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Chapter 106

"Before the Escape" Part 1

 

Note: at the beginning of this chapter there will be a bit of a depressing moment on the part of the protagonist, but she will quickly recover. If you don’t want to read it, skip to the paragraph where the skill Pain Resistance is activated.

 

It was nighttime when everyone finally left and left her alone.

Kalysto not only had to endure the pity-filled stares from all of them, but also the collection of apologies and crying from both the very exhausted and haggard new saintess, Clarissa Bor. Who was level two and barely had any mana. Also, those of Edward, who refused to be healed before her.

Although considering how little the new saintess had developed her skill, not much could be expected in this regard.

On the fourth day of becoming a saintess I would have already been able to heal Edward and grow his hand, how could she not be able to do the same when she had already been able to do so for several weeks since she got her class? She had been shocked and disappointed at the young woman’s lack of diligence. Or are the standards in this world just that low?

However, considering that the king wanted to force them to forcibly raise their level and force them to fight monsters and the demon king’s army almost as soon as they arrived, it didn’t quite add up. There is an abysmal difference in how much they demand results from their own people and what they demand from the heroes of another world.

And that bothered her.

At least the fairies take better care of me.Alynn, Though she wasn’t entirely sure how much she could trust them and her new boss. Alynn, at least, seemed trustworthy. Despite that, she still didn’t know if her kindness was real or just a way to gain her trust and have more information to inform the queen about what she was doing. And that was one of the reasons why she left Tsuki guarding the room she had been given in the fairy kingdom. Though she always made sure not to leave anything there that could compromise her in any way. Besides, I’m sure Galatea informs both Artemis and the boss of my movements.

 

The silence of the night overwhelmed her senses.

But it was there, in the midst of that apparent peace, that the mask of friendliness she always wore when she had to work with clients or force herself to be sociable to get out of a situation, finally fell away. And she was able to allow a couple of instants to herself, without having to worry about hurting anyone’s feelings or more importantly, the possible triggers that would be brought on by her speaking her mind without restraint. She didn’t want them to try to get rid of her as happened with Rita’s father, or to punish others for something she did. And Kalysto feared that if the latter happened, the guilt would eat her up inside.

Just as it had with her mother’s death.

Her eyes filled with tears, the pressure in her throat burst, and she finally allowed herself to cry without restraint.

Venting over the loss of half her arm, over being in a place she didn’t even want to be only because she hadn’t dared earlier to break the promise she had made to Amanda and leave a young man she felt sorry for to his fate.

But whom she now felt tired of caring for and was beginning to see as an annoying burden.

To hell with everything! As soon as I get back, I’ll cure Amanda as a last favor, but I’ll never help Edward again out of consideration for her... And although Kalysto had tried to maintain a sincere friendship with him, she knew that deep down she only saw it as something she had to do, not as something she really wanted. To tell the truth, I don’t even like his attitude of a spoiled rich kid who expects someone else to be the one to solve all his problems. She complained.

And although she never meant to begrudge him, a part of her resented the ease with which he got things, especially the love of his family. To her mind came the memory of Amanda, of the loving way she watched over her ungrateful son and clueless nephew, and she unwittingly compared it to her own mother’s coldness.

Whose face was beginning to fade from her memory.

Another lost memory. She thought with sadness. And she raised her arm to cover her weeping face only to feel the tug of the bandages on what was left of it.

A loud moan escaped her lips as she felt the pain spread through almost her entire body, and more tears of helplessness covered her face.

“Shit!” she growled, unable to believe that she had forgotten about the wound for a few seconds. “If only I had something I could negotiate with the boss, maybe I could convince her to let me heal, even if only for a few minutes!”

[Passive skill Pain Resistance has been activated.]

Then she began to get annoyed with herself at such a show of weakness.

Enough! This is of no use to me! What I need now is to find a solution, not to start crying like a baby! Come on Kalysto, focus! We don’t have time for this!

[The passive skill Mental Defense has been activated.]

And when the familiar coldness of the skill descended upon her, she was able to stop feeling sorry for herself and focus on what was really important.

With her good hand, she arranged the pillow under her head in a more comfortable position and sat up. She looked at the scraps of bloody cloth they wrapped around her wound with noting small traces of gunk here and there.

This could get infected at any moment. She worried.

“Purification!” she whispered, but the light coming from her hand did not fully encompass the bandages. Worried that she might be discovered, she got out of bed, closed the curtains of the only window in the small room she was in, and walked to the wooden door that protected her from the outside.

But when she peeked her head out, she found no one in the vicinity of the lonely, dark hallway. There wasn’t even a guard outside guarding her.

I could escape. She thought, but remembered Koden and Rita, who unlike Edward had gone out of their way to earn her respect and had reluctantly agreed to wait until she could meet Thomas and find out some clue as to Alice’s whereabouts before they escaped from the kingdom of Balsac.

Sense of mana! But even then, she didn’t sense anyone’s active presence nearby.

She carefully closed the door and, after putting the latch back in, she sat back down on the hard bed and removed the dirty bandage, letting it fall on her thighs.

“Mana detection!” Her sight changed as soon as the skill was activated, allowing her to see the black spot that stretched from her wound until it almost reached her shoulder, showing the exact point to which the infection had spread. How is it possible that she didn’t even think about disinfecting it? “Mana manipulation! Ezhil purification!” The first time she used it, the golden light of her skill spread throughout the room. “Fuck!” she cursed, concentrating on narrowing the field of action of her skill so that it only worked around where her body was. It took her several attempts to achieve this, as several beads of sweat trickled down her forehead.

She then spent the next ten minutes purifying her wound and bandages.

When she was finally satisfied with the results, she took out a bottle of holy water and removed the cork with her teeth. But as she was about to drink it, she stopped.

What if instead of making my arm grow back, it closes the wound as it always does when I drink it? She worried and silently watched for a whole minute what was left of her arm, whose wound had been smeared with a green paste to help it heal. Regardless of whether I drink it or apply it to the wound, the most likely result is that it will close it and speed healing. Then it would be impossible for the other saintess to grow my arm back like I did with the elves.

She bit her lip as she thought. If only I had a way to communicate with the boss, perhaps....

It was then that she remembered the message that had come to her earlier from Hanna. And she immediately started going through her notifications, closing them one by one until she got to the one she really wanted.

[User has received a message from fairy Hanna! Do you wish to open it now?]

[YES/NO]

Yes! she thought. And another window opened.

‘Good afternoon, fairy champion.

I thank you for agreeing to extend the deadline for our contract. You and your sacred beast were right. There was a small group of strange birds spying on our territory. We eliminated most of them, but two of them managed to escape despite being seriously injured. I was able to track down one of them, but the other one, even with Galatea’s help, was impossible to find.

Still, I was finally able to finish gathering the thousand slime cores you wanted. If you need anything else, please let me know. I would be happy to help.

With all my respect, Hanna.’

As she read the last part, a light of hope shone in her chest. Immediately, she closed the window and looked at her inventory with a frown as she saw that she didn’t have the slimes cores anywhere.

Two seconds later, a second window opened.

[The trade contract offered by fairy Hanna has been fulfilled. Does the user wish to receive the benefits now? If you choose yes, you must make sure you have the space available to finalize the trade.]

[YES/NO]

She immediately took out the wizard’s staff she had looted from the corpse of a wizard she encountered the same day she arrived in Elinor and put it in the blue inventory, thus leaving an empty box.

Only then did she select ‘yes’.

[Congratulations! The user has completed the transaction and 1,000 slimes cores have been added to your inventory.]

With her hand still good, she began to pull out the first hundred, noticing that some of them were red, and without paying attention to that, she began to absorb them.

[Does the user wish to absorb these slime cores?]

[YES/NO]

To all of them, she said yes.

[Congratulations, the user has acquired 9.4% of the passive skill: Regeneration!]

[The skill Absorb has been raised to level 13!]

[Congratulations, the user has acquired 0.6% of the passive skill: Fire Resistance]!

[The skill Absorb has been raised to level 14!]

“Mana Manipulation! Ezhil Purification! Dispel Ezhil! Jhil Ezhil! Skill window!” The blood that had begun to ooze out of the wound disappeared, but unlike how it had happened with the elves, her arm didn’t regenerate. So I can’t use Jhil Ezhil on myself either.

[Skills]

Active skills:

Inspect: level 4.

Mana detection: level 7

Mana Sense: level 7

Mana Control: level 10

Mana manipulation: level 12

Dispel: level 11

Ezhil Dispel: level 6

Sleep well: level 5

Purification: level 10

Ezhil Purification: level 13

Jhil: level 10

Jhil Ezhil: level 11

Blessing: level 20

Ezhil Blessing. Level 1

Water manipulation. Level 1

Water creation. Level 2

Ice manipulation. Level 11

Ice creation. Level 11

Water blades. Level 1

Ice blades. Level 1

Ice daggers. Level 2

Water arrows. Level 1

Ice arrows. Level 2

Eagle eyes. Level 1

Replica. Level 6

Earth creation. Level 1

Earth manipulation. Level 1

Basic healing. Level 1

Duplication. Level 15

Fire puff. Level 1

Resistance to ice . Level 1

Lightning. Level 1

Ice stakes. Level 1

Tundra. Level 1

Ice spear. Level 1

Passive skills:

¿¿¿¿???? From ? Level 70/131

Languages: : legendary level

Regeneration: 70,014% of the acquired skill (Incomplete)

Fire Resistance: 0.6% of acquired skill (Incomplete)

Profession skills:

Health enchantment: level 5.

Mana Enchantment. Level 5

Strength Enchantment. Level 2

Innate skills:

Focus: level 5

Empathy: level 3

Mental defense: level 70

Pain resistance: level 31

Absorb: level 12]

Well, at least I’m pretty close to reaching 100%! And unlike the ones Tsuki and I gathered these cores are almost in perfect condition. She thought, and continued absorbing the rest of the nine hundred cores she was missing.

[The skill Absorb has been raised to level 15!]

[Congratulations! The user has acquired 40.4% of the passive skill: Fire Resistance!]

[The skill Absorb has raised to level 16!]....

[The skill Absorb has leveled up to level 20!]

[Congratulations, the user has acquired 50% of the passive skill: Regeneration!]

[Congratulations! The user has acquired the passive skill: Regeneration. Level 1!]

[Warning! Due to the excess percentage of the skill absorbed, it will be transformed into experience!]

[Calculating...!]

[The passive skill Regeneration has been raised to level 3!]

[The passive skill Regeneration has been activated!]

Kalysto closed her eyes, let out the air she had been holding in as a smile tugged at her lips and her eyes flooded with tears of happiness.

“At last!” She whispered, feeling like she could finally breathe easily as she began to feel an itch all over her body, a much milder version than the one she felt when she drank holy water.

And although she was dying to take a sip of holy water to get rid of the powerful headache she now had, she restrained herself. And she let her new skill take effect, hoping it would be enough to heal her arm.

And as she lay back down again, after purifying the bed, she continued to close her notification windows until she reached the skill one again and noticed something she had overlooked earlier in her eagerness to finish absorbing the cores.

¿¿¿¿???? From the ¿¿? Level 70/131

Wait a minute... why the hell did both numbers change? -She was sure that days ago those levels were completely different.

But try as she might, she couldn’t find an answer to it.

After a couple of hours, she had completely forgotten about it when she saw that her arm had regenerated half a centimeter.

So instead of sleeping, she started to do the meditation exercises that Caranthir had explained to her in a superficial way, but that in the notes he had passed her everything was explained in detail. Only instead of concentrating to create a circle of mana as his explanations indicated, she used it to send her energy into her arm and try to find a way to speed up her healing process.

She didn’t know at what point she fell asleep, but the next morning when the new saintess came to change her wounds and try to heal her again, Kalysto could swear that her arm had regenerated by almost two centimeters.

“What skills and how many mana points do you have?” Kalysto asked curiously to the young red-haired girl, whose pretty and delicate braid was done to one side.

Clarissa Bor’s face turned red, being herself well aware of her shortcomings as a saintess, having been forced to dedicate herself to it when what she really wanted was to enjoy her life as a newlywed woman together with her husband.

Clarissa lowered her gaze before answering.

“I only have two, hero from another world. Purification and Jhil,” that took Kalysto by surprise, who for the first time was very aware of all the advantages she had by having accepted the deal with the fairy queen.

Even if she wouldn’t let her heal herself.

“And I barely have 50 mana points," whispered the embarrassed young woman.

“That explains a lot," muttered Kalysto.

“What things?” Clarissa questioned, raising her innocent gaze with curiosity as she took a short break, waiting for her mana to regenerate.

“Tell me, isn’t there another saintess in the temple of light? Hasn’t she explained anything to you about your skills?” she asked instead.

“...No...I don’t think Lady Darla likes me... And the high priest just gave me a bunch of old books to study, plus he meets with me from time to time and explains some things to me. But mostly it’s just a bunch of boring stories about the past, the gods and the temple” and even though it was just the two of them in the room after the court mages took the rest of the heroes away to the dungeon to train that morning, leaving her and Edward to be healed under the watchful eye of the temple knights, Clarissa whispered as if anyone could hear their conversation, even though there were only two temple knights guarding the door from outside. And neither of them was a mage. Kalysto knew that because she inspected them as soon as the saintess entered. “Here among us, the high pontiff had to lock up Lady Darla after she made a fuss about my coming to the temple... And if I’m honest, she looks at me as if she wants to kill me. I’m terrified at the thought of being alone with that woman," she confided.

“Your accent is quite peculiar, aren’t you from this kingdom?” Kalysto asked her. The redhead cheered up immediately and began to speak.

“Of course not! I am from the kingdom of Vatha. Northeast of Balsac. Although our capital was recently destroyed by a wave of monsters... Even the temple couldn’t do anything to stop them. That’s partly why both my husband and I fled from there. That, and my father wanted to sell me to an ugly old nobleman. She grunted the last. And she continued talking as if the two were lifelong friends who had recently met again after many years without seeing each other. “Even if the handsome Duke of Lanish had not rejected the proposal sent to him by my father, who was only interested in the mine of mana crystals that were discovered in that duchy, I would have eloped with Batian, anyway!”

Kalysto blinked, while silently observing the energetic young woman.

“I didn’t know that the saintesses of the Temple of Light were allowed to marry.”

The redhead’s face paled as she realized the mistake she had just made.

“They can’t...uh...I...I...I think...I’d better go, yes," she mumbled nervously as she abruptly stood up from the chair she had been sitting in.

But Kalysto stopped her with her good hand.

“Since you have been so kind as to tell me your secret," she whispered, and they both looked toward the closed door of the room, “let me tell you one that might be beneficial to both of us,” then Kalysto pulled out a bottle of mana from the ones she had looted. “If you take small sips of this potion, your mana will rise much faster, and if you spend it right away healing me, your skill ‘Jhil’ will rise more easily. And when you reach level 10, and another skill called Jhil Ezhil will unlock. That one will allow you to heal much better and regenerate wounds faster.”

“How do you know all that and where did you get that potion?” She asked in surprise, looking at the small enchanted glass bottle and marveling at the pretty blue color of the liquid inside.

“Well, you’ll have to promise not to tell anyone. What’s more, why don’t we make a contract? If you agree not to tell a single soul about what I show, deliver or say to you now, in the past or in the future, then I might tell you a little more and give you a couple of mana potions with which you can heal me and raise your skill level a little. What do you say?” She offered with a kind smile.

“Of course!” The redhead replied, delighted with the story.

A violet window opened before her.

[Does the user wish to enter into a binding soul contract with Clarissa Bor?]

[YES/NO]

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