"I don't want to be noble!" Taro flailed his hands frantically. "I can barely rember which fork to use for each dish at my aunt's house!"
"They can't do this to us!" Ren joined the protest, his face a mask of panic. "We just wanted to explore!"
"Will I have to wear those ridiculous hats?" Min looked ready to faint.
"Will we have to learn to dance?" Taro turned pale as a ghost.
The guards watched the spectacle with expressions that oscillated between exasperation and reluctant amusent. Larissa simply laughed, finding their reactions absolutely adorable.
"It's the law," she explained between giggles. "Besides, it's not sothing bad... Now, the fact that the door opened for you..."
"It was Ren!" the other two protested in unison, pointing at their friend.
"Then Ren is the leader of this 'expedition'," Larissa smiled. "Welco to nobility, gentlen."
♢♢♢♢
When the three boys finally cald down and accepted what they thought was their "sad" fate...
"Could you free us now?" Larissa asked, though her tone was more amused than demanding.
Ren remained thoughtful for a mont, studying the three girls trapped in crystal. "You won't attack us again? Because if you do, I'll have to..."
Larissa let out a little giggle. "You'll have to what?"
"He's threatening to kill us," the injured guard muttered, still distrustful. "Like the trained agent he is, surely he has no problem with…"
Ren rembered the mont he struck the guard and clapped a hand over his mouth, his face turning pale at imagining a more lethal scenario.
Larissa laughed harder. "I don't think Ren would do anything like that. In fact, I'm quite sure he's not even trained for it."
"It's true," Ren admitted, still looking a bit green. "I'd probably throw up... but..."
He turned serious for a mont. "But if I have to defend my friends..."
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"It won't be necessary," Larissa interrupted him, smiling. "Right, girls?"
The guards looked sideways before reluctantly nodding, mumbling promises not to attack.
"Good," Ren turned to Taro. "Then..."
Before he could finish, Larissa disappeared in a flash and reappeared free of the crystal.
"You already gave permission," she smiled at Ren's surprised expression. "And my circuits aren't blocked anymore."
Ren scratched his head, confused.
"I accept the deal," Larissa continued. "I won't say anything if you don't say anything. Although..." she looked toward the entrance, "it will be hard for this to go unnoticed when we leave. But at least I won't be the one to expose you."
While Taro cautiously freed the guards, who maintained tense but non-hostile postures, Larissa turned to Ren with curiosity.
"But then tell why you have two beasts? It's supposed to only be possible with the artifacts..."
"It was my beast," Ren began to explain.
"How?" Larissa asked, intrigued. "I only know the mana potion thod for…"
She stopped when Ren's mushroom suddenly manifested itself.
Ren's light dimd as the little one appeared like a light bulb with legs.
The tiny creature, with its chubby baby face, looked toward the corridor that led deeper into the 'seed' and, without warning, took off running in that direction.
Everyone stared at the scene with dumbfounded expressions.
"Hey!" Ren shouted, taking off after his rebellious beast. "Co back here!"
Larissa burst into laughter before running after him. "That's the cutest thing I've ever seen in my life!"
Min and Taro exchanged resigned looks before following them, the guards bringing up the rear with expressions mixing concern and curiosity.
♢♢♢♢
The tallic corridor they chased the little mushroom through gradually widened until the group erged into a chamber that took their breath away.
It was a perfect spherical room, the tal gleaming with a soft light that seed to emanate from the walls themselves. Eleven pillars rose from the floor in a circular pattern, ten surrounding a central one, each emanating a gentle pulse of energy.
"What is this place?" Taro whispered, his voice echoing slightly in the chamber.
Ren's mushroom ignored the ten potions glowing on the outer pillars, each contained in a crystal vial that seed to float above its pedestal. Instead, it ran directly to the central pillar, where a tallic ring floated in the air, slowly rotating.
The tiny creature began jumping, its little arms extended trying to reach the ring, but its diminutive size made the task impossible.
"It's so tiny and adorable," Larissa comnted, laughing softly at the mushroom's attempts.
The mushroom stopped, its cheeks puffing up with indignation at being called tiny. With an audible "hmph!" it disappeared back into Ren's body.
Min and Taro approached the outer pillars, their eyes fixed on the glowing potions floating above them.
"Those are the transformation potions," Larissa explained. "The ones that convert a normal tar into a double tar."
Taro held his breath. "Like the high-ranking nobles and the n of the royal family?"
"Exactly," Larissa ran her fingers near the crystal of one of the potions, without touching it. "They regenerate approximately every thirty-three years, though that number is only based on the ti it took for them to reappear in the only other two 'seeds' in our kingdom..."
"There are only 3 seeds?" Ren asked, turning his attention away from his mischievous mushroom.
"As far as we know, yes... Well, Yino has another three, just like us," Larissa explained, her expression growing more serious. "In fact, we believe they altered so of their potions to create the abyssals."
Min and Taro exchanged amazed looks. The possibility floated literally before them, the power to control a second beast.
"The ring..." Larissa approached the central pedestal, her eyes gleaming with recognition. "It's one of the 3 keys believed necessary to enter the kingdom's central ruins. My father has one, and the Starweavers have another."
"The rings are keys?" Ren asked, also approaching.
"They also give power to the bearer," Larissa explained. "A hundred percent increase in all statistics." She turned to Ren. "As expedition leader, technically it would belong to you..."
"My lady!" one of the guards protested. "You shouldn't reveal that information if he didn't even know about it!"
"It's only fair," Larissa shrugged. "Though obviously you won't be able to keep it... but I'll make sure you receive appropriate compensation."
Ren was about to ask how much sothing like that could be worth when he felt a familiar movent in his head. The mushroom manifested again, appearing atop his hair.
Before anyone could react, the tiny creature leaped toward the central pedestal. This ti, instead of trying to reach the ring, it simply opened its tiny mouth, now way bigger than it seed and...
Swallowed the ring in one bite.
"NOOOOO!" the collective scream resonated through the spherical chamber while the mushroom chewed contentedly.
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