Bai Shi stood cradled in the Dragonkin Soldier's massive claw as he was carried through the air.
The feeling of the strong wind rushing past was exhilarating.
This crisp night air, in particular, was a much-needed reprieve, allowing Bai Shi to finally breathe a sigh of relief.
After spending so long underground, it had begun to feel a bit oppressive.
Especially since the place he had just visited was nothing like the tranquil and peaceful Siofra River.
In the Ainsel River, ants cramd into every corner of the basin.
The remains of corpses they fed on, mixed with the complex odors of the ants' own lives, created a nauseating stench.
Not to ntion Bai Shi's trip to the Lake of Rot.
That Lake of Rot was an out-and-out cesspool.
Although Liurnia of the Lakes had its share of lobsters and spirits...
In comparison, it was practically pristine. Who could possibly complain about this lake now?
The Dragonkin Soldier carried Bai Shi across the skies of Liurnia, flying toward the clifftop fortress of Stormveil.
The Stormhawks erged from their roosts, investigating the sudden appearance of the Dragonkin Soldier.
Bai Shi used the wind to give them their orders, simultaneously notifying Stormveil of their return.
The Dragonkin Soldier flew quickly, only a little slower than Selinsax.
As such, the two didn't spend much ti on the journey and soon arrived outside Stormveil Castle.
Because Stormveil had received advance notice, and it was the dead of night, the Dragonkin Soldier's arrival didn't cause much of a panic.
Bai Shi had the Dragonkin Soldier land at the base of the cliff, beneath the lone bridge leading to Stormveil.
Down there was a vast, undeveloped forest, untouched by human feet.
—With the exception of the Tarnished who were swept off the cliff when challenging Margit, the Fell On.
If you piled up all the corpses swept off in the ga, you could probably fill this entire ravine, right?
Still, he imagined the vast majority of Tarnished never learned what lay below that cliff.
Geographically, this area was just behind the Gatefront Ruins, an explorable region in the ga.
In the ga, there was a graveyard here, along with a group of Spirit Jellyfish.
But the varied elevation and dense forest provided such excellent cover that almost no one ever ca here.
Travelers usually just turned right, following the main road up the mountain past the dilapidated shack where Roderika stayed, and on toward Stormveil.
Unlike Selinsax, the Dragonkin Soldier couldn't transform into a human to live inside the city.
If his size were closer to a troll's, it wouldn't be an issue, but unfortunately, he was more than just a little bigger.
And there were no suitable spots farther away.
This area happened to be quite large, more than enough space for him to move around, making it a perfect temporary residence for the Dragonkin Soldier.
Within this forest, the surrounding ancient trees barely reached the Dragonkin Soldier's waist.
After the Dragonkin Soldier landed steadily on the ground, Bai Shi began to ponder how to make specific arrangents for him.
Just then, a crisp, surprised voice suddenly sounded beside him.
"Wow, you're huge!"
"Is that an ancient dragon? It looks a little different from what I rember."
"Hey, hey, what are you, anyway?"
"And why is there the presence of a giant and a teardrop inside you?"
Startled by the voice that seed to materialize right by his ear, Bai Shi whipped his head around to look.
He saw a petite creature in a green robe, which had appeared beside them at so unknown mont.
Before she spoke, Bai Shi hadn't detected her presence at all.
This was definitely not a simple matter of stealth or sothing similar; after all, she didn't seem to be hiding in the slightest.
'Is this... cognitive masking? Or presence erasure?'
She was now darting around the colossal Dragonkin Soldier at high speed.
The Dragonkin Soldier had also noticed the tiny, flitting thing.
The size difference was absurd. Before the Dragonkin Soldier, calling the little creature a fly would be a gross overstatent.
For so reason, he felt no hostility toward this thing.
Bai Shi had not issued a command, so the Dragonkin Soldier simply stood there silently.
Bai Shi stared at the little creature, his surprise growing.
Although he had never seen one with his own eyes, he had heard Hakan's description a long ti ago.
Bai Shi quickly realized what this being was.
It was a pixie.
The very one Hakan had accidentally freed from a cave, perhaps the last remaining pixie in the Lands Between.
Her appearance and all her characteristics matched the description.
Besides, such a magical lifeform was likely one of a kind in the Lands Between; it could only be a pixie.
Upon this realization, Bai Shi didn't make any rash moves, instead choosing to observe her carefully.
He noted the pixie was not much bigger than Small Ranni.
She moved through the air with incredible speed, almost as if she were blinking in and out of existence or teleporting.
Even Bai Shi would lose sight of her at tis if he didn't concentrate completely.
'A pixie... why is it here?'
'Was it attracted by the Dragonkin Soldier?'
'It's possible. There was a lot of commotion just now. I just wonder where she's been all this ti.'
Watching the pixie dart about, an idea began to form in Bai Shi's mind.
'This might be an opportunity. Maybe I can communicate with her and learn sothing...'
As Bai Shi was lost in thought, another female voice called down from the bridge leading to Stormveil:
"Lilianna! Why didn't you wait for ? What if you ran into danger?!"
"Ah! Sir Bai Shi..."
The body of the Dragonkin Soldier stood beneath the cliff, towering over the forest.
Though there was still so distance to Stormveil's lone bridge, it was close enough for soone up there to see them.
Bai Shi followed the sound of the voice, looking up toward the bridge.
There, on the not-so-distant bridge, stood a young woman in a witch's long robe, a light veil obscuring her eyes.
Suddenly noticing Bai Shi held in the Dragonkin Soldier's hand, the young woman cried out, her voice a mixture of shyness and irrepressible joy.
Appearing before Bai Shi was Irena, whom he hadn't seen in a long ti and who was supposed to be at Castle Morne.
Only, the Irena before him now was sowhat different from the one in his mory.
The old Irena was pretty.
But only within the scope of a normal human, and she was still quite young.
Not to ntion, she lacked the unique aura that lina, Ranni, and even his teacher Sellen possessed.
But the Irena before him now left Bai Shi utterly astonished.
She radiated a faint, captivating air.
It wasn't due to the deliberate or passive use of any power; it was simply that her "charisma" attribute had gone through the roof.
More tangibly, Irena's appearance had also beco even more beautiful.
To put it simply using the character creation stats from a certain edition of Call of Cthulhu:
A human's Appearance attribute ranges from 3-18. The old Irena was around a 16.
But the current Irena was about a 20, a level beyond what a human character could normally be rolled.
Of course, in a world like the Lands Between, where extraordinary powers were commonplace and often of a high level, such beauty, while rare, wasn't so unheard of as to be unacceptable.
lina and Ranni's appearances were well above that value, especially given the true demigod blood that flowed in their veins.
What truly astonished Bai Shi was the speed of Irena's transformation.
He rembered that the last ti he had seen her, she had not undergone such a change.
It was as if the girl next door he'd gone to school with just yesterday had suddenly announced she was now a magical girl capable of transforming.
Moreover, it seed sothing on a deeper level about her had also changed...
Seeing Irena after so long, Bai Shi pushed down his doubts and offered a greeting.
"Ah, Irena, long ti no see." Then, a realization struck him, and he blinked, a little puzzled.
How had Irena recognized him before he had even spoken?
And also, who was Lilianna?
Bai Shi turned his gaze toward the pixie, who was still dancing around the Dragonkin Soldier.
Her?
Was she connected to Irena's current changes?
The mysteries were multiplying. It seed it would take so ti to unravel them all...
--
Just like any other evening, Irena and the pixie Lilianna wandered aimlessly through Stormveil Castle.
This had already beco their daily routine, sothing they repeated every day.
Although they had been here for so ti and had long since explored every nook and cranny of Stormveil...
The pixie maintained a level of curiosity so vigorous it was almost abnormal, constantly finding new things to investigate even in familiar scenes.
And Irena, having regained her sight, was equally willing to accompany Lilianna again and again, repeatedly observing the place she now called ho.
Committing Stormveil to mory gave her a surreal feeling, as if she were truly alive in this world.
It was a stark contrast to her life before.
By the ti she snapped out of her thoughts, it was deep into the night once more.
Just as she was preparing to head back, their attention was suddenly captured by a colossal beast soaring through the sky.
Gazing up at the passing ice-blue wings, Irena was utterly stunned.
She had never seen such a creature before.
Before she could react, Lilianna had already zipped off, determined to et the big fellow.
Although Irena was reluctant to go, she had no choice but to follow the unique trail Lilianna left behind in her vision.
Along the way, Irena's heart pounded with fear.
It hadn't been long since Lilianna had shared her pixie eyes with her, granting her the gift of sight.
Until this mont, the most powerful and terrifying creature she had ever seen was the skull of Agheel, which hung beside Bai Shi's throne.
Thanks to the pixie's power, Irena could perceive the fearso strength the dragon possessed when it was alive.
But the imnse creature that had just flown past them emanated an oppressive aura that far surpassed Agheel's.
Lilianna had gone off on her own initiative, leaving Irena no choice but to grit her teeth and follow.
She never would have imagined, however, that she would find the very person she had been longing to see.
Watching Bai Shi leap from the creature's hand to land beside her, Irena could only stare at him in a daze.
Although she had never truly seen Bai Shi's face before, she had once traced his features with her hands, committing them firmly to mory.
That was why she could recognize him without even needing to hear his voice.
Looking at Irena, Bai Shi asked in amazent:
"Irena, your eyes..."
"Can you see now?"
Bai Shi's question snapped Irena back to reality.
Irena quickly nodded, lifting the veil that covered her eyes.
Her eyes were now open, and they shone with an unusual, incredibly profound light.
Seeing Irena like this, Bai Shi nodded.
He had to admit, it was a true dical miracle.
This was wonderful. Not only had he managed to save her, but now her eyes had been inexplicably healed as well.
It made up for the regrets of the ga, and Bai Shi was overjoyed.
To get a better look at Irena's now-special eyes, Bai Shi leaned in closer to et her gaze.
But this proximity made Irena too bashful to look directly at him.
She averted her face, lowering the veil back over her eyes. Fidgeting with the hem of her clothes, she stamred,
"It's... it's all thanks to Lilianna's power..."
"Oh, right, I haven't introduced you to Lilianna yet."
The ntion of the magical pixie helped Irena calm down slightly.
Bai Shi nodded and asked,
"What's the story with that pixie?"
"Tell
a little about her."
Taking a deep breath, Irena regained her composure.
Looking over at Lilianna, who was still pestering the Dragonkin Soldier, Irena began to explain.
"Pixies are magical creatures, possessed of an abnormally potent curiosity."
"And their ability to focus seems strange; their actions often change completely from one mont to the next."
"She's a very, very whimsical creature, but it's impossible to dislike her."
Recalling Lilianna's various exploits, Irena smiled.
"A while ago, Lilianna suddenly appeared out of thin air in my room and sought
out."
"We ford a pact, and since then, I've gained the eyes and power of a pixie."
"Let
start with the pixie eyes, which I'm most familiar with."
"It's a vision that encompasses everything around , with no blind spots whatsoever. I can even see clearly what's behind ."
"Because I used to be... well, let's just say I adapted to it fairly well."
"Moreover, through this perspective, I can perceive sothing called 'concepts'."
...
After listening to Irena's description of the pixie eyes, Bai Shi finally began to understand.
At the sa ti, he had gleaned a critical piece of information.
'Concept.' It was a very abstract, yet crucial, thing.
Perhaps, he could now attempt to cure the Nun.
The fusion of flesh between the Nun and the Horned n could not be healed by ordinary ans.
Although Bai Shi still couldn't quite grasp what 'concept' truly looked like from a pixie's point of view...
It was clearly different from the perspective he employed after his 'Perception' attribute had broken its limits.
Since Irena repeatedly ntioned this thing called 'concept,' then perhaps there was reason to hope.
And she had also ntioned that when she looked at the Dragonkin Soldier, she could even pinpoint the origin of each part of its musculature.
If she could distinguish the Nun and the Horned n on a 'conceptual' level, then he could likely attempt to heal them.
As for how to separate them once they were distinguished...
As long as the two could be delineated, Bai Shi could then use the analytic power of his Great Runes to make an attempt.
In the beginning, the Great Runes could only analyze power, allowing him to wield the strength of different lifeforms.
Later, he gradually beca able to analyze life's very structure.
He had made considerable progress along the way.
While Bai Shi couldn't yet perform feats like reshaping life on a cellular level, he was already capable of more advanced applications.
His recent radical modifications to the Dragonkin Soldier had been one such advanced attempt.
The successful outco had given him a asure of confidence.
He couldn't be certain this plan would work, but at least now, there was a glimr of hope.
Bai Shi let out a breath of relief, speaking to the pixie who had, at so point, appeared on his shoulder.
"There's sothing I need your help with."
Recomnding a friend's book, title: My Wife is a Nuke-Girl.
Synopsis: A male protagonist returns from the wasteland with PTSD, helping the female protagonist, who was raised as a human bomb, adapt to modern society.
Tags: Light-hearted, codic, superpower awakening, sweet romantic daily life.
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