Chapter 29: Crossing the Lake
"Do you know how to play a flute, Takato?" Guy asked. "I've only watched Citronia play it a long time ago."
Tasuku shook his head. "Well, you can simply blow it and watch how it goes? I mean, the player character in Digimon World doesn't seem to know how to play a flute either."
"I understand."
Tasuku gasped at the pretty little tune from the Blue Flute; it was the exact same tune he'd heard from Digimon World.
Just as Tasuku glanced over his shoulder, Guy asked with a puzzled face, "Does the flute have a hidden speaker attached?"
"I guess-"
A sea serpent in the size of a fishing boat burst out of the lake, sending sprinkles of water everywhere. "A human? With the Blue Flute?" it asked.
"Jijimon gave it to us," Tasuku said. "It said we'd need it in our journey."
"I see." The sea serpent nodded. "I'm Seadramon, the guardian of Dragon Eye Lake. I gave that flute to Jijimon as a sign of our friendship many years ago. Whenever it needed my help, it could always play it here and summon me. Since Jijimon entrusted it to you, tell me what you need."
"Could you ferry us to Beetle Land?" Guy asked.
"Sure thing, but I don't think I can carry KaiserLeomon with me."
Tasuku chuckled. "That's not a problem."
Seadramon tilted its head to the side. "What do you mean?"
Once Guy got off him and took away the duffle bag from his back, Tasuku closed his eyes and took a deep breath. His body moved by itself, and he now stood only on his hindlegs. A moment later, his entire body felt a little sore and caused him to be a bit stooped.
This was the second time Tasuku reverted from Spirit Evolution today. Fortunately, he'd been a fitness nut for years; he could probably evolve and revert a few more times before his body gave in.
Guy probably didn't think so. He was carrying both their backpack and duffle bag; as expected from the former bodyguard of a royal family, Guy could still maintain an upright posture with all the bulky baggage.
"Give me one of those," Tasuku told Guy. "I can carry it."
"Are you not tired from Spirit Evolution?"
"It's no big deal."
"I see. So this is the Spirit Evolution Jijimon had been telling me about." Seadramon turned and moved closer to the shore. "Get on. Let's talk as we head to Beetle Land."
With the duffle bag slung across him, Tasuku hopped onto Seadramon's body and couldn't help but take a closer look at the pristine teal scales. Shiny and smooth. Just like crystals.
Cool stuff!
Tasuku would be lying if he said that he hadn't dreamed of entering Digital World as a child, after watching the Digimon anime and playing the games. Now, he'd better not let anyone know this childish truth, else his peaceful days would be no more.
"Takato?"
Guy's voice snapped him back to reality.
Tasuku glanced over his shoulder to see Guy stand behind him. "Oh, it's nothing."
"Here we go!" Seadramon called out.
The nearby fish scattered as Seadramon shot across the lake like a speedboat and parted the waters along the way. Strong wind blew against Tasuku, bringing with it the odor of fresh water and decaying organic matter.
"Seadramon, you said you'd like to talk about Spirit Evolution?" Guy asked.
"Oh, right." Seadramon cleared its throat. "Jijimon once told me, humans can use the lesser version of the Human Forms' signature moves."
Tasuku's eyes widened. "Really?"
"When you revert, the data you absorbed when you evolved don't leave your body completely. It's because of the similarity between the data of Human Forms and humans," Seadramon replied. "You should give it a try."
Tasuku tried imagining himself using Lowemon's signature moves. Endlich Meteor? Uh, that was an energy blast from the lion's head on the chest plate of Lowemon's armor. He should try something else.
Tasuku looked at his hand and locked his gaze on it. His arm slowly went numb as it transformed into writhing dark energy. He grasped it with his other hand, but couldn't quite do it; it was like trying to grab a gush of water from a hose. He stared at the transformed arm again and focused on the very little sensation he could feel there. A moment later, it reverted.
"It works!" he exclaimed.
"You'll need some practice to have a better control of it," Seadramon said.
Tasuku nodded. "Yeah, I can't imagine using Lowemon's Dunkel Sarg without practice. I couldn't really feel my arm."
"Outside signature moves, you can manipulate the element you're assigned with. It's very important when you fight without evolving. Fighting without evolving has its own benefits."
"It's less tiring to fight as a human than a Digimon, isn't it?"
"It keeps Digital World stable, too. Each time you borrow the world's power to evolve, you disrupt the world's stability. The damage isn't noticeable at first, but it'll show someday."
"But is it not dangerous to fight as a human?" Guy asked. "You enter a battle without any form of protection. If you get hit, you may die. Not everyone in our troupe has the agility to dodge an attack. Some have never fought even."
"That's why teamwork is important," Seadramon replied. "In a battle, the strong protects the weak. Outside battle, the strong trains the weak. However, sometimes the weak have a strength that the strong lack."
Tasuku smiled proudly at the last line. That described Tsumugi perfectly.
"Beetle Land inhabitants live by that philosophy. If you think that the tournament champion HerakleKabuterimon is the town mayor, you're wrong. It's too eccentric for the mayor role."
Tasuku raised an eyebrow. "Eccentric? How so?"
"That guy is the most enthusiastic about the Beetle Tournament. Why? Well, it makes poetry out of its battles. No fight, no inspiration. It especially likes fighting new types of opponents."
Tasuku facepalmed. Good grief, not another eccentric poet! Or maybe it was a blessing? Homare would love to have a friend to talk about poetry, wouldn't he? Tasuku wouldn't mind enduring a barrage of weird poems if that'd make Homare happy; his poor friend could always use a mood booster as he recovered from his injuries.
"Oh, hey, we're arriving soon!"
Tasuku looked ahead. An island loomed in the distance, with palisades of trees standing behind the sandy shore. Amid them stood a colossal tree that dwarved everything around it.
"See that giant tree over there? It's the famous Tree Tower of Beetle Land. It's got a lot of festivities, so be sure to enjoy them!"
"Tree Tower…" Tasuku mumbled. Pretty sure that Beetle Land's giant tree in Digimon World only had a gym and a battle arena. But well, he'd seen many differences between this Digital World and the game's Digital World, so this change shouldn't be something strange.
Seadramon chuckled. "By the way, things are very cheap there."
"Please elaborate?" Guy asked.
"Beetle Land is supposed to be a top-rated tourist landmark in Digital World because of what the Tree Tower has. The problem? Insect Digimon are very noisy. The mayor has been lowering the prices of stuff and asking all the inhabitants to be nice to newcomers, but Beetle Land is still attracting very few tourists."
"Can't the mayor regulate the noise?"
"Thing is, most insect Digimon buzz as they move. Recently, Beetle Land has been importing noise-cancelling headphones from Factorial Town. I recommend buying those when you arrive at the Tree Tower- Oh, we're here!"
Arriving at the island, Seadramon turned and parked parallel to the shore. Once Tasuku and Guy hopped off it, it turned around. "Summon me when you wanna go back. See ya!" And with that, it submerged into the water and swam away.
"Where should we go, Takato?" Guy asked. "The Tree Tower?"
"Yeah. We should get to the battle arena fast."
Both Tasuku and Guy strode into the forest. Buzzing sounds filled the air as they made their way through the clusters of trees. While the insectoid Digimon they came across greeted them with a warm "welcome," Tasuku and Guy could only wave and smile at them while moving.
At times, Tasuku couldn't imagine bringing Azuma here. Taking a closer look at these insectoid Digimon bugged him; a lot of them looked like they had a pair of golf balls as their eyes. Some of them also had hairy mandibles and antennae, which unnerved Tasuku a bit.
Guy looked very interested in studying more about them, though. The further they went, the slower he walked. He'd even made a few pauses to observe the insectoid Digimon as they talked with each other.
"C'mon, Guy. We can explore the forest once we're done with the tournament registration and stuff."
"Understood."
As they drew closer to the Tree Tower, the buzzing sounds grew more chaotic. It was like a discordant orchestra of electric sparks, low-pitched droning, and the screeching from a chalkboard. At this rate, Tasuku would rather listen to Homare's rambling 24/7; at least they wouldn't hurt his ears.
Seadramon wasn't kidding when it told them about insect Digimon being hella noisy.
Cupping his ears, Tasuku staggered past the doorless entrance of the Tree Tower and found himself in the middle of a massive winding staircase. He rushed and held onto the railing ahead, and surveyed the building from the top to the bottom. Damn, the winding staircase spiraled all the way up and down throughout the tower.
Many insect Digimon didn't bother using the staircase; instead, they simply flew up and down the hollow center of the building. A few of them stopped to tell Tasuku "welcome" before leaving.
"Takato, look."
Tasuku turned. Guy was looking at a wooden directory board beside the entrance.
"The arena is in the basement," Guy said.
"Let's go."
Although the tower had an elevator shaft, Tasuku and Guy descended the staircase by foot. The basement was only one floor away anyway; besides, one could never guess if an elevator would stop to pick up some passengers as it headed to one's current level.
At the end of the winding staircase was a simple circular area where various insect Digimon gathered to gossip. The chatters, along with the many types of buzzes, reminded Tasuku that he should get a pair of noise-cancelling headphones soon.
Guy didn't look disturbed, though. Well, he was always poker-faced, so one couldn't really tell if the noise bothered him or not.
A desk stood southwest from the staircase, beside a big wooden double door, with a Tentomon sitting at it. When Tasuku and Guy approached the desk, the ladybug Digimon sprang to its feet.
"Good day, humans. How can I help you?" Tentomon asked. Its mandibles made it hard to tell whether the Digimon was smiling or frowning.
"I'd like to register for the Beetle Tournament," Guy told it.
"Sorry, but only insect Digimon are allowed in the tourney. You can still watch it, though. Tickets will be on sale once the registration closes."
"Uh, Guy," Tasuku said, "I think you need to evolve into Blitzmon."
Guy nodded and put down the backpack on the floor. "Very well." Guy reached out a hand, as if holding a D-Scanner gadget and showing it to everybody. Then he swiped his hand against the non-existent D-Scanner. "Spirit Evolution!"
Guy's body glowed, and electric currents crackled across his growing, transforming body. A big horn-like extension jutted out of his head before the radiance and electricity around him faded. Now a bulky, heavily-armored beetle man stood before Tasuku.
"Blitzmon!" Guy shouted as he slammed his fists against each other, creating an electric spark.
The noise suddenly died down as all the insect Digimon nearby looked at Guy with their jaws dropped. Then everyone scattered and flew up while shouting, "A new challenger in the Beetle Tournament!" and "Where's HerakleKabuterimon? It's gonna love this!"
Tentomon laughed. "Look at the buzz you've caused, Blitzmon! Obviously, you now qualify for the tournament, but there's one more thing."
"Yes?"
"As per the tradition, you need to find a Gold Acorn from the forest and bring it here before the registration closes. You can say that this is like an elimination for the participants because the Gold Acorn is very rare and everyone will fight for it." Tentomon paused before adding, "You have three hours from now."
"Does he have to get it by himself?" Tasuku asked. "Or can I help him? I don't qualify for the tournament anyway."
"The rule pretty much says, 'All's fair in love and war.' If you wanna help your friend, go ahead. But I don't doubt he'll get a lot of external help because of the hype."
"Got it." Tasuku picked up the backpack from beside Guy, but his feet felt mysteriously heavy when he tried to leave. They'd better deposit the baggage before starting the search, but that'd take time, right? Tasuku would be happy to do it, but would it be okay to leave Guy alone out there for some time? Well, Guy had combat experience, so Tasuku shouldn't worry too much about him but-
"You look worried, Takato," Guy's voice interrupted his thoughts.
Tasuku's brain was still stuttering from the shock. "Uh, well, I'd like to help you in the search, but it'll be really inconvenient to carry these everywhere."
"You shouldn't worry. I might get some help from others while you deposit our baggage."
Tasuku stood still to sort out all the thoughts in his head. Maybe it was really fine to leave Guy alone for the time being. Tentomon shouldn't be lying, should it?
A moment later, Tasuku finally nodded. "All right. I'll catch up with you once I'm done dealing with our baggage."