"So let me get this straight. A True Idea- the very same one that helped you become a real person- is giving you pointers on how to cultivate? All so it can use you to gain a foothold in this world?" Mariam asked, her brows twitching periodically.
Gilgamesh nodded, "Pretty much."
Carael and Pontius seemed distressed. Earl was still busy trying to wrap his head around everything, and Darla was doing her utmost to let all this information pass into one ear and flow out the other.
Mariam was the only one whose expression was mostly unchanged.
"So, you know what this means?" She asked, her solemnity taking charge over all else. Despite the absurdity of what she had heard, and her obvious desire to express her disbelief, she suspended all of those unimportant emotions.
Her gaze, completely and unwaveringly focused, was locked with Gilgamesh's own eyes.
Gilgamesh nodded, and the Great Elders perked up. They did not know what Mariam was referring to.
"If I am to continue living... it means I have no choice but to consider this True Idea my enemy."
Silence reigned after that. None of the Elders moved an inch, not even Darla who wanted to pretend that she was hearing none of it. They were all stupefied by the concept of viewing a True Idea as an enemy.
The most minor implications of such a thing transcended any kind of conflict they could fathom. It was not something that should be possible for a person to even consider.
Yet, Gilgamesh was boldly announcing that he would walk this path.
Mariam let out a breath, and with it the last of her raging emotions. With quivering pupils, she gave a nod of affirmation. "Then you shall have what you need. Whatever it is."
Gilgamesh nodded, conveying more than mere gratitude. It was as though, in the briefest of moments shared between Mariam and himself, they were preparing one another for the worst case scenario.
That day, Mariam took Gilgamesh to one of the largest storehouses he had ever seen. Entering it straightaway, he bore witness to a massive collection of things he had never seen before.
Elixirs, potions, serums, herbs, tools, weapons, books, scrolls, documents, bones, skins, furs and so many more things contained within a single section of the massive storehouse.
As soon as they entered, Mariam summoned a handful of the attendants posted there to go with them.
Traversing numerous lanes of the storehouse, they eventually came upon an entire section dedicated to extracted and preserved beast blood essence-- and many other types of blood essences.
Knowing that all he required was beast blood essence, Gilgamesh denied Mariam's most generous offer to take a few of each kind of blood essence they possessed.
Instead, he just took all the beast blood essence she would give him
Which was a lot.
Since Gilgamesh could not be considered a cultivator, he could only take the blood essence of the lowest class of beasts: Class F Beasts.
The majority of body-based cultivation techniques did not require blood essence at the very first stage.
Due to this, no one would really use Class F Beast blood essence, and just skip all the way to classes like E or D. Since it was, by far, the least valuable of the blood essences in the storehouse, Gilgamesh received a cube shaped storage item containing over a thousand jars of blood essence.
This would be more than enough.
"Now that that's over with," Mariam said, standing shoulder to shoulder with Gilgamesh, "I want to make a request."
They were just outside the storehouse, and she had just finished telling him how to use the storage item.
He learned that it was a charged object, which did not require him to exert any energy to use. All it required was a bit of his blood to recognize him as the owner, and then he could use it with but a thought.
The concept was a bit new to Gilgamesh; he had assumed he just needed to allow the object to become familiar with his spirit.
"What request?" He asked, stroking the cube with a curious expression.
"I want to be there when you do it." Mariam made her request without blinking.
Gilgamesh gulped. "When I do... what again?"
"Absorb the blood essence. What did you think I was referring to?"
Gilgamesh realized that he had only mistaken her because he was giving the storage cube too much attention, and he fake coughed in response. "Oh, nothing. Anyway, why do you want to see something like that?"
"Because," Mariam took a breath, "If a True Idea is relying on you to build a foundation for it, this body cultivation technique of yours may hold some answers to questions that plague me."
"How do True Ideas even work? Why can they only manifest as Thematic Beings in this world? What do they need in order to exert their true power on this side?" Mariam seemed to be getting excited.
"If this body cultivation technique you were granted is the perfect body for housing a True Idea, then I might be able to better understand Ideas in general by observing you as you cultivate."
Gilgamesh could see the logic in her words, and so he did not disagree.
"There's just one thing you need to know," He started, stuffing the storage cube into his clothes.
"What?" Mariam blinked.
Gilgamesh said nothing. He would cross that bridge when he came to it.
That evening, when Gilgamesh and Mariam returned to his cabin, they saw Vittoria waiting outside for him.
Since no one really veered off the main roads and ventured into the trees, there was basically no one that passed close enough to Gilgamesh's cabin to invade its tranquil privacy.
Therefore, Vittoria was comfortable enough to sit outside his house and unveil the skeleton. When Gilgamesh and Mariam came upon her, she was wiping it very carefully with a clean white cloth.
She tried to get into every little crevice she could, treating the skeleton like one would a delicate glass object.
"Uhh..." Mariam looked to Gilgamesh, who in turn looked from her to Vittoria.
Vittoria saw him and her, and said nothing. Instead, she just looked into Gilgamesh eyes. "You're back."
Gilgamesh gave a wry smile. "Sorry I took so long, Vittoria. This is Mariam, of the Felis Clan. She's-"
"One of the Humans that fought alongside the last Demon King to ever live. I have seen your face, Mariam Felis." Vittoria said, acknowledging Mariam then looking into Gilgamesh eyes again.
"I don't have a key, and you locked the place up. Hurry up and let me in."
Gilgamesh ignored Mariam's look of extreme shock and incredulity, and just unlocked the door for Vittoria while also giving her one of the spare keys.
Waiting at the doorway for Mariam, who slowly walked over, Gilgamesh laughed somewhat nervously. "That's what- or who- I was talking about."
Mariam's wide eyes awaited further explanation.
"Her name is Vittoria Dracule. She's.... special." Gilgamesh explained as simply as he could.
"Special," Mariam scoffed, walking in, "is a massive understatement."
Following that, there was a bit of awkward tension between the three as Gilgamesh made proper introductions despite Vittoria knowing a lot about Mariam's past and who she was.
That alone was enough to oversaturate him with social interaction for the next few days, and so he went ahead to prepare the blood essence bath.
He went into his bathroom and cleaned out the bathtub, then got to work filling it with beast blood essence. Then, he stripped down to his underwear and got into the blood bath.
The metallic smell of blood along with faint undertones of something both sweet and sinister, filled the room. The atmosphere became a mixture of sickly and medicinal, each exaggerated to the point that they were almost unbearable.
At some point, both Mariam and Vittoria came in to spectate, exchanging glances with one another. Mariam was a bit uneasy around the young woman; Vittoria was just the same.
"I'm about to begin," Gilgamesh said as he closed his eyes and adjusted his breathing.
He let himself sink into the blood essence until just his face was above the viscous liquid. As the seconds passed, Mariam and Vittoria wholly concentrated on the bathtub.
Without looking away, Mariam spoke. "How much do you know about him?"
Although her tone still made her unease evident, there were very subtle hints of something under the surface.
Something Vittoria almost immediately picked up on.
"I know almost everything the First Demon Lord knew, and then a bit more. When the Demon King of Villainy established that treaty, The Lord shared a bit of info with him. You got some of that knowledge too, didn't you?" Vittoria asked, intrigued.
Mariam sighed. "You even know about that?"
Vittoria folded her arms. "So you know as much as I do about him. But how much have you actually told him?"
At this question, they both looked away from the bathtub, and stared into each other's eyes for a short space of time. Then, both amused, they broke eye contact and laughed to themselves.
In unison, they said.
"Not nearly enough."