Chương 26: Memberberries

"What do you mean, 'The front fell off'?"

"Uhh… I don't know, boss. It just fell off." —The Artificer's Guide to Load-Bearing Architectural Failures Before the looting began, I shot off a quick [Inspect] on the fallen tree. > Spirit Tree Protector > The remains of a spirit tree. The determined nature of a spirit tree continues, even in death, until its supply of mana is exhausted. Satisfied that the tree was indeed dead, I got to work, chopping through most of the first thick branch when a stream of debris fell from the ceiling above.

The small chips of stone and dust tinkled as they landed on the alcove opposite me and scattered over the floor. In an attempt to expedite my harvest, I gave a sharp tug on the nearly severed limb. It freed itself from the trunk, along with its own measure of payback. My ribs ached in protest at the movement. Despite the pain, I needed to take as much material as I could reasonably carry. Blessedly, Greg recognized my discomfort and took over.

Before he could start on the third branch, a low rumble came from above, and age-old dust fell freely from the ceiling. The tree must have been holding this place together for centuries. I felt a bit guilty at having woken it from its slumber, though it would have eventually died alone with none to remember its legacy had we not intervened.

"Pack it up! We gotta get out NOW!" Gene choked out the command between fits of coughing. He slung his bow over his shoulder and started for the door.

"But the tree…" I started to protest, but trailed off. He was right. Something was happening to the ruins, and a little bit of wood wasn't worth our lives. I quickly shoved the two thick branches between my sack and my back, their leafage keeping them secure. We hurried to the exit, and I took one last fleeting glance back at the room. The large crystal cracked and threw flashes of light across the room, lighting up the hanging dust in glowing sheets.

A wall I'd taken as empty now cast shadows with the altered lighting, illuminating strange script that had been too faint to see. A gruff hand yanked me forward, and the room fell from view.

"No time to gawk, get moving!" Greg shouted as he let go of my shoulder and thundered ahead to the end of the short hallway. Gene had already crawled through and was helping to pull Emmie out.

"You first. I can push you if you get stuck." He didn't wait for a response, and I chose not to argue. The ruins groaned loudly now, sending shudders through the floor. Behind us, a crash came from above, and I scrambled up the pile of rubble. The stones scraped and cut at me, and the foliage on the branches caught on the exposed doorframe above the rubble. Emmie grabbed my wrist and pulled, and at the same time, I felt Greg pushing from behind.

The branches folded backward, pushing their trunks up and against my injury. Biting back the pain, I tumbled out the other side. Grimacing, I felt at my bandages, and my hand came away slick with blood. Ignoring my discomfort, I turned to grab Greg's hand, but he was already outside. I repositioned the branches and limped to the side of the balcony where we had made our entry, trailing behind the others.

"You guys get over first. I don't want to hold you up." I motioned for them to go forward, and Gene looked like he was about to protest while the other two started their descent.

"As soon as they're far enough over, you go, Gene. I'm too slow right now. I'll just be holding you up. Besides, y'all can just catch me if I fall."

"Not likely," Gene grunted, as if sizing me up.

"You need help, you holler. Y'hear now? You got other folk to think about, so don't go gettin' any more hurt than you already are." He waited until I nodded in agreement and disappeared over the side. As soon as they had moved down the crack in the mountain, I followed suit. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. Not a minute after beginning my descent, the mountain wall rumbled, and I nearly lost my footing.

A long, slow grumble was accompanied by a river of stone as the ruins above collapsed, cascading down into the empty crater below. For several moments, the remnants of the cathedral continued to rain down until it slowed to a trickle, then stopped. The only movement was the dust that slowly flowed outward from the wreckage. I felt a lump in my throat and swallowed heavily, trying not to think about our close call. Focusing on not missing a step, the climb ended suddenly when my foot unexpectedly hit the ground.

I turned shakily to the others, who were all sitting on the ground, contemplating their own near demise.

"That wasn't so bad. Could have been worse." Emmie's mouth was twisted into a wry smile as she held up the broken remains of a crutch. Greg curled a lip in disgust.

"Not sure it gets any worse than undead…"

"You're right, I'd rather have fought a dragon. I hear they are pretty tame," I laughed.

"At least with a dragon eating you, you won't find yourself coming back to life," he shot back.

"It isn't natural, and it isn't Godly." He said it so vehemently that I was slightly taken aback. He didn't exactly give off 'religious' vibes to me. I wasn't even sure if there were gods here. People mentioned them in Fairfield, but I'd taken it as a reference to the System. Gene must have caught my uncertain squint, because he was wide-eyed and almost imperceptibly shaking his head 'no', just out of view of Greg. Innnterestingggg. What's going on there, I wonder?

"I wish we brought some food. Now that my nerves are calming down, I'm starving," Emmie said, flopping onto her back.

"I felt like I had to work twice as hard with one foot, coming off that wall." I remembered the fruit from the tree and put aside the spirit tree branches. Shuffling my pack around, I pulled one out and inspected it. > Spirit Tree Fruit > This fruit is ripe with the lingering knowledge of the spirit tree. Highly sought after, this priceless treasure imparts valuable wisdom. > Quality: Rare > Status: Decaying - Less than six hours. My eyes widened at the notification, and I gave a low whistle.

Digging around in my bag, I brought out three more and passed them around.

"Eat these. They aren't going to last long."

"I'm not about to eat some random fruit from a tree that nearly killed us..." Greg's complaint trailed off when he finally inspected his yellow fruit.

"Erm... Never mind." He popped it into his mouth, and his eyes nearly bugged out of his head. I bit into my own and realized why. A fragrant scent blossomed, overwhelming my senses, and my eyes teared up. The reaction wasn't emotional, but more akin to an onion's intensity that actually had a pleasant effect. The taste came from within, as though my memories of the most perfect blend of flavors were made manifest in a glorious nostalgic cocktail.

The fruit was incredibly tender, and its juices dribbled down my chin before I could stop them. I wiped them away, only to realize I was just drooling on myself. Before I could stop, I was taking the final bite. A faint buzzing in my ears began, growing in intensity, until I was overwhelmed. The familiar touch of the spirit tree took over, and I found myself being guided once again. This time was different, though.

The knowledge took form in my mind, and instead of guiding me to a skill, it stopped at the notification. > Concept of Expansion > Knowledge imparted by the fruit of a spirit tree. The fruit embodies an aspect of the spirit tree's abilities. The concept hung there, in my mind. Of the skills I had, I didn't think any would benefit more than my memory, which had already been upgraded to [Recall]. I couldn't think of how expansion might even begin to work with something like [Blacksmithing] or [Pottery].

[Inspect] seemed like a possible candidate, but before selecting it, I mentally tried to apply it to [Recall] to see how it would react. > Combine Concept of Expansion with [Recall]? > You have two concept slots remaining on the [Recall] skill. > Yes/No Equal parts relieved that it didn't immediately just overwrite the skill and excitement at the idea of morphing the skill into something new, I eagerly selected Yes. > [Recall] Upgraded! > The Memory attribute merged with [Recall] has expanded.

> Due to the increase in memory, your skill slot limit for [Arcane Artisan] has increased from six to eight. My jaw went slack, and I just stared at the notification. I couldn't have asked for something better. The six-skill limit that upgrading my class had imposed was weighing heavily on me, and I had been worried about not having enough room for new abilities.

Even now, eight skills wasn't even half of the eighteen that I would have had with three different classes, but it felt like the bonuses of a more specialized class were really starting to balance out with this newest revelation. I looked over at the others, and if their smiles were any indication, they were enjoying similar results. Greg cleared his throat.

"So, uh… Who gets the other two?"