Bookbound Bunny

B2 - Chapter 59 - Sleepy Consequences

Lotte was slightly concerned as Lily hadn't shown up for breakfast this morning. They'd met up every single day since becoming friends, and she knew that the bunny stuck to a routine like clockwork. Yet no matter how long she waited, there was no sign of her friend.

Did she decide to sleep in? Or did she get absorbed in her practice? Lotte wondered to herself. Or maybe her sister decided to take her somewhere?

Lotte wasn't sure, as Lily wouldn't typically forget to inform one of them if she was busy or had something else planned. Even Hana, who was up at the crack of dawn, hadn't seen hide nor hair of her.

This usually wouldn't have been such a big deal, but during breakfast, a group of Maranix students approached Lotte to inform her that there would be a small meeting for all the first-year students. Although attendance wasn't mandatory, they emphasized that it would be worthwhile for their upcoming test.

I'd better try to find her. Hopefully, she's just in her room.

Lotte approached the door and knocked; there was no response. She frowned and knocked again, this time calling out. "Lily, you there?"

Still, there was no response. Lotte tried the handle, and to her surprise and fortune, the door wasn't locked; she twisted it gently and cautiously opened the door.

"Lily?" she whispered, peering into the room.

The room was dark, with the smell of long-burnt candles. The curtains were also drawn, allowing almost no light to enter the room except through the door Lotte had just opened.

Looking inside, Lotte found Lily slumped over her writing desk, with loose pages strewn about the entire room. Arakil, her book Familiar, was currently pinned under her arms while she quietly drooled on it.

She must have stayed up all night.

Lotte picked up one of the pages from the floor, seeing a strange glyph drawn upon it. She picked up another and saw the same drawing, and soon found that no matter how many pages she picked up, it was all of the same glyph.

I have absolutely no idea what this is... But if this is the sort of practice she goes through to keep up with glyphs, then I'm really glad I didn't let her convince me to start.

Lotte placed the collected pages on the desk, which was when she noticed a pen still loosely gripped in Lily's hand. Lotte carefully pulled it from her grasp, not wanting it to get accidentally damaged, and sealed the nearby inkpot as well. After securing the perimeter, she softly poked Lily's shoulder, trying to gently wake her up.

"Lily... Lily... time to get up."

The small bunny girl groaned tiredly while mumbling incoherently. She flexed her hands and shifted a little, making Lotte especially glad she'd cleaned up before attempting to rouse her.

"Come on, Lily, we have a meeting to get to," Lotte pleaded, using a bit more force.

"Five more minutes..." Lily grumbled.

"I don't think Arakil would agree with that," Lotte replied, thinking the poor Familiar must have felt trapped in his awkward position.

Mentioning his name seemed to stir her, and finally, she began to wake up. She sat up in her chair and stretched her arms forward, pressing her back against the backrest.

"Wakey, wakey," Lotte said with a giggle.

"Lotte...? What time is it?" Lily asked groggily.

"It's late morning already. You must have really been burning the midnight oil."

Lily gave a little flinch in response, appearing quite startled by that answer. "Did I miss classes?"

"Nope, it's the weekend. But we do have a meeting at Maranix, they said it would help us with our upcoming test."

Lily sighed with relief, slumping a little more. "Sorry... I didn't intend to sleep in so late."

"You look like you desperately need it. Do you want me to go and excuse you so you can go back to sleep in your bed?" Lotte offered.

"No... I'll be better after a quick bath," Lily replied before suppressing a yawn. "I don't want to miss out on help for a test."

"Great, I'll head back to my room to grab my stuff before coming back here," Lotte chirped, walking back to the door. "If I come back and you've fallen asleep again, I'll leave you to recover."

"Thanks for the warning, but I'll be there..." Lily replied, now rubbing her eyes. "Thanks for waking me up."

"You're welcome. See you soon."

Lotte waved and closed the door behind her.

***

When the door closed, Lily let out a tired sigh as she slowly got out of the chair. Sleeping in that awkward position had her entire body feeling stiff and terrible.

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"What the heck happened?" Lily asked, hoping Arakil had an explanation.

[You passed out during practice, as expected.]

"You knew this would happen? Why didn't you warn me?" Lily replied, feeling a little betrayed.

After having two spells to remove her fatigue last night, Lily was brimming with energy. Not wanting to spend an entire evening tossing and turning while struggling and failing to get to sleep, she requested to start practicing some of the new glyphs with Arakil.

This went on for much longer than she expected, and when Lily finally started feeling sleepy, she figured it was too late to go to bed now. She suggested using one of her own glyphs as a test, and Arakil hadn't denied her the request.

From what Lily could recall, she had used her own glyphs to remove her fatigue two or three times after that, before being abruptly awoken by Lotte.

[I thought I'd let you experience the consequences of overusing recovery spells firsthand while in a safe environment. I also knew it was the weekend, so it wouldn't affect your lessons, although I could not anticipate that you'd be asked to attend a meeting.]

"Consequences? I thought it removed fatigue..."

[It does, but it's not infallible. Healing magic is not an infinite resource, as some might expect, and each body can only receive so much rejuvenation before it needs time to naturally recover. More powerful spells can push this boundary further, but will still eventually reach a limit.]

"I see... I had no idea," Lily admitted.

[Most don't, and they think all healers are miracle workers who can solve even the most grievous of injuries. Little do they know that sometimes the healer will use their own life force to bolster a patient in extreme circumstances. This is one of the methods to try to circumvent such drawbacks.]

"Is that why healers normally have so many assistants?" Lily asked curiously. She'd been healed many times in the past, before Arakil, and always thought they were there as bodyguards.

[Yes. If the healer is skilled enough, they can have someone else donate the required life force. Even so, it's not something that should be abused so readily outside of dire circumstances, especially regarding stamina. The body requires sleep not just to recover from fatigue, but to also let the mind rest. It's why even though I do not need to sleep, I routinely use meditation to experience similar benefits.]

Lily was grateful for the harsh lesson, as if she'd passed out in the dungeon or something equally as dangerous, she could quite easily lose her life. It certainly sucked, and she felt miserable right now, but it was a small price to pay considering the alternative.

"Thanks... I guess I'd better not use one now to recover," Lily replied.

[I wouldn't until you've eaten a hearty meal and have been awake for a bit. One of your elixirs from Camilla should suffice until then, if you need it.]

Lily immediately grimaced. Camilla's energy elixirs tasted as awful as they were useful, and they were damn good at their job. The taste was toe-curling bad, and Lily had tried her darndest to never drink one again.

I probably need it. There's no way I can function for the rest of the day like this.

With a heavy heart, Lily opened her cupboard and pulled out the carefully prepared potions that Camilla had gifted her. She held her breath as she tried to gulp down the foul brew in a single swig, coughing and spluttering at the end.

[I suppose that's another fitting punishment for going too far.]

Lily groaned in response, but she didn't waste time pitying herself as she needed to get ready before Lotte arrived. She didn't have time for a proper bath using her preferred water glyphs, so she used magic to clean herself directly.

Thankfully, Lily had the foresight to change out of her uniform, meaning it didn't suffer through her uncomfortable night of sleep. She gave it a quick cleaning, not that it really needed it, thanks to its own enchantments. Still, it made Lily feel better and allowed her to practice Professor Melina's spells.

[One last thing... I'd suggest not revealing to others that you can use divine glyphs.]

"Oh? I wasn't really planning on announcing it to the world, but why not?"

[Unless things have drastically changed, these glyphs are supposed to be closely guarded secrets.]

"I thought you said the glyphs could basically be made up for their devoted followers?"

[Correct, but I'm not teaching you those glyphs. You could call these the official or universal divine glyphs if you prefer. But, regardless, they aren't generally shared or even known about.]

Lily promptly agreed, happy to keep any secret that Arakil shared tightly locked up. She was still delighted that no matter how many times they tested last night, their access to the key was never revoked.

I mean, he did save Purity, so she owes him big time! I wonder if there's a way to contact her and get her to help Arakil?

Lily didn't express this idea, though, as she had no doubt that the idea had already crossed Arakil's mind. However, if he wasn't even mentioning it as a possibility, then there was probably a good reason he didn't want to chance it.

Maybe he's worried about getting her in trouble with the other gods? Or someone taking revenge for Pestilence? Honestly, who knows...

Lily was finally ready, and with the elixir kicking in, she was feeling more alive. Not too much later, Lotte knocked on the door and entered.

"Good, you're actually up," Lotte said with a smirk. "With how dead you looked, I was half expecting you to be passed out on the bed."

"No, I'm up... I stayed up too late studying and suffered the consequences," Lily admitted.

"I guess a quick wash was all you needed to wake up. I wish I could bounce back that fast."

Lily smiled, hiding the pain of the vile elixir she'd ingested.

They left her room and swung past the cafeteria, so Lily could wolf down a small meal before the meeting. Neither of the two had any idea what to expect, but if it ran through lunch, then Lily might only get to eat again during supper.

"Were you drawing glyphs for Professor Sylwel?" Lotte asked curiously.

"No, I have no idea what he wants yet, so I'd be wasting my time. I was conducting some of my own studies and practice. I need to stay sharp since I'm in a second-year class for it."

"That makes sense. Maybe we can visit the lab tomorrow so he can place his order," Lotte suggested.

Lily nodded with a mouthful of food.

"I still can't believe you wanted me to learn that stuff; it looks way too hard."

"It's not too bad, and I find it fun," Lily replied after swallowing her meal.

"Anything that keeps me away from the comfort of my bed cannot be fun," Lotte countered before playfully sticking out her tongue at Lily.

Lily shrugged and sighed before finishing the last few bites of her meal. With food in her stomach, she felt much better and thought she could easily survive this impromptu meeting.

"Well, let's head off. Maybe we will bump into Thomas along the way," Lotte said, standing up from her seat.

"Thanks again for waking me up and waiting."

"Hey, it's the least I could do. I feel like I still owe you for the tutoring and that spell scroll you gave me."

Lily didn't really see it that way; she just wanted to help a friend and never expected anything in return. Still, she was glad Lotte was happy, and while they walked to the Maranix building, she began to ask a few questions about said spell after being prompted to by Arakil. The archmage was especially curious to get a bit of a progress report on his first attempt at creating a bloodline spell.