Chapter 136: Cleo's constitution (2)

A slight nod of both the father and the daughter's heads served for a quick answer.

"Her body… Her constitution is a faulty combination of both Draconis and Phoenixian arcana."

Shifting the citation in front of him a bit, Fen removed all the added parts of the bowl, allowing the fire that filled the former upper part of the item to overflow on the table. Sucking it back into his own body before it could actually ignite the wood of the furniture, Fen looked at Cleo with pity in his eyes.

"Your body automatically strives to collect all the flames it has into its broken core. That only makes your body absorb more and more flames over the time… Yet, those flames also are condensed into your core. As human cannot have two kinds of flames at the same time inside them, as the difference between your core and the free flames that are attempting to follow the Phoenixian way increases, you are starting to feel its effects."

Removing all of the flames used in his presentation with just a swipe of his hand Fen cupped his hands together in a moment of rest. The truth that he was about to unravel for them wasn't something that he could show without with his presentation without breaking the duo's spirits, and if they wanted to have any hope at ever turning Cleo into a healthy person, the will to fight for it was the very basic element of the puzzle.

"Normally, when Phoenixian grows, his body uses a part of his flames to increase its capacity or resistance to its own flames. Yet, this isn't the case for you."

After a moment of hesitation, Fen finally raised his eyes at Cleo's faces, observing the changes in her eyes as he started the bad part of the explanation.

"When you were treated with the petal, the sudden burst of energy that entered your body allowed it to regenerate itself back to match the level of power your core has. You could say, that you managed to reach the equilibrium. Yet, doing that didn't fix the reason why you fell ill. In other words, unless you will be able to be constantly fed with excess energy - something that I'm quite positive that would be insanely expensive for a normal person - then the treatment that you received will be nothing more but a trade of extremely expensive item that if not for my extremely special circumstances, I would rather die than successfully obtain, for a little bit of time free of the pain that I can only imagine you had to suffer through your entire life."

Finishing the tirade, Fen leaned back and rested his spine on the backrest of his chair. If the silence right after he attempted to claim the ownership of the girl was tense, then he would have no idea how he should call the perfectly still moment of the present.

"Since you said all of that… Since you said you want her… Do you have any way to save my daughter?"

Looking up at the mercenary's face, Fen couldn't help but admire the fact that instead of giving up in face of those extreme circumstances, the mercenary actually pushed all of his energy into a determination. From the look in his eyes, it was clear that he was willing to go for any lengths that he would ever deem necessary to save his family. 

"Obviously, entering the academy is the best choice. While I have no idea how much they will be able to help her, once she will be a proper student, the true scholars and great arcanist of that place would be more likely to pay her any attention. After all, I'm nothing but a simple student right now."

Spreading his arms to the sides, Fen pointed out the most obvious response.

"As for what I said earlier… I do not believe her constitution to be a curse, but a great opportunity. As long as she will be able to stabilise her situation, she might be able to reach heights greater than anyone before her. That means, it's all about whether you will be able to hold on until we will find a way to stabilise your constitution."

Moving his sight back to the girl, Fen made sure that she understood what he meant by looking her deeply in the eyes. It was also at this moment when his eyes unconsciously moved through the deliciously looking curves of the girl that were barely covered by her upper clothing loosely hanging from her shoulders when a realisation struck the young arcanist mind.

"Additionally, if I'm not wrong, there is a small chance that I might be able to temporarily lessen her burden whenever it arises by sleeping with her. It's nothing that I can say for sure as I can't predict how someone with your constitution will react, but its always something that we could try if you really turn desperate."

Unable to keep his eyes on Cleo's face as he spoke those words, Fen moved his eyes to the mercenary's face. Expecting to see signs of wrath in there, the young man was surprised to notice that this burly man started to rub his chin instead, moving his eyes between his daughter and her saviour.

"If that's the case…"

Rather than the mercenary, it was Cleo who was the first one to answer. Cutting her sentence as she pulled up her outer cloth once again which resulted in her mouth getting covered, she started moving toward the man that not only provided an item that prolonged her time but also gave her hope that she might get healed in some foreseeable future.

Finally noticing all the good parts of this girl, Fen couldn't help but consider this opportunity. While sleeping with someone wasn't necessary for him to be happy and fulfilled, being able to release his lust or even cuddle to someone at night was one of the greatest parts about being a young adult.

Yet, after the betrayal of Arla, even just the perspective of opening up to someone enough to make the intercourse truly enjoyable was out of the question.

"It's not the case."

While his eyes registered every tiniest detail that there was to remember about the parts of her body that Cleo already showed to him, rather than allowing her to keep stripping her clothes away, Fen simply stood up from his chair and walked around it, putting it between the two of them.

"So far, you should be stable due to the treatment. Frankly speaking, I have no idea how long it will last. It might be an hour, it might be a week, or it might turn out to be enough for the rest of your life. What I told you today, is just what I believe to have seen in you. Now, back to the main topic that was the reason why we all came here today."

Forcibly pushing the topic of sleeping with Cleo away, Fen turned his sight to her father.

"Do I need to recall the details of our deal out loud, or did you came up with a way to solve it already?"

There was no point in bringing up the way in which everyone in this room ended up in this room. While his attitude of not holding back at all when it came to saving his daughter was something truly admirable, Fen could tell that he wasn't all that eager to fill his daughter in the details of the things and acts he committed in order to save her.

"There is no need. I mostly wanted to learn whether you have any place that you picked or if I should look for it myself."

Most likely understanding my intentions, the mercenary thanked me with a slight nod of his head before pushing forward with the topic. To his regret though, his daughter was just as intelligent if not even more than him, quickly catching up on the intricacies of the topic.

"Excuse me, but could you tell me what you guys are speaking about?"

Moving her eyes between the young man and her father, Cleo showed the perfect picture of how one's should put their facial muscles around their face to express the utmost curiosity.

"We are speaking about the reward for the quest. This young man here used to rent this place for a good price for me, but with how I expected you to be fully healed by now, I wanted to let you live in the place where you grew up again. That's why it was decided that I would either buy him a house at least as good as this one or just pay for the one that he would choose by himself."

Cleo's face continued to change as she listened to her father's response. There was some anger, disappointment, surprise and happiness all mixing in her expression as if she wasn't cable to decide how to interpret those sentences. Only when all those emotions were swept aside by the determination did her body follow her thoughts.

Moving a few steps forward without even bothering to pick up her outer clothing once again, she suddenly sad down right on Fen's lap, grinding her soft ass deeply towards his crotch.

"If there is a huge chance that sooner or later I will have to ask him to… save me once again, then we could start living together right away. Wouldn't that be a better way to solve the problem? What's more…"

Turning herself around to sit sideways on Fen's lap, Cleo unknowingly forced more and more blood to flow down the young man hips when the soft flesh of her regretfully covered thighs and ass rubbed against Fen's clothes. With her body now parallel to Fen's chest, she rested her head on the young man's shoulder before whispering to his ear.

"This way, I will be able to repay you for your help myself."