Kapitel 51: Haggle Over Each Other's Wants
For the rest of the night I slumbered in the light sleep as usual. Even though the fever dream I experienced in illness was full of unpleasant memories, I could not escape it, no matter how hard I tried to wake up. I did not realise how much I was dependent on my ability to arise whenever I wanted, even at night I tested my ability by kicking my own leg in sleep and sitting up the bed to observe the dark room with a sniffling elf on another bed. At one point, I opened my eyes and was unexpectedly struck with a clear view of the ceiling. I could observe every single rotting plank up above, meaning that morning finally came.
I took the sitting position once again and sighed without doing anything else. Usually, I would have tried to wake Nila up, but this time I didn't really want to, because of the moronic quest that she took. Spending a whole day in search of lost animals was not something which would bring me closer to the ultimate goal of slaying the goddess. Thus, I simply waited for her awakening without withstarting it myself. At one point, I was so bored that I decided to take a book Nila recommended me to read a few days ago. It was a condensed guide to Sage Clementine's manual on magic. I still did not know all the letters from local handwriting, but at least now I was able to recognize some words. The fact that I was able to perceive their speech only made matters better.
The abstract explained that Sage Clementine was the founder of human magic that lived over a thousand years ago, so he was quite a relic. Besides magic related stuff, there were not many records left about his personal life, the only available information was the fact that he was also a student of The Great Sage Aurora. A familiar name, if I remembered correctly, Riaz compared her to fate itself, however, if Clementine was her student over a thousand years ago, then it must have meant that she was long gone. So why were both Nila and Faust taken aback by his words? Could she be a religious symbol? After all, Farhen could have been only one of the many goddesses of this world. But this also meant that Aurora could be alive… were gods even alive, if they lived beyond the spirit realm?
I gently closed the book, feeling how my head was already boiling with different possibilities. I guess, my only way to attain an answer would be to ask Nila directly about it all. Unfortunately, I could not afford waking her up now, but she was not the only person who could enlighten me about the complications of this world, right?
I took out the red gemstone from my pocket along with another item I stole from one of the passerbyers on the street. It was a simple pocket watch, a bit rusty, meaning that it was not made of precious metal. The watches were ticking quietly and showing 6 o'clock in the morning. I lost interest in this garbage immediately and glared at the gemstone intently, although it brought no effect. Solitaire was gone ever since the end of the battle against Manuela, and he never appeared since. Perhaps, he was restoring his powers to manifest, since I remembered him whining about the exhaustive nature of having a physical form.
While I was trying to call upon a snide phantom that was enclosed within the gemstone, I heard a bedsheet ruffle to the left of me. I ignored it at first, but to my horror I also heard a soft and a little weary greeting.
"Good morning, Dusk."
My eyes darted to the side and I witnessed this woman lazily rubbing her eyes while her entire body was rolled in a bedsheet. Not only did she wake up early, but she did so without my help! And on a day when I would like her to sleep as much as possible, what kind of devil's play was that?
After observing her for a second or two, I narrowed my brows and turned away from her with a groan, "Why did you decide to wake up early now?"
"I never overslept, for your information."
"Never oversleep!" I scoffed at her words and looked at her once more, "Today is the first day I did not need to wake you up, like some kind of toddler."
Nila only shrugged at my words and nonchalantly replied, "We were never in a rush until today, all is that simple." But I parried her lie with my personal experiences, "Oh, then I suppose looking for lost children in the woods and escaping from prison was not urgent enough for you?"
She did not answer my question, but instead proceeded with her morning routine by dressing up and combing her hair. I was never present during this time, either doing my own routine or busy collecting materials for our travel. She always slept with her hair loose, and I never did not pay attention to her hairstyle, but she really did braid her hair every morning without using any magic. I would expect someone to use a mirror to navigate the own hands behind her head, but she masterfully did it without the help of improvised means, only her agile hands were at work with a little help of her lips which held a rubber band.
At one point, right before she finished prettying herself, her eyes shifted at me or rather at the book that was laying by my side. She showed a barely noticeable smile and tilted her head to the side, "Are you able to read Clementine's guide to magic now?"
I took the book into my hands and turned several pages until I stopped at around the middle. I looked over the text that was describing the starry sky, however, I did not get most of it.
"I suppose I can read something, but it is still too advanced for my understanding." I explained, to which Nila nodded and came over to my bed, "This is a condensed guide as well, but still great job. You should not read an actual manual if you want to become a mage, but in case of advanced study on magic, you should definitely read it from core to core."
I sighed in annoyance, luckily, this day was still a fair bit away, but I already should prepare myself for sleepless nights, since slaying a goddess without deep knowledge about magic sounds like a suicidal task. I flipped the book to the very beginning and showed her the starting lines about Clementine and Aurora.
"Who is Aurora anyway? Is she also a goddess?"
Nila's eyes darkened at my question, although her aloof expression remained, but I could feel coldness coming from her presence. She shook her head and took the book away from me and said, "She is the ruler of the Setum region in the Fairy realm, a dictator so to speak."
I raised my brow at her explanation and murmured, "Then I probably misread the line about Clementine being her student." However, Nila shook her head and replied, "No, you read it right. She was alive back then, because she is a half-blood. Half elf, half fairy, who lived for so long that no one knows of her origins."
Now this was interesting, I imagined fairies to be those miniature people with wings I once saw in the fantasy book, but it seems like the same word applied to a different species. I wonder what she looked like, what other traits besides elven ears could she possess. But before I had a chance to continue this topic, Nila crossed her hands while towering above me, as I was still lying in bed.
"I am ready to go now, how about you, Dusk?"
I scoffed at her words and smirked while further burying myself in the bed, "As I said, I am not going anywhere!"
"Dusk, this is a fair practice for you as well, do you not want to finally cast your first spell?"
"As if I need such a lame spell! You did not change my mind."
"Then you would not mind if I took the entirety of our reward?"
I frowned at her, but kept my cool. If she did it, I would just steal my share from her. Such a pathetic attempt at persuading me would never work! Soon enough, Nila gave up, giving off a sigh. My determination to reject this request was unwavering, after all. Before going away alone, she turned to me and said, "Well, then I will be going out alone. Hopefully, no one would attack me in my vulnerability, as there would be no one to guide me to the church…"
Her words made me gasp in surprise, but I did not have time to say anything. I laid down for a while longer, trying to fall asleep by the sound of her fading steps. But her words brought a distress upon me that I could not explain with words. I tried to ignore it as much as I could, but at one point I stood up and opened a window. She was already leaving the premises, with her French braid swinging to the left and right due to her fast pace of walk.
I looked out the window and exclaimed through my gritted teeth, "Fine! I will come right away, just wait for five minutes or so!"
She abruptly stopped and glanced at me with a smirk, but I could observe it for less than a second before slamming the window shut. The landlord lady later scolded me for breaking furniture, after which we went to the main church in the city of Wohr together.
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
-- Power-
Rangliste 
-- Power-
Stein