Mitch looked at his right, injured hands Indeed, he was missing a few fingers.
At the last moment, right as he was about to finish the ant off, it had twisted its head to the side and got a hold of Mitch's ring finger and pinkie.
He patted Madeline on the head with one of his intact hands.
"Do not worry, little girl. It was a sacrifice that had to be made in order to defeat the ferocious fiends that attacked us." Smiling through the pain, he tried to reassure Madeline that he was fine.
"But… can't the Lord heal you like He did with me?"
Mitch felt his mouth twitch for a moment. He could heal himself if he wanted to, but that would cost Mynt. If possible, he wanted to save as much Mynt as he could in case he was forced to use it in the future.
"Although it was He who made this world, His authority still does not spread this far. He used all the power He could spare just to send me here and to heal you. That is why He needs a priestess—someone to spread His faith and power through this world. All I can do now is endure."
Mitch weaved some lies in with the truth. He really could not spare any more power to heal himself, but it was not because he lacked authority. He lacked energy, Mynt.
Madeline started tearing up, realizing how foolish she had been.
"Then… you didn't send me away so you could prepare the food; you sent me away so I didn't get hurt, is that it?" She fell to her knees and began bawling.
As a result of her ignorance, she had abandoned her saviour, which led to him being very wounded.
At the same time, she started to feel somber. Her thought process was that no matter what happened, Michael would heal her with the Lord's powers. Only now registering that any injury they suffered was there to stay, she started having second thoughts about continuing on this journey.
"It's okay, Madeline. It's just a few fingers. Best case scenario, they regenerate in a few days. Worst case, I now lack two fingers on one of my hands, but so what? I still have 18 left."
Mitch spread his fingers and started waving them around in front of Madeline's face, trying to cheer her up in some way.
'That's right! I cannot start doubting myself now, not after Michael suffered so much just to keep me safe.'
Letting out a light giggle, she wiped her tears and stood back up, determined to become someone her saviour could depend on. Although doubts and depression still lingered in her mind, she did her best to repress them for now.
Seeing that Madeline had regained her composure, Mitch turned around and waved for her to follow.
"Let's go. The hard part is over. Now, it's time to reap the rewards." His hands and side were still giving off pulses of pain, but it had become more manageable now.
"You should get to washing those wounds as soon as possible. I have no idea if Legio can regenerate fingers, but you most certainly won't if you let it fester." Worried and distressed, Katherine gave her two cents about his situation.
'I would love to, but there is nothing to clean it with right now. There should be a body of water somewhere close, since the ants would require something to drink from. Let's just hope it's a river.'
Mitch first went to the segregated ant and heaved it onto his shoulder. With Madeline in tow, he then made his way towards the clearing where the other carcasses were.
"If possible, I wanted to avoid eating the ants raw, but I have neither the time to make a fire, nor the leisure to accidentally lure any more beasts here." Absorbed in his own thoughts, Mitch accidentally muttered out loud.
"What's a 'fire'?" Madeline inquired.
Catching onto his slip up, he made an off-handed remark about it being a gift from Khad, able to make any food more delicious.
The young Legio's eyes brightened, completely forgetting her previous sadness. She clung onto one of Mitch's intact arms and made him promise to teach her how to use it.
He could only sigh and shrug his shoulders, conceding to her request. Eventually, they reached the glade and gathered the four corpses together.
"As promised, child. A feast worthy of a priestess. Enjoy!" Mitch was having a hard time forcing himself to eat the raw ant meat, so he let Madeline start.
"Thank you Michael! I swear, I will help you get your fingers back. I will become the best priestess the Lord has ever had, and then I will beg him to heal you." She had found a new conviction in life.
"Hahaha, I look forward to that, child. Now, eat. You need to grow up big and strong if you want to be of help."
That was all Mitch had to say. Without hesitation, Madeline reached out towards one of the ants and started savoring it. Moans of satisfaction were heard in between the sounds of teeth breaking the ant's chitin.
"She really seems to enjoy it, huh? Well, she probably survived on plants and leaves before you saved her. I doubt she killed anything like those ants by herself."
'Speaking of, why were those ants so big? Just by looking at the trees, I can tell it's not me that's small. I should be the same size as an average human. I know I told you to make the Legio humanoid, but why did you enlarge the ants too?'
Finally free from the fighting and navigating, Mitch could ask the questions that had been on his mind for a while.
"Honestly, I have no idea. I didn't micromanage every aspect of the world's creation; most of it was automatic. I simply applied the parameters you specified and the rest was left up to whatever cosmic force helps Khads in creating worlds."
Mitch fell into thought at this. He hoped that his plans would remain unaffected by the ants' size.
With nothing else to go off of, he reached forward and grabbed one of the ants, ripped its leg off, and took a bite.
As soon as the food reached his stomach, a warm, soothing energy spread from throughout his body, eliciting Mitch to groan in relief.
"This?!"