Luciana just stares dumbfoundedly to the person who is smiling foolishly in front of her after asking her condition. After sometime Azathoth returns towards the entrance as he has forgotten something. Luciana's eyes followed him and got surprised because a snakehead is dangling at the entrance of the cave. After looking closely, it is the same snake that had attacked her and died under her hands. Azathoth holds the snake and starts pulling it into the cave. If one looks closely, the snake is touching neither the wall nor the floor. It is strangely levitating few centimeters above the ground. From this, she can understand that Azathoth is someone who can use magic.
Magic is something that only a few out of thousand able to use it so it is a rare thing, and for some common folks, it can even be said to be a miracle. Unlike others, she knows considerably about the magic in her world. As magic is one of the reasons due to which she had never been able to hold her head high and meet the gaze of the people who disdained her.
Anything can be done using magic, but it depends on the person to which extend he or she can understand and use it. And in her family who are known for it, she is someone who had never been able to use it, not a single basic magic can be performed by her, while her siblings are already known as geniuses.
Azathoth is paying attention to Luciana, and as she has not shown any surprise to magic, he can conclude that it is not new to her. After putting the long corpse of the snake into the cave he began to dismantle it with his dagger. It was the only personal thing other than his clothes which he had able to brought here as it always tied to his waist.
After giving considerable effort in dismantling the corpse. He separates the skin, flesh, and internal organs. This snake can numb its prey by giving electrical shock so its skin can be used for makeshift armor against some minor lightning attack.
Doing all these has already drenched his back with sweat.
It is still better than the past when after walking for a few minutes, he will levitate himself with magic because of exhaustion. It's already been a month since he is here and from all the information, he has accumulated he understood that this is all some kind of test. Testing what? he doesn't know, but he knows that the most basic thing in the test is to survive.
This forest is vast with constantly changing weather. After adventuring around all this time, he can conclude that the area in which they reside is not the depth but the outermost area of forest.
He was horrified after discovering this as he had already seen strange creatures out of which almost every species can use magic. And the deeper one goes in the forest the more one will understand its horror. Even a buzzing mosquito, if faced unprepared can take your life.
In front of him, the pillars of light have appeared two times. One four days and another nineteen days ago. The frequency can be said to be of fifteen days. He can just pray that if it is the test, it should end quickly.
Luciana is just staring at the boy as he is dismantling the snake. His work doesn't seem meticulous, letting her know that he is also a newbie. After observing the cave, she can say that it is in use for quite some time, so he may have come earlier than her in this place and naturally will know more about it. She doesn't know why he had saved her, as both hands are injured, making her useless and an additional mouth to feed. She is not so optimistic as believing it is a hero saving a damsel in distress. The world had thought her such things exist in an only fairy tale.
After Azathoth completes his work, he again comes to me and tries to converse me by using body language and trying to learn the basic vocabulary of my language. After some brainstorming of more than half-day, he has able to learn some simple terms which can be used in everyday life.
The night came bringing thunder and storm along with her. Azathoth asks me to show my hands as he wants to change my dressing to prevent the humidity to affect them.
When the dressing is removed, I am surprised by his medical skills.
Her right hand, which was covered in gashes, is now almost recovered and only scabs are left. While her left hand, whose bones are pierced out from the skin are nowhere to see. She can feel that her bones are joining again, and her flesh and skin is recovering from the grotesque site it was left before.
After bandaging her again with the leaves and ointment made from different fruits, we eat the leftover jerky and prepare to sleep. The sound of thunder and rain is producing a unique symphony, helping her go into her dreams.
