Chapter 682: When the Body Catches Up

The next morning, Kael woke up with pain in his shoulder.

It wasn’t severe.

Even so, he remained lying down for a few seconds, testing the joint before getting up. The sensation was different from what had accompanied him since Selvanor and Obrin. There was none of the deep stabbing pain that traveled down to his chest whenever he tried to raise his arm, nor the unpleasant pressure of his mana channels compensating for the injured tissue.

It was only stiffness.

Sylphie noticed the movement.

"Does it hurt?"

"A little."

She opened her eyes and moved closer before he could get out of bed.

"Where?"

Kael slowly rotated his shoulder.

"Here."

Sylphie placed two fingers near the scar and allowed natural mana to spread through the area. Kael remained still while she examined the muscle, tendons, and nearby channels. After a few seconds, she slightly increased the pressure.

"This?"

"No."

"Here?"

"A little."

She shifted her hand.

"And here?"

"Stiffness."

Sylphie nodded.

"You carried chairs, worked dough, dug soil, and spent two days using your arm normally. You’re probably feeling the strain."

Kael rested his back against the headboard.

"So I didn’t make it worse."

"No."

"Good."

She continued examining him.

"Actually, it’s much better."

Kael looked at her.

"How much better?"

Sylphie didn’t answer immediately. She asked him to raise his arm above his head. Then out to the side. After that, she held his wrist and offered resistance while he pushed against her.

There was no pain.

"Your shoulder is almost fully recovered."

Kael immediately asked:

"Can I use the Step?"

Sylphie released his wrist.

"You really were waiting for that."

"For several days."

"I know."

She touched the center of his chest.

"The channels are still the part that worries me."

Kael took a deep breath.

"We can test them."

"We can check them."

"That’s almost the same thing."

"Not for you."

She closed her eyes and allowed mana to flow through his torso. The current traveled along his sternum, ribs, spine, shoulders, and down into his legs. This time, Kael felt little resistance. There was still one sensitive point near the center of his chest, but nothing resembling the previous irregularities.

Sylphie opened her eyes.

"It’s improved considerably."

"How much?"

"If you were a normal person, I’d say you could return to normal activities."

Kael raised an eyebrow.

"And since I’m not?"

"You consider crossing fifty meters in a fraction of a second a normal activity."

"It’s useful."

"That’s exactly why I’m still not allowing it."

Kael leaned back again.

"How long?"

"Another two or three days without extreme exertion. Then we can test it with one short activation."

"How short?"

"One step."

He remained silent.

Sylphie narrowed her eyes.

"One."

"I heard you."

"I want to make sure."

"One step."

She seemed satisfied.

Umbra spoke from the shadow near the window.

"I’ll record that."

Kael looked at the floor.

"You don’t need to record everything."

"I learned from the man with the garden bed."

That made Sylphie laugh.

Kael got up and put on his shirt. Simply knowing there was an approximate date for testing the Step slightly improved his mood. Not because he was desperate to return to work, but because his body was finally beginning to catch up with the recovery he had been feeling over the past few days.

Before breakfast, they went down to the garden.

The nameless man was already there.

Kael stopped when he saw him kneeling in front of his own garden bed.

"You got here first."

The man didn’t answer.

He was staring intently at the soil.

Kael approached.

"Is something wrong?"

The man raised one hand and pointed.

A small green structure was breaking through the surface of the soil.

It was so thin that Kael probably would have walked right past it if he hadn’t known exactly where to look.

Sylphie immediately crouched down.

"Don’t touch it."

"I wasn’t going to," the man replied.

"I was talking to Kael."

Kael looked at her.

"Why would I touch it?"

Sylphie didn’t answer.

The man carefully pulled the note sheet from his pocket with almost ceremonial care and wrote down the date.

Then he added:

FIRST SPROUT.

He stared at the words for a few seconds.

"So it worked."

Sylphie smiled.

"One of them did. Now we need to see if it keeps growing."

"Can I add more water?"

"No. The soil is still damp."

He nodded.

Kael crouched on the other side of the garden bed.

"You waited four days."

"Yes."

"That was faster than two weeks."

Sylphie touched his arm.

"I said it could take up to two weeks, not that all of them would."

Kael observed the tiny sprout.

"So now we wait again."

"Yes."

The man smiled.

"I can do that."

Kael realized he believed him.

During breakfast, the sprout became the main topic of conversation.

The man showed the note to Seraphine, then Eleonor, and finally Amelia when she entered the room holding a document.

Amelia read it.

"Congratulations."

"I didn’t make the plant grow," he replied.

"You planted it, checked the soil, and didn’t dig it up to make sure the seed was still there. That helped."

Kael looked at her.

"Why does everyone think I would do that?"

Amelia sat down.

"You would."

"I didn’t."

"That’s progress."

Kael decided he wasn’t going to win that argument.

Amelia poured herself some tea and placed the document beside her plate without pushing it toward Kael.

He noticed.

"Work?"

"Yes."

"Urgent?"

"No."

"Do you need me?"

"Not today."

Kael picked up some bread.

"Then it can wait."

Amelia stared at him long enough for Eleonor to start smiling.

"What?" Kael asked.

"Nothing," Amelia replied.

"That word never means nothing in this house."

"I’m just admiring."

"Don’t."

She started eating.

After a few minutes, Kael asked:

"Is it about Valgrin?"

"Partly. The provisional agreement was accepted. They want to conduct a physical inspection of the complex six days from now."

"Is Elion going?"

"Yes. Irelia too."

"Then it’s settled."

"We also received responses from the other three governments with primary complexes in their territories. Two agreed to immediate audits. One requested documentation before allowing access."

"Reasonable."

Amelia nodded.

"The only more complicated issue is the two complexes in regions without continuous administration. We’ll need to decide who can legitimately negotiate maintenance in those areas."

Kael stopped chewing.

Not because he intended to take over the matter at that moment, but because it was the first issue in several days that required more complex reasoning.

"Are there local communities?"

"In one region, yes. Five small settlements. In the other, almost no one lives there permanently."

"Then don’t treat the absence of a central government as the absence of people."

Amelia smiled.

"That’s exactly what Irelia said."

"Good."

Kael continued eating.

She waited a few seconds.

"That’s all?"

"For now."

Amelia put the document away.

"You really are getting better."

Sylphie pointed at her with her cup.

"I still haven’t cleared him to use the Step."

"I didn’t even mention the Step."

"But you thought about it."

Kael didn’t answer.

Umbra appeared beside the wall.

"He did."

"Betrayal."

After breakfast, Kael returned to the garden to check the other two beds.

No sprouts.

He no longer considered that a problem.

Sylphie brought the watering can, but they both concluded that the soil was still moist enough from the previous day’s rain. Kael took the opportunity to remove two dry leaves that had fallen near the bellflowers and check for signs of birds.

While they worked, Marta appeared on the path holding a folded sheet of paper.

"Sir."

Kael stood.

"Is something wrong?"

"No. The recipe."

She handed him the paper.

Kael opened it.

Marta had written down all the ingredients and quantities, including the small adjustment to the sugar in the filling. At the end, she had added a note:

MORE SOUR PLUMS: INCREASE SUGAR GRADUALLY AND TASTE BEFORE BAKING.

Kael read it twice.

"Thank you."

"If you want to use the kitchen again, just let me know."

"I will."

Marta smiled.

"I thought so."

After she returned to the mansion, Sylphie looked at the recipe.

"Are you going to keep it in your room?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"So I don’t have to ask everything again."

"You could memorize it."

Kael carefully folded the sheet.

"I’d rather have the written version."

"Fair."

The nameless man, who was still near the garden bed, heard the conversation.

"Can I copy it?"

Kael looked at him.

"The recipe?"

"Yes."

"Of course."

"I want one too."

"Then we’ll make a copy later."

The man nodded and returned his attention to the sprout.

Kael realized that almost everything they did together eventually became part of the man’s personal collection.

A book.

A list of experiences.

A note about rain.

A garden bed.

Now a recipe.

They weren’t inherited memories.

No one had placed those things inside his head.

He was accumulating small things he could call his own.

In the middle of the morning, Kael decided to take a longer walk.

Not outside the estate.

Just around the mansion’s outer grounds.

Sylphie agreed as long as he didn’t turn the walk into an endurance test. Umbra decided to accompany them, although she spent most of the time appearing between the shadows of the trees.

Kael started at the southern garden, followed the wall, passed the storage buildings, and circled around the training courtyard until they reached the northern wing.

His body responded well.

His ankle didn’t bother him.

His shoulder loosened after the first few minutes.

His breathing remained steady.

After almost forty minutes, Kael stopped near a small stone bridge over an irrigation channel.

Sylphie approached.

"Tired?"

"No."

"Pain?"

"No."

She touched his chest through his shirt.

"Mana?"

"I didn’t use any."

"I know. I want to check anyway."

Her natural flow moved through his channels.

Kael waited.

Sylphie finished and smiled.

"It’s almost normal."

"Almost."

"Don’t make that face."

"What face?"

"The one that says ’almost’ means you can test it now."

Kael looked toward the bridge.

"I wasn’t going to."

Umbra appeared on top of the railing.

"He was going to ask."

"Asking isn’t doing."

Sylphie crossed her arms.

"Two days."

Kael took a deep breath.

"Two days."

"Then one step."

"One."

"No crossing half the estate."

"That would be more than one."

"I know you."

Kael accepted it.

They continued walking.

At lunch, Seraphine appeared with the travel book tucked under her arm.

"I finished it."

Kael looked at the book.

"Already?"

"I read quite a lot yesterday while you were in the kitchen."

"Did you like it?"

"Very much."

She placed the book on the table.

"The author spends very little time talking about governments, wars, or major events. Almost all of it is about how people live. What they eat. How they build houses. How they solve small problems."

Kael understood why that interested her.

"And?"

"I want to read more things like this."

"We can go back to the bookstore."

Seraphine smiled.

"I’d like that."

The nameless man appeared right behind her.

"Me too."

"Did you finish the animal book?"

"No."

"Then why do you want to go back?"

He thought about it.

"Because I don’t have to finish this one before buying another."

Kael fell silent for a moment.

"Correct."

Seraphine laughed.

Sylphie sat beside Kael.

"We can go tomorrow."

Kael looked at her.

"Didn’t you have seeds to buy?"

"Maybe."

"That means yes."

"Probably."

"Then let’s go."

They didn’t need to organize anything beyond that.

Late in the afternoon, Kael took the recipe to his room and placed it in a small drawer where he normally kept smaller maps, personal documents, and important notes.

He stopped before closing it.

The sheet looked strange there.

Beside it were information about routes, people’s names, old records, and two letters he still needed to answer.

Kael took the recipe back out.

Sylphie, who was folding clothes near the bed, watched him.

"Changed your mind?"

"No."

He took an empty book from a small shelf. It was a simple notebook he had received months earlier and never used. He opened it to the first page and placed the recipe there.

"Better."

"Are you going to make a recipe book?"

"I don’t know."

"That looks like a beginning."

Kael looked at the page.

Then wrote at the top:

PLUM TART.

Below it, he added:

FIRST ATTEMPT: GOOD.

Sylphie walked over and read it.

"That’s all?"

"For now."

"You should write down that one of the strips was crooked."

Kael closed the notebook.

"That’s not relevant."

"I thought it was."

"Make your own notebook."

She laughed and kissed his cheek before returning to the clothes.

Kael placed the notebook on the shelf.

Not with the reports.

Not with the investigations.

On an empty shelf.

There was still room for many more pages.

The next morning, he would go into the city.

Then he would check the garden beds.

In two days, if Sylphie agreed, he would test a single Celestial Step.

And, for the first time since he had begun resting, using his power again didn’t feel like the end of that break.

It simply felt like one more thing he could do when he was ready.