Chapter 429: Druids might be stricter in contracts than demons
Speaking to animals wasn’t a hard thing to do--it was an innate ability of the druid to understand nature. Especially for me, who had royal blood.
But ’conversing’ wasn’t just about speaking to those animals. I had to converse with the objective of understanding their habit, their way of life, their movement, their psyche...
This was done so I wouldn’t get culture-shocked during fusion and swept away by the animals’ consciousness. Of course, normally, understanding that kind of thing would need a lot of time; but with Mother’s blessing on the druid, we could converse through our souls and exchange minds, easily deepening our understanding with each other.
Another thing that I needed to converse about was consent. This wasn’t just done by asking if they were willing to do it, but I had to explain what it really meant. What the process would be like, what the risk was, the whole thing. You know--like laying in terms and conditions.
The main reason, of course, was ethics. But it also prevented the animals from going berserk in the middle of fusion. If we fused with them without their ample understanding, they might panic in the middle of the process, and well...that would be ugly. Their mind and soul would struggle, and might even attempt to dominate the druid instead.
At any rate, it was complicated from the get-go. Phew. Nothing good is easy in this world, Valen!
Anyway, Amarein made me converse with all kinds of animals--from ants to butterflies, squirrels and foxes, rabbits and birds. Start from small-sized animals, she said. Not because it was easier, but because I could easily hold them in my hand. You know, for intimacy purposes.
But conversing, whether it was with animals or bipedal creatures, sapped my energy faster than purification. It was hard to maintain a connection and interpret their thought. Each one of them had their own unique way of thinking, and things to be thinking about. Food, rest, big creatures chasing them...
Ahem.
The biggest challenge in this process, however, wasn’t the practice. It was my children’s jealousy.
Ignis wasn’t there, because the Salamander refused to fly for two days in a row. But even if Ignis was here, it wouldn’t care much. Jade, however, was upset that I spent all of our time there to talk with other animals--and especially, when I talked to other birds. Perhaps because I conversed with them rather intimately; through our minds, and I held them gently in my hand as I touched their head with my own.