Upon arrival, Tike merely sniffed the scent permeating the room a few times before immediately diagnosing the ailment of the elderly woman lying on the bed.
(This is... Magic Deficiency Syndrome caused by Magic Power Stasis?)
Creatures living in this world unconsciously absorb free magic particles from the air and store them in their bodies.
For ordinary people without magical talent, they cannot release the magic power within their bodies through various magic spells.
When young, the human body's metabolism is strong enough to naturally metabolize excess magic power. But as bodily functions decline in old age, magic power gradually accumulates, leading to various complications and even endangering life.
"I'm going out to gather some herbs; I'll be back soon."
Saying this, Tike walked into the nearby forest, moving quickly through the mountains and woods. He picked mushrooms from a Mushroom Bear's head one moment, pulled teeth from a Sabertooth Tiger's mouth the next, and climbed steep cliffs to pick rare flowers and herbs growing there...
After being busy like this for quite a while, Tike returned to the man's home with a bag full of herbs.
He skillfully mixed various herbs in certain proportions and, aided by his "Magia Booster," successfully concocted the potion in no time.
"Quick, let her take it."
"Yes!"
The man hurriedly took the potion, carefully helped his mother sit up, and slowly fed the potion into her mouth.
As the potion flowed slowly into the old woman's mouth, her originally dying state recovered vitality at a speed visible to the naked eye, and her cloudy eyes gradually became clear and bright.
Seeing his mother's condition improve significantly, the man was moved to tears.
"Mother! You're finally getting better! This is wonderful! Mr. Tike, I really don't know how to repay you!"
"Repay? Simple, just give money."
The expression on the man's face froze instantly, cold sweat slowly trickling down his forehead.
If he had money, would he have been reduced to stealing herbs?
Looking at the man's distressed appearance, Tike couldn't help but chuckle.
"Haha, I was just teasing you! As soon as I walked into this room, I had already decided what reward to ask from you."
The man looked at Tike in confusion and asked puzzledly, "Then what reward do you want?"
Tike didn't answer the man's question directly. Instead, he walked to the table, picked up a fresh herb cake from a plate, stuffed it into his mouth unceremoniously, and said indistinctly while eating, "Mmhmm, the reward, I've already eaten it."
The man was stunned.
He never expected Tike would consider such cheap food as a reward and eat it with such relish.
The recovered old woman also felt very apologetic.
"This is too neglectful of you. How can such crude food serve as a reward? You saved my life, I..."
Swallowing the herb cake, Tike looked up at the old woman with a sincere smile on his face.
"Grandma, the fresh herb cake you made is really delicious. I like this taste very much. For me, this is already the best reward."
Although the fresh herb cake tasted mostly of slightly bitter grass, Tike tasted a special flavor from it.
That was a mother's love for her child.
"Alright, the reward is in my stomach; I should go back now."
Bidding farewell to the old woman and the man, Tike walked out of the room.
The man wanted to chase after him to see him off but was stopped by Tike waving his hand.
"No need to see me off. You should stay with your mother properly. I'm going home to find my mom too."
Before the man could respond, a flash of light passed, and Tike, activating teleportation magic, appeared on a street some distance from the Fairy Tail guild.
"Still not precise enough. Looks like my teleportation magic practice isn't enough. Forget it, I'll just walk back."
Tike knocked his head somewhat helplessly. Walking slowly back to the guild along the street, he thought of his heavily injured mother.
(If Mom's illness could be cured as simply as that grandma's, how good would that be...)
Even though Tike had basically mastered the knowledge taught by Porlyusica, he still wasn't confident about treating Selene.
The more he studied, the more clearly Tike realized that human potions would have little effect on injuries like his mother's.
(I wonder if I can find a human with the same recovery attribute as me in the future. Then I can teach them Healing Magic, supplemented by my 'Magia Booster' for enhancement; maybe that could cure Mom.)
"Mm... I'll sneak over to see her again."
In the past year, besides studying pharmacology, Tike had further improved his Space Magic.
Now, he could freely travel to worlds where he had left spatial coordinates.
Even for super-long-distance teleportation across world levels, the deviation from the target location wouldn't exceed a few hundred kilometers. It was just a matter of running a few extra trips.
So—
"Before that, I'd better greet Erza and Mom Ur first; otherwise, they'll definitely worry again."
Tike composed himself. Just as he was about to push the door to enter the guild, a familiar scent drifted out from a temporarily set-up tent opposite the guild.
"Big Sis Erza?"
Tike froze slightly and walked into the tent with a puzzled face.
Inside the tent were several wooden barrels of various sizes, and that familiar scent was emanating from one of them.
"Are you hiding here trying to play hide-and-seek with me?"
Tike was an expert at this game because he could know where people were hiding just by smelling.
But when Tike lifted the lid of the wooden barrel, he was stunned.
Inside the barrel wasn't the Erza he expected, but two unfamiliar women.
One woman had dazzling blond hair and a completely unfamiliar face. Although the other woman's face was much more mature, the scent emanating from her was identical to Erza's.
Tike blinked. A flash of inspiration struck his mind, and he instantly understood the situation before him.
While he went to treat the herb-stealing man's mother, Erza had learned transformation magic and changed her appearance into an adult to wear the new armor she had longed for.
Realizing this, the expression on Tike's face became somewhat peculiar.
The "Erza" before him was wearing a white tight-fitting bodysuit, a pair of fluffy cat ears on her head, and a snow-white cat tail hanging behind her, looking somewhat improper.
The other blond stranger was dressed in a tight-fitting bodysuit like "Erza," except she wore a pair of cute bunny ears instead of cat ears.
"Big Sis Erza, is this the new armor you mentioned this morning?"