Chapter 12 - What a Weird Wish

Completely listless, Ivan's eyes stared at the floor as lifelessly as a dead fish. Water dripped from his hair in front of his face without his pupils reacting at all.

Eventually, though, his pupils flickered. He returned to reality.

"I got a two star wish? Guess even the impossible is possible now, eh?" He grumbled.

Sighing, he finally bothered to look at the reward he received. Upon seeing a book, he frowned. A grimoire would be of no use to him since he knew nothing about how magic actually functioned in this world. At best, he figured he could use it as upgrade material or something. Reading the title of the book changed his mind, though.

'Iwakura Sword Arts: Volume I - Shoden? I don't recognize this. It doesn't look like a grimoire.'

He vaguely recalled something about the Iwakura clan in the game, but he didn't recall them being part of the main quests. He figured it might have been a side quest of some sort that he had blasted through for the rewards or something. Either way, his curiosity led him to tapping the icon for the book. 

Under the press of his finger, white light outlined the icon. Then, a small beam of light shot forth from the screen into his forehead. He couldn't even react because it happened so quickly.

On instinct, he stumbled backward. His constellation screens automatically closed when he fell back onto the stone floor. In the knick of time, he slid his hand between his head and the floor. Luckily, he'd had a lot of practice in protecting his head, so sometimes he succeeded, and now happened to be one of those times. A dull pain throbbed in his hand and skull, but far less than he initially expected. 

Since the fall didn't hurt too much, he was able to focus on a slough of information filling his mind.

'...'

While laying flat on the floor, his eyes darted back and forth at rapid speeds as though reading a few pages of a book every second. Due to being lost in thought, he barely noticed his muscles trembling and tightening little by little. Not long later, he blinked. His eyes refocused on the ceiling above him.

After processing his thoughts, he raised his hands into the air and positioned them as though holding the handle of a sword. Then, he mumbled, "...Well, that was a unique experience."

Sitting up, he rubbed his chin. All sorts of basic stances, guards, and strikes taught by the Iwakura Clan's swordsmen filled his mind and body. Feeling slightly uncomfortable in his own skin, he looked at his hands as though they did not belong to him. Although still skinny and malnourished, he could tell that some of his muscles had regrown. In fact, he thought he might be stronger than he had ever been in the past even when he still attempted to engage in physical activity. Of course, such things often ended in injury, but he still did his best to stay healthy over the years despite his situation.

'It's only the basics of their sword arts, but it's gotta be worth at least a year or two of training, I think? Such a weird feeling. Is this really only a two star reward? I think I'll still need to practice to get used to it, but this is super convenient.'

He couldn't help but wonder if his wishes would often grant rewards like this. If so, he could happily accept it.

'Something like this makes more sense than summoning the characters here, anyway,' He thought.

While he finished washing his hair, his mind occupied itself in envisioning the training and practice necessary to improve in the Iwakura Sword Arts. Eventually, he found himself back in the main room of the shrine almost on autopilot.

"You're back," Yae Miko greeted from a seat at the nearby table with legs crossed over each other. She set down a book in her hands, but kept a finger in the place where she left off. 

"Yep. Thanks again for helping me with that curse. Not sure my bad luck is any better, though," Ivan replied with a wry smile.

Yae Miko smiled and nodded in return. The pink-haired fox woman then studied him with a thoughtful gaze before carefully explaining, "About your bad luck… After successfully removing one of your curses, I have come to the conclusion that the curses on you do not have the purpose of bringing bad luck to you. They are more like seals, but since they are, in essence, curses, bad luck is a side effect wrought by the fate-altering consequence of the nature of curses in general."

Ivan blinked. The curses being seals did not surprise him much due to what he saw on his constellation screen, but a few parts of her explanation caught his attention.

"So… does that mean my luck will be a bit better after removing this one?"

Inwardly, he also considered the ability to unlock other elements while thinking about his Curses screen, but he did not see the point in asking Yae Miko about it. He preferred to just keep that subject to himself for now.

"Perhaps a little. For example, if all the curses caused every day of your life to be unlucky, perhaps now you could have one normal day in a week now. Honestly, though, it is hard to speak any specifics with this sort of thing."

"If I can have at least one good day, I'll be a happier man, that's for sure," Ivan replied, chuckling lightly.

Unable to withhold a smile at the young man's mild optimism, Yae Miko switched which legs were crossed over each other and said, "Good for you. Since I have explained what I wished to convey to you now, I will retire for the night. You may rest in the guest room again tonight if you wish, but do keep in mind that others in need of treatment like yourself may need to use it in the future."

"Alright. Thank you," Ivan said, bowing his head a little. Because of his lowered gaze, he noticed some of the burned floorboards. Knowing those damages likely came from him, he cleared his throat and asked, "Before you leave, though, are you still interested in hearing that story I mentioned before?"

Smirking, Yae Miko rested her chin on her palm. Then, she shook her head slowly and said, "Perhaps another time. I am quite in need of rest at the moment, unfortunately. Also, you need not worry about the floorboards. Running a few errands for me will suffice instead of paying for the repairs, don't you think?"

Pressing his lips together, Ivan recalled a certain Geo Element character in the back of his mind and hesitantly said, "...As long as they aren't excessive or weird demands, I won't mind."

"Perfect. I already have something in mind, but I will inform you about it tomorrow since I will need to prepare something."

"Gotcha."

Standing up, Yae Miko bowed slightly and said, "Have pleasant dreams, Ivan."

Ivan blinked, then widened his eyes slightly. The fox woman's shrine maiden attire rhythmically danced back and forth while she exited the main room toward wherever her personal chambers were. 

Several quiet seconds after she left the room, Ivan mumbled to himself, "She actually said my name? Should I be happy or worried?"