Orochi had gotten ahead of himself. Before power, it would be a good idea to figure out how this world worked first. Three days had already quickly flown by, and most of that time had been spent sorting out his memories and reading books.
Conversing with Althea was difficult with no voice, but she seemed to understand most of the things he desired to know by his actions alone. There were times Orochi had to steal glances at her as she went about cleaning his room while he was reading. Strands of her blonde hair loosely hung as she bent over to sweep, her dress revealing even more of her thighs. It was bizarre having this power over someone else. On Earth, he seemingly had no power, remembering rather than an overbearing boss who would constantly hound him for deadlines. Shivering at the thought, Orochi was tempted at times. Althea would do anything he wanted. Anything.
Chastising himself, Orochi profusely shook his head. Now is not the time for such wrongful thoughts.
Tapping on the wooden backboard of his bed, Orochi caught Althea's attention.
"Young master?" Althea quipped upon hearing the sound, quickly coming to his side at the ready.
Pointing outside, Orochi plastered on a small fake smile. For some reason, this seemed to elicit a more positive response from the elf.
Althea followed his gaze to the courtyard, realising what he was asking.
"Young master, if Lady Moon-Born were to find out…"
Ah yes, the seventh son being seen outside the courtyard would cause problems that no one seemed to want to tell him about. Orochi pinched two fingers close together. We won't be too long. Then he breathed deeply. I want some fresh air. For final measures, he gave her the puppy eyes. Orochi hated the puppy eyes. Yet the method worked. This one time, a little bit of dignity could be lost.
Althea looked between the window and the young master, biting her lip as she weighed her consequences. Her oath was to the young master. Serve and obey.
"Okay, but you must promise to be quick, young master." Her light blue eyes looked at him pleadingly.
Her life was in his hands, and Orochi, for a moment, thought he felt sympathy. Alas, no. The sudden rumbling in his stomach indicated it was hunger. It seemed there would be a detour to the kitchen.
╰┈➤.
Biting into a loaf of freshly baked bread, Orochi finally stepped out into the courtyard he had only ever seen from a window. The air truly was cleaner. Thankfully, there were creatures he recognised: ants in the soil, butterflies fluttering about doing what they do. It almost seemed like Earth. Save for the elf walking two steps behind him.
The short walk eventually led the two of them to start circling the courtyard wall. The gates were off limits; Althea had made that much clear. Orochi had a feeling that if he really wanted to, he could probably make her open them, but right now she was his only ally. Althea was too valuable to risk having his mother take her away.
While walking down the cobblestone pathway that tapered along the wall, grunts and the sounds of metal clashing could be heard from the other side. Fighting. Turning to his caretaker, young Orochi stiffly pointed at the wall. What's on the other side?
"That would be the Moon Guard Captain and his men. The barracks are on the other side, young master. They train in the morning and night. Have you forgotten? You've seen them many times." Althea raised an eyebrow.
She was sure the young master would remember. After all, she had been there the numerous times he gripped her skirt, begging to leave as his father forced him to train. 'Every Moon-Born should have a sword arm.' was something Lord Moon-Born had tried drilling into his children.
Orochi looked at the wall, wishing he could see past it. Maybe spirit power would have let him do that. Sighing, he signalled to Althea that they could leave, much to her relief.
For the rest of the day, Orochi had gone uncharacteristically quiet. Or however quiet a mute could be. Althea had begun to worry, peeking through the door every hour to check up on the young master. It was strange: the young master had begun to read, but now he had suddenly stopped, making her anxious again. Part of her wanted to call the physician, which Orochi quickly declined, signalling he was fine.
Tomorrow, she told herself. I will call the physician tomorrow.
As the sun fell again, Orochi was up. He had been listening to the creaking floorboards, counting the steps of Althea. Twenty steps for her to reach her room, a total of three hundred steps for her to get ready for bed. A routine he had logged over the past few days. Now alone with his own thoughts Orochi began thinking.
The existence of a Spirit Orb in a human meant that humans were capable of spirit power. The larger the Spirit Orb, the more spirit power. The colour of the orb determined the attribute. To achieve an attribute, a contract had to be made. Orochi had neither an intact Spirit Orb nor a contract. Without a Spirit Orb he was dead. There had to be a solution.
Boredom made men do foolish things.
Imposter inside him remembered how during World War 1 the worst experience soldiers documented was boredom. Waiting in the trenches for hours, or even days, without anything to do left some wishing to go over the wire to their death.
Closing his eyes, Orochi recollected his thoughts. Back to studying it is.
╰┈➤.
Back in the library, Orochi pored over the texts on Spirit Power, thinking of any possible solution to reassemble his Spirit Orb. His long black hair was wrapped up in a towel, a creation of Althea's, who had forced him to bathe. It had taken all his willpower and protest to stop her from bathing him herself. His dignity as a man would not permit that. Thankfully, Orochi could not speak and simply ignored her questions. He quickly realised a master did not have to explain much to a servant. He was a Moon-Born. She wasn't.
A part of him thought maybe it was wrong, but in time, if Althea proved she could be trusted, and when he could speak again, he might explain himself. Shaking his head, Orochi turned back to peering over the texts.
This was no good.
Standing up, he went back to the rows of books. This guest house was formerly the original home of the first Moon-Born, until later generations decided they needed a larger fortress and built one on top of the hill presiding over the whole town.
There were no known methods for healing a broken Spirit Orb apart from waiting. At least that was what all the books in this library said. Maybe the main library at the Moon-Born fortress might have an answer, but not here.
Heading deeper into the lines of shelves, the books became dustier and more mouldy. The covers of some had begun peeling off. It seemed no one had bothered to keep the books in the back in better condition. As knowledge improved, fewer and fewer people referred to the older texts.
About to turn and give up, a text caught Orochi's eye. It stood among its dying comrades. This book had a cover that glinted in the darkness, covered in purple-like scales.
Tracing his fingertips over the embroidered letters, Orochi froze.
The Way of the Oblivion Snake.
It was a cultivation method. But from his understanding, all the cultivation methods for the Moon-Born family were in the vault underground in the fortress, kept safe until a Moon-Born was of age and had a contract.
Why was this book here?
(ᵕ—ᴗ—)