Chapter 294: Family Reunions
Ewan watched with fascination as the former captives returned home - or, at least, to the new homes that had been made for them.
While their old home remained a burned-out husk, the new was anything but, though it was true that it was just as flammable. Ewan and the rest stood outside of a tower formed of a massive, hollowed-out tree. It didn’t make any sense that it had been grown and carved out in the short time since Ewan had looked over the area last, but he was beginning to think that nothing would truly ever make sense when it came to the strange little snake that had upended Erandur.
In a single day alone, he’d seen more impossibilities than most people saw in their entire lifetimes
He’d felt those impossibilities; they’d carved their way into his bones and reforged his flesh, turning him into something beyond normal humanity. Painful as it had been, Ewan didn’t regret it. He could still feel the power coursing through him, a comforting warmth that promised to return him from near any wound that he could suffer.
It was an easy trade.
The [Little Guardian’s Totem] warmed against his chest, a memento of the null-water baptism that they’d all undergone together. He found himself absentmindedly reaching for it, pulling it out and letting the wooden snake slither between his fingers. Its healing wasn’t quite as necessary as before; before, Ewan had been entirely dependent on it to recover from injury.
Now, the warmth spreading through his body promised that he could manage some of that load himself. It wasn’t quite the same as the power of the [Little Guardian’s Totem]. It was weaker, less focused - but it was there.
A mana-enhancement of his own, one that - despite being weaker than the triple-strength [Little Guardian’s Totem] - was significantly stronger than the only healing mana-enhancement that Ewan had ever heard of. That one replenished health and stamina through the slow devouring of one’s own self, requiring endless amounts of food and energy to power.
This one was something different entirely. What Ewan felt now was closer to another version of the [Little Guardian’s Totem] than the health-and-stamina enhancement that he’d heard of.