The Ogre Strength Fairy and the Eldest 'Son'
Chapter 265 - Success Tastes As Sweet As Can Be! But Ashes Fed Of Reality May Show The Dirty Feeling Of Victory

Chapter 265: Chapter 265 - Success Tastes As Sweet As Can Be! But Ashes Fed Of Reality May Show The Dirty Feeling Of Victory

While the boy she grew up with mused over existence in general, Nohre’s hands moved to that second wing. The spiritual connection flowed more smoothly this time as she better understood what she was meant to accomplish. Tiny bones aligned under her fingers while torn muscle and ligaments knit themselves back together at an *almost* unnoticeable fraction quicker than it had before.

"Very good. You’re getting better already."

Elua’s monotone praise made her disciple’s spirit brighten with happiness. The ancient cultivator maintained her guiding presence even more vigilantly because of that shift, looking for signs of complacence or rushing. If she had to keep her from making mistakes... she would.

She had to use a little more spiritual attention just to keep it sedated as it grew healthier. The brunette drew it all back slowly as they finished with this first avian patient. Her hands moved to physically check various points of connection in its wings and the way its feathers pulled against the tissue before she offered the girl a small nod.

"We’ll move on to the next one shortly. This one needs a few minutes to properly settle and so do you."

Seconds later, its head turned to examine its surroundings with curiosity rather than the despondent confusion from when they found them. Its mood was carefully regulated by the spiritualist so that it wouldn’t panic and fly off. Elua’s companion hopped closer and sang something at the dark blueish bird.

Whatever was transmitted with that, the recovering creature just tilted its head and eyed the barely familiar purple and orange bird with one of its white eyes for a dozen seconds. Then it carefully waddled off and toward its open cage. The three cultivators watched these behaviors with varying levels of interest.

’I guess... it’s fine?’

Green eyes looked between the bird and their master, figuring the heiress would have said or done something if it shouldn’t be up and moving yet.

"What we’ve just done here is beyond what most people would expect possible. The speed and thoroughness especially. In a way, those people are right. You aren’t ready to do things like this yet. But you will be. Someday."

Her mint eyes locked on Nohre to emphasize the point. It was a stick she was starting to feel she might be tapping against the girl’s metaphorical bottom a bit too much - the nebulous threat of ’others’. However, she wouldn’t be a good mentor if she didn’t try and make her aware.

"I’m not the only one who will realize that last part. You would be an investment to them in the best case. A well kept and maintained pawn in... another case."

They needed to understand that this level of capability would draw unwanted attention if word spread. That they needed to keep their mouths shut about themselves as much as about their master. Because if not, they would be getting in the way of her and Qat.

"The worst result is that you are an obstacle. Growing fame, influence, or just being attached favorably to whoever claims you first. Our world might be a nicer place than in the past, but as you can see here-"

The brunette gestured to the birds to make her point.

"-It is not perfect. It is not pure good. It is calm by comparison to the tales people tell, but there are still schemes and power and darkness. The sort of things that are attracted to an ability like yours, whether you’d like it to be so or not."

"I understand."

Nohre spoke calmly back while looking at her hands. It was a lot to take in, but the feeling in her heart couldn’t be denied. She’s just used her ability to do something incredible.

"I understand, but..."

"I know. That feeling. That’s exactly why I need to warn you."

Elua grabbed her wrists and stuck her face inches from hers. Dull mint soaked in the light reflecting off the green as pressure descended directly on the disciple.

"If that was Fusand you needed to do that on just now, you would have killed him or yourself while trying. You are not powerful. You have a route to power. They are not the same thing."

The teenager shook at her assertions, not wanting to believe it but having no choice. After all, the entire time she couldn’t help but think everything was going too smoothly.

"Your Aspect has room to grow and *seem* miraculous. The control you need to develop. The hours you need to practice and study its intricacies. The risks you need to take and minimize at times."

Taking advantage of the open Synergy connection, the ancient cultivator smashed her with muted memory and intent. It made her feel even dirtier, but the feelings she shared were an important lesson.

"Do not get conceited. Some things are beyond you or anyone. Do not falter when you fail. Accept the lesson - even if it is that you can’t understand right then - and move on."

"M-master. Are you...?"

"I will continue to help as long as you seek me for it. Are we in agreement?"

When the girl nodded gravely back at her, the heiress could only sigh. She let go and closed her eyes while standing.

"I need a minute. Keep resting."

As the small cultivator walked slowly away, Fusand noticed something odd about her departure. There was a subtle wrongness in the image he couldn’t quite place. His attention quickly shifted to Nohre, whose rapidly flowing spirit was surging with unfamiliar patterns.

"Are you alright?"

The teen girl stared at her hands, still trying to process what she’d just experienced.

"She showed me something? Not exactly memories, but... the feelings of them. About failing to save people. About learning limits the hard way."

Her voice wavered as she tried to articulate the weight of what she’d felt. The sincerity and reality that didn’t make any sense but was likewise irrefutable. The sandy haired boy moved closer and sat beside her, pulling her to lean on his shoulder

"I... see. The pressure of her presence changed when she started holding your wrists. But I couldn’t make out what she was saying to you."

Meanwhile, the real Elua - having left a slow moving illusion back at her camp - was already pressed against the edge of the fragment’s range. Other than these two times with her disciples, she hadn’t come back to the camp precisely because it was out of range of her beloved.

Now, she desperately sought that familiar crystalline warmth. The connection with her husband-wife felt like it could scrub away the residue of sharing even those carefully selected and muted memories with another. With someone not Qat.

’My fortress... my anchor... mine. Qat. Qatrand... Qat...’

The fragment pulsed with concern at her sudden intensity appearing after being gone for so long. However, the steady shift to its care for her presence was exactly what she needed. To center herself again before she stopped caring about absolutely anything else.

"Okay. That... that might hold me. Ugh, I really don’t want to go back and do this again~"

The ’sweet’ voice whined out. She hadn’t been able to get her facade to stick for so long already. Just a few moments of being clingy at a distance now made it possible! The brunette smiled up at the clouds that suddenly looked fluffier and more beautiful.

Back at the makeshift ’cultivation room’, Nohre’s spirit slowly settled back to its normal rhythms over the course of a few minutes as she explained more to Fusand of her impressions just now. They shared their theories about what made Elua this way while cuddled close together. Neither noticed when their master’s illusion disappeared.

’They aren’t even looking at it anymore. What a waste of effort.’

Its seated position a hundred yards away and looking towards the temporary city was unnecessary... with the boy’s cheek pressed into the top of her hair facing the other way. Nohre played with the fingers of one of his hands while he held the other wrapped around her shoulder.

"Look, it’s not going to be any quicker if I wait to bust you, so hurry up and get your embarrassment under control so we can get back to work."

The girl shoved the boy away and stood to attention the moment the voice started speaking behind them. The Goltbred just shook her head and checked on her spiritual sedations. Selecting the next patient, she waited near the plank for the flush to disappear and the startled water-deer to sit back down.

Working through the remaining birds went smoothly. The fractures were smaller and the tissue damage less severe for the most part. Each session built on the lessons of the last.

The Synergy grew more responsive to melding to Elua’s guidance, while Nohre’s focus in channeling Mend became fractionally less strained with each success and variation. Practice makes perfect - but not letting her make mistakes in the first place held a value of its own.

’She’ll just have to work backward to figure out why it works better those ways than not. Poor her. I saved her some failed iterations.’

By the time they reached the fourth bird, the first one had gotten back out of its cage and begun testing its wings with careful stretches. Her companion Skydancer played at keeping the recovering birds calm and contained. It checked on them while staying grounded for the most part... though it and the others showed increasing signs of wanting to take flight into the winds of the plains.

"Alright. We need to return these before anyone gets too curious about where they’ve gone. I’m sure a few of the professionals I had pick up the thieves are just waiting to accuse me of wrongdoing~"

The brunette’s oddly happy assertion rang out as she severed the essence flowing through the wood. She brought the temporary ’cultivation room’ toward her covered fire pit. After gathering some of the more flammable gases in the atmosphere into its enclosure, she struck a spark and set the evidence ablaze.

The consuming fire would erase the more ’sensitive’ sigils - the ones that made her well received brooches feel like nothing but cheap glass. Then some of her work hidden in the stones would keep the flame and ash from spreading outside... and keep anyone from trying to retrieve the contents before it burned away.

Her mint eyes turned to study the birds as her disciples gathered their cages. They seemed more interested in staying close to her Skydancer than trying to escape. Plus, she could *make* them come back if needed. And caging them... wouldn’t provide nearly the same spectacle!

"Nohre, Fusand - you’ve done well today. But remember what we discussed about discretion. As far as anyone knows, these birds were never seriously injured. In fact... you two were here in camp the whole time and didn’t see what I did to the culprits. Okay?"

The brunette tilted her head with a ’sweet’ smile. For some reason, the orphans were starting to think they preferred her ’emotionless’ side...