Not being able to move was bad enough on its own. Not being able to see? Would the king of Bosque be forced to learn echolocation? How could he fall to the level of those sky rats?
It was reasonable that Brennan Bosque was panicking but Eon only observed carefully. That was because in his eyes, it was a miracle that Brennan could even panic at the moment. Toxic clotted blood entered his mouth out of its own volition and brought him back to life.
It was stupid just to think about it. How would he break the news to Brennan?
"Gi- Give me more food!" But first came giving him sufficient nutrition.
Brennan looked as though he would turn to dust and be carried away by the wind leaving behind only a spirit orb. Vitality and stamina were useful but not enough to allow for such a thing.
It didn't take very long to sate Brennan. If he was fed too much too quickly he would die so Eon made sure not to overdo it.
"Ma- Master Eon… what happened to me?" Brennan asked feeling quite conflicted. He knew what happened, he just didn't have the strength to come to terms with it. He had expected it but... he had hoped otherwise.
Eon could only rub his white beard. He was thinking about how exactly he should break the news to the man.
"Well, sentient blood entered your body and-" "Did- ah my son really do this-?" Both Eon and Brennan said things at the same time causing both of them to freeze. Eon stared at Brennan while Brennan was reminded that he was blind.
"Sentient blood…?" Brennan muttered audibly. What kind of term was that exactly?
"Yes, clotted sentient blood to be precise" Eon had been studying Bloody and it was quite obvious that it wasn't fluid blood.
"Wh- Argh! Cough! Cough!" Brennan's words were forced back down his throat by a painful cough. His chest and lungs suddenly felt as though they would break in half. His body contorted in pain while on the table.
"Is it the blood creature?" Eon asked himself in a whisper.
"Wh- Blood? What happened to my ki- Cough! Kingdom! Kingdom!" Brennan did not know what Eon was on about so he decided to focus back on the kingdom even as his body continued to suffer excruciating pain.
"I don't know" Eon succinctly replied leaving Brennan speechless. Or was he suffocating?
"Breath! Brennan! Breath!" Eon said before going over and starting to insert some mana. The two of them couldn't even hold a proper conversation yet. There was much recovery to be had for Brennan.
The question became whether W and Bloody would give Brennan that ample time or if the two were instead planning something nefarious.
***
Back at Sanctuary, Ed and Shel were undergoing sweltering hot training.
"Ah! Ed!" It was very nerve-wracking for Shel in particular. That was because to her, Ed's methods seemed too rough.
Unlike herself, Ed had not learned through trial and error. That meant that his actions were entirely reliant on the system. That was not to say his moves or skill was lower than Shel's as that was obviously not the case.
The difference was that Shel was afraid to make mistakes while Ed knew his limits and worked well within them. Ed seemed carefree but Shel would always look stern and determined while smithing.
"Your way is not wrong Shel but if you are too careful your equipment will always come out average at best" If Ed wanted something average he could delegate all smithing to the spirit smith. The difference between something mass-produced and something made by an individual was, in some cases, staggering.
That was because the spirit smith only sought to complete what was tasked of it. It wouldn't think to or try to go above and beyond. Whether that would change in the future was a matter for the future but currently, Ed benefited from Shel changing her cautious smithing.
"But… But wouldn't it be a waste?" Shel felt pained whenever something turned out wrong.
"Don't be stupid, we have too much orc iron if anything!" Ed shot back in response. Shel's growth in character seemed like a regression in some situations. It was giving Ed quite the headache.
There was another case to be made for individuality. That was that consciousnesses and the power of the mind were proven to be things that existed. Drop items were also as he had speculated something of a remnant of the creature that dropped the item.
So if a Smith were to exert great mental power while forging something the odds of it becoming magical, or spiritual in some form existed.
'Is this a hint into living weapons?' Though he supposed, in that case, being too careful would simply result in a weapon with a more shy and reserved ego rather than an average weapon.
'I guess even mass-producing through orcs might be better' His assumptions were yet to be proven though. Ed felt that even if he was right, it would take a lot more than his measly level 3 craftsmanship. So Shel influencing her weapons anytime soon seemed unlikely.
"O- Ok! I got it!" Shel declared. Her brutish face turned solemn as she stared at the orc iron coming out of her own forge. She would go about it more confidently!
Not even an hour later, Ed exited the forge seeming exhausted.
"Teaching sure isn't easy…" Ed muttered audibly before pausing. He recognized Sharog in her octocrawler silk robe across the street. Her lessons were scheduled for only a bit later so Ed figured it was fine to approach now.
"Oh, Ed" Sharog noticed his presence and greeted him with just a hint of surprise.
"How did it go? Teaching Shel, I mean" Sharog asked while watching as orcs brought barrels into the building in front of them.
"Erm, alright I suppose. What's this?" Ed asked. The center of Sanctuary had to be for extra important places so he was curious to see what Sharog had approved to be there.
Sharog's face suddenly flushed.
"Well, it's- it's a… a beverage place…" She responded slurring the end of her sentence.
"Ah, I see. We do have a large plantation right here so I guess it makes sense" The orc blood fruit orchard had been placed in the middle after all. Once things were properly settled it would be partially hidden behind buildings but still easily accessible from the Sanctuary's center plaza so it wasn't entirely illogical to have such a building.
'Her reaction was a bit strange for that though…' Ed thought before hearing something.
"Sharog! The poison drinks are ready!" An orc came out of the building and said. If Sharog's face was flushed before, now it seemed to be heating up from embarrassment.
"Th- Thanks Goe!" Sharog said back awkwardly.
Ed was amused by the interaction but he also couldn't help but feel bad.
'Have I pushed her towards alcohol?' It was certainly no coincidence for a bar or tavern to be placed right near the town hall, right?
"So- Sorry Ed, this is just-" Sharog wanted to find an explanation but was cut off by Ed.
"Nevermind that, we should name this place!" If Sharog had already become an alcoholic, there would surely be more. That would mean more bars in the future as the settlement grew.
'Hm? Didn't orc blood fruits have the side effect of rage?' Ed froze remembering this. Wouldn't it be an issue to have a bunch of angry drunkards running rampant?
"How about… Plaza Bar!" Ed suggested.
"What's a bar?" Sharog asked not understanding Ed's weird name for places.
"Huh? Well, a bar is..." Ed suddenly realized a problem. He entered the building and noted a clear lack of a counter. The barrels were just aligned along the wall and it seemed like the orcs would just get their drinks and go.
"This won't do…" Ed muttered before raising the ground and forming a counter. He also added bar chairs and some regular chairs and tables after that.
"Hey! You!" Ed said pointing at the orc from earlier.
"Me?" The orc said surprised
[Goe (Confused)]
"Yes, you Goe. You are now in charge of this bar" Ed said to the orc who though confused nodded.
"That's a bar" Ed said pointing at the counter he made.
"I see…" Sharog responded absentmindedly as she thought back to the name Ed mentioned trying to make sense of it.
"How about Orc Blood Bar?" Sharog counter suggested after careful deliberation.
"Hm… Let's do this instead. Let's name it after the bartender" Ed suggested.
"Eh? Sure" Sharog hadn't even thought to name it at first so she didn't mind.
"Ok, in that case…! This will now be Goe's Tavern!" Ed said before forming a sign out of the earth and exiting the building to hang it up.
Sharog was puzzled by the words Ed had written but she knew he could be quite eccentric.
"Now it's a proper establishment" Ed said before quickly wanting to retract the statement.
There was actually no currency! All the alcohol was free of charge! What kind of establishment was that? If there was any currency they'd go broke for sure!
'But there isn't any' Ed now had to think of something valuable to present for the occasion or consider if haggling for a cup of beer was within interest.. Of course, maybe the status quo was not bad either.