Kira seemed a bit nervous. I considered offering her a snack but maybe she would take that the wrong way. Instead I just told her to sit down and meditate. I could feel her aura changing from her emotions, so it was a start.

I contemplated how I could help her. With Lucy it was a lot simpler. We had our bond and were in a relationship. We trusted each other completely and I could guide her easily with our connection. But I could still help Kira. My aura would be able to suppress hers, for example. That could help her get a better feel of it.

I unleashed my aura and filled the surroundings with it. I could immediately feel my element. The clouds were eager to become a storm. The wind hummed happily. I decided a bit of rain and a small breeze were appropriate. I made sure the rain did not hit us directly though, otherwise Kira would have to sit in mud. Thunder purred in the sky.

I could also feel Lucy. Her aura mingled with mine. It was a pleasant feeling and I almost got distracted. Kira was the focus here! Her aura did not feel hostile but she was certainly wary. I tried nudging her aura with mine, gently pressing it into her body. Her aura fought back, resisting any change.

Her eyes opened and she looked concerned.

"Relax. I am just trying to help you get a feel for your aura." I explained. "Don't fight it." I did not want to use force. I was just trying to give her a feel of her aura.

"How about a snack?" Lucy asked suddenly. Lily immediately pulled a plate of meats and cheeses from her inventory. Lucy sat down next to Kira as Lily added a small table for the food.

"Would you prefer wine or ale, my lady?" Lily asked.

"Hm, let's go with wine." Lucy replied.

"I am not sure…" I started, then changed my mind. "That does look tasty." I admitted. I sat down next to them and started snacking.

Kira watched us with wide eyes as we started eating and drinking. We were sitting on the floor of the Black Forest, while Lily was being the perfect maid, serving us food and drinks.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

Eventually Kira started to relax a bit and grabbed a piece of sausage. She eyed it sceptically before finally taking a bite. "It is a good sausage." She admitted.

After a while we continued our aura training. Kira was no longer resisting with her aura.

"It feels weird. The storm around us feels nice but when you put pressure on my aura it is a bit uncomfortable. Especially since it feels so… strong. It feels like you could simply squash me." Kira admitted.

"It will get better when you develop your aura more." I replied. Also trust would help but that would come in time.

We spent a few hours just snacking and training until we decided to move on. We were still looking for magical trees, after all.

I retracted my own aura and Kira's control had certainly improved. She would need a lot more training to truly improve her power but I was confident we could find a few more monsters now. Well, at least if we travelled far enough. My own aura display might have scared off the closest monsters.

While our hunting was rather unsuccessful it was nice to explore the forest. I spotted a lovely bush with red leaves and deep purple berries.

"Those look nice." I said and went to investigate.

The bush itself was about as tall as I was. It had thin branches that almost seemed black. The red leaves had a slight shimmer and the purple berries emitted a soft glow. We definitely found something magical.

I grabbed one of the berries to have a taste.

"Interesting. Tastes a bit like a combination of raspberry and lemon." I mused.

Lucy joined me and tried some of the berries. "You are right, they are pretty good. We should grab some. Maybe grow our own."

Lily gave them a try as well, then she started harvesting.

Kira simply watched us, looking amused.

"I think I will try to grab the entire plant." I said.

"Shall I stop collecting berries?" Lily asked.

"No, get the berries. If my attempts fail we don't want to lose them. Uprooting a plant might not be gentle." I replied.

Once Lily had finished Lucy transformed into a fox. Then she started digging.

Suddenly the plant reacted. Roots tried to grab Lucy, a vine shot from the plant and curled around my arm, then it grew thorns. Thorns that failed to penetrate my skin.

The plant did not seem to be intelligent, it reacted on instinct. It tried to defend itself, or maybe it hunted creatures and tried to eat us. But I was determined to grab it. Unfortunately there was a problem…

"Um, I don't think I can store it. I tried putting it into the amulet but it is resisting. Maybe because it's alive? Or maybe it is something unique to this plant? I was able to store dryad trees, although only after the stasis ritual, I suppose." I noted.

"Maybe you can grow a new one with the berries?" Lily suggested.

Meanwhile more and more vines tried to curl around me and stab me with thorns. Lucy looked annoyed at all the roots trying to curl around her paws.

I sighed. "Ok, let's kill it and bring the dead plant."

Lily summoned her weapon, Storm's Blossom and started cutting the bush. Then she collected the parts while I freed myself from the vines. At least we had the berries.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.