Chapter 390: So you are too
After dealing with the Awakened Ones, Arabel ignored their stares and focused on her recovery.
She could feel the wounds on her body starting to heal, and she admired her Dark Phoenix bloodline even more.
Her left arm, which had previously caused her only pain, was already starting to return to normal.
After opening the "Trade" functions, she did not hesitate to buy a Rank 4 recovery pill for 1,000 System Points and immediately swallowed it.
She only took a cursory glance at the number of remaining System Points and sighed.
Arabel remembered that the last time she bought a lollipop for Coco for 50 System Points, they had 31641. Now, after she purchased the pill for 1,000, their number had decreased to 28,141.
"I wonder what Dan bought for 2,500 System Points?" she asked herself.
The effects of the pill combined with the rapid regeneration of the Dark Phoenix bloodline immediately made themselves felt, and Arabel finally felt relieved.
"No matter how great this pill and regeneration is, I still need time," she whispered.
Arabel sat on the sidelines and closed her eyes, focusing on her recovery. She wanted to regain some of her power as quickly as possible so that she could help Idan if necessary.
Arabel still hadn’t given up on the idea of going to the eastern portal and checking if it was still open, but she knew it wasn’t worth the risk in her current state.
Arabel suddenly felt an unread message notification from the Lovers’ Plate.
"Belle?" came Idan’s voice, and before she could open her eyes and check the message.
"Dan?" she asked, abruptly raising her head and looking for him with her eyes.
"Phew..." she heard a sigh of relief coming from Idan.
"How are you? Everything is fine? And what happened? How did you get so many wounds?" asked Idan after sighing with relief.
Arabel smiled, feeling warmth spread in her heart from his concern.
"I ran into a Diamond—ranked creature," she confessed honestly.
Instead of reproaching her for not asking him for help, she heard another sigh.
"So you are too," Idan said softly.
"Huh?" — Arabel didn’t understand right away, but then her eyes widened. "Don’t tell me you’ve also encountered a Diamond-ranked creature?"
"Yes," Idan replied. "I’m fine, there’s no need to worry..."
However, Arabel was seriously worried when she heard these words. All this time, until recently, she had been using their unique "Exchange of Stats" ability, and Idan was consequently weakened.
Arabel had seen firsthand how dangerous real diamond-ranked creatures could be, and she knew for sure that in this state, Idan would not be able to resist them.
"System, System, — Arabel called, ignoring Idan’s words. Because of her anxiety, she only focused on one thing.
"Is Dan okay, right? Is he
lying on me?" she asked the System.[Host, you can rest assured, your partner is fine.]
It was only after hearing these words from the System that Arabel felt relieved and was able to calm down.
"Belle?" called Idan, noticing that Arabel wasn’t listening to him.
"Huh? Yes," she finally replied.
"You weren’t listening to me, were you?" he asked.
Unlike Arabel, Idan could see her because of his Soul Force.
Just as he was finishing his conversation with Tamisra, his stats recovered, making it clear that Arabel had finished using the unique "Exchange of Stats" ability.
Idan wasted no time in finding out what had made Arabel use this ability for so long and how her actions to free the other awakened ones had ended. At the same time, he wanted to share with Arabel what he had achieved during his conversation with Tamisra.
Not waiting for Arabel to write to him through the Lovers’ Plate, Idan decided to take the initiative and sent her a message.
Only later, when he looked into the second level of the spatial storage, did he see that Arabel was there, tired and with numerous wounds. Idan also did not ignore the awakened ones who lay not far from her, and the new awakened ones who appeared inside the storage.
Noticing that Arabel had lapsed into silence, Idan, guessing her thoughts, decided to share what he had achieved.
"Belle, I’ve encountered another Diamond—ranked creature," he began. "And instead of fighting her, I made a deal with her."
"What?" — Arabel was surprised, remembering Erza and the very woman she had recently fought with. It was hard for her to believe that Idan could come to terms with such powerful beings.
However, her surprise did not last long. She realized that Idan’s mind was more flexible than her own. When she thought about it, she realized that making a deal with such creatures by Idan no longer seemed impossible to her.
"Thanks to the deal, I found out that..." Idan wasted no time in sharing with Arabel all the information he had received from Tamisra. He told her about the Queen’s appearance at the Northern Portal, about the five faction leaders, and that Erza herself was waiting for them at the western portal.
"Dan, — Arabel interrupted Idan, and then asked anxiously: "Since the Queen is in the north, what about Ned?"
Idan fell silent, and Arabel didn’t like the silence. Her anxiety only increased.
Then Idan sighed and decided to be honest.:
"Belle, I’ve lost touch with Ned again, and I do not know what is happening in the North."
Arabel was at a loss for what to say. She understood how close the two of them were. Although Ned was very strange, he did a lot of good things for both of them. Therefore, knowing that he was in danger, Arabel couldn’t help but worry about him.
"It seems they’ve already found a way to resist us, — Idan suggested. "I feel like Ned is still alive, and even though I’m very worried about him, I also believe him."
Arabel realized that things were not going as planned.
After a short pause, Idan continued. He also said that Tamisra had given her word that neither she nor her faction would interfere in what was happening.
"Are you sure she didn’t lie to you?" Arabel asked with some doubt after listening to Idan.
"Don’t worry, I made a Soul Contract with her, and one of the conditions on her part was that she must not provide false information," Idan reassured her.
"Is that what he bought for 2,500 System Points?" — Arabel thought.
"And what did she demand of you?" asked Arabel. "You just told me about what you got from her. Since it’s a deal, she should have made some demands. So what did she want?"