Chapter 66: All in the Execution

Chapter 66: All in the Execution

Edwins entire world was one of swimming pain when he finally came to, as it felt as though his entire body was on fire. Even still, his mind was foggy and slow, trying to piece together what had happened. Slowly, his muddled and distressed mind managed to recall what hed gone through.

Jogging plants talsanenris panther pain.

The last thing he could really remember was Inion reaching him. She hadnt even been that far away, it had just all happened so fast. Perhaps Reflexes might have been a good choice? Or rather, he needed to prioritize getting Speed however he might manage that.

He tried to open his eyes, but the effort proved to be too much for his exhausted body, bone-deep weariness of the sort he hadnt felt since before he came to Joriah. Still, he didnt need to open his eyes to check his notifications.

Level Up!

Skill Points 833839

Progress to Tier 2: 998/1770 (Avg level: 45/77)

Firestarting 62 63

Flexibility 36 37

Harvesting 40 41

Packing 43 44

Sleeping 40 41

Walking 49 50

Huh. Nice haul, considering how quick itd all been. Then he tried moving again and realized it probably hadnt been that quick, at least not including recovery. His muscles screamed in protest, lacerations burning like they were on fire, his upper arm especially, as he slowly pulled his eyes open...

He was back in Obairlann. Huh. He hadnt really expected that, though he probably would have if he had given thought to the matter. As he cast his gaze around, he realized why his arm burned so much, as Inion gently stroked his forearm, a smile on her face.

Oh good, youre awake.

You brought me back? he asked, his voice cracked and dry, sending him into a coughing fit which in turn sent renewed waves of agony throughout his battered body.

Drink this. Inion proffered his canteen, which he struggled to take, but his arms were unresponsive. He didnt feel paralyzed, not that hed know what that would feel like, but he certainly was without use of his extremities for the time being. Noticing his struggle, Inion carefully helped him prop up his head and trickled the delightfully cool water down his throat.

How long was I out?

Inion shook her head, Not long. Just about a day, maybe two?

You he took another sip of water, You dont know?

Time isnt obvious for us. No internal sense of time passing, unlike you messy mortals, and Ive been too busy tending to you.

Tending to me? I can barely move! I feel like half my body is torn to shreds! Sounding indignant was an art, especially with no voice and an inability to gesture, but Edwin felt like he could manage it.

Yeah. Thats still an improvement.

Once he was finally up and moving again, it still took some time before he was at full capacity. He took the time to try and repair his clothing, which even with Construction was no easy task, given he didnt have any sewing materials. In the end, he had to declare his shirt, which was honestly more rags at this point than actual clothing, a lost cause. He managed to patch up his pants with strips of cloth from his former shirt, attached with glue. It wasnt ideal, by any stretch of the imagination. But it worked, and kept Inion from giggling, so he counted it as a win.

Just another thing to get in town, I suppose. Itll have to be my first stop, though.

He still had a couple of marks, picked up from minor wounds here and there, but they were all dwarfed by the massive claw marks he now had covering his arms, legs, and torso. Inion claimed they looked good on him, but Edwin trusted neither the fey nor her fashion sense, so he remained skeptical.

Inion had fortunately kept the magical plants theyd found- even getting a few talsanenris berries, much to Edwins delight- as well as the body of the panther, though he didnt get much from it beyond some sharp teeth, claws, and a couple levels in Harvesting. Largely, though, he readily accepted gardening as his task of choice while his beaten and torn body healed.

Magical healing was amazing. If hed gotten the kinds of wounds he had back on Earth, it would have taken extensive surgery, oh so many stitches, and probably even more for him to fully recover. Here, though? Other than his slowly fading scars, he was up and about, no physical therapy required.

He also ran some experiments with talanenris. True to their reputation, all it took to grow them once they were picked was to place one of the white berries in the sun, on soil, and pour some water on it. From there, it was possible to watch it grow in real-time, a black stem growing while white roots dug into the ground. Within an hour, the resulting bush was the size of his head, and it flowered within two days.

It took about a week for new berries to grow, but that was still an insane turnaround. He took several of the fresh berries and planted them around the clearing, growing more and more bushes until he was flush with the magical plants, nearly making himself a hedge out of them. Once he had a larger stock, he could experiment, and he did so with gusto.

Talsanenris placed on stone would still germinate when exposed to light and water, but would swiftly wither if not given soil. He could even hold it in his hand, to much the same result. Dropping it directly into water, strangely, didnt result in growth- until something solid, such as the bank of the stream or the edge of a bowl, came into contact with it, at least. He could trick it with a pebble, though, but the plant withered away just as if it were on rock.

So. It clearly didnt need photosynthesis, or at least needed it much less than normal. However, it was still limited to needing nutrients. Hed need to try and figure out a fertilization method, then he could try hydroponics before to figure it out for sure.

The berries were edible and oddly bland to his tongue, though not to his mana sense. However, when he ate them, he could feel the magic within them become digested and fill his body with energy, as though he had eaten a pile of sugar. The energy rush took several days to fully dissipate, but Edwin suspected that was due to Survival. The effect didnt seem to lessen any if he picked a berry and then ate it a few days later, though he hadnt tried it on dried berries or any older than a week.

Using talsenenris as a sort of fertilizer had mixed results. The plants he applied the crushed talsanenris to grew incredibly quickly, almost as fast as the bush itself, but also withered if he used too much. Unlike the natural plant, they must not have been used to extracting so many nutrients from the ground in such short order.

Crushing the berries and mixing them with water into a smoothie gave Edwin a major boost to energy, like the worlds strongest cup of coffee and largest meal all at once. He was hyperactive and didnt sleep for a day after drinking it, though admittedly he crashed pretty hard afterwards. Not something to be used on a whim, though useful if he wanted to pull an all-nighter.

The berries were already so full of mana he couldnt Infuse them any further, but Infusing the soil where it grew seemed to speed up the growing process, allowing it to yield berries in five days rather than seven.

He mixed up another batch of healing salve once his first one was depleted, using them to help himself mend faster, but found he only had enough for two, maybe three more sets. He was fairly certain that some steps and ingredients in the potion were superfluous, but the only question was which.

Well, only one way to find out. It was time to do science.

Level Up!

Skill Points 839 878

Progress to Tier 2: 1036/1770 (Avg level: 48/77)

First Aid 34 47

Sleeping 41 44

Mathematics 42 51

Visualization 49 56

Outsiders Almanac 89 90

Purify 32 37

Harvesting 40 42