NOVEL WEB Ch.24: We Seek Fresh Air!
I made my way to class using the quickest route I found last week, I’ve been using it ever since Wednesday happened but I was met with a blockade of lamia. They had different colors and patterns but each one was wearing clothes that were a mix of formal casual. One had a rose colored blazer but I couldn’t see a shirt underneath the buttoned blazer. Another had a form fitting green dress that had a deep V-neck, showing off her cleavage while one had a black and white striped long sleeved shirt. Paired with her sizeable chest it created a very appealing optical illusion making the shape seem bigger? Um… she was dressed very nicely, anyway, a group of eight formed a wide circle around me. I thought it was only the larger ones but in the group that circled me was a smaller one. They looked at me before blinking and nodding at the same time then turning to face the direction I was going. I thought they were going to attack me or try to get something physical out of me but it seems they want to escort me to class?
Walking forward they lined up their movements like they were a trained military unit with the rest of them in front of us. The ones at the front hissed at anyone that got too close while the eight around me glowed and sparkled like the rainbow. Occasionally bubbles floated off their bodies, one by one a bubble from each of the eight got close to me. Each one giving me a feeling of respect, happiness and liberation? It felt warm and made me feel very happy, my mind on the other hand was ballooning with pride, I could feel a small smirk trying to form on my face. But I wasn’t going to let it have its way as I chewed on my cheeks, which didn’t hurt even with my pointed teeth.
Once my entourage reached my classroom, every lamia there all waved their tails at me slowly raising the tip up and down, some of them even rattled as they did so. Seeing this I really wanted to wave my tail back at them but I didn’t know what any of their tail movements meant.
“Just move your tail like you’re sending them off.” Came a whisper. Looking with my eyes I saw Steph, she moved the tip of her tail from left to right in and slow arching motion.
I repeated the motion but put more energy into it, making an almost whip sound. Everyone looked at each other almost looking confused, did I do something bad? Then all of them cheered before zooming off in different directions.
“Wow aren’t you the kind one.” Steph said with a giggling smile.
“Steph…did I say something weird?” I asked with a half stern, worried voice. She shook her head at my question.
“If saying a ‘kingly’ well done is bad then I need to change my vocabulary.” She said with a giggle. That means I’m trying to act like some king? This made me sigh, it not like this church isn’t going to see that as me pushing my way. Speaking of.
“Hey, have you heard of some Church called Chevalier Dee OR?” I asked Steph. Is that how you pronounce it?
“Hmmm, not really…it might be one of those smaller churches or maybe, something more underground?” she said with thoughtful look as her tail tapped the floor. “But that does remind me that the born lamia were upset about some weirdo proclaiming something about a church?” she said while fixing her skirt. Are these two related to each other?
“Did they say why?” I asked hoping for more info on either this weirdo or a connection to these two churches.
“Not really. They were very angry and if I’ve learned anything about lamia, you don’t want to be in the middle of their anger.” She said shaking her head in remorse. “Whoever this weirdo is, I’d hate to be them. But I’ve heard that several of the different races seemed to be happier, maybe you did something without knowing?” she asked, looking at me. She drew a conclusion after seeing what the lamia did I guess.
“I’m not sure? All I know is that the succubi have been acting strangely in front of me.” I said pausing for a moment. Ugh why are they soo weird! “They uh…started to Jill themselves off in front of me.” I said feeling my body shudder at the memories.
“Makes sense, succcubi that feed on doms love that kind of subby stuff.” She said like we were talking about something boring. Riiiight, sex isn’t that big of a thing here….
A while later Mr. Minnow began the class, he seemed very happy today. It wasn’t his still serious face that gave it away but his mana seemed warmer? It felt like a cute fluffy animal came in wanting a hug.
“This week class we will be revisiting some of the different areas of the school! These are places where either other classes, clubs or extra learning take place!” he said as his mana seemed to be saying ‘PEACE’. “Today we will be visiting the Cuì Shùzhī or as most prefer to call them, the Chai Gardens! Here students of the plant monster races and those whose magic effects plant life study and learn about themselves and their abilities! But before we go you must remember the rules of the garden! Don’t pick anything without a student with a nametag or a teacher’s permission! Everyone there puts a lot of effort into growing and maintaining the plants, do not disrespect them! Stay on the paths and designated walkways! Even the grass is grown a certain way! Some of it has medicinal uses and might even save your life! And please don’t feed yourself to any of the plants there! It’s tiring to always debate survival of the fittest with the born plant monsters before I can save you!” he said, the last part seemed to irritate him that even his happy mana almost died.
“You’ll be learning about the garden, its classes and clubs! So please explore the parts of the garden that interest you most!” he added before turning to his desk to get a few plant field guide books and passed them out to everyone. “These are to help you learn about the plants there and hopefully avoid the carnivorous plants! Mainly to keep you away from being eaten.” He said mumbling the last part to himself.
Making our way there, most of the class stayed behind me with the exception of Mr. Minnow who lead the way almost joyfully. Belle and Steph walked next to me talking about the gardens. Belle mentioned something called a ‘little piece of home’ while Steph talked about the live-in lake next to the cherry girls. But the way Belle described the place made me really interested, something about a tiny town he likes to visit from time to time. Was this some sort of mini land?
Leaving the main building we went to a collection of buildings, some reflected the light like glass while being made of some thick plastic looking material another was almost pure black as if a void was placed in the middle of the school. We approached one of the reflective buildings which seemed to glow red and purple. Walking inside was surprising because there were building made of trees inside. These trees were twisted into archways, bridges and a shoe? This inside was set up to look like a town square buildings around the walls with a small river going through half of it. Looking at one building, it was a large dome roof with white tree branches growing out of certain holes in the dome. The dome itself looked to be made of reddish fern like leaves and stems that interlocked and coiled around each other. Another building looked like a tree with huge fruit the size of a small building. Suddenly one of the huge fruit fell off the branch it was attached to, but instead of smashing into the ground it slowly floated to the ground. Then a line drew itself on the fruit making an arched doorway which started glowing in a honey colored liquid. The liquid started swirling as honey colored figures slowly came out of the doorway. Once they far enough away they changed color into being people?
One was more humanoid but they had more wood like skin and had a shirt made of blue moss. Another had large bug like eyes with purple flowery bun like hair. A third was just a huge closed flower which moved across the dirt floor with its roots worming their way through the floor. The assortment people walked or moved into the different buildings, one was wrapped in light, turning into a ball of light which raced into the tree. As the ball disappeared the fruit floated back to the tree, reattaching to the branch it fell off of.
It was crazy! It was like walking into one of those fantasy movies where people grew houses! I was super excited to see more of the garden after seeing this!
“Heehhee.” Giggled Belle. Turning to him I saw he noticed my excitement and he had the biggest smile on his face. “You make the cutest, wow face, even your eyes sparkled like gems.” he said trying to mimic my face. It looked like a big smile a kid had at seeing their favorite super hero and his eyes were huge basically pupils, Belle looked like a cute kitten wanting to play with his big brother or get a second cookie.
My cheeks got pretty hot as a small smile formed on my face. “Thanks.” I whispered while trying to hide my face. I wasn’t sure if it was being called cute or his cute- no, his adorable face but either way I felt really good…. Maybe it’s not all bad?
Mr. Minnow lead us to a smaller building that looked like a pile of dead dried up branches and logs. As Mr. Minnow stopped in front of it he stared at it, his gaze seemed to intensify as I felt the pile of wood shake and tremble like a scared child. Then the branches moved like tentacles reforming its shape, sporting green and white flowers and green and orange leaves. The pile looked more like a ticket booth with a sign made of moss that formed the words, ‘Calvin’s passes and inquires’’, the words seemed to even glow a light calming blue.
“Calvin! Hurry up, you know I have a class to teach!” Mr. Minnow shouted so loud it made the whole area shake like an earthquake.
“Tha Boss is busy see!” said a squeaky voice. Looking where it came from on the counter hoped up a little brown mole like creature. It had a pile of dirt with a single pink flower planted in the dirt on top of its head like a top hat. It had claws that were very dexterous as it taped its claws on a little clipboard. ”An not cause you’re one scary son-a-b-“ The mole creature began before Mr. Minnow ‘gently’ pressed his hand into the counter making the mole almost fall off.
“Passes.” He said sounding menacing. I felt Mr. Minnow would bite his head off like he was some cruel barbarian.
“Humph you’re lucky I don’t know the Brownies living at your place otherwise you might be missing some of your fanc-“ The mole creature began to shout before Mr. Minnow cut him off.
“My roommates get a whole bottle of Brimstone’s Wav.” He said slowly emphasizing the word Wav which made the mole’s large eyes grow three times larger.
“T-they get the W-Wav!” the mole said licking its lips like it hasn’t had water in years.
“The good stuff.” Mr. Minnow nodded. “I might even have an extra bottle laying around in my bag.” He said as he teasingly patted his shoulder bag. The mole was almost drooling a river at the proposal, reaching out with a free hand. “Ah, passes first.” He said as he put his hand out in a gimme hand motion, opening and closing his hand.
“Calvin never gives me the hard drinks, all ways ta boring nectar drink.” The mole said before looking around like a little spy. “Ok. What kind of passes ya want, giver?” it asked rubbing its paws together.
“Full availability to all areas here.” Mr. Minnow said with a sly grin.
“Alrighty Mr. Giver sir!” the mole said before jumping behind the counter and returning with a little pouch no bigger than a quarter. It reached in and pulled out several stacks of tags and gave them to Mr. Minnow. Mr. Minnow pulled out a dark ruby glass bottle that was shaped like a tombstone with a grinning pale blue demon head as the cap. The mole smiled evilly as it grabbed the bottle like it was holding a feather and stuffed it into its pouch. The bottle shrinking as it went into the pouch, it felt like something you’d see in a cartoon.
Mr. Minnow and the mole nodded at each other before we left the booth which promptly collapsed back into a pile of wood. The flowers, moss and leaves being sucked back into the bark, looking just like when we first found it.
“Ok class, here’s a full swing pass giving you all, access to the gardens, you‘re free to explore to your heart’s content! Follow all their rules and I won’t have to pull you out of a hungry plant!” he said as he gave everyone a pass. I looked at my pass which looked like a shiny leaf that grew five colorful tiny flowers at the top left side. Looking at the back I saw no clip or pin to attach it to my shirt. Looking around I saw everyone just press it on like a sticker, so mincing them I pressed it to my shirt only for it to not stick at all.
What the hell? Hmmm maybe if peel a surface off? I tried to find one but failed to find anything but a normal maybe magical leaf. Wait magic! I began to charge my scales with mana and right as I was about to focus on the leaf Mr. Minnow stopped me.
“Hold up Oliver!” he said taking my leaf. He sounded super worried. “I forgot that you’re still adjusting to your mana. I’ll help you out with the pass.” He said as he pressed it onto my shirt, his hand felt weird like he put warm sap on me. He removed his hand but the sticky feeling stayed, the leaf was the cause of this feeling.
After we were all passed up, Mr. Minnow let us wonder the grounds to feed our own curiosity. Still very curious about this little town Belle mentioned I turned to him.
“Hey Belle… I was curious about that little town you mentioned.” I said to him. Hopefully he’ll take me along to see it because I have no clue where everything is.
“Really!” he asked looking up at me with big wide eyes. I nodded. “All right! Let’s go on an adventure!” he said as he grabbed my hand and began to pick up his pace as he led me to a giant tree. The tree had a little red shack growing out of it but it looked small? I just had a feeling that it was supposed to be a lot smaller than what it was. As we made our way inside we were shallowed in darkness like the lights were turned off.
“This is one of my favorite part!” Belle said as he pulled me along. At a certain point he jumped as a blue and white light exploded forward. As the light touched us, I felt my body be pulled forward like I hit a speed boost in a racing game. We zoomed forward into the bright light and all I could think of was, beam!
