Chapter 3: Insurrection
The knight sat down on the single couch over the fireplace upon being welcomed by the host, already had taken off his boots. He took off his helmet and also his gauntlets, Kalil light up the fireplace for her guest to warm up on for the chilly air.
The moment Kalil stepped back and made her way towards her magic-tinkering laboratory she caught the sight of the knight without his helmet for the first time. The knight's hair was flat-topped, peppered stubble adorning his chin and his eyes captivated him the most, upon the first meeting, he seemed like a very aggressive person, but with the helmet off, he looked nonchalant, without a care in the world, his gray eyes conveying ignorance, he had a baby face and thin lips. What Kalil observed about the Absolon's curse mark on the knight was confirmed, the purplish mark on his face and right arm was nasty, and also in dire need of immediate treatment before it spread into other parts of his body.
Kalil realized two minutes and a half late that she was staring when the other turned his gaze towards her. Slightly feeling sorry for her obtrusion, she continued on her mission to gather the antidote from its' storing cabinet.
"Here it is" Kalil gave the bottle containing the antidote to the man he has no name for just yet.
"Thanks" The man in front of Kalil curtly replied, plucking the wooden cap then tossed it to the small table beside him in a sloppy manner.
Gathering another quirk from the other male, Kalil squatted down to collect the cap falling to the floor then set it on the table. She could still use the bottle and its' cap later for her production after she washed them.
Sitting down on the longer sofa to the right of the table, Kalil let out a sigh for finally having the comfort after her grind for the essence.
"What is your name?" Kalil asked curiously.
"Not telling until I got yours first" The other returned Kalil's gaze lazily, locking eye contact with the healer.
Kalil let out a soft laugh in amusement as he replied "It's Kalil."
"Kalil who? I thought it's rude to introduce only your first name" The knight demanded teasingly, grinning wolfishly, that made Kalil want to laugh, the other's face and personality do not add up well to her opinion.
"What's so funny?" The knight asked, a tad bit annoyed at the other's stifled laugh.
"Sorry, it's nothing" Kalil batted his hand in nonchalance. "It's Vanidestine. Kalil Vanidestine, It's a pleasure to meet you" Kalil did not postpone on telling her last name, so that the other would not have the chance to be angry at her again.
"The name's Dakari Omarion, and it's not a pleasure to meet you" Finally, a name to the cute face she has been seeing for the last half-an-hour. Kalil observed the slight widening of Dakari's eyes upon his introduction, but then covered it up as he replied to his introduction with snide humor. Not seeing any reason nor did she want to delve deeper into lines of bad assumption, she chose to ignore it.
"How rude" the alchemist rolled his eyes playfully, her eyes darting to the fireplace in front of them.
Dakari was just finished with his antidote, he placed the empty bottle into the table thoughtlessly, Kalil noticed the action albeit only seeing them from the corner of his eye, the action of not closing the bottle properly was a bit unsettling for him.
Deciding that she can't actually stand the uncapped bottle anymore, Kalil stood up and capped the bottle properly "The effect will most likely set for about 2 hours from now, and it will not diminish for abo-"
"48 hours from the onset of the antidote, yeah I know... It's not the first time I contracted the curse" Dakari cut Kalil's words offhandedly, hand gesturing dismissively.
"Oh... It's good then, May you have a fast recovery." Kalil replied, unfazed by the rudeness of the other, and moved to place the bottle in the dirty utensils casket to wash outside later on.
"Yeah, thanks"
Kalil half-expected the other to be gearing up and will be taking his leave the moment she came back to the makeshift living room, but the knight was still helmet-less and gauntlet-less, and now crouching near the fireplace. The ambience of the room was calm and relaxing, differing from the anxious energy that spiked within Kalil, mind reeling on the potential awkwardness between the both of them.
As a mitigation to the current problem, Kalil ended up bringing Softpuffed mallow, mixture of the sap from the plant mallow mixed with honey and nut. It was one of her favorite snacks ever, she made the chewy cubed titbits and stocked them for whenever she felt the craving. Too bad they could only be stored for about two weeks before they became spoiled.
Kalil and Dakari ended up enjoying the roasted Softpuffed mallow together, the knight only excused himself few hours after they ran out of the snack, much to Kalil's distaste. Tough in the end, it was not as bad as she imagined it to be, true it might be a bit awkward, but overall she enjoyed Dakari's rude but funny demeanor.
≋∴≋
The sun has risen a little bit too high than usual when Kalil woke up the next morning, there was only one culprit for the reason. After lightly stretching her body, her feet met the wooden floor, then he made her way to collect water from the well located at his backyard to bathe.
The water was refreshing as it hit her bare skin, already removing her bandages before she took her bath. She rubbed her soft skin with a pumice stone, removing dead skin and excess dirt. Whilst bathing, Kalil's thought wandered, then she suddenly remembered that she got the water spirit essence already yesterday, the item required by Hubert had she want to evolve to become an Immortus, protector of human, they said. She had almost forgotten a crucial step into realizing his dream.
Finishing her bathe, Kalil also washed the dirty bottle and few utensils for her dinner yesterday.
Before leaving her house for a personal quest, she took her satchel from the hanger and slung it around her body. Then she made her way out of her house in skips, heart burning with renewed vigor, she brought the essence already, there is no way Hubert is not going to appreciate her thoughtfulness and just recommend her to evolve already. It had always been her and her parents' dream, for someone from her family tree to actually evolve. She was always told by her neighbor that their family had a personal generational curse, outcasted and unmarked by Siye, deemed unworthy to evolve.
She was just nearing the flight transporter of her village when she heard the commotion and loud shouting, then she noticed the transporter of goods, clad in a brown leather overall and white shirt he left the market stall with the vendor cursing at him then sat down dejectedly.
"What's wrong Anselm?" Kalil asked, concerned as she gently touched the vendor's back, massaging the other's back in circles.
"The officials decided to drop the crops' price, again. I was already barely making a profit by the time they dropped it last month and the year before. But this is overkill. I can't actually cut the procuring price from the farmer again, they barely live with the current payment..." The man with his hair tied in a bun explained, hands on either side of his head as if to stop the impending headache.
"What? Again?"
"Yeah! Immortus was supposed to be our protector, those are bullshit! They control the price and they throttled us with these ridiculous prices, with the inflation and all that's going on, we would end up living in streets if these things keep happening." Anselm buried his face into his hands in frustration.
"Not to mention their tardiness whenever our village was attacked by the monsters." Irina, who seemed to be listening to their conversation for quite a while piped in out of nowhere. Making Kalil jumped for the unexpected guest.
"Oh, hey Irina, didn't see you there" Kalil turned towards his long-time neighbor and childhood friend, her friend never failed to catch her off-guard whenever she has the chance. She was not given the blessings to manipulate Caelum into swiftness and agility yet he could of sworn she had the stealth of the Assassins.
"Boo-ya! Anyway, don't be so down Selmie! Promise I will kick those arrogant dunce once I evolve! I will rumple their corrupt government systems and shove the stupid laws they thought so impressive but was never anything other than oppressive to those they pledged to protect" Irina exclaimed fiercely and loudly, earning hoots and claps from the other vendors and villagers around them.
"That's our girl!" An elderly lady clad in a purple dress cheered, waving her walking rod whilst holding on to the fish market's stall for support.
Irina smiled proudly, then she walked over to the stall and offered a hand for Anselm to take. "Cheer up! Promise I will make us right, and for those oh-so-mighty-Immortus to respect us." Anselm took it and stood up. Face finally lighting up in hope.
Kalil stared at her best friend in wonder at her strength and her ability to cheer up people. Even when they have similar goal and dream, she would never be able to cheer up others as Irina did.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone