Chapter 50
“Rumors of war”
A makeshift tent filled with wounded soldiers greeted her. More than half of the elven army that had been sent to fight the horde of monsters that had invaded the north outside the elven forest seemed to be in there.
“Can you heal them?” Caranthir questioned, as soon as they entered the tent.
“That depends on how many mana potions you have available for me," answered Kalysto, stretching out her hand to him, who only frowned at her after handing her four small vials.
“Those are part of my special collection. One sip should give you a thousand of MP," Kalysto immediately took a sip and set about healing the sick closest to her, making sure to keep the potions in her violet inventory.
Caranthir watched her for a few minutes while one of the commanders in charge of the attack filled him in on everything that had happened since he had last had to leave them.
“They reported two new waves heading this way," reported the brown, muscular, short-haired elf. Two swords rested at either side of his hips, and the thick muscles of his heavily worked arms spoke of his strength.
“Whoever planned this seems to want to make sure we don’t get out of here alive” seeing that the deputy commander of the royal army seemed to agree with his words, he added. “Protect the saintess and make sure no harm comes to her while she is helping us.”
“Of course, sir.”
“Think that if you fail these monsters will be nothing compared to what the fairy queen would do to us if we lose her saintess,” at that moment Ardrach’s face lost what little color it had.
“The saintess is the heroine of the fairies? Are you crazy to bring her to a battlefield? What the hell were you thinking, Caranthir? Do you want to kill us all?
“I was thinking that at least with her here we have a higher chance of survival," he answered, and without giving Ardrach time to refute the crazy things going through his deranged mind, Caranthir teleported to the battlefield. And the sound of the explosions his attacks caused when they hit their target could be heard from the tent.
****
The night before, before Kalysto had gone to sleep in her comfortable bed in the fairy territory, she had healed not only the king and his sister, but also his niece. In return she had received four resistance crystals which she absorbed before going to sleep, along with the vitality crystal. She was also given a fruit from the sacred tree of the elves. Despite the sour taste and the bitter sensation it left on her tongue at the end, she ate every last bite, wishing she could have a bowl of honey so she could get past the strange and unpleasant combination of flavors.
Ettokalr had been right to warn her to eat her sacred fruit before bed, as her eyes had begun to close and her body suddenly felt heavy. Though instead of sitting down to meditate, as he had advised her, she had fallen sound asleep. The next morning, she had risen early to practice one more round of healing in the two remaining sick rooms in the fairy kingdom. And noting that now her MP was 838, thanks to the holy fruit, and she took the opportunity to do a small round of Artemis healing before returning to the elves’ territory.
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Unlike before, it was now a bit faster to heal the fairies, and although she was still far from finishing healing Artemis, the sick in the second room looked much better.
If I can raise Jhil Ezhil even two more levels, and raise my mana a little more, maybe I could finish healing those in the second room much faster. She thought, getting excited at the thought of finishing one of her three missions much sooner than expected.
And two hours later, she had finished healing all the travelers.
“Thank you for healing my people. Again I apologize for my behavior and lack of attention yesterday. I assure you that for your next visit you will be welcomed with open arms," said King Ettokalr.
Kalysto instead arched an eyebrow, not entirely convinced by his words. But choosing to keep things as peaceful as possible, as she wished to find a way to convince Caranthir to teach her magic.
“We would like to invite you to a banquet in your honor as soon as we finish the fight against the invaders, but given the current situation for the moment, I will have to settle for just inviting you to lunch. Would the saintess give us the honor of her presence?”
“I appreciate the king’s good intentions, but I still have other pending tasks that require my attention.”
“I understand," he commented. “In that case, at least allow me to give you a small gift as a token of my sincere thanks.” And he raised his hand, causing Jaesia to hand him a beautiful red chest with gold borders carved in the shape of leaves and thin branches.
“Thank you," commented Kalysto, surprised to find another golden sacred fruit inside the beautiful wrapping.
“Does the king happen to know where I can get some honey?”
The sound of the King’s laughter broke the silence of the room and it was at that moment that Kalysto realized that both the counselor they had noticed the night before and Xaermn were no longer there.
“Our young people have the same problem as the saintess," he smiled and his face lit up like an old man’s when he begins to tell the good stories of his youth to his grandchildren, “I remember when my brother began to study magic centuries ago, and he complained about the same thing.” His face relaxed, and he stopped looking so severe and full of worries. “Jaesia, give the saintess some honey.”
“Thank you,” said Kalysto as soon as she received a vial full of honey, and put it in her inventory along with the chest with the fruit.
I’m going to have to start organizing it, I’m starting to run out of space. She thought.
And before she could say goodbye, Caranthir appeared in the room in a blast of wind.
“Black goblins are spreading the plague to the soldiers in the north! You have to help us!”
Somewhere unknown, 24 hours ago.
A surge of pain awoke Mhiralla, daughter of the goddess of light and the god of ether as she rested.
Annoyed at being awakened prematurely she examined the surroundings of the subdimension she was in, but there was nothing there to interrupt her sleep. So she proceeded to examine the world outside. And a small, golden dot of Sacred energy shone on the horizon arousing her interest. But as soon as she tried to reach it, something blocked her, hiding that little golden glow from her.
Mhiralla frowned, full of annoyance. Who dared to hide something from her?
And she expanded her awareness again, concentrating on tracking everything on the Tanish continent trying to trace the source of her new annoyance, but she didn’t find it. What was found was the faint glow of the saintess she had chosen years ago, discovering that despite the time that had passed, the fool had not increased her power.
Her brow was already furrowed, frowning even more. Annoyed at such a display of stupidity. And then Mhiralla, fearful that the new saintess would rise to power, chose a new one, granting her own knight to protect her so that the new young woman would devote herself solely to raising her class.
“Cure all the sick that you find on your way," she commanded after touching her soul and giving her the system.
“Protect her from all danger so that her sacred energy can grow without hindrance," she ordered her knight.
And although Mhiralla still felt somewhat uneasy that now her two sworn enemies had their own saintesses, she needed to rest before finding a way to get rid of them. But for now, she needed to regain her strength.
And then she could prepare for the war that was to come.