168 Interim (1/2)

Thus, each of these petals is undeniably a great treasure that is now bound to your life. They are shards of the Everfortune tree, and as its name suggests, each of these petals will grant you the fortune and good luck of a lifetime.

And at the time of your greatest need, when the night is at its darkest, it will show you the light so long as you hold it dear.”

Li was curious about the effects of the petal in this world. Unlike what its humble appearance might have suggested, it truly was an item worthy of being Celestial-tier, equal in worth to the world ending gear of the same rank that he also used. Placing the petal in one's inventory massively increased gold gains and the rate of rare loot drops, making it the absolute best item for powerfarming in existence.

But what truly gave it its celestial rank was its hidden ability. At its most basic level, when the bearer of the blossom died, they would immediately be revived and transported to the nearest safe haven. Yet when it was actively consumed, it would become a wish granting device, manifesting an effect that best suited what the bearer needed at the moment of consumption.

The user would not actually know what the petal would grant, just that it would be supremely helpful in that very situation. For example, in the case that it was consumed during an intense raid against a boss where all allies were low, it might restore all allies to full health. Or it might create an incredibly powerful summon to tank damage. Or if it calculated that the boss's health was low enough, it might conjure up a mighty offensive attack that would fell the boss.

In Li's case, it had been used many times during guild raids. Li realized that the petal would grant stronger effects when it determined the user was in greater trouble, and so in the early days of Arboretum when it did not have the necessary defenses to ward off greedier and larger guilds, Li and his guildmates would fight their enemies tooth and and nail until the very last inch when they reached the inner sanctum of the guild.

Then, Li could consume the petal to simply banish all enemies from the guild and end the raid. Like this, he managed to keep Arboretum safe until it grew to sufficiently fend for itself.

Li nodded to Ivo, signaling the head priest to start the festival.

And with that, the festival of Summerfell began. It was supposed to be one high with energy, a last burst of fervor before the cold of winter came, and so there was not much strict routine in what it involved. There was a large and controlled bonfire lit at the end of the festival that everyone could dance around until it flickered down, symbolizing the end of summer, but aside from that, everything else was fluid.

At its heart, Summerfell was simply just meant to be a time of merriment, whatever form that took.

The men and beastwomen took out carts loaded with food and drink and spread them around. Some food stall carts with fire runes laid within them to cook meat and pastries on the go were scattered around too. A surprisingly little amount of these were expenses to the guild. Most of the food and equipment came from the businesses the farmers had run in the city.

They had emptied out their shops in preparation to sell them, and what better way to use what they had than here. Lakeside Bounty had also donated a hefty amount of fine dining foods and wines.

Meat from butcheries, bread from bakeries, and a whole selection from a farmer who had been a barkeep all were spread around. Certainly, a good bit of the necessary foodstuffs were guild based expenses, but Li and Ivo had both agreed to not spare anything.

And as the food and, most importantly, alcohol started spreading around, the mood livened up immensely. Conversation began flowing everywhere, and when the energy of the festival began to kick into gear, Li had Ivo lead the priests into lighting the summerfell bonfire. They had cleared out a patch of grass and set up the wooden framework and support of the bonfire already.

All that was left was to light the fire, but that came later.

For now, Li made his way around the festival to observe. Because of the rain of golden light from the Everfortune tree's blossoming, there was actually enough light even in the night to see rather clearly. Though Li had prepared lanterns and posts for them, he did not give a signal to light them, for he felt that the light radiating from the little nuggets of sparkling gold that gently drifed down from the sky was a far more wonderful thing to behold.

Li could spot farmers talking to each other, openly laughing and sharing drinks of wine in wooden mugs. At one food cart, there stood a heavyset man who was cooking up a storm. He was a farmer who had gone to the city to roast and serve meat related dishes, and he did so now with his two sons, sharing meat pies and kebabs and all manner of foods they had perfected in their years in the city.

At another stall, Li waved to Ada and her husband manning another food cart, warming up their baked goods. Their child was at the stall's back, nibbling at a croissant. They waved back at him now that they had spent a week seeing what he had done.

The beastwomen, though they were more than happy to use their energy to work with the farmers, were much more hesitant to socialize with humans they had long known to stay away from. However, once alcohol came into play, they took a liking to it, perhaps a little too strong a liking, and with that, inhibitions largely fell.

There was the issue of a language barrier, but thankfully, some of the Serpi actually knew the common tongues of man though they spoke in old dialects from the last time they had recorded the languages.

The Feli were very curious, as curious as a cat, you could say, and they spent their time flitting about, eyes wide as they observed fires and food carts and other things they had no idea about. The Lupi had formed their own celebratory activity which involved standing in a ring and taking turns sparring with each other.

Some of the younger men of the farming community, wanting to show their strength and perhaps a little enamored by some of the Lupi's beauty, came into the ring to test their mettle against them very unsuccessfully.

The few harpies that stayed mostly spent their time eating, though Li did observe that one of them gave small flights to a few curious children.

The Serpi spent their time translating and recording the events going around them, using their magic to inscribe records upon tablets of sand. They came from a culture of knowledge, and the role vested upon them through their goddess was to be watchers of the world and all that occurred, and they fulfilled that even now, recording the momentous history that unfolded before them through Li.

And seeing things proceeding well, Li came back to the cottage where Old Thane was preparing a smaller, more personal dinner. He had been given rare ingredients from Lakeside Bounty from the north, and he confidently wanted to show off his far northwaste cuisine.