Why should Ashton be afraid of an undead manufacturing tree? He himself was undead, and how could the apples kill soone who was already dead? If anything, it might end up powering him up instead.
Ashton was confident, but there was an issue. If the apples could turn soone into an undead being, then it was best for him to turn off both the werewolf and vampire genes.
Who knows what kind of effect the apple would have on those genes? And Ashton was not interested in finding it out either. Also, since he was already 'undead', the tree or its protectors might not even attack him as technically, he was one of them.
'This fucking lake is too damn deep...'
[Frankly, I have no idea when this part was even constructed on Euphoria. The builders might have gone berserk of this one.]
Ashton kept swimming until he felt sothing beside him. He imdiately turned around to see Ursa. She waved at him before grabbing his arm and dragging him deeper into the abyss.
Sirens were a creature that belonged to both, the water and the sky. Based on their needs, they could change their bodies to either touch the clouds or the deepest trenches of an ocean that too at inhumane speed.
While Ashton was struggling to swim and foot deeper, Ursa was diving like a pro. With her help, the journey that would have taken Ashton hours was completed in re minutes.
It took a while for Ashton to adjust to the pressure from being so deep underwater. His movents were restricted a bit. However, Frank had already taught them a trick or two to help them get acquainted with the changing pressure and gravitational force of the planets.
The trick was to manipulate the mana around them to make them feel as if they were on earth. It took so ti to get a hang of it, but Ashton got it. Thanks to that, the underwater pressure didn't feel as bad to him as it would have had Frank not helped them.
'I should thank him again for teaching this.'
[It did help you a lot. That aside, I would like to comnd you for your womanising prowess.]
'What are you talking about?'
[About Ursa, is there any other woman here? Looks at her change her! She went from wanting to eat you, to deciding to help you. You sure have a way with the ladies.]
'Oh that... Let's just say with a playboy like you inside my head, things like this are bound to happen with ease.'
[Wow... I'll take it as a complint.]
'A virgin playboy.'
[... I take it back.]
Their bantering ended when they finally arrived at the mouth of the underwater cave. Ursa let go of Ashton's hands before turning around to leave.
"I don't know why, but I feel you will be able to defeat them, and I hope you do..." She mumbled, "It might be selfish of to say this now, but the reason I tried to destroy the tree wasn't to protect the other creatures that once lived here... My fate is tied to the tree as well."
Ashton couldn't talk much as he didn't want the water flooding his body. But Ursa must have understood the reason behind his perplexed expression and continued on with her secret.
"I am bound to the tree. As long as that tree exists, I can not leave this place. It must have been another one of the asures that witch of a queen took to ensure I would never escape from the planet again."
Ashton nodded and gave her a thumbs up. He was going to destroy the tree regardless of the effect it would have on Ursa. After all, his primary focus wasn't on making friends but on completing the trial.
With everything being out in the open, Ursa decided to take her leave. The Siren was one of her last remaining 'rare' forms. She couldn't risk it being destroyed by being under the influence of the tree.
Ashton entered the cave as soon as Ursa left. He had already wasted a lot of ti wandering around, and now that his target was right in front, he didn't want to wait any longer.
"Woah... there's air inside?" Ashton mumbled.
He had imagined since the cave was inside the lake, it would be flooded with water. But after swimming for a couple of minutes, he ended up in a fairly normal cave. A variety of mosses were stuck to the walls of the cave, providing light within just as the lake had been lit up.
[Hm... so it's because of these thingies, the lake was shining. Interesting...]
"You weren't aware of these things?"
[No. It's the first ti I am seeing these. Looks like my long-stagnant civilization got a boost of knowledge from sowhere and here I was thinking I know everything about the galaxy.]
"Let's get going..."
The cave appeared to be more like a dungeon than anything. However, Ashton had to be more careful than before, in the absence of [Perception], he could be attacked from anywhere and at any ti.
He kept walking and walking but unlike what he had hoped, he didn't find a single creature inside. That was until he ca across so chomping sounds. Soone was having a al and they weren't being so subtle about it.
'What the fuck...'
When Ashton heard those sounds, he thought maybe he was close to the apple tree and the undead were enjoying the fruits. But when he peeked into the chamber he saw sothing entirely different.
The undead were eating alright, but they weren't eating so fruit... but each other. So of the undead being devoured were still alive, barely, but alive. Yet, the others did not give a fuck about it and kept digging in. It was a truly sickening sight.
"What is even going on here? Why are they eating each other?"
[This... is the first ti I have seen sothing like this as well. You should back up a bit and observe them. We might be able to find sothing important for later.]
Ashton didn't say a word and slowly backed up. But it was too late... his sll had already given him away. The hungry undead were charging straight at him.
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