Aqua peered into those blazing golden eyes of Poludnitza. She confidently looked at Aqua, her hands placed on the table while her wings flapped gently.
"Once I had arrived in this world, I summoned the world soul of my old world."
Poludnitza looked at Aqua as if she were insane, yet she let the woman talk.
Aqua, noticing the suspicion, leaned back and crossed her arms. "I know you might not believe me, but that world soul had sensed rot, yet we did not know it was the twilight rot that afflicted you."
The Vila queen tapped her cheek. "Sun God, what an interesting name. However, considering your power, he must have been even stronger than our mother."
"I can say he is the most interesting entity you will ever encounter, he is just the best!" Aqua praised her teacher.
Poludnitza chuckled. "I can say with great confidence that our mother is better in every conceivable way!"
"I do not mind your ignorance, Lady Poludnitza. You just never met Sun God."
Just as they were about to start a great debate, Katarina entered with two wooden cups of tea.
"Here is the tea!" She exclaimed while gracefully setting the cups in front of the duo. She then bowed and took a position near the door.
Poludnitza smiled warmly and turned to the pink Vila. "Thank you, Kata."
Aqua followed suit and bowed her head slightly. "Thank you for the tea, Lady Katarina."
Katarina's smile widened, and she placed her hands on her hips. "Of course! I am the best. Praise me more!"
Her gaze then turned to Aqua. "Especially you, Champion. I want to get praised by you! I miss the praise the Empress used to give me!"
Poludnitza glared. "Katarina, silence. The Champion and I have important issues to discuss."
The pink Vila pouted, grabbing her flowing blue scarf. After a moment of solemn silence, she inhaled sharply. "Yes, ma'am!" She exclaimed while curtseying.
Aqua smiled then turned to Poludnitza. "I will get right to it, then. I need to commune with your world soul."
Poludnitza raised her hand. "Please call her Valerie. That is how those who are allied with Mother call her."
Valerie, hmm. So that is her name. Aqua nodded. "Do I take it that you trust me?"
"You bear the mark of the world soul, even if not Mother's, you still are an ally. The sheer fact that I am sitting here and talking with you over tea is a testament to that."
She grabbed the cup of tea and elegantly sipped it before placing it back at the table. "Please try it, Katarina prides herself on her world tree leaf tea-making ability."
Aqua glanced at Katarina, who stared at her with sparkly eyes. She chuckled before picking up the cup and taking a sip.
The taste was rather unique.
Almost like honey with a tinge of citrus.
Overall, it was incredibly sweet. Aqua blushed and closed her eyes, savoring each moment of the tea hitting her tongue.
"It's so delicious!" She exclaimed, ignoring the happy flapping of wings coming from the pink Vila.
She loved the sweet food and drinks, it was a flavor she seldom had until her recent arrival in the new world. She took another sip and placed the cup down.
She cleared her throat. "Sorry about that, I haven't had something so delicious in a long time."
Poludnitza giggled. "You hear that, Kata? The Champion loved your tea, go make some more."
Katarina saluted and rushed out of the room.
Poludnitza hummed. "It won't be easy reaching Mother right now, unfortunately."
"Why so?" Aqua asked.
Poludnitza interlocked her fingers, and her wings fluttered. "The corruption had reached the world tree, it is not possible to conduct the ritual."
Aqua pinched her chin. She had fully expected the twilight rot to have invaded the area around the world tree, yet for it to have already spread into the tree itself, then she was on a tight clock.
One extra month could have caused the rot to consume Valerie.
"And your people cannot deal with it?"
Poludnitza shook her head. "We have to fight it and push it back. No matter how many times we push it back, it returns the next day," she said. "What's even worse is that we have started losing Vilas recently, and we have no way to replenish our numbers. There used to be over 200 of us."
Hm, this is worse than what I thought.
If Valerie's protectors were losing ground, then her help was direly needed. However, another question plagued her mind.
"Why can't you replenish your numbers?"
Poludnitza sighed, "We haven't had any males pass through Lesh's forest in centuries. We require their seed to birth more of us."
So they require a biological seed to reproduce rather than being created directly—a small blush formed on her face.
"Honestly, you being a woman was a slight disappointment for us. However, we can manage, as long as you are capable of helping against the rot."
A race that depended on other species for reproduction wasn't unheard of, albeit it was extremely rare. When a species lacked a necessary component, such as males, they would inevitably die off due to the sheer fact that there is no reliable way to produce offspring.
Aqua pouted a little. "I'm sorry."
"Hah! There is no need to worry, you are here to help, and I would be a fool not to accept you with open arms. If you really want, I am sure some Vilas wouldn't mind giving you pleasure even if you are a woman."
Aqua's eyes widened. "No, No! I am not interested in that," She said softly, "I have someone else already anyway…"
Aqua's face turned red, her mind raced, and the images of her Azure pushing her against a wall invaded her mind. Stop it, Aqua!
"Just kidding~" Poludnitza teased.
Aqua slapped herself out of the delusion. "Mean."
Both girls chuckled at each other before returning to staring into each other's eyes. "You said that ritual cannot be conducted, but what if I burn it away, and leave only the healthy parts, would it be possible then?"
"Do you think I haven't tried that already? I have burnt away the corruption every day for weeks now."
Aqua shook her head. No matter what kind of power was used, be it mana or divinity, it was impossible to deal with twilight rot, even the pure Aether would struggle with it, unless a vast amount of it was used.
A vast amount that Valerie did not have.
Thus, only one option remained: The Black Fire.
"I have ways of dealing with the rot, but they are rather painful."
Poludnitza gazed at her with suspicion but quickly conceded. "Sure, I trust you."
Aqua smiled. "I will head out and investigate right away."
Just as Aqua was about to stand up, Katarina made her way back into the room, carrying two fresh cups of world leaf tea.
"My ladies, the great Katarina is bringing another serving of my specialty!" She shouted before placing the cups in front of the girls again. "Drink, I made sure this one is even better."
Poludnitza merely glared at her. "Stop that, you are making the champion uncomfortable."
Aqua raised her hand. "Not at all, I prefer when people aren't tense around me. I think Lady Katarina is absolutely adorable."
Katarina's wings fluttered excitedly, and she brought her hands on her chest, a small blush appearing on her face.
Poludnitza groaned. "Well, you will be the one dealing with her antics, so I hope you don't take offense at her."
Aqua giggled, Katarina reminded her of Sheira somewhat, thus she was fully confident that she would not get sick of her. "I will be fine."
"If you are certain. Now that we are done," She said while standing up. "Katarina and I will give you a tour of the village and show you the corrupted area. I am curious about your way of dealing with it."
Poludnitza gestured for Katarina to follow as the trio made their way outside.
Poludnitza stretched her wings, she glanced at Aqua. "Can you fly?"
Aqua nodded, yet she could not unfurl her blazing wings in middle of the forest. Their heat would have burned the village before the corruption even reached them, thus she opted for an alternative.
Despite using her wings the majority of the time as they made her feel free, a flight without them was very much possible using gravity magic.
A soft purple hue surrounded her, and the gravity obeyed her will. She floated slightly above the ground and approached Poludnitza.
"Well, aren't you full of surprises?" The queen of the Vilas said while smiling.
Katarina stared at Aqua using gravity with sparkly eyes, however, Poludnitza glanced at her and gestured for them to head out.
Two Vilas flapped their wings and rose into the sky, closely followed by Aqua.
In mere moments, the trio found themselves flying far above the world tree.