EmEs_etherious
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Chapter 56- Testing the waters
🕑 Added 2023-01-31 23:59:01 +0000 UTCArthur stood dumbfounded, as he looked down at the beautiful Alverin woman kneeling before him. As a level 153 individual from a dimension exempt from the shackles of the system, Arthur knew that this woman had reached this level of power using unstructured magic.
It meant that she was far, far deadlier than any ordinary level 150 individual would have any right to be, in turn meaning that she could probably kick his ass very easily. It was for those very reasons that Arthur simply couldn’t comprehend why such a being would deem it necessary to give him such respect. Maybe it’s her culture's manner of greeting, he thought to himself.
After all, he was certain that the woman had looked at him with contempt just a few seconds ago and no one had mentioned that the Alverin ever greeted others in such strange ways. Professor Jhonson was similarly shocked, as he stood outside the room and observed the pair through the one-way window. Never before had he seen the woman treat another with such deference, and it took all his willpower not to open the door and try and eavesdrop on what she had just said.
Well, I guess Bryan was right, he thought wryly. This ain't no ordinary healer, that’s for sure, for a moment, he worried that Arthur was perhaps a spy from a foreign nation, intent on stealing away the woman before he dismissed his fears as the paranoia of an old man in shock. Whilst Arthur seemed to be almost too perfect an individual for the current circumstances his guts were telling him that the boy was here due to a strange chain of coincidences. That however didn’t satiate his desire to know more about the young healer, as well as what was going on in the room. Just why were his superiors so hung up on the kid?
That was unfortunately impossible though, as the woman seemed to have magic that insured that no listening device of any sort worked within the room. Instead, he decided that he’d simply observe and see what the two were doing. Everything seemed to be going well so far, as the Alverin woman was now seated at the table with Arthur sitting opposite her. She reached out to the teapot between them and poured herself a glass of the beverage before offering it to Arthur, who appeared to decline the drink.
Professor Jhonson couldn't be sure what was going on after all without being able to hear anything, but he felt a budding hope build in his chest as he saw the amicable interaction between the pair. Maybe now, they’d finally be able to get some information out of the dimensional traveller.
Professor Jhonson watched and waited.
After the initial shock of the alverin woman's actions had passed, Arthur had somehow managed to find his voice. “Hey, there's no need for any of that,” he protested, equal parts embarrassment and tension leaking into his voice. No one could blame him though. It wasn’t every day that a hot alien chick decided to treat you like you were some sort of royalty, and Arthur told himself that his reaction was perfectly normal. “Alyssia was it,” he asked. “How about you get up and we can have our conversation concerning your little brother. I’d feel a little stupid talking to the back of your head after all,” he joked nervously, trying to deflect some of his fear into the weak joke.
After five seconds of awkward silence had passed, the woman finally looked up before getting back to her feet in a single graceful movement that hinted at the experienced movements of a powerful warrior. Arthur could see the amused smile on her face as if she was aware of the discomfort her actions had caused him, though she did still have a strange look in her eyes, now one containing weariness instead of the barely disguised disgust of before. Well, at least it’s an improvement, Arthur reassured himself, though, for the life of him, he couldn’t figure out why the woman seemed to be almost afraid of him. Maybe she's worried and doesn't want to ruin her brother's chances by offending the only healer that has a chance of helping her sibling. The explanation seemed a little weak though and didn’t really explain the overly subservient greeting she had given him. Oh well. No use worrying about it now, he told himself.
“So, why don’t we both take a seat,” Arthur proposed, as he made his way to one of the only available chairs, noticing the way Alyssia tensed as moved closer to her. That at least confirmed that she didn’t like him, the first reaction she'd produced that actually made any sense since he’d entered the room. Alyssia stood still for a moment as if she was unsure of what to do before she let out the breath she’d been holding. Perhaps it hadn’t been the best idea to embarrass the young man before her, but she couldn’t help but taunt the individual who had probably come here to only satisfy his own curiosity. They tended to demand respect and her outright subservience from the get-go was sure to have confused the young man.
Her mother would probably have a heart attack if she ever saw her daughter treating a powerful individual's child in such a reckless manner, but she wasn’t here to rebuke Alyssia.
Still, she'd made a promise to herself that she’d at least try to be polite in their meeting. After all, her situation was already dire enough without inviting upon herself the ire of someone like Arthur and the family behind him. Alyssia sighed wearily, hoping that the young man would make this meeting short as she took her seat opposite him. She poured herself a cup of tea, before offering the beverage to her companion, who respectfully declined. Well, it was his loss. The beverage was positively delicious.
The near-boiling temperature of the tea, however, did little but provide a pleasant warmth that improved her mood slightly. One that was sadly ruined when the arrogant brat decided to open his mouth and ask a stupid question.
“So, I’m guessing you know why I’m here?” Arthur asked, gulping as he saw the flash of rage cross Alyssa’s face when she heard the question. Why the hell was she getting so angry at him? It wasn’t his fault that her brother had been hurt so badly and it was at her request that he was even meeting her in the first place.
So why the hell was she the one giving him a stink eye?
“Yes, I know exactly why you are here,” Alyssia eventually replied, her voice frosty and cold, almost like it hurt her to speak to Arthur.
You come to see me like I’m some sort of kind of caged animal and then have the temerity to ask me if I know why you are here. It took all her self-control to not shout those words to the arrogant bastard's face though she managed to calm down by reminding herself that whilst she could no doubt kill the man in front of her, it was a very different story when it came to his parents.
They would certainly come for revenge and she wasn’t prepared to face those consequences. Though it did puzzle her why such a powerful individual had come to this planet. From what she’d learned, the world had only evolved for the first time around two weeks ago and that was nowhere near long enough to birth a young monster like the man in front of her. It could only mean that he was from another world, but that raised the question of why he was even here in the first place. Whilst she knew she must have been a rare sight being a dimensional traveller, it didn’t really warrant someone travelling so far just to see her.
After all, they weren’t so rare.
She herself had seen two such individuals in her time back home, and though it had been a novel experience, meeting two ‘fui’shan’ wasn’t actually really a big deal. They actually became so much more common once a world had evolved at least twice and it was just her shit luck that she’d somehow managed to find herself on a recently evolved planet which was infinitely rarer than the usual kind. She would have thought twice before jumping into a dimensional breech if she knew this would have happened. Thinking back to the panic and fear she’d felt with her dying brother in her arms she quickly revised that opinion. She would have jumped through the gates of hell itself if she’d had even an iota of a chance to save her brother. She was pulled out of her thoughts when the man spoke.
“The names Arthur by the way. I’m the healer that’s been bought into helping your brother, though you probably already knew that.” Arthur said carefully, hoping that the woman would become less angry at the mention of the fact that he was a healer and probably her brother's greatest chance at recovery. Alyssia did react to his statement, though much different than he had expected, her face cycling first through shock, then amazement and finally setting on hope. I swear professor Johnson said that the healer was a young man from Earth. That's the name of this planet, right? She thought in disbelief. How the hell is someone so strong after only two weeks of being in contact with the one source?
Immediately, she thought that the old professor must have been deceived by the young man in some way. There was absolutely no way someone could become so strong in such little time. It was unheard of, impossible even. With how concentrated and paradoxical his aura was, his power wasn't something he'd grown into himself.
It was inherited.
His complete lack of control made no sense otherwise.
Except that the man before her had no reason whatsoever to lie about his origins in a world that had only recently evolved. She used her magic to take a deeper scan of his aura, making sure she was discreet about it. With how lacking his aura control was, she probably needn't have bothered but it was better to ere on the side of caution.
It only took her two seconds to make some pretty horrifying discoveries. And concerning for the man before her. Did he know what he was doing to himself? Was he trying to kill himself? It wasn't the first time she'd seen a warrior go down the path of self-destruction. Self-punishment, desperation or just simple idiocy?
So he really is from Earth, she thought to herself, though she tried to not let herself get too excited. Even if the man before her had an incredibly potent aura, that strength didn’t necessarily translate into his healing skills, and she didn’t want to be crushed by disappointment if he failed to heal her brother. Or if he dies before he can even try. Plus, Alyssia still couldn’t believe with one hundred percent certainty that Arthur was actually from Earth. He’d have to be a one-in-a-billion prodigy to have amassed such power so quickly and she didn’t think fate was kind enough to deliver to her the best healer on the planet at her greatest time of need.
And so it was that Alyssia tried to calm herself down and school her expression. It was unseemly of a trained scout of the Rivertha tribe to wear her heart on her sleeve. Alyssia wouldn’t get excited, couldn’t, at least until she confirmed that Arthur was the man he claimed he was. “Perhaps my question may come across as strange,” she began noticing how Arthur leaned forward uncertainly in his seat to catch her words better. It would have probably been endearing if she wasn’t so tense right now.
“But do you mind telling me which planet you hail from,” Alyssia asked the young healer, waiting with bated breath for the answer that would affect the entire course of this meeting. Arthur looked at her in surprise and didn’t say anything for a long moment, to the point that Alyssia feared that her translation spell wasn’t working properly. Had he not understood what she'd said?
“I’m not sure what professor Johnson told you, but I’m from planet Earth,” Arthur eventually replied, hoping that he wasn’t betraying any of the dangerous woman’s expectations with his words. “You're the only alien here, I’m afraid to say,” Arthur joked, trying to lighten the mood once again. He worried that he had offended the Alverin woman in some way with his pathetic attempt at a joke when he saw the frown that covered her face. Maybe alien was a degenerative term where she came from, and Arthur had no idea what her translation skill had understood from the word. He almost let out an audible sigh of relief when Alyssia smiled widely at him, with genuine happiness in her eyes, the movement of her lips completely transforming her face. It was almost like she was a different person and Arthur could have spent a hot admiring her unique beauty. The magical effect was unfortunately broken when Alyssia stopped smiling, though she surprised him even more when she started laughing. It sounded like the Alverin woman was releasing a lot of stress through the action and Arthur sat awkwardly scratching his head as he waited for the woman to calm down. He didn’t think he’d said anything that funny to cause such a strong reaction, but he wasn’t going to complain that the dangerous lady was now in a good mood.
It took Alyssia almost a minute to calm herself down, a time during which Arthur had absolutely no idea what to do with himself. She eventually looked up at him and wiped a tear away from her eye, mumbling something under her breath as she did so.
“So, Arthur is it,” she said.
“You’ve just told me the best news I’ve heard since coming to this shit hole.” She added, smiling jubilantly. Arthur had no idea what she was talking about but just nodded his head in agreement. “So, your fine with me working on your brother,” he asked cautiously. Alyssia just shook her head in amazement before replying “Of course, of course. I’d be begging you to if you refused. No, what I want to want to talk to you about is something completely different now.”
Arthur was immediately weary when he heard that open-ended statement. He’d met enough sketchy salesmen to notice their trademark opening pitch.
“What do you think about making a deal with me?” Alyssia asked, smiling sweetly.
"It could be your only chance at saving your life?"
