Chapter 26: The Forgotten Lands, Part Four

"Ohhh, what other 'jobs' exist?" Xhez asked.

Currently, Rin was explaining to her how money worked, and the things one did to acquire it. It had been a few hours since they'd found that strange ruin, and right now, Rin was beginning to accept that her return to Libera wouldn't happen anytime soon.

"So... People would, uh, organize stuff for others, and those people were called assistants... Or ass lickers," Rin muttered with a chuckle.

"Ass lickers?" Xhez asked, tilting her head and Rin groaned.

"N-No, don't, um, don't say that. It's bad."

"Bad?" Xhez raised a brow. "How so?"

"Uh, whatever, moving on..."

It was easy to get lost in these little talks with Xhez. The sprite was very receptive, listening intently to all of her words. On Rin's end, she realized just how fascinating human society could seem to someone who had never been in it. Still, Rin did have a few questions of her own.

"You said you had 'mothers', by the way, what was that about?"

"Do humans not have mothers?"

"We do, but we usually just have one, unless we factor in divorces and step-moms."

"Divorces?"

"Never mind, so, yeah, mothers?"

"Right," Xhez nodded. "Water sprites are all female. So, every sprite is born out of their two mothers."

"Wait, so..." Rin paused as Xhez blinked.

"Yes?" Xhez asked.

"Can sprites get each other pregnant?" Rin asked.

"Ohh, no, no, it is not like that," Xhez shook her head. "Sprites are born out of the connections our spirits create. So, take us, for example," Xhez walked in front of Rin with a big smile on her face. Rin took a step back. "If you and I were to fall in love the way my mothers did, our spirits would connect, and a child would materialize, born out of love for each other!"

"... That sounds really trippy," Rin replied, blinking.

"Trippy?" Xhez asked.

"Uh, again, it doesn't matter," Rin waved her off.

Then, another question came to Rin's mind.

"By the way, how old are you?" Rin asked.

"Hm? I am twenty-three years old," Xhez replied.

"Bullshit," Rin cackled at that.

"... Rin, you have a tendency of using words us sprites just do not use," Xhez replied laughing as well. "What do you mean?"

"There's no way you're older than me."

"Oh? How old are you?"

"Twenty," Rin shook her head. "I refuse to believe this. There's no way."

Xhez shrugged.

"It is the truth."

"I mean," Rin stopped. "Look at you, you're flat! N-No offense," she added.

"Flat?"

"Yeah, you barely have any tits," Rin told her.

"Tits?"

"... Whatever."

And with that strange interaction out of the way, they kept going. When Rin and Xhez had first met, it had been just around noon, but now, as the two of them kept talking, the sun had dipped and the moon had slowly come out to replace it. And, now, there were two issues at hand.

"... Shit," Rin muttered, looking up at the sky, a dark shade of orange which would soon turn to the black of night. "We need to set up a camp."

"Oh, what is that?"

"Uh, a place to sleep for the night," Rin explained. "And... I'm getting pretty thirsty too. Is there any water nearby?"

When Xhez heard that, for some reason, she paused.

A look of apprehension came over her, as Rin waited for her response. Xhez looked away when their eyes met, and that made Rin raise a brow.

"Are you okay?" Rin asked.

"..." Xhez remained quiet for a moment.

"If you don't know," Rin continued, "we can just look around until we find a source of water. It's fine, it'll... hopefully just take an hour or two."

"N-No..." Xhez said, sounding strange. "That will not be necessary."

At that, Rin looked her way.

"What do you mean?"

When she heard that question, Xhez finally looked over at her, with a slightly fearful expression. It was clear she was holding some sort of secret, but Rin wondered what could earn this level of anxiety from her. From the moment the two of them had met, most of what Xhez had done was smile.

For that smile to suddenly disappear like this, Rin was concerned.

"... You truly do not know?" Xhez asked.

"Uh, no, I don't," Rin shook her head. "Is... there something you want to tell me?" Rin asked, trying her hardest not to come across as pushy.

At that, Xhez took a deep breath and she walked over to Rin, standing in front of her.

[... Is this the part where she tells me she actually likes to eat humans alive?] A part of her thought, but, no, Xhez did nothing of the sort.

Instead, Xhez reached back and took one of the blue tendrils that made up her hair. She brought it forward and then, with both her hands, wrung it, and water dripped onto the dirt from the tip.

Xhez's body shook, and a little moan came out of her lips.

"Whoa," Rin said, confused. "What did you do?"

"M-My hair," Xhez said, "it produces water."

"Wait, seriously? Like, drinkable water?"

"I believe so," Xhez replied, taking a deep breath. "We could try and see."

"... Yeah, but," Rin said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Are you alright? That sounded like it took a lot out of you."

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And, then, Xhez's cheeks turned a darker shade, as did her hands.

If she were human, Rin would say she was blushing.

"Yes, I am fine," she replied and Rin nodded.

"So, what do I do?" Rin asked. "And, uh, do you need to drink any water?"

"Uh, n-no," Xhez shook her head. "So long as I stay out of the sun for a while tomorrow, I should be fine... As for what you should do... How would you like to drink this?" She said as she held that tendril of her hair in front of Rin.

[... What is with this atmosphere? This is kind of making my heart race.]

"I... Can you remove that thing from your head?"

"S-Spirits, no, of course, not!" Xhez replied, offended and Rin raised her hands.

"Sorry, sorry, I didn't know," Rin said with a sigh. "Then. Maybe, just, hold it over my mouth, or something, I dunno."

"I see," Xhez nodded. "You are... Quite a bit taller than me though."

"Yeah... Let me just..." Rin said before she knelt down in front of Xhez. Even then, Xhez was still only a head and a half taller with Rin in this position. However, then, Xhez took one tendril again and held it over Rin's open mouth.

[... Seriously, why do I feel like I should be getting paid for this?] Rin thought as Xhez then wrung it and water dripped onto her tongue, sliding down into her mouth.

[Wait, holy shit, that's delicious!]

It was strange, but the only way Rin could explain it was as though this water had a soft, subtle taste to it, like a very light juice, or a very good salad.

Rin gulped down a little bit, and then, wanting more, she stuck her tongue out. Accidentally, she touched the tendril with it.

Xhez moaned, retreating.

"P-Please, uh, do not do that."

"What? Did I do something? What?" Rin asked, standing back up. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, I am okay, it is just that... My hair is very sensitive," Xhez replied. "Touching it makes me feel, well, strange."

"Oh," Rin said.

Then, her eyes widened.

[... Oh.]

Clearing her throat, Rin looked away.

"How about we just... set up the rest of the camp for now."

And so, after that, Rin started running through what had become her routine, only, with Xhez, this time. She searched for some wood, hoping she would find a little that was flammable. When she did, she placed it in the middle of a slightly open space and then used the [Fireball] spell to light the wood on fire.

"What was that!?" Xhez asked, in awe.

"Just a spell," Rin muttered. "Do you have those?"

Xhez shook her head.

"If we do, my family never came across them," Xhez replied.

"Hm? Well, one of my teachers had told me that anyone who had Essence in them could use this sort of stuff."

"Essence?" Xhez asked.

"Yeah, magic, uh, life energy," Rin explained.

"Ohhh, you mean Spirit!"

"... Is that what you call it? Yeah, that."

"Oh, then, does that mean I can do that?" Xhez asked.

"I don't know, how much 'Spirit' do you have?"

"I'm made of it," Xhez answered and Rin raised a brow.

"Really?" She asked and Xhez nodded.

"Like I said, sprites are born out of spiritual connections. We are made of Spirit."

"... Try it then," Rin shrugged. "Here, this is what you do."

She then explained the basics behind spellcasting, as Harriton had taught her. She decided, in the moment, she may as well teach her the three spellsigns she'd memorized, the upwards arrow of [Fireball], the circle of [Heal], and the dot of [Candle].

"Alright, I shall try!" Xhez said, pumping herself up and Rin smiled a little.

Then, she took a deep breath and started channeling Essence.

And Rin's amusement faded, replaced by shock.

Whenever Rin cast a spell, her fingertips would glow. In Xhez's case, her entire body was glowing. She drew the spellsign in the air for [Fireball], and a slightly bigger sphere of flames was produced than any Rin had ever made, and it shot out, hitting a tree and dissipating.

"Wow, holy shit," Rin said.

"... I would like for you to explain these terms to me, at some point," Xhez said, laughing. "That felt... Strange."

"Why?"

"I am only used to manipulating Spirit with my voice, that was... More visceral? Maybe? I would like to do it again."

"... Maybe somewhere else," Rin said, looking back at the tree. "We're lucky that thing didn't catch fire."

---

The next day, the two of them were walking side-by-side, down a hill, and Rin felt like she desperately needed a bath.

[By the Divine, I smell so bad right now,] she sighed.

Xhez, however, didn't seem to mind it too much.

"If I am not mistaken, up ahead..." She said, but then, she trailed off.

"Yeah? What...?"

When she saw what had made Xhez stop, she did the same. Taking a deep breath, Rin's eyes narrowed.

In front of them, were several bodies. three of them belonged to humans, one belonged to a skeleton, which happened to be dressed in armor, for some reason. The skeleton, which was in pieces, had a sword in its right hand, some distance away from its body, while the humans all looked like they'd been cut to death by exactly such a weapon.

[... Crap.] Rin thought as Xhez seemed frozen beside her.

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