Mystical Journey

As the ultimate fighter in the previous world, who scoured through a sea of secret technique manuals and handbooks, Garen could still remember that many of his predecessors had recorded several medicine recipes that could strengthen the body and mind in their fighting journals. Most of these had mysterious and impressive effects.

Unfortunately, these records came from the far distant past, and so many ingredients couldn’t be find. Even those that were discovered proved to be from a different time, and simply weren’t old enough. That was why they had to give up reluctantly.

But this amejade grass happened to be one of the core ingredients in one of those ancient recipes.

These recipes had been added onto the handbooks he had found. Back then, Garen had basically memorized everything in it for the heck of it. After all, with the help of his special power, he didn’t have to worry about his memory in the slightest. To think that he would actually find a precious herb that was allegedly long extinct here like this.

"Good stuff…" Garen’s expression didn’t change as he scanned the ground around the area. Unbelievably, he found two stalks of amejade grass underneath another one of these plants with sharp leaves.

"If I can match this with the pills and solutions on those ancient recipes and then use it on myself, I’ll definitely be able to drastically reduce the recovery time. There might be even be an even stronger effect!"

As for judging the age of this amejade grass, he compared it to the information recorded in the manuals and knew for sure it had at least a thousand years’ of history! The medicinal effect of something like this would be extremely potent, without a doubt.

"I can’t let anyone notice anything different." Garen acted nonchalant as he stood up, and continued chatting with Marin on the way back to the campground. He put the firewood he had gathered in a pile with the rest, but inside he had memorized the exact location where he discovered the amejade grass.

Right now he was impatient to check around this forest, and see what other undiscovered precious herbs this world had in store.

And even more than that, he wanted to see what medicines he could match up besides the amejade grass. If he could find everything on that recipe, then it wouldn’t be much of a hassle at all to rapidly regain his secret technique strength in a short period of time.

"Ahh!! Snake!!"

Just as he sat down to rest and was planning to find an excuse later to dig up those herbs, he suddenly heard the surprised screams of Aquarius and the other two girls in the distance.

He thought it over quickly, and dashed towards Aquarius. At the same time, he observed carefully.

Aquarius and her girl friends were running over to his side in a panic. Unlike her two friends, however, Aquarius only seemed flustered, running as she held up her skirt. When he looked closely at the panic in his eyes, he realized it was ever so slightly fake.

Garen took another look at her steps. They were obviously very steady. They looked messy, but in truth, it would be very hard for her to trip.

"So she isn’t a normal person…" He took a few steps forward, acting lustful, and reached his arms out to hug Aquarius’ waist.

Oh dear!

Aquarius was suddenly tripped by something, and fell into the arms of Prynne, who had just made it here and stood right next to Garen.

"Sorry, I didn’t hurt you, did I?" she said softly to Prynne, with tears in her eyes.

"I… I’m fine." Prynne blushed, and replied with a stammer.

Beside him, Garen snorted and rushed forward.

"Aquarius, are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere, did you get bitten anywhere? I’ll suck it out for you with my mouth, don’t be shy now, if you’re bitten by a poisonous snake then it has to be sucked up by mouth! Otherwise, you might get infected, or poisoned! You’ll fall into the crutches of illness!"

"It’s… It’s fine… Hehe." Aquarius rejected him with a slightly annoyed expression. She suddenly realized that Cia was being harder to deal with today than before. "Even if I was bitten, you’re a man. Using your mouth to… is not right, is it?"

"At times like these I’m just your doctor, and you’re merely my patient! There’s nothing to feel bad about! Of everyone present here, I believe only I’m the best at sucking out snake poison, and this is for your safety as well! Otherwise if the poison gets into your body, you might get seriously hurt, grow really sick, or even end up handicapped!" Garen said with an air of truth and justice. He wanted Aquarius to push him away of her own accord, in order to avoid further complications.

"It’s not so serious, is it…" Everyone around them fell speechless, including Prynne. But it was obvious that Acacia was deliberately exaggerating the effects, so no one stepped out to say anything.

"It’s okay, I wasn’t bitten…" Aquarius wondered if she’d attracted a big pain in the neck, as she stood up from Prynne’s embrace.

"Is that so? That’s too ba.... Good! Hehe… heheh…" Garen purposely said that extra half a word, causing Aquarius to shudder. "Oh, right, Miss Acacia, while you’re injured now, do you want to hear the poem I wrote for you?" He quickly pulled a small black book from his pocket.

"T-there’s no need…" Once he mentioned the poem, Aquarius instantly looked somewhat uneasy. "I’m very grateful for your praise, but I don’t feel very well right now, could you let me rest a little?"

"Where are you feeling uncomfortable, milady?1" Garen took a step forward, and said with a straight face, "I just learned some massaging techniques, I’ll definitely make your uncomfortable parts feels better! I can massage you right now!"

Aquarius said helplessly,

"I’m just a bit tired, and I want to take a short nap. Could you spare me that little bit of time? I know you, sir, are a gentleman who cares for the ladies, right?"

"Is that so?" Garen purposely looked disappointed. "In that case… Okay, I’ll be right around here. If you need me for anything, you can ask me whenever! I’ll be here in an instant!"

"Yes, I’ll do that!" Aquarius reached out her hand to lightly push aside the hair on Garen’s forehead, "Don’t wear yourself out too much, you rest well too."

When the icy cold fingertip touched Garen’s forehead, in that instant, their skin both jolted ever so slightly.

"Hm?" Aquarius’ eyes flashed with surprise. Only expert fighters and killers would have the basic instinct to dodge when the vital point in the middle of the brow was touched. But why would this aristocratic boy with zero skills or talents have such a response?

Perhaps her fingers were too cold? She guessed inwardly.

Garen also noticed that he had blown his cover slightly, but maintained that lovesick expression on his face, at the same time reaching out his hand to grab Aquarius’. Unfortunately, he missed.

"Go rest." Aquarius smiled sat him, then turned around and walked towards her own tent.

Garen remained on the spot, staring at Aquarius’ back, stupid with love. His gaze very obviously and vulgarly fell to her swinging, round buttocks. And his uninhibited, heated gaze was also evidently picked up Aquarius herself.

She felt as though even the skirt couldn’t block those lustful eyes from her butt, goosebumps rising all over her body. Even her steps towards the tent became more hurried.

Garen only heaved a sigh of relief when Aquarius entered the tent.

When facing cunning women like this, the simplest and most direct method would be to be direct enough, and vulgar enough. As long as the other party still cared about their body, this tactic would surely have a decent result. He could force her into a panic, and make her unwilling to see him.

Garen was well aware of his socializing skills. If he were to turn circles with her, he would surely be sold before he knew it. Rather than using his weakness to fight the opponent’s strength, it was better to solve this matter directly in a manner that suited him best.

This was also related to his martial spirit. Once he got hold of the slightest flaw, he would chase it relentlessly and hit it ferociously. He wouldn’t give the enemy the slightest chance!

The group ate the rations they had brought for dinner on that first evening. At night, they lit a campfire, while Prynne recited Cia’s love poem out loud. Evidently, other than the other three people in his gang cheering loudly, the rest of the audience looked constipated.2 But they still had to clap and cheer against their conscience.

Aquarius and her two girl friends, on the other hand, ducked into the tent and hid out of ‘embarrassment’. The others looked as though they were used to it. It seemed this wasn’t the first time she used this trick.

Garen kept thinking about those few shrubs of amejade grass, and so seemed distracted as well. The others just assumed he was thinking about Aquarius, so it fit.

As for whether or not Aquarius was a Luminarist, he couldn’t be sure. Luminarists weren’t like the Martial Adepts, they didn’t have absurdly strong Spirits, and usually they looked just like everyone else. Until the very last moment before the explosion, nobody knew who was a Luminarist.

But upon seeing her face-to-face, Garen was sure of one thing. Aquarius wasn’t very proactive in chasing Acacia. She was just simply toying with him, rather than purposely pulling him closer. Even if she did have a motive like that, she wasn’t taking it too seriously.

If that’s the extent of it, then everything is still fine.

**************

Inside Aquarius’ tent.

Frowning deeply, Aquarius put her legs together as she sat inside the tent. Looking at her two girl companions in front of her.

"This Acacia, how did he suddenly become so disgusting? At first he was pretty gentlemanly, and here I was thinking he had patience, but to think he’s as impatient as other men! No, he was even more direct!"

Maria had a head of long milk-white hair, giving off a spoiled and unreasonable aura. She curled her long hair nonchalantly, acting slightly detached.

"Aren’t all men alike? Big Sister Aquarius, you’re the one who wanted to play around too much. Wouldn’t it be fine if you hadn’t attracted him in the first place?"

"I had no choice, wasn’t it a request from above? Otherwise why would I butt my head in here for no reason, I’m bored out of my socks!" Aquarius glared at her. "Unlike you, I have a good father and mother!"

"Hey hey hey, don’t bring me into this!" Cena protested from the side. "But I kinda think this Acacia isn’t too bad. Love should be direct and intense! What’s the point of turning around in circles and hiding everything! If you like someone, you should say it out loudly, and show your heart to the other person without any hiding!"

She said nonchalantly.

Cena had dark brown shoulder-length hair. Her air was completely that of a pure and kind girl next door, and she was very beautiful too. She should be the youngest among the three, looking no older than nineteen years old.

Her skin was fair with a flush, but her figure was slightly less impressive that the other two. Her chest was just enough to touch, and so didn’t match up to everyone’s sense of beauty when it came to body figures.

"He’s much better than the guy my dad arranged for me." Cena pouted and took out a small mirror, quickly combing through her hair ands pushing her fringe into a right-side slope.

"If you like him, just take him." Aquarius was exasperated. "But I really can’t… Cena… Give me your father, could you?"

"If you want me, take him yourself," Cena replied carelessly. She pursed her lips and reflected it on both sides in the mirror, as though not too happy with her image.

But neither of the girls noticed the flash in Aquarius’ eyes when mentioning Acacia earlier.

She had suddenly remembered that scene from earlier, the reaction when her finger touched Acacia’s forehead.

Translator's Thoughts

J_Squared J_Squared

1. He referred to her with the formal version of ‘you’ (您), also used for customers.

2. This time, he literally said ‘constipated’ (便秘), so yeah.