Chapter 467: Learning to Live

"Room," Jian Li corrected.

Eir repeated:

"Room."

Jian Li nodded and gestured for her to follow.

"Yours while you’re here."

Eir stood still for a moment.

"Mine?"

"Temporarily."

Eir looked at Damon.

"Is that normal?"

"More or less."

"Explain."

Damon put his hands in his pockets.

"You use the space. No one enters without warning. You can keep your things there. Sleep, if you want. Be alone."

Eir became serious.

"Alone."

"Yes."

"By choice."

"Usually."

She seemed to like that answer.

Jian Li opened the door.

The room was simple.

A bed against the wall, a small table, chair, wardrobe, water pitcher and a window overlooking part of the courtyard.

And the pot of soil.

Eir entered slowly.

First she looked at the bed.

Then the window.

Then the table.

Only then did she notice the pot.

She approached.

Touched the soil with the tip of her finger.

Stopped.

Damon looked at Jian Li.

"Don’t say anything."

"I wasn’t going to."

"Your face."

She smiled.

Eir closed her eyes for a few seconds.

Nothing happened.

No roots sprouted.

No leaves appeared.

She simply kept her finger there.

Then opened her eyes.

"Soil."

Jian Li replied:

"Yes."

"Why?"

Damon closed his eyes.

He knew.

Jian Li answered with absolute seriousness.

"I thought you might like it."

Eir looked at her.

Then at the pot.

"It’s little."

"It’s a pot."

"I had a lot."

"I know."

Eir touched it again.

"Thank you."

Damon opened his eyes.

Jian Li gave him a satisfied look.

He refused to acknowledge it.

Eir approached the bed.

Sat down.

The mattress sank.

She immediately stood up.

"Bad ground."

Neria started laughing.

"It’s soft."

"Too much."

"It’s a bed."

"For sleeping?"

"Yes."

Eir pressed the mattress with her hands.

"I don’t trust it."

Damon pointed.

"Finally someone sensible."

Jian Li turned toward him.

"You sleep in a bed."

"Social pressure."

"You like your bed."

"That doesn’t matter."

Eir sat down again.

This time, she stayed.

"Can I sleep on the floor?"

"You can," Jian Li replied.

Eir nodded.

"Good."

Liora appeared at the door.

"Mom."

Eir turned.

"Cake."

Damon closed his eyes.

"I knew it."

Liora pointed toward the corridor.

"There is some."

Eir immediately stood up.

Damon looked at Neria.

"She just crossed an existential boundary for the first time and now cake is the priority."

Neria smiled.

"She’s experiencing things."

"This is Liora’s fault."

"Probably."

Liora heard.

"It’s not fault."

"It’s influence."

"Better."

She pulled Eir by the hand.

Damon followed.

Not because he thought there was any risk.

Because he wanted to see.

The cake was in the kitchen.

Mu Qing had prepared something simple.

Light cake.

Cream.

Fruit.

Liora was already sitting with a piece too large for someone her size.

Eir observed.

"That."

"Yes," Liora replied.

"It’s cake."

"Yes."

"Why?"

Liora thought.

"Because it’s good."

Eir looked at Damon.

"Explain better."

"She won’t."

Liora was already eating.

Mu Qing cut a smaller piece and placed it on a plate.

"Eat slowly."

Eir looked at the fork.

Then at the cake.

Then at the fork again.

Damon noticed.

"Do you know how to use that?"

"I do."

She picked it up.

Incorrectly.

Neria corrected the position of her fingers.

"Like this."

Eir adjusted.

Cut a piece.

Brought it to her mouth.

Stopped.

Remained still.

Completely still.

Damon waited.

Jian Yue did too.

Xue Mei was clearly trying not to laugh.

Eir chewed.

Swallowed.

Looked at the cake.

Then at Liora.

"You knew."

Liora nodded while eating.

"Yes."

"Why didn’t you explain better?"

"I said it was good."

Eir took another piece.

Larger.

Damon crossed his arms.

"It’s over."

Eir looked at him.

"What?"

"You’ve been converted."

"I don’t understand."

"You will."

She continued eating.

More slowly than Liora.

But clearly interested.

Neria sat beside her mother.

"Did you like it?"

"Yes."

"Which part?"

Eir thought seriously.

"Sweet."

Damon nodded.

"Flawless analysis."

Eir pointed the fork toward him.

"You laugh a lot."

"You do funny things."

"I don’t try."

"That’s what makes it better."

She seemed to consider that.

Then returned to the cake.

Aria appeared a few minutes later.

With the notebook.

Damon saw.

"No."

"I just wanted to observe."

"You can observe without writing."

"That’s against my nature."

"Then fight it."

Eir looked at Aria.

"She writes everything."

"Yes," Damon replied.

Aria did not look ashamed.

"That’s useful."

"Sometimes."

Eir thought.

"Can I write?"

Aria immediately became interested.

"Of course."

Damon closed his eyes.

"We lost her."

The experiment lasted fifteen minutes.

Eir discovered that she could hold a pencil.

She also discovered that writing was significantly harder than making roots form symbols on the ground.

The first word came out crooked.

The second, worse.

Liora looked.

"Ugly."

Eir turned toward her.

"Do you write better?"

Liora fell silent.

Neria smiled.

"Good question."

Liora returned to the cake.

Eir continued.

Aria watched every attempt as if she were witnessing a historic discovery.

Technically, perhaps she was.

Damon remained leaning against the wall.

"Are you comfortable?"

Eir looked over.

"No."

The answer came quickly.

No one laughed.

She continued:

"But I want to stay."

Damon nodded.

"Then it’s going well."

"Is that normal too?"

"More than it should be."

Eir looked back at the paper.

"Small body is difficult."

"You chose it."

"Yes."

"Regret it?"

She thought.

"No."

That seemed sufficient.

After the food, Jian Li decided to show her the base.

The tour began simply.

Corridors.

Common rooms.

Infirmary.

Storage areas.

Courtyards.

Eir touched almost everything.

Stone.

Wood.

Metal.

Glass.

Not because she had never known those materials.

But because in that body she needed to know them through hands.

When they reached the infirmary, Ester intercepted Neria.

"You’re already walking too much."

Neria stopped.

"I’m fine."

"That sentence has no clinical validity."

"But it’s true."

"Doesn’t matter."

Eir looked at the two of them.

"She gives a lot of orders."

Damon replied:

"Yes."

Ester turned.

"I heard that."

"You were supposed to."

Neria sat on one of the beds.

Eir remained beside her.

Ester looked at the manifestation.

"You too."

Eir stood still.

"Me?"

"I want to examine that body."

Damon started smiling.

Eir looked at him.

"You knew."

"Yes."

Ester pointed at the bed beside Neria’s.

"Only if you allow it."

Eir fell silent.

Damon noticed.

It was not fear.

It was the weight of the decision.

She looked at Ester.

"What will you do?"

"Check breathing. Circulation. Temperature. How this body is maintaining energy."

"Will you change it?"

"No."

"Does it hurt?"

"It shouldn’t."

"Shouldn’t?"

Damon started laughing.

Ester looked at him.

"Very helpful."

"I’m quiet."

Eir thought.

Then sat down.

"You can."

Ester started with her pulse.

She frowned almost immediately.

"Your heart is strange."

Eir looked at her own chest.

"I have one."

"I noticed."

"I don’t need it much."

"I noticed that too."

Ester brought over a simple instrument.

The rhythm was slow.

Very slow.

The circulation also did not follow completely human anatomy.

Some structures resembled blood vessels.

Others looked like plant channels.

Energy circulated together with the fluid.

Aurelia watched from the doorway.

"It’s a functional body, but extremely economical."

Ester agreed.

"She doesn’t need to sustain growth, reproduction or normal regeneration."

Eir asked:

"Is that bad?"

"No. Just different."

"It works three days."

"Probably because of that."

Damon crossed his arms.

"She made exactly enough."

"Yes," Aurelia replied.

Eir looked at him.

"I learned."

"From whom?"

She pointed at Damon.

"Not doing more than needed."

He fell silent.

Jian Yue started smiling.

Damon raised one hand.

"Don’t even think about it."

She said nothing.

But kept smiling.

The examination ended without problems.

Ester confirmed that the manifestation presented no immediate risk.

The main limitation was reserves.

Eir had a finite amount of energy stored inside that body.

Breathing and eating helped little.

They did not replace the connection with the forest.

"How long?" Neria asked.

"If she doesn’t use any major abilities, three days seems reasonable," Ester replied.

Eir confirmed.

"Maybe four."

"And after that?"

"Body stops."

Damon looked over.

"Stops how?"

"I go back."

"That was vague."

Aurelia asked:

"Does your consciousness return to the forest?"

"Yes."

"Does the body die?"

Eir thought.

"Comes apart."

"Into what?"

"Matter."

Damon made a face.

"Is that going to be traumatic to watch?"

Eir looked at him.

"I don’t know."

"Excellent."

Neria held her mother’s hand.

"Go back before that."

Eir nodded.

"Yes."

That was new too.

Planning the return.

And not simply remaining until the limit.

In the courtyard, Eir found the training.

She was fascinated.

Not by the fighting.

By the fact that people repeated movements when no threat was present.

Xue Lian was training with the spear.

Eir watched for almost five minutes.

"Why?"

Xue Lian stopped.

"To get better."

"Better for what?"

"Fighting."

"You’re not fighting."

"I’m training."

Eir looked at Damon.

"Explain."

"You do it beforehand so you can do it when you need to."

She looked back.

"Like growing roots before a drought."

Xue Lian nodded.

"More or less."

Eir seemed to understand.

Jian Yue entered the courtyard with her sword.

Damon immediately realized what was coming.

Eir watched.

Jian Yue began a sequence.

First strike.

Second.

Third.

The left side opened less.

Damon nodded.

"Better."

Jian Yue heard.

"I know."

Eir looked at him.

"Did you teach her?"

"I corrected something."

"Then she changed."

"Yes."

"Because she chose to."

Damon realized where this was going.

"Yes."

Eir fell silent.

Then:

"That happens a lot here."

He looked at her.

"What?"

"People change each other."

Damon thought.

"Yes."

"Without touching inside."

That was specific.

He answered carefully.

"Usually."

Eir observed Jian Yue.

Then Neria.

Liora.

Ester talking to Mu Qing.

Aria writing.

Jian Li organizing something near the corridor.

"I understand more."

Damon stood beside her.

"Mirath?"

"Why you come back different."

He smiled.

"That took less time than I expected."

"I’m not finished."

"Fair."

At the end of the afternoon, Eir tried walking around the base by herself.

Damon did not follow.

By conscious choice.

She had come to learn about Mirath.

Not to be escorted every step of the way.

Liora went with her for approximately five minutes.

Then disappeared toward the kitchen.

Neria stayed resting.

Eir continued alone.

She returned almost an hour later.

With a small leaf caught in her hair.

Damon noticed.

"Where did that come from?"

Eir touched her hair.

Found it.

Looked at the leaf.

"Courtyard tree."

"Did you talk to it?"

"No."

"Why?"

"It’s a tree."

"So are you."

Eir stared at him.

"Not the same."

"I figured."

She kept the leaf in her hand.

Damon noticed that something had changed.

"Did you like walking alone?"

"Yes."

"Any problems?"

"Someone apologized."

"Why?"

"They bumped into me."

"That happens."

"It didn’t hurt."

"It doesn’t need to hurt for someone to apologize."

Eir became thoughtful.

"They didn’t mean to."

"Exactly."

"So they said it."

"Yes."

"That’s good."

Damon nodded.

"Sometimes."

She observed the leaf.

"I stepped on someone’s foot."

Damon started smiling.

"And?"

"I apologized."

"Did it work?"

"She said ’it’s okay.’"

Damon laughed.

Eir looked up.

"Is that funny?"

"A little."

"Why?"

"Because you’re learning how to live with people through small accidents."

"Better than big accidents."

He stopped.

Then nodded.

"Definitely."

At night, everyone had dinner together.

Eir tried bread.

Liked it.

Cheese.

Was undecided.

Meat.

Did not like it much.

Soup.

Considered it "useful."

Damon did not know what that meant.

Liora ate everything.

Neria managed to remain seated throughout the entire meal without showing excessive fatigue, although Ester ordered her to rest immediately afterward.

When the table began to empty, Eir remained seated.

So did Damon.

"Are you tired?"

"Yes."

"Body?"

"Yes."

"Going to sleep?"

Eir looked toward the corridor.

"Maybe on the floor."

"Good choice."

"You don’t sleep on the floor."

"You don’t need to bring that back up."

She remained quiet.

Then asked:

"Why did you let me come?"

Damon looked at her.

"You asked."

"That’s all?"

"Did there need to be more?"

Eir thought.

"Before, people wanted things from me."

"Some still will."

"You didn’t ask for anything."

"I’ve asked enough questions."

"You could ask for restoration."

"I don’t want it."

"You could ask for strength."

"Don’t want that either."

"Information."

"When I need it."

Eir looked at her empty plate.

"Then I came only because I wanted to."

"Yes."

She took a while to answer.

"That’s strange."

Damon rested one arm on the table.

"You’ll get used to it."

"Did you get used to it?"

He went quiet.

"I’m trying."

Eir looked at him.

"Then we’re learning the same."

Damon smiled.

"Don’t exaggerate."

She stood.

Took a few steps.

Stopped.

Came back.

"One more thing."

"Naturally."

"Can I see your room?"

Damon frowned.

"Why?"

"Jian Li said rooms show people."

He stared toward the corridor.

"She said that?"

"Yes."

"Betrayal."

Eir waited.

Damon sighed.

"You can."

Damon’s room did not impress Eir.

She entered.

Looked at the bed.

Table.

Sword.

Clothes.

Window.

"Little."

"I don’t collect things."

"You have a sword."

"That’s a tool."

"You have two."

"One is a spare."

"You have a knife."

"Also a tool."

Eir looked at him.

"You collect killing tools."

Damon remained silent.

"When you say it like that, it sounds bad."

She walked to the window.

On the sill was the stone drake that had stolen his shirt days earlier.

Damon stopped.

The animal looked at him.

"You."

The drake did not move.

Eir approached.

The animal opened its small membranes.

She extended her hand.

Damon immediately spoke:

"It bites."

Eir stopped.

"You know?"

"No."

"Then?"

"Look at it."

Eir slowly offered her hand.

The drake sniffed.

Then climbed up.

Sat on her forearm.

Damon stared.

"Traitor."

Eir looked at the animal.

"It likes warmth."

"Everyone keeps saying that."

The drake settled in.

Eir smiled.

Damon stopped.

It was the first time he had seen a truly clear expression on that face.

Small.

But it was a smile.

Eir noticed that he was looking.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Your face."

Damon closed his eyes.

"I deserved that."

She returned to watching the drake.

After a few seconds, she spoke:

"Mirath is strange."

"Yes."

"Good strange."

"Most of the time."

"I want to stay until tomorrow."

"You can."

"Then another."

"If your body can handle it."

"Yes."

Damon leaned against the wall.

Eir had come to understand why everyone returned different.

On the first day, she had already learned about cake, bad beds, personal space, apologies, rooms, training, opportunistic animals and the fact that asking for something did not need to hide an obligation.

It was not much.

But it was not little either.

And, for the first time since they had met her, Eir was not learning because she needed to survive.

She was learning simply because living allowed it.