Chapter 178: Errands (1/2)
”It's gone,” Flavia confirmed as she patted her head where Wis had been sitting. She then looked at Rakna who was deep in thought. ”Did you understand his clues?”
”Hm… somewhat. I might have a few ideas,” he answered and shrugged. ”I'll check them out later on. For today, I have a few errands to do.”
”What kind?”
”Well, other than training and visiting the shop… I need Evelyn for one of them actually. I want to go consult someone about Sonata's connection with her,” Rakna said and then realized, ”I guess I could've asked that to the damn hat as well.”
”Can I tag along?” Flavia asked.
”No.” She was denied by a stern-looking Nyx. ”You need a few days of rest. Even if it's just for a stroll, it's better that you stay here. Soul injuries are graver than you can imagine. It's not because you feel healthy physically that you're out of danger.”
”Fine…” She sulked.
”You can take the occasion to learn about soul meditation,” Rakna said.
Nyx nodded. ”I'll teach her.”
”Also; Fray, do you have any books about Runecraft, Chaos Magic, or others in your library?”
”{Of course! Here, I'll forward them to you. You can summon them.}”
Rakna cast Star Hearth, the sound of a forging hammer resounding in his ears again, and a pile of books was weaved onto his open hand by cold energy. They were about several different elements of magics and even magic circles.
'I'll have to check those at some point,' he thought and effortlessly lifted them. He put them on the table. ”Here, we talked about you learning runecraft before but I might need Higure's help today so I can't let her stay here to teach you. So, read through these instead for now. I suppose you can ask Nyx for help when there is something you don't understand. She should know about these.”
”It should not be a problem,” the night goddess said as she flipped through one of the books with an analytical eye. ”It looks rather rudimentary. There are some incoherent sections here and there it seems, but I will rectify it for her.”
Flavia groaned as she slumped on the table. ”And the teacher becomes a student… I thought I was done with studying after graduating college…” She grumbled and Tyran tried to cheer her up.
”I'll go pack my equipment and change,” Evelyn said and hurried to the room.
”Rakna,” Nyx raised her voice and tossed a ring to him. ”It's a bit overdue but we're done sorting the items we got from Grit Castle. We also added some other things we got separately and we reserved a set of armor for you; I've just added the one Flavia got from her Dungeon too. See for yourself.”
”Right. I forgot about that,” Rakna admitted as his Item Box opened. ”I still can't really wrap my head around the idea of real 'loot'…” He looked through what was inside and found a row of items. He transferred them to his storage and tossed Nyx's ring back.
”By the way, do you girls know where Allan and Marie are?”
Nyx shrugged. ”I do not. I am fairly sure Allan also got lodging from his guild but we never got the chance to ask him where it was.”
”I see… I'll message him later about waiting for Flavia to recover before we go to the next Plateau.”
”I'm ready,” Evelyn said cheerily as she rushed out in her usual attire and cloak.
Rakna nodded and extended his hand toward Sonata who was sitting on a chair. The scarf flew to him and swirled around his arm before wrapping itself around his neck, where Pronos happily took a spot. ”Let's go then,” he said and waved goodbye as he left with Evelyn.
When the door closed, Nyx sat down at the table and adjusted a pair of glasses on her nose.
”…where did you get those glasses?” Flavia asked in confusion.
”Not important. So, here's how it's going to go. We will spend an hour or two for you to learn the basics of runecraft and magic circle theory. Then two hours to practice your elements. I will try to help you with space and time, although I am not that well-versed in them. In the afternoon, we'll attack your magic control to stabilize your Chaos Magic. Then, we'll focus on the soul meditation and maybe aim to form a soul organ within the week.”
Flavia blinked. ”What about breaks? When are they?”
”What is that?”
”…save me…”
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Rakna landed right in front of Old Wang's stall with Evelyn following closely behind him. The very second that he touched the ground, the dwarf smiled at him in greeting.
”Hey, kiddo! I saw you on the TV yesterday. You're making some big waves already. I even read on an article that the Church gifted you one of their Holy Swords. I'm almost jealous.”
”Really? The sword's nice but I don't really think it's up to your standards,” Rakna said honestly as he took a seat. Evelyn quietly and shyly sat next to him. Unlike the rest of the group, she hadn't met Wang before.
”Hah! It's not a question of which sword is stronger or weaker,” the dwarf replied. ”The sanctified items of the Church are always a treat to look at because they were made by some of the best metal workers in the System's history. One of them was a man named Xafr. Arguably the best blacksmith ever known. He's the one who forged their Excalibur. I would do anything to get a glimpse of it.”
Rakna snorted. He waved his hand and the ornate Holy Sword came out right out of his storage into the hands of Wang who quickly let go of his cooking utensils to catch it. He looked bewildered at it and laughed.
”You're fearless, kiddo. Handling something like this so casually,” he said but didn't stop himself from scrutinizing every single detail of the sword.