Days and nights blended together, my long recovery dragging out for what felt like months, and still no appearance from Telluric. I had asked Niftella where he was and what he was doing quite a few times. "He'll be back soon" was the only response I ever got.

Soon isn’t good enough. I need to ask the old fool a few questions.

As I lay on the bed, the bandages on my body felt both comforting and stifling. The lingering pain from my injuries had dulled to a persistent ache, but my frustration with Telluric's absence was as sharp as ever. My recovery had been painstakingly slow, and every day without answers felt like a waste.

I had formed an idea days ago. I wanted to use my poison to form an arm to replace my missing limb, but having it constantly active would drain my poison reserves entirely. I remembered Telluric talking about an old friend of his who had lost a leg in battle. Telluric told me that he used his earth-nightmare to form a fake leg that he used in critical times. It should be possible for me to do something similar. I had tried to do it already, but creating a structure as complex as a human arm was still, ironically enough, out of my reach.

More and more days and nights rushed by, and still no sight of the man who was supposed to be training me. I was feeling impatient. My only goal was to get back to real training. I had continued using my ample time just practicing my control over my poison, forming progressively more complex structures. I had managed to create a rudimentary hand one time; however, it began to deform after only an instant. The most I could be happy about from all of this is simply how much my reserves had seemed to expand. The battle with the golems, along with the absorption of my arm and general practice I had been doing, all seemed to be expanding my poison reserves rapidly.

My unexpectedly vast reserves were, of course, going to be a great help if I ever go through with the plan of forming an arm, since the more complex a structure, the more power and concentration it takes to keep its shape. During my battle with the golems, I was only forming simple weapons and such, and yet the drain it had on me was still noticeable.

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A knock at the door made me jump. I was so distracted thinking about the current situation that I hadn't heard the approaching footsteps.

"Come in."

The door slowly opened, a giant with golden hair ducking under the far-too-short door frame.

"Telluric, where have you been? I've been dying of boredom without you."

"I was with an old friend in Sempiterne. They had asked me to go as repayment for a favor I owe them."

"They must be quite important if even you owe them something."

"Something like that."

He flashed a smile, a subtle sign that there might be more to this friend than I originally assumed.

"Anyway, before the training that left you in this state, we were preparing for a ceremony."

"Oh my, I had completely forgotten. Did I miss it?"

"No, I asked them to postpone it for a better day, tomorrow."

"And if I may ask, why is tomorrow better?"

He grinned widely. "Tomorrow is the first of March."

"And what does tha—"

Suddenly, I thought back to my conversation with Lindon and Lillian the day before I left. My birthday is the first of March.

"My birthday? Why wait for that?"

He winked. "Just an excuse to get you some gifts."

I hadn't ever had a birthday party, and having this suddenly thrown on me was a big surprise.

"Are you serious?" I asked, trying to hide the mix of excitement and disbelief in my voice.

Telluric chuckled, his golden hair catching the light as he moved closer. "Very serious. Now, get some rest. Tomorrow will be a big day."

I awoke early the next day, Telluric was already waiting for me outside.

"The party won't start for another few hours but we need to get you ready, and I have a friend that I heard you wanted to see waiting for you at the estate."

The rays of sun gleaming off my skin were a sight for very sore eyes, after being couped up in that cave for so long i was beginning to think I would never see the sun again, even the warmth on my skin felt unusual.

It turns out the cave was actually quite close to Terramalorum.