A Place to Take Root (5)
As soon as I shouted that, the fairies and green light orbs swarmed around me in an instant.
Being surrounded like that all at once was a bit overwhelming.
"What's hide-and-seek?"
"You gonna play with us?"
"Playing?"
"Play?"
"Sis says the human's gonna play with us."
But even though they'd gathered, it didn't seem like they actually knew what hide-and-seek was. They just came because I called, flocking around me in a big crowd. So I started by explaining the basics to all these fairies buzzing at my side.
"Hide?"
"Why us?"
"Human's gonna find us."
"Hide real good?"
"If you don't hide, he'll catch you!"
"Catch us?"
"Scary!"
Once I'd roughly laid out the rules, the fairies whispered among themselves, glancing at each other before breaking into huge grins.
"Sounds fun!"
"Let's do it!"
"I wanna play hide-and-seek!"
"Okay then, human."
"Find us?"
With that, they all vanished from sight in a blink.
"Wait, what."
The hell?
I hadn't even said go yet.
They'd been right there in front of me, but without any warning, they melted away like ghosts. I was totally caught off guard.
I hadn't even blinked, and poof—they were gone.
But I calmed down quick.
No way they'd actually disappeared like that. Sure, some powerful beings could pull off something like true vanishing, but not these little fairies.
This was just an illusion, plain and simple. Not gone—just hidden from sight.
I focused my ki around my eyes.
Something hazy started to come into view. Foggy shapes, barely there.
Distortions in the ki.
But the ki here flowed differently from the outside world—thicker, wilder—so it wasn't crystal clear.
Not quite enough.
So I tapped into the power from Ariadd's gift surging through my rock-hard dick. I activated Karura's racial ability.
The divine blood of the falcon that pierced through to the essence of things—Karura's Heavenly Vision Eye.
...Look at these little shits.
Now I could see them properly: three fairies standing right in front of me, hands clamped over their mouths, staring blankly.
It reminded me of playing hide-and-seek with the orphanage kids back in the day. I'd count to sixty, and they'd be hiding right behind me half the time.
But these idiots didn't even bother hiding behind my back. They just stood there in plain view, banking on their powers, peeking up at me with mischievous faces, holding their breath.
It pissed me off a little.
"...Where could they be hiding?"
So I pretended not to notice, glanced around casually, took a few steps... and scooped up the three right in front of me in a big hug.
"Gotcha!"
"Eh?"
"We got caught?"
"Human, can you see us?"
"Clear as day, you idiots."
Three down.
But there were still tons of fairies left. A real swarm.
And then—
"He can see us!"
"Run awaaay!"
"The doom of the fairies is upon us!"
Once they realized I could spot them, unlike those cocky three, the rest started ducking behind trees and bushes, peeking out before popping back into hiding.
"Yeah, that's more like it."
Now we're talking hide-and-seek.
You can't underestimate the seeker like those three did.
But damn, this just made it more annoying.
Chasing down every last one solo with just this two-day gift from Ariadd? No way I'd catch 'em all.
"Hmm."
Worth a shot, though.
"Hoah, let's do that thing. You know."
"Hoaaa—"
Pong. My little fox shikigami popped out at my call, hopping up to ride on my shoulders like piggyback.
And then—
Shrrrr...
Hoah's tails slithered over to me.
All five fox tails transferred to me completely.
It wasn't just the tails. Unlike me, who could barely manage Body Reinforcement solo, Hoah was a legit shaman—maybe not Hoaran-level, but damn good.
And now I could borrow her spells.
Like this one.
"Doppelganger."
Bam bam bam bam bam!
Clones identical to me popped out—decked in Heavenly Fox armor and Dragon Claws, but without Hoah's tails.
"Tch..."
Just five, and already my head spun from sharing their vision and senses.
"Cover me, Hoah."
"Hoah!"
She clapped her paws over my eyes.
My sight went dark, but it was fine.
The clones' views were mine now anyway. Plus, with Hoah's help, the dizziness settled to manageable levels.
I was stuck controlling the clones, but whatever—one less body, five more seekers.
"'Let's go,'" the clones said in unison, stretching before bolting after the fleeing fairies.
"Lemme gooo~!"
"Stay still."
"This can't be how it ends...! I'll escape for sure...!"
"No such rule."
Well, real hide-and-seek has escape rules, but with hundreds of fairies against solo me? Nah, we skipped that. Caught once, you're done.
Still, this one thrashing in my arms wouldn't quit. I had to warn her.
"Behave, or I'll eat you."
Creaaak.
The Heavenly Fox armor's helmet mouth gaped wide—pretty terrifying for a tiny kid fairy, looks-wise and tone-wise.
"Eeeek!"
She went limp, obedient.
Might've overdone the scare, but whatever. Good is good.
Anyway, I arrived back with another catch. Sitting cross-legged with Hoah on my shoulders, I plopped her down amid the pile of gathered fairies.
"You came to save me!"
"Nah, I got caught too."
"Lame."
"Pathetic, getting nabbed."
"You guys got caught first!"
"Laaaame~"
Where the hell do they pick up this shit?
Anyway, the other clones dumped their catches too. Counted 'em up—looked like all of 'em.
"...That it?"
Didn't think it'd take all damn day.
Fucking exhausted.
I praised myself for the hard work, dismissed the clones, and stood up.
"Kyaaa!"
"He's moving!"
The ones riding my shoulders, back, everywhere tumbled off like dominoes—jealous of Hoah or just playful, who knows.
I flinched, but they landed gracefully, hands shooting up.
"Six points."
"Seven."
"Two."
"Next time, more artistic landings please."
And rating each other on god-knows-what scale.
Anyway, I reverse-summoned the wiped-out Hoah and looked around.
We'd nabbed a ton, but was that all?
"Everyone here, right?"
The fairies—who'd been playing games among themselves, teasing new catches—glanced around and chimed in.
"All caught~"
"Hide-and-seek was fun!"
"Let's play again!"
"Won't get caught next time!"
"I wanna be seeker!"
They seemed satisfied.
But...
"...Why's this still on?"
I was staring puzzled at the wooden vine bracelet still coiled around my wrist when—
Shrrrk. A tree sprouted before me, morphing into Ariadd.
"Looks like everyone had fun neee?"
"Yeah!"
"Human was fun!"
"Love hide-and-seek!"
"Challenger for Fairy Play Awards—best game?"
"Dark horse beating dirt-pile game!"
So that was their dirt-stacking game from earlier. Must be a big hit among fairies.
"Good, glad you all enjoyed it. Hanjo played so nice with you guuys."
Ariadd petted the chattering swarm clinging to her and smiled. I asked,
"Hey, Ariadd."
"Yeees?"
"This thing still won't come off."
I'd played with all the fairies and the green orbs buzzing around them—the baby spirits. They seemed happy, but the bracelet wouldn't budge.
She tilted her head at me. "Hanjooo?"
"Yeah?"
"Who am I nee?"
Who? Ariadd's Ariadd. World Tree spirit, dryad Ariadd...
"Oh."
She's a spirit too.
"Ufufufu...♡"
She giggled at my realization.
"Wait, Ariadd—"
Too late. Way too late.
Shraaak.
Vines shot up from the ground, binding me tight.
Ah, fucking again.
I tried breaking free, but same as before—didn't budge a fucking inch.
I'd gotten way stronger, and still?
Step step. Ariadd approached, stroking my cheek.
"So, Hanjooo, what should we play nowww?"
Shrrk. A flower bloomed before me. Pure white.
Creaaak♡
The center split open, revealing a bumpy, tentacle-filled inside. Memories flooded back.
I'd thought it was Ariadd's pussy and creampied it like crazy.
Found out later it wasn't—total betrayal.
But why pull it out now? Then she said,
"Wanna play like last time, thrusting and cumming in hereee?"
The hell kinda game is that?
As I thought that—
"Not thaaat," she said, spreading her pussy with two fingers.
Drip, drip...♡
Clear fluid—not her juices—oozed out, trickling down her thighs.
"How 'bout this side this timeee...? Whaaat do you think, Hanjooo...♡"