The sea breeze met him head-on, neither hurried nor slow, brushing past Ruger's nose and stirring his silky fur, yet it was still hard to carry away that complicated stench.
After dozens of days in the Abyss—so many in the later stages that they were impossible to count, and he could not be bothered to remember, perhaps already over a hundred—he had wandered into the Flesh-and-Blood Battlefield. All manner of filth, Demon's bloody flesh-mud, and certain Demons' peculiar spell-like abilities had worked together to pickle Ruger through and through. He had not cared at all in that environment, but after leaving it, after departing the Sinking Expanse, the smell became especially conspicuous in this fresh air.
Ruger carefully walked across the sea beast's back and consciously made his way to the rearmost position. Mahama's back looked broader and thicker than before his promotion.
As he pondered, he manipulated his spiritual power.
Ruger still had not given up.
He still remembered the potion's name: Bubble Potion. It healed and detoxified at the same time, though its healing effects were quite ordinary. Detoxification was the original purpose behind its creation. He still remembered old Lunse's explanation: unlike common antidotes, its pure detoxifying effect was not especially strong either, but it was a supplement in another form. After drinking it, vast amounts of bubbles would emerge from the body, from the inside out. Back then, Ruger had liked to call it a bathing potion.
While searching for bathwater, Ruger tilted his head in confusion and curiosity, peering past one side of the big fellow's shoulder at the woman who had suddenly arrived and was now standing atop the sea beast's head.
Having grown accustomed to the sights of the Abyss, the scenery at sea was still beautiful.
Pondering, Ruger drew back his head