In the middle of their increasingly heated argument, the two suddenly heard a knock on the door before it clicked open.
"Are you okay now?" Rick asked.
"Uhh, yeah. I just feel a little dizzy, but it's nothing to worry about" Ikky leapt up on his feet. "Need help with the morning food?"
"It's past noon." Rick threw him a loaf of bread.
Catching it, Ikky exclaimed. "It's that late? Man, Arley's gonna kill me! Am- am I in trouble?"
Rick shook his head and replied, "She's not insensitive like that. In fact, she made a whole buffet for you downstairs for when you wake up."
"A what?" Ikky rubbed the back of his head.
"A buf— a whole table of food." Rick had not finished explaining before Ikky had already skipped down the stairs.
"Easy." Rick scoffed.
It was either Ikky or him who would have to work at the restaurant today, and Rick sure didn't want to. By the time Ikky realised he had actually fallen into a trap, Rick had already escaped from the building to go somewhere else.
At the end of the day, Ikky did have his full table of food... which he had to share with both of his caretakers.
But he wasn't complaining. In fact, Rick didn't get any complaints from him. The kid was genuinely just happy there was food.
"So you really don't know what the monster is?" Arley asked, staring at Ikky with eyes of full attention.
"Mhm! Oi mean, no." Ikky answered with a mouth full of soup.
Rick pushed his back against the seat with a long sigh.
"I mean it fits the description for that thing, doesn't it?"
Arley and Ikky froze as they both turned to him without a clue if what he was asking.
"Tales of the Gashadokuro mentions it as a being moulded from the corpses of the fallen, full of resentment and unending bloodlust— traits that grant the monster, immortality. The one you met at the Kailash seemed to be in its early days because of its size. Though I do wonder, how were you able to kill it?"
Now it was Rick's and Arley's turn to look at Ikky.
The amber-eyed man, in the middle of licking his plate froze, before coughing to clear his throat.
"Uh... I'm not really sure. I was just going with the flow. So, I don't know how my Totem works still."
Rick put his hand on his chin.
"I think, I can help with that. Or rather, I know who can. You can bring that busted sword of yours as well tomorrow."
Ikky held his own chin as well, "But will this affect my food payments?"
Arley blinked. "I told you your payment is cash, boy. And yes. The costs of fixing your blade will in fact be deducted from your salary."
Ikky sighed with relief. But Arley wasn't done.
"You know what will affect your meals though?"
Taking one look at her face, Ikky was afraid to ask."
"Eat your fill, 'Ikky'. Because starting tomorrow to the end of this week, you're eating only salt and pepper."
———
"Huh. Seems like I hit the jackpot in this new life." Ikky smiled as he stared up at the wooden ceiling of his bedroom.
Yaga didn't have to be psychologically connected to the boy to realise he was happy. To be honest, he still couldn't believe he was lying down under a proper roof for once.
Whether the wind blew harshly on his body or not was up to him now that he had a working window. And if it was still too cold, he could just cover himself with a blanket!
"Hehe!" He chuckled to himself as he looked out the closed window beside him.
"That's one score for Ikky."
"Score? You're sweating profusely. Open the window." Yaga added.
"Hmm. Maybe tomorrow morning. When I feel like it." He dipped himself into the blanket and wrapped himself up like a caterpillar in a cocoon.
Yaga shook her head. "Pathetic."
The amber-eyed man popped his head out of the blanket and turned to the tinted winow.
"What happened with the curse anyway? Why did it turn up after all those crystals I ate?" He asked.
Yaga pondered for a few seconds before guessing. "The Virtue did evolve when you became a Seer, so perhaps that delaying effect got removed."
He grunted in dissatisfaction. "It evolved into something worse?"
"Unlikely. I am just making a guess. The poems that come with Prophecies most often only makes sense in specific situations. But, we'll figure it out eventually... provided you live long enough to figure it out that is."
His body sprung up as he looked the spirit in the eyes.
"Definitely! I'll definitely live long enough. The curses, my enemies, nothing will take me down."
The two of them just sat still, Ikky filled with resolve, and Yaga as unimpressed as usual.
"If I'm not wrong, the drawbacks of Virtues get worse the more the Virtue advances. So I was likely correct to think that [Child of Nyx] doesn't delay curses like [Seed of Nyx] did.
"Oh shut up." Ikky fell back on his bed, straight to sleep.
———
The next day, Ikky found himself roaming through one of the weird forests of Mahar, right behind Rick.
With Rick volunteering to pay, they had just been to a curing hot spring. The amber-eyed man had even gotten washed down earlier by a couple of lady workers (female spirits).
Speaking of, it was a lot harder getting sexually excited, or have bad thoughts entirely, the higher the Lokah, so those kinds of spirits were farely safe from harassment. Although they were still a good selling point, since everyone appreciates beauty— beauty that those spirits did possess indeed.
Yet Rick didn't get to enjoy those privileges. You'd think it was because his wife was already sexy and enough for him— Yes.
Ikky on the other hand had unlocked an achievement today. He'd NEVER ever gotten that close to other women before. He technically still hasn't, since those 'beautiful' women were just spirits with lady-like appearances. But still, a win is a win.
"No privilege in being rubbed like an incapable child. So turn off the starry eyes and get your sword ready. We're here."
Charms are tools Prophets used alongside their Totems. They took the forms of weapons and other random objects, but are most importantly, made of a particular metal that could resonate with souls and grant them supernatural functions: Soul steel.
Those who forged those charms are uneventfully called Charm-smiths.
"Tighten your bandanas." Rick suddenly warned.
Ikky made sure the red piece of cloth wrapped around his forehead and shoulder were tied right. Still curious as to why Rick had asked him to wear these, he recalled Rick's previous answer, "You'd look less tasty that way."
Walking out of the forest, Ikky exclaimed as his eyes scanned across the land.
There was a mountain the shape of three tall, small and wide cubes stacked side by side. There were also few cubical holes in the mountain. It honestly would look like an overly large house if its exterior wasn't so rocky and crude.
Ikky followed Rick to walk around the pond to the rectangular entrance to a cave in the mountain.
Without further words spoken, they both move into the cave.
After a while of roaming around the dark tunnels of the mountain, the two sighted light in an opening up ahead. But as they got closer, they started hearing loud bangs and the sound of fighting. Rick's footsteps got faster.
Finally reaching the vast room at the end of the tunnel, they realised the sound of battle was from a Prophet and a violent spirit.
"Izel!" Rick called out. However, as the woman lost focus for the half second she took to see who cried her name, the spirit leapt at her, its wide maw ready to take advantage of the situation and swallow her whole.
Ikky stared at the legendary creature in awe, finally understanding why Rick had tied on clothes on his body that were coloured red.