Aethernea : Soulbound [Book 1]

Episode 24 - Burrowing Windroot

Previously on Aethernea:

Elaru tells Kiel that Aetherneal bond increased their recovery speed, and he doesn't need healing elixirs to be able to perform mana tempering effectively. She reveals that she is familiar with acupuncture and can even help increase his rate of recovery through it.

However, as Kiel reaches his threshold of tolerance and is about to stop mana tempering to allow his body to recover, Elaru knocks him unconscious with a single needle -"Your speedy recovery isn't in my interests right now. Hang tight, sleep well, and let me attend to my own business." - Then she takes his body and disappears.

* * *

◈ Eryey Mainhouse, Ashar ◈

Countless bright rays of light illuminated a spacious room inside a remote manor. Yet the only thing that could be seen through the windows was the darkness of night.

A middle-aged man in a white coat and green slippers moved about the room. His handsome features couldn't be covered up, not even by his sloppiness. His wavy gray hair did its utmost in its unruly attempts to fall over his face. Thankfully, the advance of the strands was halted by the strange looking goggles resting securely on top of his head.

Both his silvery hair, and the black lines and circles marking the left side of his forehead, looked several shades darker when contrasted against his sickly pale face.

The man chewed on a long straw hanging from the corner of his mouth like a cigar. It looked similar to a stick of cinnamon, it even tasted similar - sweet and spicy, yet, it was actually burselpine bark.

It was the medical properties of burselpine, which kept the mind alert and awake, that caused it to become his trademark feature. He could have opted to drink coffee instead, but he hated the bitter taste.

The man busied himself with various strange items littered around the room, not the least bothered by the messy state of his chambers. Although there were many shelves, cabinets, and desks filled to the brim with papers, books, vials and strange apparatus, he seemed to know exactly where everything was.

The only object in the room that was perfectly clean and tidy was a leather couch, which, of course, looked completely out of place.

Suddenly, as if appearing out of thin air, right next to the couch, another person materialized. Ixos instantly felt the foreign presence. However, instead of being startled, as a normal person would be if someone popped up in their private residence, he didn't even turn around to look at the newcomer.

He continued observing a small vial in his hand with a completely nonchalant expression. He shook the vial a few times before finally speaking out casually: "What took you so long?"

The other figure scratched her head and sighed. "I got sidetracked." She flung a body off of her shoulder onto the nearby couch as if taking off a bag.

The man turned to look at the beautiful redhead and complained half-heartedly. "Oy, oy. I got the couch replaced just this morning."

The girl smiled at him warmly. "Don't worry." He isn't bleeding so... "He won't get any blood on it."

A normal person would have asked why she got sidetracked. A normal person would have asked her why she had an unconscious person slung over her shoulder. A normal person would have asked her who was napping on their couch.

Not Ixos Eryey.

He behaved as if all of it was a perfectly normal occurrence. As if there was nothing strange going on.