Yelena gladly kept the conversation going after that. Although she had revealed her past to Henry, it was still a sore topic so they didn't touch on it all that much but the conversation flowed better than ever.
Henry didn't need the System to tell him for him to know Yelena's approval of him had improved even more but he was barely able to remain invested in the conversation like she was. All he could think about was the Quest he had just received to kill her.
As Henry had promised, Yelena still thought he was insane for wanting to die over and over even after he told her he had wanted it done to get stronger.
"How does it make you stronger though?" She asked.
"How else?" Henry told her blankly, "Magic."
"Hmm, yes, I suppose that makes sense. As much sense as Magic can make. Magic is such a marvelous and strange thing isn't, it?"
"I suppose it is," Henry agreed. The more he looked into her face, the more the Quest to kill her continued to surface in his mind.
As for Yelena, there was no hint of disbelief on her face at Henry's reveal that dying made him stronger. However, she did ask why he no longer wanted to do it.
"I went too far and the next time I die, it will very likely be definite," Henry answered her honestly.
"Even with my <Circle of Healing>?" Yelena asked, surprised.
Henry nodded,
"Yes," he said and he managed a smile, "You were right. Life is sacred. There— are forces that won't stand for me toying with it."
Henry let a few seconds pass and then decided to ask the question most prevalent on his mind,
"Yelena?"
"Hm?"
"Do you want to die?"
Yes, it was a very forward question. It was a question that someone who joined the conversation out of context could find weird but neither Henry nor Yelena thought so because her story of her past had made mention of such a desire.
Henry waited with bated breath for her answer.
When he first read the description of the Quest to kill her, he immediately said 'Hell No!'
But as time passed, everything she had said to him while she told him of her past surfaced in his mind with a clarity that made him wonder if the system gave him the Quest because that was what Yelena wanted herself.
Yelena's smile turned sad and she looked at her hands,
"I want to be free, Henry," she said,
"For the first time in my life, I want to see more than the same walls. The same compound. I want to read more than the same books and write on more than the same pages.
I want to be free and I'll take that freedom however I can."
Towards the end, Yelena looked up from her hands and stared hard into Henry's face so that their eyes were locked on each other's. Eventually, Henry looked away,
"I have to go," he said.
Yelena looked surprised but then nodded with a small smile,
"Oh, alright."
"I'll see you tomorrow," Henry said and half a minute later, he was outside the medical bay. As he started to walk away, he raised his right hand and thought in his head,
'<Elminster's Stock>'
The brand the craftsman had burned into his palm appeared and an oval portal shimmered into existence to wrap around his body and take him away from the Hadron Mansion and into Elminster's workshop.
*Bang* *Bang* *Bang*
Elminster was hammering a plate on top of an Anvil when Henry arrived and he slowly stopped and raised his head to look at him,
"I don't remember calling you here," he said in that grumpy voice of his.
"You didn't," Henry said, "I just used your brand."
'Technically, the System used your brand but you don't need to know that,' Henry thought.
Elminster scoffed,
"How resourceful of you. Have you recovered any more of my creations?" He asked.
"Not yet," Henry said calmly.
"So you've been slacking off, then," Elminster said and banged the plate a few more times.
"If you call almost getting killed, slacking off…"
"I do," Elminster said without a care.
"… Then, yes. I was slacking off." Henry finished his sentence as Elminster put aside the plate he was banging out.
"I hope you at least came with my gold," the Craftsman said.
"I did. And I need more potions," Henry said as he placed the 150 gold he had on a slab.
Elminster's eyes roamed the gold before he swiped them off the slab,
"150... Alright, Come on," he said.
They walked through the doorway at the other end of the workshop and into the room of Prototypes.
Elminster placed four potions in front of Henry after that. Two Healing potions and two Mana Potions.
"Here. After settling your 60 gold debt and with four potions worth 20 gold each, you have 10 gold left so I'll throw you another bottle at a discount. How about that, generous as ever, right?"
Henry ignored the old man's attempt at receiving praise and stroked his jaw to make the choice.
'Which would be better, an extra healing Potion or an extra Mana potion?'
"I'll just take one of both," he eventually decided, "And I'll owe you 20 gold."
"You'll owe me 30 gold," Elminster corrected as he placed the potions in front of Henry.
"No, it'll be 20. You gave me a discount, remember?"
"You can't get a discount when you're about to owe me," Elminster said.
"Why not?" Henry asked with an innocently confused expression.
"You shameless— It's just common sense," Elminster insisted.
"You're the shameless one here. You're a Great Craftsman and you won't even forgo 10 gold? How much richer can 10 gold make you?" Henry asked.
"It will make me 10 gold richer, you cheapskate. 10 GOLD RICHER!" Elminster said stubbornly.
Henry snatched the Potions and tossed them into his Inventory,
"Be a respectable adult and help a fella out. I'll owe you 10 gold," he said.
"What? No, 20!" Elminster said.
"Deal!" Henry answered immediately as the old man's face turned red at falling for such a simple trick.
"Boy, I don't like you!" Elminster said with a bit of a growl.
"You will," Henry said confidently, "Moving on, I wanted to ask you about 'The Hydra's Sting'."
"What about it?"
"The wound caused by the acidic goop, Is it untreatable?" Henry asked.
Elminster stroked his beard,
"No, it's not. Why do you ask?"
"Someone I know got splashed by it. It hasn't healed yet even with Healing Magic," Henry explained.
"This Healing Magic you tried, was it regenerative Healing?"
"I'm not sure," Henry said.
"The wound caused by the acidic goop is what is called a 'Living wound'. It eats away at the victim's body continuously. You can heal the spread with Healing Magic but you can't heal the source.
The only way to 'heal the source' is to cut out the injured area which will take out a sizable chunk of the victim's body and could end up failing if not done right. That's why regenerative Healing is required to regrow the part that gets cut off."
"I'm not sure we have that. Or would even try it, if we did," Henry said with a sigh, "Is there another way?"
"There is."
Elminster turned away and rummaged through the room of prototypes to pull out a small bottle the size of a thumb,
"I made this to counteract the effects of the acidic goop. I figured whoever wielded 'The Hydra's Sting' was bound to be careless with it."
"What's it?" Henry asked.
"A salve. You rub this on the surface of the wound and it gets rid of the 'source'."
Henry smiled at that but paused as his eyes narrowed,
"And how much is it?"
"Hmm, I'll willing to let go of it for 55 gold."
'Thief!' Henry yelled in his head but he kept his expression normal.
"40 gold," He said.
"55," Elminster countered.
"Fine, 50," Henry said like he was being kind, "And I'll owe you an even 60 gold."
Elminster sneered at him,
"Your trick won't work twice.
It's 55 gold and you'll owe me 75 in total or you can get out of my Workshop right now!"
Henry rolled his eyes,
"Okay fine."
He received the tub of salve and with a wave of Elminster's hand, he was sent out of the workshop and back into the Hadron Mansion.
Henry walked the halls of the Hadron mansion until he was at the door to Triss' room. He raised his hand and he knocked.
The voice that came from behind the door had a bit of strain as it asked,
"Who is it?"
"Henry?"
"Oh," the voice said brightly with a bit of breathlessness, "Come in."
Henry turned the doorknob and pushed the door open inward before taking a few steps in.
Triss' room looked similar to his own which meant it looked just like almost every other room in the mansion. Rundown and with very little upkeep. The thought that the state of the Mansion had a direct relation to Yelena's life surfaced in Henry's mind along with the Quest he had received but with a small shake of his head, he brushed that off and continued to explore the room with his eyes.
Although Triss hadn't done anything drastic, the room still had the look of being touched and made into her personal space. There was a pole to the side that she had many vests hanging on and there was an open chest with other pieces of clothing all neatly arranged.
As for Triss herself, Henry found her soon enough in a downward dog pose to the very side of her room only a foot or two from her bed. She had her back arched with such grace and lethality that Henry just stared. Her ass was raised high and its shape seemed especially emphasized by the leggings she had on.
Henry contemplated looking away. To not be caught staring like some leech but he could hardly bear to turn his face away.
'She has to have heard me come in,' Henry thought. After all, she had invited him in and he had not been all that gentle in closing her door.
"Hey, Triss," he called gently, "Whatcha doing?"
'A dumb question,' Henry thought while stopping himself from smacking his forehead, 'I know what she's doing. It's an exercise and I'm a pervert for staring.'
Triss chuckled as she straightened up but when Henry thought she was about to stop, she just put her hands on her hips and rocked them a bit before bending forward again to touch her fingertips to her toes.
"I don't really have a name for it. But it helps stretch my muscles. It's also relaxing and improves flexibility. You should try it."
"Maybe— maybe some other time," Henry said while still unable to look away from her backside.
"So, Henry," Triss eventually said, "Why have you come to see me?"
"I assumed you were feeling better and thought I'd check in," Henry answered.
Only now did Triss relax from her poses and turn around to smile at him,
"How thoughtful," she said.
"Oh," Henry said like he had just remembered something, "And also, I wanted to ask about that wound. You know, the one caused by the Acid on the Train."
Triss shrugged,
"It still stings. Yelena has tried her best but it's not healing just quite yet. But it's bearable."
"Would you like it healed?" He asked.
'Dumb question,' Henry thought to himself, 'Of course, she wants it healed.'
"Of course, I want it healed,' Triss said, "Why, can you help?"
Henry paused but there was no reason to hesitate. He had asked Elminster for it on a whim and had acquired it to his deficit for this very purpose.
"Actually, I think I can," Henry said while raising the tub of salve so she could see it.
"What's that?" Triss asked.
"It can help," Henry said simply.
"Where did you get it?" Triss asked.
"Does it matter?" Henry retorted gently.
Triss had every right to reject the use of it and for a second, Henry expected that but then she just smiled,
"Well, I suppose it doesn't. If you say it can help, I trust you."
'You do?' Henry asked in his head.
"Good," was what he actually said.
Triss said nothing more and just walked over to her bed to sit at the edge with her back to him. She moved her hair out of the way so Henry had an unobstructed view of the injury. It looked like a circular scar with deep veins stretching away from it and digging into her skin.
"You'll apply it for me, won't you?" Triss asked, "It'll be a bother trying to reach back and do it myself, you see."
"Sure," Henry said and he walked forward to sit on the bed right behind her.
He pulled off the cork of the tub of salve and a sweet, almost minty scent wafted out of the container.
Henry dabbed about half of the salve on his finger and applied it to the wound.
"Tss!" Triss let out with her teeth gritted.
"I'm sorry. Did it hurt?" Henry asked as he paused his rubbing motion.
"Don't worry about it," Triss said, "Please, continue."
Henry continued and as he rubbed, it was hard for him not to notice that what Triss was wearing over the top half of her body, barely reached down to her midsection.
Henry only needed half the tub of salve he had already applied and he watched as the veins that stretched from Triss' wound began to retract into the wound.
He watched as the slightly raised area of the wound lowered until it was level with the rest of Triss's skin and finally, he watched as the scarred look corrected itself and became as normal as the rest of the skin around it as the salve vanished into her skin. Its job was done.
'Wow,' Henry thought. He had not expected the salve to work so well.
His finger continued to rotate around the spot the wound used to be at and then he began to wander. Triss' skin wasn't perfect by any means. It was marked with hardships she had gone through to reach where she was.
None of the scars were recent because Yelena's healing never left scars so Henry knew everything he could see on Triss' body was from before she joined the gang. Almost absentmindedly, his finger trailed over some of them gently and then, Triss shivered and he came back to his senses and took his hand away.
"I'm sorry," he said.
"No, it's fine," Triss said as she turned around to face him. Her cheeks were bright red,
"Thanks for the salve."
Henry gave her a bright smile,
"You're welcome."
Triss leaned in. It was so smooth, it was almost innocent.
"So, will you tell me where you got the salve?" She asked with her lips only a few inches from Henry's.
"No," Henry said and with a small smile, he replaced the cork onto the tub and pulled away until he was off the bed,
"I'll be leaving now. Let you get back to your exercises."
Triss pouted and then chuckled,
"Okay then. When you're ready, tell me the price of the salve so I can pay you back."
"There's no need for that but if you insist, I'll keep it in mind," Henry said and with a final wave, he walked out of her room and closed the door.
***
The next morning, a new week had begun and Henry started another series of Daily Quest;
[Daily Quest: (Category: Physical) Perform 200 pushups
Reward: 10 Exp]
'The reward got better but it's still very little in the grand scheme of things,' Henry thought. His current Level-Up requirement was 1000 Exp.
His complaint aside, Henry still completed the Daily Quests while also dedicating an hour every day to meditation.
And then, Two days later…
Every combative member of the gang was summoned into the meeting hall where Tony and Charles had news to deliver. They had found three bases scattered all about the countryside belonging to the Langlot Gang and with Angus' agreement, they hoped to storm the bases and eliminate them all to the very last member.
[Grand Quest Updated!
Main Quest: Retaliation (Hunting Quest)
Quest Conditions: Storm the Langlot bases and Hunt down the Langlot Gang members. You will receive a bonus of 50 Exp for every Langlot Gang member you kill.
Reward: Will Vary depending on how efficient you are at Hunting.
*Nyx will receive 50% of every bonus you receive for every kill you make.
Happy Hunting!]
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