Allan stopped on his track in the middle of the modest-looking bathroom. It was a space where was a long and wide barrel. It was of higher quality, which could be heated with some fire underneath. There were conductors of heat which would heat the water in the container aside. It was quite a good system, which was relatively new.

 

Apart from it, there was a closet, storage, and some shelves to lay clothes. Water was either from the near river or accumulated from a rainy storage facility on the back of the cottage, where they stored the water in big barrels. It saved a lot of problems that way, and Allan found it quite interesting after researching this room through touch, and mechanical skills he was familiar with as a blacksmith.

 

“Will you?” Sarey asked impatiently as she watched him run through the whole room like a kid.

 

“Uhh... Alright.” He stopped himself and left his half-broken shaft laying aside. As he was undressing, Sarey prepared fresh water from the smaller barrel which was outside of the cottage. It led straight to the destination of the bathroom.

 

After being finished, she checked Allan's body. He was littered with small wounds, but no blood was spilled.

 

“You ended in quite a better condition than I thought. Father was gentle yesterday and after today, I thought he would beat you up much more.” She said honestly.

 

“I know...I know. Where is the water?” He asked after being completely naked.

 

“Here.” She shoved him towards the not-so-distant barrel. He stumbled and fell inside, nearly grabbing Sarey with him.

 

“You don't have to be so rough. Like the father, I guess?” Allan complained.

 

“Right.” She said with a smile. She started to treat Allan's upper body and face, which were bruised as well. He remained washing his lower body, as he did not want to be bothered there. Zigmund was at least that gentle.

 

“What are your real plans for tomorrow? Will you try to break your bandanna hammer?” She asked in a try to better the mood.

 

“I plan to.”

 

“Hmmm. I will be watching your plan with great interest.” Sarey finished her checks and applied the paste from the materials she already got. Allan was looking normal after washing his face. There was only a small, colorful bruiser around the initial hits.

 

“You don't look like someone around my age. Your wounds are adding some years, probably.” She said with worry.

 

“To my knowledge, as I left the home, I was truly 14 years old. Although somewhat taller, there is not a real difference I can tell.”

 

“Well, you can't see yourself, so what could be different? There could always be something wrong since that time. You can't be sure.”

 

“I can't be bothered to care. I hit him. That was my goal for today.”

 

“Hmph! Make sure you hit him twice tomorrow.” She throws a big blanket across his face to dry himself up. She was not particularly interested in the previous conversation, since he looked older than he assumed. 15, or 16, was her guess.

 

“Thank you,” Allan muttered beneath the cloth.

 

She left him alone and walked from the bathroom in the direction of the kitchen. Zigmund was seated inside. Silent and one would even think he was sleeping.

 

“Are you alright, Father?” She asked as she entered the room.

 

Only the grunting of her father could be heard from his lips as he tried to hide that half-healed bruise on his head.

 

“Ahh! Fine. Alright! I get it. It was carelessness. He hit me in a straightforward, yet unpredictable manner.” He shouted in bitterness.

 

“What is your deal? I don't want to hear that from you, father. I would even argue that he is very talented in many ways and if he would have his eyes, there would be more to question.”

 

“I am well aware of that. I even trust that he made this flying knife.” Zigmund begrudgingly tossed a shiny knife to the table.

 

“I don't resent my position. There is no pride left, you know...”

 

Sighting, Sarey took a look at the knife and said. “Don't worry too much. I suppose he will appreciate your approach. It will be helpful.”

 

“For what? Do you think his eyes will come back suddenly like that? I doubt that.” Zigmund told her the facts he knew. Only certain things could heal such wounds, and he understood they are not something one could find or get.

 

“Wait and see. On the other hand, since he started to work with his forge, will you sell his items for him? I think it will be better that way than me trying it myself.” Sarey begged Zigmund with watery eyes of hope.

 

“Sure. I am hoping this was only his experiment. Though his skills are abundant, more crazy pieces will be shown in the future. If it is going to be at the level as today, I would not be bothered.”

 

“Good, if that is the case, can you look into some more expensive materials for me? If not, then forget it.” She tossed a page from it across the table. It was some ingredients of higher quality. Something even beyond the Fiery Tulip.

 

Sarey got it from the initial pages and things 36 gave her in an open mind and carelessness after writing those pages down from some technique. There were a lot of redundant points scattered across the whole document. 36 was not so proficient, and most of it could barely be called a list of ingredients.

 

Zigmund frowned as he looked. He knew some of them, while others did not.

 

“Where did you get this?” He asked seriously.

 

“Doesn't matter. Tell me if there will be some news or not,” Sarey stated and walked away. There was still her time to shine with acupoint treatment.

 

Zigmund remained, glancing at the page.

 

“Does she think I am completely clueless about what is going on? Maybe she is... or not? It probably won't matter to her either her. I could just... do what she wants from me?” Zigmund sighed after not figuring out Sarey's process of thoughts.

 

Like the women she loves, certain things about her were surely common throughout the bloodline. He could not help but bitterly accept the truth. At least the resemblance to her mother left many bitter-sweet memories in Zigmund's mind.

 

Zigmund had a hunch about what she was getting into, but since he decided to go with the flow, there was no point in being more stubborn. Problem was to get this done. Time and effort would decide the future, while he could remain on the sidelines.

 

Allan, after finishing with his bath, dried himself and tried to find his clothes. They were gone.

 

“Oh. That is great...”

 

Allan took the blanket around his lower area and reached outside after finding the door. He bumped into something soft.

 

“Ouchie, where are you going, Allan? Finished already?” Sarey said as she got up from the ground, flustered while pretending to be calm.

 

“C-clothes?” Allan mumbled awkwardly.

 

“You don't need any for now. You forgot about your treatment?” Sarey blurted out the excuse she quickly found.

 

“But I am fine. I am healing in no time.”

 

“No, this is not only for the healing. Do you think what 36 got you is something simple? There are a lot of effects that can be done with needles alone and the whole other things are the acupoints that are used by immortals as well. Add some rich natural energy herbs or other materials and you can have something extraordinary, but it needs to remain in steady order. Do you get it?” Sarey talks straight to his face with her bashful expression he could not see.

 

“I understand... I will go through it” Allan couldn't argue about that. Although he knew some basics, it was all from the talking exchange between him and her.

 

“Just wait and see. Did you not say that you feel more energetic after getting stabbed?”

 

“I guess. You don't have to say it like that. It is therapy. Let's call it like that.” Allan argued while following her behind with a towel around his lower area.

 

Both of them got into Allan's room. He laid there on the bed, with his back facing the ceiling. Sarey already prepared the specific way to make the acupoint treatment today. It generally all followed very similar formulas that she got from 36.

 

Most of the internal human structures were similar to each other. Everyone has a spine, bones, blood vessels, organs, muscles, and so on. It all made a complicated and huge system in which no one knew how exactly it all worked together.

 

Humanity made certain adjustments and discoveries in the vast history of human existence. It all stemmed from the discovery of energy. An enormous cosmic system that followed rules and seemed alive. It lived in every living or even unliving thing. Planets and even cosmic space were sometimes discovered, filled with ponds of energy, or very strange patterns of cosmic storms.

 

Sometimes, the energy from the previous planet or star which ended up in its cycle could get released outwards. At the end of its lifespan, they released the accumulated energy across space. Starting another cycle for millions, billions of years. It is a cycle of life that differs completely from human comprehension. Longer than lives of human civilization by countless margins.

 

Sarey was taught some of this information by her teacher Terg, whose history she did not know, but it mattered nothing to her. Perhaps he was a defector from another plane since his knowledge was drastically different from that of a normal mortal. Triston was similarly excited about his teacher and master. He was a lucky fellow to gain a master like that.

 

Sarey delicately inserted every needle into the positional ways of the diagram she knew. This time, most of them went towards the shoulder area and lined alongside the spine.

 

Allan was peacefully laying there. Almost falling asleep as he found this strangely comfortable. He felt the comforting heat spreading through his body.

 

After being done with it, Sarey checked if everything was in the right order.

 

“Are you alright, Allan?”

 

“Yeees, this is something I have never felt before. So relaxing.” he mumbled.

 

Sarey frowned upon hearing that. “He should feel some pain. There are a few paragraphs about this sort of acupuncture formation. They even wrote about possible pain and muscle twisting. I guess he is different?”

 

Taking some distance from Allan, she did not want to disturb him in such a situation.

 

Unnoticed by her, a few needless melted on Allan's back. Disappearing in a heated manner in a couple of moments, into his body. Allan did not notice it either, since he relaxed his head below the pillow.

 

Seeing him laying there all, Sarey had an itch to prank him. Fortunately, she stopped herself on time. Instead, grabbing pages left by 36 seemed more productive. She looked at the pages with a lost mind, barely remembering what she read as she moved her eyes across the illustrations. They were direct copies by 36. It was something he did not need to translate. Pictures are the language of all intelligent beings.

 

Phew. She sighed.

 

“I wonder if my choice of helping him was something good. Once, I had an itch to travel and see the world, yet am stuck here with a blind boy my age, who mysteriously appeared with riches beyond common sense. I can't help but marvel about the way the world forced such a strange situation upon me.” She mumbled to herself, as the snoring appeared throughout the room. Allan has already fallen asleep.

 

She stared at the papers and Allan. Watching him like that was something else, than seeing him work, practice and exercise. He looked like a small statue, sleeping or dying from the stabbing wounds on his back while facing the rhetoric godly attacks of the Gods, and Demons of the Heavens alike. Although briefly, she thoughts of the made-up stories of her teacher Terg, who told her certain stories to her young mind.

 

After some time, where she did not know what to do, there came a time to get needles out.

 

Allan woke up from the sweet voice and touch of someone familiar. He tried to see from the dark, but there was no chance. There was still dark as if something numbly forced him asleep.

 

Touch gently spread from his back and to his shoulders. He heard some whispers, but he was not paying them any attention. Only an accumulating feeling of heat emerged from his core. Comforting, unfamiliar, yet strangely calming. He accepted it while forgetting anything else.