Aimless Ascension

Gale held the glass to her mouth as Xiaolin drank the awfully bitter drink. She didn't complain even a little, even though her state didn't let her ingest everything in one big gulp.

Xiaolin had no clue what was in the drink to make it so bitter. It was like pure herbs without any superficial flavour. Considering her condition wouldn't let her digest anything potent, the drink should be some slow-working ingestion that would help her regain strength.

"Do you need water?" her master asked after she finished swallowing.

Xiaolin nodded as the bitter taste remained in her mouth.

Gale poured water into a different glass, understanding her dilemma. He made her drink another glass of water, holding it to her lips.

"Now tell me truthfully how you feel," her master asked in a softer tone after she finished.

"Sore all over," Xiaolin answered. "It ached even with a little movement. I'm completely exhausted."

Gale nodded and was about to say something, but wiped her mouth with a napkin instead. Xiaolin felt being pampered like a child, but she had no strength to object.

On second thought, she liked being pampered, not that she would admit it. Not to her master. Well, who doesn't like to get pampered? She was certain it was completely normal.

"Your condition is more serious than it looks," Gale said. "Although I'm not a physician, I can easily tell you'll be in no shape to do anything for at least a week. Even after the week, the recovery will be slower."

Xiaolin bit her lips.

"Your constitution differed more from a normal person, even more than I imagined. I hope the healer Sun Ziang promised will have time in the near future to check on you. There are many things a healer can do, that I couldn't."

"Master, I'll be fine," Xiaolin said, even though she felt her facial muscle ache the more she used them.

"I'm serious about this, Linlin. If you even ingest a wisp of pure crystal before you recover, you'll revert to your condition of last night. You do have a good instinctual understanding of what to take and what not to, but it's rather limited. If you let your body take any more drastic measures, it wouldn't be any good, I promise you."

"I can do regular cycling then?" Xiaolin asked.

"Is that what you got out of that?" Gale grunted in displeasure. "No cycling until your aching stops, which would happen probably in a couple of days. Is that understood?"

Xiaolin nodded heavily, but stopped midway as her neck ached.

"Also, until then you have to take your medication seriously," Gale continued. "Healing potion would do no good, so we have to make it do with ointment and herbal drinks."

Xiaolin nodded and considered inquiring the question she was most curious about.

"Master," Xiaolin tried hard to not get flustered asking, though to no avail. "Did you change my robes and use the ointments on me?"

"Obviously," her master said, making Xiaolin hide her face under the cover in shame. "Obviously, there was no one present at that time, but no, I haven't changed your clothes or rubbed the ointments on you. However, I did feed you a healing potion and helped you channel out the excessive energy."

"Then who?" she asked, her face hidden under the cover, unaware helping another person channel their energy is just as much, if not more intimate.

"You can be rest assured it was a woman," her master said. "You'll probably meet her later when she comes back to rub the ointment and help you bathe."

"Do I know her?"

"Have you ever seen a ghostly person fully cloaked in black?" Gale asked. The look of complete obliviousness was an answer enough. "Then you don't know her. But don't be afraid. Even though her getup is enough to scare children, she's a good person.

"Anyway, she cost quite some money, not that I care, but I employed her for something else. Moreover, she only helped because you're in dire need. She won't be here forever. That's why I decided to hire a maid to take care of you."

"Master, there's no need."

"I haven't asked for your consent," Gale rebuked her. "The decision is final. Now I just need to look for a good person who can take care of you and rebuke you in my stead when I'm not there. Also, when you heal up, it's better if there's someone for you to talk to and help you practise. I should be able to find at least one copper ranker maid for you from town"

Xiaolin pouted. Shouldn't the maid listen to her, instead of what her master was expressing?

Her only consolation was that her master would probably need to spend a lot of time to get a maid like that. Not to mention, most practitioners would never leave their spirit arts to stay in the farmland in the middle of nowhere.

Then again, Xiaolin was fully aware of her master's means. He could just throw away a couple of hundreds of silver marks and there would be a dozen girls ready to throw themselves at him. As far as she was aware, some wouldn't even mind bedding him if he spent that much just on a maid.

Xiaolin felt there was a need to speak about how she became like this. He was fully away of her situation. Of course, she was afraid he would rebuke him again, and not to mention her facial muscles ached too.

She decided she would tell him after the body would let her express herself completely freely without the aching.

"I have confiscated the pure crystal and all the other coins from the chamber, so don't think you can do as you please on my back from now on." Leaving those words, her master left the room.

Xiaolin bit her lips and slid back to her comfortable position on the bed. And did nothing.

It wasn't until a couple of hours later the door of her room opened. Xiaolin had been bored to death just resting, even the sleep hadn't come easier.

Her master came in with a person that seemed to reside in a totally different realm.