Half an hour later,
"Hey, wake up, you dummy!" An irritated voice boomed in Damien's head like an explosion.
Damien got startled as he sat up on the bed, bleary-eyed.
"Damn...can you not try to kill me with your childish voice?" Damien asked with a grumpy expression.
"Hmph, who asked this goddess to wake you up? You should think twice the next time you want me to wake you up." Luna said with a sinister smile on her face.
'Ugh...this little imp. One day I will surely teach her a lesson...But I feel like sleeping again. Sigh...can't keep Lily waiting.'
Even though Damien was wide awake for a moment due to Luna's bellowing, he was still feeling tired since he couldn't fully recover his soul energy and heal his internal injuries within just half an hour.
Damien got off from his bed languidly and changed his clothes after taking a quick bath.
——
In Lily's inner courtyard,
"Ha...ha…." Damien was panting as he had to rush towards the inner courtyard since he thought it was a bit late already. He didn't want Lily coming over or sending someone to check on him.
Lily was wearing her usual training skirt and top with her silky black hair tied into a ponytail.
She had arrived a few minutes early before the specified time set for the training session.
Damien was already five minutes late but, Lily didn't mind waiting. She thought that Damien must have been held up with something since he was on time for the previous training session.
But she was surprised when she saw Damien coming in a rushed manner with his face looking a bit pale.
Lily asked with a hint of concern, "Damien, are you fine? Your face looks a bit pale. Maybe you should take some rest, and we can continue tomorrow. I am fine with canceling today's session."
Damien shook his head, "I am fine. It's just I didn't sleep yesterday night properly, haha. You know, nightmares can be pretty scary. And it would be wrong not to keep my end of the deal."
Lily's eyes squinted as she remembered how Damien had a nightmare in the carriage when she was taking him to the palace.
'What did he experience to have such nightmares? I wish I could help him...but...how?' Lily was inwardly worried seeing Damien's state.
Lily wanted to use her spiritual perception to inspect Damien to check whether he is fine. But she thought it would be rude to inspect him without his permission.
"Here, take this pill." Lily handed out a light green pill to Damien. "This will help you soothe and relax your mind."
'That's a Soul Revitalizing Pill!' Damien was inwardly surprised when Lily took out a Low-Grade Rank 3 Pill without any hesitation.
There was a huge difference in rarity and price between each rank for a pill in this world. And the difference only increases as the rank increases.
Every pill ranks were further categorized into four; Low-Grade Rank 1 Pill, Medium Grade Rank 1 Pill, High-Grade Rank 1 Pill, Peak Grade Rank 1 Pill. These categories were to signify the rarity of the pills within each rank.
In general, Common Grade herbs were used to concoct pills ranking from 1 to 2. Earth Grade herbs were used to concoct pills ranking from 3 to 4. And Sky Grade herbs were used to concoct pills ranking from 5 to 6.
The medicinal resources have their own subcategories, too; Low-Level Common Grade herbs, Medium Level Common Grade herbs, High-Level Common Grade herbs, and Peak Level Common Grade herbs.
For instance, Low to Medium Level Common Grade herbs can be used to concoct a Rank 1 Pill, while High to Peak Level Common Grade herbs can be used to concoct a Rank 2 Pill.
The currency in this world followed two systems. One of the currency systems was for commoners who don't cultivate or who don't bother cultivating beyond the Initial Ethereal Realm.
The commoner currency system was based on copper coins, silver coins, and gold coins. A 100 copper coins would amount to 1 silver coin, while a 1000 silver coins would amount to 1 gold coin.
One could use these currencies to buy basic necessities for their daily needs.
The second currency system was mainly for cultivators since it consists of Spirit Stones, which could also act like a cultivation resource.
Spirit Stones originate from naturally formed rocks that absorb the air's pure ethereal energy over a long time.
In this continent, there were three types of Spirit Stones based on the purity of ethereal energy they hold.
The Spirit Stone with the lowest purity is the Green Spirit Stones. Then comes the Yellow Spirit Stones, and above that was the rare Blue Spirit Stone.
Commoners wouldn't even dream of holding even a single Green Spirit Stone due to how valuable it was.
They would need over 100,000 gold coins to exchange for a single Green Spirit Stone.
In general, a single Yellow Spirit Stone is worth over 10,000 Green Spirit Stones. In comparison, a single Blue Spirit Stone is worth over 1,000,000 Yellow Spirit Stones!
Damien didn't even know about Blue Spirit Stones until he read about it from the Rong Empire's library books. That showed how rare a Blue Spirit Stone was since small-sized families like the Ward Family would never even have dealings that involved Blue Spirit Stones.
Only after he read the library books of one of the empires of the continent did he learn a lot of things.
He also learned that Rank 5 Pills were very rare, and Rank 6 Pills were more like a myth, and even if they existed, one could count them on both hands.
Any Pills above Rank 6 were a complete myth, and only theories existed since no one was ever able to concoct a Rank 7 Pill because of the resources and cultivation required to concoct them.
The Soul Revitalizing Pill would rejuvenate one's soul energy completely within a minute and provide a refreshing effect to their mind as long as their soul cultivation is not above the Early Soul Transformation Stage.
When Lily handed him the Soul Revitalizing Pill, based on its color, he instantly recognized it as a Low-Grade Rank 3 Pill!
A Low-Grade Rank 3 Pill would easily sell for one to a hundred Yellow Spirit Stones depending on the demand.
Lily realized that maybe she was too hasty in trying to help him that it seemed like she was favoring him.
Because even she wouldn't casually give away a Peak Grade Rank 2 Pill to her servants, let alone a Low-Grade Rank 3 Pill.
Thankfully there was no one else to witness this, but she was worried if Damien would feel odd about her actions. But now, there was no going back, and she could only try to lessen any suspicions as much as she can.
"No need to refuse since you don't have to owe me. I am doing this for myself. If you are not well, how would you be able to teach me properly? As you said, you should keep up the end of your deal." Lily said, assuming her princess demeanor without leaving any leeway for Damien to refuse.
Damien gave a soft chuckle hearing her insistent tone, but he didn't fail to notice the worry and concern carried in her voice.
He refused before because he didn't want to owe Lily a favor or give her an excuse to request anything from him.
He didn't refuse anymore and took the pill from her hands and gulped it down.
Damien instantly felt his soul energy being replenished at a rapid rate, and within five seconds, his soul energy was completely replenished, and he felt a soothing sensation in his mind.
Even the minor internal injuries he had didn't seem to bother him much anymore.
"Thank you, Lily." Damien smiled.
Lily shook her head and smiled, "There's no need. Now let's start, shall we?"
"Sure. So, today we will work on your timing and reflexes. And there is no better way to improve than to spar with me." Damien said with a playful smile.
Seeing his rascally smile, Lily's eyes fluttered for a moment when she remembered what happened the last time when they sparred.
She realized later that her reactions were very odd and was afraid if Damien would find it strange. Especially the strange feeling she felt when he embraced her made her a little restless.
"Fine. But you shouldn't...play with me like you did the last time." Lily said, trying to avoid Damien's gaze.
Damien chuckled, knowing what she meant by 'playing', "Don't worry, Lily. I will be serious and won't play with you whenever we are sparring."
Lily didn't seem to notice the slight nuances of his wording and inwardly sighed with relief as she smiled, "Okay, Master. Let's begin."
Almost two hours passed when both of them stopped sparring.
Damien was looking a bit exhausted since he was mainly dodging and giving counterattacks to train Lily's reflexes.
Actually, he wasn't exhausted at all, but he had to act the part of a cripple, and it would be extremely suspicious if he didn't show any signs of tiredness.
Damien had to remind Lily again how it was time to wind up the training since she never notices the passing of time whenever she trains, especially if it's swordplay.
"See you tomorrow, Master," Lily said before leaving the inner courtyard.
"Ughhhh..."
But as soon as Lily left, Damien fell to his knees with his hand clutching his chest as his face twisted with pain.
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