"You go on ahead of me." Oscar stepped off the path to the uneven stone steps to Elder Saul's hut.
Knowing they had no business here, Emily and George nodded and bid Oscar farewell. Their backs grew smaller into the distance.
"I have returned, Elder Saul." Oscar bowed and took out the case containing the Thousand Serpent's heart. Even after a month, there was no sign of decay. It looked as fresh as when it was first cut out, other than not beating.
"You have done well in getting this back." Elder Saul took the heart and put it aside. His attention barely stayed on it and returned to Oscar. "How was the mission?"
Oscar did not understand Elder Saul's meaning in asking this, but this elder liked to have a small talk sometimes. "It was incredibly dangerous. Too dangerous. We almost died if not for being saved at the end."
"Dangerous? Indeed. It was near suicidal to go as you were." Elder Saul seeded the freshly raked fields. They scattered all over the soft fertile soil.
"Suicidal?" Oscar looked uncomfortable. "If I may be rude, why did you send me on that mission?"
Elder Saul stopped seeding and turned to Oscar with his old eyes that held a powerful light. "Then why didn't you say anything? You accepted it without a moment's hesitation."
"I was too focused on Frederick and thought it would be alright if we had a good team." Oscar uttered with great self-deprecation. As Robert said, he was too arrogant and did not consider the consequences. Oscar knew well that it was his fault.
"I gave you that mission to test you. But you did not stop to think about the consequences. You had lost some common sense since returning from the Hurin Plains." Elder Saul sighed and began to water the soil. "If you had said something about it, I would have postponed it."
"I know. I realized that after harsh suffering." Oscar said.
"It is important to stop at times and calm yourself. If you keep moving, you may miss the smaller details that remain still." Elder Saul finished watering and gave Oscar a biscuit. "Eat. I can see you have been through much, but I'm glad you have returned to your senses. Be calm at all times."
Oscar gratefully took the biscuit and bit into it. It was extremely dry and tough, making Oscar wince as he desperately tried to chew. With his dry mouth full of sand, he asked, "What about our rewards?"
"I will send them in a package to your rooms. Rest for now." Elder Saul went into his hut and closed the door. Oscar was left behind to chew on this dry biscuit.
…….
Oscar made it back to his room after a struggle with the biscuit. It was the same as ever except for a large box in the center of the room with a note.
The note was from Ivanka Klein. It mentioned that the box was full of Hytr Elixirs, but the costs were deducted from Oscar's contribution points. He quickly checked his contribution points and saw it was at 10.
"Damn, I'm poor." Oscar opened the box and saw the many vials of Hytr Elixirs. From a glance, it was around a hundred of them. "But this should be enough for now."
He retreated to his bed and unpacked his things. He took out a part of the Thousand Snake's sinew. Because they missed the opportunity to sell the Thousand Serpent's body parts to guilds in Windroc City, they sold them to the Raeven Family. Oscar and the others kept some.
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
"This sinew will be useful later." Oscar continued unpacking and put all the copies of the Raeven books on his shelf. A sense of delight showed over his face. To see his growing collection was a gratifying experience.
After finishing up, Oscar took out several Hytr Elixirs. He thought about what it meant to continue in the Reis training. He thought about his father telling him to stay alive, Robert lecturing him on consequences, and Elder Saul advising him to stay sharp.
This training was indeed risky, especially in the latter stages. Oscar felt a sense of dread linger in his heart. Then, suddenly, the loud ringing started again.
Oscar held onto the vials tightly to not drop them carelessly. The ringing continued and then was followed by silence. Again, he could not think straight nor focus, struggling until he threw up on the floor.
"What is this?" Oscar dug his nails into the side of his head. Blood dripped down his hand and face. This strange occurrence stopped for the past month and suddenly flared up again.
The cost of his recklessness and hotheadedness was this missing ear and the effects of this affliction.
But did he regret it? No, that time was past. But, he realized now that he could have thought clearly about a plan rather than rushing against the Rainbow Didus.
"It's over." Oscar stood up and pondered about whether to continue the Reis training. He calmly weighed the risks and benefits.
"Since the initial stages aren't the worst, I can do them. When I reach the latter stages, I will have to reevaluate." He settled on his decision. First, let's focus on becoming stronger on his terms.
With the Hytr Elixirs stowed in his bag, Oscar made his way to a private training room. He didn't want to ruin his room with blood.
Oscar focused hard and extended out his arms. He stretched out his fingers and drew in a deep breath.
Suddenly, the floor trembled slightly as his feet turned. The Reis drew into his body from the floor, and he guided with through his body to his fingers. But unlike the previous times, he did not let the Reis exit.
Under the effects of 'Reis Awaken', he continually swirled the Reis, so it stayed in his fingertips. He looked on with utmost concentration as the Reis started acting erratically. The flesh of his fingertips was spasming wildly.
BOOM
Oscar winced in pain as his eyes narrowed. Beads of sweat covered his face. The Reis could no longer be contained and exploded outward, tearing off the skin of his fingertips.
Blood dripped down continuously on the clean floor. His fingertips were red with the flesh exposed. The muscles underneath were torn as if they had gone through an intense workout.
Oscar held a Hytr Elixir and drank a sip. The muscles underneath repaired themselves immediately, but the skin was still gone. The Hytr wasn't a healing elixir but a muscle stimulant.
Oscar carefully wrapped bandages over his fingertips and started the training again.
This was what was written in the book given by Draven. The earlier training he did was for flowing the Reis and guiding it to an exit point. But now, he had to contain the power in his body.
The next step of Reis training was to hone the body so it could contain and hold the Reis. The Reis would act as a tonic that would gift Oscar's body with incredible strength.
But the problem was how to hone the body. A person had to draw the Reis into their body and trap it in an area. The Reis would swirl and transform the muscles and flesh into a constitution to hold the Reis.
However, like Robert's continuous flow of Ein to awaken the third eye, Oscar had to keep inputting Reis in an unknown number of sessions. At a certain point, Oscar would have to release the 'Reis Awaken', or the Reis would implode, resulting in the bloody mess.
SPLAT
The rampaging Reis tore off Oscar's bandages; more blood splattered on the floor. Thankfully, Oscar had many Hytr Elixirs, and this muscle damage only required a mere sip.
"If I keep bandaging myself, it'll be a waste of time. The bandages don't hold on anyways." Oscar opted out of mending himself and continued training with his bloody fingertips with exposed flesh.
Upon closer inspection under 'Reis Awaken', Oscar found that the muscles in his fingertips were slowly separating out more clearly. He could almost see every individual string of the muscle fiber, no matter how minuscule.
Undeterred by the blood, Oscar continued on. The blood flow from the fingertips stopped as he focused the Reis in them. His shirt looked like he had been cutting meat at the butcher's shop.
His face also had small splatters of blood all over. But his obsidian eyes were clear and focused on his fingertips.
"Master said this would take an unbelievably long time to accomplish. I can see why. Even the smallest parts of the fingertips aren't finished yet."
The progress was incredibly slow. But Draven wrote that it would be worthwhile for Oscar, so he believed and trusted.
He remembered the last words of the manual.
"Master this to 100% of your body. This is the next step of Reis, the Adamasreis."