Some ten or so minutes after Rex had started to devour the demons soul, he was all done, feeling dozens of times better, even if his physical form was still rather battered. Still the area healing had done wonders, allowing him to dissapear from the blood barrier unnoticed, moving closer to the remaining adventures from a side. Stopping a decent distance away, he allowed the blood curtain to disperse, revealing teh split for of the demon, though now that teh area with its corpse was no longer sealed, it was starting to glow in a faint green light. Unlike the warm and healthy green of healing energy, this light was murky green, as if emerad green water had been filled with mud and stirred to the point of creating perfectly dirty water.
"Split the body, collect what organs, horns and bones are still intact!" ordered Mamon now that they could reach the body, no longer worried about the possible dangers resuting from messing with the blood barrier. If whatever created that bloodlust decided that they were an obstacle, their bodies would remain here untill random rodenst and bugs would pick them clean.
"Burn the dried up bodies. We dont want to risk lords know what evil spirits possesing them. The poor souls deserve that much mercy, and we cant have the friends of those cultist scum figure a way to honor their damned friends!" also ordering the disposal of the dried corpses, he looked around, searching for their guide. Moments later, he saw Rex near one of the cave walls, half slumped there, the blonde healer from his party already by his side, an arm on his neck in dirrect contact with his skin, her healing magic working overtime. As he aproached the dueo, he could see the sorry state Rex was in, tears and wounds , as well as stains of blood covering his body, though there was not a single speck of demonc blood, making the man not a valid candidate for the demon slayer. With such a wound, no doubt the killer would be covered in the blue blood of the demon.
"What happened to you? You look like shit." Mamon spoke, earning an exausted look from Rex.
"Think that tracking spell has np consequences? Or did you not see me during our descent? I had to push my body much further than i should be able to at the moment. Dealing with the consequences now though." Rex head slumped back, pressing against the tunnel wall, his next words much quieter, clearly exaustion setting in.
"Think you could get me a stretcher and some way to reach the city. I doubt I could ride a horse any time soon."
"Who took the deamon out? I doubt we would have survived, had it reached us." Mamon asked, though he supposed he would have to ask another time, noticing Rex losing consciousness, his head held from falling back down by the blonde healer. Mamon turned away, returning to ordering around the rest of the group, while at the same time aranging for Rex to be helped out of the old mine. And yet, even as he was ordering people around, his mind was in full swing, looking for explanations or possibilities regarding the identity of the demon slayer. He did reach a rather far fetched, yet more probable explanation to the events, at least more likely than Rex being the one who killed the demon. What if, the one who taught Rex his blood magic was around? No doubt only a true vampire could achieve such feat? That would explain the relative ease the demon was dealt with, said vampire lord playing with his food. It also would explain how said lord would appear and dissapear so effortlesly, none of his men being the wiser. Regardless, it was clear that whoever killed the demon seems to have no animosity towards the local populace and they even left the demon corpse behind, providing insane profit for both Mamon, the parties that took part, as well as the guild branch.
By the time the group was done with both, cleaning up the old mine and collecting demon parts, as well as exiting the underground, one of the men he sent out had already returned with a large contingent of carriages. After loading the still unconscious townsfolk, including those that had awoken, yet could not move on their own, alongside Rex and his blonde healer who refused to leave his side, they then proceeded back to town, with many people smiling, either due to the incoming payday, or simply happy their friends or relatives had been rescued.
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"Urghhh." Rex groaned as he came to, finding himself in a rather comfy bed, one of his hands clamped in a vice grip. He turned his groggy head to the offending side. With his sight slowly coming into focus, he saw Ria, slumped on the bed, her two hands gripping his. 'Well, guess I have left quite the impression on the buxom beauty.' Rex smiled to himself, quickly inspectng his own condition using his soul power. It was quite the dangerous undertaking, he had to admit, but the alternative was to run away and hope the damn shit would not chase after him. That would of course resulted in quite the devastaion, and, most likely, the death of everyone else from the group besides him. And that would include Light's Oak. And he could not argue with the results of the success. His soul fragment was many times larger than before. And that was not the greatest of gains he could not speak loudly off.
His soul fragments recovery, or growth, whatever he decided to call it had come with a massive boon. His passive drain had grown stronger still, speeding his future growth multiple times. Though with the fonderfull news, came the realization that he would outgrow his current party incredubly soon. He was already leagues above the girls in skill, his past lives working overtime thus far. But now, it would take only a few proper dives for the rest of the girls to realize just how fast they are left behind. 'Ow well, tommorows problem for tommorow's me.' Rex sighed in his mind, carefully and slowly extricating himself from the bed, just as carefully moving Ria in his place, extricating his hand from her grip and covering her with the blanket that was covering his form. Then, just as quietly he left the room.
A small corridor later, he found himself in front of Lunas gardens counter, the dryad milf playing with her daughter in front of him. The elder woman smiled towards him, clearly feeling much better now, an obvious indication of the receding mana taint in the air.
"Good evening Rex." she spoke gently. "Have you recovered?"
"I am wel enough for now, though overexertion is not advised foir a few days. Could i ask your girl to watch over Ria untill shewakes up? Would not want her worry becasue of my sudden dissapearance."
"Would you be so kind dear?" Luna asked, and afer a small nod, the younger of the two dryads dissapeared into the corridor, recieving a polite thanks from Rex as she passed by.
"I hear I and many of our townsfolk have you to thank for the rescue of our friends and neighbors." Luna gently spoke, the same smile on her face.
"Lets just leave it at that, shall we? I have no doubt that the adventurers guild will reward me properly for my efforts." Rex just shrugged, adding. "Any of the diners open right now?" his hand moving to his growling stomack.
"Unfortunately no longer, but if you dont mind waiting a bit, allow me to quickly cook up something for you. Its the least I can do as a for thank you."
"Cant say no to such an offer from a beautifull lady." Rex agreed easily. He had heard a couple of rummors about Lunas skill in cooking in the short time they had spent here, as well as the difficulty of actually earning an offer from said dryad to actually cook for someone, thus the offer was more than welcomed.
Aproximately an hour later, Rex was invited through door hiding behind the counter that either Luba, or her daughter man at all times, revealing an extremely nature themed room, potted plants and smaller trees growing everywhere around. Large glass windows adorning the walls, allowing for incredible amounts of sunlight to spill through during the days, providing plenty of warmth and light for the numerous plants and mini trees present. Extremely fresh aroma permeated the room, reminding Rex of a magical garden, within a forest. With the darkness of the evening, a few mana crystals were placed around, iluminating the room.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
In the center of the room, a rather small table stood, by the looks of it big enough for four people maximum. It was covered with a few dishes that look extremely apetizing. A bowl of salad, consisting of finely sliced and uniform pieces of vegetables, in the colour of the rainbow. Just the look and juiciness of it promising a mouthwatering experience. Then, there was a plate with roasted meat, melted honey slowly dripping from the top it, a light reflecting from the light on its surface. And a few, freshly baked loaves of bread, the inviting smell of freshly baked bread calling him over.
"Wow!" Rex exclaimed, a smile creeping on his face as he was subconsciously drawn towards the table, saliva pooling in his mouth, forcing him to audibly gulp with anticipation. His honest reactions brought a fresh smile on Lunas face, the mature woman was clearly enjoying his reactions to her work though she did not stall aby longer, well aware of Rex hunger.
"Come, come." she dragged him forward "I do hope you will find the taste as good as your mind is making it out to be." She seated Rex at the table, took the salad bowl and placed a sizable portion of it on the plate before him. Then, she took one of the loaves of bread in her hands and broke it, handing Rex the smaller part, smiling kindly. Rex in turn reuturned the smile, thanked for the food and dug in, scooping a spoonfull of the salad, putting it in his mouth and chewing on it.
As his teeth crushed the small cubes of vegetables the salad was made of, he stopped, overwhelmed with incredible explosion of different tastes, the different vegetable juices mixing in indescribable harmony. He enjoyed the incredible senstations for aq moment, and once he was more used to them, as well as the taste got more subtle, he restarted chewing, his eyes still closed, enkoying the magnificent experience. only once his mouth was empty, the chewed food swallowed with happiness, he spoke.
"Incredible." A single word that he could find that at least somehow could describe what he had just felt, even if wholy lacking in the depth and precision.Yet, seeing Lunas happy expression, he abstained from trying to say anything else, returning to enjoy the rest of it. And so, without rush, he enjoyed ever spoonfull of the salad, every now and then taking a bite from the bread he was offered. That too was an experiece on its own. Crunchy crust that was a pleasure to chew on, enveloping a could like puffy dough, with slight sweetness to it that perfectly went together with the salad. The juiciness of the vegetables went perfectly with the bread, removing any need, or desire for any drink, at least for now. He still was looking forward to th roasted meat that was waiting for its own turn.
Once Rex's plate was emptied from the salad, Luna smiled and brought over the main course. With practiced movement, she made two swift, yet precise and elegant slices with a knife, revealing just how well cooked and juicy the meat was as well. Then, using the same plate that Rex had just cleaned of the salad, with its juices still at the bottom of it, she placed the meat cuts on it. Rex already could tell that she had planned for exactly such an outcome, the juice mix would, no doubt, enhance teh flavour of meat even further beyond. he could only lick his lips in anticipation.
And boy, was he right. The meat was so tender, he was in no need to use a knife to cut off a piece. With the use of just his fork, he easily seperated a piece of it, slightly drawing it through the salad juices before placing it in his mouth, once again being assaulted by the magnificent explosion of taste. Just like with salad, he enjoyed it for a moment, the addition on meat flavour creating an entirely new picture of tastes. A picture that became much more vivid and incredible once he started chewing. And just like with salad, there was little he could actually say to describe the magnificence of the taste.
Once again, he ate in silence, Luna sitting on a chair next to him now, nibbling lightly on the salad, a happy smile on her face as she watched Rex lost in the world of taste. She quietly sat there, allowing him to experience the culmination of her work, both culinary and as a dryad, the room serving just as great of a part in the overall experience of this divine moment. Only once Rex's plate was clean, did she finally spoke.
"Would you like seconds?" a happy and content question with a light smile on her face, transforming into even greater smile at the desire blooming in Rex eyes for more in response. There was little need to ask any more, or to actually hear Rex respond, as she proceeded to fulfill his desire, cutting yet another piece of the roasted meat and placing it on his plate.
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"Now I want to steal you away and never let go." Rex said, once they had finished their meal and had sat in silence for a short while "And while feasable, I do believe that such an action would clip your wings, in result destroying the very thing I would steal you away for." Perfectly aware of the combination of time, place and enviroment that had made it all so incredible.
"Your maturity and ability to understand it all speaks volumes about you, making my decision to treat you to the experience more and more correct." replied Luna, happy in her own ability to judge people.
"Though, that does not stop me from making selfish decisions." Rex replied, taking a coin of out his 'pocket' and using his mana to enchant it in a rather particular way. Once done, a few moments later, the coin now having a hole on its surface and numerous rune engravings, he pulled a simple string our of his 'pocket' as well, creating a simple yet elegant necklace out of it and handed it to Luna.
"Take it and always wear it. It is the least i could do for you. And, if such a day comes when you need help, break it. I will recieve signal and rush here to help you out." Rex smiled "I only hope to have the opportunity to enjoy your cooking more than just once. It was, incredible."
"My my." Luna smiled, accepting Rex token of gratitude and promise of help. "Have I smitten a promising youth?" she giggled girlishly, though her eyes were filled with mischief. She fastened the new necklace around her neck, not in the least worried about a possible hex or curse on it. "You have a dear, kind sir." she added, clearly meaning the promise of help and a repeat of access to her chomecooked meals.
"While I would love to stay here in your presence and acompany you for the entire night, I am afraid I should check on my party members." Rex sighed, reluctant to leave the cozy place in the room, but well aware of the neccesity.
"Untill later then." replied Luna, rising along with Rex and leading him back to the front, from where he walked over to the room he awoke in. Quietly entering, not to disturb the sleep of Ria and now Lunas daugher, who was slumped on the bed, similarily as to how Ria was when Rex woke up and once he was sure that Ria was still asleep, and would likely remain so for quite a while still, he quietly left, heading in the dirrection of the rooms of the rest of his party.
Unlike Rias resting room, he did not try to enter the other two rooms where the rest of his party slept, only making a mild mana pulse to check whether or not they where in their beds, and upon confirming that, he returned back to the first floor reception, where Luna was once again in her place behind the counter.
"At least they are all asleep and not worried about me." Rex spoke up, once he was close enough to the mature dryad. "Puts my mind quite a bit at ease. The maan taint is dispersing nicely, as far as I can tell, so I do you will not have to experience discomfort for much longer."
"Thank you for your concern. I too, would have loathed to be forced to leave this little paradise I have carved for myself and my daughter. Spirits know how important dryad presence is in places with active metal mines, though I suppose you would not understand. Dont mind the last part, nature spirit talk and such." Luna spoke her mind, quickly apologizing and asking Rex to disregard her little tangent on natural state of things and whatnot.
"But you are correct. Humans are simple creatures, often failing to see how their inventions and actions affect the land around them, doubly so because their senses are just that basic, leaving most of said changes out of their understanding. Like the metal mining for example. Few would have the comprehension of the harm it does by leaking into rivers and land all around said mines, not to mention the danger to human lives and health. And sure, magic would be a perfect tool to slove said problems, but one has to be aware of them to begin with."
"You can see it?" Luna exitedly asked, joy and hope radiating from her. Unfortunately, Rex had to dissapoint her, shaking his head in denial, though quickly following with simple explanation of the theories he could recall from his life on earth. With the knowledge as base, he could offer more than one possible action to be taken, to help Luna purify the town and its surroundings. They spent most of the night on the discussion, providing Luna with numerous ideas as to how to make her current home even better while fullfilling her task of healing the land around her.