"So let get this straight..." lody said, leaning forward on the edge of the bed as Michael completed his story. The morning sun rays streaked in even brighter than before.
"You’ve been keeping these secrets from the ti you arrived at our manor? Even my father doesn’t know?" She asked, her expression unreadable.
Michael nodded, feeling a little guilty. He was hoping that she would understand his reasons, but he was prepared for the backlash. After all, he had practically been lying from the beginning.
lody slowly nodded, letting out a long sigh. "Thank goodness..."
"Eh?"
Michael shot her a questioning glance.
Thank goodness?
But his question was answered soon after.
"If my father knew this information and still decided to use you as a shield for ... I wouldn’t be able to forgive him." lody added, her complexion recovering slightly. There was relief in her voice, surprising even Michael.
"I’m sorry that you went through that Michael, and I’m sorry that you were dragged right back into noble politics against your will."
His eyes landed on her soft features. Her words were sincere—there was no judgnt, no anger. Just relief, and sympathy.
Michael felt a hand fall upon his shoulder.
"Thank you for confiding in us man." Rudy said, wearing a comforting expression. "It must have been a tough burden to carry by yourself all this ti..."
"Yeah," Michael admitted, smiling wryly, "but now that I have friends who I can trust, there’s no reason for to do it alone anymore."
"Damn right!" the guy grinned, flashing him a thumbs up.
The atmosphere turned harmonious in the next mont, and Michael felt as if a weight had been lifted from his chest—sothing that he’d carried for all these years. It was an amazing feeling, but he hadn’t finished yet.
"These are the pills and scrolls I found in the mana-scarred lands." He said, waving his hand and retrieving the two pill bottles and ancient scrolls inside of his storage ring.
They fell onto the bed in front of the two teens whose eyes widened with interest.
"Pills!?" lody’s eyes lit up, her hand surging forward to collect the pill bottle with intense speed. She ignored the scrolls, as if they were ordinary pieces of paper, causing Michael to smile wryly.
"Can I open it?" she asked Michael, her eyes shining with enthusiasm.
lody was an alchemy nut, he wasn’t surprised that she would imdiately gravitate to the pills.
"Sure, but just be careful... I took one last night for the first ti, but I’m not sure what it actually does. My soul absorbed the dicinal energy—but then nothing happened." He admitted, looking a little worried.
"Your soul did?" she asked with a frown. "Could it be..."
lody removed the stopper on the pill bottle, causing the scent of magical herbs to fill the room almost instantly. She carefully tipped the bottle until a single longan-sized pill fell into her hand before putting the stopper back into place.
Michael tensed, expecting his soul to kick up a fuss again at the appearance of another pill—however, even after a few seconds, it had no reaction. He raised an eyebrow, not knowing what to make of the situation.
Is it because my soul is still absorbing the dicinal effects of the pill? Or is it one of those dicines that only a single dose is effective? He thought silently.
"It’s so beautiful..." lody said, bringing it closer to her face to inspect the spherical pill.
"Beautiful?" Rudy scoffed, "It looks like a dung ball..." he remarked, pointing to the brown pill that slled of herbs.
lody shot him a fiery glare, "Your head looks more like a dung ball... This pill is from a lost alchemical art of pillmaking. Mages used to make amazing dicines, but the techniques were lost after the great war—now we’re reduced to using cauldrons to make potions." She lanted.
Her knowledge passionately spilled out as she stared bright-eyed at the pill in her hands.
"And if what Michael says is true, this could be a super rare pill targeted at souls. Though the thods were lost, a to of dicinal pills was discovered by the alchemy association classifying so pills and their effects." She continued, turning to Michael.
"There was only one pill that had an affect on the soul in that to..."
Michael gulped, feeling a sense of trepidation and excitent, waiting for her to continue.
"Soul fortification pill. It’s said to increase the purity and density of one’s soul." She added, "scholars believe that this was one of the contributing factors as to why there were so many violet mages in ancient tis. Since pills like this existed—their souls were stronger, able to venture deeper into the Arcana."
"You sure know a lot..." Rudy stated, scratching his head. "So you’re basically saying that this pill will make your soul stronger?"
As he said this, the guy deftly grabbed the pill atop lody’s palm with his thumb and forefinger, examining it.
"Oi! Be careful with that!" lody surged to her feet with panic.
"Relax, I’m not going to eat it. Not without permission anyway." He said, looking at Michael with a small grin.
"Are you sure that there was only one type of pill aid at souls?" Michael asked, his tone graver than the mood would have suggested.
lody looked a little taken aback, but she shook her head. "That was only one to, I can’t guarantee that there isn’t missing information. But since you’re still alive after taking one last night—it shouldn’t be anything harmful." She surmised.
Michael seed a little relieved after hearing so, but he had so reservations.
That nightmare I had last night... Is it related to the pill? He thought silently.
Surely not...
For a mont he thought about just ignoring it, but sothing inside nagged at him. The nightmare felt too real to just be his imagination. So after a brief mont, he decided to tell the two about it.
The two listened to his tale, but neither seed too concerned.
"I doubt it’s an effect of the pills," lody replied, "though research on souls has stagnated ever since the great war, nothing like how you described has ever been recorded."
"She’s right," Rudy added, placing a hand on his shoulder, "you’ve been through a lot man. I still suffer from nightmares occasionally—though they’re a little different."
Michael wanted to agree with them—wanted to pass off the nightmare as sothing simple. But sothing nagged at him.
However, he decided to leave it for now. His two friends had already moved on, now focusing their attentions back on the pill that had found its way back into lody’s hands.
She grabbed the pill bottle and swiftly placed the longan sized pill back.
"It will lose its efficacy if its unsealed for too long," she stated matter-of-factly.
"Thanks," Michael nodded, waving his hand and putting the bottles and scrolls back into his storage ring. He could see the slight disappointnt in both of their faces—but there was no greed—sothing that made him thankful.
With a small smile, he addressed them. "Let’s wait a few months and see if there are any side effects of taking the pill. If there isn’t, I’ll share them with you."
"Eh? Really!?" Rudy’s eyes lit up with excitent, practically jumping for joy. "Thank you man! You’re my big bro from now on." He shouted, patting Michael on the back with hard shots as he laughed.
lody too was extrely interested, but her cheeks turned slightly red a mont later. She cleared her throat and spoke softly. "Thanks..."
Michael smiled, feeling so warmth mixed in with his now stinging back from Rudy’s slaps. He had been so worried about revealing his secrets to his friends, but now that such a weight had been lifted from his shoulders—he felt content.
These guys are true friends...
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