"So that's how it is..." Karin nodded.
He could not fully judge whether the magical construct in his mind, the "All-Knowing Eye," was telling the truth, but under the circumstances, its words did seem somewhat credible. After all, its description of the changes to Karin Sunfury's soul matched his own arrival in this world.
Karin continued, "Then, All-Knowing Eye, what functions do you have?"
"An excellent question!" the All-Knowing Eye replied proudly. "Over the past three thousand years, the All-Knowing Eye has served twenty-six masters. Even the weakest among them was an Archmage of the Seventh Ring. Every magical text those masters read, along with every account of their experiences and insights they wrote, was recorded within the All-Knowing Eye. However..."
As it went on, its voice grew quieter.
"During that painful ordeal in the Twisting Nether, the vast majority of the All-Knowing Eye's stored knowledge vanished along with the body consumed by the Twisting Nether. Its current reserves amount to less than 3% of what they were at their peak..."
"Oh, that's still pretty good!" Karin nodded. He had never been insatiably greedy. Even less than 3% of the knowledge and memories of Feyrun's foremost mages would be an enormous help to a Mage Apprentice like him, who had yet to reach even the First Ring!
"In addition, the All-Knowing Eye possesses certain deductive and prophetic capabilities. These were not greatly affected by the Twisting Nether..."
"Deduction? Prophecy?" Karin murmured.
"Yes. For example, the All-Knowing Eye can deduce that if the host's injuries do not receive more effective treatment within one week, there is a 93.7% chance that they will worsen, and an 11.2% chance that they will endanger the host's life!"
"Is that so?" Karin twisted his lips helplessly.
"Furthermore, the All-Knowing Eye can currently predict that a humanoid being harboring extreme hostility toward the host is rapidly approaching. Current distance: 800 yards..."
"A humanoid being harboring extreme hostility?" Karin froze.
"500 yards..." Only ten seconds had passed.
"300 yards..."
"10 yards..."
"Warning: if the host engages in a conflict with this humanoid being in his current condition, the probability of defeat is 99.99%!"
The All-Knowing Eye had barely finished speaking when someone pounded on the cabin door.
An icy female voice rang out from outside. "Karin Sunfury, are you in there?"
"Can you identify her from her voice?" Karin asked quietly, his expression grave.
"Certainly. Please wait!" the All-Knowing Eye answered rapidly. "Scanning the host's memories... Performing comparative analysis... Confirming identity..."
"The one standing outside the door is the brightest sunlight, the loveliest rose, the most dazzling morning star, the most beautiful flower in Quel'Thalas..."
"Enough, stop!" Karin said, unsure whether to laugh or cry. He had guessed who was outside!
"The door isn't locked. Come in, Miss Vereesa! What can I do for you?"
A tall female elf strode into the cabin.
Pale golden hair fell naturally down her back, and her peach-colored skin and light blue eyes complemented each other perfectly. The silver leather armor she wore, in particular, showed off every line of her graceful, athletic figure.
Her expression, however, was ugly, somewhere between anger and loathing.
Karin calmly looked the uninvited guest over. She certainly qualified as beautiful, but she was far from capable of making him fall head over heels the way the old Karin Sunfury had... After all, having been thoroughly exposed to the three great marvels of plastic surgery, makeup, and Photoshop in his previous life, he merely thought her somewhat pretty.
After a brief silence, Vereesa spoke first. "Whenever I think back to what happened that day, I still feel sick... How could you do something like that?"
Beautiful women always think the world revolves around them... Still, considering that she was far stronger than he was, Karin had no choice but to back down for now.
"I'm very sorry. I acted on impulse that day and did something offensive... But I believe I suffered rather more harm over it than you did..."
Karin's calm explanation drew Vereesa's gaze to the layers of bandages covering him.
At the sight of the blood faintly visible on the bandages and Karin's face, pale with weakness, a trace of sympathy appeared on Vereesa's face.
"I didn't do it!" she protested quietly. "As far as I'm concerned, any elf who would do something like that is just as despicable as you!"
Karin could not help breathing a sigh of relief at those words.
So she wasn't here to silence me!
"There's no need to explain. I believe you had nothing to do with it!" Karin returned to bed. "Thank you for visiting, Miss Vereesa. I'm a little tired. Would you let me get some more rest now?"
His manner was cool and distant.
Clearly, this attitude surprised the young woman, leaving her unable to deliver the words she had prepared.
After a long silence, Vereesa Windrunner took a few steps closer and set a small, pale green bottle on the table in the center of the cabin.
"Listen, Karin Sunfury!" she said loudly. "Don't entertain any foolish hopes, and don't read anything into this. My disgust for you hasn't lessened in the slightest!"
"It's just that my sister... My sister gave me a lecture..." Her voice dropped a little. "She said that since your injuries arose because of me, as a Ranger, I had to take responsibility..."
"On the table is a Healing Potion specially made by our Windrunner family. Just drink it yourself!"
With that, she stormed out without looking back!
Karin climbed back up and glanced at the little pale green bottle on the table.
Considering the All-Knowing Eye's earlier assessment of his injuries, he abandoned the notion of refusing a handout out of pride.
Still, there was another possibility to consider!
"All-Knowing Eye, can you analyze the ingredients of this Healing Potion?" Karin asked quietly.
"I'm sorry, but the All-Knowing Eye does not possess Alchemy testing or analysis functions!" came the crisp reply in his mind.
"All right!" Karin could only pick up a piece of bread Oliver had left earlier and spread a layer of green potion over it. Then, bracing himself against the wall, he made his way out of the cabin with some difficulty.
A plump hawkstrider lay lazily in the little yard.
When a piece of bread landed in front of it, it swallowed it without hesitation, then lay back down... Even if the bread did taste a little odd.
Fifteen minutes later, Karin watched the hawkstrider, which had shown no adverse reactions.
"Looks like this world is a little kinder than I imagined!" Karin murmured to himself.