The potion closed the hole in his chest but left the skin pink where the bolt had gone through.
Ty pressed two fingers against it and the tissue was warm. He sat up, catching his breath.
Fuka flew near his nose, purple eyes still glowing. "Are ya dead, mister?"
"Not yet. Are any of them getting back up?"
She shook her little head.
"End broadcast," Ty said.
"Ka-aay."
[STATUS: OFFLINE]
Fuka dropped out of the air like a sack of meat. Her wings stopped mid-beat and she hit the dirt with a plop, and then the tiny body started growing.
Her arms lengthened first, the fingers stretching from toothpick size to no more than a regular woman's. Her wings stretched with her, thin enough that the moonlight passed through them. They folded against her back, longer than her arms now.
When she stopped growing, her purple eyes were level with his chest.
She was barefoot and wearing nothing at all. He'd expected at least fangs for teeth, but her crowns were as normal as his.
"Oopsies." She looked up at him from the ground, her legs folded under her. "Can you carry me? I'm too tired to walk."
Ty stared at her.
"Are you injured at all?"
"Nuh uh."
"Hurt in any way?"
"Nuh uh, mister." Her eyes tracked his gaze as it moved down and back up. She crossed her arms over her chest. "Pervert!"
"Then you can walk just fine."
Ty got to his feet and braced for pain that didn't come. That [Lesser Healing Potion] was more effective than whatever the woman had given him. Cheapskate, probably.
He made it eight steps before Fuka made a crying sound. She was crawling, dragging her knees through the dirt. "Mister~!"
Ty stopped and closed his eyes.
"My legs are like jelly, mister. Broadcasting takes everything out of me." She sat in the dirt and hugged her knees. "I can't even feel my toes."
"You just said you weren't hurt."
"I'm not hurt. I'm just tired."
He made it another twelve steps before she made an audible gasp.
"I'll tell my m-m-master that you abandoned me!"
She was still sitting in the dirt twenty meters behind him.
Ty walked back, crouched, and pulled her onto his back. His left arm was still short of full range, so he hooked his right arm under her knee and adjusted.
"Thank you, mister." She rested her chin on his shoulder. "You're very kind."
"I need you alive to broadcast."
"Mhm, sure you do~."
"Don't talk. I need to think."
The pale green text expanded in his field of vision as he walked. Fuka let her chin bounce with every step he took.
─────── [BROADCAST SUMMARY] ───────
STREAM DURATION: 14 MINUTES
PEAK VIEWERS: 114
EFFECTIVE VIEWERS: 87
LIKES RECEIVED: 342
ENGAGEMENT REWARD: 350 G
So my survival depends on whoever the fuck's watching me now.
Don't know how I feel about that. I mean, the potion tasted like shit.
"Three-fifty for a fifteen-minute show," Fuka said from his shoulder. "Mister, you're rich now."
"Didn't I tell you to not talk?"
She let out a dragged breath behind his neck.
"That's not bad for a first stream," Fuka whispered in his ear. "Keep it up and you could buy a real sword. Or if you're feeling really nice, you could buy me a sparkly earring."
Ty ignored her prodding. The wounds around his body had finally started closing up. Whether it was the potion's work or the new eyes, Ty wasn't sure.
The former made more sense in the meantime.
Ty adjusted Fuka's slipping grip. "Like I said, be useful. You mentioned I can buy things. How does it work?"
"Let's see..." She brought out her fist. "Likes are free. People tap them because they like you, not because they're paying. But engagement is engagement, which means you get paid for all of that." She had two fingers up now. "Erm, that healing potion someone sent you? That cost real money on their end. You get a thirty percent cut of those... I think."
Fuka held out three fingers and waved them across his face. "And you can use that money to buy stuff from the Chaos Bazaar!" Her fingernails were neatly trimmed and painted green with gold glitter.
Her transformation probably retained whatever her original form had. The alternative was her painting them within the span of twenty steps, which wasn't plausible no matter how Ty dissected it.
"What's wrong, mister?"
"I did the math," Ty said. "If gifts count, I'd have more than six hundred gold."
"Like I said, mister. I said 'I think'."
Ty kept a steady pace across the forest.
"Oh wait!" Fuka nearly fell off his back. She raised a pinkie and a flying frog popped in the air.
"Ribbit," it said, doing a somersault.
"That's your mini-bank. Stores all gift donations."
Ty shooed it away. "Put it back where it came from before it draws unwanted attention."
The flying frog burped once more before popping back into thin air. Ty caught the number before it vanished.
30% of that lesser potion amounted to 300 G.
In other words, a viewer dropped over 1000 G to a stranger. Through the eyes of an actual fairy.
"You could've asked nicely," Fuka said.
"The woman mentioned I have access to the Engine now, correct?"
Fuka didn't answer right away, which was new given he'd only known her for thirty minutes. Her chin stayed on his shoulder, but the bouncing stopped.
The forest was quieter now. Whatever had lived in the trees before the lightning had either fled or gone still, and the only sound left was Ty's boots on dirt and branches cracking.
"I prefer that you mention her as master," Fuka said matter-of-fact.
"Not happening."
"Why?!"
The electricity from the goblin's bolts still clung to his lungs.
Without the new eyes, he'd have been dead thrice over.
"If you want to stay on my back, answer my questions."
Fuka's breath was warm against his neck. She was thinking, which was also new.
"Fine, but you must praise me after."
"No fucking chance, lady."