Chapter 169: Trampoline!
Alyssa fell down a great height of 12 inches, rolling on the ground to offset her momentum as she looked backwards to the giant monster behind her.
Her jump had worked, the potion bottle tipping onto Aaron as the liquid splashed on his face, some of it entering his parted lips while some rolling over his other bruises before falling onto the ground.
The potion’s purity was proved easily as the drops fell onto the ground, filling the floor with vitality that was absorbed by the nearby grass and plantation.
New blades of grass sprouted out of the ground, and those that were already there began to get taller and softer, cushioning Aaron’s laying ground as he sighed softly in pain.
Although barely a few sips had gone into his mouth, he could already feel the miracle happening, his blood rushing faster and his wounds clotting visibly.
The pain was too great to offset by merely a couple sips, but it was a good start.
"Can you feed... me more?" he asked softly, moving his eyeballs to gaze at the small mushfolk that was watching him curiously.
She registered his question in her small brain, humming softly as she tapped her chin.
The bottle was too heavy for her to pick so that method was a no go, but there was an idea she had which might work.
"Maybe a little." Alyssa nodded after a few moments of planning, walking closer to his body with a graceful walk.
She didn’t rush to climb him instantly, but instead walked towards the bottle’s cap, picking it up and then moving towards him.
With a swing, she tossed the cap on his chest and then grabbed onto his hands, climbing to his chest and picking up the tossed cap.
Aaron could only watch her with faint amusement, seeing how she dragged the glass cap to his face, stepping on his cheeks as if it was just a soft ground instead of his face.
Once she placed it under the bottle’s mouth like a little child placing her cup under the tap, she nodded in satisfaction.
Then she bent her knees slightly, squatting onto Aaron’s cheek before jumping with as much force she could muster.
Her hands grabbed onto the bottle’s mouth before the gravity did its wonder, pulling her back down onto the floor, but due to her holding onto the bottle, it got tilted alongside.
More liquid came pouring out, most of it splashing onto her tiny body, soaking her mushroom skin and clothes before sliding down and spilling onto Aaron’s cheek.
But her efforts weren’t for nothing as although most of the liquid was spilled, some of it also landed into the cap she had placed below, filling it up slightly.
Alyssa released her grip from the bottle, gracefully falling back onto Aaron’s cheek with a small bounce, giggling softly as the skin made her bounce a couple times like a budget trampoline.
Aaron watched the scene with a twitching eyebrow feeling as if he wasn’t watching a noble woman on her way to become the leader of a tribe but a little teenage girl who was allowed out of her home for the first time in her life.
’It’s cute though.’ He thought in his mind, chuckling while Alyssa dragged the bottle’s cap closer to Aaron’s lips.
But more mysteriously, right in front of his eyes, Alyssa was growing slowly, her skin becoming whiter and cleaner while her height and frame increased too slowly for her to notice.
Not only that, her clothes grew to match her change, becoming brighter and prettier with each step.
’What...?’ his brain gears churned, trying to find what may be the reason for such an abnormal growth.
It was like watching a newborn slowly grow up into a 2 year old in a few seconds.
They won’t notice the change, but for the viewer, it was nothing less than a freakish sight.
But then he remembered how the grass under his body had grown due to a few splashes from the potion.
And while Alyssa was no plant, there was nothing else that could explain the current scene.
Aaron parted his lips open as Alyssa neared his mouth, choosing to drop this matter for some other time as he was feeling too weak and drained to care about her growth spurts right now.
Alyssa didn’t dilly-dally either, as the moment she reached his mouth, she tipped the contents of the cap directly down his throat, watching as he gulped the liquid hungrily.
A bob was noticed on his throat, the liquid moving into his stomach before dissolving into pure and holy energy which merged into his blood, flowing throughout and healing what it can.
The pain began to subside slightly and the numbness reduced.
Finally he could feel a little control over his body, making him clench his fist as a test.
And although his muscles groaned in pain and protest, Aaron paid them no regard, slowly raising his hand and trying to hold the tilted half filled glass bottle.
"Thank you, Alyssa." he breathed out, his raspy and drained voice booming into Alyssa’s ears.
She blinked, touching her mushroom cap and adjusting it as she smiled widely, "It’s okay!"
Seeing her infectious and innocent smile, Aaron couldn’t help but smile as well, gently telling her to move off his face so he could drink the potion.
Alyssa quickly jumped off his cheeks, slightly disappointed about losing her trampoline but knowing that he was in too much pain to indulge her playful wishes.
Instead, she began to run over his chest, her feet pressing onto his muscles only to get disappointed greatly.
They weren’t as soft and bouncy as his cheeks.
But before she could worry too much about his skin’s elasticity, the world under her began to shake, making her yelp and drop to the ground, clutching onto his shirt for her dear life.
Aaron was on the move, toughening through the agony and grabbing the glass bottle firmly before bringing it to his lips.
He tilted it upside down with no hesitation, gulping down the contents with a few sips as if he was in a beer chugging competition.
Alyssa watched in fascination how his wounds and injuries began to heal, the cuts slowly closing up.
His skin which appeared sickly pale slowly regained its life, making him gasp and fall back onto the ground, utterly spent.
He could hear faint murmurs coming from his left shoulder where the stealth elder was supposed to be, but he chose to worry about her later as he closed his eyes in exhaustion.
For the first time in the last many hours he felt at ease and not worried or in pain.
"Alyssa, wake me up in an hour." he whispered softly, taking deep breaths that caused his chest to rise and fall greatly.
No longer clutching onto his shirt for her dear life, Alyssa slowly stood back on his chest, feeling excited how she felt the ground under her rose and fall.
"Okay!" She chirped.
Aaron laughed in his mind before his consciousness was devoured by the darkness, dragging him into the dreamland against his wish...
***
He woke up feeling a strange prickle on his cheek.
It was coming from the right cheek, as if something heavy was digging into it for one moment before disappearing.
And just before he could ignore it and go back to sleep, the pricking sensation returned.
It kept happening on a loop until Aaron grunted and turned around, causing the sensation to disappear.
But he was given only a minute or two of reprieve before the pricking sensation returned, pissing him off.
His first instinct was to slap his own cheek, intending to kill any mosquito or bug that may be irritating him, but the moment that thought took root in his mind, he sighed deeply in vexation.
"Stop it Alyssa..." he said, sounding like a middle aged man who was getting irritated by his infant daughter.
"Hehehe, sir Aaron told me to wake him up~"
Her joyous and soft giggle entered his ear, making him chuckle softly and open his eyes, seeing the mushfolk princess jumping on his cheek.
He still felt exhausted and weak, but it wasn’t to the point that he felt like collapsing.
But he did grab Alyssa and placed her down on the ground, not wanting to give her free reign over her cheek lest she turns it into her personal playground.
She pouted, her mushroom cap shaking in disappointment, "Is that how you treat your savior, monster?" she said in a judgemental tone.
"No, that’s how I treat brats." Aaron chuckled and tapped on her cap, making her stumble backwards and fall down on her butt while holding onto her cap with a wronged expression on her tiny face.
"That’s so rude!" she yelled in her squeaky voice.
"And it wasn’t rude to jump on my face?" He asked in amusement.
"..." Alyssa blinked, crossing her arms over her chest, "It’s different."
"Yea yea, sure."
Aaron looked around himself, seeing the strewn corpses of nightcrawlers.
’Time for a bountiful harvest~’