Suta POV

The next couple of days were quite busier than usual for Suta, he found he was surprisingly given double the chores to do, which of course meant he had little to no time to laze around and explore the large acres of farmland like he was used to doing alongside Demoria.

Toto was also seen less and less, although he heard some murmurs that the jovial lout was being sent beyond the rolling jade hills in the coming days.

There were talks of vast towns resembling those Demoria had described to him about, complete with knights, taverns, guilds for adventurers, and all sorts of peculiarities reminiscent of a medieval setting.

Granny Baba had been working on the most efficient way to sell her newly created perfume, a special elixir she spent months brewing before Suta had (transmigrated).

He had never caught a whiff of the scent but could tell by how defensive Old Baba got because of it that it was one of her more precious creations.

Toto's job was to liaise with a buyer in one of the neighboring populace towns.

Hearing this did surprise Suta at first, considering hewas well aware of Toto’s strengths and weaknesses. And no matter which way you spin it, giving job of conversing and bartering to the dull-speaking giant seemed unusual, but he didn't question it further.

Toto had proved on more than one or more occasions that he was quite remarkable despite his speech difficulties.

Suta’s thoughts instantly drifted towards that whimsical town the carriage he once rode wheeled past. Hobbleton they called it, and those peculiar three fellows he met on his way here.

'Now that I'm thinking about it, I wonder how that silent old man is doing.

Ah! That reminds me, didn't he give me something?

Only... Can't say I remember where I put it now.' He felt a little vex by that, unsure if it might’ve been something very valuble.

Suta was a little muddled with why he never did open that small pouch before, and now he was cursing his wretched luck as to whether or not there was treasure inside of it.

'Maybe Demoria might've seen where I placed that pouch, hmm I'll ask her after I'm done with these chores.' Suta had a feeling that strange old man wouldn't have given him something so simple.

He struck the soiled ground for what would be the last time for the day.

‎

‎ 'Phew…that's the last one.'

He exhaled a lethargic breath after wiping the beads of sweat away from his forehead.

Suta placed the hoe down and took a few moments to admire the leveled soil he had spent most of the afternoon plowing. The thick farmer's gloves he donned were covered in dirt whilst the insides were filled with his sweat. His hands ached, but he felt stronger.

Suta took this rare time of respite to bask in the warm sunlight bathing over him, he felt the glow of life soothing his aching bones, whilst the frail south wind filled his lungs.

He enjoyed working the fields during the later afternoons compared to the lunchtime work. Where the sun stood at its peak and the winds were less, making the air especially light and cooler.

'I'm starting to get used to this place.

And it feels like my body is also getting accustomed to such work.'

After spending days working the farmlands Suta noticed gradual changes in his body.

His once bony frame had become leaner, with firm muscles forming along his back, thighs, and forearms. Just as he had initially imagined, the development of his body in this world was somehow accelerated.

He was 16 but he looked much older, and certainly felt as though he wasn’t as scrawny looking as before.

Back on Earth, he could never have achieved such a physique so quickly, even if he had dedicated every single day to going to the gym.

Suta had speculated either the water or the sunlight here was the cause of such freakish growth.

However, it could also be the different types of beast meat available here, after indulging in a few of the dishes Granny Baba cooked for him, it was safe to say chicken and beef were considered inferior to the enriched meats found from exotic beasts of this realm.

'I need to experiment once I finally start my journey.

Hmm, I should start planning when I'll be leaving here…maybe after Demoria leaves I should start looking for a map.' He thought about the easiest method to procure some items needed for a long journey away from here.

A loud yawn escaped through his gaping mouth, nce he rubbed the euphoric glaze away from his eyes his gaze lingered on the falling sun above him.

'I should look for Demoria and see if she's free to hang out for a little while.'

Suta placed the matters of the fish bowl aside and wandered off towards the furthest jade hill in the near distance.

He and Demoria spent much of their time there, either chasing blue-tailed foxes or scaling the tallest oak in search of forget-me berries. Suta also learned a surprising new thing about this body of his. He could climb high places quite easily, too easily at times.

The first time he realized it, he felt invincible. Although seeing Demoria climb to the very highest tree whilst standing on its very sharply pointed tip on one leg, swiftly doused water over his zealous ego. Nonetheless, he knew this world was special. And with time even he could probably do some of the things she could do.

The evening arrived. And the duo never managed to make it high enough to the flimsy branches and by the summers warm evening, Suta was almost tired out.

Before he turned in for the night, he wanted to visit the snow-furred Hippogriff.

On his way toward the back of the stables, Suta's attention was disturbed by the bright shadows he noticed cast against the outdoors just away from Granny Baba's window.

Curiosity got the better of him and Suta ended up veering sharply down his right, making his way towards the brightly lit red cottage dwelling at the bottom of the short hill.

As he neared the cottage, something told him to be delicate with his walk, so he adopted cautious footsteps whilst he approached from one side of the window, making sure he was slightly crouched just in case he was caught.

With his back against the outside red wall, he carefully neared towards the window's edge.

Suta's brow slightly lifted, faintly he could capture sounds from the other side. He vaguely heard muffled echoes from glassed objects clanking together. And a very strange-deep smoky voice on the other side, speaking forth in what sounded like a dark chant.

Suta moved a little closer, now he could twist his entire head around and peer through the window as he rose carefully.

Through the smoky foggy glass, he saw the not-so-unusual scene of an old woman seated on a high stool, lost in what perhaps were complex incantations against one of many peculiarly styled thick books one might find within her strange abode.

After a second glance, the disproportionally large book caught Suta's interest. It was much larger than any of the books he had seen on Granny Baba's shelves, in fact, had he seen a book that size in his entire life he wondered.

He felt drawn to it by something mysterious, it was covered in a royal blue cover with a glittering iron black chain ominously wrapped around it. Suta felt a cold wind brush passed his neck suddenly.

He didn't react to it at first, but then he heard a distinctive voice speaking directly into his ears.

'Ounis, Daltha, Cheron, gomesis, Luna, Cheron, gomesis, Dale…gomesis Moore…gomesis Synth .'

His eyes widened and stiffly beheld the open air with deep confusion circling his thoughts. A few moments later Suta realized exactly where that voice was coming from.

It was Granny Baba's voice

'But how can I hear her so vividly through these thick windows? She even looks like she's whispering.'

Curiosity turned into worry, so he eventually sunk back down away from clear sight. He remained crouched beneath the window with furrowed brows, inwardly he was unable to piece together a sensible answer to any of this.

'She sounded terrible as well, was that really Granny or was I imagining it.' A deep sigh escaped through his breath whilst he ruffled the tangle of pink locks falling down his face.

'I'm probably just tired...or hallucinating from those forget-me berries Demoria made me eat.'

After sitting through waves of uneasiness, Suta decided to end his covetous dealings for the evening. He very quietly tiptoed away toward his original point of interest.

'I hope Snowy isn't too hungry.' He thought to himself, patting the area around his chest as he felt that previous cold feeling slowly subsiding away.

Granny Baba POV

‎

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

‎ A layer of thin grey matter remained burning against Granny Baba's left palm and although her withered hand was shaking during the process, there was no pain consuming her from the makeshift flame.

Beneath her hand lay the remains of an exotic slender bird.

Its once fiery plume feathers had greyed and were now covered in fiery glowing veins almost bleeding against its body.

The bird looked as though it was on death's door. With a stream of blood running through the glowing veins webbed across its feathers.

When its eyelids slightly opened, a burning circular swash of cyan shone, the bird was dying but it was far from afraid of its eventual end.

After all, could such creatures truly die?

Within its azure iris, settled a death-defiant glint, a will refusing to bend to the reaper's call.

Formless energy moved and sent a ripple through the ruffled air, Granny Baba used her other hand to weave hand seals as fast as lightning in a bid to stabilize volatile energy.

The callous unstable aura settled down gently over time, luckily the energy-shifting crystals placed around her room kept the aura she was channeling from leaking out further than she wanted.

Slowly, time gently returned to its peaceful quell.

Granny Baba breathed a sigh of relief. Although the process was far from over, she successfully managed to hold back the backlash curse from her tampering with the phoenix's blood.

One of the many great taboos one could evoke upon one's self.

They say it was a close second behind drinking the blood of a unicorn.

"That should hold back the curses for now." She muttered to herself

She wiped the sweat off her grey willow brows.

" I say…extracting Phoenix blood hasn't gotten any easier."

She remembered the old days when she spent most of her time performing experiments on rare creatures like these.

And her teacher had specially warned her about the curses invoked from doing them.

Curses were the inevitable backlash of exercising great power. Whether it be with Arcanists or with high-ranked Adventurers. Those who were the strongest were punished more by the Gods.

Granny Baba then felt something stir against the right side of her face.

A chilling smile appeared as she delicately brushed aside the layers of silver covering her peculiar golden-plated eye tucked beneath.

"Are you awake…my dark passenger" Her voice crooned with false affection

Her words brought forth an uncomfortable sensation moving against one side of her aged face.

A completely different voice then crawled free from her mouth.

"Yes. Yes, I am awake." The voice flowed like dark water aching through a shallow brook.

"Is it completed?" The eerie voice asked further

"Hmm almost…"

"You should be cautious messing with that spell. Curses are not child's play. Even for you."

"Yes-yes I get it. My major concern would be something sinister leaking into the outside world because of me."

"That is…understandable. Then I should mention…someone else heard my voice."

"Wh-what did you just say!" Her voice heightened noticeably, there shouldn't be any chance of that being possible

"The boy. Earlier. I'm not quite sure how he did it. But he heard me…clearly."

"Tha-that's not possible…the particle blocking crystals were made to isolate all manner of particles of sound and other elements of a similar form. There's just no way…"

"Well he heard me. What's even more intriguing is him hearing the Phoenix's tongue and not going crazy…"

"Could he be a spy?" The thought made Granny shudder inside her hefty robes.

"Hard to say…But...test him."

"Sigh , he has been acting differently for a while now.

He thinks I haven't seen him, but I see everything across this farm. It could be a growth spurt or a late awakening?"

"Or a spy sent here to kill us all."

‎

‎"That's enough! He's just a child I'll…I'll…test him."

Suta Pov

A few days cycled through quite quickly and the day of Demoria's departure was finally here.

Suta consoled her for nearly 2 hours before he could talk her down from the top of an oak tree she had refused to come down from.

1 hour later

A traveling entourage consisting of two very polished brown carriages, led by the most robust-looking horses Suta had ever seen appeared on the farmlands for the first time.

He paid close attention to the golden embroidery painted across the side of the carriage. Two thorny Roses intertwined, with golden wings and what looked like a tree sprouting through the middle.

Vistilov was amongst them, standing with his arms folded with that usual subtle look of arrogance.

Demoria wore one of her favorite dresses and wrapped herself in a tall blue coat that swallowed her entire frame. Suta and her didn't say much apart from Demoria making him swear he'll do his very best to catch up to her level and visit.

Also, there was the matter of swearing if he somehow broke these promises 100 curses would befall him.

Her teary goodbyes were expected, what wasn't expected was how just as she was entering the carriage she waved Suta over.

Thinking she wanted to tell him something privately he tip-toed closer, bringing his face towards her own.

And then.

*Mwah*

Before he even had time to react, Demoria retreated securely into the carriage and drew the curtains from the inside to one side.

Suta could only stand there gobsmacked.

He eventually regained his composure and managed to crease a warm smile, shaking his head from side to side. He rubbed his lips in deep thought as he watched the twin carriages fading away beyond the rolling hills.

"That brat is growing up… sigh , I do hope she doesn't get herself into too much trouble."

He was going to miss her, Suta knew that very much.

She was one of the constant consistencies since his transmigration here, she had been so oblivious to the meaning behind his constant questions that she simply told him all he wished to know.

'Well I guess it'll be a lot quieter heh'

After Demoria's departure, Suta's day started just like it had always done. He spent time on the fields completing his chores before heading towards Granny Baba's to check to see if there was anything else she needed assistance with. Upon his entry, he noticed the cozy-sized room was less spacious than usual.

There were a lot more apparatuses out in the open, such as unusual tubes, vials, and equipment Suta would associate with science experiments or medical practices.

He was also surprised to see many of the shelved books brought down and stacked on the tables.

For the second time, Suta met the old woman seated on the comfortable lounge chair with brewed tea beside her and a stack of thick books with dark sleeves over them.

Granny Baba glanced up towards Suta, her pale willow brows moved slightly in surprise before her only-seeing eye fell back down to her tea.

"Little Su, come here and sit with me for a little while."

Suta complied with a host of questions swirling through his mind.

He took a seat on the adjacent seat away from Granny Baba.

His nostrils flared a few times, catching the sweet aroma of her specialized blue tea dancing around the air.

Suta just remembered he had yet to eat breakfast, he rubbed his tummy pleadingly whilst searching for any sign of leftovers.

Granny Baba finally placed her teacup down.

Her serene face creased into a warm smile, Suta was used to seeing this expression anytime she had completed one of her brews or medical potions.

Only recently did the old woman explain to him what some of the potions she specializes in can do.

Most of the effects either helped the healing process of injuries or helped the body's resistance to particular diseases.

Old Baba reached forward and took hold of one of the large books from the pile on the table.

"When you were first brought here, you were no more than a few days old.

Your mother… sigh …your mother begged me to raise you because her own life as well as yours, was in danger at that point."

Suta felt his entire body shudder, was he finally getting the origin story of this strange fellow named Raito Suta?

Before you ask, I have no record of where she was going, nor where she currently is.

What she told me was this…

"Make sure my boy knows his mother loved him so very much…

And if one day he desires to seek out the matters concerning my past.

Give him this…"

Old Baba pried open one of the heavy books and carefully turned a few pages to one side. Laying against the opened page was a silver chain with an Aegean coloured pendant, shaped like a large teardrop on its end.

Beside it was a picture, reminiscent of the Polaroid pictures Suta was used to seeing back in his old world.

"Here this is what she left behind."

He took hold of the picture, and suddenly his entire world turned upside down.