Terrarium Adventure

“This is not a mountain…”

Elder continuously tried to correct me, dumbfounded by my insistence, but I ignored him.

Anything that is elevated and not flat, is called a mountain to me.

I breathed in the aromatic scent of dandelions and lay down where there were lesser flowers. I could feel my body recover just from lying down.

Daisy was a popular driard amongst the dandelion children. Just like a celebrity.

“Did you wipe out all the fires outside? Wow, that’s amazing.”

Daisie’s face was as red as her hair and tried to express that Mesquite and Edler were much greater than her but the children didn’t seem to have selective hearing.

The sight of the children continuously chattering away was adorable. I wanted to form a soul contract with one of them, actually even before the thought had crossed my mind, Dandelion informed me first. That there were several of them who wanted to go on an adventure like Daisy.

But that they were still young seedlings, immature and not ready to start out on an adventure. So she asked me to stand my ground and refuse them even if they asked.

She also mentioned that unlike Daisy, the newly born seedling children were weaker in both strength and mind and were likely to act out against the intention of their druid.

Also, they were too weak and inexperienced to protect their main priority, the druid, who was like their own small version of the world tree.

It wouldn’t be an issue if they matured and grew progressively in the forest society, but she mentioned that the Dandelion driards were likely to return to the world tree before they were able to fully grow. Which was also the reason why they were so small in size.

Daisy had bloomed in her fully mature form but lost her strength and reverted to a seedling. Dandelion had already admonished the children as they were already different from birth and hence incorrect to think of Daisy as a role model.

Even if I were able to grow them to their potential by providing them with a diamond enriched life it was only a wishful thought as long as their guardian and King did not consent. And just like Mesquite, Dandelion had instantly realized the limit to my own soul.

She suggested it would be better for me to be protected by a fully grown and mature driard then adopting a dandelion seedling.

It left me with wishful thoughts, but that was my greed.

Daisy seemed vibrant and full of energy as she played with the small children. Her disappointed look from our last battle lingered in my mind, and even after hearing Dandelion’s words of encouragement and hope, it made me worried.

But it seemed she was over it and enjoying the present, so I should get over it too.

Now that I think of it, I shouldn’t be worried about my stamina and be complaining about climbing a mountain. No, there might be numerous mountains on my path. I should reflect.

The me now can no longer behave like my old self. Now, I am a druid leading my own driards. I need to adjust myself to this world and grow.

I am going to wake up before everyone else in the morning and get ready. I won’t complain. That was what I told myself.

When the sun was up, the dandelion children were energetic to compare with a beagle, but as soon as the went past the horizon they became surprisingly calm.

They gathered around Dandelion and fell into a deep sleep, backfiring on my plan to use their chattering voices as an ASMR sound to fall asleep.

It felt like someone had pressed the mute button. Had it not been for the sound of their breathing I would have thought someone had hit the pause button.

The yellow flowers in full bloom, that gave me the sense of being in a yellow milk way, closed up their flower buds, and were sound asleep. The stars of the day gave way to the stars of the night.

I thought it was an established theory that children were reluctant and would pester their tired guardians, and eventually, the two would fall asleep together. As if to prove the theory was false, everyone immediately fell asleep.

The only dandelion driard awake was Dandelion herself. It seemed like the part where driards don’t need to eat or sleep applied to only her.

“The children are still weak, and as much as they entrust their souls to me, they rely on me like a normal human child. They are loyal to their natural form.”

As I stared at the children, captivated by them, Dandelion replied. With a low and soft voice like a soothing lullaby.

Just in case, Mesquite patrolled the perimeter of the colony. When she returned she pacified me to follow the examples of the children and fall asleep.

I was counting the number of times Mesquite left for her patrol before soon falling into a deep sleep, where I didn’t even dream.

***

Who was the one who said that your eyes will automatically open in the morning if you had something you were looking forward to the next day?

Why does it not apply to me? I thought you can do it as long as you have the will!

I woke up with a troubling sense of my heart dropping and my head turning cold.

I’m doomed…whenever I had these kinds of feelings I was a hundred percent doomed.

This feeling….was something I started to have around the age when I could speak fluently and I had to wake up every weekday morning to embark on a journey of learning. The feeling that told me it was way over my time to start the day and your ancestors watching over you, were reaching out and telling you to get up.

Wake up, you sleepyhead. How can you be so lazy about your education? Our household has been proud of our generations and their academic qualifications. We have never seen a descendent of our household as lazy and uncommitted to learn as you.

We reluctantly stepped in to wake you, since it seemed like you would sleep until the night if left alone. But you’re already late so you won’t be able to avoid getting yourself in trouble.

If they were going to jolt me awake by entering my dreams, why couldn’t they do it earlier and not when it was already too late anyway.

Instead of the chirping sparrows, the dandelion children were giggling away. Everyone was awake.

The night before my determination was fruitless and I had overslept again. I dragged myself with my sunken eyes to the well and splashed my face with water. The cold water started to wake me up.

Elder stared at me pathetically as I threw some water over my face.

“You were sleeping like the dead so I didn’t dare to wake you. You looked very tired.”

“I always sleep like the dead.”

My mother used to place a finger beneath my nose to see if I was dead or alive. Sometimes she would even shake me awake because I slept so still without moving or any sleeping habits. This is how righteous I am.

“You’re quite something, to sleep through all the noise the dandelion seedlings are making.”

“You know a thought just popped up if we ever encounter a dangerous situation and I am dead asleep. It will probably be faster to carry me and run instead of trying to wake me up. “

What a great person I am. Even after setting a goal for myself, here I am making up an excuse.

I still felt half awake and wondered if I would feel better by putting my face in the well.

In an attempt to wake myself, I was shaking my body like a broken doll when I saw Daisy surrounded by the Dandelion children. Dandelion was demonstrating various attacks with her dagger at the request of the children.

How cute. The children were in awe and couldn’t seem to keep their eyes off Daisy’s dagger.

“Our dear Daisy is so energetic. How can she be so active first thing in the morning? I don’t have any energy at all.”

I commented in admiration while I roughly tied up my messy bed hair.

“You don’t seem unwell though? You don’t have any energy? Maybe yesterday’s explosion caused an abnormality in your body?”

I couldn’t have gotten hurt when I was under the protection of my driards the entire time. Besides even if I had, I would have kept shut because I am also a coward afraid of injections and needles.

“No, It’s just a figure of speech. Maybe it’s because I’m aging.”

This comment would probably earn a beating from my seniors. But it was a fact, your body couldn’t be the same today as it was yesterday.

“In terms of age, I think Mesquite is much older than you? Mesquite went on her patrol again after being at it all night.”

“Do not push the same set of standards on me. How dare you compare Mesquite to someone  like me!”

Maybe I should start exercising from now on. I can’t let my original health affect me all the way here, in a game.

As soon as Mesquite returned we left in a hurry while receiving the farewells of the dandelion driards. And just like that my determination to wake up early this morning was long forgotten.

Daisy ran up the rocks with an energetic bounce in her step and Mesquite swiftly climbed on with her armor, shield, and lens…Elder walked on peacefully even with his drooping garment.

I who was the most average of them all had to take back my countless declarations to give up and climb the mountain with a look of death. Elder intentionally walked behind and kept my pace. He must think I’ll roll down if left alone….

You said it wasn’t a mountain…you said it wasn’t. I was right, anything higher than a plane ground even by 10 meters was a mountain.

No this was more than 10 meters. At least the mountains in Korea had cleared out paths for the hikers. This was a pure wilderness, a mountain of nature!

There weren’t any man-made infrastructures or even a stone step insight. It was a hundred percent a pure inclined mountain.

We were going up a relatively wider path, but I didn’t get the hang of climbing it. My shoes kept sliding on the soil. Someone please just call a taxi.

I picked up a long stick on the way and depended on it, and determined not to be a burden to my company I gritted my teeth and continued to climb.

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It would have been easier if it was a continuation of just climbing the mountain. Since all you needed to do was continue climbing mindlessly. Maybe the druid who had gone ahead of us used a different path…as fires continued to attack us.

It was already hot and stuffy and whenever a fire showed up it became nearly impossible to breathe.

I take it back. I’m sorry for cursing you thinking you had wiped out the entire hunting ground. It was like an explosion of fires because you hadn’t wiped them out.

The fires that appeared from the ground were considerably easier. Maybe in this realm, those that flew in the sky were stronger than those that roamed the earth. A fire came attacking us while flapping away in the sky.

The crazy fire now flies! That’s no fire that’s considered a phoenix!