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The original was posted on /r/hfy by /u/Derpin0ides on 2024-10-30 21:26:53+00:00.

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Aragami watched, mildly worried, as Noir used his body to torture a living tree. But, he kept his worries to himself and just observed as Noir tore a tree branch from the being. He thought he could feel a slight current of Mana passing through his arm, but stayed unsure. That is, up until a whole bunch of crimson flames scorched the inside of the tree’s crown.

‘Okay Noir. Aren’t you going a little bit too far with this?’

‘If I had no other motive I’d have stopped a long time ago. I just need this piece of trash to call for its master and it knows it very well.’ Noir sounded annoyed. ‘But he’s a bit stubborn!’

‘How about this. Give him about five to ten seconds. Just give him a window to call for help. Because if you keep this up, he will die before he gets the chance.’ Aragami smirked. ‘Believe it or not, my people have quite a lot of experience in this field.’

Noir thought it over for a short moment before canceling the fire spell. ‘Fine.’ Noir agreed. ‘Hey! Listen up, punk!’ Noir called out seemingly nowhere. Aragami was then startled by the sound of a distant screaming voice

‘You have ten seconds to call your Master. After that, we will resume what we were doing until either ten minutes later, or until he shows up.’ The screaming voice yelled something unrecognizable, while Noir walked around its broken body with one of its branches in Aragami’s hand.

‘Why can I hear it?’ Aragami asked, curious about the mechanics behind the ability.

‘Well, since I am in direct communication with you, if I engage in another communication channel, a sub-communication if you will, I can soundproof the latter communication so as to not hear anything from the primary communication.’ Noir answered, a hint of pride in his voice.

‘So as a priority communication, we are able to hear the sub-communication. That’s pretty neat.’

‘A sub what? You know what? Never mind.’ Noir sounded exasperated. ‘Time to get back to it, I guess.’ Noir grinned and reached for another branch, but stopped midway. ‘Damnit! He’s here faster than I thought.’ He sighed and turned away from the sorry being.

The situation in front of them changed slightly. Aragami saw the Raakteigs and their superiors (he assumed) kneeling in the same direction he and Noir were turning toward. There, on the edge of the forest, a young tree got engulfed in a large amount of bright green Mana.

‘His superior?’ Aragami asked.

‘His master, yes.’ Noir affirmed.

They watched as the tree absorbed the Mana, growing rapidly and, Aragami assumed, self-destructively. In about a minute, the tree grew up to the height of around four meters before wrinkling up and forming a face on the bark.

‘That’s weird. Do all of the Ents move like that?’ Aragami asked as the Ent ripped its roots out of the ground.

‘First of all,’ Noir said. ‘They are usually called Dendrae. Ent is their species-specific name and others aren’t allowed to use it.’

‘Ah shit. Sorry.’

‘No worries. He didn’t hear you. Just make sure not to let it slip in front of them.’ Noir sighed ‘As to your question: No, only High Ents can move across these far distances. Lower class like that one can usually move in its line of sight.’

The En… Dendrae made a few steps towards the kneeling group and gave them some kind of command. Aragami felt like he was about to start some kind of lecture.

‘Alright! we can’t have that! If we let him start his speech, we’ll be here for a while. I am sorry in advance, Aragami.’ Noir gruntled.

‘Huh?’ Aragami was confused. ‘Sorry about what?’ But before he could get his answer, Noir had already taken control over his vocal cords and mouth.

A strange screeching language came out of his throat, immediately grabbing the attention of the Dendreae.

‘That hurts!’ Aragami yelled out. His throat felt sore and he was sure that if he continued using it that way there WOULD form some kind of damage. ‘Don’t do that!’

‘Hey! I said I’m sorry.’ Noir laughed. ‘I just needed to get his attention. I’ll use less destructive ways from now on.’

‘I’d hope so. Otherwise I’ll force you out of my throat!’ Aragami complained and used one arm to massage his throat.

The Dendrae walked up to him and started speaking with a soft voice. The language sounded similarly to what Noir used, but much softer. Noir, on the other hand, stood by his words and spoke in a softer tone, putting significantly less stress on his vocal cords.

Aragami was kind of annoyed that he couldn’t understand what they said, but he shot down the thought and focused on just observing.

Finally, Noir spoke up.

‘Alright. This old fart agreed that my method was just, albeit a bit overboard, so you don’t have to worry about them taking revenge.’ The Dendrae turned to the natives and started talking to them.

‘I’ll need you to take back control now. Since I had quite a good idea that will benefit you.’ He sounded smug and Aragami didn’t like it.

‘Sure.’ he agreed and rolled his shoulders in delight. He saw Tesi and Fido looking at him from the side, so he smiled at them and threw them the branch from the punished Dendrae. They smelled it for a moment before grabbing it in their maws and starting a tug of war.

‘Hey! That was kind of rude!’ Noir called out, a bit of humor seeping through his mask of annoyance.

‘I can always play the [Oh! I didn’t know!] card.’ Aragami snapped back, a shit-eating grin on his face.

‘Oh yeah! I forgot about that.’ Noir contorted. ‘Anyways, I’ll need you to do me another favor.’

Aragami just nodded, watching the dogs play.

‘Could you kneel down in front of the group? It seems like I’ll be able to talk to them in a certain way.’

‘Sure can do.’ Aragami answered and turned to the group. The Deer was talking to the Elder Dendrae, the other members kneeling down behind it.

Aragami slowly walked over and kneeled down to rest his legs a bit. The Dendrae next to him paid seemingly no attention and continued talking.

At one moment, a wave of shock washed over the group, making the Deer fall over its words for a moment.

Then, seemingly out of nowhere, the black Raakteig jumped to its feet and marched in front of him. It bowed about ninety degrees and said something in a weird language. It reminded Aragami of the time he heard someone speaking Greek or perhaps Turkish.

‘Nice. I hoped she would be the one to come forth.’ Noir said. ‘If you are not against it, I would like the two of you to get to know each other.’

‘You what? How?’ Aragami questioned.

‘It’s quite simple, really.’ Noir smirked. ‘Since I need to possess someone in order to make sure your future safety is guaranteed, I thought that I would do you a small favor along the way. I will connect the minds of the two of you, allowing you to exchange memories of your choice while I talk to her Master.’ Noir sounded proud of the idea.

‘So? What do you say? Great idea, isn’t it?’

Aragami thought for a second. The idea itself was solid. A bit underhanded, but with Noir, he was starting to get used to it. ‘I will agree that it is a great idea.’ He conceded. ‘But I just want to make sure. This will not affect her in any way, will it?’

‘Ooh! Someone is trying to care for the Raakteigs after throwing them through a tear in space! Don’t worry.’ Noir said, with the most sarcasm Aragami had heard from him so far. ‘I have no intention of harming your allies. It’s quite counterproductive with what I am trying to do.’ Noir assured. ‘At most she’ll feel exhausted and/or will need to replenish her Mana reserves. No need to worry.’

Aragami wanted to think about it a little more, but Virria didn’t give him the time, as she walked in front of him, bowed and started talking.

‘Alright. I’ll take you up on that offer. But ask her if she agrees to it as well. If she refuses, the deal is off.’ He countered.

‘Sure. We can work with that, I guess…’ Noir reluctantly agreed. ‘Alright, alright… Could you just take out that first crystal we made?’

‘Sure thing!’ Aragami smiled and reached for his chest pocket. He grabbed the crystal and slowly lowered it in front of the Raakteig. He could see a bit of Noir’s power reach for the crystal just to make it float above his palm.

‘Show-off.’ He thought and shoved the crystal towards the Raakteig.

‘Yeah, yeah, whatever. It’s effective. Now shut up and let me work. Think of what memories you want to share, or something.’ Noir brushed him off.

Still grinning, Aragami offered the crystal to the Raakteig. It hesitated for a moment before reaching out to touch it with one of her hands.

The moment she did, he could feel another consciousness materialize in the void around him. He could also feel her emotions. Awe, confusion, and a healthy dose of fear. All before Noir even started talking.

‘Greetings! Virria of Carne, subject of the Kingdom of Falmenas!’ Noir grandiosely declared, and the consciousness shrunk back in fright. ‘I am your friend’s Patron. And I wish to speak to your Masters. Given that I do not know your own language, I propose a trade.’

Fear, awe, and a hint of curiosity were the answer. ‘Yes, yes. You are allowed to make a counteroffer in case you do not like what I propose.’ Noir said, and Aragami un…

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