Irene could feel her ears ringing as the world around shifted and churned.
She could not help but gulp as she sensed the immense power that seemed to reside with every terrifying word that the being she knew as Angel, spoke.
Waves of nausea were pounding on her very mind and body.
She could feel that she was on the verge of silent insanity.
It was only the presence of Angel's residual power that stuck to her Will that was keeping her sane. She could feel it emit a pleasant comfort with every arriving syllable.
Irene was capable of staying awake as the being in front of her spoke in some convoluted language of garbled letters and space-rending phrases.
Every word that was spoken seemed to appear in the air to depict an abstract image that Irene could only assume was writing. Lines, shapes, and what she could swear were simple squiggles were actually pulsating with a veiled power.
"▢▢▢▢▢▢."
Irene heard the final word being spoken, and the abstract image in front of her seemed to speak into her mind.
The contents flowed into her, and she understood every single word that had been written even if she could not understand the writing.
It spoke of all the things they had mentioned earlier, as well as the secrets that she had to keep.
It was not made like a conventional contract, and it really showed just how young the existence in front of her was.
But at the same time, Irene felt that even if there were loopholes, exploiting such things in such a terrifying contract such as this would be risky. The need for absolute professionalism was dwarfed in the presence of the sheer 'meaning' that dwelled in the mysterious words spoken.
Irene then took a deep breath, and 'signed' the contract by injecting a part of her very soul into it.
Hummmmmm!
She felt something bind her to certain conditions. A complex rune then appeared in the depths of her soul.
She tried to get into a meditative state and sense its presence in her mind, but just looking at it made her head throb.
"That's my mark, Irene. The contract has been signed. If you think of me strongly, I will know."
Irene nodded, as she shakily stood up.
"Can I give it a try?" She asked, excited by the idea that she had access to these wings even without Angel being right beside her.
"Of course~"
Irene closed her eyes and then thought about those grey wings made out of fog and smoke.
Fwoosh!
The wings appeared, just as they had when she first established a connection with Angel's consciousness.
"Well then," Angel stood up and gave Irene a small, cute bow, "See you around, Irene. I will claim those 5 gold coins in the future~"
Irene then watched as the child-like body of fog before her disintegrated into a loose cloud.
Then it became a faint fog that surrounded her.
And then it became too thin for her to see.
Only the rapidly softening giggles of a child rang out in her ears.
"Angel left, just like that..." Irene mumbled to herself.
The short-term collaboration had ended... but a pair of grey wings still displayed themselves on her back.
.
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Athelei was thinking about the contract he had just created.
"I wonder why speaking my native tongue doesn't attract anything hostile?" He muttered out loud as he drifted unnoticed in the early morning sky.
With how many answers Athelei had gained in just one night, a mountainous pile of follow-up questions were scratching at his mind, wanting to be answered.
'On another hand, the special mark makes sense,' Athelei nodded to himself, 'The answers are fairly obvious to me, and that has to do with Irene's willingness to accept the initial connection. It allows me to leave a portion of my consciousness within her soul, and my wings can be summoned through it... After all, my wings are creations of the mind. They're a product of my consciousness.'
'As for the infinite range between the connection of my main consciousness and the mark, it should have similar mechanics to the Cosmic Interface. Something about information entanglement, if I think about it right... It could also be because a lot of the universe has a part of me, so a medium is omnipresent...' Athelei crossed his nonexistent arms as the light of sunrise warmed him.
An idea suddenly surfaced in Athelei's mind.
'If I can somehow strengthen my consciousness even further, could I control my physical body while I separate my consciousness? In theory, my consciousness is already extremely powerful, but perhaps not in all manners of existence. I'm a mortal now, and therefore there should be some aspect where I can grow and I just haven't figured it out yet... Sure, I can annihilate other mortal consciousnesses, but those were from humans... I need to think about this more.'
Athelei felt his excitement once again consume him, 'The things that a mortal can do is unending and none of them come easy. I am truly addicted to this feeling.'
The sun was now bringing its golden rays to the semi-ruined city of Aren. The fourth Exiled Raid has been completed, and its battle has ended. Athelei was ecstatic to have been a witness to this small, but still relevant, ending.
'Ah, that reminds me...' Athelei glanced below him as the shine of cyan and purple caught his eye. 'I should be able to sneak another two Nebula Gems into the inn...'
.
.
.
When Athelei returned to 'wake up,' Lisa was shaking him awake.
"W-what's happening?" Athelei groggily raised his tired body and rubbed his blurry eyes. "Lisa?"
"You're finally awake! Come on, it's time for breakfast. We're leaving soon." Lisa pulled Athelei onto her back, and the latter allowed himself to be carried. "Also Aren got attacked last night. You might want to read about it on the Information Network."
"Huwaaaaa~" Athelei yawned as he piggybacked on Lisa and hung his arms lazily over her shoulders, "My body is still exhausted from yesterday, and I might have a fever." He said, realising just how fatigued his little human body was from all the travelling, spars, and more.
The moment his body was allowed to sleep on a soft mattress, it gave in.
"Oh my gods, Orien! You're right..!" Lisa was shocked. She felt her partner's body temperature was soaring. "We will have to visit a priest on our way out of Aren, then..."
Lisa was worried. Getting sick in the middle of a journey was not good, for his safety would be threatened. A weak body would result in even more dangerous things to befall him on his way.
'But I know how to help him,' Lisa thought to herself, 'My mother never helped me when I was sick, so I should be able to take care of Orien as I did for myself...'
"Come on Orien, you need to eat to give yourself energy. At least do that before we set off. Don't nod off just yet!" Lisa shook the sick Orien on her back. She did it as gently as she could, but with enough force to keep him awake.
With a weak hand, Athelei drew the pattern for Hunter and allowed his Mystical Energy to give his body strength. It worked, but not as much as he had hoped. 'I need to learn patterns for healing and rest... I really have been pushing myself too far these days.'
Lisa had to spoonfeed Athelei during breakfast, and she also took it upon herself to carry his things.
"That's right..." Athelei muttered when Lisa loaded his luggage, "The earrings..."
Lisa noticed Athelei speaking and she asked, "Earrings? The ones we... were given?"
Athelei nodded sluggishly. He was half-sitting, half-lying down inside the carriage.
"Use my... dagger... to pierce... my ears..."
The numbing would help with any pain, and since Athelei had used up all the Arc Cobra poison some time ago, it would be safe enough. It was also wickedly pointy and sharp. The very tip was actually barely visible. It was as thin as a strand of air, which Athelei only discovered when his slashes were able to reach slightly further than he initially thought.
Hearing his words, Lisa worked quickly. She trusted Athelei's decisions. After all, she had also been told that he was blessed and if she was hesitant about something, it would be a good idea to ask Athelei what he thought about it.
She unsheathed the Needle of Motionlessness from Athelei's luggage. And with a delicate grasp of the blade, she pierced Athelei's ears.
No blood came out, and the holes were very clean. Lisa then inserted the asymmetric White Jade Earrings and dripped a drop of herbal solution onto both ears. She then fed a spoonful to Athelei and then monitored the state of his ears for the next two minutes,
"It looks like there won't be any problems... Do the earrings help in healing?" Lisa asked after a sigh of relief.
"Mhm, but not really healing I think. The Cosmic Interface told me that it would adjust my body. I don't know how exactly though..."
Athelei was curious what kind of an adjustment it would make. Any fears of death or uncontrollable mutation was trumped by his immense curiosity as usual.
'Let's see what it can do,' Athelei inwardly giggled and leaned his head on Lisa's shoulder to sleep. The fever made his head feel funny and his memories were blurry.