I hissed lightly as the-female-who-was-not-Needle walked, most of my attention wrapped up in continuing the plant-flesh forest’s growth. It wasn’t terribly hard. After all, I didn’t need to be inside it to keep [Verdure Parasite]’s effects going. It just helped me judge which plant-flesh needed to be grown for the best results. Without being near, I was blind - but not useless. Besides, the many-nest was a welcome distraction. I had been getting bored.

We would need to move on soon, even if I wasn’t. The forest of plant-flesh was almost done, and there were other places to be. Even now, I could feel a tugging at the edges of my mind, light and tenuous, towards where I knew another Coreless many-nest awaited. A place where the Great Core’s light was already beginning to spread. I’d need to make sure it did so properly.

With that in mind, I still had at least one more thing to do before I left the many-nest. And, thankfully, it seemed like I would finally be able to actually do it. The danger that the tiny Coreless had found at the forest’s edges had made the need even more obvious. The Coreless - and the tiny Coreless especially, Great Core bless their little hearts - sometimes seemed to be trying to die.

Hopefully that Blessing would help fix their occasional stupidity.

Either way, I wanted to create one or two more [Little Guardian’s Focus]es before I left. Just in case. Maybe the extra healing would make them less likely to kill themselves.

The area around the first [Little Guardian’s Focus] was a bustling hive of activity, Coreless moving about this and that way, each making [excited] noises at one another. It was the most Coreless that I had ever seen in the same place, more even than back when [Little Guardian] advanced from a Minor to a Major Title. A few of the tiny Coreless slipped through the gaps between legs at high speeds - for their little legs, at least - juking this way and that as if practicing their avoidance of bad-things. The occasional hand swept out at them as they passed, but never quickly or with enough force to be any meaningful threat. Every so often, one of the Coreless fell to the ground, the stone below them scraping their tiny knees with tinier furrows - ones that went away immediately, often before the little Coreless in question even had time to react. And then they were back up again, racing through the crowd.

Notably, I didn’t see any of the ones that we had found within the plant-flesh forest.

At the center of it all were two nearly-finished statues, each placed to the side of the [Little Guardian’s Focus] that rested between them. A wave of nearby chattering caught my attention, but each series of noise was just as nonsensical as the last. The [astonishment] that flowed through the [Little Guardian’s Totem]s around their necks, however, was much more understandable. I preened a little, again sacrificing a portion of my stored light to make sure that I looked my best. I represented the Great Core, and that meant that I needed to be appropriately astounding. Fortunately, it seemed like I was succeeding at that.

“I heard that…”

“...Councilman Port said that there’ll be three -”

“ - the forest growing outside and now this? What is going on in this city?”

I turned my head, blessing the small group of Coreless - two males and one female - with a light hiss of greeting. The-female-who-was-not-Needle turned with me, sending what I assumed was a greeting of her own.

“Miss Seeker, it’s wonderful to meet you. It’s, well, it’s remarkable what Orken has accomplished here,” one of the Coreless jabbered, baring his teeth at the-female-who-was-not-Needle before his eyes flicked to me. “And this must be the Little Guardian we’ve been hearing so much about. He’s a tiny one, isn’t he?”

His head bobbed, and I traced its path with my own, neck slipping up and down briefly. The Coreless’ head cocked to the side, and I followed that, too. One of not-Needle’s hands came up to scratch at my head-scales, and I leaned against it to accept the tiny display of allegiance. Across from us, the female Coreless’ hands twitched at her side, as if silently begging to offer her own display of devotion. I quickly gave my permission, forming a small illusion of her joining the-female-who-was-not-Needle in scratching my head-scales.

For some reason, a few nearby watching Coreless found my permission [amusing], hiding their mouths behind their hands for a few moments. Maybe because they thought that I had found the other two Coreless unworthy?

I formed an illusion of them scratching at my scale-flesh too, just for good measure. All devotion would be accepted, if it would help spread the worship of the Great Core.

“Pushy little guy, isn’t he?” one of the males said.

“It’s cute, though!” replied the female. “I just want to take him back to Erandur with me and just snu -”

Not-Needle’s [Little Guardian’s Totem] flashed with sudden [hostility]. “The Little Guardian is not for sale,” she hissed. It was a pretty good hiss - for her, at least. Very snakelike, if it weren’t for the parts where it wasn’t. Not enough sssss to it.

Putting that aside, I straightened my coils and reared upwards, forcefully converting a few drops of mana into death essence. Just in case. I wasn’t sure what was going on. Everyone involved was carrying a [Little Guardian’s Totem], so shouldn’t they be united under the Great Core’s light? Still, it was better to be prepared. Maybe these few Coreless had been corrupted somehow.

A jolt of [PANIC] rammed against my mind, close and forceful.

“Wait, wait, wait!” the Coreless stammered, “That’s not what I meant!” Her eyes locked onto my readied form. “He’s, um, not going to do anything to me right? Can he understand me? He looks upset.”

Though I couldn’t understand the Coreless’ not-hisses, the [distress] enough that I decided to dismiss the threat. The [hostility] in the-female-who-was-not-Needle’s [Little Guardian’s Totem] faded, replaced by a hint of [embarrassment] as I wrapped my coils more firmly around her shoulder.

“No. At least, we don’t think so,” not-Needle said, one hand coming up to scratch at her head. “It would make some things a lot easier if he did. We get by, though.” Her hand finally came down again, scratching at my head instead. A much more useful effort. “He might not understand words, but he’s become very empathic. It’s like he can tell exactly what you’re feeling, sometimes. So, as long as you really weren’t serious about that…” not-Needle finished, eyeing the group of Coreless, “you should be fine.”

One of the male Coreless cleared their throat in a hacking rumble, breath forcefully bursting from his lungs. “Well. That’s a relief. Why don’t we introduce ourselves and start over? We are -”

“There you are!” another voice called out. It was the portly male from before, his fingers covered by just as many golden circles of ore-flesh as before - maybe more, even - and his face a splotchy red. I flicked out a tongue, flinching backwards as the scent-taste of far too much something bit at my tongue-flesh. Like the Coreless had tried to cover his own scent-taste and gone too far. The Coreless didn’t seem to notice, if the lack of [distress] in their [Little Guardian’s Totem]s was anything to go by.

“Seeker Valera,” the large Coreless said. “Allow me to make the introductions.” He waved at each of the Coreless in turn, making a noise as he pointed at each one. I was too distracted to pay much attention, my mind still reeling under the assault of the Coreless’ too-strong scent-taste, only recovering as his senseless noises came to a close. “...esteemed citizens of Erandur. They were very interested in what our Little Guardian has to offer, and previously decided to visit to see the power of the Guardian Statue for themselves. And, as luck would have it, they arrived in time to witness some of Orken’s newest changes. Fortunate, isn’t it?”

“Speaking of,” the large Coreless continued, turning towards a strange not-beast of darkwood, rolling along on spinning circles of darkwood. Its stomach, open to the air, was filled with plant-flesh - a dazzling array of color.

“Would you care for a fruit? I hear they’ve got quite the kick.”