Chương 66: Don't Leave

"Boo!" A voice says, pulling me from my sleep. The voice is airy and light, with an element of happiness that is quite rare to find. It is feminine for sure, and somewhat relaxing too. Despite me being completely certain I have never heard such a voice, it sounds oddly familiar. I open my eyes to see a strange figure standing in front of me. They are wearing a suit of purple armor, though it looks quite light to be of much defensive use.

Plus it is covered in tons of glowing runes that I can only dream of understanding.

"Orn?" She asks, leaning down to look me in the eye. I lean back, panicking a bit at how they know my name.

"Who are you?"

"Yip Yip!" A different voice responds, this one coming from a small white fluffball held in the figure's arms. Luma it would seem… but the last place I left her was with Ari. The woman giggles, "Really? Wow, you can't even recognize your good pal?" She chops my forehead, "It's Ari, silly Orn. Who else would you expect to know you around these parts? You got a secret family or something?" It takes a few moments for my still sleep-fogged brain to catch up.

She is in different armor, and I guess this one doesn't have the voice changer. But Ari is definitely standing before me. I jump to my feet, all thoughts of sleep gone.

"You are alive?! And healed? Right?" I inspect her, and it would seem everything is fine.

"How? You got healed so quickly? What even happened? Are you okay? Are-" She places a hand over my mouth to silence me.

"Silly Orn, I am fine, thanks to you stabilizing me so quickly. The healer fella said just a bit longer and I would've suffered some pretty bad damage." I calm down just a bit and she retracts her hand.

"Really, that's, uh, good news."

"Yip!" Luma says in agreement, and then jumps onto my shoulder. She nuzzles my cheek and I have to suppress a sneeze as she tickles my nose.

"Hmm, what's this? You helped a whole ton?" I reach up to give Luma a whole ton of headscratches.

"Not that I expected any less from you."

"Ahem." Ari says, drawing my attention away from Luma.

"That's the fox spirit I presume? She definitely helped a lot, especially in my recovery. The doctors were really confused at how I got better so quickly, until my sensors picked up a bit of her spiritual energy."

"Wait, you can detect spirits?"

"I guess," Ari shrugs, "they do give off a weird energy. I can't sense it personally, but it is pretty easy to pick up with tech."

"Wait, that aside. Are you really okay? Like, you aren't going to die? Whatever happened to you was so strange, it was like no healing would work, even potions."

"Yep, all better now. As to why the healing didn't work, it's because you didn't know how to heal me. Spells can only heal as far as you have intuitive understanding for. Most people can heal most injuries only because they can understand them. Fixing a cut or broken bone is pretty simple, you just have to put it back to how it was. Since everyone is somewhat aware of their bones and skin, they intuitively know what they should be like.

"But the blowback of my technique causes a pretty rare type of damage, so you just had no clue how to fix it. Luckily one of the doctors here had experience with it." I sigh, "Well that is good to hear. Why the fuck did you use that technique then? You must've known how much damage it would cause you. By the way, what the fuck was that attack?" Ari laughs, "Well you would've died if I didn't… and I owed you one. As for how the technique works, well that is a secret.

I ain't gonna just give you my tricks, what do you think I'm an idiot?"

"Well, kinda." I say, "But also like, some sort of genius for sure."

"Hmm." Ari says, "So what is it that you want?"

"Huh?"

"Well first you save me, now you are buttering me up. So what is it that you want from me?"

"It was just a compliment." Ari takes a step back.

"Well if that is the case. Then see-ya!" She turns around and starts to walk away. Oh well, I guess our parting was bound to happen. After all, she did repay her debt for almost killing me or whatever–despite me saying there wasn't one in the first place. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. I watch her walk out of the waiting room. Yet, something feels wrong. Suddenly, Luma bites my ear and I yelp.

"Oi, what was that for?" I say, turning to look at the mischievous fox. She just looks at me with a glare that is clear as day. Fool. Before I fully process what I am doing, I am on my feet. I exit the room, shouting "Wait!", only to find Ari nowhere to be found in the lobby. The receptionist gives me a look with a mixture of annoyance and knowing it in. As for what she knows, I've got no clue, but damn, Ari moves fast. I leave the hospital and am immediately surrounded by the bustling street.

There are too many people here, and there is no way I will find her in this crowd. So, I deploy my super duper secret power: Dovey. As you wish, master! I shall find her, even if it is the last thing I do:) Dovey takes to the air, but I do not simply stand and wait around. I move through the crowds as best I can, and head into all the places where she is likely to be. Her armor was damaged right? Hence the set that was clearly older. So I check out the blacksmith shops, and other such places. But no dice.

She isn't in any of the ones in the dungeon district. Unless she somehow dodged me or something, which I wouldn't put past her. Master, I cannot find her either. It isn't like that armor blends in either. It is like she has just disappeared. At Dovey's message, I sigh. I am pretty sure Ari is used to being chased by some pretty nasty people. Ones with dedicated skills and tools to tracking people. There is no way little old me will be able to find her. So, I just head back to my hotel room.

The trek is fairly long, though thankfully the city is nice and lit up, even at night. The walk is actually quite nice, in a way. Carnia is quite beautiful, and I even stop at a late night food stall and grab a tasty kebab. When I get back to the hotel, I quickly make my way to my room. But when I open the door, I nearly die of a heart attack. Sitting on the windowsill is a person. An armored one. She seems to have made herself quite comfortable too, and is even reading a book.

Noticing my presence, Ari turns towards me, "Oh, hello. I heard you were looking for me?" Her faceplate shifts too, somehow mimicking a smile. Which is really fucking creepy, yet also cute somehow. Now, normally one would panic upon seeing a somewhat stranger somehow in their room. Especially when they were never told where the room even was. However, given the fact that I just spent about fourteen hours running around looking for this person, I simply fall to my knees in relief.

"Orn, are you okay?" Ari asks, setting her book aside and coming to stand in front of me.

"Don't leave." Finally, I get to say the words I tried to say earlier.

"Hmm, what's this?" She says and I can hear the giggle that she fails to suppress.

"What if… we traveled together." I fumble out.

"You mentioned that you might be heading towards the capital next. Well uh, I was planning to head that way too. We uh, work together quite well… so like, what if we just uh, travelled together?" I can feel Luma's judging gaze from my shoulder, as I stumble through my reasoning. Why the fuck is it so hard for me to say this stuff?

"Well," Ari says, taking a few steps back, "that does sound interesting. Plus we do fight quite well together, and I feel like it would be suicide even for us to try to cross the Snarq Mountains alone. Which we will have to do, on our way to the capital.

"Oh, and I don't have a room right now, and that hospital bill was insane. So if we travel together, that means I can crash here tonight, right?" I stare dumbfounded at her.

"Uh, sure, I guess. Though Dovey snores sometimes, so do be wary of that." I do not snore! The bird that totally snores tries to argue.

"This armor has some noise cancelation stuff attached. Thus, that will be no problemo, roomie!" Ari says as she jumps onto the bed, rolling around in the comfortable blankets. Guess that means I will be sleeping on the floor.

"By the way, you really shouldn't leave a domain out in a place like this. They are really easy to track, and people can do some not nice things if they get access to it." I sigh as I contemplate what sort of traveling buddy I just acquired. Oh well, she is strong at least. Luma doesn't seem that happy with the new arrangement, but I am sure she will be pacified with a few headscritches. Honestly I don't even know why she gets so jealous whenever Ari is around, it is quite strange.

Ari and I end up talking for a bit. Going over travel plans and whatnot. Also the more boring stuff about actually forming an official party. By the time we are done, I am thoroughly exhausted, and we both settle in for some sleep before we leave the city in the morning. Yet, I struggle to fall asleep. The thought of new adventures are just so exciting that my mind won't slow down enough to sleep. Not to mention all the crazy shit that is going to happen if I end up meeting more calamities.

Those are all future problems though, as is typical in this new world. With Luma nuzzled up on my chest, I feel a tinge of déjà vu, a comfortable sort though. The sensation helps lull me to sleep finally. My journey is far from over, heck, it is barely getting started. When I first landed in this new world, I was confused, alone and even a bit scared. Yet, I moved on, I have taken my first steps to becoming whatever it is I need to be.

I may not know what lies upon the path ahead, but I feel confident in taking more steps along it. Somehow, I think things will go just a bit smoother from now on. After all, I have seen quite a lot of shit recently. What could possibly happen that I cannot handle at this point? End of Book 1