Dirt fell like rain as Claud and Lily peeked out from behind a tree. There, at the impact site, was a silhouette cursing over and over again as it got up back.

“Who the heck slapped me from the skies this time?” Red light burst out, emanating so much power that the tree that Claud and Lily were hiding behind instantly lost all its leaves, along with the other trees in the area.

Claud managed to stop himself from shouting, as did Lily, but their other, more innate instincts had taken form, and the red figure turned to them. The stark contrast between the red, blistering radiance and their blue mana was a bit too strong, but Claud had a feeling that there was no way he could just sneak away without exposing their triumph cards.

The fingers on his right hand flickered in a particular pattern, and Lily’s fingers moved to display her understanding. Faking some fear — okay, he didn’t really need to fake it — he peeked out from behind the tree again and then turned to Lily.

“I wonder if that person needs help,” Claud whispered.

Lily, who had understood his intentions perfectly, whispered back, “We’ll just see if he needs help anyway. Maybe that last curse was his dying cry, or he’s going to faint soon. If he really has bad intentions—”

“It’ll be fine,” Claud interrupted, a faint smile on his face.

To an opponent of that particular calibre, there was no way they couldn’t have heard their whispered conversation; but they might not know that Claud and Lily knew that. This would predispose them to a more amicable opening, at the very least, ensuring a certain level of safety.

“Alright, if you say so.”

The two of them peeked out again, and then walked out, hand-in-hand.

“Hello?” Lily called out. “Do you need help?”

“We come in peace! We’re unarmed!” Claud shouted. “If you need help, just shout ‘Help’ and we’ll rush over! If you are fine and don’t want us to approach, just shout ‘No’ and we’ll back off immediately! We’ll approach slowly if you don’t reply!”

The two of them exchanged glances as silence followed their shouts, and they began to approach slowly. After walking for around two minutes — Claud had escaped to a really far distance — a small silhouette got up and crawled out of the smoke, badly injured.

“Ugh. I need help!”

Claud and Lily immediately sped up, and before long, they had arrived at the scene of the accident. From the looks of it — and from that shout earlier — something had smacked this red glowing fellow from the skies so hard that even parts of his body had broken off.

“It’s a miracle you’re alive…anyway, we have bandages and medicine, but…” Lily looked at the solid body of light. “How are we supposed to help you?”

“Do you two have any lifestones? Any rank will do!”

Lily pulled out a bunch of mid-ranked lifestones. “Here. Is this good enough?”

“You can use a low-ranked one. I only need the lifeforce…” The red light groaned once. “I’ll feel bad if you expend the expensive ones on me.”

“Just use this,” Claud cut in. “It’s okay. Healing comes first. We can bill you later.”

“Haha-ack!” The figure of red light coughed a few more times, spilling out some red light. “Thank you.”

Reaching out for the lifestones, he — probably, given the deep voice — picked up one of them and crushed it in his hands. Green light surged out, wrapping all around his body within moments, and before long, the cracks that had torn through the body of red light had vanished. Before their eyes, the red light began to recede too, revealing a young man with fiery hair.

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“Ahh. That hit the spot.” The young man patted his red clothes. “Oh my. What a huge hole.”

“Huh. Did something happen to you?” Claud asked. Given that something that almost killed this abnormal fellow who definitely wasn’t human, this was a question he had to ask no matter what.

“The Moons happened to me. I swear, can they stop putting up aerial barriers? I’ve been slapped silly by those things in the past week, urgh. If you fly up higher than twenty kilometres, something just smashes you back down. Assholes.” The young man cursed a few more times, and then straightened his body. “Sorry for that display. Anyway, I’m fine now. Thank you for your help. Without those lifestones, I might have died.”

“We’re glad you’re safe. Do you need anything else now?” Claud asked. “We’re heading to Liquet Dukedom. If you don’t feel well, we can escort you there.”

“Ah, wrong direction. Unfortunate. No worries, though. I’m fine. Though…” The young man hesitated. “Maybe this is Lord Shuddh’ arrangement…”

“Lord Shu—”

“The Red God, the God of Precision.” The young man smiled. “I’m a familiar spirit of his…yep, you two don’t look that surprised.”

“Kinda guessed that you weren’t human,” Claud replied with a shrug.

“Yeah,” Lily added. “No human could have survived that.”

“The personage known as the Thief of Time probably would, though, given the legends I’ve heard so far,” the young man replied.

“Tot?” Claud asked. “You know about him?”

“He’s the person who killed a bunch of Moon Emissaries and three or so Bearers of Destiny,” the familiar spirit of the Red God replied. “Everyone knows who he is now?”

“Three?” Claud asked, mystified.

“Hmm? What does your information say?” the familiar spirit asked.

“Only two, that’s what I heard,” Claud replied, tilting his head. “Where did the third one come from?”

“He recently killed the Holy Son of the Red God, Holy Son Mendas,” the familiar spirit replied. “I was dispatched to investigate this, and after a while, the most prominent group in recent times, the Seekers of Life, told me that it could very well be the Thief of Time.”

Claud had absolutely no idea what to say to all this claptrap, other than a small desire to beat up the Moon— Seekers of Life. However, all other things considered, it was a good move; Claud had a feeling that it was the others who had actually killed the Holy Son. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have blamed Tot, right?

“I see,” Lily replied. “Well, I suppose our sources are outdated, given that we’ve been away for a long time.”

“Ahaha! Well, be careful of that rapscallion.” The familiar spirit heaved a sigh. “Are we still in Moon territory?”

“Yeap. After that, there’s a small strip of land that’s contested territory, where battles happen on a constant basis,” Claud replied.

“I see.” The familiar spirit paused. “Thank you. Before I leave, however, I must repay my debts. Do you need anything from me? As payment for offering me lifestones in my time of need?”

Claud and Lily exchanged glances, and then nodded.

“That healing technique,” Claud replied.

“The way you healed yourself,” Lily said.

“Ah, I see. Yes. That’s indeed an invaluable technique,” the familiar spirit replied. “Unfortunately, that technique will not work on humans.”

“It won’t work on humans?” Claud asked, crestfallen.

The familiar paused. “Well, it won’t work that well on humans, at least. The requirements are very harsh too, necessitating very high levels of mana control, and unless you’re used to this, don’t even think of using this technique in combat.”

“But can it heal people?” Claud asked, his voice tinted with urgency.

“Yes. But…well, you’ll understand after a while. The technique is simple to the extreme; it simply requires you to crush your lifeforce and infuse it into the affected body parts,” the familiar spirit replied. “Too much, however, and the whole thing will fail. Crush the lifestone, control the lifeforce within, and then apply it steadily on the affected organs. However, the impurities within the lifeforce will accumulate in your body. Do it too much, and you risk a lot of dangers.”

“And you’re fine with that?”

“Lord Shuddh will restore my body to its pristine condition,” the familiar spirit replied. “It won’t matter to me. Besides, I’m a being of pure energy. However…well, I should watch you two use the technique a few times. It won’t take long.”

“Isn’t there like a book or something?”

“A record?” The familiar spirit pondered for a moment. “Yes, I can make a record for you.”

Red light flashed, and a book appeared in his hands. “Here. For you. I suppose you can keep the manual. As a reward.”

“Thank y—”

“The technique was free for me to begin with,” the familiar spirit replied. “And coal in winter is more valuable than in summer.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Lily asked.

“Some things, given at the right timing, matter a great deal,” he replied. “Anyway, take it. I still need to find Tot. I heard that there was some incident that involved him there…?”

Waving goodbye, the young man took to the skies once more, his fiery hair rippling in the wind.

“…I suppose we should continue on, then.” Claud looked at the book. “Let’s read it while walking.”