A week had gone by since that night. The alien woman has been given Marcelina's old shelter to stay in while she rests in recuperates in her comatose state. Benedictus was able to heal her body back to perfect health, but he was not able to find a way to bring her out of the coma she had found herself in. In the meantime, he had gotten himself familiar with the changes in his overall power and had made improvements to their base by upgrading the fortifications, adding more traps around the perimeter, and building Marcelina her own cabin to her liking.
He himself also upgraded his own living space after gaining access to some juicy new spells. He had used the 3 free earth spells that he had gotten to select: Replenish Nature, Construct Framework, and Wooden Spikes. Replenish Nature allowed him to essentially rapidly grow all plant life within one mile of him, which was then doubled by his dragon soul passive, but that was only if he chose to allow it to go that far. He could minimize the range of any spell as long as it was within the maximum range. He learned this through trial and error when it came to using Replenish Nature to try and use the seeds from some of the few fruits that he did have to start a small garden farm.
Thanks to his Magical Genius and his Eyes of the Arcanist, he could accurately perceive the maximum and minimum range of all of his spells and he could see how to properly adjust them. Which ultimately allowed him to succeed in only growing the plant life in his garden farm. The spell essentially rapidly grew any plant life affected by the magic at an accelerated rate as if it had been lovingly and tenderly grown and groomed for up to a year's time in a matter of seconds. With its help, he was essentially able to create infinite food for them because he could just take all the fruits grown and use the seeds from them to make more food that he could grow in a matter of seconds.
With Construct Framework, it basically made the framework of a 25-foot by 25-foot room that could go up to 15 feet high. It was primarily made of wood and stone, and it was most of everything you would need to construct an individual room of a house without windows, doors, or cabling. Although it was insulated when he inspected the interior of the walls after first trying the spell. He did learn that if he envisioned the overall layout of the room when he initially cast the spell, he could set it up so that multiple castings could build a house. He would just have to use Minor Geo Manipulation to finish off the rest, like putting on a roof or making stairs and what not.
Using that, he made a proper log cabin for both him and Marcelina each. Marcelina had the slightly larger cabin that she had been spending the last week, making it feel comfy and cozy with some of the items that they were able to purchase from the Ascension shop. Since he was able to get a lot of household items like rugs, mats, curtains, actual beds, blankets for the beds, shower curtains, towels, more hygienic amenities like proper soap to bathe with and stuff for their skin, and the most important thing of all, toilet paper. They no longer had to use leaves whenever they went to the bathroom.
Meanwhile, he just added two extra rooms to his pre-existing cabin where he integrated a proper kitchen to store and cook the food and a working bathroom. Although the bathroom was slightly primitive, he got it to function using a combination of Minor Geo Manipulation and his recently acquired Minor Hydro Manipulation. It was actually easy for Benedictus to make a lot of the things that they might need so long as he could replicate what he knows from life on Earth.
That's how he was able to improve the stove that they cook with now from what it used to be. He knew enough about how an electrical stove worked, and he knew even more about how proper electrical appliances worked and were powered. He found a way to replicate an electric stove that he could power with a couple of charges from his Minor Electro Manipulation, and now they can cook food in a way that is more to what they remember how to.
Outside of that, they had primarily been focusing on sparring with one of the other things that Benedictus had purchased, the regenerative magical training dummy. It was a type of magical golem that had been technologically enhanced to be capable of repairing and restoring its body so long as its core was not destroyed. Its core was capable of surviving a wide variety of attacks up to level 60 spells.
It had different threat levels that they could use that increased its overall intelligence and tactical skill so that they could practice many of their abilities on it in various ways. Benedictus had been primarily testing it out to truly understand how large of an increase in strength his spells had gained. Before, his spells had enough impact that he could only compare it to the force of a small clump of C4 capable of destroying maybe part of a small building or strong enough to blow up your standard SUV. But with the training dummies' help, he would describe his current output of power to be capable of destroying half of a city block when he was using it to its most effective form. Without trying to maximize his damage output, he would definitely compare his normal attack power to be more comparable to taking out an entire large building in a single hit.
Just going off of his level 1 spells, if you were to only use say Minor Electro Manipulation or Minor Hydro Manipulation, he would be dealing between 406 to 514 points of damage. But if it's a spell that allows him to apply his Brilliance, those numbers go up from 466 to 574. And if it is a fire or earth spell that allows him to add his Brilliance, which is the best possible damage output he can go for, his level 1 spell of that type would deal 566 to 674 points of damage.
It gets even higher with his 5th level and 10th level spells. With the most damage he was capable of coming from his 10th level fire spell, Fireball. That spell was capable of dealing 650 to 970 points of damage. He compared it to essentially throwing a ball of fire the rough size and shape of a baseball and hitting a target with enough force that it would be comparable to a high-grade military ballistic missile, with the aforementioned force that would be equivalent to destroying a city block. And he got to select that spell for free as one of his 3 free fire spells he could choose.
Right alongside it, he took the spells Moderate Pyro Manipulation and Flame Crash. Moderate Pyro Manipulation was basically Minor Pyro Manipulation, but it did more damage, and he could create and manipulate up to a 50-foot circumference sphere of fire. Flame Crash was interesting as it was a level 5 spell that allowed him to essentially propel himself while on fire at a target in a short range and all the fire would envelop and explode onto the target for a small amount of damage. Despite the little bit of damage it dealt, it was good for both maneuverability and the fact that it can set an enemy on fire.
Outside of grabbing Minor Hydro Manipulation and Minor Aero Manipulation with two of his ability points, he had to spend, he also picked up Moderate Geo Manipulation for the obvious reason of the increased damage and area of influence. The last spell that he ended up spending his 4 ability points on was his first necromancy spell, which he decided to take the unholy spell called, Punish Sin. He took it for two reasons, mainly because the description of the spell basically stated that it forced whoever he cast it on to remember all of their greatest sins and the number of sins would inflict small damage directly on to their souls, bypassing resistances and immunities. The second reason was because he had learned that he could not take spells from higher level tiers without taking at least one from a lower tier.
In actuality, he originally wanted to pick up the 10th level unholy spell called Grasp of Damnation, but he couldn't because he had not taken a spell of level 1 and a spell of level 5 for that branch of magic yet. He thought it made sense to a degree. You can't get higher level spells in the different branches if you don't know the lower level spells. A lot of them seem to be improved or better versions of lower level spells, so it would be like skipping some of the important steps of each of the different branches of magic if you could just bypass the lower level spells for the higher level ones.
He wasn't the only one collecting information either. Marcelina had been testing out all of her new abilities as well. Unlike him, she didn't use magic and her abilities were based off of an energy source simply called willpower. Her abilities were more support based, but she did have a couple that would enhance her in combat.
One of the things that she was really grateful about was that, when she had reached level 5, she unlocked a passive ability that allowed her to share all XP gained between both her and her bonded animal companions. Which meant that, going forward, any XP that Charles gained she would no longer get half of it but the entire amount, and vice versa would apply. Another useful thing is that, upon reaching level 8, she gained access to another open slot for a second animal companion that she could bond with. It was something she has held off on actually putting to use, since she wanted to find more unique creatures like Emma who had powers that could compliment Charles and his almost entirely pure physical capabilities.
In between training, both of them had been looking after the alien woman and making sure that she was properly fed and hydrated in her comatose state while they looked for ways to potentially wake her up. They were both taking some time to look after her together early in the morning. It had started to become a routine at this point for them.
Not wanting to let the woman's muscles begin to atrophy, Benedictus was helping to stretch and move her legs and arms while she lay there in bed. At the same time, Marcelina was feeding her some fruit smoothie that she had made that the woman could naturally digest while unconscious. They would have used an IV if they were in a city with a proper hospital, but they had to do the best that they could with what they had. Shortly after Marcelina had finished making sure the woman got her nutrition and hydration in with the smoothie, the two of them let her body rest while they discussed what to do with her.
"Look Ben, I know this might not be the best thing to say, but... This lady has been like this for a week now. That lady might be like that for weeks, months, maybe even years. I know you wanted to try and save her and help her in order to get some information about what had happened to her, but what if she never wakes up," Marcelina seriously asked him. She was worried that his sentimentality might end up getting in the way of their ultimate goal.
"It's not like you to be this pessimistic. Usually you're the one that's more optimistic and cheerful. Why are you suddenly worried about this woman potentially slowing us down," he retorted, more so concerned for her because it sounded out of character from the woman he had started growing close enough to call a friend.
Marcelina scratched the back of her head and let out a long sigh, "I had a friend like this at once. Back on Earth, that is. She... She got hit by a car, and it put her in a coma..... She never woke up, and we had to take her off life support eventually. I just don't want you to get your hopes up if the same thing happens with this lady."
He was about to say something when he looked towards the woman and noticed that she was actually starting to open her eyes. In surprise, he pushed past her and said, "She's opening her eyes."
Marcelina at first thought he was making it up until she looked back and saw for herself as the woman's bright yellow eyes finally opened. They came over to make sure she was okay and the woman at first could barely see. The woman could not hear either of what they were saying at first. Everything was blurry and sounds were hard to make out.
Then, as her full consciousness kicked in, her vision cleared and she could hear them. The only problem was that she couldn't understand them. She heard what they were saying, but she didn't know the language.
Ben and Marcy watched as the woman looked at them and started trying to talk. However, they did not understand what she was saying either, "Tak abala dae..... Et kon kalla doe.... Tutak mulas gona dyr...?"
Realizing the situation that they found themselves in, they didn't initially know how to communicate with this woman in this situation. Then Benedictus remembered the earbud that could automatically translate languages. He thought about using it for himself to understand her, but at the last moment he placed it in her ear. She did not understand initially what he was trying to do until he activated it.
He then started speaking, and it translated his words for her, "If you can understand my voice, try not to reply because I can't understand you. Instead, just nod your head."
As the device translated what he said for her, the woman looked at him and nodded her head. He then asked her, "Are you another contestant in the trials?"
She nodded once more, and he then asked, "Have you met another of our kind before?"
She shook her head no. It would appear that they were the first humans that she had come across. Lucky for her, they were the type to actually not leave her for dead.
Benedictus began explaining what had happened from their perspective, "A week ago, my pet Emma found you floating in the river and tried to pull you out. I helped her save your life and I healed you. You've been unconscious since I saved you. The two of us have been taking care of you while you were in a temporary coma."
The woman opened her mouth to say something, but she remembered that they couldn't understand her. Instead, she took the earbud out of her ear and handed it back to Benedictus. She motioned for him to put it in his ear so he could understand her for a moment.
He quickly wiped it on his shirt to get off any ear wax that might have on it before he placed it in his left ear. Once she saw that he had put it in, she began to sit up and talk. Benedictus realized there was like a two-second delay between what was said and what was translated.
She told him, "Thank you. My kind do not forget their debts. You saved my life and I will try to repay you for it. I would like to properly introduce myself. I am Roksazza Vatula. Among my people, I was a general that they had called the Blood Wind Butcher. If it is alright, I would like to travel with you for some time and fight for you to repay my debt. My current level is 10. And I have some pretty powerful skills and abilities."
Hearing that, Benedictus, to a degree, could understand what she was implying. Trying to see how to respond, since he knew she could not understand him, he opened his character sheet and showed it to her. He gestured to it and had an expression on his face as if asking if she could read it. It took her a moment to realize what he was trying to have her do, and she saw how the screen translated the words for her to read in her own native language.
She looked at the screen and saw where it showed his name, "Is this your way of introducing yourself?"
He gave a nod, confirming while pointing to where his name was. She looked at it and asked, "You are Benny... dick... tus?" He confirmed with another nod, and he instructed Marcelina to also show hers as a way for the woman to learn her name.
Looking at the other person's character sheet, Roksazza tried pronouncing the name, "Marcie... Lena?" Marcelina gave a so-so thumbs up gesture implying that she was almost there and that it was close enough.
He knew that the shop sold more translators, but it cost 1000 gold by itself and he only had 700 left. For now, he would have to find a way to communicate with the woman. Most likely by letting her keep the translator so she could understand them, and potentially helping her learn some basic English.
He gave her the translating device back and told her when she had put it back in, "Rest. Don't try to move around too much just yet. Your body might be back to perfect health, but your mind is still going to need at least maybe a day of readjusting before you should try walking around. I've almost died enough times that, at this point just trust that I am speaking from experience. It's nice to have a fellow soldier here with us. If you need anything, at least for now, try and call out to us, and we will help you as best as we can."
She gave a nod and with that Benedictus excused himself from the room, "I am going back to my cabin. Marcelina will help you bathe since it's probably been a week since you've had a proper bath. I would not wish to intrude on your privacy like that."
She lowered her head in thanks and Benedictus got up and left the ladies. Marcelina helped Roksazza out of her torn rags that served as clothing and into the metal tub that she used to use to take baths in. She would help the woman get a proper bath and see if she could fit into some of the clothes that they had.
As Benedictus entered his cabin, Emma followed behind him after having come from playing with Charles. She had gotten slightly bigger, most likely due to all the good eating that she's been doing lately. She was still young and growing and very active. She climbed up his leg and onto his back, resting on his shoulder. It did not help that she weighed close to 20 lb, but he happily gave her a couple scritches under her chin and gave her a little kiss on her snout.
The rest of the day was pretty uneventful and the group spent it mostly just looking after Roksazza and making her feel comfortable. When morning came around, everyone went about their normal routine except Benedictus decided to bring a proper breakfast to Roksazza. He figured that she must be capable of eating their food since she didn't have any kind of negative reaction to any of the stuff they had been feeding her while she was unconscious.
When he entered the stone hut he saw that she was up and currently doing what looked like yoga. He looked at her and was slightly upset that she had decided to push herself after only recently regaining consciousness. However, she was her own woman, and he wasn't going to try and tell her what to do.
He did voice a little bit of annoyance at it, "When I said you should try walking in the morning I didn't mean entirely unassisted. I was suggesting more of assisted movements, but clearly you're fine enough to do this much. At least take a break to get some breakfast."
"My body has rested enough. I do not like the idea of staying in bed for too long. My people believe that it breeds laziness," she said in perfect English, which took him by surprise, especially noticing that her speaking English gave her an almost Russian accent with some slight British flair.
He looked at her confused how she suddenly knew their language, "When did you-"
She cut him off and answered, "There is an item in the Ascension Shop that allows you to learn all the languages of a specific race. I now know every language you humans speak. And I know that this one is what you all call English."
"Good to know I'll probably take a look at that in the shop myself. If it's not too costly, I'll definitely buy one for me and Marcy so we can try talking to you and some of your native tongues," he responded while placing the plate of breakfast on the nearby nightstand next to the bed.
Walking up, he grabbed her by the hand and made her stand up straight. She was confused why he decided to interrupt her stretches, "Why are you-"
"Eat. Exercise can wait 10 minutes. What can't wait is your body's need for proper nutrition. We've only been feeding you the bare minimum when it came to nutrition while you were unconscious cuz we don't know what you can and can't eat. Get some food in your stomach.... Or stomachs... I don't really know your people's inner anatomy," he immediately said, slightly pulling her towards the bed so she could sit down and eat some breakfast.
She ultimately just decided to do it, feeling like he might not let it go until she did. Taking a seat and grabbing the plate of food, she began to take a couple bites. She was shocked by the sheer deliciousness of the meal. She had never tasted such amazing flavors, despite having eaten some of the best cuisine on her home world.
Seeing the smile on her face, he said, "I'm glad to see you like my cooking. Normally we eat the food provided by the ascension shop's survival meals. But I still had some food from when I originally got transported here that I didn't want to spoil. I decided to use it for breakfast since it was still good for at least another week or so."
"What is this called? It looks familiar to some of the foods on my world," she asked him, generally curious about the human cuisine she was eating.
"Scrambled eggs and bacon. I was able to preserve it so far by keeping it cold and hiding it underground so it wouldn't spoil. I added some toast with some cheese on it," he gladly responded, probably talking about his cooking.
She shared information about food from her home world of a similar type while being happy to try this delicious new alien food, "It is similar to some of the dishes on my world. We also have eggs, toast, and cheese. The amphibians that we breed for their nutritious eggs make for delicious eating. I have never heard of anything like this bacon. But it is good."
He talks about the chickens that lay eggs and how they are different from the possible amphibians she's thinking of, "Our eggs come from chickens, which are a type of bird. I've heard that some people do eat eggs of different species that are capable of laying eggs, but I've never tried them. Personally, chicken is one of the best creatures on Earth when it comes to food. They're numerous, easy to cook, and their eggs are delicious. There are about a few hundred ways to cook them too."
She got excited about trying more human cuisine, "If it were ever possible to try some of this chicken you speak of, I would happily do so."
"Well, we do actually have some meals in the survival packets that do contain some chicken.... But they also contain beef as part of the meal....," he nervously mentioned.
"Why did you say it like that," she asked, kind of unsure what he was implying.
He tried to explain in a way that didn't come across as offensive, "Well, beef comes from cows..... On our world they look very similar to... Let's just say a lot of your features are similar to a cow but not really the same.... I'm not sure how you would feel about eating meat from a creature that might resemble your kind to some degree."
"Depends. If they are an animal on your world, then that means that it is not like I am eating another person. Even if they do share similar features to myself. So it wouldn't be cannibalism. Honestly, I would be willing to try it just to see how they taste. I do love good food," she replied nonchalantly, as if it was no big deal.
"That's good to know. In that case, I know what we're having for dinner tonight. You can give it a try and tell us if you like it," he said before standing up, "For now I'm going to go get to my early morning sparring session."
"May I join you? I am eager to watch you. Marcelina talked a lot about you yesterday, though I could not really respond to most of it. She mentioned that you were the first human to reach level 10 and were rewarded with some pretty powerful abilities. I was the first of my people to reach level 10 as well, and I wanted to get an understanding of how relative to me, you are in power," she honestly requested genuinely curious to see if Benedictus was really worth all the hype that Marcelina went on and on about.
He agreed to her request while giving her a warning, "I don't see why not. Just try not to get too close. The blast radius of some of my abilities is kind of big these days. I'm still working on trying to focus it, so it causes less widespread destruction and more focused condensed force."
Quickly finishing her breakfast, she followed him outside and saw the training golem that he had purchased. She remarked about how nice it was, "I saw that in the ascension shop. I was actually going to buy one myself. It's nice to see that I can try and spar with this one instead. It looks quite nice."
He calmly agreed before instructing her, "Glad you think so. It's been pretty useful, and I like it a lot myself. Now stand right there because if you get any closer you're going to be in the range of some of my attacks. I don't want you to get hurt just because I can't minimize my area of effect that well."
Following his instructions, she stopped in her tracks and got into a seated position on the ground to watch what it looked like to see him spar. The moment he activated the golem, he decided to start off with an easy demonstration by setting it to the most minor setting. It activated defense mode and prepared to tank whatever attack he threw its way.
Taking a deep breath, he said to her, "This is my current strongest attack at maximum effectiveness."
With his pistol in one hand and magical fire channeling in the other, he started focusing the flames into the shape of a small ball of fire no bigger than that of a baseball. He then tossed the Fireball spell at the training dummy. On impact, it detonated with such great force that if the dummy wasn't using defensive magic, everything around and behind it would have gotten destroyed. The arcane barrier that it placed up to defend against the raw damage dealt kept him from accidentally destroying all the fortifications he had built in that part of their base.
The dummy itself, however, was deeply damaged. Its arms were melted away, and the heat had turned most of its body red-hot. The force of the fireball had caved in its chest and blew off parts of its metal armor plating. Then the restorative magic kicked in, and its body reformed back to its original state as if nothing had ever happened.
The display of power was so great that Roksazza was actually deeply impressed. She thought that her abilities and skills were strong, but she doubted she could replicate that much power in a single hit even by trying to utilize all of her abilities and benefits. She was definitely able to come close enough that she believed that she could at least replicate half of that power.