break loose to fight at all costs to obtain it. Plantus concludes.

  “I will tell my employees to switch from tool manufacturing to weapon manufacturing, along with sending some of my farmers to the training site. Does that fit the task for you?” Plantus asks Cosmos.

  Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

  “That would do quite nicely. Now if you have nothing left to say, I must ask you to leave my throne room and deliver my stuff.” Cosmos says, as he gets up from his throne, walking over to Plantus. He then pats Plantus on the shoulder, the same spot he patted during the trial, and whispers in his ear.

  “Make sure to not let any of this information leak out, got it?” Cosmos quietly barks at Plantus, who nods in agreement. “Good, good.” Cosmos states before leaving Plantus to float out of his room.

  Back to present time

  The cotton plants around the group fall down, bowing to the wind pressure exerted on them. The grass, not as rooted to the ground, flies about untamed by any force. The one who is causing this gust; Plantus, who has come to the house.

  “Plantus? Why are you here?” Eden asks Plantus, who is holding a barrel of some kind, made from a dark wood. The barrel is tightly held together through multiple metal strips wrapped around it, and there exists a small nozzle on the top of the barrel. Plantus also holds some apples, 4 green and 1 golden.

  “I am here to deliver some news, and some items from King Cosmos. Firstly, Eden you need to eat this golden apple, and the other should eat this green apple. Also, you have some beer” Plantus tells the group, as he sets down the barrel of spirit whiskey. The presence of the barrel makes most of them excited, especially Cowboy, Soldier, and Old Man, as they are the biggest alcoholics in the group. They quickly take their now empty cup and fill it to the brim with the whiskey. They then start chugging even as it fizzes. The drink was tinted green, most likely from the blessing of a wood spirit. As they drink the beer, they also eat their green apple, which has a rich but slightly sour taste. Eden however inquires about some more things.

  “What is this apple for exactly?” Eden asks Plantus, who seems a little surprised at the question, but quickly realizes the reason it was asked.

  “Oh sorry, Eden. I forgot you know little about the wood spirit kingdom. The kingdom has 5 different classes of citizens, and these classes are defined by what kind of apple you eat. First class gets a rainbow apple, second class gets a red apple, third class gets a golden apple, fourth class gets a green apple, and fifth class gets no apple. When someone eats one of these apples, it gives the person of that class an identification of sorts equal to the rank of the apple.” Plantus explains to Eden, who after hearing the explanation eats his apple. The apple tastes delicious to say the least, probably the best thing Eden can ever recall tasting. The favour of the apple is hard to define, but it reminds Eden of sweet lemonade mixed with some apple sauce. The crunch of the apple was like that of a freshly picked apple off the orchard, and there were no seeds in the apple at all, leading to Eden devouring the thing whole. After Eden finishes his apple, he looks over to his comrades, now getting drunk again.

  “Whoa this is some mighty fine brew we got here. Haven’t tasted one burp quite like it since that saloon back in the boonies.” Cowboy yells out, already getting a little drunk, though the presence of his accent implies he is still fully functional.

  “I quite concur, my fellow compatriots.” Old Man says, talking with a much more grandiose vocabulary than normal, also a little drunk, more so than cowboy. Though the two are not nearly as drunk as Soldier, an apparent light-weight in drinking. This was not helped by the fact that he drank a whole 16 oz cup of it in one gulp, leaving Soldier to tumble onto the ground, mumbling something incoherent.

  “Plantus, what on earth did you give them!?” Eden confusingly yells at Plantus, who seems surprised at the question.

  “It is whiskey, just like what I said not 5 minutes ago. Why did you not hear me the first time?” Plantus informs Eden, clearly not understanding what Eden meant.

  “Clap Clap I was unaware Sherlock Holmes became a wood spirit after this death; no you imbecile why are they already this drunk!?” Eden mocks and yells at Plantus, who is taken aback from Eden’s words. Eden looks down in shame after hearing himself.

  “Sorry for my outburst, Plantus. I am a little on edge right now.” Eden clarifies to Plantus, who seems to understand.

  “It is fine, Eden, But a more pressing question is that is it not true that alcohol makes you drunk? They drink some, and then they get drunk, more surprised they could handle all of that to be honest.” Plantus tells Eden. But before he could continue, Old Man interrupts.

  “Plantus, do not threat, Eden is just absolutely flabbergasted burp at your profound wisdom.” Old Man drunkenly says to Plantus. Following that is Old Man finishing his first cup and pouring out another.

  “You know Plantus, shall we take this inside?” Eden rhetorically asks Plantus.

  I would like to know what Plantus has to say, but the team is already getting too drunk for them to understand what is happening. Why are these old men so obsessed with drinking? I should ask them sometime, but right now it is better to just talk 1 on 1 and tell the rest later. Eden concludes, as he leads Plantus inside the stone house. They step, well, float in Plantus’s case, inside the small abode, and Eden leads Plantus over to the kitchen where he pulls out some of their chairs, flimsy as always. But this was nothing more than a gesture, as Plantus floats over the chair all the same.

  “So what did your king tell you to deliver?” Eden asks, sitting down in his chair as it rocks, seeming to struggle to hold up his weight, even with Eden’s rather skinny build.

  “I am to tell you that you and your group are exempted from all trials until your dismissal from the cave. Furthermore, according to the words of spirit king Cosmos, You are to be treated with respect of that of a third class citizen. Furthermore, your team is now being treated with the respect of a fourth class citizen. This is opposed to the fifth class you all were. Furthermore, you are getting new living quarters, with yourself getting your own home and the other four sharing one. You will also be allowed to walk around the cave, but you must inform a wood spirit, preferably me as I am your sponsor still, and you cannot leave the cave. Lastly, you can directly sell your cotton, with 25% of the profits going to your supporter(s), which is me. Though now you do not have to farm if you do not want to.” Plantus explains to Eden, whose jaw has dropped so much you would think it has unhinged from its socket.

  I get freedom? I mean it is not true freedom, but I cannot just believe that Cosmos of all people who do this. No, even if I have only truly talked to him once, just from that alone I know a decent bit of his character, and that man would never just let new entertainment. He would especially never give up entertainment that is built from criminals, and let them be free to live their life. The only real explanation as to why he would let us be, is that something must be going on in the wood spirit kingdom. Perhaps he has something far more important to deal with, and would rather give in to what Plantus wants in exchange for being able to handle whatever issue he is facing? But I cannot just ask Plantus, that would go poorly if someone found out that I asked Plantus. Furthermore, who knows if they have some kind of tracker or listening device on him. Eden reasons, however he still is curious, curious as always no doubt. So he conceives of a way to both ask and not ask.

  “Inform Cosmos that I am grateful for his generosity, which is quite unlike him. You concur, right Plantus?” Eden asks Plantus, who has not caught on to what Eden is saying.

  “Now that you mention it, I do believe that this is a first, at least in the last 500 or so years, and since this “program” as only existed for 800 years- no, it is probably a first, but you are also a special man, so an exception was expected.” Plantus says, but he quickly cuts himself off as he realizes he is talking about something that he should not, something that could get them both killed.

  “Oh, that makes a good amount of sense. But if you could humour me with one more question; can I grow other plants, or even sell other non plant like things such as stones, instead of just cotton?” Eden asks Plantus, who has a bit of a nervous face on him, but answers nonetheless.

  “No, not to the government anyway, we only require cotton for now. We need no other crops, nor any normal ores. So unless you have found some kind of high quality mineral, you should sell any non cotton materials to random traders who wander by. I even think that there is one here right now actually! So I would advise you to sell the cotton to me, and other stuff to merchants who come to trade with the wood spirits.” Plantus advises Eden, who is deep in thought.

  What nation would only need cotton? I mean I get not growing food because I do not think spirits need to eat, but why would they not purchase standard materials? While stuff such as stone may not be as good as the other materials the kingdom can easily gain, the quality of materials are only all that relevant to big construction projects, fancy items, or in a time of war. Perhaps they have a surplus of them, but even still, they would have to have a massive amount to only have us focus on cotton. Eden questions, not coming to a decisive answer as to why the spirits only require cotton. But he did figure out one thing; something is going on in the wood spirit kingdom. Though Eden can only make guesses on what this issue is.

  “I thank you for my new privileges, and will probably be invoking them shortly after I talk to my comrades. By the way, Plantus, when I want to go somewhere, how will I contact you?” Eden asks as he and Plantus get up. In response, he hands Eden some kind of glowing rock with a sigil on it, looking like an u with the end of a j, flipped, and attached to the lowest point.

  “Place your palm on the sigil and say what you are doing. It will record what you say and send it to my transmitter.” Plantus informs Eden, as he places it on the counter and leaves the house, waving Eden bye.

  “See you later Eden.” Plantus calmly says.

  “You as well, Plantus.” Eden replies, but Plantus has already left the house and floated off. I should probably tell the rest of them what I discovered once they are sober. I do not feel like drinking right now, too much to think about to do that. I might as well try to come up with some sort of idea of what may be happening. Eden concludes, to which he walks up to his bed and sits there, trying to figure out what the clues Plantus slipped by might entail.

  (Scene Cut)

  “Seems I overestimated Eden’s intelligence, either that or he is smarter than I could believe. I would have thought he would ask Plantus a few more questions, especially after that fools slip up, but I guess you get to keep your lives for a little longer. Though it is not like I can risk killing him now, not with what I have just found out.” Cosmos says, sitting in some kind of hollowed out tree; a personal study for the king, which was dimly lit. Papers are laid out, making a mess over any surface you could think of, be it a table, desk, or even the walls and floor. The papers hold records of many things; the national item and equipment inventory list, the military’s budgets, along with a few other budgets, which had a paper signed by Cosmos cutting their budgets, seemingly transferring them to the military’s. There are also scout reports, mainly relating to graveyards and lands where the dead live. But there lies just one paper that he holds himself.

  “I cannot believe that a mere human, not even one of much note, as any relation to him.” Cosmos says in surprise, looking over the paper he was holding. The paper is some sort of letter, stating:

  Salutations! How have you been Cosmos? It has been some time since I last saw you. Was it about 300 years or so? You wanted to gain those “toys” for your little fight. I noticed that you have been stockpiling resources quite a bit, and your production of quality of life resources, like good food, has been shut down or had budget cuts. It would seem you replaced those markets with new production for new resources, resources better suited for war. But that is not why I am sending this message, which you must have figured out by now, or at least those who listen have I hope. I watched that fight, oh sorry the “trial”. The one with the young boy, brown hair, kind of ugly, you know who I am talking about. I need you to not fuck with him, you got it?

  Signed You know who I am, Cosmos