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    The difference between using my Goetia forms with and without a staff was stark. The smoothness of my motions, the speed, the explosive power. They were all incomparable to what I could manage with my fists, and that became obvious to the lemur as soon as the staff smacked into my palm.


    The swords, being metal, bit into the untreated wood of the staff, but to my shock it healed even as they pulled away. Being a tree the Nine Lives Reincarnation Tree was extremely high in VItality, and apparently was somehow still ALIVE without a root system.


    My staff flashed a dozen times, and I could still hear the sound of music in the background as Daysia Sang to my tree. Even as I moved, the tree adjusted itself in my grip, shifting to fit my hands better with every swing. I could feel the connection between us, though it was still low level. The staff was connecting to me through my Goetia Staff Art, and it was eager for battle.


    To my amusement, the lemur’s face was spread into a wide grin. While he wasn’t completing his mission (Daysia had snagged the fruit and stowed it away as I moved us clear of it), he was apparently having fun, which was nice to see.


    Realistically, I didn’t have THAT much more of a claim to the fruit or tree than the lemur, from the point of view of the animals in this forest. Granted, I was pretty comfortable with my course of action, given the permission from both the spirit being that made up this planet and the actual tree itself, but from their point of view, I was probably just another thief.


    But the little guy clearly enjoyed what he did, and the chance to fight someone who could match him must have been exhilarating. I had noticed some fear when I first deflected the attack, but I was sure he saw the opportunity in meeting a real opponent, and honestly, so did I.


    I’d been getting awfully cocky about my combat abilities. Success after success had made me overconfident, but this fight reminded me of an obvious and important fact. Powers could be fucking anything. For every super genius from a divine clan, there was some random person who got a super busted ability. Like this guy, or like Sydney from the Moon Warren back during the tournament on Callus.


    The lemur’s blades flickered, a massive rain of attacks falling on me through a hundred futures, and I triggered Flurry of Blows, enhancing my speed even more as my staff flashed out, Extinction Events demolishing the cuts before they could reach me.


    “Solomon,” called Daysia worriedly. “The tremors have stopped. I think we need to go!”


    Cursing, I launched an extinction event at the ground before disengaging, using Double Trouble to appear behind her. Moment Chop was busted, but it was short range, requiring an actual head on attack. Once I was out of his radius, I dropped Limbo and triggered Murmur, erasing all trace of us again.


    This time, the lemur prince couldn’t seem to track me. I was pretty sure his detection earlier had been some time bullshit, seeing possible futures he could attack in when I got close enough. Now that I’d backed off, he’d officially left combat with me, so those options weren’t available for him to use as a detector. I’d been hoping that was the case.


    My Danger Sense was blaring, far more loudly than before, and I could tell that Daysia was right. The C-rankers were coming.


    I turned to run, but stopped before I got too far. Dantalion was specialized for long term information gathering. Namely, the longer you scouted the same spot the better you could conceal. While I was confident in my ability to stand up to C-rank scrutiny with Murmur when they didn’t know I was there, doing it while they were LOOKING for me was another thing altogether.


    As long as I made the conscious decision not to attack the lemur prince under any circumstances, there would be no possible futures where we were in conflict, and he couldn’t use his ability to identify my general location. If he approached, I would retreat. With that flaw resolved, I absolutely did NOT want to run off into the dark woods where my stealth would be running on fumes. Instead, I pulled Daysia to a stop and we stood stock still, Dantalion slowly refining my information about the area and improving my stealth.


    Within seconds, the pair of C-rankers appeared, both of them clearly roughed up but not remotely out of commission. The lemur king glanced around, scowling. “My son, have you already acquired your target? You can be at ease, now that the fruit has been claimed I will not allow that cowardly weasel to deprive you of your spoils.”


    That would have been a lot more noble if I hadn’t been completely aware that the lemur prince was here specifically to steal the fruit so the king could reach B-rank.


    The prince looked sheepish (for a lemur). “Father, I’m afraid my mission ended in failure. A human arrived shortly after I, and he spirited away both the fruit and the tree it grew upon. I humbly request punishment for my failure.” He bowed deeply, knives scraping the ground.If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    Rather than look upset, the king looked concerned. “A human? And he defeated you? Was he at C-rank? Are you injured?”


    It made me think well of the king that his first concern was for his kid. The weasel king, however, seemed less impressed. “Perfidious lemurs!” Roared the sleek looking weasel around the crescent blade in its teeth. “You think me a fool? A human in my territory? Without my notice? And we arrived so soon after the battle. This human would have passed us in his escape, or else still be within my range of Perception.”


    The prince shook his head. “Great weasel, the human has a strange means of stealth. I only managed to vaguely pierce it with my unique advantages. He seems to have gone. And in answer to you, honored father, the human was at D-rank. Never in the past have I experienced such tremendous power from one at my own rank. I feel I have grown much through this battle.”


    The lemur king sighed. “What an unfortunate turn of events. I suppose neither of us will have the fruit, eh Dark Moon?”


    Despite his apparent sadness, I could hear a hint of mockery in his voice. This siege hadn’t JUST been about getting the fruit, it had also been about making sure the weasel DIDN’T get it. I suspected the weasel might be the closer of the two to B-rank. Either way, neither of them were Perception specced, thankfully. Or if they were, Murmur was way more effective than I’d even imagined. Either way, we were safe for now.


    Of course, we still needed to actually fucking ESCAPE from here, but I was sure we could find an opportunity. I felt a little bad though, Daysia was in the middle of her ceremony, and should still be searching for a tree to bond with. Now she was stuck in the domain for probably hours waiting for the beasts to leave.


    The flower haired dryad didn’t seem the least bit upset though, playing with Archie by tossing seeds for him to catch. I’d originally expected to need him connected to her to stealth her, but since Murmur was a dome, being inside was enough, and my companion had to think fast to catch the seeds before they hit the ground. She was very careful not to throw them in a way where they might leave the domain, so a bit of motion was fine.


    Since we were safe, I decided to explore a bit about the staff. I left a parallel running the domain and closed my eyes, retreating into pride. Sure enough, the staff came with me, connected to me through our current communication via Rhythm of the Wild. Since it had awakened a bit more, I was able to speak to it a bit more directly. It didn’t…talk, exactly, but it could communicate in a way similar to how Archie did.


    The tree told me of its desire to see the world, of the promises its mother had made (the Primordial Tree Spirit, obviously) and what it could do for me.


    A bond wouldn’t be possible, since I wasn’t a Dryad, but I already knew that the Temple had perfected a method of connecting a person to a wooden weapon that involved basically creating an artificial bond from the tree side to attach to the user. That was part of the process of forging I was here for, and it would be even more effective on a still living tree like this one.


    What confused me was what exactly it did. I knew the Nine Lives Reincarnation Fruit could cleanse deep soul damage, similar to the rebirth I’d earned from the Lady. But I’d already undergone that. So I wasn’t sure how the tree would be useful. I was taking the S-ranker’s word it would help me on my journey. Closing my hands around it, I poked at the thing, trying to figure out what it could do. Dantalion reached out and connected and…


    I was someone else. I stood in a darkened hall, below me, a thousand shadowy demonic forms knelt in supplication. I was a spider, the weaver at the center of a great web. Pluck a single thread and the vibrations could be felt across all of hell, but at the same time, I could be still, wait and experience those vibrations from the other side. I could have knowledge, and for knowledge I hungered.


    The scene continued, each demonic form rising to report their findings. Information about neighboring duchies, about powerful infernal lords. They whispered secrets, bits of context that combined with the shivers of my endless web to uncover hidden truths.


    I sat there for days, weeks even, living the life of a lord of hell, plotting my schemes and learning the dark secrets of my enemies, and then…it ended.


    One moment to the next, I was back in pride, shuddering on the ground, sweat coating my body. My brain felt fragile, my soul having been massively pressured by that experience. I didn’t even know what that was. I dropped the staff, both in real life and in Pride, releasing it as if my hands had been burned.


    Inside my library, I took a minute to process, my mind racing. I didn’t know what that was. I glanced down at the staff, and I noticed something strange. At the top of it, about five inches down, a symbol had burned into the wood. A dark demonic eye with a spider as the pupil.


    I had a thought, and stood, staggering over to the shelves, I pulled out Dantalion, and sure enough. More context had been added. The story had been strengthened, reinforced. It felt more complete now. Even in real time, I could tell that Murmur had become less of a strain, the slightly perfected form adding to the utility of the Domain.


    I turned back to the staff, staring at it in horror and wonder. For a normal person that would have been pointless. Maybe a bit of extra oomph in a technique or some extra recursion. But for me, with Pride, I could catalogue and alter techniques on a very fine level.


    The staff that the tree spirit had recommended WAS useful to me. Because if I was right, it was something more valuable than all the destructive power in the world. The Nine Lives Reincarnation Tree had let me LIVE as Dantalion. Combined with my flawless technique talent and the library, I’d been subconsciously proofing the form, evolving it through experience.


    The process wasn’t fast, obviously, and I imagine with more lives it would be even slower, but if I persisted with that staff…she was right. That staff could follow me all the way to godhood. Nine Lives. It was perfect for me. I felt my lips peel back in an almost painful smile. Nothing could stop me now.