Little by little, the night was flying away, disappearing into rivers of everflowing time.
Murai kept resting his body by sleeping, but not until the morning.
His awareness woke up in drowsiness and confusion, eyeing the power of the mind. He woke up in his soul space for some reason.
He was alone, apart from still sleeping Lisa, whose figure was wavy like a flowing River of Manaflow, shrouding her ghostly body. He wasn't thinking much of her, or what was going on with her figure. He paid little attention to it, or perhaps his drowsiness was the cause for his disinterest?
Either way, his mind seemed to be calm and through this vision, he wondered what to do. A time in the soul space was always calm, unless it was about to be destroyed, which wasn't the case any longer. Thankfully.
This is a new sense of living... I almost died. Time is always up against my back and my efforts can't be all to this world... It's... unlike a free land, unimportant to the gods. Why have I ended up in a place that is opposite to that? A world that is a big pile of toys that those fuckers use as they wish? I need to figure out the past that Rudolf must know. Right... He was good at understanding things better. His... His tome is gone though, so what if there would be others like him? Figures that fought for something meaningful and clutched their fate with their own hands? He wondered, hopeful it could be the case.
In a sense, he didn't realize he was basically speaking about himself, since he was pretty much like Rudolf: a person who experienced a lot, but held a much vaster amount of lifespan.
Murai deemed himself as sufficiently adept to think of that past, yet it was already long gone, shattered in the past that no longer existed. This Rudolf may be different. His past with him was like that too and thinking of a goal that was plausible to use to his advantage should help. Still, a meeting with an old friend after a long time apart could be quite interesting, he suspected.
Murai always had an intriguing living. Either he was a fiend, or he focused on getting power way too much. Sometimes it was both. That was what he had always been, is, and will be.
Alas, the current situation in this life was unexpected and different from the past. It was strangely malicious and forced a lot of messed up premises upon him. The possibilities of different magnitude and meanings caused his despair and even if he was holding a perspective on the road to power that few ever knew, there were limits almost everywhere.
Power was always important since it was the easiest answer to clutch one's destiny and move against one's worries. Sometimes, having to rely on someone else could help a lot. It was almost as important as having plenty of options to work with one's talent, powers, and skills.
Right.
Murai will get some help, and while he will be at it, he will have more time to focus on other things that he needed.
His wonders, worries, and motivation were steadily approaching the new day and he could only wonder what will happen.
Iris slept by herself without worrying about the demonic beast in her close proximity.
Murai couldn't help to think of Iris as honestly naive, but very trustworthy from what he had seen and felt about her. Regardless of her priesthood, he didn't mind helping her in any way and it did seem he will have a chance to prove that.
Focusing his awareness back to reality, outside of his soul space, the shimmering and vivid light came back to his eyes. Then, there was the real light beaming on his face. It was one of the suns that made the sky bright as usual, focusing on him from the only window in the room.
Maybe he slept not that well, or not that long since he still felt fatigued and glued to the comfort of this bed. It was kind of strange to him to feel this way since he never felt humanity inside his heart. Perhaps he shouldn't get too much into it, so his mood won't shatter, and his day won't be ruined. After all, he was getting comfortable with being a duck, or was this a rare comfort in the civilization that he lacked before?
“Hell NO!” Murai shouted in his mind, waking up his clarity upon a new day. The first thing he did was to check his body. What he noticed wasn't good, nor terrible.
As expected... The Vitality attributes give my body quite a lot of bliss, and Bloodrush was quite a significant hit to the quality of my life. Murai figured, feeling how his muscle squeezed in discomfort and bones twitched around his body in tries to reconnect and regenerate. Even the lowered Vitality provided him with some improvements since he was able to wake up. But it wasn't worth a lot, and he quested its worth.
From the moment he emerged from the egg, Vitality was always a key to moving forward: both figuratively and literary. Losing a huge chunk of it ended up as a necessary price, but it was a purchase he wasn't willing to take again.
Now, how to get it back though? I am getting a bunch of Vitality from some eating, while the levels up can give it some boost. I noticed that, and those boosts always feel like small jolts of power from somewhere. Hmmm. How strange, but... welcomed. Although this system feels stingy at times, it could go away at any time, meaning the gods made this somewhat balanced to a certain extent. For what? To their tastes... Shits. Clever bastards.
With those wonders, he tried to force his neck and upper body upward. His neck was better, but his wings and legs were more than broken. Nothing changed about them overnight, which was understandable.
The view of the room entered his eyes. It was a nice morning, filled with bright sunlight. He also noticed a still-sleeping Iris on the bed and quite a few mana undulations from the table. Iris left her night work for all eyes to see since she had no need to be hiding that from anyone. Her uncle or his brother or sister knew about her Alchemy, while Murai was... a variable, to say the least.
A while after he woke up, Iris also jolted up from the new day. Bright sunlight didn't escape her eyes either.
Yawning all that she could, she got up and began to change her clothes. She forgot there was another being in the room, much to her clumsy mind. She was half awake even from her, barely enough rest. Considering the things that happened last night, she was quite exhausted.
Halfway through her exchange, she stopped, realizing that she wasn't alone in the room. Both of them gave a questionable look to the other, making it a bit awkward for a moment.
“I... I forgot you are here...” She mumbled inaudibly and quickly changed herself without further care. It's not like she should feel embarrassed, so with that done, she took the book, quill, and bottle with ink, before going straight to Murai's bed.
“Alright...” She said indifferently. “Good day to you. I hope you slept well, considering your injuries and my lackluster abilities. Some numbness or pain should have already returned since I healed a lot of external wounds, but the internal ones, not so much. Here.” She gave him the book from the last day to take notes.
Murai Conjured some mana, Shaping it into threats to grab a quill to voice his wonder.
He wrote.
What did you expect? That I would chirm like a bird, and hop like a frog? I feel better, though, thanks to you to a vast degree.
“Oh, is that so?” Iris mumbled, taking a seat on the ground. “I expected nothing though, so with that said, do you want to go to the Vermillion Church? They aren't afraid of the demonic beasts unless they would be ferocious monstrosities, or fairly dangerous. You may be at least one of that, but considering you are Blessed, you shouldn't be stupid. Some priests would welcome you with wide open arms, unlike the majority of forces, so that may be your good luck. Vermillion isn't against Blessed no matter the race or species. She can welcome anyone.” Iris stated the offer she talked about yesterday.
Church? Vermillion... Hmm. Murai thought, remembering her offer.
Going with her idea wasn't that good, nor bad. It was mainly his choice that mattered since Iris's willingness appeared to be honest. At least the little Murai knew about her and how his Soul Read allowed him to perceive her emotions.
Soul Read wasn't anything strange, good, or substantial. It was a kind of dull feeling that allowed him to perceive certain things about the souls in his surroundings, and up close. Nothing about it was at least some groundbreaking stuff, much to Murai's disappointment when he got an ability about souls, They shouldn't be anything normal. After all, a soul was a precious thing and one of the most mysterious things in the universe. It was what made a being a soul, rather than the soul, making up a being.
The reason Murai got it was simple. His soul. His perception of the past and his Will made the threshold toward the Soul Read negligible, thus the Will of the Battleworl calculated it was worthy to gift it.
Murai was able to perceive small hints of souls and emotions, but where would this end? Abilities can improve, he knew. Almost everything can.
For now, it wasn't anything overpowering, nor something he found useful for his actual tastes. It had no offensive powers. Apart from perceiving the souls from some distance and the feelings and emotions of other intelligent beings, there wasn't much to it than that.
Yet, since the abilities could get stronger, according to Murai's idea, it could change into something insane. Like perceiving the souls so much, one could flood one's senses, viewing it in the same matter as Appraisal without any burdens. That was his guess, but he didn't know how right it was or wasn't.
In a sense, his Soul Read and Mana Detection were all surveillance abilities and neither of them was too powerful, nor broken. Even though his Mana Detection was higher than his own level, it didn't mean it had some mildly impressive results when it was still in its first tier of evolution.
Feeling the mana itself was almost up to every mage. Some mild feelings over the mana were common no matter if they were a Shaper or a Handler like Iris. It was always like that. Every world that Murai visited on the gargantuan River of Manaflow had this situation.
Hearing her idea, Murai didn't really consider it all that much. One thing was to know the immediate situation, and the other was acting according to, or against it. Aftermatch would usually involve some kind of decision, and Murai hadn't had a lot of experience with such things. At least so far in this life.
From the Devil Fox, whom he defeated promptly, to Rain, who he battled with his Will and soul. It was only a while ago since he put his mind to the art of magic, and everything inclined him to follow the suit of his past.
Since he already had one thing he needed--the core--then he had no intentions of trying to walk some crazy paths. The world already gave him this blessing, while his body was a treasure to go along with it. It was as simple as that, even though he didn't like to think about his body.
Becoming a powerful Anatidae seemed to be a possibility. They may be quite a powerful sort of beast when it came to mana if they had this sort of thing, while Rain and Lisa mentioned them to be quite crazy beasts. Though, Murai was yet to become convinced of that fact.
Sighting, Murai gave a simple nod as an answer. I may actually enjoy being a duck, but first things come first... My damned life! Hopefully, things won't go bad in that church.
Moving the quill with his intent, Murai also wrote a few messages as Iris noticed his approving nod.
The sentences were the following, filling almost a whole page.
I have some worries, so it's up to your discretion to think of them, and I don't want to trouble anyone. If you want me to come to the church, I don't mind that idea any longer, but you should consider it with caution.
Also, I am still a demonic beast in the Centralis Kingdom. A place that is fundamentally, quite a bad place for this sort of duck I am, you know?
The second thing is, if your goodwill is honest, I am not one to be ungrateful. State 2 things that you wish or want to have, or know about and I will do my best to give or answer anything that you have in mind.
Third. I am starving... Do you have any kind of nutritious bones, meat, or any kind of meal that I could eat?
I need to get my Vitality running, or I don't think a week will be enough for my recovery
“Oh? You want... I see.” Iris read the sentences and understood his issue. “Don't worry about me or you, sir Murai. I don't seek anything from you, but for the sake of this pride of yours, I will consider those 2 things for the future. As for your worries, I won't lose you from my sight, since I already accepted to get you back to your shape. That is all about it. As for your hunger, I will see what I can do, but I can't offer much. This village isn't anything poor, but neither it has an abundance of food. Meat is a luxury, but I may have a solution for your somewhere else... We will move towards it later when we move to the church. Is that alright?” she asked.
Murai accepted her words with a simple nod. Both of them got what they wanted, and each came to their respective decisions. Iris wore a priest attire, consisting of a high-neck red robe, with a white scarf, and other white accents. As for how to act with Murai in a stealthy manner, that was a problem.
After a few ideas, Iris went with a simple solution. A bucket will do since Murai would fit there easily. It shouldn't pose many problems, since she usually used it to get some food or to buy alchemy resources from a nearby city.
Grabbing Murai by his belly, Iris placed him on the bottom of the wooden bucket. It wasn't the one that was used for the water, but another one that was bigger.
After this, she put her potions in the bucket and covered them with a thick fabric cloth. Like this, Murai was nowhere to be seen, but his body ended up pressing agast dozens of bottles that added some weight. Though, he didn't find it that uncomfortable for whatever reason.
“I am sorry if this will be a bit uncomfortable, but I will give you some air when we are away from the village,” Iris assured Murai, grabbing the bucket with some difficulty with both hands. It had a moving handle, allowing one to grab it one handle, but Iris wasn't strong enough for that right now. She hugged it with one arm, placing her other palm on the bottom of the bucket to move better.
It's not like Murai can fly, or walk as he would like. Being carried away by someone else wasn't a problem to him, but having someone cater to him in this matter was a bit strange to him.
I swear to the seven hells, that I will never get myself into such a situation ever again. I swear it. He scowled in the bucket, unable to see anything but glowing bottles above his head. Iris also included her quill, ink, and her notebook.
With everything done and prepared, she left the room, clutching the bucket with both hands in a nervous manner. The toughest thing was the very start. That was to leave this house, directly under Lazar's watch.
She planned to leave straight away, but the only place she could use to get out was the kitchen and living room. Neither of these rooms was large but both of them were connected. In the living room were cushioned chairs surrounding a simple table. A small library and some hunting trophies of some animals littered the walls too.
The kitchen and the living room were part of the same room, and both Lazar and Timmy were already there, eating some bread and dried ham. It was cheap meat, which wasn't all that nutritious, but enough for what they could afford and get in this village.
As she feared and expected, Lazar was there so she walked inside.
“Good morning, Uncle Lazar, brother.” she calmly greeted them both, doing her best to remain calm and not do anything strange. She was hopeful Lazar wouldn't get any wrong ideas about her bucket.
“Morning, Iris. Already prepared to go to the church? Isn't it a bit early for that?” Lazar asked while Timmy remained eating, so he gave her a small wave of his hand instead.