Though it was long past sunset when they arrived, Nirou and Laska did eventually reach a town. Despite the darkness of the overcast night, many houses could be seen by the illumination of lanterns hung outside. This was clearly a more significant settlement than the tiny villages along this road that they had passed through before, many of the buildings were even carved from stone. Nirou figured that the towns must get fancier the closer you get to the capital.

Laska looked around intently at the dimly lighted buildings, and soon found the one she was searching for. The inn. It was a fairly small place, they probably didn't get a ton of customers out this way. Hopefully they would be happy enough to see them to outweigh bothering them this late.

Laksa knocked on the door a few times, not particularly urgently but enough to draw someone's attention. After a minute or so of waiting, a very tired man opened the door with an annoyed expression. Luckily it turned around slightly when Laska brought the coin pouch into view.

"We need a room with two beds." she told the man.

After paying and being led down a hallway to a room, the duo headed inside and practically collapsed on their beds. Though Nirou was careful enough not to break his. In no time at all the two of them were off to sleep, the comfort they had been denied for days or in Nirou's case over a week enveloping them all at once. Compared to the the cold hard ground, this was like heaven.

It was nearly the middle of the day before the young man finally woke, and he was greeted by a heavy and repetitive sound above and around him. A glance outside confirmed that it was raining, and hard. He was quite glad that they were able to sleep inside last night. Just as he contemplated the possibility that the two of them could have been getting soaked, his companion entered the room carrying two plates of food.

"Good, you're awake. I don't have to get you up." Laska said, placing the plates down on a small table the room had before sitting on the floor in front of her meal. "We both got up too late to bother with breakfast, but I bought us lunch."

Nirou was instantly drawn out of bed by the alluring smell of a cooked meal. Sitting down at the table, he took his measure of the food. It seemed to be a relatively simple meal, what looked like chicken and some yellow sauce over rice. But it was the most mouthwatering thing the young man had seen in too long. It had been over a week since they had started surviving only on sour fruit and preserved meat, and his mouth felt like it was about ready to shrivel up and die.

With very little restraint, Nirou began practically inhaling the food using the provided wooden spoon more like a shovel. This was the first meal that even started to approach the amount he had been eating in one sitting back in his own world, and he couldn't help getting carried away. He did at least have the self awareness to glance at his companion to get an idea of just how disgusted by him she was, but she was also focused on relishing the meal too much to care.

"That was good." Nirou claims, as he eats up the last bit of rice from his plate. He wasn't exactly totally satisfied, but it's the most full he had been since he got to this world. With food on his mind, Nirou decided to bring up a question that had been in his head from the first day but he had not bothered asking.

"Laska." he says, getting the girl's attention as she came close to finishing her own meal. "Those purple fruits we've been eating, what are they? I've never seen them back in my world, but they're kind of like lemons."

"Ah. Those." she stops eating for a moment to address the question. "They are Sakkar Lemons. Named for the region that they were first grown. It's no surprise you haven't seen them, they were created through tribute. About four hundred years ago someone got a spell to change a fruit, so he made lemons that were tastier, more nourishing, and purple. The color was most likely a novelty. Many plants and animals have been changed through similar circumstances to introduce new varieties. Though in the case of animals, the changed versions are often called monsters."

Nirou shivered a bit at that last word. This world could have any number of unknown creatures prowling around. But it was even stranger to hear that all of it would be due to the acts of people. What kind of person would go around creating monsters? Then again, if that's the gift they get, they aren't just going to not use it. Not everyone was content to languish with no achievements to speak of. If the existence of some crazy monster could be attributed to you alone, that might still be better than being remembered by no one at all.

Thinking about the workings of this world was a bit strange for Nirou, who had to be ready to throw aside his common sense at any moment. He was now technically part of it, he had his own special power and everything. His only option was to acclimate. He had to get just as used to things as Laska was. Her moves from yesterday still inspired equal parts awe and fear. Nirou's curiosity since then had still been burning a hole in his brain, and he decided to ask sooner rather than later.

"So Laska, before you said you had a dozen blessings." the young man began now that his companion had finished eating entirely. His desire for answers wasn't even remotely hidden from her as he spoke, as she could tell from his face what he was about to ask. "Could you tell me all of what you can do? If you don't mind me knowing, obviously. It's okay if you don't want to say. Just, whatever you don't really want to keep a secret."

The look Laska gave back made Nirou think it was the same kind of face a girl from his world would have if he'd have asked for her online passwords. The moment passed though, and her face lightened a bit as she looked away and focused on the sound of the rain outside.

"This rain is too heavy to travel in. We'll stay here one more night. We can spare that much money."

The silence then continued, with the rain as a backdrop as Laska seemed like she was thinking. She eventually let out a sigh and seemed to come to terms.

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"Fine. We're going to have to trust each other. And I do already know everything you can do." the girl concedes. "It's only fair. So yes, I have twelve blessings that I've received over the years. I've gotten many artifacts and spells besides, but all that remains of those is my amulet and rapier. You know a few of my blessings, namely Analyze and the three I told you of yesterday. I have eight more. I'll show you one of them, here."

Laska went quiet and simply looked at Nirou, who got a little nervous from being stared at before he noticed what was happening. The irises of Laska's eyes were changing color, from the original blue to green to red and many others.

"Two stars, Eye Color Change. I can even change the color of my sclera." Laska explained, as the whites of her eyes went black. She then brought her hands up to rub her eyes, seemingly irritated. "I try not to play with this ability too much, as it can impair my vision. But it could prove helpful for disguise someday."

She moved her hands from her eyes, which were now normal again. She blinked a few times to make sure her sight was clear, then moved on.

"I have four other one star blessings. Improved Fall Resistance, Improved Timing, Improved Breathing, and Improved Taste. As you have no doubt surmised by now, one star blessings are limited to enhancing capabilities that you already have. While they will help you perform better, they can never make you superhuman. You need greater blessings for that."

As if to demonstrate exactly what she meant, Laska got up and walked over to the nearest wall. Not stopping, she put her foot up against the wall and kept going, walking straight upwards towards the ceiling.

"This is the two star blessing Vertical Walking." she explains, as she turns to walk straight back down. "It doesn't let me walk upside-down and I fall off if I move too fast, but it's still something impossible for a human to do. Inhuman abilities like this are merely 'uncommon' gifts."

"I've been fortunate enough to obtain three 'rare' blessings." Laska continues once she sits back down. "Three stars, known to be the point where you start to receive true power. Other than my Phantom Blade Projection, I also can unleash my Static Blast. I build up electricity through impacts with on my body and then release a burst of lightning. I keep the move as a last resort, since it tends to involve me getting hit a lot to build up power."

"I have... one more blessing." the girl falters, seemingly unsure if she wants to reveal this last ability. "It is technically three stars, though it is far less impressive than that tier of rarity would have you think. It's... Dragonfly Transformation. I can transform into a dragonfly. That's it."

Nirou had been listening intently this whole time, and wasn't about to start laughing or anything, but he couldn't help but be surprised at how unassuming of an ability that sounded. Surely there must be something special to it, he thought.

"There's nothing special to it. At all." Laska replies, as if she had read his mind off of his face. "A normal dragonfly, as easy to injure or kill as any other. It's very risky to even try at all, so I have rarely ever done it. I would only use it as a desperate bid to hide or gather information. It even leaves me without my clothes when I change back."

Having heard all of Laska's abilities, Nirou turns inward to mull them over. Putting his hand to his chin, he starts thinking with all the information he now has. Laska sees the young man's entrance into deep thought juxtaposed right after her last statement and gets irritated. She pulls out her knife and leans over the table with it.

"Alright, enough about me!" she says, grabbing Nirou's arm. "It's a bit early, but let's have you make another tribute."

"Wait, wait, wait!" Nirou desperately shakes his arm free. "It's way too soon, right? It's only been ten days, and I've lost some blood since then otherwise. I can't just give away more blood like this so recklessly."

"Stop with the whining Nirou, you've got plenty of blood to spare." Laska insists. She puts the knife down briefly and pulls out the jade amulet Nirou saw on his first day here. "If you're really worried, I'll let you wear this for a while. You likely need it more than I do, anyway."

The girl places the amulet around Nirou's neck. He doesn't feel any different right away, but maybe it's because he didn't have anything he needed to endure quite yet.

"How often do you tend to tribute?" the young man asked, still nervous. "You would've been way too sickly to train yourself to your current level if you gave away your blood too much."

"You're not wrong." Laska replied. "The safest routine is considered to be once at the start of every season. Nobles will keep to this schedule at the least unless they are extremely ill or injured and their life is at immediate risk. Those that can afford to strain their health a bit further will advance to once with every cycle of the moon, at least for a time until they feel they need to recover."

That was pretty often to lose your blood. Even the relaxed schedule was more often than it was suggested you donate blood. But then again, that was probably to keep things as safe as possible. This world had people pushing the limits with losing blood like people in Nirou's old world would never have have any reason to. Maybe you really could get away with doing it every month. But still, it's only been ten days!

"Come on, you can use your blessing to draw the sigil this time." Laska's insistence continued. "I'll teach you, so commit it to memory."

Nirou still really didn't want to, but his doormat tendencies remained strong. How exactly was he supposed to refuse a cute girl, anyway? He never really had a chance in the first place.

"Alright." he relented. "But after this, no more for a while. Like, a long while. Okay? I'm humoring you this time, but my health is really gonna suffer if we keep this up."

Laska actually seems surprised at Nirou's surrender, seemingly thinking it was going to involve more of a back-and-forth. She grins and puts the knife away.

"Alright, I promise I won't pressure you into this again." she swears, holding her hand up. "On my honor, your next tribute after this will be entirely of your own volition."

Nirou found that good enough, then drew some blood from himself. Arranging it on the table according to Laska's direction, after several minutes of fiddling it was ready to go. Nirou, drained as he now was, placed his hand in front of the sigil and made the invocation as he had done before. The blood disappeared in the same manner, as did the same familiar star of light appear. Just one of them this time.

After it faded, the table was empty. Nirou couldn't tell anything different except for the now even louder noise from the rain. Showing Laska the runes on his arm, his immediate guess was confirmed.

"Improved Hearing." she read the name of the ability off. "It's nothing groundbreaking, but it will surely come to help you in the future."

While the amulet now seemed to be taking the edge off of his fatigue, Nirou was still tired. Since they weren't leaving today, he made his way back to bed for a nap hoping to sleep this drained feeling off. Walking through the hot and humid jungle had been hard enough on him before, the few days now in-between them and the capital may be even harder. At least Laska shouldn't press him on the issue anymore. He could trust her at her word, surely.

Nirou, now with his sense of hearing stronger than ever, closed his eyes and listened as he tried to drift off to sleep. The pitter-patter of the constant rain outside. Laska's breathing across the room as she relaxed on her own bed. His own heartbeat. Nirou found himself strangely relaxed despite all the new noise that he had never picked up before. Or it might just be the comfort of the bed combined with his tiredness again. Either way, it wasn't long before he fell to sleep once more.