"I have to go on patrol now, but please rest. Don't start pushing yourself too hard just because you don't have to rest in bed all day," Alistair warned lina after eating breakfast.
"I've already understood my mistake. I won't push myself, I promise," lina said. "I might clean so stuff around here, but nothing too strenuous."
Alistair gave her a warning look, but lina just smiled innocently at him. Technically, she wasn't lying. She wasn't planning on doing anything that would put a strain on her body. But that wasn't to say that she planned on staring at the ceiling all day.
"You don't have to clean my house," he protested.
"Just so light dusting. Maybe I'll throw in a batch of laundry in that magitech washer. I've always wanted to see how it works."
"Just… be sure not to add too much washing liquid," he warned, his expression growing dark for a mont. Has sothing happened with the washing machine in the past?
"I'll be careful. But you should be careful as well. Don't underestimate a monster just because you've fought many of its kind before," lina noted.
Alistair chuckled, looking quite pleased.
"What?" She asked.
"No, it's nothing," he said with a warm smile. "I'll be back in the evening. Sienna, you're in charge."
The wyrm chittered dutifully in response, and Alistair left.
lina didn't enact her plan right away. She actually spent the morning rather peacefully. She put the laundry to wash—Alistair had a giant pile of it sitting in the laundry room. She dusted the shelves and wiped the tables sowhat absentmindedly, going slowly instead of trying to get all the surfaces.
But after a few hours had passed, and Sienna had decided that lina had no intention of doing actual hard labor, lina began.
"Sienna, would you mind sharing senses with ?" She asked the wyrm, who looked bored out of her mind.
Sienna perked up at lina curiously, although there was also a hint of suspicion in her glance.
"I was just wondering if he could try working on the skill. It's not particularly strenuous. I could do it while lying in bed. You, in the anwhile, could go outside, chase so dragonflies in the backyard."
Sienna seed to think over the suggestion for a mont, then chirped in agreent. She opened up to their bond, and lina gently activated the skill, peering into Sienna's senses.
It was just as disorienting as the first ti. The world-view from the tiny wyrm's eyes was muddled, and the sound was barely understandable. lina wouldn't call it a pleasant experience. However, from the comfort of her bed, it wasn't difficult to keep the skill active.
Sienna scurried outside into Alistair's backyard and set about exploring. It was quite different from the garden behind the bakery. There was no garden, really; instead, the place could be described as a small, grassy adow. It appeared that Alistair had cut the grass with a scythe so ti ago, as it was beginning to grow out again. A few small wildflowers peeked out here and there, attracting honeybees.
Sienna set out to chase one of them. It was dizzying trying to follow the wyrm's movent, and once she'd gotten too far, the connection broke off, and lina found herself looking at the ceiling.
[Skill ranked up. It is now Rank E.]
"I'll have to work on this skill a lot if I want it to be actually useful," lina noted, and waited for Sienna to co back. They continued working on this skill for the rest of the day until Alistair ca back ho.
The next day passed by the sa way as before, as lina tried her best to improve the link between Sienna and herself. It was much easier than before since had ranked up, not to ntion that the image and sound had beco clearer.
She also tried to relay simple instructions to Sienna, thinking hard on what she wanted the wyrm to do. Most of the ti, it didn't work, but occasionally her thoughts would go through. She tried a different instruction each ti to test exactly what was more likely to go through and whether there was a delay.
lina discovered that if the instruction was shorter, Sienna was far more likely to understand it. For example, commands like sit, jump, or catch went through almost every ti. Longer instructions like "bring a stick to the entrance" didn't reach Sienna.
lina knew that it wasn't a problem of understanding either. The wyrm was very clever and understood almost everything she or other people said. Their bond likely wasn't yet strong enough for lina to send any complex intention over to her familiar. So she did the best thing she could do—keep practicing.
[Skill has ranked up. It is now Rank D.]
The difference in results was more apparent after ranking up. lina could see and hear far more clearly through Sienna, and she could relay her intentions more accurately. The range of skills had also vastly increased—Sienna made it all the way back to the bakery before the link broke. It happened right as Gilbert noticed the little wyrm sticking to the shop window, too. She wondered whether the old baker knew what she was doing.
The progress is amazing, but it's not enough. We won't be able to maintain the link outside of town, not even talking about the Monster Realm. I need sothing to maintain the connection over vast distances.
lina had an idea of how to do it, but it would require Gilbert's cooperation. In his room of treasures, lina had noticed a pair of necklaces. They looked pretty, but among the sea of treasure, one could easily overlook them. But lina's experienced eye couldn't be fooled. She had recognized them as mana communication devices.
It was a brilliant piece of magitect that linked together two halves of the sa mana crystal and allowed the users to not just communicate over vast distances but also send mana through them. Usually, they were used during expeditions to the Monster Realm, so mages on standby in the Human Realm could supplent the mages in the Monster Realm with their mana in case of ergency.
The question was—could lina convince her old master to lend them to her and Sienna?
Saturday morning ca much sooner than lina had expected. The training with Sienna had kept her busy, although technically she did nothing more than lie in bed. So, physically, her body had plenty of ti to recover. While Alistair was ho, they spent the ti doing so light chores as lina showed him how to clean stuff most effectively.
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Of course, he wouldn't let her handle any of the real work, instead insisting on doing it himself. In her opinion, Alistair was due for a break himself with his patrols and taking care of her. The good news was that ever since she admitted to her past, his nightmares and visions had beco more sparse and also more coherent.
It was more than his mory could slowly reabsorb what he knew before, without overloading his mind. Each day, he'd rember more about the past, and although not all of it was pleasant, he accepted it in strides.
Their breakfast was a bit bittersweet as lina was due to return to the bakery. Of course, she wanted to return, but on the other hand, the ti at Alistair's house had been very enjoyable. It felt like their relationship had returned to what it was before the ti rewind—comfortable and friendly.
"You know…" Alistair said over breakfast, but then paused, looking down at his plate of pancakes. lina had made them in the morning.
"What is it?" She asked curiously as she cut off a large slice of pancake for Sienna. The wyrm ate it eagerly.
"It's a bit sad that you're leaving," he noted.
"You're going to miss your personal cleaner," lina teased.
"That too, but don't you think…" Alistair looked away.
Was his face red? She couldn't see his face well when he was looking away like that, but she swore she saw a hint of red on his ears. Was he falling ill as well? Or was it just hot? lina couldn't reliably tell the temperature anymore due to her heat resistance.
"Think what?"
"No, never mind. I think I might be rushing ahead," he said with a forced smile. His face returned to its normal color. Had he been blushing? This left lina puzzled. Was there anything he said to be embarrassed about?
"I'll co over to help you clean if you wish," she offered.
"Only if you're free. I don't want you overworking yourself," Alistair scowled.
"I promise to be careful from now on."
So they continued their breakfast, enjoying each other's company. Once done, it was ti for lina to head back to the bakery. Alistair still had to make it to the Guild by ten for the mission to the Monster Realm.
"Good morning, Master Gilbert," lina greeted. Oddly enough, she found the old baker resting in the garden, rather than in the shop. "Why is the bakery closed today?"
"Bah! When everyone heard that you had worked yourself until collapsing, they began worrying about , too. So they said that they won't co to the bakery today, and that I should rest," Gilbert spat angrily.
"They did?" lina chuckled. To think that townspeople were so considerate. She was glad, because lina had been worried that Gilbert might push himself in her absence.
"I'm not so old that I can't handle the bakery on my own anymore! I managed it just fine without you, just a few months ago, but everyone seems to have forgotten that."
"Don't worry, Master! We'll make up for what we lost this week at the festival," lina said, and gave the old man a quick side hug. She had missed him in the last few days.
Gilbert gave her a suspicious look. "Did you learn nothing?"
"I did learn. I won't push myself. Since I won't have to work at the smithy anymore, it'll be much easier. And I'll focus on the bakery and festival for now. Sienna's enclosure can wait a bit longer. Perhaps, I can hire soone to help if I make enough money."
"Good call," Gilbert nodded, then turned to Alistair, inclining his head. "Thank you for taking care of her."
"Don't ntion it. I think I benefited more than she did. My house is a whole lot cleaner now."
Gilbert glared at lina. "You just couldn't sit still, could you?"
"It was barely anything. You can't expect to just lie in bed for five days!"
"I promise, I didn't let her do anything too difficult. As much as I'd love to continue our chat, Sienna and I have a mission at 10 am we need to get to."
"Could you go ahead? I need to prepare Sienna. I promise she'll be at the Guild by 10," lina said.
"Of course. Do what you must," Alistair said, and was on his way.
"What are you plotting again, girl? I saw Sienna scurrying about the place yesterday, and I get the strongest feeling it wasn't just her curiosity," Gilbert noted.
"Can we talk about it inside?" lina asked, giving him her best pleading smile.
Gilbert sighed. "Very well, but just so you know, I'm not letting you go to the Monster Realm this ti, no matter how much you plead."
"I never had the intention of going," lina said, holding the back door open for Gilbert.
He looked at her suspiciously. "You didn't?"
"No."
"Then what are you planning?"
"Well…"
"Out with it!"
"Could I borrow your mana communicator? Just for one day," lina pleaded.
Gilbert sighed. "There it is."
"So can I?"
Gilbert hobbled inside and motioned for her to follow. "If giving you the communicator ans that you won't run off by yourself, then fine. But you are not setting one step outside the bakery until Sienna is back. Got it?"
"Crystal clear, Master!"
Alistair had been a bit worried when lina said that she needed to prepare Sienna. Like, what was there to prepare? But he decided to trust her. Perhaps, it was a thing with familiars he didn't understand. After all, it wasn't often that a familiar would go separately from its tar.
But when Sienna skittered over to his side barely a few minutes after he arrived at the designated eting spot by the Guild, Alistair relaxed. "Got what you need, Sienna?"
She chirped approvingly and scampered onto his shoulder. Alistair was a bit surprised to find a little necklace around her neck. What was that for? He had a strong suspicion it had sothing to do with the reason why lina stayed behind so readily.
"Is that lina's wyrm?" Elowen asked. He insisted on coming along on this mission, curious to see the Monster Realm.
"Indeed, it is," Alistair confird.
"I'm surprised that she's willing to leave lina's side. Usually, wyrms are apprehensive about leaving their tar," Remi noted.
"Wyrms are known to listen to their tars. If this is what Miss lina wanted, then it is not so surprising," Illitran noted.
Their party was far larger this ti, consisting of twenty warriors. Leon was there too, of course, bragging away how he had already been in the Monster Realm twice.
"Do not worry, everyone! I will guide you!" The mage had his nose high in the air and his chest puffed out like a proud peacock.
I wonder if there's a chance of having another mage join our Guild. If only they weren't so rare.
"Has everyone gathered?" Guildmaster Arianne asked and did a headcount. "Yes, everyone is here. Your mission this ti is to bring back as many useful materials as you can find. There will be several carts waiting for you outside the passage, but you're going to have to get them to the carts yourself. Don't be shy in using the wyrm, Captain Sinclair."
Sienna chittered in response.
"Good. That's all. On your way then."
On the way to the passageway, they encountered a few smaller monsters, but for such a large group, it wasn't a problem to dispose of them quickly. The hesitation ca once they had reached the passageway.
"Where is it?"
"I don't see anything."
"The Guildmaster did say it was invisible."
"Everyone, follow and Sienna. We're going to take the front position. Barrett and Remi will remain in the back to make sure nobody falls behind. Do not leave the trail," he explained to those who hadn't been to the Monster Realm before.
Sienna got off his shoulder and assud her large form, making a few adventurers stagger back. The necklace around her neck grew with her. That was so elaborate piece of magitech. Where did lina get it?
"Do not be alard. Sienna is on our side," Alistair said, and gently patted her shoulder. The wyrm accepted the gesture, and together they stepped into the misty passageway.
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