Chapter 733 Mandrake Soup

Runic letters floated in the air around Keng as he continued to write. He was sat in the Saviors Temple's living room. The space had retained its shape and all of his friends were outside, looking around. Keng finished up the last of his message and swiped all of it away, watching it disappear.

'That's done.' Keng stood up and stretched. 'I hope there's someone.' Keng made his way out of the Temple and down the steps. He listened to the noises of laughter, following it to the garden. Lee Seng and the others all laughed as Evan was on the ground with a large sleeping plant in his lap.

"What is that?" Evan shouted. He scooted backwards as the sleeping plant smacked its lips.

"Mandrake." Lily chuckled. "You plucked it while it was day. Good job. I guess we can have mandrake soup… We don't have any meat, though."

"Should we hunt, then?" Ritsuka asked. He patted Lee Seng's shoulder. "We could ease him into this with hunting." The others nodded and agreed. Lily noticed Keng and waved. The others turned and acknowledged him as he entered the garden.

"What's going on? I hear lunch?" Keng asked. Lily nodded and pointed at the mandrake.

"Mandrake soup? Want some?" Lily asked.

"Doesn't sound bad. Are you guys gonna go hunting for meat?" Keng asked.

"I think Lee and I will go out. Stretch his legs out and see if he still has it." Ritsuka patted.

"I don't have a bow…" Lee Seng looked at Ritsuka. "Don't you have mine now?"

"Yeah, but do you really need a bow for hunting? You could just…" Noises came out of Ritsuka's mouth, imitating blast noises.

"It would probably ruin the meat." Manny commented. "Gotta be precise with that stuff, remember? That's what Lily's dad said and I'm sure you were there for that."

"I was… But I've seen Lee hit some pretty precise stuff before. He could probably do it again."

"If you need a bow, I could get you one." Keng offered.

"How? You have a random bow lying around?" Lee Seng asked.

"Mmm, there was one that I was given a long time ago… I wonder if I have it still…" The void storage rune lit up on Keng's hand as he plunged it into the storage. He rummaged around for a bit, eyes lighting up as he pulled out a brown wood bow with white inscriptions. Lee Seng immediate focused on the bowstring; it was red. The energy that radiated off of this bow was immense.

Keng's eyes focused on Lee Seng, noticing he had noticed something about the bow. He pushed the bow into Lee Seng's hands. Ritsuka and the others huddled around it, wondering what it was.

"A regular bow?" Manny guessed.

"The inscriptions. There's a lot of them." Liz pointed out.

"But the red bowstring. I haven't seen anything like that before." Olivia pointed.

"What do you think, Lee?" Keng asked. Lee Seng pulled the bow up and grabbed the string. He began to pull it back when a strange feeling washed over him. His mind flashed, and he could see a huge red spider with black spots. It's large fangs oozed with blood as its front legs had impaled Fox Spirits. Lee Seng gasped and let go of the bowstring, dropping the bow on to the ground.

"What is it?" Ritsuka asked. "Something wrong?"

"Where'd you get this bow?" Lee Seng asked Keng.

"In a store where Lady Vix'I is." Keng pointed behind them. He leaned down and grabbed the bow. He lifted it up to Lee Seng once again and watched Lee Seng stare at it as if he had saw something horrific. "Do you know what makes this bow interesting? Only a few people can pull the string back."

"Huh? That can't be right." Ritsuka commented.

"Try it." Keng handed it to Ritsuka. Ritsuka grabbed it and lifted it up. He grabbed the bowstring with his left hand and tried to pull it back. His arm wouldn't move. He tried a bit harder, face turning red as he tried to pull the bowstring back.

"Mmmm! I can't!" Ritsuka huffed as he let go. Keng took the bow and held it up and pulled it back with ease.

"What? You must be jokin'! Gimme it!" Manny waved. Keng handed it off to Manny and they watched as Manny struggled to pull it. "What the hell? You pulled this heavy bowstring… like it was nothing?"

"What is it? Is it made with something interesting?" Olivia asked. Manny handed the bow off to Keng, who nodded.

"The bow's made out of some wood near the Holy Village back there." Keng pointed. "It's etched with runes to empower the bow but the string, the string is what makes it interesting. It's made out of a Ruby Spider Queen's web."

"That's why I saw a huge ass spider?" Lee Seng shivered. "It came from that thing?"

"You saw something?" Keng took a step forward. "What did you see?" Lee Seng pointed at the bowstring.

"That monster is… terrifying. How much did this even cost?" Lee Seng asked.

"Well…" Keng scratched his neck. "I didn't pay for it, so…"

"You stole it?" Evan gasped.

"Nonononono!" Keng shook his head. "I didn't steal anything! Elder Jyu'so gave it to me because the weaponsmith was very insistent on giving it to me. I already have my daggers so I don't really need this."

"I don't really need it either though." Lee Seng told him. Keng pushed the bow into into Lee Seng's arms and smiled.

"Just take it for the hunt. You can give it back to me afterwards."

"I—"

"C'mon, Lily. We gotta make rooms for the group and cut that mandrake before it's time for it to wake." Keng motioned.

"Don't you want anything else? There's… a lot of everything." Lily glanced behind her. Keng moved over to Lily and grabbed the mandrake.

"Whatever you think will fit with this." Keng lifted the sleeping mandrake. "I'll deal with it's… Annoying scream." His eyes moved over to the others. "I think you guys should wait until it's all clear before you come in. I'll be quick! Good luck on the hunt!"

"K-Keng! I-I don't want this!" Lee Seng lifted the bow.

"Good luck!" Keng waved, heading back into the Temple.

"Well, that settles it. C'mon." Ritsuka pulled Lee Seng away.

"W-w-wait! I-I don't—"

Ritsuka tugged Lee Seng along the forest path. They had gone pretty deep in and Ritsuka had no intention of letting go until they spotted something.

"Ritsuka! You can let go of my hand now." Lee Seng pleaded. "I won't run off. I don't even know where we are."

"We haven't found something yet. I'm not letting go until we—" Ritsuka's grip instatnly loosened and Lee Seng pulled his hand away. He turned and looked at his hand. Lee Seng had finally used his cosmic powers to release Ritsuka's hold on him. "You could've done that sooner."

"I didn't think you would hold me that long!"

"Alright, alright. I'm sorry. I just want you to hunt with me." Ritsuka apologized.

"Why?" Lee Seng held the bow like a backpack strap on his left shoulder and walked side by side with Ritsuka.

"Mmm, I just wanted to. I don't I've done much with you ever since you woke up. It's been nonstop therapy and constant walking for you, right?" Ritsuka turned and looked at him. Lee Seng nodded as they followed the forest path. The once corrupted and cursed trees were now teeming with color. Blue, red, and even the occasional green leaf trees stood high and proud. The sound of birds chirping had come back to the cursed forest. All was right, again.

"The forest looks much healthier than last time." Lee Seng awkwardly commented. "The life is back. There aren't any weird creatures here anymore. At least, that's what my memory is telling me. Do you remember much about the fight here?"

"The large Ent?" Ritsuka tilted his head. "I remember that and the music Lily played… Man, time does fly, huh? She's so much older now. Looks more like an adult than I do." He let out an awkward chuckle. Ritsuka looked like he slimmed down a bit. Lee Seng's mind naturally wondered what Ritsuka and his friends had to deal with.

"It wasn't bad though. I remember risking my life, but I think it's a small portion of the time I spent there. It was a fun time." Ritsuka smiled at Lee Seng. Lee Seng's ears twitched, drawing his attention upwards.

"Sh." Lee Seng quietly whispered. They both stopped. Lee Seng's eyes burned with energy as he scanned their surroundings.

'Above?' Lee Seng's head raised. A shriek echoed across the sky as four hobgoblins flew out of the trees. Ritsuka cursed as he naturally took a step forward, blocking Lee Seng and lifting a veil of void around them. Ritsuka pulled them under the Void, disappearing as the hobgoblins landed on the spot.

'Damn, hobgoblins.' Ritsuka thought as he and Lee Seng watched from above. 'Just my lucky day.'