The First Legacies Of Zion: Omaye

The Way Of Herbs

ESTHER

Esther could no resist asking Faith some questions of her own. After all she seems to be in a sharing mood.

“So you have us all figured out. You know our future and how we’re all going to be massive failures or already are, and it’s your job to save us.”

Faith raised an eyebrow at Esther as she focused on pouring a little bit of water into the bowl before her.

“That was the plan. To save you people. But things have changed……. or I should say the world changed. Now I don’t have to do that anymore, on earth going from being as dirt poor and shamed as we were to an otherwise better life, even with all of the stellar early education you and Nathaniel had, and I was currently going through, was impossible and a child’s dream.

My destiny was tied to all of you. Saving you was a choice I was forced to make, there was nowhere else for me to go, so the only thing I could do was sit still and make you guys better so that my life would be easier.”

Faith paused and turned her head to look their father in the eye, then she turned and took the reg moss and placed it into the bowl. Then she started stirring it with slow methodical precision. And as she stirred she kept on speaking.

“Now Zion has offered me a chance to make my own path, to find my own future. I’m no longer forced to save you, because now I’m not tied to you anymore. This world has endless potential, and Nathaniel's idea of selling drugs is a prime example. There can be a place for me here, a place without any connection to my broken family.

But I also realize that now I can make the choice to save you guys from yourself. Now its not as if I have no choice, for the first time in my life I get to choose and not be a victim of circumstances or bad luck. This time I choose to save you guys, then if I still want, I can pack my bags and be Gone with the Wind. At least that way I can say I have done my part and pitched in. Whatever happens next is not my business.”

She stopped stirring the moss, turning the water within into a soft green color, then she pulled out a white piece of cloth, and dipped it into the moss water, then she slowly cleaned their father’s wound, using soft strokes and swipes to not cause him any pain or discomfort.

“I’m not looking for any of your approval, but we’re descended from the great Attah’s of Igala. Ours is a noble blood, even if we’re now a bunch of data traveling at light speeds through a server, it doesn’t change who we are. We understand duty, honor and tradition, just like our father said It is our way.

I will keep to the values our ancestors believed in, even though culture has all but disappeared in the modern world, our family has stuck and believed in it. Honor to your father and mother, no matter how messed up they are, they gave you life, so you will continue to honor them for it. And respect your elders……. let’s get on thing straight Esther, I don’t respect you. Tradition or not there’s also reasons it why it has become obsolete, some rules just don’t stick well with me.

To be honest you and Nathaniel disgust me. My respect for you is that I don’t call you out when you do wrong and I try to stay out of both your ways as much as possible. Culture and tradition or not, the both of you are not worth my respect, and I don’t think you will ever be.”

Faith certainly had a lot she wanted to get off her chest, and it seemed she did. Esther and their father were silent the entire time. And when she was done, none of them had anything to say so they all lapsed into an awkward silence, and watched Faith as she worked.

After she had cleaned the wound, she poured the disinfectant water away, and then placed the reg grass into the bowl. Then she proceeded to mash it into a red paste with a rock she got from who knows where. She spent fifteen good minutes on it, before she decided it was pulpy enough. Then she looked up at Esther and said to her.

“You can stop healing him now. I got it from here.”

Esther was a little apprehensive about stopping, but a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. It was time she gave this b***h of a sister the benefit of the doubt and trust her enough to save their father. As soon as Esther raised her hand up she let out a soft gasp as a system alert showed up in front of her.

SYSTEM ALERT: SKILLS

[The Skill Heal Has Leveled Up To Level Three, The Skill Nurse Is Now Level Two]

[You Have Unlocked The Hidden Skill Endurance.]

[ENDURANCE: LEVEL 1: PASSIVE (GENERAL): All Stats Increase By 20% For 10 Seconds When Health And Energy Levels Reach Critical Or 1%]

It was as the system prompt showed up that Esther realized that there was a different way she could have gone about this. She made the most unexpected mistake, most people would expect others to treat Zion as to much of a game and ignore the realistic part of it. However, Esther was so ingrained in the reality of Zion, not to mention she was so afraid that she had forgotten she had other skills that could have helped.

Her skill [BLESS] increased her allies’ stats by 5% for one hundred seconds, she might have been able to boost her father’s natural recovery that way, and she could have also used her other skill [PRAY] and increased the effects of her spells for 30 seconds. Things would have been a while different than now. But for now until she recovers her energy all she could do was watch faith and assist where she could.

Faith carried a handful of the red goop that used to be the reg grass and smeared it all over their father’s wound. He hissed in pain, but it seemed like it was a little sting since he did not scream too loud. It was obvious he was in pain, but he was holding up nicely.

“The raw form of the reg grass can’t render much help, but it can do what you do with your healing spell for a much longer time, though at a slower pace. If we depend on just the reg grass he should be completely healed without a scar in about two weeks. But we don’t have time, so you would have to use the heals at intervals. We will have to change the reg paste and disinfect the wound again every six hours. So I guess all we can do is pray and play the waiting game.”

Faiths explanation of the whole situation was confusing to Esther, because she was rather surprised by how much Faith had learnt in the short time they have been in Zion.

“How do you know all this?” their father asked, saving Esther from having to be the one to ask the questions.

Faith busied her self by cleaning the tools she just used, and covering the spot where their father had bled on the ground with dead leaves, dirt and other herbs. They couldn’t move him yet so the area around him looked really messy. It was obvious she was doing this to mask the scent of blood. It was part of the lesson their father had taught them during their trek through the forest. Faith seemed incredibly good with multitasking, choosing to speak while her hands moved around doing other stuff.

“My class instructor is a little different from others. After she taught me about the most basic way of identifying poisonous mushrooms from edible ones, she had me memorize a few basic knowledge about herbs, then she focused on teaching me about healing herbs, where they grow, their effects and the best way to maximize their abilities. She also taught me how to grow them, and how to use and apply them in an emergency situation. Orun is a pioneering town, and there are many unknown dangers around the town. Health care just seemed the most important thing to learn before branching out. It seems she was right.”

Esther would not say it, but she was impressed, the efficiency and speed with which Faith absorbed knowledge was envious, and she knew how to apply what she learnt in the best possible way. Faith was a genius in her own right, so maybe it was the price of that intelligence that made her act like she had a ten-foot pole stuck in her ass.

“But are herbalist doctors, it seems as if the class was tailored for healing like a cleric.” Esther asked.

Faith was a little surprised when Esther talked to her. Esther could see it in the way she raised her eyebrow and tilted her head. But Esther didn’t care, asking her was not supposed to mean anything, she was just asking for information.

“Yes herbalist are doctors. But there are also farmers. The class advancement options for Herbalists include, witch doctors, poison maester, apothecary. Witch doctors are a balanced class that deal with both the healing, defense, and attacking properties of herbs. They use a touch of mysticism to work. Poison maesters are very proficient in using and making poison from herbs. While apothecaries are just the opposite, they make elixirs from herbs, just like alchemist, but more natural.”

Esther nodded her head after Faith finished speaking. Faith seemed to always be a treasure trove of knowledge it was hard to imagine she was only fourteen. But what will be will be. Esther now had to come into acceptance of a lot of things, but most of all she needed to change. However, what the end result of her change might be, was something even she did not know. It could be something good, or something very bad.

>>>>

SOMEWHERE IN THE FOREST

A lot of people know that blood carry a scent, but they did not know how intoxicating it was to the person who perceived it. Especially when that blood was human blood, and the perceiver, a very hungry and recently awakened 400-year-old vampire.

He could feel the scent of the blood from a mile away, his underground castle did nothing to prevent the smell of blood from seeping through the earth, and into his dedicated nostrils. He felt his mouth water, and he felt his body tingle with anticipation. s****l urges that always seemed to accompany his taste for blood came awake as his dried body strove for excitement.

He couldn’t tell what sort of human it was yet, but it was bleeding a lot. And come sundown, if hopefully it was still alive, it would bleed some more. Now all that was left to do, was to play the waiting game.