endless path, infinite cosmos

chapter 116

Vahn awoke nearly three hours later, fully recovered, but still bandaged up as he raised his body. He recognized the surroundings as Naaza's workshop and understood she had treated his body after Tsubaki's ruthless counterattack. Remembering her blushing face, Vahn felt a bit of pride well up inside him.

Naaza, who had been mixing a solution at her work table, heard the noise and looked toward Vahn with a relieved expression as she said, "I really don't understand how you're able to recover so quickly. From the time I started treating you, you had multiple fractures and bruises signifying internal bleeding, but before I even applied the medicine, the bruises slowly started fading away. It was a strange sight you know, watching a wound heal visibly without any magic being used..."

Toward the end of her words, Naaza began to trail off as she recalled the fact she had watched Vahn's naked body for nearly an hour as his wounds healed. She began to blush, and Vahn realized the implication behind her words as he noticed he was nude under the covers. Seeing the clothes at the side, he was tempted to tease her by pretending to not notice them. Naaza seemed to sense some though, as she looked at him with and said, "Wear the clothes properly, or I'll see to it that you spend the rest of the night in that bed..." Though she started off with a firm tone, Naaza blanked after hearing her own words.

Seeing the fierce blush cover her face, Vahn began to laugh out loud as he started dressing. He had never been shy in front of Tsubaki, Naaza, and Lili, so he made no efforts to cover himself which caused Naaza to gave him sidewards glances from time to time. After properly wearing the clothes, Vahn walked over to her work table and she turned around and started fumbling for her tools. Coming to a stop at her side, Vahn asked, "What are you working on now?"

Naaza released a sigh before she explained, "My mixing skills have improved immensely with your help. I even showed my results to Miach-sama, and he was really surprised to see how innovative your ideas were. With a bit of refinement, he said they would be able to easily produce higher quality medicines in the future with less effort."

Vahn nodded his head and started looking at the ingredients she had been mixing. From what he could tell, Naaza was attempting to make a high-potion, someone that only veterans with decades of experience could confidently make. As Vahn had previously purchased Alchemy, Chemistry, and Potion Making manuals from his shop, he had helped her make several changes to the recipe. Now, even though she wasn't as skilled as a master, Naaza was able to produce high-potions with nearly 40% efficacy.

As he started helping her prepare the ingredients, Vahn said, "You have made a lot of progress, Naaza. It won't be long before you become a master or learn the [Alchemist] development ability." Naaza slowly nodded her head after stopping herself from preventing him handling the ingredients. Even though she had stopped him time and again, he never seemed to listen for long and always tried to help her. Naaza was frustrated with how casually he did the actions, as Vahn was even more adept at the process than she was... at least before the mana infusing stage.

They both continued preparing the ingredients, but Naaza was somewhat distracted by Vahn's presence. She always felt guilty when he helped her because she was never really able to help him with anything. Even though she tried to teach him mixing, and watched him perform all the necessary steps, he always ended up failing in the end. It had been a hit to Naaza's confidence, and she felt like she was a useless teacher. Even Miach wasn't able to help her understand the reason behind Vahn's inability to mix potions.

After their months together, Naaza had long become aware of how she felt about Vahn, and she could even see that he cared about her as well. But, before his sudden 'awakening', as Lili called it, he never acted like he was interested in her as a woman. He always showed her kindness and affection, but Naaza felt more like a companion or colleague to Vahn instead of a potential love interest. Even now, although he acted somewhat promiscuous, he made no efforts to approach her in that manner.