Chapter 92: Chapter 92

“You know her?” asked Nick, looking back at Elise.

“Yes. And she knows… a lot. Most of my secrets. You can let her in.”

Nick nodded, then stepped aside, allowing Maggie to step in. She looked completely different than she had in Everspring, and much closer to the version of her in her soul realm. The armor wasn’t identical, and from what Elise could tell it looked like it was missing a few pieces, likely for comfort and ease of movement. Still, she looked hale and hearty, and not at all like the drug addict she was a few months prior.

“I only have a little while,” said Maggie, stepping inside. “A short conversation, then I’ll have to get going.”

“Works for me,” said Elise. “We can talk in my room.”

“Sounds good. Lead the way.”

Elise’s room upstairs was inscribed with some privacy enchantments that were a little above average, so she could be reasonably certain they wouldn’t be overheard. She doubted they would stop Irylax, but she also doubted there was much Maggie knew that Irylax didn’t. Both of them seemed to have direct connections to the gods, and Elise was pretty sure that Irylax picked up on the fact that she was reincarnated when she was teaching soul meditation. If Irylax decided to tell Sophie that, then so be it, but otherwise, Elise wanted to keep a few things to herself, at least for now.

“It’s not really the best place to host guests, but you can sit in the desk chair or on the bed if you want,” said Elise when they got in.

“I’ll just stand,” said Maggie. “I’ll be leaving in a few minutes, so it doesn’t really matter. Anyway, you look good. Your soul especially looks good. Much better than when I last saw you?”

“Does it?” asked Elise.

She had been doing daily soul meditation, but progress was so slow that it was difficult to tell exactly how far she had come. She knew there was progress, because even to her, it was visible, but hearing from an outside source made her feel good.

“Very good,” said Maggie, nodding. “You’re probably not more than a couple months away from full stabilization. Do you have an idea what you’re going to try to turn your {Rune of Fate} into? You have a bit of a unique position where you found out about it before it was set, so you can try to influence it yourself.”

“I’ve thought about it…” said Elise. “But I haven’t settled on anything. I’m half tempted to not try anything and just let it set itself when my soul stabilizes.”

“That’s certainly an option,” said Maggie. “Though you might not like it.”

“When it sets automatically, it bases itself off the soul’s deepest desires, and for someone like you who isn’t fully in tune with your soul, you aren’t fully aware of your deepest desires. You might end up surprised in a way that you don’t like.”

“For example, you might find out that deep down, you want nothing more than to kill people, and it will be reflected by the fact that your Rune of Fate will become rather murderous.”

“So it would be best if, at the very least, you figured out what you want at your core, so that even if you decide to let it set itself, you won’t be as surprised. To figure that out, I recommend looking at your immediate, unfiltered reactions to things. Take mental notes, and note the recurring ones, and the situations they appear in. For example, if you often find yourself getting angry when someone innocently assumes you to be weak or unimportant, you may be prideful by nature, and that may be reflected by your Rune of Fate.”

She started trying to think back to past unfiltered reactions, but Maggie stopped her.

“Not right now though,” she said. “You can do that after I leave. For now, I’ve come on business.”

Immediately, all thought of her Rune was forgotten as she thought of the reason that Maggie was there. There was really only one possible reason, and it was the promise that Maggie had made when they parted. She would try to find a soul healer, and whether she succeeded or failed, she would relay that to Elise in person. Now, here she was, and Elise couldn’t help but feel a surge of hope as she imagined Jag waking back up.

“Did you find a soul healer?” she asked.

“Sort of,” said Maggie. “It’s a bit complicated. I’m sure you’re aware, but soul healers of the caliber you need are few and far between. On top of that, they are more or less exclusively servants of some deity or another, and because monsters don’t typically worship gods, that means that they are all humanoids. I tracked down three soul healers that would likely be able to save your friend, but none were willing to heal a monster. Despite Ostra making a name for themselves as a peaceful, heroic group of monsters, the opinions of the highest-leveled humanoids are more often than not negative, and it will take a while for that to change, if it ever does.

“Having said all that, there is one person who would be willing, but they don’t yet have the ability. I believe they will in the future, and possibly in the near future, depending on how they use their time, but for now, they are not ready. Despite that, I think it would be a good idea to get to know them as soon as possible, and form a relationship, and maybe even help them out a little bit. Plus, I think you and her have a lot in common.”

“What do you mean?” asked Elise.

“The one I’m speaking of is the Saintess of the church of Light, and like you, she is not from this world.”

“Really?” asked Elise, leaning forward, her eyes wide.

“Yes,” said Maggie, smiling at Elise’s excitement. “And unless I’m mistaken, she is from the same world as you. So I think you two should get along well.”

“Well, just because we’re from the same world doesn’t mean we’ll get along…” said Elise, but that still wasn’t enough to dampen her mood.

“Well, I’ve met her, and at the very least, you shouldn’t hate each other,” said Maggie. “She’s a nice girl.”

“Where is she?” asked Elise.

“Ah, you see, there’s the problem,” said Maggie, raising a finger. “Right now, her location is secret, and her identity is being kept hidden, and as a paladin of Light, I am not permitted to disclose any information that might compromise her. Otherwise, I might be able to tell you something like that you have already met her, for example. Or that you have opportunities to see her almost every day. Or that she had received a prophecy that has her looking out for a white rabbit. Things like that.”

Maggie didn’t wink, but her tone made it obvious that all of the “examples” were the truth. With that she could deduce that the Saintess was also attending the school, though in disguise. After all, where else would Elise have already met her, and how else would she see her every day? It wasn’t like she really left her room when she wasn’t going to school.

“Ah, it’s a shame that you’re bound by such restrictions,” said Elise.

“Yes, such a shame,” said Maggie, shaking her head sadly. “It’s unfortunate, but there’s no way around it. You’ll just have to find her yourself. But what are the odds that she would be right nearby, or even have a class with you or something like that? Astronomically low, probably. I’m afraid your relationship maybe isn’t meant to be.”

“Maybe,” said Elise, suppressing a smile. “By the way, while you’re here, I had a question.”

“Go ahead. I’ve still got a minute or so before I should be heading out.”

“Right now, I can channel Titania’s aether. In the past I’ve used it to heal people from the brink of death with my {Fairy Dust}. I was told by some very experienced, knowledgeable people that it wouldn’t work, but I never got a clear answer why. Since it’s all aether, couldn’t it heal Jag?”

“Well, technically,” said Maggie. “But I highly doubt you receive enough to properly save him. No doubt, the amount you receive is immense, but healing a wounded soul by dumping aether on it is like trying to fix a leaky bucket by pouring more water into it. It may keep it full, at least temporarily, but it won’t fix the source of the issue. You said your friend’s soul was damaged by direct aether attacks and that his hearts had stopped beating for a while. That means that his soul has more issues than just needing some aether. And as versatile as {Fairy Dust} is, healing souls is likely beyond its reach. Soul healing is rare, and even Skills like {Fairy Dust} and {Fey Bargaining} are limited in what they can do with it.”

“Then again, it might help a little,” said Maggie. “And even if not, if you did that, it could keep him stable for as long as you did it. Actually, while we have time, why don’t we do that? Then I’ll be able to look at his current state and give a more accurate prognosis.”

“A– are you sure?” asked Elise

She was terrified that Jag was seconds away from death, and that bringing him out would fully kill him.

“Yes,” said Maggie. “Though you should probably activate the Rune first, then take him out.”

Elise closed her eyes and began praying to Titania.

Titania, if this is going to kill Jag, please don’t send me any aether. Otherwise, please send me as much as you can.

For a tense moment, nothing happened. Then, all at once, a quantity of aether as big as Irylax’s pool filled her body. It was evidently too much for {Subtle Royalty}, as she heard the barest hint of a warning buzzer before she felt something in her mind snap and an angry red System window appeared in front of her.

[ Error: {Subtle Royalty} has failed. The Skill has been damaged. Further use could damage the Skill further. Please wait 12 hours before using the Skill again. ]

“Shoot,” she muttered.

“Ah, that’s my bad,” said Maggie, wincing. “I should have known that would happen. How damaged is it?”

“It says I have to wait 12 hours to use it again.”

“That’s not too bad then,” said Maggie. “But this is a good lesson. In the future, make sure to disable any aether control Skills before summoning any divine aether.”

“Right,” said Elise, nodding.

“Now, bring him out. Let’s take a look.”

She reached for Astrid’s Star, then paused, then started pouring {Fairy Dust} onto the ground with healing, and specifically soul healing in mind. Then, she switched to her base form, because she knew that she could output more aether that way. Only then did she summon Jag from the necklace onto the ground where the fairy dust was hitting.

He lay there, limp and unmoving, and as far as Elise could tell, he was completely dead. However, as the dust from her wings hit him, his wounds began visibly healing, and after nearly a minute, his hearts even began beating again. Elise would have been happy if not for the fact that Maggie had such a concerning expression on her face as she knelt beside him and put her hand on his head.

A few seconds after his body was healed, Maggie looked up at Elise and nodded.

“Take him back,” she said.

Elise descended, and the moment her paws touched Jag, he disappeared back into the necklace.

“How bad is it?” she asked.

“It’s worse than I thought,” said Maggie. “But he’s not beyond saving. He will almost definitely lose levels though.”

“Only in very, very rare cases one,” said Maggie. “I don’t believe it has happened to anyone in living memory, but it is possible, and has happened before.”

“I see…” said Elise. “Will the Saintess still be able to save him?”

“Yes,” said Maggie. “Saintess is a Mythical Class, and it always upgrades to a Unique Class at Tier 6. It also always, without exception, has healing abilities, and is one of very few Classes with dedicated soul healing abilities. She will be able to save him, especially since like you, she has an inordinate amount of aether, on top of other Skills that let her channel divine aether. However, I think that for this, it might be best to wait until she reaches even 7th tier before you attempt it. She might be able to do it at 6th, but she will definitely be able to do it at 7th, so that’s the safest option.”

“Now, I really should get going,” said Maggie. “I’ve been running around ever since I returned, and if I stay too much longer, I’ll miss my next appointment. I may see you around, since the church of Light is headquartered in the city, but since I am currently trying to rebuild my Order, I will be very busy.”

“It’s fine,” said Elise. “Thank you for everything.”

“No problem,” said Maggie. “I can see myself out if you don’t want to go out yet.”

Elise focused on the absurd amount of aether she was currently host to, and decided that it was best that she stay behind. At least this way, the enchantments on the room would somewhat block her from overly influencing anyone else, even if they weren’t quite equipped to handle divine aether.

“Okay. Bye. And thank you again.”

“If you ever need me, just head down to the church of Light and say you’re my friend. Don’t say anything weird about any white rabbit prophecies. No such prophecy exists, of course, but if one hypothetically did, the one who gave said prophecy might hypothetically get in trouble if it got leaked outside the church.”

“Got it,” said Elise.

And with that, she left.

Elise waited in her room until the divine aether fully dissipated, then went downstairs to find the Gray family waiting for her, full of questions. She answered as best she could, telling them that Maggie was a friend she met in Everspring who had helped her learn a bit about aether and souls.

When they were satisfied, she returned to her room and flopped down on her bed, lost in thought. It seemed she had another couple things to add to her ever-growing to-do list. She had to stay on top of her school work, learn the unattributed mana spells, do regular soul meditation to solidify her soul realm and soul shape, figure out how to upgrade {Subtle Royalty}, and now she had to find and befriend the Saintess in one of her classes, and find out what her deepest desires were so she wouldn’t have any unpleasant surprises when she finally got her soul shape set and {Rune of Fate} shifted into its final form. As she listed them out, she started to feel a little overwhelmed until she took a deep breath.

One thing at a time, she told herself. There’s no rush on any of this.

While finding out what her desires were had to be done before finalizing her soul shape, it still wasn’t a massive rush. By Maggie’s estimate, she still had a couple months before that happened. And Jag wasn’t going anywhere. She wanted to get him out as soon as possible, of course, but if she took a bit longer, it didn’t really matter. Thɪs chapter is updated by novel•fire.net

Ironically, the most time-sensitive thing on the list was actually the unattributed spells which was the least important thing. If she wanted to advance to Intermediate Unattributed Spells, she needed to figure out {Mana Shield} before the class swap period ended in three weeks. It seemed doable, but it was pretty much the only homework that she really needed to get done. But again, it was the least important thing on the list. Getting those unattributed spells would let her use a Skill Recipe to get {Mana Manipulation}, but as useful as that Skill was, it was more of a nice-to-have thing than a necessity. And like everything else, if she took a bit longer, it didn’t matter.

She pulled out the syllabus sheet she had gotten from the class, and read through the part that talked about the {Mana Shield} Skill Quest. It was simple enough to trigger. To earn the Quest, she just needed to block an attack with unattributed mana. She had two options with that. One was to use {Telekinesis} to catch a flying projectile, and the other was to use {Magic Missile} to intercept another spell. The latter was the much easier option, but the difficulty came in what the System deemed an “attack.” Still, it wouldn’t be too difficult. She could get Sophie’s help with it.

Tomorrow, though, she thought.

It was evening, and well past sunset. She could do it the next day. For now, it was time for her regular soul meditation, and then after that was bedtime.

She spent the rest of the evening meditating, cleaning up her soul realm, then slept through the night without dreaming. In the morning, the overwhelming feeling from her to-do list was gone entirely, and she was filled only with motivation. She had a way to heal Jag laid out in front of her. It would happen. All she needed to do was find the Saintess.