Chapter 11 - The Messenger
Since Elara and her aunt's house was kind of destroyed by my meteor, we spent the night at the town hall. Thankfully, it had been refurbished already due to my sudden arrival, with its roof fixed and the front porch rebuilt. There were a couple of rooms with soft beds where I slept soundly. Torina slept on my chest and kept trying to strangle me because I wouldn't give up my sleeping place. Still, it was actually pretty nice. She kept me warm as well, snoring quietly next to me as I tried to get some rest after a busy day.
Elara came downstairs, dressed in her robe, and peeked into my room to see what the ruckus was about. She spotted me lying awake in bed, gazing at her, and a small smirk appeared on her face when our gazes met. "Did the two of you fight?"
"She stole my position!" I yelled back, throwing a small tantrum and sticking my tongue out playfully at the village girl. Then I pushed my blanket away from her hands, making Torina whine cutely and sit up, frowning deeply with her eyes squinted in anger.
"Ishtaarrrr! Give it back," she complained, pulling back her arms and placing them behind her back. Elara giggled before approaching the two of us and taking a seat at the edge of the bed. She placed her hands behind her back, too, copying the dragon girl, and stuck out her tongue teasingly at Torina.
They had gotten to know each other over the night and got along exceptionally well. Elara would call Torina sister, and Torina would call her big sis, even though she clearly had larger proportions. Though they may have bickered occasionally, the girls got along perfectly with each other. It seemed they both shared a mutual liking for me, and I enjoyed that very much.
The village chief finally approached my room as well, carrying a bunch of papers under his left arm while carrying a plate full of food in his right hand. "Morning! I have some important matters to discuss with you, but first of all, it is breakfast."
The chief sat beside me and gave me a huge sandwich consisting of thick slices of brown bread filled with cooked ham, cheese, tomatoes, onions, and a sauce. The smell alone made me drool instantly; it was delicious and fresh, especially compared to yesterday's roasted meat. Everyone sat on the side of the bed together and chatted a bit about the current situation before focusing on the matters of the village and our safety from the orcs.
"The thing is that we don't know how much we can trust the Orc. It's not like we can do anything about it, but some villagers are still worried that he'll betray us once you leave."
"Oh, really, Uras?" Elara remarked while chewing some of her bread. "Well, maybe it would've helped if people actually focused more on learning to fight. No matter how peaceful Eplium is, there's always danger lurking around."
"Yeah," he sighed, looking tired and worried at the same time. He suddenly got down on his knees, elbows on the ground, and his gaze cast downward. "Please, Elara. Please teach the new generation how to fight. Many of the villagers and kids are too timid to even pick up weapons and fight for the right cause. With how strong you are, it should be an easy feat."
"Sure," I interjected, drinking a cup of milk. It tasted creamy and tasty, unlike the previous drinks I tried in this world. Elara smiled awkwardly and nodded, albeit hesitantly.
"D-don't put words in my mouth! But yeah, I can do it. I'll... do my best?"
"I'll help, too," Torina stated, eating a fried egg with its yolk dripping down her mouth. She smiled happily while staring at me and grinned broadly. "And Ishtar, you can do like the hand-to-hand combat stuff, right? I didn't expect that. I thought you were a swordswoman."
"Ah, I've actually never held a sword in my life before, hahaha... I did have a few years of Taekwondo training so..."
"Taekwondo?" Elara asked as she tilted her head slightly. "What's that?"
"Oh, uhh. It's a fighting style that, uhh... that some divine beings know as us goddesses know. But I'd rather not stay for too long, even though it's nice here. Once I understand this world better, I'd like to explore," I explained, sipping my drink again before wiping some residue away from the corners of my mouth with the back of my hand.
Torina listened attentively, nodding, while the Chief's eyes narrowed, confused by the odd words. "Then let's begin? Didn't we plan on practicing this morning?"
"Ah, right. Sure, no problem," I agreed, finishing off my sandwich. We left shortly after cleaning up. It didn't take long before we arrived at a nearby field to begin training with some simple exercises.
Elara led our workout today as she instructed us on what exercises to do and taught us how to use our bodies properly for various movements like squats and push-ups. She helped demonstrate what exercises were called, making the process simple enough to understand. For most of the afternoon, we went through the repetitions over and over until we could move our muscles exactly as she described.
Elara didn't have many swords to practice with, so we borrowed a few from Targon, the blacksmith. He was more than happy to lend their legend anything and gave us some wooden ones to practice cutting techniques. "Don't be scared. Hit like there's no tomorrow," he said.
We found a dummy that I used as target practice, cutting across the air as I swung the weapon. Surprisingly, swinging the sword was like second nature to me. Within an hour, I had already gotten the basics fully mastered. Elara couldn't believe her eyes, watching me nail the swings perfectly. It must've been my body's muscle memory from the time the original Ishtar lived.
In the blink of an eye, three hours flew past quickly.
We decided to stop training because it became a little boring, and none of us wanted to risk getting sore muscles afterward, although I doubted that would happen in my case.
When night rolled around, everyone headed to bed, but the day wasn't over yet. After saying goodnight to everyone, I stepped out into the cold darkness by myself. The stars sparkled overhead as I strolled through the empty streets.
My foot kicked a small stone as I ambled across the empty path. It bounced off into a pile of dirt at the side of the path before skittering towards me again. "Who's there?"
From the shadows, a female figure stepped out. She wore a dark cloak, hiding her face and figure from the moonlight's light, keeping herself hidden. As she took her hood off, angelic wings sprawled outward, gleaming brightly against the soft moonlight. She lifted her head so that her silky blonde hair glinted gently. Her lips curved slightly into a grin that revealed perfect, pearly teeth. She moved closer to me, and my heart skipped a beat, beating faster with each step closer.
"I'm Yuneia. Greetings, Ishtar. Pleased to finally make contact, your grace."
Her melodic tone sounded slightly raspy but warm. It flowed effortlessly like water on stones. She walked slowly towards me, stretching one arm in front of her as though holding something precious in her hands. Her golden eyes locked onto me and glowed faintly within the surrounding dimness.
"What do you want?" I asked, cautiously taking a step back.
She smiled, closing her eyes. "Nothing. I'm just a messenger," she explained.
"And what's the message?"
She clapped her hands together above her head and opened them suddenly, revealing a small bottle. She held it carefully for me to see clearly. "I have something special for you," she announced.
I raised my eyebrows, curious, before taking the vial out from the bottle. I examined the vial closely. A pink liquid swirled inside, glowing faintly in the moon's glow. A single drop of liquid dripped onto the ground, staining the dirt crimson.
"How am I supposed to use this?"
"It's a liquid that can extract a person's soul. It's the only way to recreate the Sundered Dream."
"What? I'm not following."
"Haha," she giggled lightly. "It's your sword's name. Your 'girlfriend' has already explained it to you, hasn't she? Your weapon can be revived with the help of the essence of your soul and the meteorite brought along."
"Oh... how do I—"
"My time is up, I'm afraid. Let's continue chatting another day, goddess," Yuneia announced abruptly, and without warning, the fairy girl disappeared without even leaving behind dust particles, which caused a light breeze around where she formerly stood.
Still, her voice lingered for just another moment. "I'll give you a hint of how to extract souls—it's all about lovemaking."
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Author, may I suggest to mix story building with the smut? Would be funny to talk about serious things during sex.
I did actually plan on writing a scene like that eventually
"I'll give you a hint of how to extract souls—it's all about lovemaking."