Boom!!!

Before the loud explosion the first thing anyone noticed was the abnormality of mana. In the estimated distance of two to three hundred feet of the doctor’s house. All traces of mana nearly completely dissipated. Within seconds, a quake that threatened all that which they thought precious. Before everything came to an end was a loud noise that caused everyone, including the guards on duty to hear a ringing in their ears.

When everything was said and done, the damage was not as extensive as one might imagine. For the settlement, the largest damage was the sound. Luck was on their side, as the patrol hadn’t been inspecting that section of the forest. Possible consequences would need time to determine. For a village that was self-sufficient, being discovered could put them in a bad position. Only time could tell if they were so unlucky.

Inside the house there were no screams as it was doubtful shouting would be heard by anyone outside the house, let alone inside. Panic could be seen in Jessica’s eyes. Not nearly as apparent as when the explosion first occurred. After that gentle soothing, she was strangely able to relax her worst fears. This didn’t mean she wasn’t worried about the old man. Shifting through the rubble, she scanned everything with her eyes multiple times and still couldn’t find traces of the old man. If only she could hear.

With the ability to hear, it would become possible to know she was looking in the wrong direction. An aged face that still held traces of handsomeness from his youth was looking at the remains of his room with a thunderstruck expression. Lightly coughing to dislodge the dust from his lungs. He couldn’t help but lament the loss of all his books. Not even he could have imagined what he had just provoked. If not for the minute control, he would have been seriously injured. If known such a possibly could occur, he would have been prepared instead of ambushed to be put into his current plight.

Jessica could be seen frantically looking around. Bits of mana could be felt sporadically being spent in probing of his potential location. Sighing helplessly, he could only stand up. Sensing movement, Jessica turned to face him before she turned pale. The old man wasn’t in a perilous situation, in fact if he had been prepared for his own actions, he wouldn’t have gotten injured at all. Although he did get hit a small bit, the reality of it was that his frantic movements in the face of absurdity caused him to lose an arm.

For a normal person, it could be said that this injury would make him a cripple. The only way for someone without mana control to regain a limb such as this would require a Grade S or possibly a profoundly special Grade A priest from a temple. For someone like him who proudly proclaimed himself to be Grade B. It was strenuous injury. Quickly, the reality set in. As a doctor of his caliber, this only required a few seeds that were cultivated with elven methods. While precious, this was because the seeds could only be found in the Elven Forest.

All but a few seconds. That was the time it took for him to apply the healing method. In that time period, Jessica’s demeanor had morphed drastically. Knowing how amazing he was caused her worries to diminish, enough time had passed that the initial shock wore off. Now all that remained was a stern reprimanding expression. Possibly seeing her expression in a reflective object, the old man positioned himself so that he wasn’t looking at her, even though he continued to inspect the damage.

With a grunt, Jessica turned away and stomped back to her room. Wanting to stop her, unfortunately he was reaping his just desserts. All that remained was the desire to pour out his frustrations on the responsible party. Even when knowing, he was the one that taught her cause and effect. Made it ever apparent that one needed to take responsibility for their own actions. So in the end, who was he supposed to vent on, a mirror?

Shortly after Jessica departed, pest came, trying to ascertain what had just transpired. These pests were annoying for a number of reasons, the first was their ignorance. Secondly, they ignored Jessica, even while knowing he had adopted her. Thirdly, was the fact they were elves. Elves had a specialism about them that made them respect the strong. Intelligence and nature didn’t coincide comfortably. This was also the main reason other species couldn’t coexist with elves.

It was unknown if animals in nature had the same type of feeling. Generally, when an animal in the wild came face to face with a stronger creature, it would simply feel fear and apprehension. This didn’t mean that animals didn’t coexist even when their enemies were in their sight. Life goes on, and they didn’t allow a predator to take their livelihoods by simply existing. Elves were unique because they still considered themselves apart of nature while having intelligence.

So when an elf was met with something stronger, there was a deep adornment of that being. This didn’t mean they would break their genetic code and became a normal person. What transpires is a strange tolerance. With a wicked smile that unknowingly caused the hair on the elves neck to stand on end. The old man got a wonderful idea, seeing the pests.

Inside her room, Jessica was sitting on her bed. The upheaval she had just experienced was hard to concentrate through. Meditation helped a small amount, as she was able to calm her mind, just not her body. The pit of her stomach felt empty as her insides felt twisted, as if someone tried to blend them together. Regardless of how much control she was given back over her emotions, the physical torment of the ordeal consisted. Like a bad cold it refused to leave her body, making matters worse she had already been tired prior to this event.

Willing it out, she saw a massive hole in the blade that cut down the middle. She felt responsible, she also felt alone. Laying down on the bed she couldn’t help but realize how comfortable she had gotten with someone constantly by her side. For someone that had many people by her side and within reach. Because of those around them, and the way she grew up. She was selective in the way she grew close to people.

Not initially wanting to grow close, Jessica couldn’t deny the fact they did grow close. Without much choice, the two had made the best of the circumstance they were thrust into. Maybe in the beginning it was an unwillingness on not just her part. She felt he was possibly unhappy with her too. In the end, now, she felt an emptiness she hadn’t felt before. Closing her eyes, she could do nothing but subconsciously tighten her grip on the handle.

Waking up, everything became surreal as she realized it wasn’t a dream. Even worse was the fact she couldn’t feel the soul in her arm. The seal was still there, but the inside was empty. She originally believed she was too tired, now she was frantic to know if he was really gone. Bursting out the door, she saw the old man sitting on the chair she had made him. He had no book in his hand, as even the table they sat at was destroyed in the aftermath of the collapse of some of the house. Turning around, he saw her frantic appearance and his expression hardened.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

Not even the stub of green that was his arm could stop her from frantically speaking. “I… I-Ican’t feel him… Why? Is… Ishe gone?” Her eyes became a bit watery at the prospect as she continued to spit words out. She was so frantic it was unlikely she herself understood she wasn’t speaking clearly, “Leo? ISHEgone?… I can’t feel him anymore…”

Putting his hand on her head, he infused mana into her. She quickly felt dull as she found it hard to think or even feel. Her mind entered a quagmire as she finally entered a state of selflessness. She could feel nothing. She only knew at this moment she existed as she stared strangely at the old man.

“Where was he sealed?”

The words, she heard them, could understand them, but couldn’t completely process them as fast as she should have been able. Finally, when she did, opening her mouth she went to speak, “…” She didn’t know how to speak. She couldn’t feel anything nor did she know words to respond with, without the ability to feel she could barely open her mouth, without being able to put words together she had nothing to say. Pausing slightly, she felt the quagmire stir softly. Raising her arm, she thrust it out awkwardly.

Taking her arm in his hand, he infused mana slowly and gently. Soon he came to the mark and focused in. Slowly, he closed his eyes as he felt the complexity of the symbols used to seal the boy’s soul to her hand. This continued for a long period of time before he finally opened his eyes. By this time the quagmire that had been beginning to start moving had stilled once more in anticipation to what he would say. Even without feeling she could feel a mysterious longing that overwhelmed the entire quagmire that was her mind.

“He is still there.” Slowly, she opened her mouth before he tried to get her to stop. Only she didn’t. She tried to speak for a good few minutes before she could finally get the word to come out.

“L.E.O.” Even still, all that came out with a shaky voice was three letters. Even those weren’t spoken clearly and were basically muttered under her breath in a shaky tone.

With an annoyed expression, he continued, “L.E.O. Is still there. His soul is just incredibly weak. He used up too much of his spirit. Without his body, all he has remaining is his soul. He has found a way to substitute the energy normally gained through consumption with mana to power and maintain his soul. The reason you can’t feel it is that you're not strong enough, combined with his feeble state.”

Seeing the face he had come to find in the past make all kinds of expressions with different emotions, he couldn’t help but sigh after a long time. She finally made a face he had desired to see countless times. A happiness that he found so hard to generate was brought about by simply existing. He knew by this point the boy, no. Leo had taken a substantial place in her heart. Knowing this, he could only say it with a bit of bitterness, as he truly didn’t wish to see the two together.

“If you continuously send your thoughts and try to speak to him, as to say simply by talking to him, you can slowly help him recover. By communicating, you're sending bits of mana to him, allowing him to recover faster.” After speaking, he waited a few minutes for her to comprehend what he said before he once again put his hand on her head as her eyes started to close. With a bit of work, since he only had use of one hand, he took her into her room and placed her on the bed.

Seeing the sword, he couldn’t help but take out a magic stone from a pouch on his belt and place it next to the blade that was split in half. Leaving the room, the day continued to progress, only Jessica continued to sleep. Once she did open her eyes, there were birds chirping outside the window as the sun was blaring through. She couldn’t help but grunt with annoyance as she couldn’t find it in her to turn over and go back to sleep.

Opening her eyes, she felt a bit grumpy and lethargic. Even remembering what had just happened, she found it hard to feel any strong emotions. Remembering the state the old man had put her in, she felt it had largely to do with that. As if everything he told her and the thoughts she had at that time allowed her to slowly recover. All the difficulties she was working through with having come to understand Leo’s importance and his disappearance were worked through. She felt like a dam was currently constructed in her mind and heart. Only allowing small amounts of filtered thoughts and feelings to get through. As if the dam was filtering all the negative out.

For the first time. Even after hearing the knock, she didn’t immediately get out of bed. It took a considerable amount of effort. And it wasn’t like she wasn’t hungry. Still, there was no second knock, and it appeared the old man was patiently waiting for her to come out on her own. Once she did, she found that half the house was covered in a type of tarp. A set of chairs and a table were set up, with a large variety of her favorite foods.

In the middle of eating, she couldn’t help but ask, “What did you do to me?” There wasn’t any accusation or blaming, it was pure curiosity.

In between his own food, he spoke, “It was an advanced interrogation technique.” Stopping there he saw the dubious look on her face as she looked at him, and he smiled deviously, “As with most things used aggressively and with terrible motivation. This too was created to help people. Some even get it used intentionally in weaker douses for recreational use. Though the original spell was meant for therapy. Its main purpose was to help people work through issues to help alleviate symptoms of things like post-traumatic stress disorders.”

With the dubious look still in her eyes, she didn’t say anything as she continued to eat. When everything was finished did she finally feel like she had energy. She was lost in what to do next. Not even the old man was sure how long it would take for her to wake Leo. He only said that talking to him would help him recover, so she needed to find time to speak to him, even it was strange thing to do.

Sensing his gaze, she turned to see the old man stretching his hand out. The contents in his hand was the bag she had originally given to him before. Taking it, she had a strange feeling something was different. Only once she put mana into it did she feel the insides was massively bigger than before. In fact, the string was of a different material. Looking up for confirmation, she heard the old man’s voice.

“Inside you will found a dependency bank crystal. I want you to go to a cultivation chamber. It is time you took getting stronger more seriously. Since this incident could be considered as my fault. I will take responsibility and help you reach Grade E. A cultivation chamber will also be useful for him to recover.”

Happy at first she found, his voice seemed to imply that he wasn’t finished. Only once she paid attention, she noticed he had a bad expression on his face, as if he had to work up the courage to say what he had on his mind. It took a good couple of minutes to struggle before he was finally able to muster up whatever it took to speak with a terrible expression.

Starting off in a stern and slightly irritated tone, “Inside you will also find an elven and human language crystal. I am guessing it never occurred to you that the boy could use them, as he is just a soul.” Even after he had originally paused, he couldn’t help but hesitate a bit more, “I want you to enter a union contract with Leo.”

Before she could speak, he held up his hand to stop her, “If you can enter a marriage contract with him, I will give you my last name.” Seeing the weird expression on her face, he quickly corrected himself, “I am not saying to get married. Marriage contract under the union branch is the contract meant to be for life. If you enter a life union contract to work together until death do you part. I will start the process to give you my last name.”