A date?
Ashlock's initial thought—seeing Douglas standing before him and asking for such a thing—was how sad this was. Why did a grown man feel the need to ask a demonic tree whether or not he could go on a date?
Of course, Ashlock could see the concern surrounding this request and why Douglas had felt the need to ask him, but it still felt wrong. He firmly believed that people should be able to do their own thing and follow their dreams, yet now that he thought about it, he almost had everyone around him on a leash.
It was for a good reason, and he didn't exactly regret his odd relationship with the Ashfallen sect members. The way he saw it, this was a two-way street. He provided cultivation resources, and in return, he expected them to fulfill whatever duties were given to them and maintain the status quo of the Ashfallen Sect.
"All of that aside, I don't see a big reason not to let them go on a date. In fact, now is the perfect time for such an activity as the alchemy tournament is still a week away, so the other families shouldn't be arriving for a few days. It's the calm before the storm."
Ashlock saw Douglas shifting nervously below his canopy, anxiously looking up at his leaves. His eyes darted around as if afraid he would miss the answer to his question.
Naturally, Ashlock flashed his leaf once to confirm going on a date was fine. The overwhelming look of relief on Douglas's face felt ridiculous to Ashlock. He wasn't some crazed tyrant that wished to deprive his followers of basic human needs.
"Actually, if the only Patriarch they have experienced is a demonic sect Patriarch that is fine with turning their followers into pill furnaces and nocturnes, I must be a respectable leader!" Ashlock consoled himself. He wasn't the most benevolent ruler due to his unique circumstances that resulted in paranoia, but there was no way he was worse than the alternative.
"Thank you, Patriarch." Douglas gave a deep bow. His voice was full of emotion, "This means a lot to me, so I am most grateful."
"Congratulations, big guy!" Stella shouted from the side and gave him a grin, "You managed to attract a girl with that ugly face of yours."
The tension vanished, and Douglas glared at Stella, "Brat, watch your mouth." His shoulders sagged, "You have no idea how hard it is to date when you are lagging behind in cultivation and start to age."
Stella laughed, "That's true, but you don't have to worry about that anymore, you oaf."
"Why not?" Douglas frowned and squinted as her skeptically, "Are you calling me handsome—"
"Absolutely not," Stella ruthlessly shot him down, "But you could be handsome with the skin improvement truffle that Diana, Elaine, and I took."
Douglas wasn't convinced, so Stella's ring flashed with golden light, and a small truffle appeared in her hand. "Consider it my present to you." She said while forcing it into Douglas's open hand.
He looked at it for a moment before storing it away. "You are never this nice—why do I feel you are trying to poison me?"
"How am I never nice?" Stella rolled her eyes, "And why would I try to poison someone gullible enough to work all night for something useless."
"Eh?"
"Seriously, did you really think Tree would say no to your date idea? You didn't really need my help at all."
Douglas's eyes widened, "You tricked me! You said there was no way he would understand why humans would even need to date!"
Stella whistled to herself and walked past Douglas to check on Diana, who was still sleeping on the bench.
Douglas let out a long sigh and then composed himself, "Well, thank you for the gift. I may make use of it in the future." He then turned to Ashlock, "Would it be possible to bring Elaine up here? She had something to ask you too."
Ashlock was curious about what Elaine had to say, so without delay, he created a portal, and with a pop, the familiar Voidmind girl appeared. She glanced at Douglas and saw the man nod and smile.
"He said yes?" She walked over and embraced him, "That's great! What about the other thing?"
"You should ask him about that," Douglas whispered back, "Sounds more sincere coming from you."
Ashlock was genuinely curious if they thought he couldn't hear them. Even if they were a thousand miles away, so long as they were within the range of his roots, he could listen to anything and everything he wanted.
Assuming they didn't mask their voices with Qi, that is.
"Patriarch, I was wondering if it would be possible for me to return to work in the Academy?"
'Why?' Ashlock wrote on his trunk.
If some precautions were put in place, he didn't hate the idea, but it seemed like a headache waiting to happen. A date was relatively harmless, but having Elaine return to work after being absent for so long and with the Voidmind Elder gone could cause problems.
"I don't want to stay in the cavern all day with nothing to do. Meditation does help pass the time, but I still have some research I was working on back at the academy I have been longing to get back to, and I miss my students." Elaine passionately replied, "I... I could look for new recruits for the sect, so sending me back there won't be a total waste!"
Ashlock found that reasoning dubious at best. Elaine was one of the most socially awkward people he had met in this world, and the idea of her approaching students with a beaming smile and trying to manipulate them into joining an elusive sect that promises seemingly impossible cultivation resources was hard to picture.
Elaine paused for a while, but seeing Ashlock's silence on the matter, she added, "My brother is also visiting in a few days, and he will be looking for me. I don't want him to end up like my uncle if he tries to locate me..."
That was a good point.
Ashlock had almost forgotten that call she had shared with her brother not long ago. The Voidmind family, alongside many other families, were sending people here. This was an issue because Ashlock didn't want rumors regarding the Voidmind Elder's whereabouts circulating among the students and their families that came to visit.
It was risky to allow Elaine to return to the Academy as this could be a scheme planned by the two of them. But for what? He had provided a good life here... right?
"Actually, Douglas wouldn't be able to scheme with Elaine even if he wanted to due to his oath of loyalty." Ashlock mused, "So this would have had to be a plan made by Elaine, but I can't see a reason she would use this as an opportunity to run back to her family."
Ashlock wasn't a gambling man, so he agreed on two conditions to make this a safe bet.
'Elaine, you may return to your life in Darklight City at the Academy, but you must first swear an oath of loyalty to the Ashfallen Sect and return to working here part-time after the tournament.'
She had, after all, been integrated into the sect on the understanding that she would be a pillar of the alchemy division of the Ashfallen Sect. She may not be the most knowledgeable or capable at performing alchemy, but with his cauldron fruit doing most of the work, he just needed intelligent people willing to learn.
Elaine translated his words at a speed comparable to Stella's and relaxed in apparent relief, "An oath of loyalty? I have no qualms with that." She glanced around and smiled at everyone, "I like the people here. It's a good place."
Ashlock wasn't sure what had changed her mind regarding the oath of loyalty. The fruit and truffles, the Mystic Realm, him training her one-on-one in a vain attempt to improve her sword skills. It was likely a combination of all these things that had occurred in recent days.
Elaine stepped forward, placed her hand on her chest, and closed her eyes.
"I, Elaine Voidmind, pledge my loyalty to the Ashfallen sect. If my loyalty is to falter, may my cultivation be forever crippled and my heart demons unleashed upon my unfaithful soul."
The sky seemed to tremble as immense pressure descended on the courtyard. Ashlock felt the oath bond between him and Elaine strengthen as her hair fluttered in an invisible breeze.
Within moments, everything settled down, and Ashlock felt heaven's intense glare subside. Initially, he was confused about why heaven seemed to pay so much attention to him, but it made sense when he thought about it some more.
He was a demi divine being on a lower plane, making oaths of loyalties to mortals. He did it without much thought and had multiple oaths with his sect members now, but it likely wasn't something that other demi divines had abused this much in the past.
"I wonder if the World Tree ever gives out oaths to those in the Celestial Empire?" Ashlock could picture a cult of people surrounding a thousand-meter-tall Monarch Realm tree reaching for the heavens and begging it for a blessing.
While Ashlock had been lost in his thoughts, Elaine and Douglas were embraced in a hug. To be nice, he created a portal behind them that led them to the edge of the misty forest just outside Darklight City.
'Have fun, and don't forget to come back.' Ashlock wrote, and Stella waved them off.
With a joyous bow, they both turned and left through the portal, hand in hand.
***
Diana awoke with a pounding headache, she tried to massage her temples, but it did little to help. She took a deep breath and was surprised at how dense the ambient Qi was.
"Where am I..." She croaked out as if dying of thirst and glanced around. Her vision was a little blurry, but soon she saw the demonic trees and wall of mist.
"Oh, you're awake," Stella said from above.
Diana looked up and saw Stella perched on one of Ashlock's branches and swinging her legs. She was humming a pleasant tune and seemed overall in a great mood.
What the hell happened? Weren't we getting crushed by Titus just a moment ago... oh.
Her gaze caught the Ent lying motionless on the ground nearby. His body was like a savage animal had ripped him apart, with deep cuts oozing demonic Qi covering almost every limb.
"Feeling better?" Stella asked, "I wouldn't be surprised if you needed another day or two to regain your senses. After all, you were a crazed demon for a day and night."
Wait, that means Ashlock saw my demon form, and his half-dead creation is because of me.
"I'm sorry, I really am." Diana said, "I didn't realize I would lose total control like that... I had practiced extensively in the Mystic Realm, but it's different out here."
She then felt a presence behind her. Turning her head, she saw lilac flames dancing across the black bark of Ashlock, spelling out something in that strange language she had failed to learn in the past.
"Stella, what is he saying?" Diana asked in a small voice, dreading the answer.
"Mhm?" Stella glanced down and read the words while she continued humming.
"Father—ahem, Tree said that he doesn't care whatever form you take on Diana, and he can always repair the Ent, so it's no big deal."
Phew, it's good to know Ashlock accepts me... wait.
"Don't play that off," Diana felt her headache subside, "You said, Father. Didn't you?"
"So?" Stella giggled, "What's the problem?"
"The fact your Father is a tree aside, didn't you say Ashlock was planted after you were born? So how could he be your Father if he is younger than you—"
Stella's swinging legs paused. She looked down and glared at her, "Tree is my Father. Stop speaking nonsense."
She's gone crazy. Diana thought. Completely crazy.
"Anyway, I wanted to ask you something," Stella switched topics and returned to her good mood, "Since when did you know there was something different about you?"
Diana frowned, "Different? Do you mean my demonic bloodline?"
"Yeah. When was the moment you were like... there's a demon inside me? Or when did you know you had an ancient bloodline?"
Diana felt the headache making a vicious return, and her entire body felt out of balance—she needed... no, she hungered for demonic Qi. Standing up, she trudged over to the Ent while feeling Stella's curious gaze on her back.
"I would say the moment I knew I was different, as you say..." Diana ran a finger along one of the cuts oozing demonic Qi, and breathing in, she felt it lurch out the cut and leap down her throat. "...was when Ashlock gave me the truffle to expel heart demons. I could just tell how my body reacted to its power was unnatural."
"I see. I wonder when I will feel that way..." Stella hummed to herself and seemed lost in thought, so Diana continued recovering the demonic Qi off the Ent corpses, and she was sure that Ashlock would appreciate not having to expel the nasty stuff.
After finishing up, Diana returned to the bench and crossed her legs to cultivate. Within herself, her body was in turmoil. While in 'human' form, she had to suppress the demonic Qi within her Soul Core or risk turning part or fully demon.
An hour or so passed, and Diana's eyes snapped open. Stella was still overhead, relaxing against Ashlock while sitting on his branch and enjoying the summer breeze.
Seemingly noticing her gaze, Stella met hers and smiled, "Seems Kaida has found his rightful place again."
"Huh?" Diana felt something lick her chin and weigh down her shoulders, "Oh, hello, Kaida."
The inky snake gave her a little hiss in reply.
"We have a week or so until the alchemy tournament." Stella said, "What do you think about trying to teach Kaida some techniques for his ink affinity while we wait?"
"What?" Diana was confused—why was that the logical thing to do?
Stella chuckled, "Well, with Elaine and Douglas off on a date, there is nothing else to do other than meditate. So don't you think now is a good time to learn some new things?"
Diana didn't like where this was going, "New things you say..."
"Yeah, like, I think you should give learning the ancient language another try," Stella's face suddenly appeared in Diana's view as she hung upside down from Ashlock's branch, "Don't you agree? Elaine learned it in a week, and I'm tired of translating for you."
Diana huffed, "Fine... but let's start with Kaida first. I have always wanted to try combination attacks with our affinities."
