He never expected to reach Keiner in time.

The pain flared, forcing him to hold back a wince yet also spurring him into action.

Remember her. He told himself, Alary’s scarlet eyes flashing in his mind eye, full of hope, full of brilliance.

His steps were light, and every muscle moved with intent, as his own consciousness fought the pain coming from his left arm, shoulder and chest, keeping his focus true.

That lake-like state of mind he learnt to harness, to keep.

The wind around Gale was gathering around the fan, Keiner sure, his posture straight, as windows, shutters and doors slammed against the wood, attracting terrified gazes to that one man.

Avaln couldn’t time it, nor couldn’t know, yet he knew that regardless of the outcome, he had but one move capable of solving the situation.

One arm will have to be enough. He thought, as he plunged the spear in the ground, shifting his momentum skywards. His improvised step technique helped, and threw him even higher into the air as he waved that kinetic energy and channelled it into his spear, performing Unneeded heart.

His gaze found Mira’s figure, and knew that it was now or never, a spark of joy guiding his attack, realizing his trust had not been betrayed.

It was then when Keiner heard the bell of death.

But Avaln didn’t count with one thing: the wind.

How could he, given his lack of experience?

Despite the strength and speed with which he threw his spear, the wind gathering around the fan was also mighty enough to deviate it slightly to the right, and through pure practice and intuition, He realized this time, Unneeded heart would meet no mark.

Something resembling despair took hold of his chest then, his momentum waning, the spear completely out of his reach. He thought of using the link rune, but the idea died in its birth when he realized he just didn’t have the time…

It was then when, under his seventh sense… he saw a pale blue Essence envelop the spear, changing its course. It was faint, yet brilliant, real, yet eerie. It was familiar. It was distant.

It was enough.

The spear pierced.

The very scene seemed to freeze in front of Mira’s eyes. There was recognition in those eyes, a glint of hope and the disbelief born from seeing a long lost loved one. Her gaze went beyond the spear, beyond Keiner’s falling figure, beyond the fading wind…

And found Rei’s gaze. Her pale-blue eyes were shining, and so was her body. From her emanated the same Essence enveloping the spear.

My lady! Mira thought.

Yet the moment unfroze, the Essence flickered out of existence and Rei fell on her knees, head down, shoulders weak. Keiner’s body hit the ground with a dull thud, and the fan fell from his hands as he tried to gasp for air, only to find blood obstructing his throat.

Mira heard a few steps, and through their sound she knew she didn’t need to turn around. Avaln appeared through the corner of her eyes, and approached the now dying adventurer, slowly.

The young man looked into Keiner’s eyes, his right hand taking hold of the spear. There was still a glint of consciousness in those eyes, a streak of hatred, yet Avaln could also see that will to survive that every living being possessed. And so, despite his previous words, he found himself saying, “Tell me who sent you, and I’ll heal you.”

Mira reacted to that, but didn’t say anything.

Keiner, however, just cackled a mouthful of crimson. “Dead… all the same.” Were his words, then he grasped the spear with his good hand, out of will rather than strength… and pushed it deeper.

The hatred, together with his will, faded from his eyes.

Such, was his end.

Avaln sighed, and shook his head. Now that his anger had been quelled, a startling worry crept inside his chest. Keiner took his own life… and Avaln found a worrying lack of emotion born from it. The same happened when he pierced Teppei’s chest, whose mind had broken for some reason he couldn’t quite understand. The archer’s life, too.

No disgust.

No fear.

No satisfaction.

Just nothing.

Why? He wasn’t some doll, nor did he lack emotions of another kind, yet murdering someone like that…

Shouldn’t I feel something at least?

He sighed again, and decided such worries were meant for another time. “Mira, let me see your injury.”

She lifted an eyebrow at that, unaware of his inner thoughts “When did you start disrespecting your elders, kid?”

He furrowed his brow at this, not completely following.

“You did the same before.” She grabbed her sides, and just sat on the ground. “Where did grandma go?”

“Ah.” Avaln opened his mouth in realization, then chuckled. “I completely forgot about that.”

Mira just huffed.

“Master Avaln… “ A voice called. It was a pretty voice, and it was thick with concern. “Are you alright?”

He turned around, recognizing the voice, and smiled, yet Rei’s features grimaced and her hands covered her mouth in a muted cry.

“W-What?” He asked, a bit alarmed by her reaction, looking at himself yet not finding anything besides some injures, some dry blood, crimson tinted clothes…

“Brat.” Mira called him.

He glanced at her sideways. “What?”

“You look like shit.” She clarified, understanding his confusion. “Don't your injuries hurt?”

“Ah.” Avaln’s mouth went agape, as if recalling his own appearance, and how his left eye was still closed, and now had a layer of dried blood on top of it. “Now that you mention it…”

And indeed, the pain was there, flaring, pulsing… but it wasn’t comparable to the pain he suffered during his attempt to reach the Tempered Essence realm. Nor was it like the one he went through when the blue book formed The Tower of Babylon inside his soul.

It seemed he’d built a really high pain tolerance.

“Don’t worry.” He said, and placed a hand on top of Rei’s head. “It looks worse than it is.” Then, he turned towards Mira. “Let me see that…”

She nodded, humble. The memory of Avaln’s healing spell was still vivid in her mind, and so she couldn’t deny how handy it came to them right now. “Please do.”

Avaln sat by her side, carefully, and drew the regenerate rune right over the cut. “It isn’t as deep as I thought.” He commented, then infused it with some of his mana, then drew some of Mira’s in, that way they’d share the load. “You’ll feel weak after this, that’s normal.”

A pretty giggle was heard by their side. “Master Avaln sounds like an alchemist.”

That seemed to call something to Mira’s attention. “That’s right, you did say before you were an alchemist. Is it true?”

Avaln chuckled at that, causing Rei to blink a few times, not catching the joke, yet her doubts were soon answered by a shake of his head. “It was a lie.” He clarified, simply, then added, “Rei, how is old man Jeff?”

Her expression winced. “He is still awake, but he’s lost a lot of blood.”

“That old bat will be fine.” Mira spat, gesturing her worry away, yet Rei only squinted her eyes at that.

“It’s alright. I’ll go right now.” Avaln stood up, and Rei and Mira followed soon after, not before picking a certain fan with a piece of cloth they tore from Mira’s clothes, not daring to touch it directly.

As they made their way behind Avaln, Mira glanced at Rei for an instant. She looked fine, like herself, like always, yet a faint part of the elderly woman couldn’t help muttering, “My lady?”

Rei heard her, and met her gaze. There was a sort of strange wisdom in those pale blue eyes.

“My lady?” She repeated, then chuckled. “Are you alright, grandma Mira?”

The elderly woman smiled, feeling older all of a sudden. “Yes, it was just a little joke.”

As for Jeff, despite the amount of blood he’d lost, his state wasn’t something Avaln couldn’t heal. His fingers traced a regenerate rune on the ground and told him to sit on it, which the old smith managed with some difficulty. There, both elders healed under Avaln’s careful watch, despite Rei’s constant calls for him to take a bath and tend to his own injuries.

“I wish I could, but I can’t hold more than two of these spells at the same time.” Avaln clarified. It was only then that Mira realized something, then shook her head, as if nothing could surprise her anymore.

The kid just talked about dual casting as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Was the thought that crossed her mind.

One thing was to set a trap whose activation had a series of conditions, and acted independently of the caster, and another was to cast two continuous spells. The latter was known as dual casting, and was a very advanced technique.

Mira didn’t know many spellcasters who could do so. But, given everything she’d seen today, she just shrugged internally, allowing her common sense to be shattered.

Who knows, maybe I’ll find Cirse’s shoes underneath my bed. She thought.

“In that case, I’ll go fetch water and clean Master Avaln’s face!” Rei declared, and ran off to Jeff’s house before Avaln could say anything.

“That girl… had an arrow stuck in her chest… and now she is running around…” Mira muttered, covering her face. “I’m too old for this.”

Avaln scratched his cheek, smiling awkwardly.

It took him half a day to heal both Jeff and Mira. The reason was simple: he had to use his and their mana in order to do so, which greatly slowed the process in comparison to what he did with Rei, where he used the whole mana from that archer’s corpse to enhance the process.

As he understood it, the lifeforce composing the Essence of a body could only be refined, and so he’d checked when transferring that woman’s to him, then to Rei. The lifeforce, instead of obeying him, just returned to the world.

Having thought of this, his gaze, now cleared of blood thanks to a certain someone, focused on Keiner’s corpse, as his own seventh sense swirled and skimmed over it, not knowing how to judge what he was perceiving.

After having partially activated The Fan of Helen, his now stagnant Essence had changed, and no longer was purely demonic, but had that pure black mixed in. Through further examination, he determined that black wasn’t just a change of attribute, like what happens with corrosion, but it was a whole new Essence that was invading the body. It didn’t follow any patterns, nor was it moving… but it was, without a doubt, not something a Tempered Essence realm adventurer should possess.

Avaln lacked the experience to accurately categorize it… but it exceeded the Tempered Essence realm for sure. It may even be one or two great realms higher than that.

That was the reason why he didn’t use Keiner’s Essence to heal Mira and Jeff. It was out of caution, not knowing what that black attribute effects may be.

As for the rest of the bodies, he couldn’t touch them, as their Essence didn’t bear his soul imprint.

“I guess I should heal myself now.” He thought out loud, feeling the fatigue settling in.

“Kid.” Called grandma Mira. “You may want to step out of the village to do that.”

Avaln lifted an eyebrow, not following.

“The people… have started coming out.” She explained, leaving a way for him to see it. They were inside the alley where Jeff had been, and from there he caught a glimpse of the remaining villagers peeking through their doors, windows, or walking in the open. As for Jeff, he fell unconscious soon after being completely healed.

Avaln looked at Mira again. “Keep them away from Keiner’s body. It also should be burned, as soon as possible.”

She didn’t hide the questions his message aroused in her.

“If you examine it with your seventh sense, you’ll understand.” He told her, yet she didn’t leave right away.

Mira shook her head, took a step forward and placed a hand on his good forearm. “Heed my advice. Leave the village before healing yourself.”

“Why? I’m sure they saw me doing it already.”

Mira cocked her head. “Some of them.” She then shrugged. “If you don’t mind the whole village seeing you, go right ahead. Don’t complain to me later when they come to you for every little scratch; or worse, form a line while carrying the bodies of their loved ones.”

Avaln covered his face with his good hand, then tried to drag with it his own exhaustion. “Yes. You are right. I’ll do that.” Then, with a gesture, told her to go. “Don’t let them touch it.”

She nodded, and left just as Rei turned the corner leading to the alley, after washing the clothes she used to clean Avaln’s face. “What happened?”

Avaln shook his head. “I need to go out of the village for a bit. Take care of old man Jeff.” He told her, without demand nor compromise.

“I’ll go with you.” She said, approaching him to take hold of his good arm.

Avaln smiled. There was kindness in that smile, yet also a hint of ruefulness. “I can stand up on my own. But thank you.”

He left without saying goodbye before, because he didn’t want to further get in the way of Rei’s chosen path. But now, after saving her from that wound, he didn’t know what was the right choice anymore.

A part of him knew he’d do it again, without hesitation.

He didn’t want her to feel indebted to him, for given her nature, he was aware of the inevitability of it. In fact, he wouldn’t put it past her to be so stubborn as to not leave his side for the rest of his stay.

With these thoughts, Avaln stood up…

“Huh?” He muttered, when the world seemingly turned upside down.

“Master Avaln!”

A part of him understood his legs had failed him, and that he hit the ground with his left arm, making him see dots of black and red. Those dots weren’t real, just a way his head had to warn him of the wounds he suffered…

Oh, right. He thought then. Rei’s eyes look like moons.

And with that, his consciousness faded.