Chapter 162 - 163
Once inside his cabin, Alistar and Emely sat around the dining table as Mr. Herst prepared some blueberry tea. A short while later, he placed three wooden cups atop the table and motioned toward Alistar with a smile.
"If you would, Alistar."
Understanding his intentions, Alistar lowered the temperature of the drinks so that they were cold enough to warrant drinking on such a hot summer’s day. After he did so, he summoned a light breeze with the basic wind magic that he had learned from the book that Lessa had lent him back when he’d bumped into her at the collegia’s library a long while back.
"Why did we have to come inside?" asked Emely, who was sweating quite profusely after sitting in the stuffy room for several minutes. "Ah, Alistar, could you make the wind a bit stronger?"
He did so with a nod, wondering why Mr. Herst didn’t look the least bit bothered by the fact that a large snake was casually resting atop Emely’s shoulders. Alistar, for one, was quite restless.
"I’m quite curious, lass. How long have you been able to communicate with animals?"
"Since as long as I can remember."
"I see. And what about plants? Can you feel their emotions yet?"
Emotions? Of plants? Alistar contained his confusion and waited patiently for the conversation to play out.
"Um...how did you know about that? The others poke fun at me enough as it is, so I haven’t talked to anyone about it."
"As I suspected." Resting his arms on the table as he cradled his cup, Mr. Herst stared at the little black swirls that decorated his arms, something he only did when he was lost in thought. "There are people in this world who are born with special constitutions which allow them do to things that ordinary people could never dream of. One of these is known as the nature’s blessing, and people born with this trait possess a natural affinity for all things living, sentient or otherwise."