Water streaked down the boy’s body. The dried blood on his skin, which had solidified to form what looked like a layer of brittle armour, had caked around particularly bad injuries. Without it, his wounds would probably have taken far longer to close, but Gaius didn’t know if micro-organisms capable to infecting and worsening wounds existed or not. If they did, the dried blood may have very well saved his life.

His nerves tingled slightly as water entered his reopened wounds, but the boy was more focused on wiping every fleck of blood off his body, and after an hour of slow scrubbing, his body was finally clean again. Throwing on a white-grey shirt and a set of trousers, the boy looked at the last of the reddish water draining away, and left the room.

Nexus was sitting in the Map Room. Isabelle and Nakama were not there, and Gaius had the feeling that the artificial intelligence had gotten them out for a reason.

“So,” said Gaius, “break it down for me.”

“Your body’s beaten up far more badly than it seems,” said Nexus. “Right now, you’re on painkillers. Strong enough ones that you’re still able to walk and move, but you aren’t going to fight without being on them.”

Gaius’ left hand trembled. He’d taken far too much hits in that last battle. Even with an incredibly resilient body, he had been hit by tens…hundreds of attacks. The Stellar Core’s Barrier had given way halfway through, and against so many enemies of a particular skill level, he was never going make it out unscathed.

“You have a solution.” It wasn’t a question, just a simple demand.

“Yes, Master Gaius.” The sculpture pointed at the Map of Stars, and a screen appeared. An idyllic lake appeared, and in the middle was a gushing fountain of water that glimmered in the setting sun.

“Explain.”

“Behold, the legacy of Conrah, the God of Water and Life, He-Who-Grants.” Nexus adjusted the screen, zooming out so that a statue of Conrah was visible. Two orbs of water were floating around said statue, whose eyes were staring out towards the distance. A flowing garment of silk adorned his body, a sword slung at his side. In his left was a book, and in the right, a cup.

“This is the Fountain of Life, situated deep within the heartlands of the Eastern Territories. It is heavily guarded, but the public has access to the lake, after an appropriate fee is paid,” said Nexus. “However, your injuries are far too severe. You need something stronger than the lake water to completely heal you.”

“I assume that the rulers of the East have the exact thing I need, then,” said Gaius.

“Yes, the Crystal of True Restoration. It’s able to heal all wounds and revive the dying.” The wooden sculpture manipulated the screen again, this time to reveal a complex of interconnected pagodas, barricaded by high walls. A single gate — something that Gaius had seen before in the Ginga Shrine — blocked the only way out. “You can try buying them — or you can try stealing from the rulers of the East.”

“Which would be best?”

“In your current state, are you really able to steal something so heavily guarded?” Nexus asked. “You’ll be better off trying to purchase one off their black markets or from a cash-strapped sovereign.”

“Sovereign, eh?” Gaius rubbed his nose. “What’s the politics of the Eastern Territories like?”

“Isabelle’s probably a better candidate to reply your questions. Do you want me to call her in?”

Gaius nodded slowly. As Nexus summoned the Knight, the boy looked around the room, his eyes settling on a water canteen. Tens of them had been placed neatly together, reminding the boy of a disciplined body of troops. His hands flickered, and one of them floated over to Gaius, who caught it just as the door to the Map Room opened.

Isabelle, with a little hanger-on laughing on her back, walked through the doorway, making sure that Nakama’s head or body wasn’t going hit anything on the way through. The little gesture didn’t slip by the boy unnoticed, and he smiled inwardly in approval as Isabelle placed his sister on the sofa, and then joined her afterwards.

“What is your command, Master Gaius?” She lowered her eyes, and for a moment, Gaius had the feeling that she was treating him not as any normal person, but like a devout person meeting the deity they believed in. He shuddered at her reverent words, and shot a glare at the sculpture. It was probably his doing, but chewing the sculpture out right now wasn’t going to help him.

“Please,” said Gaius, “don’t be so formal. I am still the Gaius you know.”

Nakama nodded vigorously, and pushed Isabelle’s chin up. “You’re scary when you speak like that!”

A small tsun sound came from her pouted mouth, and Gaius gave a mental thumbs up for the timely assist. Capitalising on the moment, he said, “Treat me as how you did previously. It’s a privilege.”

And, thought Gaius, I’m going to wring that stupid intelligence later on. What on Ear— Orb did the damn thing tell my Knight? I don’t need stupidly high benchmarks and expectations!

“Anyway, just treat me normally. I’m not sure what Nexus told you, but you don’t need to think about its words that much.” Gaius drank from his water canteen slowly, and exhaled. “I’m as human as the rest of you.”

His eyes fell on Nakama, and the boy hastily amended his sentence. “As mortal, yeah? Mortal.”

“R-really?”

“Yes, Isabelle. Forget Nexus’ nonsense — you’re a friend, not my worshipper or whatever.”

“Alright, G-Gaius.”

“See? That’s better.” He blinked at Nakama, who followed up by chiming in with more words. The little girl was far more persuasive than Gaius would ever be, and after a while, Isabelle had surrendered. Nakama had made her repeat his name over and over— which after three seconds, felt like Gaius himself was being publicly teased — until the Knight was saying his name naturally.

“It’s done!”

“Good job, Nakama!” Gaius reached out and patted her head. “Now, back to the original purpose. Isabelle, what do you know of the Eastern Territories?”

“There are three such areas that are collectively known as the Territories,” said the Knight. “In the past, there were only two, both of which were modelled after a political system that Champion Solaris called an oligarchy. I’m not too sure what it meant, but apparently only the best, the brightest and the most compassionate are allowed to rule.”

“How about now?” asked Gaius.

“‘Now’ is somewhat inaccurate. Some eighty thousand years ago, a brilliant man, by the name of Baole, overturned the entire political system. He launched a rebellion by bringing to light the excesses of the old regime, and as his magnum opus, he created a self-restraining system where the new Territories kept each other in check. Known as Mi-Zu, Eo-Seu, and Feng-Lang, each of them supposedly hold a fatal weakness of another Territory, forcing them to work together somehow.” Isabelle ran her hands through her hair slowly as she spoke, and for a moment, Gaius could spot a scholar side to her.

Gaius felt somewhat inferior when he heard these words, before cheering himself up by arguing that he only had time to stir some shit in a city or two. This Baole probably spent quite a few years to do so. Gaius just needed to set his sights higher, if he really wanted to cause some waves.

With a newfound confidence, Gaius said, “Well, due to reasons, we’ll need to make our way towards the Eastern Territories. Write down all that you know, and then pass it to me post-haste.”

“Your will is my command, Gaius.”

“You—” Gaius rubbed his forehead. “Pack your bags too. We’ll be leaving together. We set out tomorrow.”

He looked at the wooden sculpture, who raised a thumbs up, and rolled his eyes. In the corner of his vision, Isabelle got up and left in a haste, presumably in a rush to pack her items.

Gaius smiled. “Let’s go for a holiday, Nakama.”