Soul of the Warrior

Chapter 283: Eve of Adventure

The weird space-time anomaly didn’t last longer than a few moments. The nature of the anomaly made it seem like it went on for much longer than it actually did, but once things returned to normal, everyone realized it had only been a few heartbeats. Reivyn turned to his sparring partner and gave a quick, shallow bow to the man.

“Thank you for the spar, but it’s time for us to head out,” Reivyn said.

“Sure, no problem,” the man replied. “If you want to continue in the future, you can find me here most early afternoons after lunch.”

“Thanks.”

Reivyn signaled to his father and Teilon. The other two nodded and the three of them replaced their borrowed practice gear.

“It will take a little time for them to get cleaned up,” Refix said. “Let’s take our time on the way back.”

“So would now be a good time to grab a quick drink?” Teilon piped up. “After what I just went through, I could really use one.”

Reivyn observed his friend. Teilon was pale and sweaty, much sweatier than the physical exercise he had gone through accounted for. True to his word, Refix had found him a sparring partner that used a variety of poisons.

Teilon didn’t have a very high Poison Resistance Skill, though, so his opponent only used some mildly uncomfortable concoctions during their match. Reivyn didn’t know exactly what the poisons did, but he could tell his friend was mostly just feeling terrible and not hurt or missing a lot of Health Points.

“Briefly rewarding yourself after self-improvement, in these situations, doesn’t count as ‘having fun,’” Refix nodded his head. “It’s alright to indulge yourself a little bit as long as you don’t go overboard and let yourself get carried away.”

“Sounds good to me!” Teilon immediately perked up. He still looked terrible, but at least his expression had brightened up.

The trio were still aware of Reivyn’s Divine Sense and the stipulation that he stay away until an appropriate time, so they headed to a different establishment to grab a quick drink. They just ducked into the closest tavern to the practice grounds they had used.

The nature of Adventurers, especially the older, more seasoned ones, meant there were always some people present in any drinking establishment open for business. The tavern wasn’t full by any means, but there were still a decent amount of people present drinking, eating, and socializing with each other despite the relatively early hour of the day.

The three weren’t going to spend an extended period of time or grab anything to eat, so they just sat at the bar directly.

“What’ll it be?” The barkeeper sidled over and asked Refix, the most mature looking one of the group.

“These two are lower-Tier, but they have high Stats,” Refix opened. “Do you have anything you’d recommend for, let’s say… low Tier 5, high Tier 4?”

“Of course!” The barkeeper exclaimed with a smile. “Even though most people that come through here are at least mid Tier 5, we keep stocked for the teetotallers. That should work just fine for the pair of young gentlemen.”

“Sounds good to me,” Reivyn nodded. “We’re not here to get drunk, after all.”

“Speak for yourself,” Teilon quipped with a smirk. Refix smacked him in the back of the head without looking. “Hey!” Teilon rubbed the back of his head as he shot a look of mock-hurt at Refix. Refix just quirked an eyebrow at his son’s friend. “I mean, yeah, not here to get drunk… right now.”

Refix rolled his eyes, but he couldn’t hide the quick tug at the corner of his lips from Reivyn’s perception.

“Make it three,” Refix said, putting some silver on the countertop. “It’s been a while since I’ve had anything strong, myself.”

“Coming right up!”

The barkeeper snagged three mugs from the shelf behind him and made his way to one of the smaller kegs. They were placed under the bar to be out of the way, but Reivyn could see them just fine. Each one was made from an aged wood that Reivyn didn’t recognize, but by the concentration of mana still lingering in the wood, he could place them as locally sourced Tier 5 materials. They didn’t look like the mundane wood all around the Outpost, though, so he suspected they were actually some type of wood natural treasure.

Not only were the kegs made from powerfully mana-infused wood, he could see symbols etched into the side with some sort of silvery-ink Reivyn assumed were enchantments. He could sense Mana flowing from the symbols into the wood of the mini barrels, and they flared briefly as the barkeeper used the taps to fill the three mugs.

A light golden liquid flowed into the mugs and settled with the perfect head sitting on the top. The barkeeper placed the three mugs in front of the three customers and swiped the silver coins. He pocketed the coins and copper change appeared in his hand. Refix waved him away as he made to place the coins in front of him. The barkeeper simply nodded with a smile and the coins disappeared into whatever storage device the man used for his currency.

The three men grabbed their mugs and clinked them together before taking a drink. Reivyn and Refix initially only took a sip to gauge the flavor, but Teilon went straight for a decent gulp. Reivyn had never known his friend to be much of a big drinker, but they had been apart for several years at this point. He didn’t act like someone who needed a drink, but he was definitely more experienced in the art of drinking than Reivyn.

“Ahhhhh, that hits the spot,” Teilon said with a dramatic sigh. He wiped the bit of foam clinging to his upper lip as he set the mug back on the countertop.

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“You know, I have to agree,” Reivyn said, appraising the golden drink.

Despite the color, it wasn’t light on the flavor. He didn’t know much about alcoholic beverages, but he did know this one was delicious. There was only a hint of alcohol in the flavor profile, but he knew not to underestimate it after the prank his parents had pulled on him and his academy friends all those years ago. It wasn’t the alcohol density that would be the problem, but the enhancement to the alcohol added by the mana density. It was like an additional type of purity.

There’s probably a component of type as well, Reivyn briefly contemplated. Different affinities and/or natural treasures will have different effects on the potency.

It was an interesting question, and Reivyn could see how there was actually a lot to learn on the subject, but he wasn’t much of a drinker, so it didn’t interest him beyond simply acknowledging it existed. Reivyn glanced at Teilon’s contented expression as he took another drink. Maybe it’s a field of study Teilon would be interested in. It might be an inroad into getting him to “accidentally” work on his different affinities. The thought of tricking Teilon into additional training made Reivyn chuckle.

Reivyn and Refix sipped on their drinks while Teilon downed his quickly. Even though they weren’t drinking nearly as quickly as Teilon, it didn’t take them that long to finish their beverages. They were only spending enough time to allow Kefira and the girls to get cleaned up and presentable, anyway.

The three stood from the bar and made their way to the exit. Teilon slightly swayed on his first step, but he centered himself and regained his balance. He shot a look at Reivyn who was walking perfectly normally.

“I’m a full Tier higher than you, have obviously more experience drinking, and yet I’m the one who stumbles while you’re still perfectly fine,” Teilon shook his head.

Reivyn shrugged.

“I didn’t chug my drink,” he said. “Plus I’m pretty sure I higher Stats and Poison Resistance than you.”

“Not everything’s a competition,” Teilon said with a smile, slinging an arm over Reivyn’s shoulder.

Reivyn rolled his eyes.

“You’re right, I shouldn’t have brought it up.”

“Just so you know,” Teilon nodded his head.

Refix just chuckled.

The three took their time and slowly made their way back to the inn. Reivyn was confident they had wasted enough time for the girls to finish everything up. As his Divine Sense came into range where he could see into the inn rooms, he slowed down further so he wouldn’t accidentally see something he wasn’t supposed to, and he could react quick enough to shut the Skill down.

It actually wouldn’t be the first time he saw more than he should have, and he definitely had private scenes of strangers enter the range of his Skill on a regular basis, but he had gotten good enough at partitioning the information from his Skill that he didn’t actually consciously notice such things. It was like catching a glimpse of something out of the corner of his eye, and then it was quickly banished from his mind.

When he got close enough, he saw that the girls were already sitting at a table in the common room. They had a spread of food out in front of them, enough for everyone once the three men rejoined them, though Kefira seemed to be devouring a larger than normal portion.

“They’re done and have already grabbed a table and food in the common room,” Reivyn said.

Refix and Teilon just nodded as the three resumed a normal pace now that they had confirmation it was an appropriate time to return. The three entered the inn and made a beeline to the girls’ table under Reivyn’s direction. The girls looked up and waved to them as they saw them.

Reivyn sat down next to Kefira and noticed her bedraggled state. She had clearly taken a bath and made herself presentable, but Reivyn could see the exhaustion in her face and movements. He frowned slightly at the sight.

“You look… wrung out,” Reivyn said. He almost said “terrible,” but he caught himself before he could make such a faux pas.

“You have no idea,” Kefira replied with a tired smile. “Though I actually feel fantastic, now.”

“Well, that’s good at least. Was it such an ordeal?”

“Oh yeah,” Ameliyn answered, allowing Kefira to continue to eat. She needed to replenish her energy. “Specific instructions have to be followed when doing things the normal way. Just absorbing the energy directly doesn’t do anything for everyone else. It will just fill us up with vital energy that will slowly bleed away without any lasting benefits. Technically that’s what all the other natural treasures Kefira took previously did, but the final process directed those vital energies to the correct purpose.”

“I see,” Reivyn said. “I mean, I guess I always knew that, but what exactly did that entail?”

“Oh, not much,” Ameliyn replied nonchalantly. “She just needed to stab herself with those thorns, let the fiery energies of the natural treasures burn away her impurities, and let the vital energies repair and enhance the damage.”

Reivyn sat in silence for a moment before he suddenly comprehended the words his mother spoke. His head fiercely gurned to his mother, shock on his face.

“Wait, what?”

Ameliyn laughed at his reaction before explaining the full process to him. Reivyn sat in silence for several more moments, contemplating the activation method.

“Why would anyone ever do that?” He finally asked, puzzled.

“Well… it’s the way to do it?” Ameliyn said. “I’m not sure what to tell you. It’s the necessary steps.”

“No, I mean the first person to do it. Why would the first person who did it do it? What could possibly have been going through their mind to think, ‘this will work.’”

“Oh! That’s simple. They were told to.”

Reivyn quirked an eyebrow at his mother.

“The first person to do it was told to do it? How does that work?”

“Not everything is guess-work,” Ameliyn said. “You know that high Level priests can communicate with the Ascended beings they worship, and you know about the Akashic Record. Knowledge exists outside of the normal channels.

“We don’t know if it was a divine revelation from an Ascended being or if it was just a fundamental truth of the world, but the first people to do it asked the question and received the answer. It’s as simple as that.”

“Yeah, sounds simple,” Reivyn rolled his eyes. “What do you mean ‘fundamental truth?’”

“The Akashic Record is a perfect example,” Refix interjected. “It contains information about the world, objects, creatures, even the System itself, and you can access it with your Skill. That information exists even if it isn’t written down anywhere.

“Powerful beings can look at it directly. Ascended beings are the prime example. We know that Akashic Records of different lineages contain different types and amounts of information, so we can speculate that it depends on the specialty of the person. Basically they understand a subject so much they master the very fabric of truth of that subject.

“That’s just for inherently understanding a fundamental truth. There are other ways, too. Some high-Tier Classes have divination abilities. They can seek out partial answers to specific questions. Like they might be able to get the process of advancing Bloodlines without understanding the underlying principles involved.

“There might be other Classes that arrive at the same answer through different means, too. Maybe there’s a Class somewhere out there that focuses on enhancing people’s bodies or something and they got a Class Skill that showed them the way.” Refix shrugged. “We don’t know the details, just that it’s the way most weird or complicated things were figured out.”

“Really? Most things?” Reivyn was skeptical. “Then why is there so much research being conducted and why aren’t they using divination or petitioning the churches for the answers?”

Refix shrugged.

“Don’t know. It hasn’t been used in a long time. About the same amount of time that it’s been difficult for people to Ascend. Whatever caused the change in Ascension has also interfered with talking to Ascended beings and using divination outside of the Akashic Record.”

“Well… alright, then,” Reivyn said after a moment. “I’m getting hungry with all this food in front of me, so I guess I’ll go ahead and eat.”

Kefira had never stopped eating during the entire conversation. She wasn’t eating fast or without manners, but she was eating at a consistent pace. Teilon and Kimberly had prepared their own plates and were talking to each other in whispers. Serilla sat in silence with a finished plate on the table in front of her. Ameliyn likewise had remnants of a finished meal in front of her.

Reivyn and Refix apportioned themselves servings of the various dishes on the table and started eating as well.

“It’s a bit too late in the day to start our expedition, so we’ll go first thing in the morning,” Refix said between bites. “We’ve all already done some form of training or other today, too, so I suggest we have a break for the rest of the day. Just be sure to be in bed at a decent time to get well-rested. We’re going to leave the Outpost at dawn.”

“Sounds good, boss,” Teilon said, quickly looking up from his conversation with Kimberly. The others around the table nodded in agreement.

Reivyn and Refix quickly finished their meal, but Kefira was still steadily filling her stomach. Reivyn continued to sit with her and Serilla at the table. Refix and Ameliyn got up when Refix finished to go do their own thing, and they were quickly followed by Teilon and Kimberly.

The Party disbanded into three separate groups for the rest of the day. Kefira eventually finished replenishing her energy, and Reivyn and Serilla stayed with her. They spent the rest of the day just lazily relaxing. Kefira wasn’t really in the mood for doing anything other than lounging with Reivyn by her side, and Reivyn was perfectly happy to accompany her. Serilla, obviously, would stick to Kefira.

Everyone made it back to their rooms in a timely manner and spent another night in a comfy bed for the last time in a while. The next day would see them out on another adventure, sourcing materials for their own Bloodline, racking up Life Experience, and Skill and Class Levels.