NOVEL WEB Ch.53 – A Happy Discovery
POV: Helen
The templar drank yet another vial of Accelerated Recovery in one gulp before trying to remove the bandage and see how her left hand was; she had changed the bandages regularly and had noticed that it had stopped bleeding and it never displayed signs of infection. That, in addition to the fact that she had regained sensitivity and felt slightly numb on the fingertips, was a good sign, it meant that she had managed to save her precious left limb.
Now let's see if the recovery will be perfect, she thought after removing the last piece of bandage.
The hand had a horrible scar that went almost completely around the wrist and which created a relief of lighter skin that would never disappear again, that was the first moral slap of the day for Helen, who couldn't help but think of some way to hide the scar during the summer, since in the winter the clothes would have taken care of it.
Other than that, it's going well, she assured herself, inestetism be damned.
She concentrated on moving her fingers starting from the thumb and going down to the little finger: the response wasn't exactly what she expected since she managed to move them all, but without being able to open or close them completely. There were still a few days of potions to drink to ensure recovery was complete and so there was still hope, but in her heart Helen was already preparing for the idea that she would be crippled for the rest of her life or until she couldn't afford to pay a [Healer] for a regeneration spell.
It will be difficult to continue using the shield if I can't grip it firmly, she thought, narrowing her eyes and sighing.
This was what saddened her the most when compared to the fact that the battle with the bandit leader had left her scarred and crippled, the fact that she would no longer be able to help her traveling companions as good as before... a thought mainly pointed towards Luchael, since Aradra had shown her that she was perfectly capable of taking care of herself and if she stayed with them it was because she wanted their friendship, since she was already powerful enough to be able to eliminate a team of expert adventurers without the help of nobody.
Helen looked up when she heard the sound of someone's footsteps approaching the entrance to the stable. She covered her wrist with the sleeve of her dress and stood up in the time it took the stable owner's wife to close the distance.
“Good morning, Miss Helen. I brought you some bread that I just baked,” the woman said, smiling amiably at her, “as thanks for the services you are offering to our community. You two are really efficient, we don't even see you going out of bounds from the village and yet the appearance of wild monsters has drastically decreased!”
Helen hinted an embarrassed smile, perhaps because Aradra is massacring them all, who knows how long before I won't be able to see her level anymore, she thought, not knowing how to describe exactly what she felt between the embarrassment of having pointed the finger at the salmadrer prematurely or the fear of what will happen when she is powerful enough to simply walk into a village and claim it as hers.
“How's your hand?” The woman asked, approaching an old worm-eaten table to place the bread, "I noticed that you kept it bandaged most of the time."
“A bit better, thanks,” Helen replied, abandoning her world of thoughts, “I think Luchael and I will be leaving again soon.”
The woman made a sorry expression and nodded, “oh, okay… I'm sorry to hear this, but I'm not surprised, after all, this remote village is not for everyone.”
“I take it you don't have many adventurers stopping here,” said Helen, who on the other hand hadn't seen many travelers stop at Wadencap in her time there.
“Unfortunately not, many of us defend ourselves very well, but we prefer to live peacefully, not risk our lives under the claws and jaws of some monster.” The woman let out a dejected sigh, “I bet once you leave, the monsters will come back, just like before.”
“I'm very sorry,” Helen said, bowing her head, “I hope more adventurers will arrive soon to keep the situation under control.”
The templar stretched out her good hand to grab a piece of bread, meanwhile, the stableman's wife didn't seem too optimistic, “we'll see. Now I'll leave you to your chores, I hope your friend comes back with something to put inside my bread: in Wadencap we produce a raw ham that goes perfectly with it!”
“I have a feeling he definitely will!” Helen replied, “Thanks again!” she gave her a slight bow of her head.
Helen didn't stay alone for very long: ten minutes after the stable owner's wife left, Aradra and Luchael arrived, each passing through a different place, one from the entrance to the stable, the other from a crack between the wooden planks; Helen had noticed that the salmadrer was having difficulty passing through it, and in fact, the monster must have accumulated more levels given that its size had grown significantly, and that the thin membrane similar to rudimentary wings that the monster had had widened and lengthened up to the lower limbs, taking on an appearance much closer to real wings rather than a kite.
“I brought some cheese and ham,” Luchael beamed, “rewards for my performances!”
Helen was about to answer him when Aradra intervened; the salmadrer made a few sighs and hisses to draw their attention towards her, then transformed into her humanoid form. Aradra approached Luchael's backpack and after a few seconds of searching in which she vanished with her head inside she reemerged with chalk and parchment.
“Maybe there's something you want to tell us? I don't think it's the report on all the monsters she killed,” Helen said, momentarily putting aside her plan to eat to instead pay attention to Aradra and what she was doing.
Luchael didn't say anything, but perked up his long ears on top of his head with a clear look of curiosity on his face. The leporan had worked hard to teach as many letters as possible to Aradra in that period, and even Helen had occasionally offered to help with the teaching since although she was too proud to admit it openly, she was honest enough with herself to be able to tell to herself that maybe she was wrong about Aradra being Nightmare Tyrant.
Clear letters were drawn on the parchment although the monster's hands were not yet developed enough to be considered equal in mobility and precision to human hands, both Helen and Luchael watched in silence, the Trade Alphabet had many letters and required interpretation to be understood, it was not complicated, but it required a little spirit of deduction.
“Luchael…” Helen muttered, “I'm misunderstanding what she's saying or did Aradra just say she found a dungeon?”
There was no need for the leporan to confirm: Aradra herself did it by nodding energetically several times.
“Maybe that's what's causing the high monster presence around Wadencap? A dungeon outbreak?” the leporan suggested.
"I don't think so. There should be many more monsters, and they should also be much more aggressive,” the templar nodded towards Aradra, “our little Nightmare Tyrant spends her days out there, and almost always comes back unharmed. I don't think she suddenly became powerful enough to stop a dungeon outbreak her own."
“Will you never stop calling her that?” Luchael muttered, puffing out his cheeks, "maybe we could check it out. How is your hand?"
“The other one is still in perfect condition to hold a sword,” Helen replied promptly, not yet ready to fully ponder the limited functions her left hand will henceforth have, “what do you say?” the templar asked, turning to Aradra, “are you taking us there? After all, it's unfair that only you do level ups..."
The salmadrer nodded once again and Helen smiled to herself… she was starting to miss the times when she went to have fun inside a dungeon with her friends, and finally, the perfect opportunity to combine useful and enjoyable had presented itself again.
