The pot of blood boiled on the stovetop as Ewan muddled it with a glass stirrer and added the ingredients one by one. The liquid darkened and thickened by the minute; the ingredients melted away. Once it dripped like a syrup, he switched off the stovetop and put the pot aside in an ice bath to cool down.
Iris lodged on his head, using his hair as her bed and her blanket, her bud swaying in a rhythm. Her consciousness was far too frail and primitive to understand what Ewan was doing. He only sensed her fondness and her reluctance to leave his hair, which intensified when he told her to jump in the now cooled down pot. But she still followed through and slipped in.
The viscous liquid bubbled, and he felt her getting drowsy. She swayed for a bit more and fell silent a minute later. There was nothing Ewan could do to help, everything depended on her from this point on.
He leaned on the kitchen countertop, his arms crossed, his feet tapping the floor at short intervals. The second hand of the clock couldn't move any slower. He checked up on Iris again, but still no response. His tapping sped up; the wait was killing him.
Finally, a twitch of her bud put him out of his misery. But soon he lowered his head and sighed. The attempt was a failure.
...
[Vin]
Vin leaned on the cracked pillar of his porch, facing the untended overgrown garden bathing in the moonlight. Chips of peeling blue paint stained his white t-shirt, but he only focused on the phone call.
"Hello, Kole?"
"Yeah bro, what's up."
"About what we talked before…," Vin said.
"Yeah."
"Do you…trust them?"
"Trust is a heavy word, Vin. Business, call it business."
"Yes, it's all business with you," Vin said while massaging his nose bridge.
"What happened? They didn't give you any work?" Kole asked.
"…They did."
"Is it…shady?"
Vin stared at the pebbles in the garden, his eyes wavering.
"That much shady?" Kole asked.
"Do you have any other recommendation?" Vin asked.
"Sorry bro. That was the only one I had right now. If you wait a few months, I can try and get you some legitimate work."
Vin sighed. "We can't manage that long," he said. And the call quietened; the slight static rang aloud. "I'm not asking you for money, don't worry."
"You also know how Treva is. She'll throw me out on the road if she finds out I lent someone money," Kole said.
"Yeah, don't worry about it. I just wanted to know if you knew anything about these guys," Vin said.
"What do you wanna know?" Kole asked.
"Who are these guys? They seemed a bit off when we met… Will they bail on the payment?" Teal still hadn't received her Astylind, things weren't looking good for them. They needed this money; they needed the Sols.
"Hierarchy, Vin, hierarchy. 'Do as you're told' like that lame Lex used to say. Don't dig too deep into this. And they'll pay you, don't fret. They won't be able to float in our market if they fuck with you, I'll make sure of that."
"I just have a bad feeling about this, Kole."
"One of your premonitions again? C'mon bro, you never got it right," Kole said, laughing.
"It's different this time," Vin said.
"That's what you said last time. Listen, don't be nervous, you'll mess up like that. Relax and just think of the Sols you'll earn."
"I'll try to. But just in case something does happen, can you look after Teal for me? You don't need to do much, just check up on her from time to time, see if she's eating well and stuff," Vin said.
"Sure. Hey, if you die, I'll leave Treva and marry your sister." Kole chuckled, and a deafening bang echoed on the phone, buzzing the static; Kole's deathly screams followed soon.
"who will you leave!!" A woman yelled in the back.
"Ah!! Treva! Not the knife!!" Kole shrieked. "It can cut me, woman!!"
Vin hung up and looked at the moons, mourning for his friend in silence. "It'll be fine…I'll be fine," he murmured and tiptoed back inside the house, hoping the creaking gate wouldn't announce his entry. His sister slept like a bird…
…..
[Ewan]
In the kitchen.
The second upgrade attempt ended with Ewan's grin. Iris's bud had darkened, it moved towards a dull dark red. Her size remained the same, but her roots could extend longer now and were more effective in absorbing blood. Most of all, she gained a skill. Heal—the
[Astylind Name: Blood Lotus]
[Astylind Level: Level-1]
[Astylind Grade: Grade-C]
[Anima Affinity: Blood]
[Skills: Blood-Recipient | Heal]
[Gender: Female]
[Description: Extinct natives of Sepra. They had decent affinity with Blood-Anima (Recipient) but lacked the means to protect themselves. Delicate and feeble. They lost the battle of natural selection.]
[Grade-Exalt Requirements: Astylind Core (Blood), Bloodwood, Astylind Blood, Blood Rust.]
[Remark 1: Can be used as an ingredient for potions. Useless otherwise.]
[Remark 2: Decent choice for a healing type Astylind. But lack strong evolution branches.]
[Remark 3: I don't like them. They're nasty~]
[Remark 4: Special evolution path found. Focus should be on its grade.]
Ewan used a kitchen knife and sliced his palm.
"Heal it," he said. Her bud shook and swayed. Blood red particles gathered around her and followed her root which she pointed at Ewan's cut. After a blood tint, his cut shrank and finally closed, only leaving the traces of blood which he licked clean. Though not overwhelming, the effect of her skill left him with a smile. With her, he had a healer now. That was one aspect he wanted to tick off on his list no matter what before going outside the walls.
-----------------------------------------------------XXXX-----------------------------------------------------
Status: Healthy
Step-0 [2nd Awakening]
Name: Ewan Ayres
Species: Human
Vitality: 1.3
Spirit: 3.5
Anima: [Fire – 3.5 | Ice – 3.5 | Blood – 3.5]
Astylinds: 4 [Potential: 0]
:Rolling Cat [Toast]: Step-0 [2nd Awakening]
:Fire Monkey [Orange]: Step-0 [Level-1] [Grade-D]
:Imp [Frost]: Step-0 [Level-1] [Grade-D]
:Blood Lotus [Iris]: Step-0 [Level-1] [Grade-C]
Equipment: Common Clothes.
Storage: Journal; Elementalist—The Path of Anima [Subtype-Book]; Spellbook; Bloodlust [Spell]; Transmute [Spell]; Anima-Crystals; Obsidian Dagger; Hub-Connector; Ingredients.
Novas: 72
Sol: 32