Limits

The three of us headed towards the lake, while the female Atol introduced herself. "My name is Sha. I'm responsible for taking care of the water producing plants, together with two other Atols". I nodded my head, and said "Just call me Dark Traveller". There was no need, to flash my real name around here. Besides, that was the name the Atol Apam knew me by. She looked at me, and asked "A weird name, but there are loads of things weird in the North". I asked "Do you have a specific name, for the water producing plants?".

She nodded her head, and said "Yes, we do. They are called Ophilis Reeds". I asked "What about the purifying plants? What do you call them?". She replied "We call them Aliris Plants". I nodded my head, and continued walking in silence. We soon arrived at a certain spot, where Sha turned towards me, and asked "Can you dive?". I said "Yes, I can last underwater, for quite long". She replied "That's good. This way, you will have more time to check the plants out". She then continued "Just follow me, and I will take you to a good spot. Apam, are you coming along?", but Apam shook his head, and said "No, I'm fine. I will wait here for you guys". We nodded our heads, and jumped into the lake.

I followed after Sha, as we dived deeper and deeper. The lake was not that deep though, and after about a minute, we already saw the bottom. It was filled with some sort of plants, supposedly these were the Ophilis Reeds. I got closer, and started examining them. The plant had a long stem, on which two or three leaves grew. There was no flower at the top. It had the same build as a normal reed, with one crucial difference, the top of it was blue. It wasn't thanks to the colour of the water, but because it was glowing blue.

I could see that the water, was being produced by them. As a tiny blue strand, was escaping each Reed little by little. When I looked at the whole place, the view was amazing. The little strands connected, and travelled upwards. I took out a small bottle, and tried to capture some of that blue strands. I wanted to test, if it was pure water or something else.

Sha didn't seem to mind, what I was doing, and didn't stop me. I collected some of that blue strand, but it was mixed in with water. I hid the bottle, while Sha motioned for me to follow. We went to another location, and different plants grew there. 'These must be the Aliris Plants' I thought. When I took a closer look, I noticed that the plant had a flower, that looked like honeycomb. It was also on a long stem, but this plant, had many leaves. The water seemed to be absorbed through the honeycomb like flower, then escaped at the bottom of it, through very small holes.

I noticed that, some of the leaves were getting black as well. 'So, these plants probably collect all the impurities inside them. I wonder what happens when enough accumulates?' I thought to myself. I saw enough, so I motioned towards Sha, that we can go back to the surface. A short swim later, we resurfaced and returned back to the land.

I asked "The Aliris Plant, is accumulating the impurities inside itself, right?". She replied "I know where you going with this, so I will answer you now. Yes. That is why, we have to monitor these plants all the time. Even if one Aliris Plants arrives at the point, where it can no longer accumulate impurities, we need to extract it. We of course replant the gone Aliris Plants, so the balance is kept".

I nodded my head, and asked "For how long, can they actually absorb those impurities?". She replied "Quite long actually, until all the leaves turn black. It takes some time for that to happen. Of course, we monitor them very often still. Different Alirises, are on different stages of absorption". I nodded, and asked about the Ophilis Plant next "That blue strand, which I tried collecting from the Ophilis Plant, is it only pure water, or something else as well?". She replied with a smile "You are really observative. Yes, it's not pure water only, there is something else in there. I can tell you, or you can study it yourself. You already have a sample".

I asked "Do you have some tools, to study it?". She nodded her head, and said "Yea, back in the building. If you want to use them, feel free to come by". I nodded my head, and said "I will. For now, I want to see the rest of the Apium". She nodded as well, and said "Then have a nice stay, and come by whenever you want. We don't get many visitors there". She said farewell to Apam too, and left. Apam looked at me, and said "I have no idea, what you two just talked about". I laughed a bit, and said "Well, you don't study the plants, so you have the right not to know. Don't worry about it".

Apam nodded, and asked "So, where are we going now?". I thought about it, and asked "Can you take me to the people, who can use the plants and make medicine?". Apam nodded, and said "Sure, let's go!". We went back the way we came from, and headed west this time. Our destination was a whole garden of herbs, with a few Atols tending to the plants. There were a few trees in there too, and all had some sort of house or building on top of them. Apam said "This is where the Atols that make medicine live, and care for plants. These plants also grow outside of this area, but in much smaller quantity". I nodded my head, and asked "Can you take me to someone, who is very knowledgeable about medicine and plants?". Apam nodded, and said "Yes, the old Ulon should be free at that time. Let's go and visit him".

As we walked, I said "You are quite popular in this place. Everyone knows you". Apam scratched his head, and said "Well, I'm a warrior. I also tent to help anyone, whenever I can, but I don't know everyone here. There are too many Atols to remember all their names… it would be too confusing".

We soon arrived at a smallest tree, that could be found in this area. On it, was a small house, that've seen the better days. Compared to the other buildings and houses, it seemed abandoned. Apam said "This is where old Ulon lives". Apam climbed the tree, and knocked on the doors. After a while, an old Atol opened, and asked "Apam? What do you need?". Apam replied "My friend here, would like to know more about what you are doing. He studies plants as well, and he makes medicine out of them". The old Atol seemed intrigued, and said "Alright, invite him in as well". Apam waved at me, and I climbed the tree as well.