Murai was enjoying the cooked pig's leg all the way to the bottom of his stomach. It tasted good, for a regular pig, and not the Red Glory forest. It was no demonic beast, as his Eater Status surprisingly worked, providing him with nothing but useless information.
Glancing from time to time at Iris as he cut the meat into tiny pieces, he used some of his Shaping to write things down.
It was his usual route of writing, which was becoming easier and easier the more he was doing it. It was perhaps even a good solution to train his Shaping and increase his control over his mana but he didn't consider it all that much. Well, considering the fact that he started writing today, Murai felt a certain degree of satisfaction with his writing style.
With nothing much to do, they talk about some stories and their own wonder with each other. The pair of a beginner priestess, and demonic Anatidae stayed in the Dried Woodlands for a couple of hours. Iris had no incentive to hurry away, and Murai had no plan to force himself to do it either.
Eating and healing will be sufficient with time, while what will happen in a week will be a topic for his future self.
After hours when Iris talked alone, and Murai was writing the answers, they returned home to do what must be done. Iris decided to leave Murai at her home since Ceila was a bit hesitant to leave Murai at church after his constant problems and demeanor.
The solution was simple. Murai can have the healing done anywhere. Even the Alchemy table that Iris had will be sufficient to cater to some less demanding things, so Murai will be in her home for a week. All Iris needed was the residual tonic from the Wave of Life's cauldron—which she will take tomorrow—and she will have everything.
Hopefully, it will go well according to her worries, but this long talk in the Dried Woodlands calmed her decisions down.
Surprisingly enough, Murai did tell her many things. Stories, information, or some hints over Alchemy, and Conduction that would prove to be useful, and some of his own historical stories. It was nothing crazy. Just enough to quench her curiosity and pay her with answers to what she asked.
As for what Ceila had in hand for him? Murai didn't feel nervous, since Iris seemed to be enough. His body will be better with time. That was his generic belief, which was stupid. Iris scolded him herself a couple of times for refusing such fine treasure as Wave of Life, but Murai waved his beak in a dismissive matter, leaving her shaking her head.
Since his attempts to negotiate a proper business failed, he held a certain amount of confidence that he may get away with almost non-problematic offers. Basically, what he was hoping for was getting something free out of this whole situation, without involving any of his own promises.
Although, he knew he had already paid Ceila and Vermillion with his memories, why should he take this sort of route? That question appeared in his head a couple of times since his memories were quite valuable for a god but useless to many others.
Perhaps he was overthinking the matter, as he wasn't sure how Vermillion even planned to accomplish becoming a Creator. He didn't know that his current circumstances were less than good, so he accepted it for what it was, or out of spite for his ego and future.
He needed more experience to move on, and for that, he have to have his body in full health, if not better. Well, it wasn't time to be greedily stupid, so he will be glad to walk soon.
It won't be easy, since the pain is, was, and will be there—in his mind, voice, and screaming at him like never. It won't leave him. The pain that Razmund inflicted on him and what he caused.
Oh... Murai will remember it all.
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1 week later
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It wasn't a long time in the Battleworld. But it was a time that kept running constantly, so it couldn't move any less, or faster. It was the rule after all. A universal one where planets moved around, rotated, and formed what Men considered a day or night.
It was the same in the village, not far from Cinnar, nor the Dried Woodlands that Iris and Murai visited every day to train, eat, converse, or get stronger.
At the moment, Murai was in Iris's room, alongside Iris who was preparing the last piece of an Inner Life Pill. It wasn't a necessity anymore, but Murai was one to insist on taking advantage of every ounce of her hospitality.
Yet, his face appeared upset about something, and it showed in his eyes the most. Ublinking, focusing, and wandering around the room. That was the usual stuff, and Iris recognized it.
“Don't be upset, Murai. It's better than I thought. Your body, that is.” Iris said, clutching his leg to apply a medicine paste with residue from Wave of Life. The paste needed only a little of that liquid anyway to change its effectiveness to Grade B - Bone Healing Paste. That was a usurping effect coming from the Wave of Life. It appeared as if this medicine that villagers used, became a fine treasure, striagh after being Grade E at best.
As she caressed the paste upon the feathered straight leg, it sizzled, letting mana particles disappear into the air and his body. It was a strange thing, consisting of nothing else but materials that were rich in Mana, along with strong vitality that seeped into the bones.
Murai scowled inside, unwilling to admit his wrongful approach to his own wounds. It hurt like hell every time Iris did any work with his body. Hell! Even that freaking Inner Life Pill was an absolute torture device along with these medicines.
No pain, no gain, or so Iris said to him, shutting his squeaking and complaints a week ago.
Since then, he became better at this, yet it still hurt, and she didn't change her indifferent approach to his pain. It was what he decided himself anyway. A simple Wave of Life and a couple of minutes later, he would be without worries. But no! He didn't take it, giving her a job to be his caretaker for a week instead.
However, she didn't complain about it at all. Her time with Murai wasn't bad, and unsurprisingly, she wasn't even all that much stuck in her home as she envisioned.
She even discovered a couple of intriguing facts that were in her mind a week ago. Particularly the alchemy attempt after meeting Murai for the first time. She did a couple more batches of Healing Potions, and each was better than usual.
Only after 3rd batch, everything became normal again. Even the enchantments became harder to accomplish, revealing nothing but confusion. She thought Murai had some effects on that, but she didn't discover a thing. Still, this left her with 200+ gold in profit so she didn't mind leaving some confusing thoughts behind her back.
As for Murai and his current scowling, he thought that 3 days were more than enough to get his life together, but here he was, struggling a week later. The bones in his legs were much more troublesome than he thought, so he kept pestering Iris to apply more medicine to them.
Handling his wound with little or no care, Iris was already on the brink of slapping his beak, since it wasn't an easy thing to heal him at all.
Let alone that, leaving him in her place was kind of hard for the healing. Thankfully Lazar didn't notice a thing, which left her glad, since she had no idea what sort of excuse she would tell him.
It wasn't the case for the other person, sitting aside at the table, glancing at Murai's Shaping of a quill that quivered because he was in pain.
It was Timmy, who long showed that he could keep the secrets quite well. He watched how Iris applied the last piece of medicine she used for his own bruises a long time ago. Yet, it wasn't exactly that.
It was a shocking sight to little Timmy, who found the sizzling sounds and bit of radiating vitality quite intriguing. Well, it was mostly for a little time, since he found Murai's Shaping much more interesting. Where else can he watch a mage that was a duck? Nowhere but this room.
In the past week, he, alongside Iris watched how broken and shattered bones reattached themselves under the influence of many medicines and Murai's own body. It was fairly successful to see that even though Inner Life Pill made the most work.
With the last bandage, drenched in the same residue from Wave of Life, Iris let Murai stand back to his feet. Having this healing done with his belly facing Iris's face wasn't all that pleasant.
“Alright, Murai,” Iris said, ignoring the honorifics since Murai insisted on that a week ago in the Dried Woodlands, along with other things. “Is that fine? I bet it wasn't that bad now, wasn't it?” She asked.
Fine my ass. I swear... when I see that man Razmund again, I will shove my beak down his ass! Murai scowled inside, unhappily turning left and right at the table to feel his legs. He was pissed off, but he walked fine.
The bones healed 2 days ago, but repercussions from the damage still lingered on. It wasn't the easiest to repair such wounds, but as Murai saw it, it was better to be glad than sorry. He could only imagine what Wave of Life would do to him.
But for that to happen, no way he would make it happen.
Alas, as he turned, Iris turned her hand with a last, 14th Inner Life Pill. “This is the last one. It has been a pleasure to have such a worrisome patient.” she joked, as Murai turned and gulped the whole pill down his throat.
He felt warmth in his core almost immediately, followed by a jolt of vitality. Each Inner Life Pill felt like that, even though the effects were thinly wearing away.
According to his calculations and knowledge, eating pills wasn't a source of success. There would be some impurities within those pills, and they weren't good to eat constantly. In fact, some of the pills could become less efficient the more you consumed them. It was the same with the Conducing which produced these pills, and other styles under alchemy Murai was aware of from previous lives.
Each Inner Life Pill felt like a jolt of Vitality provided by the Will of the Battleworld. In fact, it wasn't that, yet surprisingly, the status of his Vitality attribute changed as if it did.
Iris explained that the residuals from Wave of Life, were rich enough, while the Inner Life Pills were residues from high-level experiments, or conducting.
She also added that attributes weren't fixed to massages of the Will of the Battleworld but one could gain them with other things. Those were items from alchemy, and eating various things, albeit they had many criteria and diminishing returns.
That was how mercenaries, mages, and adventures unaffiliated to any greater power improved their power and future. They felt their own sense of progression, and sometimes it was a shimmering voice, while other times, it was a feeling they had with their bodies without anything else.
In Iris's case, she was feeling the sense of progression that one had to learn on their own. It was usually quite subjective and lacking. Murai could guess what she meant by that, even though she struggled to explain it for hours to him when they discussed the Blessed status and other topics in Dried Woodlands.
Going back to walking, Murai figured he could jump a little, but not like a madman. At least for the following days, he should be fairly careful. Within a day, he should run just fine, and today? He was sure he could fight someone already.
Shaping his mana in front of Timmy's face, Murai once again wrote some things on the paper with a quill, leaving his face bright in wonder.
Nothing is left, so you have my thanks
“You shouldn't be thankful... I did it because of this little guy.” Iris said, patting and grabbing Timmy's head before shoving him into her embrace. “I already learned all to this situation of yours, so who else is prone to your thankfulness than him?” Iris said.
Then what can I do than be thankful? I provided him with plenty of stories I told you as well.
Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.
Is there something else to that?
Do you want me to gift him something? I am not an ungrateful person, just so you know.
Murai wrote, and upon his finish, Iris frowned, letting go of Timmy to hurry to the window.
Outside, small tremors echoed, making Iris hesitant and confused. She also felt something else among those tremors, and the window revealed her wonder.
“Knights of the Vermillion Order?!” She exclaimed, letting all her words out as she ignored Murai's messages.
It was rather unexpected for her to feel these distinguishable tremors. Only hefty mounts could produce such sounds. Not ordinary horses. Iris didn't know what Ceila had in hand after a week passed, so this may be that. Did she want to visit herself? She never did that before, which made Iris nervous and unable to think.
Seeing the tall and sturdy horses with knights on them pass on the street, Iris was upset about why to show up like that. Villagers knew she was a priest, but for this to occur in such a fashion was a bit overwhelming. It was too eye-catching, making her upset since they all stopped before her house.
Hearing sudden footsteps and figures dismounting, Iris grabbed Murai, shoving him to his own corner. He flapped his wings, but it didn't help at all. At least the pillow and Timmy who helped him afterward helped.
After that, footsteps sounded inside the house as well, and Iris was quick to recognize them.
Without knocking, Lazar opened the door to her room. He wore an indifferent expression, while his attire was the same as always—a simple white shirt and grey trousers that many villagers were wearing.
“What is happening, Iris? Did something happen with the church?” He asked, looking around the room with a strange suspicion. He found Timmy hiding behind the corner, but he hurried forward so Lazar didn't notice Murai. Conveniently enough, Iris also left quite a few potions from the previous experiments laying around on shelves or on her table. They should provide a good enough excuse.
“I... don't know.” Iris lied. “I will go and take a look at what is happening since they appear to be from my church. If you want to come along, or not, it depends on you,” she replied, appearing somewhat restless, but serious.
Lazar did find it a bit strange, but considering the church, he wasn't overly worked up. Seeing the potions also piqued his interest but it was always happening in the last week. Perhaps, Iris just finished some important work so he shouldn't be too hard with his questions. Such work as alchemy must be quite exhausting from what he knew.
Lazar followed behind her footsteps, following along with Timmy who insisted to hurry up. That left Murai hiding behind a corner, and Lazar didn't notice his presence thanks to Timmy and the potions.
“Atta boy, Timmy!” Murai cheered.
In fact, it wasn't the first time something like that happened, so Murai was more or less fine with this handling. He didn't want to repeat the past after all, so he endured it for the time being.
Outside, the knights of the Vermillion Church stood in a small formation, revealing a distinct figure on top of a terrifying beast.
It was Ceila, riding her personal choice of a mount. It was Phoenix Horse. A rare beast, that had wings around its torso, and a head that was something between a horse, and a bird. It had a thick long neck, a robust appearance of more than 3 meters of height, and sizable weight. It had legs unlike a horse's, while the back legs were curved like tigers, and the forward ones resembled some beastly arms with claws.
The legs still had some similarities in status to horses, as they were long, and thick, making them faster than any horse. They were thick and covered in luscious orange, white and red feathers, making them appear majestic as their name suggested. Phoenix Hrose had a thick red and orange coat of feathers, and its eyes eyed the surroundings with a proud look.
Iris wasn't seeing this beast for the first time, but she was curious about the reason for Ceila to come here with a part of her battalion. She counted at least 50 knights along with their respective Beast Horses, Bdounds, Swifters, and so on.
Behind her back, Lazar appeared along with Timmy. Both looked forward as if this was something bad.
Lazar also noticed many curious villagers hiding around the windows or doors, glancing to see who was seeking trouble this time around. He didn't know much about Iris and her stay in the church. The money she was taking home was more than enough for him to not tell her to work somewhere else.
“What can we do for you? Such lavish guests don't appear in this village very often.” Lazar stated, walking forwards to act like the leader he thought he was.
Ceila recognizes the uncle that was helping Iris, and she had no intention of causing any trouble.
She wore her battle armor, consisting of shiny gold and red patterned metallic plates resembling scales and feathers. Even her head was hidden behind a helm, letting only a long strand of her hair behind her back, and a few to the front. She overshadowed her surrounding soldiers along with their mounts by her appearance alone.
Stepping elegantly out, Ceila walked towards Lazar and pointed her hands forward. “Two things,” she said, letting the point and middle finger straight and leaving the rest folded. “Some things are due to change in this nation, while our church is in need of forces. Your niece is already a part of Vermillion Church, and she will join me on my journey,” she said, her voice sounding powerful as if no one dared to question her at all.
Not even Lazar would dare. He bitterly gulped down, hearing that his little fortune was getting away from him already.
“I... I understand. What was the other thing you care for?”
“Her brother Timmy has been accepted to the Knight's training. It is overseeing decision by me, 2nd Sun, so if you have...”
At this point, Lazar's face turned pale. “N-no... No. This is fine. Timmy is a bright boy. I jest he will do well for your cause.” Lazar said, jumping right to her words while glancing at Timmy behind his back. He patted his head and his wondering face as if he didn't know about it.
“Good then. I presume Iris had no troubles either?” Ceila voiced while hiding her face behind her helmet, which left only her gaze visible.
Behind Lazar's back, Iris clutched her fists, but what use did they have? She already accepted her fate, and it appeared something changed again. For her to come here in such a fashion, it would be hard to say something else.
It was a time for her to leave her past behind and hope for her own future which may, or may not be great.
“I am extremely grateful, 2nd Sun.” She politely bowed, sounding as sincere as much as she could.
“Well then,” Ceila said, glancing around her man. “I already achieved the consent, so let's wrap this up and move this once and for all. I suggest taking fewer things with you, but not like you have a lot. You have 10 minutes, both of you.” Ceila stated, appearing calm like a sea before the storm before she went back to her mount. “Don't forget about some important items.”