The Ogre Strength Fairy and the Eldest 'Son'-Chapter 357 - Mind Of A Healer, Heart Of A Deer

Corde looked thoughtful, knowing that her questions would probably be pointless. But not asking if there was a chance someone had not thought of a thing was a small evil all its own. No breath was wasted if it sat your mind at ease.

"Have you attempted your cultivation only here at the estate? Sometimes location affects essence accumulation, particularly if there’s interference from another source."

"Everywhere I’ve lived. This isn’t a new problem. Different techniques, different environments. The result is always the same."

Zyris exhaled. The frustration was so old and deep that it sometimes seemed like she was unbothered. But the truth was, she was always subtly angry about it. While she loved Meyran now, what might have changed had she been able to cultivate properly in her early life?

"I begin to gather essence successfully, and then it... simply drains away, leaving me fatigued and nauseated. Which is why I compare it to such energy poisoning."

As the woman explained, she even unconsciously attempted to accumulate more of the energy. Nohre had grown progressively more focused during this exchange after sensing that. Her green eyes unfocused as she observed the Dame Talcres with spiritual intensity, her Synergy beginning to tingle again like it knew something could be done.

"I regret that I have no insights to offer. This field isn’t my specialty."

"Of course. I shouldn’t have burdened you with personal matters when you’re here on official business."

The conversation shifted away to Corde’s current assignment, but the older cultivator noticed that Nohre remained quite distracted. Her attention repeatedly returned to Zyris after pretending to follow the flow of talk... with an increasingly thoughtful expression.

Since studying Elua’s anatomy book, she’d developed a habit of examining all sorts of energy patterns in the people around her. At least, the different feelings her young spirit could gather, after the training the heiress had given her. That exercise had gradually sharpened her ability to detect subtle... abnormalities that made her Physique feel something.

She’d long ago dismissed the strange tingle as only sympathy for the woman’s struggles. Now she could even tell that, just below the ribcage possibly deep inside an organ, there was a faint... shadowing in the woman’s physical energy as the essence field pulled inward.

’Like a parasite or something else that doesn’t belong.’

The book she had been consuming for hours and hours taught - through detailed illustrations - some of the common foreign bodies corrupting healthy systems. While the focus seemed to be on mortals, there were also some terrifying descriptions of rare things that could affect cultivators. As well as something... not so rare, but usually not this persistent.

Small epiphany building at the back of her skull, the young healer’s attention shifted back to Corde hez Iralev. The Frozen Duskblade’s overall energy had a distinctive quality... a repelling effect that created a subtle barrier against outside influences. This was true of her solid spirit as well as her physical energy.

While pretending to reach for the tea, the girl brought her field up closer to the other cultivator and felt it being rejected in a way that was clearly different than being suppressed by realms. It wasn’t intentional or a cultivation technique - it was the famed woman’s Anti-Essence Physique manifesting.

The tingle sharpened into clear certainty as Nohre made the full connection. What if Zyris had been exposed to Void essence or something like it during her youth? What if a remnant had lodged itself in her physical body, avoided all methods of detection, and created a constant drain.

’To sustain itself... siphoning away any further essence she attempted to accumulate and maybe growing, but then causing health issues as her physical energy dealt with the miasmic effect?’

"Nohre?"

Fusand whispered while nudging her under the table. When that didn’t work, he slowly clasped her hand even though it made his ears turn muddy brown. Seeming like she’d been startled, but not pulling away, the girl breathed out while gripping his hand back.

"What’s wrong? You’ve been staring and Meyran is starting to notice and wonder openly."

She stood and pulled him away, ignoring his little protest and the adult gazes of the three older cultivators. While she was still wary of being openly as affectionate as her master and Qatrand, she was growing used to the idea that Fusand didn’t seem to be going anywhere without her. Once out of hearing range, she leaned close to her fellow disciple and whispered her ’findings’.

"I think I know what’s wrong with Zyris now. I felt a dark spot in her physical energy... like how trapped Void essence was described in the book."

The young scholar opened his eyes and mouth wide. He knew she had been studying like crazy... which was a big change for her. Just as he had actually been doing his best to learn a martial art for once, when not learning to make use of his essence field.

’But to think she... or maybe this is what our master expected of her all along.’

"Are you sure?"

"No, but I’m feeling that thing my Astralism does. And Lady Iralev’s Anti-Essence Physique... it... I think it might be able to counteract her problem. If I-"

"You can’t just- Nohre, she’s a high ranking member of one of the biggest Guilds. If you reveal what you can do... she’ll have to tell them."

The warning hung between them. Elua had cautioned them both about displaying their growing abilities too openly, but especially the Mend Aspect of the braided haired teenager. Nohre bit her lip, conflict churning inside her.

Demanding that she develop her abilities under official supervision or that she be attached to a certain Guild instead of remaining free with Fusand was a serious fear. The freedom and knowledge that Elua er Goltbred had provided for them would be compromised.

Yet the Talcres had welcomed them into their home. Had treated them with respect and kindness as mentees. Could she withhold help when she might be the only one who could provide it?

"What would master do?"

She questioned aloud then snickered with a smile and a deep breath. That was an easy to answer question. The heiress would calculate every angle, identify each potential outcome, and then do whatever she needed to for the people she cared for.

But Nohre wasn’t Elua... and she didn’t care for only Qatrand er Yecine above all else.

"I think I should try. They’ve been good to us. And this could change everything for them."

’Fear’ mingled with ’resolve’ as she walked back and considered how to proceed from here. Her companion walked behind her looking grim, even as he built his own confidence up. Both understood that they needed to frame her suggestion in terms of theory rather than certainty.

"Present it as a possibility. Not as a guarantee."

"I know. For now I just need to get them to consider it."

Approaching the shade table and seeing Corde standing already, as if she was ready to leave, the pressure mounted. There was always the option of approaching Zyris in private first, but the woman had never met her ’idol’ until very recently. What were the chances the busy swordswoman would ever return?

"Um..."

Her small voice, weaker than she wanted, still caught more attention than intended. The Frozen Duskblade shifted her dark eyes directly into the green of the young cultivator... who had actually manipulated her weak spirit to probe against her Shield earlier.

"B-before you go, Lady Iralev... I had a thought about Lady Talcres’s condition. Can you wait a little while longer as I share it with her?"

"...Very well."

She paused in the middle of adjusting her cloak and nodded at Nohre. She’d come here in the first place because she felt a curiosity about finding information pertaining to the heiress. Whatever they had run off and whispered to each other may be pertinent.

"You know that I’ve been studying... medical texts. And there’s something unusual I was able to notice about the way your energy moved just earlier."

While she continued to speak, her voice was found. Becoming more assured, more heard as the three older cultivators listened intently. She took a moment to consider how to describe it without revealing too much too soon.

"I believe there might be a foreign substance in her physical body that’s parasitizing her essence accumulation."

Zyris leaned forward, without much shock. It was a theory she’d heard before... but no one had located any sign of it. She didn’t want to get her hopes up.

"What sort of thing do you think it is?"

"Void essence. Or a remnant of something like it. A contamination that remained after an encounter with Voidlings when you were young?"

Meyran frowned, knowing that his wife was old enough to be a high Echelon Enchanter by her first real Descent at twenty years old. More than capable of getting rid of miasma after all this time. She also had not been in direct combat then... but-

"There was a record of a small incursion into the estate of her family when she was a child. It was fought off without any sort of mention of injuries."

Nohre shook her head.

"It wouldn’t necessarily be from a visible injury. Void essence can sometimes transfer through proximity alone. And if it was that early then your own body might have formed something around it like a mortal does. A tumor."

The thought was that something had grown around it and ironically protected the contaminant by isolating it from her body. Fusand wanted to warn her to explain herself slower, but seeing the deep thoughts and determination, he instead reluctantly supported her theory.

"There are documented cases of persistent Void contamination supposedly affecting cultivation in young people. Most records focus on physical pains, but essence interference isn’t impossible. I think her idea has merit."

Corde studied Nohre with heightened interest. She had been sure that the boy was the real scholar, but now she began to realize something. That, perhaps, a single short meal shared with someone did not reveal all of their depths.

In a way, she already knew that. Which is why she was so suspicious of Elua er Goltbred’s intent... and now, why the heiress had *really* befriended these rather bright orphans.

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