24 The Healer Purai (2/2)

”I'm Dancing Princess. This is my brother Jericho the Bard. That is my friend Ken, as you can see he's a bit cursed right now. The little guy you are petting is Lux.” The dancer replied.

”Ken and Lux, good names.” She smiled. ”Princess, Jericho. Do you want to be friends?”

Jericho nodded. ”I would like to be friends but I thought you didn't like us.”

She sighed and slumped. ”I'm sorry; I can be a bit prickly sometimes when I'm upset. To be honest I don't think I will be going back to that village. I want to go out and explore. I want to learn more by experiencing things and I am tired of being yelled at for every single mistake I make.”

Jericho nodded. ”That may be for the best. But if you are going to leave, you should at least go say goodbye to Lillith.”

”Yeah, I owe it to Lilly to at least say goodbye.”

[Purai has sent you a friend request. Accept?]

The bard and dancer accepted the request.

(What about me?) Ken meowed.

The healer looked over. ”I haven't forgotten about you. I think I have a way to remove your curses. But I am not confident in my abilities.”

Ken reached out before remembering his touching curse. (Can she understand me?) He asked.

Princess looked at the unresponsive healer. ”I don't think she can understand you Ken. I'll translate for you.”

Purai looked over to Princess. ”You know what these two are saying?”

”Yep.”

”Can you ask Ken if he would like me to try and break his curses even if I am not confident in doing so?”

(Ken?) She asked.

(Please try, the fur under my armor is really itchy right now. Even a partial or defective cure would be nice.)

”He said he would be really appreciative if you would at least try. Besides, Lillith said you are really good at it.” Princess reworded her friend's statement.

”Alright.” Purai scanned Ken over a few times. ”Can you tell me what curses you have?”

(Cursed Touch, Evil Aura, Cursed Form, Unholy Corruption, Cursed Skills, and Monsterfication,) Ken listed and Princess translated.

Purai thought for a bit as she continued scanning her patient. ”If I am seeing this right, his curses are around the lower end of adept, right?”

Ken gave a nod.

The healer frowned. ”Then a normal curse removal tonic wouldn't be very effective. My skill isn't strong enough for that. However…” Her eyes lit up as she thought of a brilliant idea. ”If it is that, it should work! Can you help me pick that silverroot? It is one of the main ingredients I'm going to need.”

”I'll help” Jericho replied. ”What do you need me to do?”

”Move the dirt away from roots. Be gentle and try not to damage them.”

They dug and carefully extracted the plant.

”I have a favor to ask.” Purai bluntly said.

”Sure, a reasonable favor is something we would gladly help with.” Jericho asked. ”You are willing to help us cure our friend.”

”Can you guys help me get past the satyrs? I can't get past them on my own.”

”Sure, as long as you don't mind us trying to find a non-violent way to do it.”

The healer pulled up the plant and looked at the man in front of her. ”That sounds really nice. I'm up to trying it like that. I have to log off soon and go celebrate my grandfather's birthday and then because of the game patch being uploaded tomorrow afternoon, I won't be able to get back online until tomorrow night after it is finished.” Purai measured and cut off a large chunk of the main root and put it back in the ground. ”A new one will grow faster if it is replanted.” She explained.

”Excellent. You attempt to cure Ken's curses. Then, even if it isn't a success, we will help you get past the satyrs then when you log back in, after saying goodbye to Lillith.”

”Alright. I'll let you know when I am back.” She pulled a small table out of her inventory and carefully separated the root, stem and leafs. She placed them into bundles and sent most of them to her inventory. She pulled out a stone bowl and started to grind down the leafs with water.

Princess stared at the impressive sight. ”I can't believe you have only been doing this for two weeks. You are really good at it!”

”Thanks.” The healer replied. She drained the juices into a bottle. She pulled out a few more herbs and performed similar processes until the container was mostly full. She put on a cap to stop the bottle and shook it until it turned milky white. ”Now for two last steps.”