"First things first," said Sylvie. She motioned to Jeanne. "Is healing Thane."

"Now wait just a second," said Li. "Old Thane might complain here and there about his blindness, but he doesn't feel strongly about having it removed."

Old Thane nodded. "It is divine punishment, young ones. The very day I failed to save Aine from that snowstorm, the gods above chose to strike me down with this blindness. It is a curse that I must bear."

Azhar rapped his knuckles on the table. "That ain't right, Thane, and you know it. The Blackhand's poison got ya'. Ya had a tough body, but when ya lost Aine, the grief knocked yer health down a peg and the poison finally had a chance to do ya in."

Li cocked his head. "What's this about poisoning, old man?"

Old Thane scratched his bald head. "Well, lad, I've always regaled you about my great exploits, but there are some adventures I had that landed me in ill fortune. Those I keep close to me. Old pride and all."

"It's somethin' we heard from Aine when we all was little. Gods know Thane wouldn't tell us bout' his defeats," explained Azhar. "One of em' scars that Thane's got on him ain't from a claw, blade, or magic. It's from a mutant."

"A hero," corrected Jeanne.

"Hell, before the crown took the bloody lot of ya in and told the common folk you were heroes, you were mutants, usin' yer powers whatever way ya wanted," said Azhar, his jaw setting and his brown eyes dazed as he traveled through a sea of unpleasant memories. "Even now, some of ya do as ya please with them 'gifts', only now ya got the crown coverin' for yer arses."

Jeanne bit her lip and cast her eyes down to the table. "That's not true," she said quietly.

Azhar snapped back to the present and reached out a comforting hand to Jeanne's shoulder.

"Course' not you. Yer one of the good ones. A real hero."

Jeanne moved Azhar's hand away and stood up abruptly. "I need some fresh air," she said before she left.

"Goddamn it," said Azhar as the door closed behind Jeanne. "I didn't mean nothin'."

Sylvie sighed. "No, you're just an insensitive fool. 'One of the good ones', really? Is that the best you could come up with? You know how she feels about her heroic blood. Get out there and apologize."

Azhar shook his head and got up, roughly pushing his char in before leaving.

The table was much emptier now. An awkward silence arose for a few seconds before Sylvie broke it.

"Allow me to explain," she said. "Now, where to start. Li, do heroes exist where you come from, if you remember at all?"

"No," said Li. He listened closely. His curiosity had dimmed these days, but this, he was curious about. There were no such things as 'heroic gifts' in Elden World, and depending on what they were, they could be things he had to watch out for to keep this farm running smoothly.

"Then from the beginning we go," said Sylvie before she took in a deep breath. "Our current year is 1030, but around, hm, let's see…ah, 950. At the year 950, a great blood moon stood in the sky.

Scholars recount that it flickered and shifted like a mirage. Their notes detail that great panic ensued among all the races. But that was the least of what was to come.

Some human children born under that blood moon, you see, developed stranger powers. They could not learn Elden magic nor adapt their being into a class. Yet they held abilities, some of them monstrously powerful, that was neither spell nor skill.

To this day, the Grand Archive's scholars study the incident, attempting to unearth how such a phenomenon came to be. But to prevent distraction, let us hone on the relevant aspects of this.

Thane sustained an injury from a hero, or, as Azhar calls them, a mutant. Only with the Duchess's rule and support did mutants rebrand their imagery to that as heroes of humanity.

That hero, mutant, or whatever you wish to call him, was known as the Blackhand. With but a single touch, he could introduce a poison into an unfortunate victim that robbed them of one of their primary senses. In Thane's case, this was sight. However, as Thane was incredibly healthy in his youth, that poison did not have the chance to manifest until his advancing age and moment of grief rendered him vulnerable."

Li said to Thane, "You never pried into my past, so I never pried into yours. I accepted your blindness as part of who you were. Figured if you ever truly wanted it healed, you would have told me or asked someone else or something." Li shook his head. "But poison? Come on, old man, something that's going to kill you – I'd have healed you in an instant."

"Ah, to clarify," said Sylvie as she raised two pale fingers. "Firstly, the poison has no additional effect other than disabling sight. Secondly and most importantly, Elden magic interacts poorly with mutant abilities. In particular, it is well-recorded that mutant powers that inflict status ailments cannot be countered with magical healing. Conversely, mutants often cannot receive magical healing."

"Ridiculous," said Li.

He didn't consider himself a prideful man, but he needed to show this woman she was wrong. It wasn't so much that she suggested his abilities weren't sufficient, it was moreso that it felt plain wrong for someone so weak and mortal like her to suggest that anything was out of Li's abilities.

But he understood why she thought that. It was because the people of this world were far too weak. Their levels and the ranks of their spells were too low. He would enlighten her.

He pointed towards Old Thane and cast [Tranquility], an A-ranked healing spell, almost out of instinct.

A flutter of magically incarnated leaves whirled around Old Thane, enchanting him with an incredibly potent heal, but once the leaves dissipated and the spell finished casting, his eyes were still as dead and cloudy as ever.

He could feel the mana leave his system, but Sylvie was right: nothing happened. Perhaps thankfully, too, for a second, he had failed to consider how Old Thane would have thought about being healed. For a moment, he had tossed his empathy away, and he felt some shame that he pushed down with a frown.

"Gods, I feel absolutely splendid," said Old Thane as he rotated his arms. "My bones pop no more. Did something happen?"

"We just tried a minor healing procedure, don't worry about it, old man," said Li. He stared at Sylvie and narrowed his eyes. "You've proven your point. Now tell me how you plan on healing him."

Sylvie didn't meet Li's gaze. "You see, Jeanne is part of a new generation of heroes that have both mutant and Elden blood flowing through them. She has both her mutant ability and magical potential. Potentially, I theorized that healing magic cast from her could negate mutant-caused ailments."

"That's reasonable," said Li. "But you're forgetting the most important part about this: whether Old Thane even wants to be cured. If this poison won't kill him and doesn't hold him back from his daily life, then maybe he wants to live with it."

Sylvie cocked her head. "Why would he not desire a cure? Don't you, as essentially his heir, wish to see him healthy and whole again?"

"What do you mean? You act like he's something less than he was before. To me, he's as healthy and whole as ever. As good a farmer and man as any. But there's no point arguing when he's right here. Old man, what do you think?"

Old Thane paused. Then he downed his mug of beer and sent the empty mug sliding across the table.

"Well, lad, personally speaking, I don't wish for healing. Aine is the only regret I've ever had in my life. Not being able to save her from the winter is the greatest mistake I have ever made. To me, this blindness is but a small punishment to bear."

"Thane, it's not your fault," said Sylvie. "This blindness has nothing to do with Aine. Really, I believe she would have wanted you living your life whole."

Old Thane shook his head. "You do not understand, young one. But I know that Jeanne will never take no for an answer. She will never quit when she sees someone in need. She will want to try, no?"

Sylvie nodded.

"Then let her. It will be the fastest way to settle this."

Sylvie stood and took Old Thane's hand in hers. "Thank you."

She rushed out the door and, after a few seconds, brought back Jeanne and Azhar. Jeanne had her usual happy smile on as she walked up to Old Thane and knelt by him. She held her hands to her heart and closed her eyes.

"[Greater Heal]," she said. A golden light swelled within her hands and she gently cupped it, moving it to Thane's eyes. The light flowed as little streams of sparkling brightness that seeped into his aged eyes and lit up the entire room in an ethereal glow.

A tense silence ensued as the trio of adventurers leaned in to see if it had worked.

"I felt that healing," said Old Thane. "But no, my eyes are still dark."

"I'm so sorry," said Jeanne, a tear welling up in her eye. "I thought, perhaps maybe, that I could-"

Old Thane patted Jeanne's head. "Do not worry, young one, and do not waste tears for me. So long as I can still receive your kindness, I am more than happy."

In a rare moment, Old Thane's voice became firmer and more serious. "Now that is that. I will not hear more of curing my blindness. It is not an ailment, it is a reminder, and I will not have others make my decisions for me."

The adventurers slinked back to the table and took their seats again, the air of defeat heavy about them.

"You heard the old man. No more talking about healing," said Li. He walked to the head of the table and tapped the wood so that he got the adventurers' attention, as if he was heading a meeting. "Now let's stop this talk about 'helping' and talk business. And Old man, why don't you sit where I am? You're the head of this farm – you should get the head of this table."

"Aye, I suppose so," said Old Thane with a smile. He rose, picked up his chair under one arm, and sat right beside Li.

"I get this feeling," said Li. "That you all think Old Thane is losing out on life here. That he's struggling to make ends meet. That he's some doddering invalid that needs your help to get by. You couldn't be farther from the truth. Me? I'm only here to make sure his life's work has a place to pass down to. He can manage the whole thing by himself if he wanted to.

So let's get this straight. If you're going to come here, you're coming here as business partners, not caretakers. You give us something that can help this farm grow, and we'll tell you what we can do for you. Understand me?"

The adventurers nodded, swept up by Li's sudden speech.