Late chapter, next one will be released soon.
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"Hm?"
'Something's wrong…'
Dale watched the 2 'newcomers' with interest and wariness… They felt familiar, yet he felt that something was wrong…
But most importantly...
'Why isn't David saying anything? It's in these moments his presence shines the most.'
Dale was very surprised at how David did not utter a single word ever since he came out of his Trance…
He had gotten used to his annoying voice and useful remarks, so he had been waiting to hear his opinion on the matter...
Even if it had been less than a day since they started communicating Telepathically, he was already used to it.
'Whatever, I'll just say hello to them… Besides, I need to ask some things to Testros…'
Dale shook his head, but he then realized something as his memory started to be refreshed…
The man in front of him… His clothes, hairstyle, and spear were oddly similar to the ones used by someone he knew…
He shook his head. No, it couldn't be…
"Dale? Are you okay?" Testros asked as he approached him with Yumi right on his side
Dale felt even more confused, did this uncle know him?
That's right, Dale wasn't hit with memory loss, instead, the root of his entire confusion was simply Testros' new appearance!
His white hair wasn't white anymore, but black, and his skin wasn't as old as before, but younger and with less wrinkles…
From a late 70-year-old man to a late 40-year-old Uncle! It was an extreme and drastic change!
It wasn't Dale's fault, Midway through Testros enlightenment, he started to fall into a Trance, so some of the final details ended up being missed by him due to his focus being elsewhere.
After all, he didn't even know that at some point in time, many people had gathered to observe him, and if it wasn't for the System Log, he wouldn't even know that over 3 hours had passed unless he looked directly at the sun...
"Uh?... I'm sorry… Have we met before?" Dale asked with a frown, making Testros freeze for a moment
He turned his head and looked at the girl in front of him, but her violet eyes immediately attracted his attention…
He then noticed the 2 floating hearts on top of her head… He knew what that was, that was the value of intimacy!
There was only one person with whom he had such high values…
"Eh?"
'Yumi?... But she looks…'
'Ahhh... I see it now... This is her real appearance...'
"You look gorgeous." He said honestly
"?!"
Yumi became paralyzed, she felt extremely embarrassed by his remark…
However, Dale wasn't trying to hit on her, he was simply used to this, even in school, he would often compliment, or simply joke with his friends, be them his close friends, or the few female friends he had.
For him, this was nothing… It was a cultural difference...
But for a countryside girl like Yumi… It wasn't.
"Th-Th-Thank you…" She said as she stuttered…
Barely even being able to reply, this was a bit too much for her as she looked at the ground in shame...
"..."
Taking his attention away from her, he looked at the 'Uncle' once again…
If he knew the girl… Then this oddly familiar person…
"Don't tell me… Old man?" He asked with a frown
"Heh, took you a while to figure out, do I look that different?" Testros asked with a smile as he passed his hand through his hair
"My hair does look more abundant than before, and my shoulder isn't as stiff as before… It feels less taxing to stretch too..."
Dale was stunned, he almost took a step back…
But he calmed down, perhaps due to the passive effects of his Skills or simply due to his strong mentality…
So he asked:
"Okay… What happened?"
Testros seemed to be in a bind, while Yumi simply had no place in this conversation…
"It's hard to explain… In short, I know what happened, but not how or the precise explanation for it… Although I believe this information is contained within the books we recovered."
Dale had to rub his eyes a few times and blink to make sure he wasn't hallucinating...
But nothing changed.
"Anything will do, just shed some light into my thoughts right now…" Dale said with a frown
"Of course…"
"I don't want to brag… But I believe I achieved what's called, an Enlightenment… Something very similar to what happened to you."
Testros scratched the back of his head and said:
"I can't… I can't really explain how and why my appearance changed though, nor can I properly explain what an Enlightenment is..."
"I just felt it and it happened, and for me, I felt as if the missing pieces of the long puzzle I had been stuck with for the past few decades had appeared, and after completing this puzzle, I'm now left like this…"
"There isn't any other way I can explain it, I'm sorry Dale, this is something I never learned before, the little I know comes from what was passed down."
"Enlightenment isn't something I'm completely unaware of, but my knowledge is too little to properly explain it."
"It comes when it comes, and when it does, one must be given space so they can thoroughly focus on understanding it, and this was what I did to you, that was why I did not intervene even when you started to get hurt…"
He then bowed slightly.
"For this I apologize, there wasn't much I could do apart from seeing you slowly destroy yourself… I'm thankful you're fine now."
Dale smiled.
"There is no need to apologize, instead, I should be thankful that you trusted me and allowed me to continue..."
'It would've been really bad had they interrupted my concentration...'
"There is a lot I want to know as well, although I'm not totally okay yet, I'll be fine soon enough…"
'Just give me a few hours and my heart will heal on its own, although that'll be most of the day, unfortunately...'
'I'll have to leave physical training and practice for tomorrow.'
"Hey um…"
Yumi interjected, raising her potion bottle to Dale:
"If it isn't too much, please take it." She said with a smile
"?"
Dale saw the potion bottle, understanding what it was about, and he couldn't help but feel touched.
Ironically enough, this was probably the first gift he ever received from a girl outside of his family and during his birthday parties…
He accepted the potion, reading its description showed it was a potion that took a lot of effort to be made, and that it was very efficient with its material consumption as expected from Yumi.
It was a bit stronger than the normal counterpart of this type of potion, but not by much, it wouldn't affect Dale's condition at all since he had already taken one of his few Elixirs, but he accepted the potion and drank it…
/Gulp!/
It was very, very, very bitter, but for Dale, this wasn't something he could just spit out.
"It's bitter." He said with a smile after he finished drinking it
But Yumi felt embarrassed…
"It... It…"
But then Testros intervened.
"HOHOHOHO… Haaa… Dale, you're supposed to apply that on your skin, not drink it…" He said, laughing
"Eh?"
Dale became a bit red, something very rare considering his mental conditioning…
Yumi also smiled, saying:
"It's okay to drink it as well, the effect won't change since it's going to be absorbed just the same, it's just that normally, the potion was made to be absorbed through the skin due to how bitter it is."
'Did he hide his expression to make me feel better?...'
Yumi felt strange...
"Haa… Looks like I was too hasty…" Dale replied with an awkward smile
'Damn… The description says it's a consumable and I took it at face value…'
'There is no method of consumption though… I should've asked…'
'Next time, whenever I see an unknown potion like this, I'll first ask how to use it first… Mental note to myself...'
/Thud…/
Testros approached Dale and said:
"How're you feeling boy?"
Dale looked at his body and said:
"Do I look younger?"
"No…" Testros replied with a smile
"So in that case, the biggest difference is how my chest is constantly hot…"
Testros shook his head and said:
"I'm not asking about that, are you feeling pain anywhere?"
Dale nodded.
"My chest hurts a bit... But I don't think it's serious, I should be fine in a few hours of good rest..."
Testros' expression sharpened...
"As I thought, so you opened the Heart Gate… I don't know how but... You're lucky to be even alive."
"What is even the heart gate though? And why is it so dangerous as you say?" Dale asked
'I do remember receiving several notifications of my heart bearing immense pressure… Is that what he is talking about?'
"The heart gate is also something I don't know much about, most of everything I know about these things comes from when I was in the Corps."
"And there is a limit to how much a Low ranked Soldier could know, well... And to be honest, at the time, I was more of a muscle than brain guy..."
"And even with the information that persisted through the years in the Village, it's not like there is an explanation for everything we come across."
"The reason why I remember so much is because I wrote most of it in a diary… One that I had to re-read..."
Dale let out a sigh of disappointment...
"It's okay, anything is better than nothing for me…"
Testros continued his explanation.
"The heart gate is… A necessary path in the career of most warriors… It's an ancient practice passed down through the generations, and a part of the Human Body."
"It's the central part of a long system inside the Human body, just like what the heart is to the Veins and Arteries… A system whose entire purpose is to pump Mana around like blood."
"However, humans don't need Mana to survive, so it's only natural that most don't have it… And why the process of opening this system or unclogging it is so… Brutal and taxing on the Human Body."
"Mana can be destructive when in high enough concentrations, as it's mildly toxic for humans in nature, especially to such sensitive areas such as your inner organs."
"It took me one decade of training after I reached adulthood to reach the minimum requirements to start the lengthy process of feeling and controlling mana, to then open the Heart Gate."
"And it took me 30 years to finish this process, years of practice and self learning, it was a smooth and painless process, one that took a lot of time… But one that I ended up completing regardless."
"All the while, I continually trained my body to cope with the ever-increasing pressure caused by handling Mana."
"That's why I said you're lucky, you did what it took me years to do in a single day, without any prior knowledge of how to, and what to expect."
"Your body is strong, and thankfully, it was strong enough..."
"You relied on instinct and chance to blast through the entire process in one go, it worked in the end but I fear for your heart's current condition…"
"Once again… Are you sure you are okay?" Testros asked worriedly
"That wasn't a small amount of Mana, your heart could be in a very bad shape, if not it then something else... It's best that you stop for a few days and recover…"
"I will stop for a while, but I'm okay… Trust me." Dale replied with a smile
'Now I understand a bit more, this is a process that needs time, but I did all at once, putting extreme pressure on my heart, not only due to that, but because my control over Mana was lacking.'
"If you say you're okay… Then I'll believe you for now…"
He then looked at Yumi, smiling slightly.
He pushed her forward and said:
"Little Yumi here is our best healer, so let her take care of you until you are fine and dandy, how about that?"
"Eh?!" Yumi mumbled, startled
"Ah… I won't refuse help…" Dale replied with a smile as he shook his head
'It won't take me anywhere if I refuse… Besides, if she helps me recover quicker perhaps I can do the routine training today.'
'Besides, I'm not satisfied with these answers, and since David is not talking for some reason, I'll have to ask him next time we're alone…'
"So it's resolved!" Testros said with a smile as he turned around
"There is a lot I need to do and ponder over, Dale, I'll visit you later to talk with you, but for now, you should rest and think over what happened with you."
"Also, that book you asked me to translate, Jyter left it Illia, so when you're back make sure to grab it and read it."
"Oh! Thank you." Dale replied with a smile
"Yumi, I'll leave his recovery in his hands…" He said as he left
"..."
"..."
Once he left, Yumi and Dale were left alone…
/Silence.../
"I… I'll go pick up some medicine!..." She said in embarrassment as she turned around and left quickly
"Hm? Hey?... Meet me at the Inn!" Dale said out loud, but it was unknow if Yumi had heard him
He shook his head, going back to the Inn, he had a lot to discuss with a certain golden talking head.
He needed answers, and he needed them now!
[DING]
[Yumi's Intimacy has increased]
"What?..."
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Notes