Chapter 14:

Cort’s hair ruffled with the wind as he leapt off the cliff. His eyes were closed while he focused on the feeling of giving his body up to gravity. His anxieties seemed to melt away and his worries vanished, leaving only expectation in its place. And he was not disappointed.

All at once, the rushing winds vanished and pressure enveloped him as the cold water shocked his senses. The intoxicating feeling of seeing nothing but feeling everything came to him and he felt true relaxation.

His descent slowed into a graceful fall as he made his way down the lake. Finally, he came to a stop above a rock resting on the lake’s bed. He relished in the pressure the water placed on him, as if he were a toy just short of falling apart but still he was held together with the water’s suffocating embrace.

The ripples he made along with his decent lulled their way from existence and serenity regained her hold over the domain.

A few minutes pass by and Cort finally opened his eyes. As per usual he was greeted with an absolutely breathtaking, sight. The setting sun’s orange rays coupled with the water’s shocking clarity gave the scene an otherworldly feel. And upon such a magnificent canvas, the lake’s various types of fish busily made their way to and fro.

But unfortunately, he had a mission and after a moment of solemn appreciation, he began to scan the lake for his pray.

His eyes passed by the colorful arrangement of fish the lake had to offer, before finally stopping at a certain one.

This fish’s caudal fin was split into two long branches that each further split into little streamers. To him, the fish resembled an extravagant variant of the familiar goldfish. Even the color was similar as it had a pretty golden hue to it.

Despite finding his pray, he unexpectedly made no movements. From his pocket, he took out a single blade of grass which he firmly crushed before quickly stilling himself once more.

Surprisingly, a large number of fish began making their way towards him but he remained calm and simply continued to adopt a statue’s stillness.

Eventually, the animals' curiosity subsided and they left him for more promising aspects elsewhere. But Cort paid no mind as his target had yet to approach.

A minute passed, and he began to feel his lungs burn but he soldiered through it and kept still. His patience was finally awarded as he spotted the distinctive appearance of his target.

Feeling his opportunity approach, he tensed his body and prepared for action.

The fish warily drew closer to him, clearly hesitating over the situation. However, the scent seemed too enticing and the fish reluctantly approached.

Just as the fish was in an appropriate range, he broke his stillness and lunged swiftly at the animal but it seemed ready and quickly scooted away in a jet stream of water.

Despite the sliver of annoyance that flashed through his eyes, Cort's movements did not slow as he quickly redirected his body in order to intercept its movements. Under normal circumstances, his quick movements would have sufficed, but sadly this was not the world he knew. The fish's body curled sharply in an odd angle and it slipped through his hand. He had never seen an animal move so smoothly before.

'Magic as well?' He wondered.

'Guess I'll have to use that again. Though it does hurt the pride to keep using it on a fish.'

His eyes turned sharp as the world around him slowed to a crawl. The fish's elegant movements were now on full display.

He knew he was still too slow to catch it but he had his ways.

Before the fish could get any further, he twisted his body quickly and placed his hand a distance away from it.

Surprisingly, the fish's movements coincided with his hand’s and the fish smacked headfirst into it.

[One of the most important lessons I can teach you is the ability to predict your opponent's movements. Of course, knowing is half the battle and before every operation, you are expected to study your target's case file. We look for patterns. The way they fight, the way they walk, hell even the way they shit. Once you understand them... you've already won.]

He shook the memory of Root from his mind firmly and concentrated on his task.

The fish attempted to wriggle away from his grasp, but he wouldn't budge. Finally attaining his goal, he shot upwards with excitement.

The moment he broke the water's surface, he breathed in heavily and sweet air entered his lungs.

Struggling fish at hand, he swam back towards the lake's bank.

The sun had set by this point and the forest grew darker.

After drawing his sword, he swiftly pierced the fish's head, killing it.

From a nearby plant, he tore some of the larger sized leaves and wrapped them around the fish.

With it now secured he looked at his reflection on the calm lake’s surface. Six days have passed since he first crossed worlds, and he had changed so much in such a short time. The most obvious change was his clothing, he now wore robes similar to the Rine’s but darker in color. On his left index finger, he wore the magic ring the magician used during their fight. The old ghost said that opening it now was impossible as none of them were capable of doing so currently, but also that they should keep it as it would prove valuable later on. Rine refused to wear it and sulked when Cort wore it.

‘The man was already dead. No point in giving a dead man nice jewelry.’ He thought as he rubbed the ring. With an average looking outer appearance and a dull silver color, it was inconspicuous at best and cheap looking at worst.

On the subject of Rine, he was exactly how Cort pictured him to be. Innocent, naive, overly righteous. The boy was physically incapable of hiding his emotions and was oddly moody. Take when Cort attempted to recover the weapons from the human warriors for instance. Rine vehemently rebuked him and slathered him with insults about how cruel he was being. As if stealing from the dead was a crime worthy of the death punishment. Where was all this talk when he took from William? And why was he saying this all while having the silver-haired leader’s sword dangling at his hip?

“Whatever” He muttered as he disregarded the minor complaints. Eventually, and after a lot of haggling, he was able to take away one of the sisters’ bows, the shield, and some cooking equipment. The rest were kept with the bodies.

Luckily for the trio, when the other guild members came to investigate they did not question the missing equipment and chalked it up to being taken by local bandits.

With regard to his wounds, they were stable and he could move relatively well. Some broken bones still hurt like hell but the old man’s medicine was frighteningly effective on those too despite it being topical.

The night was fully upon him now and he could resume his errands.

After retrieving a bag from their main campsite, he went off running into the forest.

Along his path, he picked up various leaves and plants and kept them in his bag. Finally, he stopped on top of a certain tree as he watched a seemingly withered flower.

The first time the old man showed him this flower, he was skeptical. After all, what could a withered plant do for wound care? But he was soon shut up by what came next.

As moonlight began to shine, a ray landed on the flower specifically. As if waiting for it, the petals unfurled and a stunning flower revealed itself. The soft blue color gave off a hauntingly ethereal beauty.

He read a legend concerning this flower a couple of days ago. Supposedly there was once a powerful magician who fell in love with a goddess. After years of wooing, he was finally able to make her love him but their love was forbidden by stronger gods. These higher gods commanded the goddess to kill him. But the goddess refused and angered with her actions they sealed her away within the moon. Distraught by the consequences of his actions the magician grew uncaring and destroyed his core. His Origin spread throughout the world and where concentrations of it gathered, a withered plant materialized.

It is said that during the night the goddess’s seal weakens and some of her essence drifts down into Himmel. As a result of this, the once withered flower blooms again with life. Opening its petals up wide so that it may receive as much of his lover’s touch as possible. Even the flower’s color was a result of his love, as the goddess’s favorite color was blue.

Dead for most of its time and alive only when in the presence of its love, yet the two are sadly never fated to meet again. No matter how tall a flower grows, it will never reach the moon. And no matter how bright the moon shines, it will never touch the ground.

The story was widespread and adored. The withered flower became a symbol of pining love even during modern times.

He thought of all this as he ripped the flower from its ground and kept it in his bag.

Finally, he was done with his scavenging hunt. He made his way back to the campsite.

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Arriving back at the campsite, he saw a passed out Rine by the fire. Sweat was still drying on his face.

Cort made his way towards a certain tree trunk as he began to assemble his brewing equipment. After making sure everything was there, he made his way towards a small creek nearby and collected some water.

Setting the water-filled pot on the fire he began to prep the ingredients.

He unwrapped the fish and began to gut it. He placed all of the fishes innards into the pot and stirred it. Leaving the fish’s meat off to the side, he then started adding the various types of plants he collected into the same pot, all while stirring at a slow and constant pace.

Seemingly satisfied with the concoction’s appearance, he let it be and refocused on the fish. After washing and salting it, he pierced a sharp stick through it and hung it close to the fire.

After doing all of this, he then took out the withering flower and began to crush it between his hands. The flower soon turned into a moist mush. After waiting for a few minutes to allow the pot to boil over, he added the mush into it. The liquid’s color changed from light green to a deep blue.

The fish’s smell started to spread, and Rine began to turn in his sleep.

Cort laboriously stirred the liquid to ensure proper mixing. After some time, he left the pot alone to allow the water to evaporate thus reduce the liquid.

On the other side, Rine finally awoke and began to move towards the fish. “Thanks for the food.”

He said blearily before scarfing the fish down.

Cort said nothing and merely kept his eyes on the boiling pot.

The two boys sat in silence with the only sound being Rine’s busily working mouth.

“You ready?” Cort asked.

“Yeah.” Rine sighed as he threw away the meatless remains of the fish.

The two stood up and made their way towards the pot. Rine hovered his hands to the side of the pot as Cort began to rapidly stir the liquid.

“I just have to throw as much Origin into it as I can right?”

“Yes.”

“Alright, leave it to me.” Rine said with confidence as he closed his eyes and focused on accumulating the Origin.

Cort watched him with slight amusement and thought back to what the old man was teaching him earlier today.

“Your eyes.”

“I know but I need to focus, plus the next part is pretty gross.”

Cort nodded and he kept stirring.

Soon the liquid’s blue hue turned dark amber and an ungodly smell began to emanate.

Rine began to gag as Cort clicked his tongue. ‘Still as disgusting as ever.’ He thought.

The two boys soldiered on and the liquid grew darker and darker, and the smell more potent.

“Ok, I think it’s enough.” Rine said, almost pleading.

“More.”

“C’mon.” Rine complained as he began to retch.

Finally, he could take no more and moved his hands away. Origin no longer flowed and the liquid’s color stabilized.

“You keep eating right before we start this, despite knowing what will happen.” Cort said in a clumsy dialect.

“I know but the smell is too good, and also that smell is really gross.” Rine explained between heaves as he expelled the semi-digested meat of his dinner from his body.

Cort sighed.

“Well, at least he lasted longer than yesterday.” The old man said as he materialized out of nowhere.

“And where do you disappear to every time we do this?” Rine said angrily as he patted his upset stomach.

“If you are trying to imply something boyo, just remember that I don’t even have a nose to be bothered by the stench. And even if I did, I would never vomit.”

Rine’s eyes turned ablaze “Oh yeah well I’ll have you know I can also do it without throwing up, it’s just that I just ate dinner, and my stomach was feeling iffy.”

“How brave of you to use the same excuse for the third time in a row.”

Cort listened passively to the two bicker as he watched the liquid cool.

“I know how effective it is but is that thing really medicine?”

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