111 Occurrence (1/2)

At first, the spell seemed to function as Li expected it would. Magical energy sourced from within Li's being scattered into the barren dirt, pulsing outwards from the center of the empty land in countless faint and glowing green shockwaves that traveled just under the dirt.

The waves faded, and as their ethereal light waned, grass began to grow again. It grew rapidly now that Li's extraordinary magical energy had infused the dirt with life bearing nutrients. The patch of dead land was no small little area, either, considering the magnitude of power involved in Tia's demonfire attack.

A fairly small crowd could have easily fit within the neat ring that Tia's blast had carved into the dirt, but Li's magical energy was more than enough to support grass growth throughout every inch of it. The grass broke through the dirt as little shoots at first before rapidly maturing into full blades.

It was after this, though, that things became rather irregular.

The grass did not stop growing. It grew and grew, not just vertically either, but in width, growing so much that within a few seconds, there was now a massive bush of giant grass twice the height of the average man.

Then it grew some more, the grass now intertwining with each other and bunching together in the form of a gigantic bush.

”The hell's this?” said Azhar in wonder.

”All of you, get back.” Li scooped Tia in his arms, and even as he scooted away, her head weakly turned back to the bush, ever curious about what her parent was capable of.

When everyone stood a good distance away from the still growing bush, Old Thane asked, ”Lad, I must repeat Azhar's sentiment. What exactly is this?”

”I'm not too sure. Everyone get behind me. Now.” Li's tone conveyed an immediate seriousness that made everyone present shuffle behind him with Tia snuggling her head into his chest and tensing up.

He opened a palm, ready to absolutely obliterate this strange growth from the face of this planet. He did not truly believe his [Wild Growth] could create a threat, but he took no chances considering Old Thane, Tia, and the farm were this close to him.

The bush, now as large as the cottage, began to collapse upon itself, the blades of giant grass curling around each other until they formed a shape vaguely reminiscent of a finger. A sudden earthquake crashed through the ground with a rumble that sounded much like a groan. But almost as soon as the quake happened, shifting the dirt up and down like it was water, it faded, and with that, the grass construct disintegrated.

The enormous grass scattered into countless tiny, regular sized blades, and a strong breeze carried them all away, dispersing them thoroughly so that it felt like nothing out of the ordinary had happened at all.

Li scanned the area and found that, as he had intended, the grass had grown back just like before, healthy, green, and normal sized. In that regard, his spell worked as intended, but everything else was quite odd.

”Huh, so you can shake the earth, eh?” said Azhar, breaking the tense mood.

”Hm. Not like this, though.” Li called to Old Thane. ”Old man, can you hold Tia for a bit?”

”Certainly, lad.”

Li transferred Tia over to the old man, and she squirmed in protest.

”Just a little bit, okay?” said Li as he began walking to the newly grown grass. ”Azhar, follow me.”

Azhar nodded, walking right behind Li.

When they stood directly above the new grass, Li asked, ”Can you feel anything off about this grass?”

”Naw, why, figure somethin's up with it?”

”No, you're right. I don't feel anything wrong with it either.” Li shrugged. It was not like his spiritual senses had been thoroughly developed, but they were not entirely absent either, even in his human shell. He could discern whether a life force felt strange or hostile.

This was just grass. Plain, normal grass.

Li willed the Myrmeke over, mentally commanding it to inspect the ground underneath the grass. Within a few eager seconds, the myrmeke had finished the job, thoroughly exploring the area, and found nothing out of the norm.

”Looks like I worried about nothing. Guess my magic's a little rusty in some areas.” Li shrugged as he walked back to the rest of the group.

”So even you make some mistakes, eh?” said Azhar as he followed.

”You'd be surprised,” said Old Thane. ”The lad made plenty when he started out farming.”

”The important thing is I don't make the same mistake twice.”

Old Thane nodded proudly. ”As is evident by the wondrous state of the farm.”

Tia yawned, bored of a conversation not centered around her and which she could not really understand.

”Let's get back to the cottage and get some rest for the night,” said Li, his tone definitive. ”Here, let me take her. You two go on ahead, I'll join you shortly.”