The Blessing of a Lifetime

Edmund watched as the young child on the street collapsed. He felt a pang of sympathy but that was all. It was common for children to die on the streets—just another sign of how their empire was falling to ruin. Edmund couldn’t wait to be back in his country.

‘Please. Help her,’ Edmund stopped dead in his tracks. He couldn’t understand. He looked to his shoulder. A higher-ranked spirit was intervening for a mere child? The spirits were benevolent but they didn’t interfere in human affairs. It made no sense. Edmund glanced at the child again. There was nothing special about her. She was on the verge of death, but Edmund could save her. For a cost.

‘I’ll sign a servant contract to you,’ The servant spoke again, and this time Edmund froze. There were many different types of contracts, but the main two were an equals contract and a master-servant contract. The higher-ranked spirit was offering to become his servant, and for what? A young girl? Edmund didn’t understand, but this was good for him. A deep smile bloomed on his face.

“Ok, I’ll save her. Let’s hope she’s worth it,” Edmund nodded and held his hand out. A small vial with a few drops of water in it appeared in his hand. A woman who happened to see this immediately ran away with a pale face. Only those with the power of spirits could summon items from thin air. Edmund sighed, “This is gonna be a lot more trouble than I thought,” Edmund quickly lifted the child’s head. He dripped a couple of drops of the water from the vial into her mouth then picked her up and ran away from the pub.

Edmund arrived at a small cottage that was on the outskirts of the town. No other people lived in this area as monsters commonly appeared here and it was the closest you could get to the nearest foreign nation. Edmund occasionally looked at the child he had laid in a bed in the house. Her face was changing. There were no signs of malnourishment and she looked as healthy as could be. The miracle water Edmund had given her was working wonders. It had not only brought her back from the brink of death, it had cured her of all ailments and made her healthy. It couldn’t remove her curse though. There were still flowers in her hair. Edmund thought they were merely for decoration, he didn’t believe such a small malnourished child could be that blessed by the spirits.

‘We have to leave before she wakes,’ Edmund nodded. He didn’t completely understand what the higher-ranked spirits' motive was to save the girl, but he’d done his part. Edmund covered his face with the hood of his robe and left a video message imprinted on the girl. When she awoke, it would play.

“I wish her luck. I don’t know why you chose to save her, but I was blessed with this opportunity, and I will hold you to your word and make a master-servant contract with you,” Edmund whispered to the spirit beside him. The spirit nodded sheepishly, and Edmund glanced at the young girl before leaving the cottage. She wasn’t his problem anymore.

At the dawn of the next day, Cliantha awoke. She didn’t even feel sluggish. She glanced down at her hands. All her scars were gone? What happened? She instinctively looked up, but no one was there. A moment later a bubble of water appeared in front of her face, and a hooded man began talking.

“I know you’re confused,” The hooded man began, “But all you need to know is I saved your life. This isn’t all I’ve done for you though. I gave you a concentration of miracle water. It’s a priceless treasure that could bring someone back from the verge of death. I can’t tell you why I saved you. I just did. I’ve decided to leave this cottage to you as well. There’s money and food in the basement. Live your life to the fullest. Oh, and if you have any conscious, you should come to the Luminous Kingdom and repay your debt to me once you’ve grown up. That’s all.” The water bubble popped and Cliantha sat in shock. What was that bubble of water? Was that the work of an Elementalist? An Elementalist was someone who had a contract with the spirits, and they were able to borrow their powers. Cliantha couldn’t believe an Elementalist had saved her, and they had even gifted her with miracle water! This was the blessing of her lifetime! Cliantha felt her face. It wasn’t rough, it was smooth! Her skin had stopped turning into bark! The quickly looked around the house for a mirror and when she found one she looked at her appearance. She was a soft and delicate child. Her cheeks were no longer sunken and her hair had turned glossy. The effect of miracle water was really miraculous! Her eyes were a deep blue and her hair was long, curly, and black with a few small pink flowers embedded in her hair. She was a cute child. Cliantha’s eyes teared up. A stranger had offered her more kindness than those who were supposed to care for her. She couldn’t even thank the stranger. All she could do was grow up safely and go and return the favor. She didn’t even know where to begin though. She decided to check the basement and see what else the kind man had left for her.

Once Cliantha arrived in the basement she was shocked. There was a mountain of gold along with treasure. There was a bookshelf filled with books about all kinds of subjects. Cliantha could teach herself using these. She wouldn’t be ignorant when she grew up. There was a side room filled with basic ingredients like fruits and vegetables. Cliantha guessed that they had been preserved with magic. She took the first fruit she could find, a peach, and bit into it. It was delicious! Cliantha teared up. She could never repay this stranger. She continued exploring the large basement. Even though the main floor only had a bedroom, a kitchen, and a living room, the basement had many rooms. Cliantha guessed it was a secret hideout or something. Besides the gold, books, and food, there were also weapons and medical herbs. Almost anything Cliantha could need was found in the basement. Cliantha then made a vow. She would grow up strong and live a happy life!

Day after day passed, and Cliantha read lots of books, ate plenty of food, and trained with a sword, but she was growing bored. She was alone. There was no one to talk to, no animals came near, and to her surprise, no monsters came near either. A barrier seemed to surround the area around the house and warded off monsters, animals, and even other people. She wanted a companion, but she couldn’t work up the courage to leave. What if she went back to how life was before? What if she couldn’t find the cottage after she left? She was terrified, so all she could do was continue training.

While Cliantha was training, her maid had run and reported to her father that the child he had long forgotten about had transformed into a monster. Her face had become bark and the maid’s hand wouldn’t heal, no matter what type of medicine was used. Even the saintess’s healing was ineffective. It struck fear into the heart of the empire. That the duke’s young daughter who he had cast aside had become a monster capable of injuring someone so easily and the injured person would never recover. Cliantha had already racked up quite a reputation without even doing anything.

***

A few years had passed since Cliantha had started living in the cottage. She was now 13. Even though she spent a few hours reading every day, there seemed to be no end to the books in the basement. She also couldn’t tell if she was any good with the sword because no one was there with her. She just kept swinging the sword, hoping she was doing it right. She also couldn’t practice any of her medical knowledge, and she had reached a slump in her studies. She’d been alone for 3 long years. She was just a teenager and she had no one to talk to, she felt like she might go crazy at this rate. Was her only option to leave the safety of the cottage? She didn’t know why, but she felt like once she left she wouldn’t be able to find her way back. Her hair had grown longer and more and more flowers were in her hair. She feared one day her whole head would be full of flowers instead of hair. Her skin had also started to have a strange texture. Cliantha feared the worst. Even the miracle water didn’t stop whatever was happening to her. Was she going to die? All alone out here in the woods? She didn’t want that, but she didn’t know what else to do.

The evening soon came and Cliantha decided to have some chicken for dinner. She went to the basement and grabbed some. It had been 3 years, but her supply of food didn’t seem to be shrinking, it even seemed to be growing. Cliantha had no idea why that was. There was nothing about it in her books. She guessed it was magic of some sort. Cliantha headed upstairs and started eating supper. After supper, Cliantha headed to bed.

Unbeknownst to Cliantha, who was sleeping peacefully in the cottage. A 15-year-old boy who was approaching death had broken through the barrier and was approaching the cottage.

Alaric gasped and fell to the ground. Even after teleporting to this hillbilly country, the assassins still had chased him all the way here, but they likely wouldn’t be able to enter this area because of the barrier. Even Alaric had to sacrifice a high-grade item in hopes to enter. Even then he was surprised he was granted access. He didn’t know what such a high-grade protective barrier was doing on the corner of this backward empire, and he didn’t care to know. All he wanted was to be safe. He’d been stabbed before arriving and he feared bleeding out. The weapon also must’ve been laced with something because he couldn’t hear the spirits, all he could hear was his haggard breathing which seemed to be growing weaker. Alaric glanced around, and he saw a faint light coming from a direction. Hopefully, the owner of this barrier was nice and could offer him some protection. Alaric felt fear. He couldn’t believe it. Someone of his status was going to have to beg to be protected by someone in this empire. It was embarrassing and shameful. He didn’t want to, but he didn’t want to die more. He grits his teeth and approached the soft, faint light.