Both Lo and Erlo were exhausted after running through the woods all day. But neither of them seemed unsatisfied with it. Azra was just about to ask Lo how it had gone since they actually seemed rather joyous, but Lo beat him to it.
"Azra, I think your idea is going to be a success!"
Lo's previously tired face lit up as he thought back to what they had found in the woods. Since they were looking for beasts, Lo didn't bother checking the outcropping of trees that was separated from the forest by the road. Instead, he and Erlo had gone straight to the depths of the forest where the beasts who survived using their power and strength lived.
Lo wouldn't have dared to do it without Erlo, but now that Erlo accompanied him, Lo had turned into a fearless hunter as he prowled through the forest on the hunt for beasts.
Many of the beasts and plants on the plane had died following the Rage Powder and the drought. But the incident with Erlo had shown that the Forest of Thorns wasn't only good at combating the drought. Many beasts were alive and thriving as well.
Although the bull Azra and Lo fought, and which Erlo helped them kill, was severely emaciated and weakened, it was because it was probably too weak to fight for the remaining resources of the forest. It was, after all, weak enough for the first level Azra and second level to deal with on their own. If either of them had been better at fighting or slightly stronger, they wouldn't have needed Erlo's help in finishing the bull.
Such a weak beast was not strong enough to compete against the other beasts for the resources in the forest.
However, the bull wasn't the only beast Lo had found tracks of when he and Azra were searching for Erlo. And the bull or something in a similar state probably wouldn't be of much immediate help to the village, so Lo decided to head deeper into the forest where the stronger beasts were.
It was a dangerous venture, but if Lo and Erlo succeeded, the village would gain a strong and useful helper.
The reason as to why Lo was so happy was that he and Erlo had already found traces of a beast that should be strong enough to support the village but still within the limits of what they could handle.
Lo wanted to tell Azra more about it, but they arrived at the house, and Azra took the opportunity to convince Lo to sleep when his jabbering got interrupted by his own constant yawning. Lo could feel how tired he and Erlo was, and he also realized it wouldn't be too late to talk to Azra more about the beast when they brought it back to the village.
Lo was almost thankful they hadn't encountered it, only its tracks, during their first trip since he wasn't confident the sedatives were enough. He had to check with Limn to see if he had completed anything more powerful before he and Erlo dove into the forest again.
Azra was also tired after doing a bunch of manual labor he wasn't used to, and he fell asleep like a baby. It wasn't the first time he worked hard since he had done several things before the war when trying to scrap together some spare change, but he wasn't well-trained or strong enough to avoid the muscle ache he usually got after exerting himself.
Since he expected the muscle ache, Azra opened his eyes before moving his body. He took a deep breath and prepared for the straining feeling of stretching and moving his sore muscles. The pain wouldn't be comparable to when he repeatedly pierced his hands with the thorns on the trees in the forest, but he also wasn't filled to the brim with adrenaline, so the pain would be harder to ignore.
However, unlike what Azra expected, he didn't feel any pain. If anything, he felt more refreshed than ever. His body felt full of energy, and thanks to waking up so early, he had enough time to sit down and try to figure out why.
Azra didn't even need all that time to realize it was thanks to his magic. He had already discovered how his body healed automatically thanks to the holy attribute mana filling his body. Restoring and preventing muscle aches was nothing in comparison to fixing literal wounds.
Azra stretched a little more just to confirm he wouldn't suffer from sore muscles in the future before he got up.
After a quick breakfast with Mirabelle and Melly, Azra was already on his way to Mahenny's farm.
Azra saw the middle-aged man crawling on the ground when he arrived. Tissa hopped next to the scrawny farmer as they investigated the dirt as thoroughly as they could.
Mahenny only noticed Azra after he said hello.
Mahenny first looked up at Azra, then at the sky, before looking at Tissa. The farmer and bunny exchanged a glance and nodded before looking at Azra.
"We did not stay up all night if that's what your wondering."
Contrary to his words, Mahenny did indeed look like he hadn't slept a single minute. The dark circles under his bloodshot eyes spoke the truth regarding what Mahenny and Tissa had done.
Going without sleep for a night wasn't something that would exhaust someone at the third level, but it was different if the person spent the entire night combing through the grass with nothing more than the moon to light their surroundings. Mahenny had probably concentrated the mana in his eyes to see better as he investigated what Azra had discovered last night.
Azra didn't say anything in response to Mahenny's words. He just reached out with a hand and helped him stand up. Azra took the opportunity while their hands touched to send a stream of divine power into Mahenny's body.
Azra intentionally limited the divine power so that it barely had any effect on Mahenny's fatigue. But to Mahenny, it didn't seem like Azra intentionally held back his healing powers since he didn't even notice Azra using magic.
Mahenny felt as if simply touching Azra provided him with a sense of warmth and comfort. Simply touching Azra also relieved some of the stinging in his eyes.
Mahenny's eyes filled with wonder as the red veins faded away.
Azra let go of Mahenny's hand and looked at the ground where Mahenny and Tissa had been looking.
"Did you find something as soon as you woke up?"
Azra's words brought Mahenny out of the daze his tiredness and the experience of touching Azra had left him in.
"Y-yes, of course! I know my land like the back of my hand."
Mahenny noticed that Azra saw right through his attempt to lie, and he got slightly embarrassed, but he decided to move past it and focus on the more important things.
"That sprout you showed me yesterday is a pretty tenacious weed. It would probably survive a wildfire. I found a bunch more of it just this morning. However, this one right here,"
Mahenny knelt down, putting the knees he just brushed clean on the ground again, as he pointed to a tiny green sprout barely protruding out of the ground.
"This is a Lazy Sunflower. Technically, it's also a weed, but it's not as stubborn as that Allgrass."
Mahenny looked at Azra with shining eyes.
Azra returned a similar gaze. He wasn't familiar with the names, but even if he didn't know the names of the plants, he still understood what Mahenny meant. Even if he hadn't understood what Mahenny meant, Azra would still have pretended to since it was he who brought up the idea in the first place. And he could only rely on himself to push that idea further into something that would benefit him.
"I was right!"
"You were right!"
Mahenny stood up, grabbed Azra, and began jumping around like an excited kid.
Azra wasn't too happy about being hugged by Mahenny, but he didn't let it show, and he played along a little before calming down Mahenny with a face that said he had just had an incredible realization. Azra thought the acting was a little over the top, but with Mahenny as the audience, something with a little more feeling to it would probably have a better effect.
Mahenny noticed Azra's face and calmed down, but he eagerly awaited what Azra was about to say.
"What if Blossoming Spring is recovering?"